Tuesday, May 29, 2007

May 28, 2007

Not much work was done today. It's discouraging. It rained and the guy helping Donnie had some other things to work on. Tomorrow will be better I hope.

Monday, May 28, 2007

May 26, 2007


Donnie and Cory finished up with the gravel today. It's hard work and it was so hot out. I brought them a few snacks and drink for a break.

May 25, 2007

Donnie spent most of the week shoveling gravel and cutting wood for thr winter. We helped a few times after supper. We got the rest of the drain tile in and covered and all that's left for that part is to put gravel in under the slab.

I spoke with Stan today and let him know we were ready to go ahead. We still haven't heard from the mortgage people but we know we have the credit and the question is with how the mortage gets structured.

Stan wanted to meet so we headed in with Isaac and made a few more decisions. We've decided to go with the sandalwood windows instead of white and to have 3 over 1 paned windows instead of all plain. Stan is going to make our orders on Monday and things should start to move quickly now.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

May 22, 2007

So the news on the well today is that it filled up overnight beyond what was expected which is good. It's only filling at a rate of 1/3 gallon per minute though which is not so good.

At a half gallon per minute you need a reservoir of 250 feet that will refill in 24 hours for a 4 person family. We had 240 feet that apparently refilled in adequate time so they are going to drill down to 360 feet and say it will be good.

The guy also pointed out that we've been living here for years managing on how much water we have and this will be more than our dug well. The guidelines are for things like household use plus seasonal use and recreational use. We don't water our lawn or fill our swimming pool so we're already below the average family in water use and skilled in conservation.

They've also been drilling through quartz for the last 200 feet so no water treatment will be needed which is nice. Gypsum is a real problem in our area and we weren't looking forward to that.

So I guess we have water but sort of anti climactic. It would have been nice to hit a fracture but what can you do? I did tell the guy that I would not be spending the next 50 years of my life deciding if I should shower or wash clothes. He just lainghe and said not to worry.

An interesting note is that the water witch said there was water at 23 feet. The drill hit water almost immediately after adding the 2nd drill (each length of drill goes 20 feet down). That was in clay though and not suitable for household use. Pretty cool though. Now the water witch needs to work on determining if the water he senses is good or not.

May 22, 2007





I'm also working on the kitchen plans. We need some idea of what we are doing in order to plan for plumbing and electrical.


May 21, 2007



Still no sun but we've taken down the forms and started to install the drain tile. We weren't able to get gravel delievered today due to the Holiday so that will be tomorrow.


We also drilled the well today and haven't struck water! We are down 240 feet and didn't hit any fractures. It may make water yet but we may have to continue drilling.

May 15, 2007

The footings are poured and it's starting to rain.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

May 14, 2007


The footings we built today and we're expecting the concrete to get poured tomorrow. I hope the weather holds. Ideally we'llwork at building the wall forms this week and getting the footing inspection so we can pour the walls next week.

May 10, 2007

We've been really frustrated all week that nothign has gotten done on the house. We've decided that next week it has to start or we will have to look in ot hiring someone to come in and do the foundation rather than doing it ourselves and relying on help.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

May 4, 2007





It's my day off so I got to be around the house site all day too.


We started out making a trip to Taylor Lumber to get the drainage pipes and trying to update our account so we can charge our purchases. That will make it easier for deliveries or getting someone to do pick ups for us.


We finished the drain and the footings and are completely ready to start putting the forms up for footings. Maybe tomorrow.

Isaac got to spend a few hours after school. He's not as thrilled with the process as we are but usually finds something to do.

May 3, 2007



A busy day!


Donnie spent the day at the house site. Trent and a guy he has working for him showed up to start the excavating first thing in the morning.


Funny, I knew the guy Trent had hired. He hung out with some girls I went to college with and I had to kick him out of residence when I was an RA. He says it wasn't him but I know it was and he has a very unique name so there's no point in trying to hide!


The septic guy came and showed Donnie where he needed to avoid for the septic field and where the trench would need to be dug.


The well guy showed up too. He chose the middle of the three spots the water witch identified. It looks like there could be a bit of trouble getting the line to the house because of a large rock at the site it has to come in.


Trent ended up going home to get his rock breaker and things went much better. It was only needed in a few spots but badly needed. The footing won't be moving as the centre footings for the posts are firmly on a huge immoveable rock.


The hole looks so deep now with the footings dug out. Trent will be back tomorrow morning to finish with the drain.

May 2, 2007

Stan from Fall River Log Homes came out to address a concern of ours with the left elevation. We want the front yard to be flat and no signs of sloping down towards the walk out side of the basement. The current foundation wall plans show the grade starting to drop on the left elevation which means a front yard flat across the point would not work.

Stand didn't entirely agree that it was the best thing but like he said; "It's my house" I definitely want the full flat front yard even if it affects the basement walls.

We measured the grade and the depth of the hole to determine how much farther Trent would have to go with the excavator. I think we're ready for tomorrow.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

April 30, 2007

With a little planning and a lot of phone calls we're getting started this week. Trent will be coming out to dig the foundation down the rest of the way and dig the footings and drains and maybe the trenches for the well and septic. He'll also build the road around to the basement door and to the septic. Kenny will be there with Donnie to make sure it all goes smoothly.

We should be able to start the basement the next week and the septic and well can come in at their own convenience as long as they stay out of the foundation guys' way.