Under hill tree under structure

I spent much of this week under m welding helmet. I was building the giant armature for the tree that will be 'planted' on the roof of the Under Hill suite of the Hazelnut Inn. It will function as a skylight to the suite below. The first stage was the waterproof flashing/roof that was fabricated to fit over the pony walls of the cast concrete opening. Then I welded the heavy structural steel which will keep everything upright and stable while we apply the concrete skin. Lifting points will be built in to lift it into place. We first have to calculate the center of gravity for the piece to ensure it lifts and hangs straight from the crane without stressing the concrete work.

To build the armature we used many hundreds of feet of one quarter inch thick pencil rod. It comes in twenty foot lengths. This was hand formed and welded into a sturdy grid. Lots of rods are welded back to the structural steel frame to make it wiggle proof. The crew will next tie on the galvanized lath to this framework. That mech will in turn support and reinforce the fibreglass reinforced concrete skin which we will trowel on and then sculpt.

Ancient history

I was going through some very old files and pictures this evening and came across concept art and photos of a model and a business plan I had created back in 1993. Back then, we were still dreaming of our first self owned and built themed project - an adventure golf. It was designed to tell a story of a logging operation, circa 1930. We did manage to build the project eventually although the design changed a great deal while we waited. Through our dreaming years we considered many building sites in many different locations. This early version of the plan was for the BC Forest Museum property in Duncan on Vancouver Island. The name of the facility changed many times as well to Tickleberry Ridge when we considered a property in Harrison, B.C. and finally to Giggle Ridge when it was built in 2000 in Cultus Lake. The archived plans and photos reminded me of how hard we worked and how patient we had to be to make our bold dreams come true.

Still welding

The first day of the pub build was a busy one. While the crew touched up the many plasma cut pieces with the grinder I was busy welding them together. The basic assembly of the first still is now complete with a little over 100 feet of weld! It is all 1/4" steel and HEAVY DUTY!