Masons and more...

The laying of the brick and the stone for the house is progressing nicely.  All the insulation required to be in place before the sheetrock (panneaux de gypse, a francais) work can begin is complete.  The entire house, including the casita, have been swept and all remnant material removed.  This is a signal that one trades team (metiers equipe) has finished, and another is about to start (always exciting).  The next trades team is the sheetrock team.  Now, the interior walls will begin to form the rooms more distinctly -- no more see-through walls.  It will be the first time we see the rooms as they will be, and not distorted by any form of optical or mental illusion.

Here are some pictures since the last post:

The first wrap of the brick is complete.  Scaffolding was added a little later (note the men on the left, they are grabbing
 the scaffolding) and the finishing wrap began today.  The have two masons laying brick instead of one.

A different perspective on the front porch, which is 10 feet deep (3m).
It seems to fill quickly with work-related material.

This is a photo of the -two-car garage (which will be used as a recreational
room) and the work of the stone mason.  His is more challenging than the
brick mason, because 1) the pieces are larger and heavier, and 2) he creates
the look as he goes -- he must be a bit of an artist.

The rear of the house is mostly finished with paneling and brick.  The main
house is the only structure receiving brick.  All the columns on the main house
and the casita will have a tapered stone wrap which is 4 feet (1.3m) high.

This is a close-up of the manner in which the windows will be trimmed with
respect to the brick.

Here is the insulation install for the Great Room.  The ladders in the photo are
 14 feet (4.27 m) in height.  The white insulation is 'blown' into place, as there
 is a white fabric covering the wood.  The holes where the insulation blower
was inserted can be seen in this picture, also.

The more traditional bulk insulation was installed in high places deemed
unreachable after the sheetrock is installed, due to decking or blocking.
This is a picture of the Great Room's ceiling.