The Opal

Nailing up chicken wire on the frame house, or using a chalk line, or checking a level at a glance gets to be easy. We install double-pane windows pressurized with argon between the panes for elevations over 4500´. And use pick and shovel to dig for the footing for the annex. Lay cinder blocks, and check levels. Pour the cement floor, and use wood float and steel trowel to finish the surface as it sets. Nailing into rough, dense, knotted two-by-twelves, or using a chalk line to mark the locations of the fire blocks, or checking the level of a stained eight-by-ten window header gets to be easier. In nailing up chicken wire, we know how to cut for the canal, pull the wire up over the fire wall, make cuts for the corners, tuck it around back, and nail two-head nails into the stud. And when the footing is slightly uneven and we are laying a first row of cinder blocks, know that a small pebble under a corner often levels the top to the row. And, starting on rock lath, the various stages of a house - cutting vigas, cleaning aspens for latillas, installing oak doors, or plastering the adobe wall - are facets of a cut opal.