Short on words, long on photos

I am working all hours at the moment, seven days a week and to be honest I need to in order to make the most of the good weather before the winter comes. I don't have much time for blog writing so you will have to forgive me if this week I am a bit short on words but, I will make up for it by posting lots of photos.

It has been a really good week and I can't remember when we last had one when so much was achieved. Kevin and I got on with the deck furniture (railings etc) and on Thursday the new framing team arrived who worked through to COP on Saturday. In the two and half days they have been with me they have achieved much and I hope that by the end of this coming week they will have finished framing the roof. On Saturday, Dwayne also finished grouting the stone work and all that remains there is to touch up a few places, clean and seal the stones. I am very pleased with the final outcome there and all credit to Dwayne who has worked hard and diligently to get it all done.

What it looks like now from the road.

Then, going around the house anti-clockwise. You can see the two longer posts in the front for the porch and maybe just make out the cutaways in the top log of the house above the door, where the beams for the porch will sit. From there they will come out horizontally and sit on the posts. I hope you will see them next week.

This photo gives you a good idea what the boys achieved this week on the roof.

The deck furniture is starting to look really good. This weekend, I stained what we put up during the week. I have used Rustic Timber for the posts, which is what I am using for the fir on the inside of the cabin, the decking and a darker version for the window trims. For the railings and spindles I am using the same stain I used for the logs - golden wheat.

No change to the roof on the other side of the garage.

The deck furniture in place outside the kitchen door with a gap for steps down to grade. Around the back here we also managed to put up the beam that will support the deck roof joists.

This one gives you a good impression how it all looks. It will change considerably when the North Wing deck is in place. The bottom of the stone work will eventually be covered with fill from the septic system.

The climbing wall on the North side of the cabin. Really I'm showing off Dwayne's handy work with the stones.

I have made a decision about garage doors and will order them tomorrow from Western Building Centre in Eureka, where they are less than half the price here in Canada.

And back to the front.

Well, I need an early night so I will sign off now and post again next week end.

King George commands and we obey, over the hills and far away

An eventful week. The men arrived to frame the roof on Sunday evening and work started on Monday after a period for briefing and sorting materials and tools. The team were good men and they worked hard but they were roofers not framers. The roof for the cabin is complicated and challenging and requires an experienced framing team, which Sean's men are not. By Thursday it was clear that they were struggling and matters were not helped by not having a good set of drawings to work from and a lack of supervision. At close of play on Thursday it was decided that the task was too much for them and they were pulled off the job. A new framing team is being engaged and when they have put the frame in place I hope that Sean's men will come back to do what they do best, which is put the metal roofing on.

This shot gives you some idea of how the roof will look once it is framed and sheeted.

The roof is complicated and none of the angles or lengths are the same anywhere on the roof. It is difficult and hard work.

The interfaces between main roof and dormers will be interesting features of the roof.

The dormers, small and large, caused most of the problems for Sean's team.

While all this was going on Dwayne and I continued with support work, sheeting the second bedroom wall above the kitchen, putting in windows that we won't have access to when the deck covering is in place and carrying on with the stone work around the garage and the front of the cabin. Kevin was ill for a couple of days (hence the lack of supervision) and he also got on with preparing the railings for the deck. I have also done some research for purchasing garage doors and asked for quotes for installing the septic, water and electrical lines to the cabin. It was a busy week and next week will be the same.

The second bedroom outside wall sheeted and windows installed ready for siding that will have to be in place before the cover/roof can be put over the deck outside the kitchen.

Dwayne did stirling work with the stones.

All the walls have been covered in stone.

It just remains now for grouting to be put in and a final clean and polish.

The first railings delivered from the workshop, waiting to be put together with spindles and posts.

The master bedroom window in place, again, so the deck cover/roof can go on. The same is true of the bathroom window which is in but, I forgot to take a photo. Looks good though, with frosted glass.

The week ended on a high note with a visit from Stuart Doyle (651 Sqn 1984 - 87), his wife Janet and their daughter Jenny. It was great see them. They live and work in Alberta, northwest of Edmonton. We had a few laughs and reminisced about the good old days and colleagues alive and dead. They were on good form, good health and I hope to see them again before too long. Stuart was Light Infantry before he joined the Air Corps, hence the title of this week's posting - the theme tune from the Sharp series on TV.

Janet, Stuart and Jenny Doyle.

Man down

Well, how many of you had money on the roofers not turning up? If you didn't, you should have. To be fair to Sean he did originally say that he was going to shoot for the 10th but would guarantee the 17th for starting. It didn't work out badly in the end because all the materials didn't arrive on site until late on Saturday, ie; yesterday. Not everything we need to get the house to lock up is here yet but, there is enough for the roofers to start work and make a big impact. Sean, plus three workers are all due here this evening by about 2200 hours and I hope to be able to add a post script to the bottom of this posting before I retire to let you all know that they have indeed arrived.

Owen is pulling out all the stops to get all his ducks in a row for doing everything that needs to be done over the next 5 - 6 weeks, which includes getting the water and electricity connected and the septic system put in. We also need resources for putting on the siding on the dormer walls and the wall in the second bedroom. None of this is helped by him being away in Missouri for so long. He went down there to do a job that was supposed to take him two days. He has been there for over 10 days already and it is likely that he won't be back for at least another 10.

Dwayne and I therefore plodded on, moving things along, getting things done and taking decisions in the absence of both Kevin and Owen. We finished off putting the plywood and mesh lath on the garage ICF blocks. We also put three bags worth of mortar on the mesh but, as I only had three we will have to wait until next week to finish this job.  We put the external trimming on all the windows that have been installed and we laid out and cleaned, with muriatic acid, all the stone we collected last week. We also started the onerous task of back filling under the decking with material (soil) that Steve Carpenter gave me at the back end of last week and finally we started staining some of the fir timber on the inside of the cabin.

Plywood, mesh and mortar on the garage ICFs.

Just waiting for the corners before we can start setting the stone. They should be here next week.

Trim on all the garage windows ...

… and the main cabin.

I promised I would show you the 'with' drip cap and ...

… 'without' - detail.

Back filling underneath the deck on the front and south side of the cabin is complete - back braking stuff in the crawl space and put Dwayne off work for a day - man down.

A bit easier under the east side facing the lake.

Once the windows are in, I will trim them and put short pieces of timber either side of the escape/drain path, which I will finish with pea gravel.

We also made a start on staining some of the fir timber inside the cabin.

Only about 2-3 inches of these beams will be visible, hence I haven't wasted stain doing them all over.

Some of the roofing materials. There is another similar load of 2" x 12" x 12'.

All the logs that Dwayne cleaned safely tucked away under a tarp to protect them from the sun and rain.

Most of the stone we collected last Friday laid out and cleaned.

This view gives you a better idea of the colours in the stones.

And finally, 8 more sacks of mortar ready to be used for the stone walling.

Kevin will also be back tomorrow and therefore I am expecting some rapid progress over the next couple of weeks or so. There is much to do.

PS. The roofing team has arrived.

All my tomorrows were not yesterday

A good week, just getting things done. I am taking every day as it comes now, moving things along as best I can. Each day sees a little more done, another piece of this enormous jigsaw in place. Sometimes there isn't much to show for the work achieved and on others the progress is made away from the cabin in a showroom or in discussion or negotiations with contractors, suppliers or friends.

Dwayne and I finished off stripping the logs that will be used for making the posts. I say 'we' but, actually I only did about three or four of them and Dwayne did all the hard work while I got on with more technical things. I finished off screwing down the deck outside the kitchen door and made a start on the preparations for the rock walling around the garage. I have put the pressurised plywood onto the ICF panels on the north end of the garage and put mesh and some angle iron onto it. The angle iron is for a "starter strip" to hold the bottom layer of rocks onto the wall. I have done this on the advice of a mason I consulted, who is putting some artificial stone on the walls of a friend's house just down the road. He advised me that, as real stone is much heavier than the artificial rock he is using, I will need something substantial to put the bottom on, in order to stop the stone sliding down before the mortar sets. He even told me where the best place in Cranbrook is to get the iron. They didn't have all that I need so I shall have to wait until they get some more in, which should be next week.

The rocks I collected last week laid out waiting to be cleaned with muriatic acid in order to ensure the mortar sticks and they look their best. I will actually clean the outside once they are on the wall.

If you look closely enough you can just make out the starter strip of angle iron at the bottom of the plywood/mesh.

 I checked out the internet on how to build this type of wall and discovered that I need to start at the corner. The stones that I have don't go around corners well and therefore in order to give it a better appearance I have ordered some corners cut from real rock and have tried to match their texture and colours as closely as I can with mine. This wasn't easy but my rocks have so many colours in them I am sure the end result won't be bad. It is hoped that the corners will be in the store on Tuesday.

I also started preparing wood to be used for the trimming around the windows and doors on the outside of the cabin and have come up with a design that can be used with a drip cap or not, as the case may dictate. Windows exposed to the elements will need a drip cap above them to keep the water off the seals and glass. Windows under the covered decks however will be protected by the roofing and therefore won't require a drip cap. My design allows for this and from a short distance both types will look the same. This will be more apparent once I start putting them in place and I can show you the photos.

While Dwayne and I were doing all this at the beginning of the week, Tex cleaned all the logs that will be used for the railings (nearly sixty in total) and on Thursday we joined him to make the last 200 spindles needed for the main decks. When Kevin returns from California on the 15th everything will be ready for him to start putting it all together.

The last 110, or so, spindles loaded ready to be taken up to the cabin.

There are two things that I believe are really going to define this house on the outside. The first is the roof, the design, complexity and materials of which will make it a dominant feature. The second is the decks. In total there are four of them and they will cover about 1700 square and their design and construction will make them stand out. The next six weeks are going to be critical for getting things done before winter and I am expecting a huge transformation of the cabin during this period, which will bare out what I have just said about the external appearance of the cabin.

On Friday, I went up into the Rockies again to collect some more stone for the stone walling. I took Kevin's trailer with me and got a good load. I don't know yet if I now have enough to complete the job but I am pretty certain I am close. Dwayne also told me of another place up the Bull River Forestry Service Road where I can find the same rocks and on Saturday I went up there to do a recce and sure enough there is a place and it is better than where I have been collecting.  If I need more I now know where to go. It is also easier to get to.

On Saturday I managed another trip down to Eureka, which is about the same distance from where I am staying as Cranbrook is and so it is no inconvenience to go down there. The front door and the door into the garage were ready for collection and so I brought these back with me on Kevin's flatbed trailer. I also ordered the Kitchen door which will be custom made in the same style as the other two entry doors but, will be a half light barn door, the top half of which will be able to be opened separately. It is a bit more expensive but, to me it is worth it and as I managed to get the other two doors at half price on special offer, I am still making a saving.

After finding the new rock source, on Saturday evening I decided to take a drive further up the Bull River FSR and did a big loop coming back down through Fernie. It is spectacularly beautiful country up there, wild, remote and rugged and I remember thinking to myself that this was the Canada I came to find. I turned off the BR FSR onto the aptly name Sulphur Creek Road that brought me back to Fernie. At the top end there was a powerful odour of sulphur and just as it faded I came across a cliff face ideal for rock climbing. I stopped to inspect it and found several 'sport' climbing routes with bolts in place. This climbing venue is a new discovery for me as I thought the three that I already know about in this area where the only ones. I guess I need to do some more research.

Driving through the wilderness, stumbling across hunters and their camps, seeing and feeling nature in its raw state has reminded me of just how different this part of Canada is and how different a lifestyle I will lead here once I get settled. Not that my lifestyle hasn't changed markedly already for the better. My attitude has also changed and I have become much more accustomed to the mañana attitude that is pretty prevalent here. I am also beginning to sense at last, as I knew I would eventually, that all my tomorrows were not yesterday and that the future is beginning to look and feel brighter.

It has been so long now that I have forgotten most of the things that I have in storage in Cranbrook and wonder why I need most of them and what I am going to do with them all when I get them out of storage. I guess that when I eventually do retrieve them, I will rediscover why and how they make this life a little more pleasant and without regret that I cannot take them with me to the next. I must remember also that, I am the keeper of these possessions and that I must make sure that they do not become the keepers of me and that they do not weigh me down or hinder the adventures that await me.

A few shots of the Bull River and wilderness up the Forestry Service Road

Ok to dive into but a long walk back.

I wish I had a camera with a decent lens on it for this shot of Goat Haven Peak, 2410m.

It feels so good out here.

On a lighter note I have been wearing the same two sets of working clothes since I got here and they are now so tattered and worn that I look like a tramp - clean one but, a ragged tramp all the same. It kind of suits me for the moment, so I am not complaining.

Well, as expected the roofers won't be starting on Monday. They should, however, be starting on Wednesday. We will not be getting the materials until Tuesday and they cannot start without them. Having said that the last valley, which I eventually cut, is now ready to be put in place once we have enough people to lift it. I spoke to Sean (of the roofing company) and Owen (my contractor) on Friday evening and Sean hopes to have a crew of 5 for the job. I just hope that between them they have tied up all the loose ends. I have tried to ensure that they have but, with the former in Lethbridge and the latter in Missouri, it has not been easy. With Kevin away anyway until the 15th, this delay in not catastrophic but, we must really work hard now to get everything done that needs to be completed before winter. I have a feeling that the next six weeks are going to pass very quickly.

Rocks from the Rockies

Forgive me if this post appears brief and a little rushed. I have been working all hours this week trying to get things moving and it is now late on Sunday. The first signs that summer is on the wane and about to give way to the autumn are here and there is so much to do before the winter comes again. I had a new man to help me at the cabin this week. His name is Dwayne and he is just what I need at the moment. He works solidly, normally from 8 but, sometimes from 7.30, in the morning until 5 in the evening with only 10 minutes for lunch. He knows what he is doing and doesn't have to be asked to get on with things. He can also be trusted to produce work of a high quality with the minimum of supervision. So, that's good news. I just hope that Owen can hang on to him.

The other good news is that we now have a start date for the roof. The second sub-contractor, Sean Bain, came along on Tuesday (he couldn't make it over from Lethbridge in Alberta on Monday evening) and he is putting a team together to start on Monday 10th September. He estimates it will take a week to put the additional framing and boarding in place and only a further week to put on the metal. So it should all be complete by the end of the third week of September. Yeh, I know, what you are all thinking - me too but, one has to be optimistic. All Owen needs to do is get the resources that the roofers require to start work delivered to the site this week and we should be good to go a week tomorrow.

I have spoken to my wood burning stove suppliers and installers and lined them up for the back end of the first week to put in the chimneys before the metal goes on in the second week. I will also need to put in some vents for the lavatories.

At the beginning of the week Dwayne and I resumed work on the decking, which was about here.

By close of play on Thursday we had done all that can be done at this stage including giving the boards a coat of stain.

It is now beginning to show off it's size and feels quite roomy, which is the general idea as it will be where I will spend a lot of my time, the idea being to allow the land around the house to return to it's natural forest state.

I expect it to shrink once the posts, rails and spindles are all in place and there are a few flower and herb boxes and some furniture on it and ...

… maybe a few logs stacked against the wall under cover of the roof. So far we have used over 3,000 screws and still the deck by the kitchen door needs to be finished off. We ran out of screws last week and so on Saturday I bought another 2,500 as there is still the upper deck to do as well as the kitchen deck and the last boards around the outside, once the posts et al are in place.

We also put in the four windows in the study and ... 

… dining area. These have to have trimming on the inside and outside and today I loaded the trailer with some wood for the latter. I will have to wait for the interior stuff but, there is no hurry for that.

While I was staining the interior of the windows and the deck, Dwayne started stripping the posts we brought in from the forest a few weeks ago.

He worked tirelessly and without complaint and by the end of the week he had pealed more than half the pile, all but two by himself.

On Saturday Tex and I planned a trip over the boarder to collect a granite kitchen top for the Steins and to get some plywood and mesh for covering the remaining uncovered ICF blocks around my garage and house. When we got to the border post, Tex was refused entry because his passport had expired and he was detained for three hours by US Customs while they investigated his background. It was very frustrating for me because I wanted to get on with things but, I just had to sit and wait for Tex to be released, then take him back to the accommodation in Jaffray and then return to the US by myself to get what I needed. I didn't have time to go all the way down to Kalispell to pick up the Stein's granite but, I did get everything I needed and I stopped for a good western steak in the Trappers' Saloon on the way home.

Sunday I did all my personal admin and in the afternoon drove up into the Rockies to collect some stone for the final veneer covering for the ICFs.

The trip was really a recce to scout out where to take a trailer to collect a more substantial load next time but, I did fill the back of the Jeep with as much as I thought it could safely take without breaking the suspension.

Well, that's all for now folks, I need to get to bed and have a good night's sleep ready to start the week in the morning. I'll be by myself tomorrow as it is a public holiday here but Tuesday Dwayne should be back to give me a hand and I am expecting Kevin and Kyle again on Thursday to help put up the final valley and rafters ready for the roofers to start on the 10th.