Stucco and Insulation

The south wall

We finally have our first coat of stucco on the house.  We can finally breathe a huge sigh of relief - almost.  For those of you who have been following this blog, we have had a horrible time finding someone to do our stucco.  Chuck has interviewed so many people.  They either don't call back, they don't show up in the first place, or their prices were way, way, way too high. 

Ceiling insulation.  The straw is the insulation for the walls.

Finally, along came David Johnson.  He and Chuck have known each other for 30 some years.  David had been working up in the Denver area, but is now back to being a local boy.  I was thrilled to pay him a huge sum of money, just to get the first coat of cement on the house.  David talked like he knew what he was doing.  He's very energetic and talks a good talk.  $5000 later, I have one coat of stucco on the walls, and I'm so not happy.  I bought all of the materials, and David provided the mixer and the labor.  He didn't clean up after himself.  He insisted that Chuck and Kent cover our windows and doors rather than having his crew do it.  He left a massive mess.

A reminder of why we're doing this.

Chuck called him back up there today to fix this.  I was almost in tears to even be talking money with this guy knowing that he'd want another $5000 for another day's work.  Oh, it was awful.  I'm just going to sit back and let Chuck tell me what to do on this guy.  It's a nightmare.

The front porch

Les has been gone for almost the last 3 weeks.  I need him home so badly.  He's coming tomorrow.  I'm exhausted.  I'm completely drained, financially and emotionally.  And I have to hit the bank up for more money.  Hopefully he'll be up to picking up some of my slack.  Can't wait until this house is done and we can move in!