The Outside Nearly Completed

The siding is now complete on the house and the garage is looking more finished with the overhead doors installed and the siding nearly complete. Trim on the road side verandah and garage will be the same taupe colour of the windows and eaves. The road side verandah now has the diagonal frames installed and the pine trim and paint will finish it off. Stonework may have to wait until spring unless we get several warm days next week. It is being installed on the lower portions of the garage, basement walkout and house walls where the white Tyvek air barrier is visible presently.

The snow is apparently melting tomorrow with a high around 8 degrees. Heather and I will be moving the storage from the blue container into the garage this weekend now that the garage is secured. Then we can clear the yard of the container and proceed with the new driveway and grading.

Work inside is proceeding with the insulation complete for the main floor, window jams being installed and drywall to proceed later next week.

The shoreline view from the lake has the house hiding in the trees. We want it to blend in to the surroundings so it is not visible from the lake when the leaves are on the trees.

Exterior Siding & Trim

The outside has been progressing slowly and is nearing completion now with the trim being done around posts and beams. Siding and verandah ceilings can then be completed.

This past weekend Shelly & Grant helped us do a cleanup of sawdust and scrap on both levels.

The Garage

Murray & Steve got the footings poured and Glen Payne and his crew installed the concrete block. Then Drains stone slinger filled the inside to where the concrete floor will be poured. Next was the frame, roof and door frames. Just waiting for the floor to be poured now so the garage can be completed. Then backfill and grading can be finished around both the house and garage.

Closed In

After the roof was on, the basement floor was poured and windows and doors were installed.

Plumbing, heating and electrical rough-in followed as partitions are completed in the basement.

The Roof Frame

When all the interior partitions were completed, Chris and his crew installed bracing to all walls before the roof trusses were lifted on top of the walls. The lake side and road side verandahs along with the screen porch also took shape. Then they did a great job of installing the various trusses (around 30 different truss designs) like an overhead jigsaw puzzle. We had a bit of a problem with the cap trusses to the ridge and when that is resolved, the roof sheathing and shingles will be installed. There is a great view from up top.

Backfill and Well Pump

After the crushed stone was put over the foundation perimeter drains (weepers) and filter cloth added, the foundation was backfilled with sand. This raised the grade all around the house and gives a far better idea of what it will look like when finished. The lake side walkout shows how the gentle slope stepping down allows the basement windows and family room walkout to be accomplished.

While the machines were on site, the trench for the well line was dug and Ken Newson and I installed the well pump and water/electric lines back into the basement.

We have Walls

This week saw the outside walls going up and today some of the interior partitions. I also was installing the drainage layer on the foundation so we can backfill the basement early next week.

Viceroy Package Arrives

On Aug 27th three tractor trailers arrived from Viceroy. We also had the steel beams for the basement arrive at the same time and Murray & Steve set them in place to support the main floor. After the trucks were unloaded, there was very little room on the site. Pat Davison's crew arrived on Tuesday and started on the floor frame. By Friday, most of the plywood subfloor was down and the wall material was on the deck ready to start framing walls after the Labour day holiday weekend.

The Foundation

The week of August 6th saw the rebar being installed for the foundation walls and the sonotubes being set for the screen porch piers. The following week had Carter's crew coming in to install foundation wall forms and pouring all the concrete walls and piers. By the end of the week, the job was done and all the formwork was gone. Steve and I built the supporting basement frame wall on the 17th before a week off.

Pouring Footings

This week had the footings ready to pour on Wednesday and Scott Seabrooke came to assist with this fun activity. We picked one of the worst days of the summer with the weather over 30 C and high humidity.

It was very tough work and we all went through gallons of water trying to stay hydrated. We couldn't stop for a rest because the concrete was setting rapidly in the heat. We also had to get all the rebar dowels set for the columns and along the sides where the foundation is reinforced because of the high backfill elevation.

Thursday saw the forms being stripped, drainage pipe being laid around the perimeter and the stone being placed around the footings and under the basement floor area. There was a lot of stone (four truck loads). I was glad that it was on the "stone slinger" truck and we weren't having to wheelbarrow it around to get it in place.

Excavation for House

Last week saw the excavation and footing forms being constructed. Drain Bros arrived on Monday July 23rd and spent two days doing the house excavation. They had a very large backhoe and as expected, we hit the limestone rock layers around 1.5m (5 ft) below the surface.
This rock bottom meant over excavating as we followed a layer. It also presented problems for securing the footing forms as the normal process of driving stakes in the ground, just doesn't work on layers of rock.

Having 14 separate pier footings (front & rear verandah's and screened porch) outside the main foundation also meant a very large excavation.

Jeff got lots of exercise bending steel reinforcing rods for placement in the footings.

Ready to Dig

The cabin is getting finished off with the south eave & gable over the window being finished.

The balance of the tree removal has been done to allow for the excavation of the walk-out toward the lake. The site looks very open now but this will change as the house and garage are built.

The backhoe is on-site and ready to start Monday morning.