Tuesday, June 26, 2007

June 26, 2007

Apparently things can't just go smoothly. First the appraisal was slow getting done. When I inquired the bank told us the apprasier wasn't able to do it because donnie wasn't available to meet with her. Except he was home everyday and she told me she didn't want to meet with him. Then the mortgage instructions came in all wrong. There was life and disability insurance premiums that we didn't pay for. There were other minor issues too. With much back and forth we worked that all out. Then the house insurance didn't contact our lawyer so I called to check. Apparently the lawyer asked for the policy of Donnie and Alicia Lushington. Since we are listed as Donald and Alicia they told me today that they couldn;t find the policy. Umm, OK.

So, I spent all day on the phone but the money should show up in my account tomorrow. Yippee!

I can't believe the bank told us it would take a week to get a draw once we request it. In fact, it took 18 days! Lucky we weren't waiting for the money or anything :/

June 25, 2007

We didn't get much else done on the weekend. The sudden rain storms pretty much made it impossible to start anything. We did get the wood uncovered today for almost the whole day. It was a good day for drying according to the farm report. Sunday wasn't. About 3 seconds after I got the wood uncovered the rain started. By the time I had it covered again it was a downpour. Oops!

Stan was supposed to come out today or tomorrow to work on the post and beam structure with Donnie. That was part of our original deal. Unfortunately he's ill and will contact us with further updates later in the week. It looks like we won't progress anymore for a week or so now. We're leaving on our trip early Thursday morning and work will be halted for a week. Donnie might be able to start up on Wednesday July 3 when he returns but more likely the next day after sleeping off some of his jet lag.

June 22, 2007




The walls did arrive. It appears that the OSB was pulled off, glued and renailed. We assumed they would replace it when correcting their mistake but I guess not. Stan came out to loko at them because they looked a bit more worse for wear. He said they were structurally good but it still bugs me that we ordered and paid for new walls and got less than that. We confirmed with the building inspector too. I guess you won't see them in the end and they aren't bad, just obviously not new materials.

Donnie and Perry worked on them Friday afternoon and then Donnie, his Dad, my Dad and my Uncle all worked on Saturday. The strange weather hasn't been helping at all.

The walls pieces were fairly easy to maneuver and work with when they were square. Two pieces weren't square and required a lot of work to fix. Because they were glued and nailed this time they didn't adjust too easily and adjusting them broke the glue. So those two walls don't have the glue as wind protection after all. I think we're going to request some traditional wind bracing because they really should have been done correctly.

Regardless they are up and it's neat to see the views from each window and get an idea of how the rooms will work. It defintiely starting to look like a house. Next step, post and beam structure to hold up the second floor.

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

June 20, 2007

The walls segments didn't arrive yesterday like they were supposed to. Hopefully they will come today to give us something to work on Thursday/Friday when we are both off work.

We visited some woodstove places on Saturday and will be choosing a woodstove next week. We want to buy it in time to get the $200 government rebate. We also looked at floor finishing materials. I think we will go with the Olympic WaterGuard just like in Donnie's house because it is so much cheaper than the stuff made for plank flooring and we like the results OK. I'm going to add some darker stain to it to treat the posts and beams. They'll be slightly darker than the floors and walls for contrast.

June 15, 2007



I was home today and Kenny, Perry, Dad and Donnie worked on the house all day. They got the first floor on and are ready for the walls. The walls that arrived have an error and had to go back so we're stuck for stuff to do until the replacements arrive. They were supposed to be glued and nailed and they forgot the glue. That was part of our wind protection since we can't use wind bracing with the preframed walls. We had no choice but to send them back to be glued properly.


It's neat to stand on the floor and think about where the kitchen or living room or whatever will be. It's nice to finally see our view at that level too.
We forgot about the extra 12 inches or more from the floor joists and we're now a bit worried about the grade. We want the grade to come as close to the top of the foundation as possible (so 6-8 inches) and that will leave around a foot and a half to the floor level. Right now it look slike we have 3 and a half feet to floor level. We didn't want to put that much top soil or fill back in but it looks like we will have to. The other option is to have stairs going up to the main door but we really don't want that.

Thursday, June 14, 2007

June 13, 2007



The floor joists have arrived. Donnie was at work today so Kenny started them. I think they made a mistake and forgot about the iron grate in the floor. There doesn't seem to be room in the design to allow for it.


Otherwise it looks good and is definitely starting to look like a house.

June 12, 2007


Donnie worked on a job with Kenny for most of today instead of our house. We're waiting for materials and it's nice to work off some of the money we will end up oweing.


A bit of work was done today and yesterday... Donnie finished a bit of the damp-proofing and maybe some framing.


Tuesday, June 12, 2007

June 10, 2007




Donnie is at work today so I had to water the slab myself. Yesterday we pumped water up from the old well by the shed and stored it in barrels. All I had to do was pour bucketfulls on and spread them around.


There is a small crack forming unfortunately. Not much we can do about it but I'm researching what kind of finish we can use to minimize the bumpiness and this crack.

June 9, 2007

We damp-proofed the basement today. What a mess! Isaac was covered with tar and it was dripping everywhere. I filled the holes from the forms with the thick tar and Donnie and Dad painted on the thin stuff. It looks hideous and you could smell it all the way up the driveway but it's done. Hopefully it will be backfilled sooner than later and we won't have to look at it anymore.

June 8, 2007




The slab was poured today. I'm not 100% satisfied with it but Donnie thinks it will be OK. It has more belmishes than I expected.


We have to keep it wet for a few days to slow down the drying in this heat.

Friday, June 08, 2007

June 7, 2007


This week we got more gravel and finished the drain tile covering and under the slab. We're ready for the slab to be poured tomorrow.


They installed the double sill on top of the basement walls and framed the open side of the basement.


Tonight we spent the evening cleaning up around the site and salvaging what lumber we could while being eaten alive by black flies and mosquitos.

June 4, 2007

We actually got two inspections done today.

The in-slab plumbing passed with no problems.

The foundation and drain tile has to be re-inspected. We hadn't done the damp proofing assuming the inspector would want to see the condition of the concrete. Not so. We'll do it on the weekend since it's something we can putter away at ourselves. No need to pay anyone to help with that.

Monday, June 04, 2007

June 3, 2007


Dad and Larry came up to finish taking the forms down. We called for the foundation and drain tile inspection on Friday afternoon so it needed to be done before they show up on Monday.

It's starting to look like a real house now!


I have windows. They're just in the basement but that's OK. Windows definitely make it a house!

June 2, 2007


Dad and Larry came up and worked with Donnie and I. The forms were ready to come off and we were expecting the plumber, Paul, after lunch. Paul showed up early which worked out well because the store gave us the wrong plumbing materials.


I headed down to Taylor's to make some returns and pick up some new stuff and then into town to pick up some other things at Kent. Luckily I found out Kent's materials were wrong too *before* I headed home. I made those returns and finally bought the correct tubing at the Elmsdale Home Hardware.


When I got back the volunteers went home and the plumber showed up. It was so hot but we got it done. Donnie and I came back after supper to clean up and do a bit more work.


Tomorrow Donnie goes to his actual job for a break from all this hard work! I get to do the week's housework and get meals ready for next week.

June 1, 2007




The concrete arrived on schedule and was poured. Isaac and I stayed home to help or at least watch and Mom came up with Dad for the day.


Everyone worked hard including Isaac who tapped the forms looking for hollow spots. I had to make a quick run to Taylor's for anchor bolts and I grabbed pizza for the guys.


It was all done by lunch time and I think everyone was glad to have an early quitting time after the long week and evening work.


After lunch Isaac went home with Mom to spend the night and Donnie and I headed in to town. We picked up the staging lifts we had ordered and stopped by the see the house being built on Miller Lake to to see the materials we are getting from him. Our big concern today was the plank flooring.


Donnie's house has plank flooring and it was not sanded or anything, just water protected and installed. Stan thought this floor must be rougher but I don't think it is. It was surprisingly tight with almost no spaces between the boards unlike Donnie's house. It also seems plenty smooth to finish in the way we wanted which is nice. We didn't want the work or the look of a sanded and varnished floor.

May 31, 2007


Dad helped again today and everyone worked a long day except me. I was stuck at work in the city and construction made my drive home over 2 hours long! We went to the golf course for supper instead of cooking tonight!


The walls are up and we're ready for concrete tomorrow at 9:30.

May 30, 2007


Two days of work has made a big difference. Dad came up today to help too. It doesn't look like we will be able to pour the concrete tomorrow as originally planned but we should be ready Friday.