Half full or half empty?

Today was another busy one. Gravel trucks arrived regularly. Peter manned the Bobcat, ferrying the material from the driveway, up through the carport, dumping it over the concrete wall into the foundation. I was down inside the foundation on our small tractor jockeying the sand around the floor in six inch lifts. As each lift was completed we ran our vibrating plate packer over the area before beginning the next layer of sand. Progress was halted briefly because of a flat front tire on my tractor but we managed to get a couple of feet of sand into about half of the foundation before the day was done. 

It was with great delight I could finally see over the wall once more and admire the view as I drove back and forth around the foundation to deposit the sand evenly. While one side of the foundation may still be empty, the other side is now half full!

-grampa dan

Rubber roof!

From the early planning stages of our house we wanted to consider all options and pick the very best one we could. The object of our quest was to build the most imaginative house possible while also making it as efficient and green as we could. The roof was a key element of course. I've never been a fan of asphalt roofing. The look isn't my favorite and they don't last nearly as long as their manufacturers claim, most lasting only 10-15 years. Cedar shakes have a limited life as well. We wanted a roof that would outlast Janis and I. A green product would be bonus points as well.

We wanted a better option. The eyebrows and curves of the roofline presented some definite challenges and meant some products we looked at would not work. We needed a roofing material that could conform the the undulations of the roof and we also needed a roofing installation team that was up to the task. After much research we have selected Penfold's Roofing and their Eco-Roof Rubber Shakes. The rubber shakes are made in Calgary, Alberta from recycled tires that are ground up in Vancouver, British Columbia. Our roof will divert more than 1,500 tires from a landfill. The roofing material carries a 50 year transferrable guarantee. The roof can be walked on, pressure washed and will stand up to anything mother nature can throw at it. The shingles are guaranteed to stay in place in winds up to 170 kilometers an hour. We made sure that all the other elements of the roof such as the flashings and vent flashings were also premium materials and designed to last as long as the top layer. 

We look forward to working with this great team to put the best possible roof on our house.

-grampa dan

A day of progress and adventure.

Now that the concrete is poured into the lower walls of our house it is time to backfill around the outside and bury most of the walls inside as well in order to bring the floor level up to what the city required. We will use a coase sand on the inside as it packs well and is easy for the plumber to dig the trenches he needs for the plumbing. We will need about 500 cubic yards of material for the task. We got seven loads of sand delivered before the road was closed between our place and the gravel pit because of an accident. More sand will come tomorrow.

As I put the fill into the carport area I quickly learned how tricky operating a bobcat can be and how quickly things can go suddenly awry. I got a little close to the edge and in an instant slid precariously into a post leaning the bobcat dangerously towards an area not yet filled. I knew ell enough to stop before I made things worse. It took a whole lot of head scratching, a plan of action and some strong pulls with the pickup to get things back on track. Bobcats are HEAVY machines! I learned my lesson about soft edges and bobcats real well. No pictures were taken during the adventure. Only one scoop of sand actually got dumped inside the foundation before we ran out of material.

Since the sand supply had dried up we kept working on other things. We had trasplanted five small trees from beside our driveway to make room for a new parking area near the new house. I prepared the ground and then put in the gravel to raise that area to match the elevated driveway.

Out by the shop Haley and Peter were working on the window bucks and making good progress (when they weren't trying to get a bobcat unstuck). Most of the smaller windows are now done and ready to install into the LOGIX forms as we stack them up. These bucks will act as forms for the concrete we pour inside.

It was a great day of progress with enough adventure to make it memorable.

-grampa dan