August 11-14, Adobe Walls and Roof

This week the first coats of the lime wash were put on the east side of the building. In Photo #1, DCU worker, Pancho Villa, paints on the thin lime wash. There will be approximately 3-4 coats applied to the exterior wall.

See the extraordinary results on the west side of the building , which is almost complete (see Photo #2).

Photo #3 shows the new adobe bricks installed on the south gable end wall covered with lime wash.

The cracks in the upper east wall in the balcony are being repaired as well (see Photo #4) and will also receive the lime wash.

On the main roof, the 70 new rafters are in place and 70 pieces of steel have been attached to the rafters to strengthen the wood. On the cocina roof, 80% of the first layer of wood shingles have been installed. Along with shingle installation, the north exterior wall of the cocina (the new wall) is being tied to the north exterior wall of the main house (an original wall) to further stabilize the building. DCU foreman, Chris Barraza, is diligently working on this part of the stabilization and hopefully next week's pictures will be able to show how the walls are actually tied together. Stay tuned! -JK

July 28-31 Roof Work Continues-- Lime Wash Applied.

Cedar shingles continue to be installed on the cocina roof as seen in Photo #1



(interior shot of cocina which shows the partially covered roof), however, even more exciting is the lime wash which is being applied to the exterior of the building. The repaired cracks get a coat of mud plaster, then a coat of lime wash. Another two coats of lime wash is applied over the entire surface. The new walls of the cocina will get 3 coats of lime wash (Photo #2 shows the lime wash applied to the exterior of the cocina). Looks great!





On the main roof, all the 3 x 8 rafters are installed (Photo #3 ).




Each rafter is braced by structural steel to further reinforce the rafter (Photo #4 and #5)









and will be bolted to the stainless steel rods which were drilled earlier into the adobe walls. -JK

July 21-25 Roof Construction Continues

Work continued on the construction of the roof on the cocina and main house as seen in Photo #1.

Roof work on the cocina included the installation of the redwood sheeting which was placed on the rafters as seen in Photo #2. Photo #3 shows the interior of the cocina with Chris Barraza (DCU foreman) appreciating a job well done!

The roof on the cocina will essentially consists of two roof coverings which will create an accurate historical representation of the roof from interior and from the exterior. From the interior of the cocina, one will see exposed cedar shingles which were originally visible from inside the room of the cocina. These will be topped by painted black plywood sheathing and then barn shingles will be installed on the exterior of the cocina roof.

The rafters continue to be installed on the main house as seen in Photo #4. Photo #5 shows the interior walls with rafters in place.

The roof over the balcony on the east side of the building will also be reconstructed. Due to various renovations to the exterior, the pitch of the original balcony has been altered and is too low (Chris Barraza expertly demonstrates the low pitch of the balcony in Photo #5).

The balcony roof will be raised in conjunction with the new roof on the main house. -JK

July 14-18 Roof Construction

Construction on the roof of the house has begun. New wood rafters are being installed on the roof framing. Most of the original wood rafters will stay in place but the new rafters will be added which work in conjunction with the new steel rods and metal plates in the adobe walls. In Photos #1 and #2, Bruce Ihle (of Direct Construction Unit, DCU) installs a new wood rafter.

Photo #3 shows the DCU crew on the roof working with the new and old wood framing:

Photo #4, new wood framing in place:

On the second floor, only the minimum amount of the ceiling has been removed in order to protect the interior portions of the building. As you can see in Photos #5 & 6, only a few feet of the interior ceiling have been removed and exposed.

-JK

Roof Construction-July 7-11

The roof for the cocina is in the midst of construction. As you can see from the photos below the rafters are being installed-- 20 3 x 6 16ft redwood rafters. Photo #3 shows the rafters and how they are connected to the brackets which are welded to the steel plate. The steel plate is anchored to the stainless steel rods in the adobe walls.

Next week construction of the main roof will begin. All the old sheathing and roofing will be torn off by the end of the week and installation of the new rafters will begin. Check back for progress on the roof next week!-JK

Update on Castro Adobe and the Trabing Fire-June 24, 2008

I finally made my way out to the Castro Adobe today to see the damage from the Trabing Fire. I must say that driving into the intersection of Larkin Valley Road and Buena Vista Road was heart wrenching...seeing all the burned trees and dark pastures combined with the smell of smoke was difficult.

As I got to the intersection of Old Adobe Road it was wonderful to see the tributes and thanks to the firefighters. Thank you firefighters!

Thankfully, most of Old Adobe Road was not damaged. Some of the homes on the west side of the street had fire reach to their decks, but the houses were intact. As we know, other houses on Larkin Valley Road and Trabing Road were not as lucky.

At the Castro Adobe, there was evidence of at least three spot fires. One which burned a small wood shed covering a pump, one at the entrance to Joe Kimbro's property, and one spot fire which burned a pallet of the adobe bricks and melted the plastic on another.

It was obvious that we were VERY lucky. The Direct Construction Unit (DCU) crew and the CCC crew had cut down a lot of the grass, keeping it short, so the fire really had no fuel to burn. Chris Barraza (DCU foreman) said that a neighbor had put out the three spot fires and they never spread to other areas on the property. Thank you neighbor!!!

Chris Barraza had left for the weekend on Friday to his home 5 hours away. Once hearing of the fire he promptly packed his things back up and made the trek back up to the Castro Adobe on Saturday. He was not going to sit by while a fire (potentially) burned the Castro Adobe! Somehow he talked his way up Old Adobe Road and onto the property and proceeded to protect the building, help neighbors, and even gave water to the neighbor's thirsty goats. Thank you Chris!

Watching the fire unfold was terrifying and if there is one thing that Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, DCU crew and State Parks has learned --it is that we are all very dedicated to this building! That was evident from all the frantic phone calls, e-mails, etc. As we launch into the 'Save the Castro Adobe' campaign this summer, this fire so clearly illustrates the importance of saving the Castro Adobe. Not only is it an incredible historic resource today but the thought of its destruction mobilized so many people, proving how vital it is to our future.

And now the work continues! Chris and the DCU crew are working on crack repair in the cocina wall. Next week, the construction on the cocina roof is slated to begin.-JK

Castro Adobe is Safe!

We are so happy to report that the historic Castro Adobe at Rancho San Andres Castro State Historic Park has survived the Trabing Fire still burning near Watsonville. Thanks to the efforts of CalFire firefighters, the fire was held to grass areas near the two-story Monterey-Colonial-style structure."We are thrilled with this news and incredibly grateful for the efforts made by CalFire firefighters," said Randy Widera, director of strategic development and partnerships for Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks. Check back later for more information regarding the Castro Adobe and the Trabing Fire.