Construction
In the Racquet Club Estates subdivision, all of the homes designed by architecture firm Palmer and Krisel and constructed by the Alexander Construction Company had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Every home was built on a 35x35 foot slab, and sized at 1,225 square feet, they were placed on generous 10,000 sf lots. The original sales prices ranged from $16,950 to $17,950 and the down payment was $950. A 15x30 foot swimming pool (with electric light!) was $3,525 extra.
Lots were laid out before the streets were paved, requiring workers to park their cars on a hard desert surface some distance away and walking in to the job site carrying their tools. A carpenter's toolbox in those days contained a 16 oz. hammer, a fine tooth hand saw, chalk line and nail pullers.
Rough plumbing was put into trenches dug into the desert sand which were filled in before the foundation forms were built on top. All of the plumbing was iron pipe which was sweated together with leaded solder. Then the concrete was poured on top.
Once the concrete was barely dry enough to walk on, a journeyman carpenter would lay out the exterior and interior walls by snapping chalk lines onto the slab. Since there were only two elevations, entry door in front or entry door through the breezeway, and no matter the elevation, the house was a 35x35 foot square making the layout simple. The layout man gave a list to the saw man with all of the cuts that were required. When the saw man was done, all of the 2x4's used for the framing and the 4x4 posts that the roof beams rested on were exactly the right size and the saw man moved on to the next building lot. Mistakes were avoided since carpenters only had fine toothed hand saws in their tool boxes.
Exterior walls were built on the slab and lifted into place, and bolted to the concrete. Once the walls were up, the roof beams were set on the appropriate posts that were incorporated into the exterior walls. It was only then that the home took on a different look. There were five different roof styles: Butterfly; Flat Roof; Narrow Gable; Wide Gable; and Side Gable. Once the roof beams were in place, the carpenters laid the tongue and groove boards (T&G) on the beams and pounded them together with a small sledge hammer. The boards were nailed to the beams by hand using 16 penny nails. The T&G was then hot mopped with tar and covered with gravel.
In the meantime, the other trades were busy inside the house. Cabinet makers installed the kitchen, the cabinets were made in cabinet shops off-site and stored in the Alexanders' warehouse on Radio Road until they were needed. Plumbers connected the rough plumbing to the fixtures. Drywall didn't exist yet, so beadboard was installed over the interior framing and stucco (with an asbestos binder for strength) was plastered over the bead board. Electricians wired all of the rooms from the central panel. Finally painters finished the interior, carpet and flooring was installed and the keys were handed over to the owners.
Elapsed time from pouring the concrete to owner move-in: Three weeks.
Special thanks to Joe Contreras, a carpenter for the Alexander Construction Company from 1957 to 1965 for this information.
Lots were laid out before the streets were paved, requiring workers to park their cars on a hard desert surface some distance away and walking in to the job site carrying their tools. A carpenter's toolbox in those days contained a 16 oz. hammer, a fine tooth hand saw, chalk line and nail pullers.
Rough plumbing was put into trenches dug into the desert sand which were filled in before the foundation forms were built on top. All of the plumbing was iron pipe which was sweated together with leaded solder. Then the concrete was poured on top.
Once the concrete was barely dry enough to walk on, a journeyman carpenter would lay out the exterior and interior walls by snapping chalk lines onto the slab. Since there were only two elevations, entry door in front or entry door through the breezeway, and no matter the elevation, the house was a 35x35 foot square making the layout simple. The layout man gave a list to the saw man with all of the cuts that were required. When the saw man was done, all of the 2x4's used for the framing and the 4x4 posts that the roof beams rested on were exactly the right size and the saw man moved on to the next building lot. Mistakes were avoided since carpenters only had fine toothed hand saws in their tool boxes.
Exterior walls were built on the slab and lifted into place, and bolted to the concrete. Once the walls were up, the roof beams were set on the appropriate posts that were incorporated into the exterior walls. It was only then that the home took on a different look. There were five different roof styles: Butterfly; Flat Roof; Narrow Gable; Wide Gable; and Side Gable. Once the roof beams were in place, the carpenters laid the tongue and groove boards (T&G) on the beams and pounded them together with a small sledge hammer. The boards were nailed to the beams by hand using 16 penny nails. The T&G was then hot mopped with tar and covered with gravel.
In the meantime, the other trades were busy inside the house. Cabinet makers installed the kitchen, the cabinets were made in cabinet shops off-site and stored in the Alexanders' warehouse on Radio Road until they were needed. Plumbers connected the rough plumbing to the fixtures. Drywall didn't exist yet, so beadboard was installed over the interior framing and stucco (with an asbestos binder for strength) was plastered over the bead board. Electricians wired all of the rooms from the central panel. Finally painters finished the interior, carpet and flooring was installed and the keys were handed over to the owners.
Elapsed time from pouring the concrete to owner move-in: Three weeks.
Special thanks to Joe Contreras, a carpenter for the Alexander Construction Company from 1957 to 1965 for this information.
