Some of the pictures of the work done in 2000.
Picture of the basement taken by Arlene Gaulke, March 23, 2000.
Picture of Jim, Patty, and Baltazar, in front of what will be the entrance tower to the keep. Taken by Arlene Gaulke, March 23, 2000.
The blockwork that will hold up the fireplace is now finished, all that is left to do is pour the concrete slab on top of the blocks.
This is a picture of the top of the fireplace base. The 6 inch thick concrete pad will hold the first floor fireplace. The red pipe is the flue from the oil furnace that will be in the basement.
We are installing the plumbing pipes that will be beneath the basement floor..
More pipes that will be beneath the basement floor.
Most of the pipes in the basement are now glued together.
The basement floor has now been poured and finished. June 10, 2000.
Picture of the septic system being installed. It is now finished.
7-25-2000.
These 14 cubes of blocks contain 1260 blocks. this is about one sixth of the total needed to complete the keep. We will need over 90 cubes total. A cube is 4 feet by 4 feet, and contains 90 blocks.
We now have 3 rows of the walls and 2 rows of the towers finished.
7-13-2000.
This is a picture of the progress as of 8-23-2000. We now have 10 rows finished all the way around the keep. The walls are now 80 inches tall (above the basement), I can no longer see over the wall. To look out, I have to go to a window opening. After the next row, we will place the lintels over the top of the windows. Our goal is to finish the first floor (14 rows of blocks) plus the joists and plywood for the second floor before we stop for winter.
Same thing from another angle. The entrance tower is on the right, the kitchen tower is on the left.
Terry Robinson helping lay blocks on the entrance tower, 8-26-2000. Thanks for the help Terry.
Shereen Robinson, world renowned toilet top painter, makes good use of her talent at Dupont Castle.
The castle as it looks on 9-6-2000. We are finished with all of row 12.
I have been asked what I have been doing about re-inforcing the walls. I have been using 3/8 inch re-bar in a notch on top of the blocks on every row of the towers and using steel re-inforcement called durawall every second row of the walls.
Over the windows, I used 1/4 inch steel 7 inches wide with a 1 1/2 inch bar welded upright for a little extra strength. I had to cut a notch in the blocks over the window to make a place for the steel bar. In this picture, you can get an idea of the view we have from the castle.
9-7-00, 14 rows (seven rows of blocks standing upright) of the entrance tower are finished. Baltazar is protecting the castle from intruders. Actually, he doesn't usually bark at people. He likes to bark at livestock in the fields when he sees them from the car. We may not be well protected from intruders, but we will know it if we are ever about to be attacked by a herd of vicious cows. You will notice that the mortar on the top row is much darker than the rest. That is because it is still wet. It will get lighter as it hardens.
9-21-00, row 14 is finished all the way around the keep. Now we need to start working on the inside.
This is our friend Lazarus "bug zapper" Lizard. He and many of his relatives live near the castle.
This is what the inside looks like. The blockwork in the lower left is someday going to be a fireplace.
10-3-2000 We now have most of the wall studs, some of the floor joists and some of the plywood flooring installed.
This is Brad Hurliman who drove 7 hours each way to come up to visit and help out. Thanks Brad.
10-20-2000 - We now have all of the joists and plywood floor installed. The openings in the floor are for the stairway, fireplace, ductwork, etc. We still need to finish putting on a coat of paint to help protect the wood during the winter.
10-20-2000 - I finished cutting and installing the stair stringers that will hold the steps to the second floor. I have installed the temporary steps, but don't have that photo. The finish steps will not be installed till we are nearly finished with the keep. The white pipe to the left of the stairs is the 4 inch soil stack / vent pipe which connects to the pipes beneath the basement floor, and will eventually go all the way up through the roof.