More trenching and splitting

Melissa and Victoria put in another great day of slave labour.  Melissa was breaking up a chunk of concrete left behind by the pumper truck and then it was time to put the log splitter to work.  While this was going on I was finishing up the window move.  I had to move the kitchen window over 10 inches so the sink cabinet would be centered.

Take your pick

 Cath and Melissa spent a lot of time splitting and stacking our fir  that we cut up a couple of years ago

One of the many large logs for splitting

And hauled by Ms. muscles

Window work

Ten inches to the right

We were able to get Ross today for some electrical trenching

And then it was dinner time

Happy dog, happy Victoria

Victoria writes "I'm not very good at titles"

Grampa finishing the parging

First coat of paint on the top unit.

Thursday was a nice day and so Grampa decided to finish up the parging.  Lucky choice because as soon as he finished, the skies darkened, the wind came up and they had a real downpour and thunderstorm.    There is lots to be done inside, so he started putting up walls upstairs.

building interior walls

On Friday afternoon, the other half of the Dunkleys, Mom and I, arrived and Grampa put us to work.

We started on our first job to unscrew screws from  plywood strips that were used on the shed to hold down the  black tarpaper.

Mom sorting the plywood strips from the ones Grampa had for the siding installations. 

Miss muscles moving long two by four's to make a wall.

Grampa and I laying out the studs for the bedroom

We are making the wall separating walk in closet to the bathroom.

Mom still sorting the plywood strips

She's putting the water proof ones under that black tarp and putting the ones Len made into the firewood pile.

Today were going to be splitting firewood and building a wall. Grandma and Mom are getting two pocket doors at Bridge Lake about a half an hour away. Will be needing to get that done then Grampa's going to move a window ten inches to the right.

Victoria

Full steam ahead

Now that we have a basement floor there seems to be no end to the fun we can have.  I will do all of the walls and put a door in and then the wiring and plumbing and then drywall and then paint and then flooring and then trim and then we can sit and watch a movie. I can hardly wait.

We had two of our favorite visitors by today.  Cathryn and Blair stopped over on their road trip to the  Washington coast. Cathryn helped with the cleanup around the shop leftover from the roofers and Blair gave me a hand moving the kitchen cabinets into the shop.  

On their Victory anniversary edition

 Framing is always fun and challenging as you never know what you'll run into.  I added a hole in the wall which will eventually become our media cabinet.

Not a bowling alley any more

 Cath has been busy preparing a door for the basement and now it is in place.  It looks great and fits pretty good too.

A pile of cuts from 9 foot studs in the foreground. Good fire starter

Sure matches the decor

I got three companies doing quotes for our geothermal drilling and they all seem pretty busy.  We might not get it done until the end of August.  We'll wait for all the proposals and make a decision.

Back to framing the office and bath upstairs for tomorrow. Tricky as it has to be done around the large beams that are under the loft.

Len

Len fights back

Take THAT!  After having ponds and puddles for over a month, Len decided that it was time to fight back.  He got some gutters, down spouts and lengths of pipe and got busy.  It meant more digging, which didn't thrill him, but he got it done.

Gutter goes up

Pipe in the ground means more digging

Gutter on the garage

It didn't rain all day so at least he was working in pleasant conditions.

Meanwhile, I added some privacy (?) to the "bathroom" in the basement.

Also put another coat on the basement door which we hope to hang in a day or two.

Only a little sprinkle heard overnight and today is beautiful. More about that in the next blog.
Cath

Things great and small

Over the past couple of days we have had some progress that may seem minor, but impacts greatly on our standard of living.  Here is a picture of the entrance deck.  Not 100% finished, but looking good.  This limits the amount of muck that gets tracked into the house and keeps us high and dry above the pond that forms when it rains (daily).

This took longer than Len had hoped for, but isn't it lovely?

Yes the garage is clean enough to park my car out of the rain

Now even I admit that getting into a dry car from a dry garage is more along the line of luxury than necessity but consider the next accomplishment: a functioning toilet.  That makes life civilized in so many ways.  

The garden hose into the tank has since been replace with a fitting and automatic filling - truly heaven!

Now getting downstairs to said toilet meant either a climb down a long ladder or a trip around the house.  So imagine my delight when Len's next project was - STAIRS!

It's a long way down - or up

Useable but not finished 

On top of all this, the shop roof was also completed and so no more rain dripping down on our moving boxes.

And it matches the house perfectly.

Today's goal - finish the stairs and get started on putting up the remaining interior walls.

Look for more tomorrow!

Cath

Monday is concrete day

The concrete finishing team was here bright and early.  Then the pumper truck and concrete mixer arrived. They parked on our lower driveway and put the pumper end in through the basement door opening.

A messy job

All done after a full day of work

Extra concrete went into this little step

While the concrete was being done by the experts, Len took on the job of starting on the front deck.  He got some help from the guys to put up the last timbers.

First post in position

Before the center support is removed

Len putting in the last peg 

The deck is started

By the end of Monday we were able to walk around our basement in awe.  It is very moist down there still.  And the sound really booms off the floor.  Len will work on the front porch again on Tuesday.  Then we will start working seriously on the inside of the house.

Recap of the weekend work

We had a busy Friday and weekend prepping for the concrete in the basement.

Bathroom plumbing.  Yes, Len had to dig some more.

Cath assisted to put down the vapour barrier and foam

 By the end of Friday, we were ready for the tubing for the heating system to be put down.

Extra deep, more rebar for the fireplace support

Tubing in place

Clever foaming around the stand pipes

Cath took on the job of refinishing the basement exterior door.  We changed our minds about using varnish and will stain it to match all the other doors.

Carefully stripping the old varnish

See the next post for the BIG DAY - Concrete in the basement!

Cath

Just when you thought the digging was done

So the plan today was to lay the foam in the basement and then rough in the bathroom so the foam could go down.  It seems the rules have changed for new homes and there will have to be a drain in the utility room all the way across the house to the mainline out. Whoopie.  I laid out as much foam as I could and then got started on the plumbing. I took a trip into 100 Mile for some advice and fittings. I have scheduled an inspection for Friday and I think I am going to visit the Cariboo guys tomorrow morning just to make sure I am on the right track.

Quite light for what you have to pay

 I am running into some interesting cuts around the piers and curbs of the footing.  The water line is also under the foam. I realize now that I will have to lift some of this wonderful work to dig the trench for the utility drain.  I live to dig.

It's a jungle out there, confusion everywhere

Taking shape

 The footing pads will have to get less foam over them, 1 1/2 inches so that every thing comes out relatively level.

Bowling anyone

 The dirt in the foreground of the last photo is the cold room and it will not be getting any heated floor at all so no foam required.

My start on the bathroom rough-in

Tomorrow will be a busy day and I might just end up postponing the concrete if this doesn't work out.

Len