The Inner Workings of Construction

 From the outside looking in, the last week appeared pretty uneventful. Do not be fooled! 285 Martin Drive was a hive of activity. Never has it been more crowded with contractors and several of them (Eric, doing HVAC and Kevin, leading the plumbing team) worked weekends to stay on schedule. 

Dirk and Aaron built stairs – actual stairs, this week! And for the first time, I was able to take my neighbor, Donnie, for a glimpse of the second level.

Martin Acres construction forges ahead: The electrical got installed. 

Wiring diagrams are like secret code, if you ask me. It takes a special person with lots of highlighters, to understand exactly what needs to be done. I was on hand to answer questions, but I dreaded the times I was put on the spot when Ken wasn’t around. What if I gave the wrong answers? 

And plumbing… coming in and out. Hello 1955 cast iron pipe! 

After hours spent in my damp, dark crawlspace, only 3′ high, these guys were STILL smiling! I guess they didn’t run into my black widow friend down there.

On the outside the soffits under the eaves were being installed last week too.

 I have so many feel-good stories already, but here goes another:

Memorial Weekend, I decided to spend a half day trimming and thinning the junipers and other bushes along the back fence line. I had a pretty heavy duty lopper with long handles for leverage and I was making decent progress – if you judge it by the piles of branches chopped rather than the skill in manicuring trees into shape! At some point I noticed the lopper becoming increasingly difficult to open and close…. Then it was downright impossible.  Had I bent a blade? Eric was just finishing HVAC work when he noticed me struggling in the back yard and volunteered to use his van load of tools to make my tool functional again. Within minutes he had loosened, oiled and tightened my gardening implement and it was normal again. So nice!  

I know some people think it’s enough to have efficient, timely and reasonably priced contractors working on your house. It is…kind of. But take it to the next level and imagine all the good energy that is being built right in when you have teams of folks who are jovial, enthusiastic and seem to really care about working well with each other, making it easy for another person, keeping each other on schedule and in the loop with progress and changes. 

There is a reason I am drawn to 285 Martin Drive. You’ve heard me rave about the great neighbors but now you can add the attractive, positive energy at the job site. I find myself with the occasional hour or two of down-time between appointments and these days, am likely to be found in an old chair on the front patio, watching the world go by as I work via hot-spot with a laptop in hand.

… Or at breakfast with Mark on a Saturday morning.