It's all white now!

Shows up the dirt on the old part of the house!

We decided to leave the deck open on the corner

Temporary steps to the front door

Now for the inside.....

Building Project 9 : Windows in (well, almost)

As the wet weather sets in, we're at last starting to get the new structure dried out. The roof is finished; the wall sheathing is wrapped - at least most of it is - and the windows are mostly in.

Yes, you can see the part that's not wrapped yet - the part that's most difficult to reach!

The new addition blends well with the old house, though, doesn't it?

The new walls will eventually be clad in white siding to match the end of the house.

Just the bathroom window and the new "front" door to go in.

From the front, it looks slightly less like a bus now!

New patio doors are in from the front deck























The hallway, with the patio door visible through the wall!

View from the top of the invisible stairs.

 The floor here is only temporary; it comes out when the walls are finished - so those wall lights below the windows aren't really at floor level.




The new study/den/bedroom looking out towards the ocean
(below)

 

Building Project 8 : Putting a lid on it

Yesterday was the last day before the roof went on; framing was virtually complete and the sheathing stacked ready

The last moonlight shines through the joists

then the roof is enclosed.

View from the back (before the raccoons checked out the grapevine once more) 

and the front.

Building Project 7 : Shaping up

It's October now, and within days we should have a roof. How many days? Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, there's been a week of plentiful activity by Jonathan and Dave to finish the walls and prepare for the roofing operation.

Finally, the new upstairs meets the old upstairs.

Buildouts will carry the roof overhang

The bathroom will be extended out to the new internal wall

New bathroom window

and the study window facing the ocean.

Remember this? a delightful view of the foliage out of the study window.

Voila!  There's a house and an ocean out there.

Building project 6 : Ready for roofing

September has, thankfully, been one of the dryest for many years around here. This has meant minimal interruption to our gradual upward progress - to the point where our roof framing will soon be installed ready for roofing.

Murphy's Law dictated, however that the contractor I had approached for roofing was now unable to fit the job in, so the search for a new roof framer became urgent. After a hectic few days, we were lucky to secure the services of John Carlson to come in and prepare the roof in readiness for Stevo (Gabriola's roofing guru) to weatherproof the roof with shingles to match the originals, which he last replaced about 6 and 26 years ago respectively!

Arbutus Building Supplies delivered the laminated beams and roof joists on Wednesday; fortunately their crane truck was able to get right up to the house.....

and lift the 22' beams directly onto the top of the wall frame.












By Wednesday evening the beams were installed and some of the roof shingles removed ready for tying in to the existing house.

Over the past week, most of the wall sheathing has also been completed.... and now I have hammerer's elbow. Similar to tennis elbow I suspect!

Here the roof support beams are safely in place.....

......sitting snugly on top of the columns constructed in advance by Hodgkins & Hannis Inc.

The wall framing beneath the beam will carry the ceiling joists while the long roof joists will sit on the beam itself.

At the other end, the internal wall has yet to be built, but as it will not be directly beneath the beam, the whole roof structure is supported on the beam itself.


Let's just hope the sun keeps shining......

Building Project 5 : Upstairs

Well, in truth, the stairs are some way off - but with the valued assistance of a tall apprentice, we have now got the 18ft columns in place at the back of the extension so the joists have gone in and the flooring is down for the upper floor. I would refer to it as the first floor, but as you may know, in Canada the first floor is the one nearest the ground and the second floor is at first floor level. So what we're now building is the second floor, or the first floor, or just plain... upstairs.

September 4th - Apprentice Hannis recovers from the exertion of combining twelve 18ft long 2x6 beams into three columns, ready to support the roof.

 I decided that maybe some safety rails were a good idea ...  the ground seems a long way down.

We think maybe there's one tree too many between the new study/workroom and the ocean . Here's the view before the walls are completed....

 ... and afterwards

The flooring at the other end provides a temporary work platform which will be removed once the construction is completed, so the stairs can go in.

The second (first) floor window frames have been added together with a few more safety rails for good measure. Thanks to Rob and Mary for the loan of the ladder - even Mr Hannis needs steps to fix the beams in place over the windows!

September 8th : here's the same view after the end wall is completed.

and here's the view from the front garden, showing the large window above the new patio door.

In just a few days we've made really good progress, . The windows have been delivered and stored for fitting after the roof is on - but that's another job for Bruce the Builder and his assistant Bob. Two floor up is high enough for me!

Building Project 4 : Framing under way

 With the flooring complete, the wall framing could start. Now we can start to see the size of the windows and the new patio door opening onto the existing deck.

The dividing wall marks the start of the new dining area. This side is where the stairs will go.

Much of the framing has to span both floors, so the thickest columns are made up of five 16-foot long 2x6 lengths nailed and screwed together.

The five windows to the front will be repeated on the first floor.

Finally, down below is the wine cellar! It's actually nearly 5 ft high at the far end, with a floor hatch (centre left) up under the stairs and an escape hatch at the far end, under the deck.

Could make a great playroom for little people too!

Building project 3 : Foundation to floor

It's a couple of weeks before the first lumber is delivered..... so while I wait, there's a small landscaping project to do.

 July 16 : Trenches are backfilled and levelled.....

 ....... and the mountain has morphed into a raised area in front of the building addition.

Deer-proof barrier is added to protect the new grass seed.

July 20 : First batch of lumber arrives. Packaging confirms it's Douglas Fir - Select Structural grade.








A couple of lengths are even stamped to prove it.

Unfortunately, the rest of it's not.... and without the stamp, the structural engineer won't be happy.  It seems these 10' lengths were cut from a batch of 18' lumber - so guess which end had the stamps on. Wait a few more days for the lumber supplier to issue a certificate of compliance.

 July 27 - and the next problem is addressed. The existing house slopes downhill by almost 2" from back to front, so a step has to be created in the new floor levels.







The level change will be concealed by the internal wall between hall and study.

The grass is growing, and we're ready for the floor joists.













July 30 : Joists and spacers almost ready for the floor to be laid. Access to the new crawl space (almost 5 ft high) from under the deck area, and also through a lift-up hatch under the new staircase.

'Top' half to be completed next. Test with floor panel proves that the corners are square. Well, near enough!

(to be continued...)