I suspect the ground-breaking planned for May 1st will provide an indication of progress and problems I can expect throughout the project. Stay tuned.
May 2, 6:00 PM Excavation begins next Monday, exactly one week behind expectations. Thank goodness, because we weren't ready with the clearing. I haven't worked so hard in 20 years as I have the last two days; splitting wood, hauling logs and branches. Of all my friends I miss, I miss my chiropractor the most.
My wife, Marit, worked like a trooper the first day. Unfortunately while fetching me a coffee, she slipped on the stairs and sprained her wrist. She gamely continued with one hand for the remainder of the day, but next day was in too much pain. She's gradually recovering.
May 3, 9:00 PM A relatively slow day after a 10 hour sleep. I managed to finish splitting all the maple, but some large cherry logs look daunting. And my 1978 Dodge pickup truck (ex B.C. Hydro service vehicle) was resurrected and eventually purred along the island roads. I'll be depending on it often during the next six months.
Marit's wrist is considerably improved.
While I was off the Island with the truck, she piled all the split wood. Stubborn viking!
The weather isn't too bad, sunny periods, showers, and constantly a cold wind.
Tomorrow we should be lining out the excavation site, in preparation for next Monday.
May 4, 8:00 PM An 8 hour workday today with Wes Michim, lining up our site preparing for excavation.
Gad, with the attached garage it's looking pretty big inside the string lines.
It's been cold and windy, occasionally creeping up to 12 degrees. But not enough rain to interfere.
Wes will be back Sunday to make the final markings.
Tomorrow Marit and I will be going into Courtenay for more supplies.
Marit's wrist is much better, almost back to normal.
May 5, 7:00 PM No change in the picture, although we have "moved" the position of the house four feet forward.
After reviewing the site layout, we felt this was necessary to provide appropriate clearances.
Much of the day was spent in Courtenay; me buying a heavy duty wheelbarrow for cement work, and Marit looking at house furnishings.
Our cat, Ozzy, is with us this trip. A treat for her after being constrained in a 15th floor condo suite for the past year. But at 17 years old,
she has very little spring left in her legs and can't jump up any of her favorite perches. And she lets us know when she's not happy, several times a night.
She is not a joy with which to share a small cabin.
May 6, 8:30 PM Today I took advantage of the decent weather in the morning to start splitting the large cherry logs.
It was as difficult as expected, but by the time the cold rain squalls came in late afternoon, all the logs were split and stacked.
Now just all the larger branches to cut up, gradually.
I think we will stay warm the first winter.
Marit was up to the bakery for their delicious bread. She remarked on all the activity on a Saturday morning and said "it really is Downtown Denman"
Tomorrow we complete the markings for the excavation on Monday.
May 7, 8:30 PM Finally a beautiful day. Sunny and quite warm.
Wes completed marking the excavation site, with fluorescent red paint.
And the big excavator was trucked to our driveway, ready for an 8:30 AM start tomorrow.
Since there's nothing new to show in the building site, I'm showing the beach
in front of the house. The big picture, taken an hour ago, catches the local ferry arriving at the Island.
May 9, 9:00 PM Excavation completed, with some interpretive help from the designer.
We dug one foot deeper on the front and side, and identified the fill necessary to attain level
at the rear.
There is now an immense amount of excavated material piled around. Soil and sub-soil were kept separated. Believe it or not, there is up to 4 feet (120 cm.) of topsoil on the area.
John Kirk was masterful in his use of the 17 ton excavator. He gave a lot of helpful suggestions and was very accommodating to our requirements. Thanks John.
Wes has now started to erect batter boards in the pit. We were astonished to find we could drive wooden stakes into the shale base of the pit. We are a little disturbed at the ground water seepage that has started to slowly enter. Lets hope there's no heavy rain, or we'll be using scuba gear to continue working.
The large picture shows details of the foundation hole (including Wes at work,
and a visiting neighbour.)
May 10, 10:00 PM Very slow day. Heavy work with little tangible progress.
In fact, the large picture is not changed, because it would look the same. Mainly concentrating on aligning, leveling, and orienting within the pit.
Ground water seepage is gradually increasing on the floor
Some further minor excavation will be done early tomorrow to clean up some close tolerances.
(The machine is still in the yard).
Lumber was delivered this morning on a huge tandem flatdeck.
The entire property is now engulfed in piles of dirt, piles of trees and brush, and stacks of lumber.
A little overwhelming.
May 11, 8:00 PM I think we've started. The excavator was back this morning doing some more leveling, and increasing some tight clearance
on some walls. He also provided some drainage for the water buildup.
Notice the channel in the upper right).
Batter boards are being erected again and walls carefully aligned with string.
When the entire structure is defined in string, the footings will be built of 2x8 lumber.
The footings will be 8x16 inches.
Progress still seems slow, but I guess that's the exacting nature of this stage, especially
since the house is a little complicated, with about 18 or more corners, and
some angles that are not 90 degrees.
May 12, 7:30 PM We're making progress on the footings.
It's a painstaking careful task since the styrofoam foundation form system
depends on an even level base.
There was still a lot of pick and shovel work to accommodate the fitting.
I've been scrounging all the 1 inch scraps I've saved over the years for use on the footing forms.
Vindicated at last.
There was a heavy shower this morning, but it fortunately cleared up.The water is almost all drained. I've relived my childhood making small rivers in the mud draining the puddles. And it's working.
Note: There will be no update this weekend. I am returning to Coquitlam for mothers day.
No work will be done on the forms. I will update again Monday night.
May 15, 10:00 PM We're back; Marit, me, and the cat. There's been a bit of change.
The stumps were trucked away this morning before we arrived.
And the over-burden (top soil) was scooped off the garage floor area.
The forms for the footing are progressing, but not too quickly.
The picture of the pit was taken from the back toward the cabin,
standing on the mountain of dirt beside the drainage ditch.
The red dot is a large wheel barrow. The large picture should show good detail.
May 16, 9:30 PM With 16 corners, and wall angles that are not all 90 degrees,
the footings are not the swiftest components to complete.
They identify the form of the building, and must be perfectly level for the type of
styrofoam foundation forms we will be using.
The footing forms are progressing but not yet completed.
It reminds me of the highrise buildings I've watched being built in the city.
Preparing the excavation and the footings seems to take a very long time, but once "above ground" the construction
surges upwards speedily. I suspect the same will occur here
with the framing and roofing.
Today's picture shows the added footings on the attached garage. The large picture has not been changed from yesterday.
It is taken from the opposite direction.
May 17, 7:00 PM More progress on the footings, including the attached garage.
The footings still require considerable effort to level complete.
Two strands of rebar will be placed along in the footing forms.
We've decided to use a pumper truck to pour the footings. Wheelbarrows now appear to be a bit too strenuous and hazardous.
We'll also have to excavate another foot of dirt along the south wall,
or we will have no room to install the perimeter drain.
Unfortunately the cost overruns are appearing early in the foundation phase.
The picture is taken from the southwest corner today.
(The white house in the background is on the neighbouring property).
May 18, 8:00 PM
A bit more excavation today. There was no room to work
between the south foundation wall and the embankment.
The footings of the garage were completed with a series of step down forms
to minimize slewing of the cement when it is poured. Tomorrow we'll level the forms
and begin installation of the rebar (reinforcement bars).
The "Blue Max" agent came today to review the site and plan strategy.
Blue Max is a styrofoam form system to build insulated cement walls.
We will be using it for the foundation.
At mid afternoon tomorrow we'll have a conference and decide the day to pour the first concrete.
We've had some rain at the end of the day and more is forecast for tonight.
(Incidentally, I have not changed the large picture for today.)
It's really the first rain since the project started.
May 19, 10:00 PM
Starting to see some promise that the footings will reach completion.
They're all leveled and built.
Next we'll have to install rebar.
I've realized the complexity of the design when I counted 24 horizontal bends
that are required; 2 bars in each bend.
And 16 vertical bends. No wonder this stage is taking so long.
We've scheduled the concrete to be poured next Thursday morning.
The photos today are taken at cleanup time at the end of the day.
The individuals are Wes Michin and Harris Olesen,
the two builders who are creating this structure.
May 20, 8:30 PM
No work on the house today, Saturday. Instead, Marit and I participated
in the annual Denman Island Potter's Tour". A map of the Island is provided with all the potters sites depicted.
Visitors can visit every site. It's fun. It's free, (almost. We spent slightly over
$100 in total at several sites.) There are some really fine artistic potters on the Island.
In the afternoon I managed to cut some of the long grass around the cabin and plant a few shrubs in an out of the way corner of the property. Right now it's rather cold and windy.
The photos were taken yesterday at cleanup time at the end of the day.
I haven't changed them.
The individuals are Wes Michin and Harris Olesen,
the two builders who are creating this structure.
May 21, 8:30 PM
Sunday, No work on the house today either. This morning it was raining with the wind
blowing up to 50 kilometers. A great day to not be working. But it stopped before noon.
We went to a local garage sale and an art/antique sale at a farm up the road.
This afternoon I carried the rebar down to the site for easier access tomorrow.
Later I dug a small garden in the corner and planted the various potted plants we've
had survive the winter in pots and planters. I call it my "Nursery Garden".
Hey, I'm just having fun.
Tomorrow, even though it's a holiday here in Canada, we're going to work on the footings.
With the cement ordered for Thursday, we want to be ready.
The photos were taken Friday at cleanup time at the end of the day.
I haven't changed them.
The individuals are Wes Michin and Harris Olesen,
the two builders who are creating this structure.
May 22, 9:00 PM
Monday, even though its a holiday, the guys are here working today.
Sealing the forms so no concrete can leak out;
installing drains under the footings, bending rebar to match the turns of the footings.
Wes and Harris have been really good at letting me participate. They've let me bend rebar,
dig trenches under the forms, shovel dirt all around the forms to seal the bottoms, and fetch any supplies they need. Lots of fun.
I just wish I was 30 years younger. Ouch.
Tomorrow I have to go in to Courtenay for personal reasons. They'll have to get along without me for most of the day. I expect they'll be hanging rebar from wire within the form, preparing for the concrete.
The photo shows the current state of the forms. The pile of
bent rebar in the middle is "mine".
May 23, 9:00 PM
A beautiful sunny day. When I got back at noon, Wes and Harris had done fine without me.
The rebar was all tied and was being hung in the forms.
They saved something for me to do though.(Besides getting them more nails from the hardware store).
I get to install all the vertical tie rods that I bent yesterday. Fasten them on to the rebar by tying them with wire.
And stand them upright.
I did half this afternoon. I'll finish them tomorrow.
(I didn't want them to know I'm so clumsy, so I hid all the bloody cuts on my hands inflicted by the sharp ends of the wire).
I may not be the best tie-rod installer, but I feel secure
knowing I can't be fired.
Some bad news today. I was at the vet this morning. (For my Norwegian readers, "vet" means veterinarian or animal doctor). Our 16 year old pet cat "Ozzy" has lost her sight. Hypertension; blood pressure over 300, which is the limit of their instruments. But she still has a reasonable quality of life. She eats well, and still gets around. I have medication to give her every morning for the blood pressure. We'll see on Saturday if she improves. We noticed that she was very relieved to get back to the cabin from the vet. (She certainly doesn't like the way they take her temperature.)
And Marit has gone back to Coquitlam for a few weeks.She waited until after the visit to the vet before leaving.
So I and my blind cat will carry on with the project.
May 24, 6:00 PM
Another beautiful sunny day.
We worked well and have everything completed in the footing forms, ready for the
cement. The rebar, tie rods, pony wall forms, everything. We even finished a little early.
Unfortunately, the cement and pumper truck aren't coming tomorrow morning after all.
They had a pressing, bigger, "government" job that took priority.
If I'm lucky, they may make it over on the 1:00 PM ferry.
We are supposed to check with them at 11:00. Stay tuned.
Meanwhile Ozzy the cat is very lethargic and withdrawn.
In addition to her medical problems, the nice petting and nurturing human has left for the city.
The evil human who puts her in a cage, takes her to veterinarian, and administers medication
is the only one here. She's very leery of me now, after her pill insertion this morning.
May 25, 9:30 PM
Once again, another beautiful sunny day.
But the cement trucks never showed up.
We phoned this afternoon, but the best we were told was they will try for 10:00 tomorrow.
Maybe! It's too bad because the weather is changing. We may have some rain tomorrow,
and the heavy trucks will have traction difficulty
driving on wet ground.
There wasn't much to do today. Wes and Harris put in some floor drain pipes, but finally left early.
Since there was really no change, I haven't made new pictures today.
Ozzy, the cat, is my buddy again. Although she got really peeved and hid under the cabin for two hours this morning after I made her swallow her blood pressure pill again.
May 26, 3:30 PM
The weather has turned to rain. Surprisingly that has helped with the cement delivery.
Many other jobs canceled because of the rain,
so Hyland Cement phoned and said they were coming on the 8:20 ferry! With the pumper truck,
the pour went quite quickly. We filled the forms with 14 1/2 yards of cement.
(That's almost 14 square meters).
And in the cool rain, cement didn't harden too fast, allowing the three of us enough time
to work the concrete and smooth the footings. I must admit however that at one point
it looked hopeless to me.
I also have to admit it isn't something I'd like to often. I wouldn't even like to do it all day. Especially in the rain. Ouch.
It would have been much more interesting to have a picture of the cement pumping,
but I was busy on the forms while that was happening. So the best I can provide is the finished product.
The rain temporarily let up when I took the pictures.
May 27, 8:00 PM More rain showers this morning but it doesn't matter today.
I took the cat, Ozzy, in to the vet for her second checkup.
Some good news, her blood pressure has dropped to 170 from over 300. The medication is working.
I guess that makes the morning struggle worthwhile, trying to shove that pill down her throat.
It's a good thing she doesn't hold a grudge more that 2 - 3 hours.
Unfortunately her sight will probably never return. But for a blind cat she can sure get around. I could hardly catch her
this morning trying to run and hide under the cabin. (She doesn't like the trip to the vet.)
No work on the house today. Instead I finished transplanting flowers to my nursery garden. Then in a cleared patch I planted some squash seed sent from a gardener in Oregon. I hope they turn out as good as originally reported.
I've left the same pictures from yesterday.
The cement looks a little more grey today but nothing else has changed. We won't begin to strip forms until Monday.
May 28, 8:00 PM
Sunday. Quite a day, heavy rain showers rolling in one after another, with sunshine in between.
The electricity went off for about 1 1/2 hours this afternoon.
All of Denman and Hornby Islands were blacked out. And with no electricity, there's no running water either
since we are on a deep well with an electric pump.
This morning at 10:30 I was relaxing with a wedge and sledgehammer trying to split more logs, when Wes drove up and informed me that the agent for the "Blue Max" forms will be arriving tomorrow morning. (These are styrofoam blocks that will form the foundation wall). We had to prepare the footings before he came. So Wes and I spent several hours stripping off cleats and some of the forms off the cement footings. (Yes, in the rain too.) I noticed I hadn't done a perfect job in working the cement into all the hidden places when it was poured. But as I said once before, I can't be fired.
The changes are not obvious on a small picture, so I have only updated the large one.
My apologies, it started to rain as I took the picture, and its a bit crooked.
But I wasn't going out in the downpour to take a new one.
May 29, 7:15 PM
Monday, start of a new week. Sunny and warm all day.
Clouds didn't roll in until this evening.
The Blue Max forms have arrived,
but it was late in the morning before they could be installed.
The agent (Craig) and I unloaded them while Wes and Harris carefully
remeasured and snapped chalk lines marking the exact siting of the house.
Harris also installed some perimeter drains where we would have trouble accessing after the forms were erected.
Installing the forms is a bit like playing with Lego blocks.
Except Lego doesn't need its blocks occasionally cut to size. Nor does it need the blocks tied together with wire,
or rebar strung through each level.
In general, the forms seem well designed, and are relatively easy to work with.
If I didn't have all the corners and short wall lengths,
we would have largely completed the installation in a day.
The forms are not styrofoam. They are
"hypo-allergenic formed polystyrene".
At last some structure is beginning to take form.
Tomorrow should show substantial development.
May 30, 9:00 PM
A very busy day, starting early on the Blue Maxx forms. (there's two x's in the name).
We worked steady throughout the day assembling these units.
Craig, the local agent, joined us at 10:00 AM.
By then it was time to apply the sun-screen and put on a wide brimmed Tilley hat.
Unfortunately we did not finish the construction today either.
Because of all the corners, the odd wall angles, and the two levels of footings, the assembly is taking three times longer than normal.
(A hint for other home builders. Minimize the number of corners, and stick to 90 degree angles!)
Tomorrow for sure.
In spite of all the activity, a deer apparently wandered through our parked trucks
and left its droppings on the driveway.
The native lupins are now all in bloom.
A nice contrast to the broom on the roadsides.
And for those interested in the mason bees, I noticed yesterday a homemade
paper tube had been capped. Today a second was capped.
Some bees are still working. Must be the broom and lupins, or maybe the native honeysuckle plants among the remaining trees.
I must remember to drink more water on these sunny days. I'm feeling some effect of heat exhaustion.
May 31, 8:30 PM
Thanks to the neighbourhood rooster, I got an early start today. Three leisurely cups of coffee,
and I was out working at 7:00 AM.
There were morning clouds, but sun-block was needed by mid-afternoon.
The Blue Maxx walls are now up, complete with rebar throughout.
Everything is wired together. (Yes, my hands are nicely lacerated and bloody from the cut wires).
I put the last block in place at 6:00 this evening.
Something seems wrong when retirement brings an 11 hour work day.
The picture is taken from a different perspective today; from the south side of the building.
The tallest wall in the background with the step ladder against it is the foundation for the garage.
It's 8 feet high. The near wall is 5 feet.
The only access now is by the ramp at the right which Harris built just before quitting for the day.
Tomorrow I'll take some time off and go to Courtenay for errands and supplies (and to find a laundromat).
Incidentally, I noticed a mason bee down in the hole trying to find some wet clay for her egg cavity.
There are still some continuing to work.
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