October 31 - Garage Update

The forming started today for the grade beam for the garage! The plan is to finish this tomorrow and pour the concrete on Friday. Just gotta hope this is really what happens!!

The crushed concrete is all down. It was still so mucky that we parked on the street!!

October 29 - Garage Work Has Begun

Today the work on the garage began. Many truckloads of clean fill were brought in followed by 2 truck loads of crushed cement. Marshall was out there for the afternoon directing them accordingly. Grade beam is scheduled to be started on Wednesday.

To refresh your memory from yesterday, here's the before picture. (A different angle than the pictures below.)

They are almost finished bringing in 2' of the clean fill.

 

Starting to bring in the crushed concrete - in total about 1' of this covered the fill. It was dark when they finished so no completed picture, sorry.

 

October 28 - Tour of Inside of House

Marshall took a few pictures so you can have an interior tour (prior to framing of rooms)! The rooms are named starting from the left most window.

 

Bedroom 3, Front Door, Laundry Room. 

 

Laundry Room, Door to Garage, Dining Room.

 

Dining Room, Kitchen, Garden Door.

 

 Garden Door, Living Room, Ensuite, Master Bedroom.

 

Living Room, Ensuite, Master Bedroom & Master Bedroom Piano Window, Main Bathroom.

 

Master Bedroom Piano Window, Main Bathroom, Bedroom 2.

 

Main Bathroom, Bedrooms 2 & 3, Front Door.

 

October 28 - Update

Marshall & I went out yesterday (from 9 am - 5 pm) and put up the pressure treated plywood sheeting to cover the ICF. We got all of it up except where there is still work to be done in those areas. There is still the top 2' or so of sheeting that has to be put on the walls, so it is mostly done. The piles are in place for the garage just to the left of the house and (weather permitting) this work will start tomorrow.

When we arrived @ 9 am, it was very cloudy, very white and -4C.

I believe it did warm up to -2C but we never did see the sun...only more flurries throughout the day!

Close up of future garage location. Step 1 - piles. The ground has to be built up about 4' before the grade beam goes in and then they can start framing the garage.

 

Front of the house with the 3 piles for the veranda. Couldn't put up all of the sheeting - area for concrete work on the left.

 

Front of house on left, west side of house on right. Weeping tile sticking up in front of basement window (to be cut).

 

Back of house - there is work to be done under the garden doors then the sheeting will go up. There are 3 piles in the back for the deck (& future sunroom).

 

Back of house on left. East side of house on right - work to be done under the cantilever (insulating, etc) and the far right is where the garage attaches to the house.

 

 

 

October 25 - So We Wait...

For those of you who live in Winnipeg, you will understand why there haven't been any pictures in the last few days. For those of you who don't live here, let me explain...
It has been raining off and on for the last 2 weeks and the last few days have been the worse. This being said, work has kinda stopped due to the slippery, soft mud & puddles.
Actually today we had rain and wet flurries...just wonderful.
On Tuesday they did manage to get the piles in for the back deck, front veranda and garage but when the truck showed up to drill our well he quickly left as he started to sink when he drove off of the driveway. So, as Marshall said, it was Christmas Day...No well! (get it, Noel) I know bad humour but we need something to chuckle about.
Yesterday most of the sheeting went up.
Now we need to get some backfill in and build up the garage about 4' so the concrete guy can form the grade beam and the garage can be built. The problem is, until it dries up (or freezes) no big trucks can get in to complete this next step.
When we get out there over the weekend I will take some pictures of the sheeted house and piles and post them.
So we wait...

October 22 - It's Looking Like a House

It was a busy day on the property today. The septic field was finished...now if only we had a toilet! lol. Marshall was out there today and said there were lots of big semi trucks bringing soil for the field.
As well, the house is framed. I went out after work and I must say, it is very exciting to see it coming together.

A couple of the big machines working on the septic field.

Marshall standing in front of the completed septic field. This gives you an idea of the size of the field. We will probably put grass seed on this before the snow flies and hope that it grows!

Now for a tour around the house!

This is the front of the house with the ladder just under the front door. The window to the left of the door is the laundry room. To the right are 2 bedroom windows.

The front of the house is to the left. On the right is the main bathroom window and a piano window in the master bedroom.

This is the west side of the house (also pictured above). The larger window is the main bathroom and the smaller window on the right is the piano window in the master bedroom.

The west side of the house is on the left and the back of the house is on the right.

The back of the house is on the left. Windows from the left are as follows: master bedroom; ensuite bathroom; living room; garden doors; kitchen.

On the left is the east wall. The part that sticks out (the cantilever) is the kitchen (pantry, fridge, stove) then its the dining room window and door to the garage. And on the right is the front of the house so we have gone all the way around.

October 19 - Make the Rain Stop!!!

There's muck & mire everywhere!!!!!
We have had miserable weather for the last 3 days...windy and lots of rain. So not much was done on the house, but things are still moving along.
The weather wasn't too bad on Wednesday so some framing was done - the complete back wall and the front bedrooms were built and are laying down on the floor waiting to be put up.
Today Marshall spent the day working with the guys who are putting in the septic field. The pressure sand mound field is about 10' x 40' and the finished mound once it's backfilled, covered and sloped will be 55' x 85'. The field has to be built to provincial standards...so we can't make it any smaller than this.
I think we lucked out as the main septic installer sits on the provincial Onsite Wastewater Management Board and also teaches the certification course, as one must be certified to install these beasts.

Rather than building the field in the cleared yard area, we decided to move it into the bush as much as we could and still be 100' from the river. This picture shows the cleared area prior to dumping in all the sand.

Here is the 5' high mound of sand covered with 2" of 3/4" stones. Pipes are on the ground for assembly.

The pipes have 1/8" holes on the top every 4'.

The dispersion chambers cover the pipes. You can also see the excavator in the background working on backfilling the foundation.

Breathable Geotex fabric separates the chambers from the covering dirt. In the background, you can see the piles of dirt are gone. The ground has been raised to the top of the black waterproof membrane.

Starting to backfill.

October 16 - Update

It was a beautiful day for construction - about 17C & sunny. The day started off foggy, as you can see in the morning picture.
The sheeting was installed on the floor. Next it's walls!



The fog is lifting.

We have a floor!!!! 

October 15 - Framing Has Begun

They started framing today. :) The crew was Marshall, Alanna, Abel, Henri & Marc (not Alanna's Marc). Marshall said that it's a great crew and he and Alanna had a good day building. All the floor joists are in. 


Abel & Marshall



Everyone's trucks and Alanna's Buick. Our truck is the red one with the generator in the back.



The work that was completed today. The yellow 'rectangle' is where the basement stairs will be.

Pretty exciting!!!!!



October 14 - Update

The last couple of weeks have been productive, just not on the house. We had a week delay on starting the build but it will begin tomorrow...Monday, October 15!!! 
Here's what's been done:

• a partial backfill 
• the septic tank was installed and the line ran to the back where the septic field will be
• the posts were hammered into the ground where the piles will be located for the garage, front veranda and back deck
• we have decided to put the septic field into the bush as much as we can to free up yard space. In order to do this we had to move camp out of the way so the bush could be cleared. The field has to be 100' from the river so it will still be in the yard about 25' or so.

Marshall will be taking his holidays over the next few weeks to work with the guys to frame the house.

The septic tank was just installed and Kenny is working on installing the line.

The scaffold ready to work on the floor above.



The markings where the piles will be put for the garage.

 

The lumber for the floor & walls and in the background you can see that camp has been moved to the south east corner of the yard



October 6 - Ready for Backfill

Much better weather today...the sun was out and Marshall helped George today. They removed all the wall braces and the waterproof membrane was installed. 
The tube under the windows is the weeping tiles. It will help drain any water around the windows down to the weeping tile that is around the perimeter of the house.
The lumber is for the floor and framing the outside walls.

October 5 - Snow...But Progress

The lumber for the floor and the 2 x 6's for framing the outside walls arrived.

The teleposts, support beams & sill plate were put in today!



The weather the last couple days has been horrible...a little too early for snow!! 



September 26 to October 2 - Basement

September 26

The gravel arrived late today so they didn't get any ICF work done. All the forms were removed, the bottom course of rebar was tied in and the gravel was spread (to be levelled at a future date).

September 27

Today about 5' of the ICF was put in place...another 4' to go. Very exciting to see the basement taking shape. :) Once all of the blocks are in place, they put rebar in vertically, brace the walls and fill them with concrete. Once the concrete is set, the bracing is removed, exterior walls are wrapped with a waterproof membrane and then it is backfilled.

This picture is the front of the house.

September 28

The bracing is up on the inside prepping for concrete.

October 1

Final 2 rows of Logix are installed and the wall is braced on the exterior and the window bucks are in.

October 2

Concrete has been pumped into the basement walls. The foundation is now ready for the teleposts and support beams.

Looking down into the wall prior to it being filled with concrete.