Interior walls are textured

Report by Dennis Casebier
Photos by Dennis Casebier and Chris Ervin

The "mudders" were here fairly early this morning. They've had their special mixer machine chugging away over there all day. Right now it is quiet. That's because they've finished! The mudding and texturing is done and they are now cleaning up. They won't be back tomorrow.

Also today Phil Motz and Gus Lind worked on the water system with the result that the new well and associated pressure tank are now on line. There is water pressure down to the edge of the Library/Depot. All Mr. Cordova will have to do to put water in the building is turn one valve at the edge of the building.

With the drywall and mudding done that means the interior of the building will be ready for painting. After the painting the electrical fixtures can be put on. After that flooring can be put down. We're rolling along!

The wind we had over the weekend has continued, although today it is somewhat diminished. The temperatures have continued warm.

Ready to fight a fire!

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

The drywallers were here through some time today. Phil informs me they didn't quite finish and they plan to come back tomorrow.

The hydrant for the Library fire protection system was completed before noon today and water flowed! Phil Motz came over the FRS announcing that the two 5,000 gallon tanks were approaching "full." He called a gathering at the hydrant at 6:15 PM for anyone interested.

There was a ceremonial opening of the valve with the tanks pretty much full to see how far the hydrant would fling water -- proving once again we'll grasp most any opportunity to have a celebration out here! It threw water seven feet from the hydrant under the force of gravity alone.

Gus and Stella Lind, Kristy and Phil Motz, and Mark Wire wrestled the water project to completion this morning. Congratulations and thanks to all who helped with this over the past several weeks.

Drywallers begin and 6-inch line fetched

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

The drywallers showed up fairly early this morning and are well into the job. The fellow in charge on site told me they expect to be completed by Sunday. The guys here now just do the initial installation and others come along behind them to do the finish work.

Gus Lind and I went into Fort Mohave and Bullhead City to procure the supplies for the fire protection water system as well as conduit for telephone lines.

The ditch for the 6" line is about complete. Gus hopes to complete it this afternoon. Then I expect installation of the new line and hookup of the two 5,000 gallon water tanks to the 6" line and a hydrant will get installed over the next two days.

Water line dug

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

Lots going on at Goffs today. We closed the day yesterday with a terrific wind. By this morning it had died out. But not for long. It started up again mid-morning and here at mid-afternoon it is a strong wind again.

General Contractor Dan Cordova and two of his guys were here this morning early. They had intended to put thresholds down at the doors. They did some of the prep work but that's about it.

The bad news is that Dan discovered pretty serious damage to a couple of the doors. They were left open, a strong wind caught them, and the result is split wood on the frames. Dan is assessing the damage and what it will take to fix it.

Building Inspector Steve Given was here this morning. He inspected the insulation job and the septic system. We passed in both categories.

As I write this Gus and Phil are out there digging the ditch for the water line that will connect the two 5,000 gallon water tanks with a hydrant required by the County Fire Department. Gus Lind and I will be going into Fort Mojave tomorrow morning to pick up the six inch water pipe. It will take another day to bury the pipe and make the necessary connections to be fully up to speed on this.

Gus Lind was at the controls of the Greening Tractor digging the water line ditch. Gail Andress is off for a couple of days on sick leave, but you can't hold him down long.

The drywall for the interior of the entire Library/Depot building was delivered this morning. It was off-loaded by hand into the rooms where it'll be needed. I believe the dry-wallers may be here to begin their work as early as tomorrow.

Stairway to second floor finished

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

General Contractor Cordova with two men spent the day here. They were taking care of some odds and ends. The most significant task was to finish off the staircase on the steps to the second floor of the Depot. They did that and it looks very nice.

Also today Phil Motz and Gus and Stella Lind strung wire to some ceiling fan positions in the new building that had not been on the original plans and hence had not been put in place.

Perhaps most importantly, we finalized the plans today for that portion of the water system that will provide water for fire fighting around the new building. Now it will be only a matter of several days and we'll have that system in.

Ready to go

Report by Dennis Casebier
Photos by Dennis Casebier and Roger Mitchell

Today, the "A" Team, consisting of Phil Motz (in charge), Gail Andress, Gus & Stella Lind, and Morris Swain assembled on the west side of the Library/Depot with all the materials in hand to install the septic system that will support the new facility.

At the controls of the Jack & June Greening Tractor, Gail Andress did the digging, with shovel accompaniment provided by the Linds and Morris Swain.

With the big hole dug, Gail lowered the new 1,000 gallon septic tank into the hole.

Meanwhile, the crew had the sewer line ready to connect from the building.

Gail then dug the ditch for the 50-foot leach line and dumped the required amount of leach rock in the bottom. The leach line was laid on the rock and more rock placed on top of that -- according to code.

The job will be finished tomorrow by laying newspaper on top of the rock on top of the leach line. Then the whole thing will be covered with dirt.

While the leach line was being laid the new septic tank was filled with water. Next thing you know, we'll be almost "ready to go," so to speak.

Tanks, a lot

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

We are experiencing beautiful weather. Our high temperature today was over 80 degrees with only a breeze. Things have been pretty quiet around the construction site for the past several days, until today.

Rudy of C & R Tanks of Tulare, CA arrived at about 10:00 AM with our truck load of tanks. We led him in through the service entrance and up to the job site. He nosed his big rig out towards the Stotts Stamp Mill gate and then backed in along side the pad constructed by Gail Andress where the two 5,000 gallon tanks are to go.


The straps were removed from the three round tanks, they were rolled off, shifted into position, and set down. The whole process took no more than 30 minutes. We positioned the big tanks so their fill holes and drains line up with about six feet between them. This will facilitate getting them all hooked up to the water system.


For the fourth tank, the 1,000 gallon septic tank, a different procedure was used. Gus and Morris put straps around the tank then lifted it off the truck with the Greening Tractor. The tank was then moved over near the spot where it is to be buried.


The total delivery was of two 5,000 gallon water tanks for fire fighting purposes, one 2,500 gallon tank for potable water, and one 1,000 gallon sepic tank.

Stairway to second floor built

Report by Dennis Casebier
Photos by Chris Ervin

There was a lot of rain in the East Mojave today. It rained off and on here in Goffs all day but it was not particularly heavy. Searchlight, on the other hand, experienced heavy rain more than once today and then heavy fog late in the day.

In spite of the bad weather much was accomplished on the Library/Depot project. General Contractor Dan Cordova and two of his crew showed up early in the morning and spent the day building the stairs to the second floor of the depot. For the first time there's a convenient way to reach that space. Before you had to use a ladder.

A crew consisting of Gail Andress, Gus and Stella Lind, and even myself through part of the day, laid a 2" water line all along the west side of the Library/Depot. That included digging the ditch (that's Gail's specialty using the backhoe), laying the pipe, and getting it glued together. Gail then covered the ditch and smoothed it out.

It was a long working day under adverse weather conditions, but the job is done. That finishes most of what we can do in the way of laying pipes now until the water tanks are delivered and put in place.

MDHCA Director Russ Kaldenberg spent a good part of the day here today. He'd been following construction progress on this blog, but today was the first he'd actually seen it. He got here just in time to be able to access the second story of the Depot with the new stairs.

The electrician Fred Compton was here today. He brought a load of electrical supplies and is due back tomorrow.

It is cold and wet here in Goffs tonight.

Outside painting finished

Report by Dennis Casebier
Photos by Chris Ervin

This was quite a day. As previously reported, the Case backhoe tractor was down due to the failure of a seal in a hydraulic piston. Gail Andress got up early this morning so as to be at the Case tractor parts place in Las Vegas when they opened at 6:00 AM. He bought the necessary part and then high-tailed it for Goffs.

Gail arrived here at 7:30 AM and then he, Gus and Stella Lind, and Morris Swain worked for four hours to get the piston repaired. And, lo and behold, it worked just fine! (Gail said he used to make repairs like this all the time, but he hadn't done one in 40 years!).

The crew was back out there right after lunch. They dug a trench along on the west side of the building adjacent to where the stairs will be, laid the water pipe, connected a pipe to the input to the new building, and got it all covered back up again. It was getting dark by the time the job was finished. It was necessary to get that stretch of pipe laid because Mr. Cordova plans to work at that spot tomorrow to build the stairs.

The plumber was here today running a line into the attic for humidifiers. He made other adjustments to the water system.

The painters finished with outside painting today. They finished all the yellow and green.

Mr. Cordova thinks the roofers will come out soon to get the tar paper on the roof to make it water proof. He will call early tomorrow morning to get a weather check before sending the roofer out.

The weather today was pretty good. Not especially cold early-on, but by late afternoon there was a stiff breeze out of the west and it was colder.

Spirits are high at Goffs as this beautiful new building comes into focus. A lot of good work was done at Goffs by a lot of good people today.

Many highlights during a busy, full day

Report by Dennis Casebier

It was 42 degrees on our front porch at 6:30 AM with little or no breeze. By 11:00 AM it got up to 60 degrees with a pretty good little breeze out of the northeast.

The painters arrived just before 7:00 AM. The new building got a lot more yellow color yesterday. Much of today was spent touching up the green trim.

Building inspectors Gary Given and Steve Given were here this morning and toured the construction site.

Gail Andress and Gus Lind completed the pad for the 2,500 gallon potable water tanks today along with considerable work on our drainage system. That's the good news.

The bad news is that there was a failure in one of the hydraulic pistons that operates the backhoe on the tractor. Inasmuch as we were about to start on ditches for water lines, requiring the backhoe to be in constant and heavy use, that puts us in a bit of a bind.

But you can't hold down Messrs. Andress and Lind. Gail went back home to Nelson this afternoon and got on the phone to the Case Tractor dealer and parts supplier in Las Vegas and made arrangements to pick up the needed part early in the morning before he comes over tomorrow. Once here, he and Gus plan to fix the piston and, assuming everything goes OK, we'll be back in business and can start digging the ditches for water lines.

As if that wasn't enough, beginning at about 2:30 PM we were hit by a squall, accompanied by lightning, thunder, and even some rain. It was severe enough that we turned off the breaker on the deep well pump and shut down the computers to avoid any damage from stray lightning.

That wasn't the last of the highlights for today. A break in the clouds permitted observation of the full moon rising in partial eclipse just as it was getting dark.

But now at 7:00 PM we're back about where we started this morning. Heavy overcast, very little wind, and about 43 degrees on our front porch. The full moon has disappeared behind the clouds.

Painting and padding

Report and photos from Dennis Casebier

The painters showed up at 7:00 AM this morning. The weather was nice and continued nice all day. The temperatures got up to 70 degrees with little or no wind.

There are two painters: Brandon Bates and Rich Hernandez. As with everyone that has come out to work on our project, they are really nice guys and very competent. They painters worked through the day until 5:30 and got a lot done.

There's a lot more yellow on our beautiful new building than there was early this morning. They will be back early tomorrow and we can hope the good weather will continue.

Gail Andress arrived on site at 7:30 AM this morning. He manned the tractor and, assisted by Morris Swain and Gus Lind, worked all day to build the pad that will hold the two 5,000 gallon water tanks. It took all day.

Gail plans to be back tomorrow morning early and the day will be spent digging ditches and laying pipe. So we're beginning to make progress on the water system.

We're going great guns at Goffs!

Painters arrive

Report by Dennis Casebier

It was about 35 degrees on the front porch at 6:30 AM. There's a bit of a breeze this morning.

As I come back south on and along Lanfair Road I always angle over and walk through the construction site. I was surprised to find the painters there getting ready for several days of painting.

The guy in charge is Brandon and his work force is Rich. Nice guys. As a convenience to us ditch diggers and backhoe operators, they are going to do the west side fist since we have a tentative plan of laying a 2" water line along there tomorrow in a ditch to be excavated by Gail Andress.

As I understand it the weather should be clear through sometime Wednesday or Thursday when some kind of system might come in. Hopefully they'll get the painting finished.

This morning Gus and Morris are busy moving scrap lumber away from the construction site out to the lumber yard so it won't be in our way when we are digging tomorrow.

Picking up the wood scraps

Report by Dennis Casebier

Well, the Cordova crew is gone. And guess what? We're having the most beautiful day we've had in a long time. It got up to about 70 today and no wind! Now isn't that the way it is. Those poor guys have been struggling out there against the wind for weeks. Then they leave and the next day is like spring!

Gus and Morris have begun moving the lumber scraps. We are laying claim to them to use for firewood in the schoolhouse. So they are using the big bucket on the tractor to load the lumber scraps and take them to the lumber yard on the 5th segment. They'll have to dry out a bit before they will make good firewood. But there's a lot of scraps so we've got something of a windfall there.

Otherwise, nothing to report on the Library/Depot construction project today.

Framing nearing completion

Report by Dennis Casebier

Gail Andress was scheduled to come over this morning from Nelson, Nevada. He made it OK. He, Gus Lind, and I assembled out by the new well and redesigned how we were going to position the two 5,000 gallon tanks and the associated pipes. At that point we agreed to abandon the digging project for the day because of the weather.

Cold strong winds were blowing out of the northeast. When I went out on our front porch at 6:30 AM this morning it was 42 degrees. By 9:00 AM, instead of warming up the temperature had fallen to 39 degrees and it subsequently went lower. So we called a "stand down" until next week. That should work out better anyway because we might have gotten in General Contractor Cordova's way today, and he and his crew will be gone next week.

Dan says he and his crew will be through up through the "combo" inspection) by tomorrow afternoon. After that it'll be up to the subcontractors. Dan will be out from time to time, but I believe his crew will be done with the framing job.

The electrician is presently scheduled to be here Monday, 25 February 2008.

Dan & Crew are working on the soffits covering the underside of the roof overhangs. In other words, the underside of the overhangs will be boxed in. That'll look a lot nicer and it'll permit the roofers to use longer nails on the shingles which will make them stay down better in the wind.

Dan hopes to get the stairs to the upper floor of the Depot completed by tomorrow.

At exactly 12:00 noon the temperature on the front porch has risen some but it is still blowing a gale.

Today is the 18th anniversary of our taking over the Goffs Schoolhouse property. What will the next 18 years bring?

Electrical wiring has been pulled

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

Sacrifices in the face of adversity are becoming commonplace around here.

By the terms of our agreement for construction of the Library/Depot, we are required to run an adequate power line up into the new structure. After that, General Contractor Cordova is responsible for electrifying the building.

As those of you who are following this project know, we arranged with Southern California Edison for a 400 amp service for the new building. This was accomplished last year through a major effort on the part of our own director-electrician Phil Motz and the assistance of several other volunteers. The 400 amp service was brought in and is at the ready in a new Power House that was constructed by our volunteers.

The immediate remaining challenge was to get that power conveyed underground from the Power House some 200+ feet to the Library/Depot building. This past week Gail Andress came over from Nelson, Nevada and used our backhoe to dig a ditch for the required 2" conduit line. Phil Motz and others laid the conduit and then the ditch was covered.

The final task was to get three strands of "000" power line and a smaller ground line through the conduit. Phil laid his plans carefully for this but got skunked by the severe weather Thursday and Friday of this past week. It was just too cold and windy. Not only that, but we are up against a time schedule because Phil is poised to return to Indiana this coming week.

So, taking advantage of a bit of softening in the temperature and wind, Phil and his crew tackled the job today. In addition to Phil, his team consisted of; Gus Lind, Morris Swain, Dorothy Beal, Bob Beal, and Hugh Brown. Working aginst difficult odds and adverse weather the job was accomplished today.

If you go out there to the new Library/Depot building, you'll see the wires coming out into the building right where they are supposed to be. Then, walk a couple of hundred feet to the Power House, where the 400 amps are just waiting to be put to work, there's the other end of the wires.

Much credit goes to this crew and especially Phil who designed the whole thing, procured the conduit and wire, and organized and supervised the team that saw it through. The wire was laid in the best spirit of the Friends of the Mojave Road and the Mojave Desert Heritage & Cultural Association at no cost to the MDHCA except possibly for the materials.

The job is done. That's the bottom line. There'll be no holdup now. The subcontractor in charge of electricals can step right up and finish the job and electrify the building at the appropriate time in the construction cycle.

Three cheers for Phil Motz and his wire pullers!

Framed walls go up

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

The exciting news is that most if not all the framed walls of the Library/Depot are up. Dan Cordova and crew are here through tomorrow squaring it all up. Looks great. I have a wonderful view of the new building from my office window across Lanfair Road.

A lumber truck arrived this morning with the plywood to be used for the sheer panels.

The framing crew's progress almost ground to a halt mid-day. They needed the special heavy duty square washers for the anchor bolts and didn't have any. They are required by code. Mr. Cordova checked with Lowes and Home Depot yesterday evening and they didn't have any. A truck was coming out with the plywood so he asked the supplier to bring some out. They didn't have any either.

Goffians to the rescue! Once Dan told me what the problem was we produced a whole box of them within five minutes. Bill Fullerton [rest in peace] had squirreled them away in the metal cabinet behind the AT&T shed. So the crew was able to go foward and raise the walls.

Slab poured and lumber delivered

Report and photos by Dennis Casebier

Today was a very busy day for the Goffs Cultural Center with all activities centering around construction of the new Library/Depot.

Craig Merriam's concrete crew came on to the property at 6:00 AM. The four concrete trucks from Mohave Valley began arriving a little before 7:00 AM, staggered at about fifteen minute intervals. This was in addition to the three trucks that poured the footings Friday.

The five men comprising the concrete crew worked frantically handling that amount of mud. But in not much more than a hour and a half the footprint of the slab was filled in and the four trucks had come and gone.

The crew spent much of the rest of the day finishing it off. The result is a really fine-looking slab upon which the Library/Depot will be based.

At mid-afternoon, a huge lumber delivery truck arrived with a heavy load from Palm Springs. The contractors had all left. They had indicated to us where they'd like the lumber placed, so it fell to the Goffs crew to direct the placement of the lumber and assist the driver in the actual unloading.

That required nearly three hours - it was getting dark and a cold breeze had come up before that work was done.

So now there's a massive assortment of lumber out there ready to be made into a building and we understand the contractor will be back tomorrow morning and begin nailing boards together! This is pretty exciting stuff for us MDHCA members at Goffs.

For our part, the following people were present and helping out as they could throughout the day: Gus and Stella Lind, Ron Shepard, John Harrington, Hugh & Carol Brown, Morris & Judy Swain, Jan Sears, Jerry Sears, and Dennis & Jo Ann Casebier.

Steel is ready for inspection

Bay window footing forms and steel for the depot slab.

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

Craig Merriam with his crew arrived here before 7:15 AM. General contractor Dan Cordova was also here this morning. Here's a summary of the work done today;

The "steel" is in place and ready for concrete to be delivered. It looks good. Craig expects to call for about three 10-yard trucks Thursday and maybe five or more on Friday. He'll have the normal crew of three or four here Thursday but maybe even one extra on Friday. Of course Craig will be out here Thursday and Friday. I get the impression all our concrete may be poured this week.

Gus Lind was here all day providing contact backup with Craig and for awhile with Dan Cordova while we had appointments in town.

I'll be interfacing with the building inspector tomorrow. It appears everyone has done their homework so we don't expect any issues.

John E. Masterson from Rinker Materials of Mohave Valley was here this afternoon. He and Craig went over the ground and the approaches the concrete trucks are to use. Gus will is firing up the tractor late this afternoon to smooth out two of the approaches the concrete trucks will have to use.

We are grateful Gus was here today. He was out on the grounds most of the day interfacing with Craig and Dan.

It was cold and windy in Goffs today. Even colder and windier in Bullhead City.

Steel and bush whacking

The concrete crew constructs the form for the stem wall.

Report and photo by Dennis Casebier

The concrete crew - four strong - started work a little after six this morning. They are leveling out the ground by hand and have also brought a trailer load of "steel" (various kinds of reinforcing steel). They are determined to be ready for inspection on Wednesday.

At 7:30 AM the temperature was 34 degrees and a bit of a breeze.

A little before noon Jo Ann and I were out at the work site. Craig was talking about trying to get concrete lined up from Rinker of Mohave Valley. He has hopes of getting some delivered later this week.

Jerry and Jan Sears, with assistance from Gus on the tractor, have been working for a week now clearing burro brushes from in between the creosote bushes between the west side of the Library/Depot construction site and the caboose. This is a precaution in case of wildfire from the west.