Day 74 Sunday October 14, 2001

My Dad got in the game today. He brushed polyurethane on the beam in the great room, to help slow the drying out of the wood. It looks great.

Dave and Laurie parged today. What the hell is that, you ask? Parging means troweling a layer of cement onto the exterior of the basement block walls. It helps to keep the water outside the house. It seems like a step back in time, mixing mortar again and getting in the hole in the ground next to the foundation. Its not fun like laying logs, its just one of the jobs you have to trudge through to get to the goal. We have to get this basement waterproofed so we can backfill. We need to backfill so we can frame the roof.

Dave drove over 4 hours to help out for a day and I really appreciate it. He made 2 hawks (a tool to hold mortar) and parged until the last minute.

The contractor who is going to pour my basement slab stopped by to check the site and make sure all was in order. Nice guy, he has a huge scar on his face. Of course, Laurie asked him how he got it. Chainsaw. Ouch.