To name and shame

Another long week working in 30 degrees centigrade of heat and the last, I hope, by myself for a good few weeks to come. Relations with my builder hit an all time low while they were away in Toronto but, I believe they are now on an upward trend. They all got back on Wednesday and so there was nothing to be achieved on that day, not even a meaningful discussion, as they had been on the road for three days and had driven through the night on Tuesday. There was no point in discussing things with exhausted people and so I left it until Thursday.

On Thursday Owen and I sorted out how we are going to build the roof conventionally, which involved getting advice from an engineer and ordering the materials, which in itself was not as straightforward as I had hoped, and you could be forgiven for expecting. We also finalised plans for building the deck, which will involve one, if not two, more forays into the forest to collect post, rial and spindle wood. The main commercial source of our building materials (apart from the Indian Reservation mill) didn't have all the lumber that we need, in particular 6'x6' pressure treated wood (known here colloquially as PFW), that we need for the deck framing and so this will have to be sourced from elsewhere. I am not expecting any difficulties in finding what we need as I went into town today (Sunday) on my admin run and checked Home Depot in Cranbrook, which has plenty of what we want.

This weekend is a long holiday weekend and so I am not expecting the workforce back until Tuesday, which is when I hope most of the materials for the roof and the deck framing will also be delivered. On Thursday Owen and I also went into see the metal roofing specialists, who will put the 'Forest Green' aluminium (that's alluminum for North Americans) sheeting on once we have completed the framing. I am trying to get Owen to get the plan joined up between the various tasks and sub-contractors, so there are no delays between them. This is easier said than done. While we were in the offices of the roofing company on Thursday we arranged for their boss to come out to the site on Friday afternoon to measure up the square footage, so he can make sure he has enough sheeting (which comes in rolls). At 1730 hours on Friday he hadn't turned up and hadn't contacted me to say he couldn't make it, so I phoned him and accepted his apologies on his promise to come out on Saturday afternoon. By 1830 hours on Saturday he still hadn't turned up and again without so much as a phone call to say he wasn't coming. Are you beginning to get the picture of what it is like trying to do business in British Columbia.

I am being let down so much now that I have decided to name and shame those companies and individuals who prove unreliable, so that people doing due diligence on potential suppliers and contractors can see which ones are unreliable. A simple google search on the company or individual will bring up the relevant page of this blog, where they are named. It will be three strikes and out. So the roofing company that has let me down twice in as many days now has one more chance before it gets named and shamed. Prompt and appropriate compensation on the other hand will result in the frank remarks being removed and outstanding service will likewise receive credit on these posts. See below.

There is also a great deal more that Owen has to get done before winter, including connecting all the services up, putting in the windows and external doors, making the garage airtight, laying some of the flooring and constructing all the stairs and steps inside the cabin, to name but a few. My main concerns now are human resources for getting all this work done in time. Owen is going to have to hire extra help and or sub-contract work out if he is going to complete his contracted obligations before the winter returns. He has promised to do so but, the jury is still out on this and I will keep you posted on progress on this key issue.

So what else have I achieved this week apart from getting angry with my Contractor. Well, I have finished staining all the pine logs and posts on the inside of the cabin. All the pine wood therefore is now stained inside and out. I also made a start on caulking the inside of the cabin and have all but completed the upstairs. There are still one or two bits to do but I am going to wait until the roof is on before I do these last gaps near the interface between the walls and the roof. I have also ordered, from the same supplier in the USA, some darker 'rustic timber' stain for the fir posts, beams, rafters, floor boards and window and door trims. It is hoped that the colour I have chosen from the sample card will contrast well with the 'golden wheat' colour of the pine wood. I have decided to have only these two colours for the woodwork, any more and I believe it will look to fussy. There will be opportunity enough to influence the overall impression with the plaster board that will go between the rafters in some places and on some of the stud walling most, if not all, of which I am planning on having in plain white. There will also be some tiling in the wet areas and this will also break up the domination of the wood.

There isn't really very much to show you this week in terms of photographic evidence of progress made, more particularly because the real progress was made in the offices of my Contractor, Owen Kenney. Here you can see that I had to move all the windows and doors away from the walls in the study/dinning area, that I am beginning to refer to nowadays as the 'man cave', so that I could stain the walls.

Not a brilliant photograph, I'll grant you, but it does show the stain and nice flat surface of the inside of the cabin logs, which will be easy to work with when it comes time for shelves, pictures etc.

More of the same walls from a different angle, I'm afraid the photos of the other walls came out too dark to really show much. 

 I have also had the travel trailer (caravan) taken away. I haven't been using it and am unlikely to need it again. Part of the deal I had with the company that I bought it from was that if I returned it to them in less than a year they would take it back and sell it for me with only a small loss. When I went into the company to complete the deal I was dismayed to find out that the guy I did the verbal deal with had died but, I am very pleased to report that after only a very short deliberation they decided to honour the deal on my word. The company, Runners-RV of Cranbrook, therefore are the first to receive an unqualified recommendation from me on these pages. From the very start they were helpful and considerate, transferring the trailer to and from my property (a 45 min drive each way) without charge, setting it up and giving me (free of charge) a start up pack to get me connected to services and the caravan fit for living in. An outstanding company and sales team that I am very happy to recommend to anyone.

Where the caravan (travel trailer) used to be, now just a pleasant view of the lake looking down to the south.

The only other main achievement this week was to cut up the four trees that fell down during the storm the week before last and to clear up all the mess that was left behind. Strewth, what a difference having the quad made to this operation and how I wish that I had had it when I was clearing everything by hand from where the cabin now stands. It meant that I could cut the trees up into 15' long logs that, once they are dry, I shall be able to use for furniture and other uses. I was able to drag these along behind the quad to the wood pile and stack them, any larger then even the quad had difficulty in moving them.

I am still looking at options for covering the ICF foundation blocks in stone and this week I had another look at real and artificial rock in Cranbrook and was surprised this time by the reasonable pricing at one of the suppliers. So there is hope yet therefore that I may be able source this material in Canada, which would be nice.

A friend has asked if there has been any word about John, the homeless man, who disappeared a few weeks ago. I am afraid there hasn't been and I am still concerned, as much by the apathy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who, because John was homeless, don't really seem to be interested in investigating what happened to him.