Floor It...

Our office floor is now complete with the particle board tiles we cut and installed.  The first step was to cut 15 sheets of p'board into pieces 1' x 4' and 1' square.  The squares were then washed with thinned out green and yellow paint that was recently used on the walls.  Installing the tiles was easy after the first row was established.  Each of the square tiles was glued to the sub-floor, while the 1' x 4' strips received 6 screws each that were then plugged with yellow cedar ( 240 of them!)  The whole installation has now received three coats of urethane.

Shop Lit Up

Our intreped electrician, Jim Skerratt, spent a 12-hour Sunday with us getting nearly all of the outlets working in the workshop-garage & office.  He also got all of the flourescent lights in the workshop on and boy is it bright!

New Addition to the Family

We have been looking for a used garden tractor for quite a while with no luck, either out of our price range or sold too quickly when the cost was reasonable.  Finally, on Tuesday night Karen noticed a posting on UsedVictoria for a Kubota B4200 (12 HP 2 cylinder diesel 4X4 with PTO and 3-point hitch!) so we contacted the seller immediately and went to have a look that evening.  A deal was concluded and we were able to bring it home on Wednesday in a rented U-Haul trailer via the Brentwood Bay ferry.

Sorry for the foggy pictures but the camera was cold!

Rock Wall Goes Up & Wires in the Walls

As Soenka and Devon continue with the rock work on the exterior stairwell walls, electrician Jim has nearly completed the rough-in wiring in the house.  This includes not only electricity but thermostats, speakers, doorbell and data cabling.  

Terrance Comes Home

We took advantage of a chilly but sunny day to bring our sports car "Terrance" the Triumph TR3 home today.  Many thanks to our former Victoria neighbors Dave and Diane who very kindly let us store him in their garage for the past few months totally free of charge.  

Also a hello to Wayne Watkins, loyal blog follower, who shouted a loud greeting to Karen today as she was driving through town with a wind chill of about -25 every time she stepped on the gas pedal!

Yellow, Yellow, Green

Now that the drywall has been completed in the Shop-Garage building the walls need painting before any of the interior trim and flooring can be done.  Fortunately, Dave Brown, our Drywall contractor offered to lend us an airless paint sprayer which enabled us to apply 15 gallons (60 litres) of drywall primer on Tuesday and complete the three colour coats in two days.  

The colours we've chosen are: 

"Stable Hay" (Dark Yellow) for the workshop ceiling, washroom and garage.

"Polished Pearl" (Light Yellow) for the finishing room and celestory

"Prairie House" (Light Sage Green) for the stairwell and office.

Portable Rain Guage

Another storm has set records of rainfall in our area.  Our wheelbarrow was left out for 12 hours on Wednesday night and the pictures show the result on Thursday morning.

Curved Ceilings and Prep for Rockwork

As the drywall crew finishes the shop-garage, we have been working on the house interior and exterior.  The interior ceilings now have their curved rafters installed ready for the installation of some T & G pine once the house drywalling is done.

Our masons have finished the third column (5 left to go) and will be moving on to a couple of the wall jut-outs when the columns are done.  Each of these jut-outs walls requires an extension to the foundation to support the rocks.  So, trench dug, 42 5/8" dia. holes drilled, re-bar pounded in and foundation boards constructed.  Happy Birthday to me!

Fresh Powder

While it rains like crazy outside (150mm in the last 24 hrs) it appears to be snowing in the workshop-garage.  The drywall crew has spent the last couple of days doing the final touch ups which involve lots of sanding as the pictures show.

Building Green (& Greene)

Following a very wet and windy night the morning actually began clear and sunny for Soenka and Devon to begin the first of 8 column bases.  In order to keep the mortar free from moisture, Karen has rigged a portable shelter to keep the columns protected during their construction.

Heat is ON!

A great day today as Stewart Reynolds, our heating installer arrived and flicked the main switch to get the boiler and pumps running.  Within a couple of hours you could feel the floor warming and watch the thermostats climb.  Meanwhile, our drywall mudder Dan spent  busy day taping and filling.

Copper Flashing Installed

Wednesday afternoon was spent cutting and fitting the copper flashing around the base of the drip cap around the workshop-garage building.  Our roofer, Pat, had bent up some flashing from an old roll of copper that he'd had in his shop and it was very enjoyable to fit and install on what may have been the last sunny afternoon for some time. 

Drywall Delivery

The insulators finished today at 11:00 am exactly as promised, then the drywall arrived all pre-arranged for which part of the building it had to go into.  The truck crane operator hoisted it into the shop and garage doors but also up into the office area through the window which I had removed previously.  Complete delivery done in less than an hour with all sheets in pristine condition including the 14' ones in the upstairs office!  

Insulation done at 11:00, Drywall delivered by 1:00, Window nailed back in place by 2:00. Inspector arrives and completed the pre-drywall inspection by 2:30.  Drinking tea by 3:00...

Insulation In

The insulation crew arrived this morning at 7:15 and away they went getting all of the garage, office and celestory done with only the workshop to complete tomorrow.

Preparing for a Busy Week Ahead

The coming week promises to be a busy one with George and Brent, our two plumbers here to complete the rough-in of the house plumbing.  

The insulation crew arrives Monday morning to start on the shop-garage building and the fibreglass batts are all ready for them, having been delivered last Thursday. 

The re-claimed fir that was being cleaned-up and planed in Nanaimo was delivered in two loads on Friday and today, as well.  Now we have to get busy to sand and apply finish to the underside, which will become the ceiling, then install it on the second floor of the house. 

A good chunk of Saturday (Halloween) was spent in my pressure washing costume washing the rocks (Cobble Hill cobbles) we've been gathering from all over the property in preparation for our stone mason Soenke Neilsen who also arrives Monday morning.