Plugging Away...A Little Reluctantly...But Plugging

 Yesterday, through all the heat and humidity, Jim put the gasket seal and rim board on top of the cement wall, in preparation for the basement wall construction to begin. Today, although a little cooler, was still very humid but he toughed it out and started constructing the outer walls. For the record, I was not only supervising construction but was also mowing.

We have quite a lot of clay left over from the excavation stage and, luckily, a couple of neighbours require fill.  We are hoping that by the time they have enough, we will have little or none to deal with.

Mudslide at the Shop

Our next door neighbour, Mike, very kindly spent 2 days back filling the shop. He started on Friday and then that night we had a thunderstorm which nicely packed down all the fill he had moved.  Saturday he was back at it and we had another thunderstorm that night, as well, which not only packed down the fill but flooded the shop basement with mud...nothing a shovel won't fix.  We have spent a lot of this summer either vacationing or cutting grass so work on the shop has suffered but the floor package has been ordered. When it arrives, the yard work and vacationing will have to slow down.

The Sunroom is Finished and...

...the shop is underway, again.

 All the ducting, that allows us to direct the heat generated in the sunroom throughout the house, is in place and disguised behind this new wall. Note the nifty, outdoor, vent louvre that Jim painted the same colour as the wall. It covers the hot air return vents and a vent that goes directly into the loft. The sunroom is now finished...whew!

The weather has finally decided to co-operate and Jim has been able to get the foundation tarred. The washed rock has been delivered so next up is laying the weeping tile, covering it with the rock and calling for an inspection.

Ian and Coreens Wedding

The Wapiti Room at the Bufalo Mountain Lodge in Banff was the venue for Ian and Coreens wedding. March 29 dawned with a new carpet of light, fluffy snow but the sun decided to shine and it had all but disappeared by the 1 PM wedding time. The entire family, such as it is, were all tubbed and scrubbed and turned out in our best duds for the event...yes, even Jim shucked his coveralls. 

Ian, in his new suit, didn't show too many nerves as the final moments before the ceremony ticked away. And Coreen was calm and lovely.

There was an excellent dinner followed by speeches.  Jim, nervous though he was, did a great job. There were exactly the right number of people celebrating this event to make the dance fun.  We knew most of the people, met a few more and had a blast. Hopefully, we will be able to access more pictures when we get to see what the photographer took.

The Continuing Saga of the Basement

As Jim acquired cabinetry from a Totem/Rona sale, we did not require a vanity for storage and decided to try out a pedestal sink in the basement bathroom.  This has allowed this very spacious room to feel even bigger.

We installed the same all-in-one type of tub as is in the main bathroom upstairs. Jim took a towel tower (from the same Totem/Rona sale) and built it in before he drywalled. There is tons of storage now.

Finally, our bedroom in the basement which is directly under the sunroom.  At 14'x15', it's huge. After much discussion, we decided not to put a closet in this room as there is plenty of room to add an armoire. Instead, we thought it would be a good room to double as an exercise room...or, lets be honest...storage for the equipment that I dust, occasionally.  Plus, we have a Murphy bed that folds nicely out of the way.

The rooms are nearly done...just waiting for the suspended ceilings to be installed.  These rooms have extra ducting because of the Venmar so the ceilings will be dropped down to 8' from their original 9' to accommodate it.

The Long Awaited Shop

With the arrival of Thanksgiving came the backhoe.  Our neighbour, Dave, dug the hole for the shop and he and Jim prepared the footing and then erected the cribbing and supervised the concrete pour.  The shop, like the house, will have a walk out with a 9' ceiling.  The idea is that the basement can be used for mechanical stuff and the main floor will be for woodworking. 

Jim was hoping to, not only, get the basement in but also to get the floor down but 60 cms of snow and bitter cold has indicated that winter is here to stay.  After being forced to build the house during the winter, bad memories flooded back. So, Jim is quite willing to wimp out and wait for spring to continue.  So to stay busy, it's back to the basement!!

Honey...It's Time We Talked About The Basement

Jim started the basement during the summer and has nearly finished the main room.  After installing 27 pot lights and 2 light fixtures, you almost need sunglasses. He still has the ceiling to install in the storage room and then it will be done.  Meanwhile, the bathroom has all the electrical done and Jim is about to crawl around in the crawl space to install the plumbing. Then on to the bedroom.