Goodbye Old Friend

After getting the hydrovac guys in to locate the underground services, I laid out the locations of the foundation on the ground and on the driveway and double checked everything against the plans.

Plans will always be square and exact and even and perfect - blame computers for that.  Real world construction is something altogether different.  There is no such thing as a perfectly straight line and no wall is perfectly square with another - it all depends on where you measure to or from.  With this in mind, layout of building lines is an inexact science at best.

Add to that the fact that once the excavator begins to drill for the piles, you're stuck with what you've got at that point.  To aid in being able to reset key, important locations like the centres of piles and grade beams etc, its helpful to measure from a layout line that won't be disturbed by digging and for that you snap parallel lines away from the dig area and measure back as needed to establish your lines.

Which I will do, but first we need to get rid of the driveway.

And what to my wondering eyes did appear in the early part of September (the 6th to be exact) right when the contractor said it would?

Sweet!


and look what it did to my driveway! Good bye old friend!

and yes, that's George, our cat, making sure the guys knew what they were doing... Good supervision is hard to come by these days.

It was actually starting - this renovation - and this was the most concrete step so far (pardon the pun) breaking ground so to speak.  There was really no turning back - which while satisfying finally, was also a bit scary.  With no one else to turn to if things started to go awry, the successful finish of this project was going to rest on my shoulders alone.

Good thing I'm supposed to know what I'm doing...

Here's how they broke up the driveway -

nothing like a portable jackhammer!

And here's what we were left with once they cleaned up and hauled everything away:

With everything removed I re-strung my layout lines and sprayed the locations for the piles and grade beams.  Originally I had hoped to be well past this stage of the project by the beginning of September to avoid the chaos of back to school and kids walking along the Bay and past heavy equipment, but beggars can't be choosers, and this is what we had, so this is what we had to work around.

The boy usually has his back to school picture taken on the front steps - I decided to add a bit more of the foreground this year for posterities sake!

Next day the guys returned to excavate more of the site to allow better access for the bobcat to manoeuvre and for the drill rig to be able to get close to each hole location.

With things dug down near the existing foundation I was able to get a closer look at the grade beam and pile location at the corner of the existing garage under the overhead door.  It seems even back in 1962 they didn't always get the concrete laid out exactly right.

While our house has a poured concrete basement wall system resting on footings, the attached garage's exterior walls are supported by concrete grade beams (8" wide x 24" deep) which in turn are supported by three (or more) concrete piles (cored excavations into which steel rebar and concrete are placed) 20' deep.  Since we are attaching structure to and on top of the existing garage, we have to ensure we have the same type of foundation system in place.

Closer inspection of teh existing pile at the garage corner showed it was poured a bit off center from the grade beam it was designed to support, and that the grade beam itself suffered some cracking early in it's life.  I took pictures and consulted my structural engineer and discussed options.  We agreed that it appeared the house hadn't shifted at all over the years and that as long as we attached the new concrete to the old carefully and allowed some additional forming of that area we should be fine.

To be safe, we relocated the center pile on this side of the new garage foundation to take more load, thus reducing our chances of significant bearing issues in this old corner:

With the concrete drill rig booked for a Monday morning excavation, I rechecked everything and laid it all out one last time:

And with that, the first week of September closed with very visible evidence of something about to begin.  I suspect the neighbours had little clue what they would be in for in the next few weeks.

Next time: holes, steel, wood and concrete - no, that's not a Crosby Stills Nash and Young tribute band, that's how we finally got things off the ground!

Let's Get Started: Suck and Blow

Where were we?


Oh, right.  We were trying to get this garage addition project off the ground - or in the ground, actually - and we were being delayed waiting for pricing of the concrete and excavation work and so we decided to begin some of the interior demolition and get that out of the way.

Which we did.


By mid August I had booked a hydrovac service to come out and expose the water and sewer lines so we would know exactly where those lines were located and then presumably, we wouldn't hit them when we began to drill down for the pile holes.  


Makes sense when you think about it, why guess when you can be certain?


It isn't inexpensive to hire a hydrovac truck to come to your site and use high pressure water and a big ol' vacuum to loosen then suck up the dirt and debris in the area until the operators locate the pipes or lines they are searching for.  Daylighting is one of the terms in the construction industry for this kind of work, since you are exposing the lines to 'daylight.' 


You'll remember I brought in a sewer contractor to locate the water lines and he painted up a path which indicated the water line was running around the front part of the house on its journey to the water meter location at the rear of the house, down in the basement.


Standard procedure is for the water and sewer lines to be run at the same time during basement construction, in the same trench, running under the basement concrete floor.  Clean outs and floor drains will be located along this path.  I know where the floor drain is in the basement utility room (also home to the water meter), and I also know where the sewer clean out is in the basement floor located at the front of the house.


I measured from the clean-out to the corner of the basement foundation wall, added the thickness of the concrete wall, and transferred that measurement to the exterior of the foundation wall at the front of the house.  This marks where I figure the water and sewer lines should be found.

Here's the hydrovac truck: 
 

It's a 2-man job, one controls the high pressure water line and the other controls the vacuum line from the truck - he has the remote control box in his hand in the picture below: 
 

The water nozzle loosens the soil - like a pressure washer - and the vacuum, well, that's pretty self explanatory, isn't it? 
 


They started at the mark Grant left me after he 'located' the water line, and shot down to 10' and didn't find anything.  They slowly worked their way across the layout and down until they crossed almost the entire entry addition.


When they were done, we were left with a large hole in the front yard, just over 8 feet deep, and they did indeed locate the water and sewer lines for me. 

Here's a shot of the hole they left, looking back toward the house: 
 
(see that blue paint mark on the house? That's where I thought we'd find the sewer and water lines) (and see that line on either side of the trench, scratched in the dirt in line with that blue paint mark? - that's where we found the lines. Just sayin.) 

and pipes waaaaaay down there: 
 

Problem was the lines were exactly where I thought they would be, and nowhere near where Grant had laid them out. 

Better safe than sorry, I know. Plus, I had the guys visually locate the gasline too. 

 
that's it just under the surface of the sidewalk and driveway, 23 inches below grade. 
which is very close to the surface - still within code mind you - but dangerously close when excavation equipment is involved. 

So, inexpensive? No. But money well spent. 

Sure beats going KABOOM! 


And, with the underground services located accurately, we were set to begin excavation.


If only we had a concrete contractor booked...


Sigh.

If I Had a Hammer...

It's been a quiet month on the renovation front apparently, judging from the lack of posts here in this renovation blog.

And that's the truth.

It's not that I've been a negligent blogger, its just that there hasn't been any movement on the renovation front. None.  Nowhere.  Nothing.

I brought in another concrete contractor for pricing, but he's as bad as my commercial guys - not that they're bad contractors, just that they can't get a revised quotation to us because right now the entire industry is so busy that the piling sub-contractors are that far behind on their quotes, and it runs all the way back up to us.

So I don't have any new pictures of concrete removal or drilling or giant earth moving machines to share.

But since it was a long weekend here this past weekend, we decided that we'd take advantage of that extra day and begin some interior demolition just because.  Because it will need to get done eventually.  And because we're going to be the ones doing it then, we may as well do it now when we're not under the time pressures we will most certainly be facing down the road.

So I called my demo guy and asked if he had a trailer for me to use on Saturday.  He said sure, and he'd drop it off first thing.

He even dropped off his van in case we had so much stuff that a trip to the dump would be in order. (it wasn't, but it was a nice idea all the same.)  Note the step stool, it came in handy for getting large items into the trailer - it was either that or we''d have huge HeMan-like thighs after a day of high-stepping the debris into the trailer.

Neither one of us is fond of the Hulk-like ripping of pants, so we stayed with the step stool.

Today's demo would be some stuff that had been accumulating in the yard since fall, and some actual, honest to goodness construction related demo! Finally!  Our target was the front room. Here are the befores:

Here's a shot of the boy helping for a very brief moment before going out to catch a movie with a friend - he was disappointed that he was going to miss knocking holes in walls, so we let him get a few shots in while he could.  We assured him there would be plenty of time and opportunity as this project gets going for him to hone his hammer-smashing skills.

It's always a bonus to have constructed the walls you are attempting to remove: you know what's in them and how they were built (hopefully!) In this case, I knew where the electrical was run for the lights and switches, and how the gas line for the fireplace entered the base of the platform, so it was a fairly easy job to shut those services off and then remove them piece by piece before true demo began.

The fireplace wall was first.

Then the small walls that separated the front room from the dining room - I had originally built these two thin walls to allow for 2 sliding doors to close off the dining room. Yeah, that never happened.  After we got the walls up we waffled about the doors. That and we never could find exactly the type of doors we both wanted, but that's another story for another day.

Here's the dining room walls going out:

Yes, that's K knocking down that wall. No, she's not naked.  Though that would put a whole new spin on the home remodelling show craze on tv, now wouldn't it? No, she'd work for a bit then hit the pool to cool off, then continue.  Smart woman that one.

And the after shot from the front room looking back toward the piano wall:

Just a little bit more open.

While I had been disconnecting electrical and gas lines, and knocking down the fireplace wall, K was cleaning off the built-in cabinet on the west wall. We figured we may as well take out one section of it while we had the van and trailer, since the new entry addition would require a doorway into the existing house where that first section of built-in sat. 

Now I know for some of you, the thought of demolishing storage cabinetry is akin to sin, and you're probably going to leave comments suggesting we have our heads examined for wrecking perfectly good custom built-in cabinets.  But before you sharpen the sticks and light the torches,  please remember that I built those cabinets myself back when the boy was still crawling, and while they could have lived out a long and useful life, they have no future in the new plans, and served us faithfully while we used them.  

I wondered how the boy was going to react when he came back from the movies and saw part of the cabinets gone.

He was surprised, and commented on not knowing the front room without those cabinets being there, but he was interested in how they came out and when he could help get the rest of them out.  He wasn't as interested about the mold we found behind this one cabinet though:

Nothing a little bleach couldn't fix.

And with that, we swept up and wiped down the first layer of settling dust, closed up the trailer and poured a couple rum and cokes and hit the pool.  No need to kill ourselves just yet.  Baby steps, remember?

Next time? Hopefully we'll have pictures of big earth moving machines and major drilling tools and mud and mess and stuff like that.  

Or not. Whatever.  We'll get there when we get there.

This is like a road trip; the more you slow down and enjoy the stuff along the way, the more memories and insights you'll discover.  

Like that your house will seem more open and huge than you remember, if you knock down walls that you put up a few years earlier and rediscover the expanse of space that was hiding in plain sight.

Let's talk about Outer Beauty

It's been another slow week renovation wise.

I had the local Natural Gas company out on Saturday to locate the natural gas line that I knew runs along the west property line.  I knew this, because I had them locate it a few years ago when I built the replacement fence.  At the time, it was my luck that the gas line ran exactly under where I wanted to place a gate fence post.  So I hand dug down until I exposed the line.

I remember Karen's dad was helping dig out that post-hole.  I had told him there was a gas line right under the post location, and that we had to dig down to expose it, by hand, and not disturb it, well, for obvious reasons.  I thought it would be obvious that hitting an underground gas line would be a bad thing.  After all, just the previous year there was a home not too far from us in St Vital that was blown clear off its foundation when a gas line was ruptured due to construction activities.

I'm all for fireworks in the summer, just not ones that change my house's address.

I came out from getting a glass of water to find FIL, both hands wrapped around a steel pry bar, raising it up until his hands were just above his forehead, then forcefully ramming the steel rod down into the post hole to loosen up material which he would then remove with the clam-shell shovel.  Lather, rinse, repeat.
The bar kept striking steel down in the hole!

I didn't tackle him, but I came close.

I'm still not sure he understood what might have happened.  Thankfully, he never had to, and once I had exposed the yellow-painted pipe, I measured its depth and took photographs to document the location.

Think I can find those photographs now?

Anyways, like Grant last week, the service tech marked the lines, this time with yellow-orange paint, and as suspected, the marked line is just about 3 feet away from the edge of the grade beam and pile locations.  I'm thinking I need to forget what it might cost to get the hydro-vac truck in, and locate both the sewer/water lines as well as the gas line at one time before we excavate.

When will that be? I'll get back to you on that.  See, I spoke with my structural engineer last Monday after looking at the location of the one pile that was bang-on under the water line location Grant painted, and I wondered if we HAD to have a pile in that particular location or not - it was only 3 feet off the existing foundation, and there would be another only 5 feet away which should be carrying more load.  Vic confirmed my gut-feeling, and said we would indeed be fine to remove that one - it was there as a precaution - but he ran the load calculations and they came back fine to remove it.

He also ran a different load calc for the exterior garage wall with the centre pile moved a couple feet closer to the existing garage corner pile, and he found that there too, I could remove the additional pile without any issues.  At about $1000 per pile, I'll take those savings where I can get them.

So I revised the drawings, including removing the little hip roof I designed over the front entry-way - the one I thought might look like the roof over a drive-thru bank branch - had Vic re-stamp them, and sent them off to be re-printed and re-priced.  I'm still waiting on the re-price from the foundation contractors - I just spoke with Dan - and I understand how busy they are; it is summer, after all, and this is a small project for them, but at the same time, I need to make commitments to suppliers and get things scheduled and booked.  I should hear from them mid-week. I'll let you know.

To date I have ordered the new windows for the entry foyer, and the triple unit for the front living room. Those are from Loewen Windows and they're custom aluminum clad (linen colour) solid wood windows with a horizontal mullion about 10" from the top.

Here's the new front facade

I couldn't find a front door like what I had in mind, so I spoke with my door supplier and decided to make my own as best I could from their offerings.  So I've ordered a fibreglass front entry door that will be custom cut for a dual-pane low E sealed glass unit to which I will have opaque window film applied to create three distinct divisions on the glass - enough to let light through, but still allowing for privacy.

kinda like this, but the film will be different - not full opaque

I have ordered the new garage door, the overhead door, not the side man-door one that will open onto the sidewalk to the back yard. The big garage door is a 16' wide by 7' high flare panel style from Overhead Door. No glass.  I'll add my own brickmold to it and have the soffit and fascia guys custom clad the frame to match the new windows.

Hard to see the details - but we've gone with white - we'll paint to match after

So that's where we're at. Oh - and I ordered sealed window units - just the glass - from my glass guys and I'll make the 3 windows that go up in the west garage wall. Instead of $300 a piece for fixed picture windows, I've ordered 6 glass units for $150.  An afternoon in the shop and a hundred bucks worth of jamb stock and stops, and I'll have my own signature on part of this renovation. Here, take a look:

Those three windows up there - I'm making those, and I'll show you how. Later.  

So that's where we're at.

Hopefully I'll have news mid week and a better idea of schedule for you.  

And no explosions.

Welcome Home!

Considering that what's we talked about doing if the City didn't approve our variance, I figure that's as good a way to start this new blog as any. And since most of you know what 'Welcome Home!" refers too, you'll understand why we were unsure how to feel when we got the okay from the City to continue along.  House renovation? or DVC?

DVC would have been nice, but in the end, this will be where we live until it's time to pack it in for the final big trip, so we may as well make this place the way we want it to be; to put our stamp on it and call it ours.  And so we will.

Eventually.

Maybe.

If I can ever get into the ground to start excavating and drilling for piles.

You see, I had my sewer and water contractor by on Friday to scan and locate my water line that runs from the front yard, under the house, and all the way back to the utility room in the far south west corner back there, where it comes through the floor and where we read the water meter.  Grant brought his hi-tech looking scanner wand and the transmitter that gets clipped to the closest hose bib or spigot - in our case we have one just around the front corner by the cedar there, no, the other way, yeah, that way, around the corner, and down just a bit, can't miss it.

He started out at the curb-stop - the City's circular brass valve that lives just under the grass in the front yard with the large bolt-like fitting in the centre - you've seen them before:

This one is now blue, no longer brass, with a red ring around it. 

No, it doesn't have an STD. That's just how it is these days.

and then, like some voodoo magician, he waved his scanner wand thing back and forth and it emitted a tone that changed pitch as he passed over the water line buried some 8 feet or so below.  The higher the pitch, the closer he location of the scanner to the buried copper line, and on the scanner there's a screen that also registers depth of signal, so he can tell approximately how deep the line is buried.

This is Grant.  He's too tall for this job. My back hurt watching him.

So back and forth he went, and every so often he'd spray a mark of blue paint to track his progress.  After about 5 minutes or so here's what he left behind:

A blue line that seems to curve right into my grade beam layout...

Like a good professional, Grant couldn't or wouldn't be held to anything he had laid out - the onus is on me to verify actual locations within 3 feet ON EITHER SIDE OF THE LINE! 

WTF?

A 6 foot swath?  I could have done that! And I didn't need a fancy scanner and transmitter!  I know where the line starts - its back at that blue and red target thingy back there, and it runs more or less straight to where it pops through the basement concrete floor in the utility room way back there! Hell, if I'd had known I needed to stay 3 feet off that line...

ah, nevermind.

it's done.  we have a line.  And so what if Grant won't lay his credibility on the line? (pun intended) The reality is we probably couldn't hit the water or sewer line with a 10 foot pole if we tried.

Actually we will try - but it will be a 20' drill bit, not a 10' pole - and if we hit the water line it will be like Old Faithful, and if we hit the sewer line, well, let's just say the shit's gonna hit something, and it won't be a fan...

Speaking of sewer line, I measured from the clean out inside the basement this morning, and it should be coming under the basement foundation almost 5 feet from the corner of the house.  And it should be buried in the same trench as the water line...

Grant's location line

Grant's line is not 5' from the corner - it looks like its coming around the corner...

sigh.

Let's find a contractor with one of those hydro-vac trucks that shoots a big jet of high pressure water into the ground to make a hole, then uses a gigantic vacuum on the back of the rig to suck up the mud.  

Hey!  Where's Ken when you need him?

A Bunch of Little Things

It's been a mixed bag of late-Spring weather this past week or so - days that seemed much like summer gave way to rolling thunderstorms that lit up the evening sky with purples and greens and left behind streets littered with branches and then we got days of steady dreary rains - the kind we certainly do not need as swollen rivers are still an issue and bloated beaches have claimed the cottages and houses that line their shores.  But it all serves the greater purpose I suppose, as the lilacs out front can attest, as they shot up at least two feet with the mixed blessing that is our weather.

We spent last weekend in the brutal summer heat washing and sanding and staining the deck, and it looks better than new - well, maybe not quite that good, but it's certainly better than what it was before the back breaking work.  It's now a cafe au lait type of colour, and not the aging silver-grey that those green pressure-treated deck boards turn when you leave them to their own devices.  I made up a pair of crumbles with the rhubarb I picked - one with blueberries, the other with strawberries, and I'm not sure which was better - if I had to choose I think I'd go with the blueberries though it's not fair to force one into such dilemmas.  I'm not sure you can find a more refreshing dessert after a days work than a rhubarb crumble with a scoop of vanilla ice cream melting through its golden crusted toppings.  But if you'd like to share a recipe, I'm sure I'd be up for the challenge!

Of course the boy was no where to be seen during the deck renewal process - and I can't really blame him - it's not exactly kid-friendly work, nor is the job of sufficient size to warrant an extra set of complaining hands.  Though to his credit he did help me dispose of half the pile of branches as I fed them into the hopper of the yard shredder.  Honestly that machine scares the hell out of me - maybe I'm a bit more cautious after having had the table saw and my middle finger become so well acquainted - but still, no God-fearing person in their right mind would knowingly feed branches into a hopper that suddenly latches onto the woody stem and swiftly swirls it around and around while the hidden spinning knives inside its belly mince the shards into bite size wood bits and deposits them at its feet.

That's just wrong.  Or incredibly cool if you're twelve. I think he was disappointed I wouldn't let him feed the beast. Or over heated. Or both.  He asked if he could get a glass of water.  That was the last I saw of him all afternoon...

I called the City on Thursday, wondering if our building permit was stuck in the bureaucratic vortex of the Planning Department downtown, like so many of my commercial ones, and Joanne answered and asked me if I had a sixth sense, because it had just arrived on her desk from upstairs! I told her I had a feeling it was ready - and she filled me in on the outstanding balance and I said I'd be down before 4:30 to pick it up.  She called back a few minutes later to say that she couldn't locate the plans that were to accompany the permit - but if I wanted I could still get the permit and pay for it.  I thanked her for the heads-up and said I'd be down late Thursday or first thing Friday.  It's nice to have the level of personal service I get when I deal with the folks in the Planning Department - I know many of them by name, and some, like Joanne who it turns out is the next door neighbour to a family relation, have become like family themselves, and we share stories when we meet and catch up while I wait for my appointments with the permit techs.  On our way down to get the permit she called once more to say she had found the missing plans, and when I picked everything up from her, I thanked her for her help, and she laughed as she shared the spectacle of a great deal of the office staff buzzing around looking for "Reid's Plans"  I'm not sure many people have had that kind of personal attention from this staff - but I'm very grateful for it.

So it's all systems go for the renovation now - time to book the trades and verify the window and door orders; revisit the plans and make sure the elevations and layouts are going to work as I designed them so many months ago.  This past Saturday was spent in the yard with a string line, measuring tape, marking paint, flagging tape, a bundle of lath for stakes and my copy of the plans - already folded and worn and marked up the way a set of blueprints should be. So far so good. I'll post soon with the beginning pics.

Sunday was Father's Day, and around here that also means its Manitoba Marathon Day - so it was an early rise and shine for 2 of us - Karen and I registered in the 10K this year - due to her less than hoped for performance at last year's half marathon where she hit the wall at mile 7; and my first ever instance of plantar fasciitis a few months ago - we decided that while we maybe couldn't run, we certainly could walk, and so we joined 14000 other runners and walkers and helped make the day another amazing success!  Kudos to the amazing army of volunteers who make the event such a fun and fantastic way to spend Father's Day. In keeping with our family tradition - we returned home and woke the boy and went out for breakfast and enjoyed the pleasure of his company.

Tonight after dinner we watched some old trip video of our first visit to Orlando back in 2001. I can't believe the mini-man was ever that small, or that cute!    It was so much fun revisiting those days: our first ever visit to the Magic Kingdom with him in his stroller, having to carry him and hold him during the afternoon parade; the way his face lit up at all the magic and make believe around him (and yeah, us too!) and it was so tremendously satisfying to see the deep bonds he shared with us back then - the ones we take for granted these days in the midst of teenagerdom and a never-ending growth spurt, but which we know will always reside there, in part because of the times we've shared together and the decisions we've consciously made to strengthen those bonds important to us all.  He watched the 2 1/2 year old him with a mix of pride and embarrassment (we've all been there before) and allowed his mother to miss that part of him that she's lost forever but which she keeps alive in her heart, and when she needed a hug he was there to give it to her.

You sometimes wonder during weeks like these, where so many things are happening at once, whether anything you're doing is really making a difference.  Is spending a Saturday staining the deck or weeding the flowers or shredding trees really what we should be doing, or could we be doing something more worthy with our time? Is this renovation going to take us to where we need to be, or are we just chasing our tails trying to capture something eluding us?  Before tonight I don't know that I could have told you, but after I sat out by the fire and listened to the quiet evening and watched the family of blue jays playing together through the treetops, I thought about that little boy in the video, holding hands with his mommy as they played in the resort pool with the "Big Water" fountains shooting up to shrieks of pure delight, as they turn and wave to "Daddy" and the video camera, his entire face lit up in one gigantic genuine smile,   everything is exactly how it's supposed to be, and I wouldn't change one little thing.

Have a great week!

Signs

It's the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada - nothing quite says 'Start of the summer season' like celebrating dead Queens! And if it's the May long weekend, that means the weather will be crappy; the tall foreheads at Environment Canada won't need to consult charts and algorithms to come up with this weekend's forecast - nope - just call for rain and be done with it.

As long as I can remember, May long weekend has always iffy in terms of getting weather suitable for opening the cottage or camping or having friends over to sit around and share good times in the backyard with a few cold beverages.  So, if you own a camper trailer, leave it parked, don't bother opening the pop-up one to air it out - you're wasting your time - you know as well as I, you're just going to be setting it up and taking it down in the rain. You can thank me later.

Now, it should be pointed out that history has never been a stumbling block for weather forecasters, so I don't think anyone believed the early week call for sunny and warm temps.  Unless you count our neighbours who pulled the camper out and opened it up with the help of their young boys, just in case.  That should have been a sign. Though honestly I can't blame them.  They knew enough to wait and check the mid week weather before finalizing their plans.  But if it turned out to indeed be nice, they would be ready.

Speaking of camping, my neighbours hedging their bets reminds me of Harold Camping's lunatic ramblings about the End of The World happening Saturday at 6pm give or take a time zone or two.  He and his followers honestly believed the Bible had foretold the end of days, with pinpoint accuracy no less, which reminds me of George Bush the 2nd and his 'Mission Accomplished' back in 2003.  It's all fine and dandy to be proud of your accomplishments and to be confident and secure in your knowledge, but what if you're wrong? I'm not suggesting you don't take a stand or pick a side - I'm merely offering a bit of wisdom that could well serve leaders of nations and fringe religious groups (are those really different?)  Choose your words carefully.  And if need be, prepare to eat them with grace and dignity if you've over stepped your bounds. And for the sake of everyone involved, don't hang up a sign!

Camping isn't new to this - he first predicted the End of the World would happen in 1994, September 6 to be exact. You'd think after getting that one wrong he would have been a bit more careful; that maybe once the sun rose of September 7, 1994, he would have taken it as a sign that predicting the future wasn't his forte.  Apparently not.  I don't want to know how many people listen to his radio program and willingly hand over their savings to support his cause - or which lobby groups he's tied into - all I know is someone paid more than a few dollars for all those billboard signs around the world proclaiming the end last week.

We finally got the long awaited call from the City Planning Department on Thursday afternoon, telling us that our Bylaw Variance Application had been approved for Posting, and that we had to pick up the Notice Posters Friday and have them up and on display before Friday Midnight.   I picked up the laminated goldenrod signs Friday morning and by Friday evening had them mounted on some sturdy plywood and wood bracing and staked into the front yard, making sure we followed the list of posting rules and regulations to the letter - the signs had to be on our property, no more than 3 feet behind the property line, facing the street, etc  They are to remain posted continuously for 14 days.

We didn't realize it when they called, or even when we applied, that if we got called to pick up the Notice Posters, it meant The City had Approved our application, and we would be allowed to build as planned, pending a hearing to hear any appeals. Hence the 14 day posting period - 2 weeks is enough time for our neighbours to review and read the Notice signs and file an appeal if they do not approve of our plans to build forward into the required front yard another 8 feet.

If you read the fine print on the above sign, you'll see, as we did, that the only people able to appeal the City's decision are the applicants (us) and the owners of properties directly adjacent to the subject property (our neighbours - who have already signed our application in favour of the project) so unless they've had a change of mind, the 14 day posting period is a mere formality.

Friday morning as I was leafing through the stack of business cards on my desk, I stumbled across one for a construction company I used on a few commercial jobs in years past for concrete retaining walls and grade beam work. Thinking about the reality of us finally starting the garage addition now, I called the GM and asked if he'd be willing to price our project - he said they don't normally do residential jobs, but since we've worked together before, he'd be happy to look at the drawings and shoot me a number.

Finding that card when I needed to get a price for the concrete work?  I'm considering it a sign.

Hope

There isn't a breath of wind this morning, as I sit here in the backyard gazebo, the Sunday sun risen but not yet fully awake, much like myself, and if you care to listen you'll hear the many voices, songs and callings of insects, frogs, birds and Spring.

Mother Nature never works in silence; even in the stillness her legions of progress are busy moving forward, bringing constant change all around us. This morning the frogs and crickets seem to be leading the chorus; though a quiet mind can hear at least a dozen different birds, and the red squirrels are moving now too, back and forth along the highway in the treetops. Each one of them calling to another, working together as they build nests for the natural consequence of Spring.

Fitting then, that in this season and such surroundings, we celebrate Mothers everywhere; those that brought us into this world and raised us as best they could amongst the change and chaos that is Life. Some are born naturals, destined to have children and blessed with the talents and knowledge and energy to do whatever it takes to guide her charges forward; others seem more saddled with the task, slighted somehow by Nature, given the ability but not necessarily all the tools with which to perform; others start out fine enough, but life and circumstance change along the way, and success seems bleak at best.

It's never easy, not for any Mother, the care and concern never go away, if anything they grow stronger and more raw the older the children get, one's ability to protect her offspring lessened with time, but the urge, perhaps need, never diminished. The bonds are tested early and often, strained and repaired again and again, but constant on so many levels. As the children grow and change, they stay the same too, and the overwhelming emotion of Motherhood, Hope, is constant throughout as well, an eternal beacon on those darkest nights, a welcome refuge when needed most.

The songbirds are still singing, though there is now a rumble of manmade sounds off in the distance, the slow awakening underway. The cat repositions on the towel that covers the sun-soaked chair cushion he chose earlier, and gives me a quizical glance, but satisfied I'm no threat to his comfort, he turns over with a stretch and closes his eyes, resuming his morning nap.

We haven't been called yet to pick up the yellow Notice signs for our Variance application, but our next door neighbour stopped by yesterday to alert us that she had seen a blue vehicle parked on the Bay Friday, and watched a man get out and traverse our lot, taking photographs and jotting notes first from her driveway, then from the other side, checking angles and sightlines, no doubt. A concerned mother herself, she approached, confiding to us that her intent was to get a licence plate number of he unmarked car, but also chancing to speak with the stranger.

He briefly introduced himself and his purpose, and admitted that at first he was not keen on the idea as proposed, but once he saw the plans he was impressed with the quality and level of detail provided, and thought he owed it to the process to investigate more closely. He was happy to have spoken with her, confirming that she and her husband who would be most affected by the design, which would be visible from their front window and borders their drive, had signed the application in agreement with our proposal, and mentioned that he thought it would likely be approved.

It's too early to start ordering material and booking the trades - the formal process is far from over. But like Mothers everywhere, it gives us hope that our efforts haven't been in vain.

Variance

I brought in the big guns to my meeting with the City Zoning By-Law officer today.

I figured there was no reason to sit back and begin this process quietly, that I may as well start with a flourish and build up from there, taking no prisoners, and leaving no bridges unburned behind me.  This might be war, so let's show 'em what I've got, keeping a few things hidden up my sleeves for later when the time is right, but set the stage early.

Yup, that's right, I brought Karen with me!

I figured it was time she learn what it is that I deal with on a daily basis with the City, and why it can take months to get a permit issued even when the job seems simple and straight forward.  We arrived a few minutes late to our 9 am meeting thanks to my impatient driving in morning rush hour traffic (anyone remember the car pee pee dance? Yeah, that was me a little thing morning...) and then the City parking lot that is reserved for people visiting the Planning and Property Department was filled, and some yahoo figured his precious truck needed two spaces rather than one like everyone else, so we had to park in the metered lot further away... grumble, grumble, grumble...  This patience stuff is hard.  Give me time.

I used my contractor status, such as it is, to use the separate entrance to the waiting area, and introduced Karen to some of the staff that I have had the pleasure of getting to know over the years as I have waited for permit intake meetings etc, and as we sat she commented how "office-like" this area was compared to the more mall-like building we had just passed through.  The low height t-bar ceilings and standard fabric covered office cubicle partitions and fluorescent lighting which was my reality back when I toiled for the City all those years ago are still in use here, and Karen noted the piles of plans and paperwork on counters and desktops, and I think she was beginning to understand the office environment much better.

Our Zoning Officer was late to meet us - he was on a call with another homeowner looking to build on a unique-shaped lot and was discussing the options and issues said homeowner would likely face in his attempt to construct a second dwelling on his large sabre-toothed-shaped lot.

I have had the pleasure of working with this particular City employee for the past 5 or 6 years - he had been my regular permit intake technician (fancy title for the person who I meet with and to whom I provide the information regarding our commercial construction permit applications) but had sought a promotion or change in employment scope, and was now located further away from the public areas, in a corner of the maze of cubicles that is this City office workspace.  Having a familiar and friendly face to deal with on this matter is a bonus for us, and hopefully will allow the entire process to proceed smoothly.

He had to get another chair for Karen - he has 2 in his cubicle for guests - but the second one was buried beneath plans and drawings and files bulging beyond their elastic banded file folders.  We exchanged pleasantries, and I introduced K and we visited as he began to assemble our application from the documents we had brought along.  We enquired how long we might expect the Variance process to take and he said in our case - asking the requirement of a 25' front yard to be relaxed to 17' for the new garage and entryway - shouldn't encounter too many issues.



But then he stopped, apologized, and corrected himself, and confided in a lower tone as he leaned forward towards us across his desk, that he had shown our application to the Planner, whose cubicle is right behind his, and Mr Planner had said, "I'm not sure I like it."  Gee, that kind of attitude reminds me of someone I spoke to last year about this...

You guessed it, Mr Planner is the lovely individual I spoke with last spring about our plans and who gave the impression of someone with entirely more power than his education or personality should allow.

Great.

We finished with the application, and were informed that it will likely take 10 business days until we're called to pick up the bright yellow signage that must be posted conspicuously on our property that advises any and all who care to read it, that we are asking for a variance from the by-law and for what reason etc. and that the yellow signage must be posted for 14 days, and then it may take another 2 weeks until a decision has been reached.  We wrote a cheque for a little over $400, thanked our zoning officer for his help and guidance, and were led back through the maze and out into the main mall hallway.

So, we've done what we can do, now we wait for the call.

At some point I'm sure we'll be dealing with Mr Planner.  This should be fun...

Lazy Sundays

It's another quiet Sunday morning, and I'm enjoying a perfect cup of coffee. Well, perfect except for the missing cream - we ran out the other morning and it never made the grocery list - not that it would have mattered - no one has been grocery shopping since earlier in the week, what with the early morning (or late night, depending on your place of residence) Royal wedding festivities of Friday, and the subsequent laziness and afternoon napping they brought even though it was a gorgeous 76 degrees out on the deck in the afternoon sun; and then Mother Nature let us have it yesterday with a gloomy, grey, rain filled day that overnight has morphed into a Winter Wonderland. Talk about change.

We got off fairly easy though - mostly rain in that storm, not like those to the west and north of us - reports from home have drifts higher than the trash barrel in the back yard, and cancelled funerals and postponed graduations, to go with the odd abandoned car on Main Street.

Main Street Dauphin, MB May 1, 2011

Looking out this morning we're content to stay inside and watch old movies and take it easy.

I can go for that today.  I need a do-over for yesterday.  A migraine kept me sidelined for most of my Birthday, seeking refuge in the darkness and quiet of the bedroom.  The weather outside helped with that, and made it less of an inconvenience to not be feeling well enough to be outside being productive.  I'm sure the changing weather played a role in my misfortune yesterday - I'm still feeling a bit fragile - and I'm sure the doctor's take on stress affecting it as well isn't too far off either.    Your body will have it in for you if you don't listen to it more closely.

We know that of course, but most of us are too busy 'being productive' to pay attention.  Deadlines and urgent matters get our attention first and foremost, the necessary and the needed aspects of our lives get shoved deeper down the list; further to the bottom of the pile, until something gives and we're forced to change.

The call from the Zoning Officer got placed in a much higher priority than perhaps it should have, and it sent me on a quest to deal with his Variance Application as quickly as I could hoping to limit the length of the delay to starting construction on the project.  I composed my Letter of Intent to the City along with  printing off a new set of plans for the application, and then we spent a nice bit of Thursday evening going door-to-door and speaking with our neighbours and explaining what we were planning and what the City was requiring us to do and why, and asking for their support in the matter.  Everyone we spoke with was happy to sign our application in favour of our renovation - and it was great to visit with the people you see everyday but don't speak with nearly enough.  Remind me to change that.

But couple that flurry of late Thursday activity with a less than stellar sleep thanks to a Royal Wedding watching Spouse (who made fresh cinnamon buns for the occasion just like she and her mom did 30 years earlier on the occasion of Charles and Di's union) and a first-thing-Friday-morning trip down to the Land Titles office to have a title search done for the Variance application, in case you were fortunate enough to be able to schedule an appointment with your Zoning Officer for later in the day... and you've probably got a recipe for something to give.

So something did.  And I paid the price, and today I'm not going to worry about it.  I'm going to finish writing and enjoying this coffee, and maybe enjoy a Lazy Sunday Afternoon watching those old movies and letting Mother Nature do what she needs out there.  Change is good for us, as much as we fight against it, and the sooner we learn to accept it, and go with it, the better all things will be for all of us.

Scootch over, and quit hogging the blankie, let's let this one ride and see what tomorrow brings.

I Swear We've Been Here Before...

sigh

Some days it feels like life won't cut you a break no matter how hard you try.

Last time we talked about the reno project and last summer's snag with the City's zoning officer and the illogical bylaws that one must abide by, or not.  Since then, I've finished the drawings, had my engineer look them over and give me his seal of approval - literally - (okay, so its a stamp - same idea) and I booked an appointment with the City to apply for a building permit.

And waited.

Waiting and building permits go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Trust me.

This is what I do for a living.  I wait. I wait for plans; I wait for details to be decided; I wait for prices; I wait for trades; I wait for more prices; I wait for the City... I wait.  And wait.  And wait.  And I'm getting rather good at it too, if I do say so myself.  But I don't like it.  That was never part of the deal, but it's the system we have, and it's the way that system works, so deal with it.

But wait! Theres more!

Waiting that is.

I took the waiting time this past week to relax and enjoy the final week of April what with Spring finally returning along with the Canada Geese and nothing seemed to fit the bill quite like doing my taxes.

The fun never ends around here, huh?

Yes Taxes!  Yes, I know they are due on the 30th.  I told you I'm rather good at waiting, remember?  Anyways, I got them done and filed Wednesday and thought I'd finally be able to relax and just be for awhile.  Apparently I've been under a bit of stress lately - or so says the doctor who figures the migraines must have a stress related component to them.  Gee, can't understand where the stress might be coming from, can you?

Let's see, house reno plans drawn and altered and redrawn and finally approved. Check.  Taxes organized and filed, and payments send in electronically. Check  Karen's car in to the shop for its 64000 km checkup and oil change. Check.

Wait.  Not so fast.  Nevermind that this is a biggie in the Passat's service schedule -  to the tune of about $500 - really, can you get out of the service area of the dealer for less than that these days?  No, cuz, K's car has had a shimmy for the last couple weeks - I noticed it as soon as I got in the car one day - she couldn't feel it. It was obvious that the car was not balanced properly - either that or it developed a case of Parkinson's while parked on the driveway - or something, but it most certainly was not normal.

So our service rep from VW dropped off his car on Wednesday morning to take the Passat in - its one of the service perks we like about VW - and we gave it the once over before he departed.  I mentioned the shimmy, and he thought about the milage on the car and we checked the tires - and sure enough the wear bar was evident on all 4!  He said he'd check into the cost of a set of new tires to replace the Conti's that came with the Passat, and have the service rep call me.

Yeah, okay.  That call would end up costing us another $900 what with new tires, alignment and taxes etc...  It's like buying a new roof for the house.  In the end you've spent a lot of money, and it doesn't feel like you got anything to show for it.  Not something fun like a new iPad or anything.  But it is the safety of the car's occupants we are talking about so okay, back to the list.

No, that's it.  No more items.  That's not so bad, right?

Insert ringing phone sound here...

Hi, It's so-and-so from the City Zoning Office calling... (why wouldn't it be?)  ...anyways, about your application, you know you're going to need to apply for a Zoning Variance because of that reduced front yard, right?...

(fade to black, with the Zoning Officer's voice mumbling in the background)

sigh...

Here we go again

I started this blog a little over a year ago to document the changes we were planning to undertake in transforming our house at that time.  After a few years of planning and procrastinating we were ready to take the plunge and finally get to redo-ing the kitchen.

Here's  A Look Back, for those of you who joined us late.

It seemed like things were about to take off.

And they did, only to crash back to earth a short while later.

We managed to get the electrical panel replaced with a larger, more spacious model; one with room to grow.  And we got the new lot survey done and updated, and I brought in my structural engineer to advise me on beam sizes and concrete foundation pile work, and we began to plan in earnest.

I ran my idea for expansion into the existing way too small single car garage past the City Planning official, who seemed to exhibit a bit of a God complex, or he was compensating for some other short-coming, whichever, or both, and I got the distinct impression he wasn't keen on my idea, and without coming out and saying it, hinted strongly at the likelihood of me not gating a variance to convert the garage into living space.

I could park on my driveway as long as it led to a parking space ie, pad or garage.  Except I wanted to convert my garage into the new kitchen space.  If we did that, then the current parking location on the existing driveway would cease to be a driveway (the magic that is city bylaws) and we'd be in violation of the by law because we were now parked in the front yard - even though the cars hadn't moved an inch from where they have always parked.

I didn't want to have to fight that hard to build the kitchen we wanted, and have to go for a variance and then possibly get turned down, or get approved but then be so late into the construction season that we couldn't finish.

So we postponed, and I devoured the by law and found what I needed to get past the hurdle.

If I covered the existing parking space /driveway by building a new garage and still had the minimum required distance from the front of said new garage to the front property line (ie, new driveway) Voila! No more bylaw issues.

Except that would mean building a new double garage in front of the existing single car garage.

Which would also mean covering the existing front entry with the new garage.

So? Build a new entry along with the garage. Simple, right?

Well, sure.  But take a look at the existing house again:

Now picture a new extension in line with the side of the existing garage, coming forward about 20 feet, wide enough to park 2 cars in.  For those of you spatially challenged, that would be about as wide as from the corner of the existing garage over to the siding by the existing entry, and then about 8 feet in front of the existing house.

Here, let me show you:

I also drew in the new entry over on the other side over there.  Yeah, I know it doesn't look like anything. Bite me.  This was a quick sketch to show you where we're headed.  Keep up.

Did I mention my headaches make me snarky?

Maybe just a little.

So, if you've followed along this far, you now see our dilemma.  This is ALOT more involved now than it was a year ago.  This means new foundation work. Which means about 6 or 7 - 20' deep 16" diameter piles and a bunch of conceret grade beams. And a whole lot of roof framing.  I can't just walk outside with my magic yellow line drawing thing and build this addition out there.  Nevermind the interior work - which, realistically? looks like Phase 2 of this project now.  More work, means more budget, and more time.  It also means a redo plan-wise to make sure what looks fairly simple can actually be done.

I have faith I can make it work. It's just construction.  Sure it will be a big upheaval of our lives, and eat up any free time I have, and eat into our Disney vacation plans.

But we can park where we want...