Final floor prep

A little tamping and then we can lay down the foam before the geothermal tubing is clipped in place.

A couple of passes and we're ready

Cath put a layer of 1 inch foam around the perimeter for a thermal break to the side foundation

Here's the floor foam ready to lay down

The finished product

Kieth's boys came and put down the geothermal tubing with a test to 50 pounds so the concrete boys will know if they spring a leak

Temporary pre-pour geothermal setup

Piping in place

Finish grading for water run-off

Collecting shale rocks for the finish around the two front pillars

We are scheduled for concrete on Monday, weather permitting.

Len

More shop progress

Amazing what a couple of nice days can do.

Roof sheeting going up the easy way

Finishing the south side

Black roofing paper secured with strips till the roofing material arrives

Trenching for geothermal and water to the shop

Piping at the shop

Ross and I on a break

The gravel for the floor

Ross moving gravel

Final leveling before the foam

More to come while the weather lasts.

Len

Fashion statements and steps forward

Over the weekend some actual progress was made.  The weather smartened up for Sunday when we had 24 hours without a downpour!   When Cath came out after cleaning the Kelowna house and saying a final goodbye, she did not come empty-handed.  While some might think the mosquito netting is a fashion statement, we say otherwise.

Keeps the buzzing to a minimum

Over the week, Len and Ross got the walls of the shop up.

The shop on Friday

Len spent the weekend finishing up so that the roof can go on come Monday

Len up a ladder

Putting on the facing for the facia

Meanwhile, Cath loaded the truck with garbage wood, cleaned up the lot, and went on Mosquito environment  destruction patrol (MEDP) filling in all the puddles around , and (of course) did the cooking and cleaning.  Did you know they are reporting 200 times the normal number of mosquitos?  Also, they are 200 times their regular size (small birds).

The rubber boots are a must while on MEDP (and quite the fashion statement)

Ended the weekend watching Netflix.  Saw "Exit through the gift shop", a documentary about street art, among other things.  We recommend it as a nice distraction from the buzzing of the bugs.

Going shopping

No rain yet so we did a little fill around the entrance.  The big job today will be setting up the walls for the shop.  Each wall was retrieved from the two piles of prefab and hauled to the foundation with the bobcat and a set of forks.

No holes to fall into

These are the walls we set up today

There are bolts that I set into the concrete when we poured and they must go through the bottom plate of each wall section.  We had to measure for these and drill accurately so the sections would drop into place and a nut and washer tightened, would hold them down. We will get to the other walls and trusses tomorrow.

The view coming up the driveway

Just one package of stuff left over by the property line.  

Left over drain rock for drainage in front of the garage etc.

Last couple of walls to go up for the front door of the shop.

Should be another busy day tomorrow

Len

Build your shop on a firm foundation

Ross and I worked for a few hours on Saturday and got all the forms off.  A lot of muck and rain later but great to have it all done. We even loaded it all into my truck and trailer. Well this is the big trip.  I will take back the forms to the concrete company and then I am off to Kelowna for the last move. We were hoping to be able to put our stuff directly into the shop but the rain gods had other plans.  I figure we are at least 2 weeks behind where we would have been with better weather. The old adage rings true, life is what happens when we're busy making plans. The sun will come out and we'll be wishing it was nice and cool again. It will be nice to see the hordes of mosquitos disappear.

Forms loaded and ready to go in the morning

The finished foundation for the shop.

A little dirt and we're ready for the walls.

Set up to unload the last bit of furniture

Len

Another day another concrete pour

All prepped for the foundation pour for the shop.  It's like prepping for a paint job, 2 days of prep and 2 hours of pour.

Sonna tubes in place

Foundation forms all set up

These ties go through to bars on the other side.

After the concrete sets the ties are hit downward and break off.  You just slide them off of the bars when you are done. Sounds easy enough.

Concrete done and all attach bolts in place

Septic all finished and buried

Our own Ogopogo

Another day that was nice to have finished.  Tomorrow we clear off all of the forms.

Len

Progress

Some photos of todays progress

Rebar in place and waiting for concrete

Septic system install

The tank is in

Starting the drain line

Our new view

More tomorrow, Len

Forming fun with Kyla

It was so nice to hear that Kyla was coming up for the weekend to give me a hand.  We really got a lot accomplished.

We started on the footings for the shop 

Between rains we almost got the footings finished by Saturday dinner time.

Kyla measuring for 16 inches and nailing cross-bracing

Finished forms

Then we tackled the front step footings for the last of the timber installation.

First we had to remove the temporary 2 x 6 posts 

Our big task was changing the posts to get them out of the way

Digging the holes for the foundations

One of the boxes for concrete ready with rebar, thanks to Kyla.

Our new split entrance

Tomorrow I will get some rebar for the shop footings and have a visit with the engineer to approve the job.  The concrete arrives on Tuesday so I'll have to be ready.

Goodnight and thank you Kyla a whole bunch.