It Has Windows

A nice way to start a new week... with 19 of the 20 windows installed while we waited for the mist to lift on our shingling delay. Also, got the worst half of the DWV plumbing done.

Tomorrow, on to shingling, more plumbing and prepping the basement for concrete.

Gotta move, fall is blowing down the ridge from the north.

Happy 8th anniversary, my love.

Reminded of our Wedding Year

September 28th, 2001. A glorious Friday in fall. The temperatures hit 28º and, between noon and 4 p.m., we had a memorable wedding and reception. We left the following morning on a two-week motorcycle camping honeymoon, with the destination being Moab, Utah. For those of you not immediately conversant with Biblical allusions, Ruth married a Moabite, so I took my Ruth home for her honeymoon.

Anyway, our neighbour, Ian Soroka, stopped by last evening to say they'd never had this kind of September until we decided to build and shingle our home. We have been blessed with phenomenal weather throughout this build, the record-setting moisture in Manitoba for the past umpteen months notwithstanding.

All of us on the construction crew have been grateful for the benevolent weather, but frustrated by our rate of progress. Seems the owner keeps adding "little" changes that add a day here or there. For example, everyone has been aware of our intention to install a woodstove, but today was the day to incorporate that intention into the actual structure. Delaeno, having intended to shingle the great room today, spent it building a chimney box instead, while Davis continued the arduous task of shingling the 9/12 pitch roof of the garage.

I, on the other hand, spent most of the morning chasing ghosts. First, I arrived at our HVAC supplier's offices around 7:40 for a 7:30 meeting. Unfortunately, I was early. At about 8:25 the manager found my file, we sorted out options, I left a deposit, and departed just before 9 a.m. A 30 minute stop at Rona managed to generate the paperwork necessary to purchase two bundles of reject shingles for "starters" on Ruth's Ridge. I finally got to the house around 10:25, well over 90 minutes after I'd expected to arrive and carry on with the plumbing project.

By day's end, we had a chimney chase constructed and I'd managed to drill most of a vent pipe hole through a floor plate/sub-floor and two LVLs laminated together.

Tomorrow, I'll drive to Winkler; have breakfast with the folks; pick up the garage doors/openers/cladding and, maybe, chimney covering; drive to Ruth's Ridge; unload; clean up the site; do some plumbing; go home to have an anniversary celebration with Ruth; miss church; go to Ruth's Ridge to do more plumbing.

We've called for inspection of a number of things on Tuesday and, as of Wednesday, we want DND to be installing doors & windows. I'll continue with plumbing through Tuesday, then switch immediately to electrical when that's done.

I leave me breathless. Oh, the joys of C.I. ( conscious incompetence).

For those of you who are text-allergic, here are the most recent images:

Alas, I Must Report that Clearwater Colon is No More

On our first drive out to Ruth's Ridge as a construction crew of four, Nathan hooted as he pointed out a sign just south of Road 85N. Set just outside the trees next to a driveway was a large white sign which, in bold black letters, declaimed the locale of "CLEARWATER COLON FARMS."

For nine weeks we have watched the last bit of the errant, drooping, hardly-there Y come completely unglued and finally disappear. Apparently, the Hutterite colony of the above truncated name decided enough entropy had occurred and, today, as I drove back to Winnipeg for a few errant plumbing bits, there were a few of the men of the colony and the signpainter admiring a colourful, newly-installed diarama of pastoral bliss ala Clearwater.

And we never got a picture of the old sign. Pity.

Into Every Week, a Little Rain...

We simply cannot complain about the rain's ill effects on our build schedule, given how much has fallen in Manitoba and out here on the asteroid this summer. About half of Monday's schedule, however, was slowed or altered due to a really solid four hours of rain.

As it happened, I wasn't on-site to be beleaguered by the deluge, although I got a decent soaking while loading the car with plumbing supplies at Home Depot. I drove Nathan and the lunch bucket up to the site first thing in the morning, helped get things set up for D 'n D's arrival from Morden, then headed back to Winnipeg to summarize the plumbing shopping list, do the buy, then wait for Dave Raynor's visit to discuss the woodstove installation. Another fine set of options to sort our way through, but Dave is the go-to guy for stove and fireplace installs. When his crew installed a gas fireplace insert at our Westgate home, he phoned to say they would be arriving on time, swept into the house with drop-cloths rolling out ahead of them, then vanished in less than three hours leaving only a fire burning in the hearth and no other sign that they'd been there.

Anyway, it looks like we'll have to move one great room roof truss to accommodate the fireplace, plus build a chimney box to enhance the aesthetic of the finished job. It will be worth it. Ruth's Kijiji find was a 1977 Vermont Castings Vigilant woodstove, I believe the first year they were manufactured. Patrick Nelson's father, a professor of architecture at the U. of Manitoba ordered it and kept it very well, until Patrick decided it needed to go to make way for home updates. It will now have a fine home in the middle of treeline and keep us warm through these nasty asteroid winters we experience up here, north of Manitoba.

With the meeting concluded, I headed back up to Ruth's Ridge with the plumbing supplies and to bring the fellows back to Winnipeg. As of Monday evening, the roof sheathing had been completed and all the interior walls had been framed up. On to the shingling.

And shingle DND did today. By evening, the workshop was done, and the valleys rising into the garage ceiling were complete. Davis got close to finishing the loft roof as well.

I, on the other hand, tried to immerse myself in plumbing the basement and main drain. And, no, Rick, while I may sound calm and organized, the veil is pretty thin. After a couple of panic attacks, I did manage to settle in a get a fair start on the planning and initial cutting & gluing. I think tomorrow will fare better now that I'm reacquainting myself with the process.

I had another neighbour drop by today; Jim Millar lives 1.5 miles east of us but says he doesn't often head west on Road 88N. Today he did and, having an interest in things architectural (among many others), he stopped in to introduce himself and have a look around. It was heartening – in the face of ABS challenges lurking in the basement – to receive his commendation of our project. It was doubly interesting to find that he grew up three doors south of our home on Niagara St. Then, too, he's known Jim & Johanna for many years, as Johanna used to board her horses at his farm.

After lunch, Davis, Delaeno & I spent a couple of minutes reviewing the timeline – and it appears we may be able to be ready for drywall taping and plastering around the end of October – and broaching the issue of how to mange the last two weeks when Ruth & I can no longer offer meals and accommodation at Niagara St. More on this to follow.

Then, at 3:15, Davis called down to say I had more visitors. Turns out they were more interested in the Bros. Rempel, given that Dorothy & Norman are their parents. No one knew they were coming or that homemade chocolate chip cookies and coffee would accompany them. I've heard much from Delaeno & Nathan about their father's building skills and achievements and, although I heard very little about our project from him (it's likely he saves his comments for his jobsites), I sensed that he appreciated the quality of the work that DND have put into Ruth's Ridge .

For a change, I was very sorry to hear that the fellows were ready to call it a day at 6 p.m. I very much wanted to stay and keep playing with the plumbing puzzle. Feeling the pressure as we begin to lose the heat.

End of Week 9

A half day today, with dental visits and weddings commanding the afternoon.

Yesterday, Delaeno finally broke the roof truss juggernaut, with truss erection having begun on September 1st.

Coincidentally, Davis working alone, shingled half the second-storey roof yesterday afternoon and this morning.

I began to reacquaint myself with my plumbing plan yesterday. I've found it really challenging to think it three dimensions while, simultaneously, trying to hold in mind all the constraints regarding pipe run limits, acceptable joins, etc. Actually standing in the space made the process very considerably more straight-forward and understandable. This morning I laid out the connectors and pipe for the main drain lines that will be buried under the basement floor. Tomorrow, having exchanged a few pieces, I'll head back to the site, delineate the footprint for a future potential basement washroom, then position the basement DWV (drain, waste-water, vent) and confirm that stacks from the upper floors will "marry" readily with it, before gluing the joints.

This morning, Delaeno & Nathan got to work on the loft's interior walls, then moved on the prepare the plates for the mudroom walls which, along with the kitchen wall, should go up on Monday.

Then, back to Winnipeg for more packing and change of address stuff.

Yesterday, while Davis was shingling the loft roof, he took a few photos of the view. Here's what he saw:

Sometimes it seems things aren't moving quickly enough – particularly as we are now less than four weeks from departing Niagara St. I can't fault DND's efforts, which have been outstanding, both in quality and volume. Then I look at the picture of the site as of July 20th, and the most recent shot of what stands on that once vacant ridge today. This project is moving along very well. We'll have a new home as soon as it's ready.

Doctor, I Have Shingles

Another watershed moment. Well, it will be once the 162 bundles of shingles have been applied to the roof.

Yesterday all the interior braces came down after enough of the great room roof sheathing had been applied. Today, while Delaeno & Nathan worked on tuning the mudroom roof trusses and Davis finished up sheathing the garage and installing the basement window wells, I played char-man by tossing all debris out of the house, organizing the remaining materials and sweeping the floors. In true shlepper spirit, I then cleared all of the exterior debris in anticipation of the shingle delivery and George Taplin's return to do a little more backfiling. Finally, I moved all of the studs for the loft interior walls up to that level, then finished up the master bedroom wall framing.

DND completed the mudroom sheathing and moved on to the last challenge, the kitchen trusses.

Hear no evil, see no evil, do no evil... all sitting down – up – on the job.

The arrival of the shingles signals an immanent move for me from carpentry to electrical and plumbing where, for better or worse, I'll be captain of the ship. Sink or swim time.

A Subterranean & Superstructure Day

Just a quick update this evening... the day's efforts and the warm temperatures have drained my batteries.

A fortuitous call from George Taplin last evening to say they'd be up today to install the septic tank. An unfortunate call from Davis this morning to say that some bad food on Sunday had him playing Pong between his bed and the washroom.

The morning was glorious, though, as the sun filtered through early morning fog. After tidying the site, I started in on the master bedroom interior walls which, of course, prompted the Taplins' arrival. Unfortunately, the utility pump that has been at work in the sump pit for the past few weeks had partially clogged over the weekend, so we set to work draining the basement swamp with the gas-powered trash pump.

Meanwhile Delaeno & Nathan got to work on sheathing the great room and tweaking the trusses as they worked their way around.

By 6:30, the Taplins (with the help of their new hire, Phil) had also trenched about half of the septic line out to the field, the Bros. Rempel had largely completed the sheathing – and finally debugged all the trusses, and I had managed to frame up half of the MBR walls.

Another magnificent four days are forecast for our build site.