Well, I have had a few neighbourhood folks ask what’s up and where I have been.  Wish I could say it was a holiday, but I am just now recovering from a week of down time with a bad cold and chest infection. Being up on a roof is no place for someone who is weak and dizzy!…

Friday I finished framing and sheathing the upper south roof which now leaves only the last upper north roof to complete. The process is going faster now that I am used to all of the steps and able to improve upon the process. For instance, instead of trying to clip on a string line onto the end of one…

Well, it is coming up to 4 weeks since I last saw Blackberry, and there is not been a day I do not look out for him when at the job site.  It has been very very tough to let that little fella go! I also figured out pretty quickly that it was equally as tough for our other…

I have successfully navigated through the succession of three storms that passed through our region over the last 5 days.  And although I recorded yet another highest wind speed at the job site (24 mph – 20% higher than previous record), the B.A.T. has come through with no significant damage. Fortunately the last storm, that was slated to…

There have been few times over the last 2+ years of the build that I have been as relieved as I was upon returning to the build site the morning after last Thursday’s wind storm. I was at the site several times between 10:00 – 11:30 PM Thursday night as I watched helplessly as Mother Nature took her best…

Well, the last two weeks did not go to plan, what a surprise, but I did manage to finish the basic deck structure. My goal was to build the deck and fully install all of the S.S. hanger system by the time my roof trusses were delivered last Friday. My deck is not cantilevered (because that represents too much…

I continue to make reasonable progress and am now 100% ready for the roof truss delivery on the 23rd of this month. Progress over Last Two Weeks: I finished the roof design and then the design of the clerestory wall to roof interface. This allowed the wall to be framed and lifted into place.  I also sheathed the bottom of…

I am pleased to say it has been a busy and successful last two weeks with many important milestones being completed. I met with Cascadia Windows & Doors on the 15th and now have installation details for my ‘outie’ windows that I can live with and will provide the needed structural support to keep Cascadia happy as well. Because…

I only have the second half of the north wall and the two east walls to…

It is hard to believe it has only been a week since my last update.  It seems like forever ago for me.  Time at site on construction was 30 hours, which is often a normal week for me, except I was only on site for only 2 full days and 2 half days.  But design time in office…

This week has been a productive one (at last). Monday saw the end of the installation/adjustment of the final four floor trusses, the last 50% of the truss strong-backs (stiffens truss packs and prevents vibration), and some of the perimeter blocking (placed where ever trusses are parallel to rim boards and provides lateral support every 4ft).  Tuesday finished off…

I have been in Penticton over the last two weeks to say goodbye to my longtime friend Joe Hirmer. I was grateful for the opportunity to say goodbye one last time before he passed, and I was honoured to be with him during his final moments. I have known Joe,  Jean and their family since I moved next door…

I am pleased to advise I have completed another important milestone on my build.  All floor trusses have now been installed for the second storey which means the full floor truss package has been 100% installed. I was extremely relieved when I took the covers off the truss packs that had been stored by the road since the Late…

The last 2.5 weeks has seen some reasonable progress on the floor assembly, but as usual, things have been taking longer than planned, with some of the delay’s out of my hands.  I had just finished installing the first two beams at my last update.  Since then I have finished lifting all beams up onto the top of…

Well, today was a great day, as the first of the two beams that will support the second storey were installed.  As hoped, I was able to do this task with 100% mechanical assist. Alfie was able to lift the 350 lb beam over the front entrance/office, that will support the upper floor exterior east wall, close to the…

While I comply with my medical team’s instructions and have some down time after my latest cortisone shot, I thought I would address a few questions/comments/concerns that have been raised about my construction methods and build in general. Q: Why don’t you wear a construction apron for your hammer and other tools?  You would be a lot more efficient. A:…

As has been all too typical with MY build progress, the last month has been filled with exhilarating highs and soul crushing lows. But we do continue to make progress, albeit slower than hoped (we did not expect anything different – did we!). So lets take you through some of my highs and lows on last month’s journey as…

Well today marks two significant milestones. First, it was exactly 1 year ago today at 12:05 PM, that I broke my shoulder when I tripped on the curb at the side of the road.  While I did not let the injury slow me down too much (just over a week later I was already starting…

Well, today saw B.A.T. 3.0 flying high and proud.  I am quite thrilled to have a good tarp overhead once more after such a lengthy absence.  The last overhead B.A.T. 1.0 met its demise on December 11. 2014 during a strong wind storm. While the installation of the new tarp is just about complete, there was some drama. …

For those of you checking into the live video feed over the last day and a half, you will have seen that activity has once again finally commenced at the job site.  Yesterday AM I wrapped up most of the AutoCAD design work.  I still have the roof system to finalize and redraw and also things like ceiling…

Well, my ‘office month’ is coming along nicely.  As of this morning I have pretty much finished the bookkeeping and could once again see the surface of my desk.  I should get most of the finances and general office organization squared away by early next week and then will start on taxes. In the meantime I have been following…

There have been many times over the last year and a half that I questioned my sanity and wondered if I would EVER get out of the hole Diamond and I dug in September of 2014. From the lowest lows that fall/winter when I could not get ahead of the ground and storm water and also loss of the…

This has been the theme of the week.  My attempts of getting crushed recycle concrete has only crushed my schedule, and not in the good way. Once again, my plans have gone out the window as I try and source this stuff.  Diamond was not able to get out to Richvan on Saturday but when they arrived on Monday,…

As I wrote in my last post, I had some significant problems with the pour of the exterior basement walk-up foundation. When a corner of the forms busted open during the pour, I lost a healthy 1/3 cubic meter before the problem was spotted and forms were fortified and holes plugged.

Well, I am glad that is over.  This concrete pour turned out to be the one that tried to get away.  I should have know something was up when the Municipal inspector raised concerns last Friday, that it was not going to be smooth sailing. It started on Monday when the Geotech was too busy to speak with me…

Well, I am pleased to say that I actually exceeded my schedule and will be ready to pour my architectural concrete wall on Tuesday, a full week sooner than I planned.  This either means I am getting faster or that I am just padding my schedule too much.  Lets hope it is the former. The foundation forms for the…

Just a quick update tonight as not a lot has physically happened at site this week beyond doing wood moisture checks and humidifier maintenance. A de-humidifier I bought online from Costco arrived today and based on initial testing (4 hours), it stands up really well against the Kompact rental unit I have.  They had similar specs, but at…

Hey folks, Cannot believe how quickly time flies. Already been 3 weeks since my last posting, so lets catch up. No further backfill operations have been completed.  I am still waiting for more soil.  I need to wait until Diamond are digging on the North Shore and have sandy soil (without clay).  This stuff will be at the surface on…

Happy New Year! Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Years break.  Thanks for all your continual visits to my site and interest in my build. For my part, I hope to begin a much more expedited build this year now that the back breaking (literally for me) below grade foundation work is nearing completion. Its been a couple…