Saturday, June 20, 2009

It's Finally Down and Safe - June 19/09











CDS did arrive nice and early on Friday. The lowering was much quicker than the raising - no surprise. The backhoe had to move the whole place over 1/2" by moving the steel beam. One guy from CDS said he had never seen a house fit so exactly on a new foundation - everything was nice and square - good job, Mike. CDS was able to determine the weight of the whole place - a whopping 40 tons. Each steel beam weighs 3 tons! It looks terrific - not at all as high as we were worried about. Now the fun part will begin - the renovations that make the visual difference.

The Scramble is On - June 17 & 18/09




We just got the news that CDS may arrive to lower the cottage on Friday instead of next Wednesday so the scramble is on to get the crawl space ready. Mike, Allan and John worked to get the old floor insulation down, and the pony walls (to hold the wall insulation) done so everything is ready in case CDS does come - keep hoping - we are!!

Thursday, June 18, 2009

We Now Have a Floor - June 16/09







Marilyn came to see the cottage while it was up, brought us lunch, and Kerry joined us. See what excellent trailer trash we have become? On Tuesday, the 16th, the concrete guys were in the parking lot before 6:30 a.m. (rude awakening) and the cement truck was pouring the floor by 7:15. Everything went smoothly and we now have a beautiful new floor in the crawl space. We're making progress!

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Finishing touches to the wall - June 10/11/12/09







Hydro finally showed up about five weeks late to disconnect our hydro from the stand post in preparation for the new siding. Hope we don't experience the same delay when we want to be connected again! On the 11th a worker who was dressed like he was infected by swine flu arrived to apply the "Tuff-N-Dri" waterproofing to the outside of the block wall. Mike and Al started to apply the insulation to the outside of the waterproofing. CDS descended early on Friday morning to lower the cottage - unfortunately they hadn't confirmed the date with anyone so had to turn around and head back to Ottawa - not at all pleased. Our date for the "lowering" is now moved to June 24th.

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Stone Slinger in Action - June 8/09










With the completion of the back wall, it was the Stone Slinger's turn. That was something to see! I don't know that I would have been comfortable wielding a shovel in one corner with the stones being slung in the other. The floor is now ready and waiting for the concrete - one of the final steps before being lowered. 13 more days.

Friday, June 5, 2009

And Then There Were Walls - June 4/09







This is Day Two of working on the walls - tomorrow will finish it. We've ordered parachutes to hang on hooks on the front porch to facilitate getting down to the lake. John's thinking of a ''sit-down" work bench for his new basement. At least the weather's been cooperating this week - there are actually shadows in the pictures.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Cement delivered and footings poured - June 2/09







The cement guys put in another long day. The cement truck arrived in the morning and the footings were all poured by early afternoon. You can't make out the "doggy" footprints in the cement in these pictures, but the date is clear.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Forms built and concrete blocks arrive - June 1/09










The workers arrived bright (there is no bright this year - only cloudy and rain) and early to start work on the forms for the concrete footings. They were finished by noon, but not in time to have the concrete truck deliver today. Later in the afternoon a load of concrete blocks was dropped off.