The garage begins taking shape. We started calling it "the church".

My FIRST window!!!! This was a return item I got for cheap (hence the "wrong" marking).

I carved out the ziggurats on the front wall of the garage with a hand saw and large sanding block. Messy sculpting!

When I realized how TALL the garage was, I decided to make better use of the upper space, and built a storage loft one day.

Chato and his boyz iz workin on my copper roof.

Man, I LOVE that copper roof! The exterior will eventually be a fine textured, 'stucco-like', light beige (typical Southwest color) finish.

I waterproofed the two retaining walls with an acrylic polymer cementitious (I don't know either) EIFS coating.

My FIRST day with grid electricity! Yes, that's me with my hand in the meter box whilst it's raining.

The second bench was poured after I acquired a concrete vibrator, to help eliminate air bubbles in the concrete.

Here, Dwayne helps me secure the two sides of the concrete forms for the pony wall that will eventually support my breakfast bar.

The entryway and stairway forms in progress.

I glued pieces of polyurethane crown moulding to the faces of my stairway forms to create an embedded pattern in the concrete.

Dwayne ties up rebar, while Rick looks for tools I may have dropped into the wetset block cavities which will shortly be filled with concrete.

Concrete pour #2 is done! Once again, I've underestimated the complexity of a concrete pour. I WILL HIRE SOMEONE ELSE FOR THE NEXT ONE!!

Shortly after the initial setup of the concrete, I was starting to spray it down regularly.

A week later, I removed the forms to reveal the entryway steps, and curved wall. The polyurethane crown moulding forms worked GREAT!

This pony wall form (made of wood-grained siding) blew out during the pour, but we barely rescued it. I think it looks like the hull of an old boat.