No more ladders!!

The flooring is complete on the second storey, and the stairs up to the second storey were put in yesterday. Dad L built the bottom couple, put in the landing, and then Mom L and myself built the rest. We'll have to see how they hold up!!! We are supposed to have some pretty nice weather this week, so hopefully all the snow will be gone. It has been a little bit slippery up on the floor surfaces, but it has finally all melted.

Work Continues

Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!!

Well, the cooler weather hasn't really slowed Todd and Dad L down. They were back out at the lot over the past few days. They will work out there Saturday and Sunday, and then probably not again until next weekend.
With the freezing drizzle that we were getting on Wednesday, the guys weren't able to finish the the second-storey sub floor as planned. They did get the rest of the posts up in the front of the house (that support part of the second floor), as well as the joist hangers in that area on Wednesday. On Thursday, they got most of the plywood on the second floor glued down, and then started to work on the one garage wall that needed to be put in place so that that area of the second floor could be completed. Today, they put a few more joists in place, and started to work on the staircase from the main level to the second floor.
Hopefully next weekend, if we can get a few extra people around to help (hint, hint) for the day, we will rent a forklift and move the big back walls into place. The forklift will do most of the hard work, but we need people to help steady the walls as they are moved, and lifted into place. Then it should really look like a house!!! Hopefully the weather will be a little warmer by then.

More on the second-storey

This is the stairs down (or where they will be) from the second floor. Part of it still needs to be cut out.






Jacob, Joshua, Dad and Grandpa on the second floor. Jacob thought it was pretty neat to "stand" in his bedroom.






This is part of the second floor (above the front entry)








The garage is now filled with gravel. It took 9 trucks worth to get it that level, and Todd moved it all in with the bobcat.






This is looking east from the second storey. The baby's room is at the top, with a games room/kids play area in front of that. To the left of the stairs will be Jacob's room, and I am standing in Joshua's room to take the picture. There is also a bathroom between Jacob and Joshua's room. Jacob picked his own room out a long time ago!!!! The stairs are the cut out piece on the right. Along the right side, there will be banister/wall that will look down into the great room below.
This is Jacob's room, and possibly part of the bathroom on the far left.







This is the front part of Joshua's room.

Second Storey under Construction

Todd and Dad L were back at it again today. I think they will try to work Saturday-Tuesday most weeks. They hope to have the second storey sub floor completed (joists up and plywood glued down) by tomorrow night. On Monday and Tuesday, they will get up the front walls of the second storey so that by the next time they are out, we might be able to put up the big walls in the back of the house. So far, the construction seems to be stable, with some of the wind gusts coming through, the house hasn't blown over--good work guys!!!! I will go out tomorrow and take some pictures of the progress.

Plumbing in basement roughed in

The plumber, from Canyon Plumbing and Heating, was out on Monday and Tuesday, putting in the floor drains, pipes, and sump pump in the basement. He wasn't supposed to be out until today, so what a nice surprise when he showed up a day early!!! We will hopefully be getting both the basement and garage floors poured next week, but we still need the electrician in to put up the panel box.

Starting to take Shape

After 3 1/2 long days of work, the house is starting to take shape. Most of the main floor (exterior and interior) walls are framed, with the exception of the big walls in the back. Todd, Dad L, and Dad H were going to start putting up the second floor this afternoon. This needs to be in place to support the big walls in the back.



The opening in the middle is where the bay window for the kitchen table sits. The staircase up and down is on the left, with the kitchen itself in the middle, and the utility room, washroom, and office on the right. Todd and Dad L are standing right in front of the washroom. The unframed area at the back is the great room




This is the where the stair case up will be. It is a "L-Shaped" staircase. The opening would take you into the great room. Opposite the bottom of the staircase is the doorway to the master bedroom.





This is standing in the front entry doorway, with the staircase on the left, the great room straight ahead, and the master bedroom on the right.








This is the utility room. It is located in the front (northeast) corner of the house. Along the framed wall will be a laundry sink, washer, dryer and small counter for folding clothes. The door to the garage is in the upper left corner (where you can barely see the ladder). There is also a walk-in closet for coats, boots, etc on the the left. From the utility room, you would walk past the washroom, and then into the kitchen table area.





This is looking from the master bedroom closet, with the bedroom itself behind me, into the ensuite bathroom. Under the window is the tub, with the toilet on the left, and a shower on the right. There will also be a vanity with a sink on both the left and right sides.




Hopefully this helps everyone get an idea of the house.

Main Floor Under Construction

More walls on the main floor were put up today. From the front of the lot, it almost looks like a house!!! I actually got to help a little bit as well. I used the air nailer and sheeted a few walls!!!

Front view of the house
Main floor bathroom, with window above toilet
Ensuite toilet placement in corner, tub under window in middle
Boys playing in the "cave". The boys spent about 4 hours out at the lot each day this weekend--thanks for being such good kids!!!


Thanks again to Mom L, Dad L, Nigel, Steve and Todd for all their hard work this weekend. We really appreciate it!!!!

A few walls are up

The big wall in the picture is the back of the garage, and the wall with the window is our mudroom/laundry room. The two walls on the left are part of a big closet in the mudroom area.

Another busy day out!!! Mom L, Dad L, Todd, Nigel, and Steve headed out early this morning to get a start on putting up some of the main floor walls. Once they determined all the measurements, they put up 1 of the garage walls, and then started to work on the utility room walls. When the boys and I arrived (10:30), they had 3 walls in place. By the time we left (3:00), they had built 3 more walls, and had put those in place, along with 2 others. We are really starting to make some progress!!! Hopefully by tomorrow night, most of the main floor walls will be up. The nice weather certainly helps. I will post some more pictures tomorrow (once my camera batteries are recharged!!!).

The big wall in the picture is the back of the garage, and the wall with the window is our mudroom/laundry room. The two walls on the left are part of a big closet in the mudroom area.

Sub Floor Completed

The new lift of plywood was dropped off yesterday, so the floor was able to be finished. Todd continues to work on getting around the house backfilled, so that it will be easy to work around this weekend. He should hopefully get it finished off tonight. Dad L, Mom H, and myself put some of the lumber that will be needed for the weekend up on the floor, for better accessability. The electrical panel is still not up--who knows when. We should be gettting the gravel for the garage brought in on Monday. Hopefully the plumber will be able to get in early next week as well, so that we can get the floor drains and pipes put in, and then we can get the gravel for the basement in. Then it will be floors in both the basement, and garage.

Foundation Inspection Completed

Yesterday was another busy day. The gravel for the weeping tile was put in, so then we were able to get the foundation inspection done. Todd and Dad ran into a little snag when they found out that one lift of sheeting (for the sub floor) was factory defect, so the tongue was off and wouldn't fit properly in the groove. They (the floor system group) is supposed to be dropping off another lift this morning. All the floor joists and beams are up, and the rim boards around the outside just need to be put in place. Todd started to backfill around the house last night and will continue to get some more done today. This will make it much easier to work around the house.

More on the floor

Todd and Dad L got a fair bit more done today. The floor joists are all up, and quite a bit of the sheeting. We should be ready to put walls up later this week. We have a small crew (my uncles) coming in to help us this weekend, which we really appreciate!! This time next week, we might have something that resembles a house!!!

This is the back of the house. The master bedroom/ensuite, and part of the the great room are sheeted.
Dad, Grandpa and Jacob on the floor!!

The garage that was insulated yesterday. We will be bringing in gravel to fill it up over the next few days.
Jacob and Joshua down in the "shark" tank (basement)--Grandpa even made them a few bridges (from one footing to another!!)
Still in the shark tank!!!

Some nice weather finally!!!

Today was a great day for working on the house. It is just below zero, but with very little wind. The styrofoam insulation was put into the garage this morning, and hopefully the gravel for the basement and garage will be brought in tomorrow--we'll see though. Monday's always seem to be the busy days at Burnco!! Todd filled in dirt in the areas he needed to, so the rock thrower should be able to get in tomorrow as well to put in the gravel for the weeping tile. Todd is hoping to finish the backfilling on Wednesday or Thursday. That will make it a lot easier for working on the house.
As it was nice out today, Todd worked on getting some of the sheeting on the sub floor. The boys and I were out there around 1:00, and Todd had put on 4 sheets already. I was able to help him (finally, something I can help with!!!) by putting in the screws while he continued to put the glue on and lay down the sheets. We probably ended up with about 8 sheets total by the time the boys and I left (2:30ish). The boys thought it was pretty neat to be able to be up on the house!!!
It is great to see the kids enjoying themselves out at the lot!! They love running around, climbing the dirt piles, playing with their big trucks, and helping out. I'm sure they will love it when we are out there permanently.
I'll try to remember the camera tomorrow, so that I can post a few pictures. It is really exciting to see things taking shape. We should hopefully get lots done this week, as it is supposed to be really nice out. Maybe we can even get a few walls up toward the end of the week!!!! I think Todd and Dad L will work by themselves until Wednesday, at which point Dad H might be able to be back to help as well (he is currently down at Dayna[Todd's sister] and Mike's completing their electrical work). If anyone is around this weekend, and is looking for something to do, please feel free to come on down!!!! I promise some good meals, and a warm place to sleep!!!

Sub Floor

Here are a few shots of the partially completed sub floor. Hopefully the sub floor should be finished by Tuesday. We are supposed to be getting some nice weather this week, so we will hopefully be able to get some glue on. If anyone wants to come down and help while the weather is nice, we will gladly take it. Todd and Dad L should be out there Monday-Wednesday. Jacob and Joshua had fun running around in the fresh snow, making footprints. Hopefully tomorrow it will be warm enough to melt the snow a little so that we can make a snow man! Don't forget to ask Jacob what colour he would like the house to be, as well as what the house should be built out of.

Back at it

Todd and Dad L. were out working at the acreage again today. It was a little bit chilly, but they braved the elements!!! They have all the floor joists up for the master bedroom/ensuite. This is about 1/3 of the main floor. None of the sheeting is on, as it was too cold for the glue. It looks like Dad L. and Dad H. are going to be heading out in the morning, and Todd will head out in the afternoon (he has a meeting in the morning).

Basement ready for weeping tile

It is still cold down here!! The basement was tarred on Saturday, so now we need to get the weeping tile put in (gravel around the basement). Todd needs to fill in a little bit of dirt closer to the house so that the rock thrower can get in close enough to put the gravel in. Dad L is coming down tomorrow to continue to work on the floor. Hopefully we will be able to have the sub floor in place so that the plumber can come in on Thursday, and then we can pour the basement and garage floors on Friday (wishful thinking I'm sure!!!).

Weekend Off

Since the weather is supposed to be fairly cold over the weekend, we probably won't be working out at the lot. The plumber is supposed to be coming in on Tuesday, but he wants the floor (main floor) to be installed before he starts his work. If we aren't ready on Tuesday, then he will reschedule us for Thursday. Once the floor drains are roughed in, we can then get gravel brought in for both the basement and garage. After that, the slabs can be poured. Todd and Dad L will then get the garage walls up so that they have a place that is a little bit warmer to work. Keep your fingers crossed for us that we can get some nice weather by Monday. Todd and Dad L should be able get the rest of the floor in place in one day.
It has been quite the runaround trying to get temporary power hooked up. We call one company, but they say they can't do it, try this company. That company then sends us to someone else, or back to the one that referred them. I think we are finally getting somewhere with Epcor (again, cross your fingers). It looks like we should have the temporary power hooked up for Nov 30.
We received one of our geothermal quotes back, and it came in about $20000 higher than we thought it should, so we kindly told them no thanks!! We are still waiting to hear back on another quote from our neighbour out on the acreage. He installs geothermal systems for a living, but he is waiting to hear back from the contractor that does the duct work for him. Hopefully this one will come in more reasonable.
The electrician should have been out to the lot today to put the panel breaker in, but most likely wasn't, as we didn't hear from him.
Thanks again to Dad L, Dad H, and Chris who helped out over the last few days. We really appreciate it!! (Both our dads headed home--Edmonton and Ponoka--this morning to thaw out!!!)

FYI

You can click on a picture to open it up in a new window in which the picture will be bigger!

Starting on the Sub- Floor

Todd, Dad H, Dad L, and Chris S were out there to start putting up the floor. They had just started hauling beams, etc, into the basement (through windows) when we left the lot at 1:30pm. It wasn't too bad a day out there, in terms of weather, although it is supposed to get worse! Joshua was helping out quite a bit today--first he pounded in some nails, and then he was making precise measurements and marking them off with his carpenter's pencil. Let's hope he got it right!

Basement is in

The basement finally got poured late yesterday afternoon, and the forms came off this morning.




Front right of house











Back Left of house







Back right of house

Basement ready to be poured

The foundation crew was out finishing up the cribbing until about noon today. They have ordered concrete for Monday, but Burnco said they might not be able to get to it until Tuesday (Monday's are busy days as alot of basements get finished up over the weekend). It certainly is exciting to see the house take shape. If the walls get poured Monday, then we should be able to start putting up the floor system Tuesday afternoon, or Wednesday morning at the latest. The concrete needs to sit for about a day before the cribbing can be removed. The floor system should hopefully only take a day to put in. It requires putting in the support beams, laying the floor joists over that, and then glueing/nailing the subfloor on top of that. If anyone is around to help, that would be great. Check back on Monday night to see if we have the concrete poured or not. That will determine when we can start.
Todd, Jacob, Josh and I kept working on some walls today. I think we have a total of 6 built now. The boys spent about 3 hours out at the lot today, helping pound nails, carrying lumber, picking up garbage, and of course, playing on the dirt. It was a beautiful day. The weather was great. I think it is supposed to be windy again tomorrow though.

Our Electrician is Ready!!!

Since the basement should be completed by Monday or Tuesday, we should be able to have our temporary power installed shortly after that. Todd had lined somebody up to get it installed this week. As you can see by the pictures, our electrician that is doing all the inside work is also ready to go (Todd's Dad).

2 walls completed--we're almost ready to move in!!

Todd and Dad were able to get two walls completed yesterday. One is quite a tall wall (23') while the other was around 13'. This is one side of the house (the utility room and office outer walls). They were back at it again early this morning, so we'll have to see how many they got done today.
Hopefully the cribbing is being done today, so that the walls can perhaps be poured tomorrow afternoon. It should be poured by Monday at the latest, so maybe we can start putting the floor up then.
We are having some warm weather here, which is nice, but it was a little bit windy yesterday. Sheets of plywood were flying overhead, and the neighbours styrofoam blocks for his foundation ended up on our lot!!! The wind has died down today, so it is much better--although the wind cleared up a fair bit of the snow.
You can check out the weather by clicking on the weather links to the left of the page. I placed those links there for everyone's convenience. Feel free to post a comment every so often, even if it is just to say "Hi". We would like to hear from you.
We had our appointment at Canyon Plumbing to pick out faucets/tubs/sinks etc on Tuesday. That was quite the challenge. It is hard to know exactly how you want things to look, when you really haven't started on anything yet. It was fun though. Todd picked out some nice faucets/tub fixtures for the bathrooms. I picked out the kitchen sink/faucets and the tubs (which are also nice!!!). I will hopefully get to some cabinet makers next week, to start working on a kitchen design. If anyone has any suggestions, please pass them on to me. I am having a hard time deciding what I want!!
We are still waiting to hear back from 2 different companies on geothermal quotes. One of those companies is also giving us a quote on just forced air heating.
Well, that is all for now. I will probably have more for you on Saturday!

One wall done--how many to go??

Todd and Dad were at it fairly early this morning, stopping by and borrowing a generator from a coworker of Todd's. They then headed out to the land and tried to find a wall to build. Most of the walls come prebundled, so it is just a matter of finding the right bundle, and then using all the pieces in that bundle to build the wall. Some bundles don't require any cutting, but others do. All of us, the boys and I included, took a turn hammering in some nails. I think the wall turned out great!




While we were busy with the wall, the foundation guy was out there marking off where the walls need to be placed upon the footings. There was one truck with cribbing on it there, but there is still supposed to be two more coming this afternoon (as it gets pulled off someone else's basement). I'm not sure if they'll get around to getting any of the cribbing up today or not. The boys were fortunate enough to get to watch the foundation guy use the small grapple-type hook to unload the cribbing from the back of the truck.