Another milestone

Today was a catch-up day. It was a day to put things away, a day for sorting, to clean up everything that needed it. The ladies finished painting the last of the facia boards meaning we were finished with the scaffold on the outside of the house until the old house is gone. This meant we could take down all the large scaffolds at last.

The house is ready for trim on three sides. The trim is awaiting the windows which will arrive Monday morning.

This week the house will be locked up at last!

-grampa dan

Another moves on

Today I returned from my trip to Vancouver Island. I of course took a look around to see what my crew had done in my absence. They had accomplished a lot - as I knew they would. The painting on the porch was almost done, a few more hours before the rock work is ready for speckles. The front wall was complete, the beams done, the tree glazing almost completed, and a lot of painting done around the back as well. The house was looking great!

Out front, little Matt had completed the front fence and with the help of big Matt had gone twice as far with the side fence as I had imagined possible. Amazingly, they had done the work in only one day.

More would have been done, but Wednesday was the last day little Matt was to work for us on a regular basis. Two weeks ago a friend of mine dropped by, an owner of a welding and fabrication shop. He by chance was looking for a welder to hire and Matt who was with us to complete his hours for his welding ticket was looking for a permanent job. While I would happily keep Matt on for a while longer, I also am extremely happy to see him move on to a more permanent job, one where he can continue to grow his skills.

Thank you for your diligent and precise work on our project Matt!

-grampa dan

Aliens

To get the best possible insulation in our new house we decided on spray foam for the roof areas. Instead of using typical batt insulation and a plastic vapour barrier at the ceiling level we instead are having the roof insulated (from the inside). The attic space is treated as interior conditioned space. The foam also acts as a vapour barrier. While we could have gone for R28 we opted go go above the required standard to R40. With the many potlights in our ceiling space a typical vapour barrier would have been virtually useless and very ineficcient.

The foam is sprayed on as a two part liquid which combines and then expands. While the two parts are toxic in their raw state they become inert and safe in place. But to do the application the ELEMENT Spray Foam team needs to wear protective gear. Colin and Ryan looked like aliens as they worked with bits of blue foam stuck to their coveralls and even handling a formidable gun.

We all steered clear of these guys in action!

I left just after lunch but it looks to me like they will be almost half way through the house by quitting time. The windows and doors are now less than a week away. I look forward to seeing them go into place at last.

-grampa dan