Crack Repair, Cocina wall and South wall

Since there is so much work being completed all at once, this entry is chock full of photos.

Exterior Walls:

The exterior walls are undergoing crack repair. As you can see in the following pictures the cracks are first scraped to remove loose mud and plaster. After they have been scraped and vacuumed, DCU crew member, Bruce Ihle, sprays water and wets the cracks. He then uses a grout bag to inject mud into the cracks. In photo #4, DCU crew member, Pancho Villa, coats and scores the mud plaster over the cracks. It will dry for 3-4 days.

Cocina Wall:

The cocina wall is almost complete. These photos show the wall during construction including the wall being constructed with the historic opening to allow smoke from the bracero to escape. The last pictures shows work progressing this week. The rake of the roof is being constructed with the adobe bricks.

South wall:

The DCU and CCC crew has also been working on the top gable end of the south wall. The gable end is at the top of the south end of the building and therefore the scaffolding for the project is a serious feat. A large ladder leads to the top of the scaffolding where the work is taking place. -JK

Cocina Walls are Almost Complete!

Last week (April 7-11) work on the Castro Adobe focused on the cocina walls. Most of the work was concentrated on the north cocina wall. Last week the first courses of the wall were laid by brick making volunteers from last summer. Later, the DCU and CCC crews continued work on the wall (see Photo #1). Work is expected to be completed on the north wall in the coming week.

On the interior of the cocina wall, the original shelves were incorporated with the new adobe wall (see Photo #2).

The doorway which led from the cocina to the modern kitchen was filled-in (historically there had been no door from the interior of the cocina to the main building) utilizing new and original adobe bricks (see Photo #3).

The east wall (where the bathroom in the cocina was previously located) was completed (see Photo #4).

-JK

Brick Making Volunteers Lay a Brick

On Wednesday, April 2, over 20 volunteers from the summer 2007 brick making project were given a great opportunity to be able to lay one of the bricks in the north cocina wall. The adobe bricks laid in the wall were the bricks volunteers had made in July and August 2007. Along with the assistance of the DCU (Direct Construction Unit) and the CCC crew, the volunteers were able to spread the mortar and help set the brick in place. We will post pictures of the event soon, but both the Santa Cruz Sentinel and the Register-Pajaronian were on site to document the incredible event. Check back for pictures of the event. Thank you to all the volunteers who made the bricks last summer...and made the seismic stabilization project a reality!-JK

Follow these links to the newspaper articles:
Santa Cruz Sentinel http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_8793274

Register-Pajaronian http://www.register-pajaronian.com/V2_news_articles.php?heading=0&story_id=3881&page=72