Thanksgiving work and turkey

Kyla and Chris - good sports that they are - agreed to come up for Thanksgiving Weekend, even tho' we almost froze to death last year when we were up to do all the chipping.  This year was much warmer.  On Saturday the roofers were up and made some progress, although it was too windy to go up on the roof in the afternoon. 

Chris was put to work in the basement cutting and placing blocks under the timbers.  Ask him about spending the whole day hammering above his head!

cutting the blocks

placing the blocks

scaffolding in place

 Everyone got into the act when it came to getting some more windows in.  The only ones that didn't get done were the ones where the scaffolding was still in place.  The roofers want to continue to use the scaffold, so the last of the windows will have to wait until next weekend.

Kyla up a ladder to put the tuck tape around the window

Once we figured out how to take off the heavy glass doors, mounting the french doors was easy

Len putting up the house wrap around the window openings

Chris nailing the window into place

Kyla was the official door handle expert installer

Len spent a lot of time leaning out to attach the windows

On Sunday we really got busy with the windows.  We had a great system and pretty soon had many in place. 

windows in place

The upper window doesn't open so we couldn't take out the glass.  It weighs about 400 lbs and there was no way to get it up in place.  So it will wait until next spring when the deck goes up and we figure out a good way to get it up there.

the big window in it's packing case

Here is how the loft small windows were put up

Kyla and Len prepare the windows

Chris and Len working together

the second one was easier with a roof to stand on

The upper level openings were covered with plywood to keep out the snow and rain.

covering up one of the upper window openings

The basement windows were easy except that they needed framing to be constructed.  That was a Chris job - and well done.

Kyla helping Chris place the framing

Meanwhile, the dogs discovered Doggy Jail wasn't all that bad

Asia, Banjo and Deuce

During the afternoon, Cath went to work making a turkey dinner in the RV.  It turned out quite well - turkey, stuffing, corn, carrots, beans, potatoes, buns, greek salad, apple pie, and wine.  So much to be thankful for this year.    We are especially thankful for family who support us in so many ways.  

The roofers came back on Monday but we were so busy cleaning up, running to the dump, and finishing up some last things that I didn't take any more pictures.  We were a bit disappointed that Len will need to come up for another weekend to finish the windows and put in a door so that we are officially "Locked up".  At least he will be able to take some pictures of the roof (finished, we hope).  The drive home was lovely; fall has arrived in a big way.  Many of the trees are now bare, thanks to a big wind that blew through the area on Saturday.  We always see wildlife on the drive - we saw 4 deer on the way home, smart enough to stay put on the side of the road.  (On the way up we also saw deer and a young moose.)

That's it for now!  

Cath

wrap it up

It's Sunday and this will be the start of the do it yourself section on the house build, not counting the foundation of course.  My aim today will be to get at least one window in and finished.  First I had to admire the last pieces of fascia which completes the roof preparations. I removed as much of the temporary scaffolding as I could.  Leaving some of it in place will aide the roofers in a week or so.

Left the scaffold for the roofers

So happy to be done all that.

I spent a lot of the day cleaning up and securing the piles of lumber for the coming weather.  We have all the siding and cedar trim as well as lots of dimensional lumber for the deck and interior wall framing in piles near the house.  I hope to get all the doors and windows under cover or installed before the snow flies.

It's a beautiful sunny day which makes it awfully hard to think of the long drive home.  After cleaning the site, again, I decided it was window time.  These windows are great, with easily removable window sections.  So out comes the glass to make them lighter.  A bead of silicone on the flange and in it goes. Grab the screwgun, place a few screws on the outside and then go inside to secure a whole bunch of metal clips. This sucker is never falling out.  Put the glass back in, place a row of tuck tape to finish the outside and it's ready for siding. 

Tyvek hose wrap in place

Office window in place

Bath and bedroom windows

The long weekend is coming up and, along with Kyla and Chris, and anyone else that wants to come up, we will put in as many windows as we can get to.  I have a long list of other chores but the windows and doors will be our main concern.

The colours this fall, as I've said before, are fantastic and it never hurts to stop and smell the aspen every now and again.

Across the street

SE from motorhome

NW from motorhome

The North Face

Comfort zone what comfort zone.  When its got to get done its got to get done.  We spent the better part of Saturday placing the last of the fascia on the hardest to get to peak.  Don't try this at home kids.  Nice to have it done and all ready for the roofers on the long weekend.

The North Face all done

Ross has a self levelling laser which we used to sight the central spot for the chimney to go through the roof.  Now I need to get some chimney bits and install them before the roofers reach that part of the roof.  Hmmm, I guess I'm not quite ready for them yet.

maybe next time

We tried to uncrate the windows but found the patio doors were just too heavy for the two of us to move.  I will have to make a wagon to set it on so that we can move it to where it is going.  There are some windows in the garage that we uncrated a while ago and, now that I have some Tyvek up, I will be able to install a few of those. Don't try to put Tyvek house wrap up by yourself when the remains of hurricane Igor are blowing through town. Not a pretty sight.  This was the last day for having extra help around.  Ross and Ken are off to bigger and better projects.   We're on our own and looking for all kinds of help for the long weekend coming up.  Don't hesitate to call I have a long list of things that
need doing.

weird little cricket roof section

busy storing for winter

Len

More green

It just keeps raining. Makes me think that this might be the end of summer/fall and go right into winter.  Hoo Boy!  It does slow down our project somewhat although I was able to get the last of the Logix foundation foam blocks returned and a load to the dump.  I'm trying to spruce up the yard before the snow flies.

The boys were able to get up 90% of the green fascia which looks great.  I will be going up this coming weekend to help Ross finish the trim.

Front entrance with temporary posts

North garage and upper room windows

West facing walls

I did have an issue to deal with concerning the 2x4 strapping at the roof peak on the great room.  The boys put the top 2 pieces of 2x4 right up to the top without leaving a gap for ventilation, 2 inches was required. Up I went with a skil saw and, set at 45 degrees, I cut a slot down the length of the roof.  Of course the saw didn't quite get all the way through so I had to make a second pass with a hammer and chisel.  I must have cut through about 20 nails, the saw wasn't cutting very well by the time I was finished. Straddling the peak to do this work out one way and then all the way back, another task I could have done without.  It's done now and we are almost ready for the roofers who are coming on the 8th of October.  I am really looking forward to being able to keep the water off of the floors.

I plan on stapling up some house wrap and placing a couple of windows for sure this coming weekend.  It is such a nice drive through Little Fort especially now with all the fall colours.

A quick weekend trip

We came up after work on Friday and drove the last half through rain.  We were worried that it might have rained all week, but it seems that the guys had 4 good days of work.  Most of the roof is sheeted and all the rafters are in place. 

view from rv showing sheeting on covered deck

the last rafters to be sheeted

We took a load to the dump

Len loading up the truck

and then did some prep work for windows - putting down the sticky water barrier so that the house wrap can go on.  Len also loaded up a suspect amount of Logix to take back to our supplier tomorrow.  But will it fly,Wilbur?

Note to self

Note to self: Dig any very deep trenches BEFORE 4 ft. of backfill is placed.  Well, Len worked much of Sunday getting the septic drainage line in, complete with clean-out stack, and then shoveling all that dirt back into the trench.

pipe in place

clean-out

buried with the clean-out above ground

what is the secret message on this rock, found in the trench?

Sunday was rainy in the morning, then cleared up.  Besides Len's trench work, we did lots of lot clean-up, did a dump run and tried to organize the wood around the lot.
Here is a view of the timbers up on the covered deck. Note the raked and leveled ground underneath where the trench was placed.

If it hadn't rained, the rafters would be on

So now it is Monday, and the rain is really coming down.  We are busy packing up tools and things to go home.  Ross and Ken came by to discuss some fine points of rafters, etc. and then went home to holiday rather than working in the pouring rain.  Len loaded up the truck, I loaded up the car and even cleaned and defrosted the fridge.  Joe came by to get his truck with the lift and helped Len move the last pallets from the neighbour's yard into ours.  Sorry, no pictures of this activity as doing it in the pouring rain was bad enough, never mind trying to document the event.  
Because we are going  back to "real life" for the rest of the week, we won't be blogging until the weekend.  See you then.
Cathryn

Stacking, unstacking, stacking

Today started out wet as it rained quite a bit over night.  By mid morning it was nice and dry and the sun came out.  We spent the day organizing things.  We started by uncrating the windows and placing them in the garage for easy access when the builders get to that point. 

Behind this curtain....windows!

Then we sorted all the 2X4 and 2X6 cedar into lengths and pulled out everything that will be used to trim the windows and made sure we knew where they went.

Window trim - nice colour, eh?

Long trim pieces in the garage

Then Len was busy cutting the rafters for the deck and needed to get at some 2X10's.  Where were they?  Under one of the stacks he and Tyler moved yesterday.  So we used the old truck with the lift to move three pallets and get at the lumber we needed.  I had Len take a picture to prove that, yes, indeed, I do some actual work some of the time.  Just happens that most of the time I am working, so is Len, and no one is taking pictures.

One board at a time is fine for me

To be fair, Len carried half of these boards and ALL the really big ones

 We stopped for a quick bite to eat because Len was desperate to get back digging in the pit of despair.  He got the septic drain put through the wall, the clean-out in place, and about 10 ft. of drainage pipe at the right slope out toward the septic field.

Len hefts a mean pick axe

When it got dark, Len had to come in but hopes to finish the trench tomorrow.  It is our last full day here this go-round so I know Len will want to make the most of it.
Cathryn