I can’t complain about the weather we’ve had so far this fall.  It had been good for working outside.  Today, however, after working outside I got a chill and a couple of fingers went numb.  Went to the local pub for dinner, a reward for my hard work.  The sky is clear and it’s going down to freezing over night.

I fly to Guanajuato Mexico to November 14 to escape winter here in Garden Bay.  I think the timing is perfect.  Current weather down there is sunny, low 13C, high 25C.  I’m looking forward to a vacation from my projects here.

Finding contractors to help with the garage foundation was difficult.  Here on the coast good trades can pick and choose their jobs, and my remote location in Garden Bay is a disadvantage.  After many silent rejections from the people I had contacted on my own, I was happy to engage a fellow who was recommended by a friend from Nelson Island.

As mentioned in previous posts, Skip and Marcel got me started although not without a certain amount of uncertainty and stress.  The actual pouring of the concrete was a major concern because I need a pump truck and they are expensive.  It was recommended by a concrete provider to pour the footings and walls at the same time, saving a pump truck visit, but my contractors wanted to do them separately.

Another referral from another friend led me to a contractor that does foundations for a living.  He was going to try to stop by on a weekend but I haven’t heard from him since.  So I discussed the pros and cons of a mono-pour with S&M and two pours seemed best to them.

We finished up the footing forms and they passed the first inspection.  Next step after pouring the footings was to form the walls and in order to exercise more control I contacted a form rental company and set up a visit to learn how it was done.  That’s where I met Dana the owner of the form rental business but who is primarily a professional builder.  Dana also told me that I should do a mono-pour and I was confused again.

Dana offered to come look at my project, which he did and made be an offer I could not refuse.  Today he came to build the wall forms and I provided as much help as he would allow, which wasn’t much.  Dana really knows what he is doing and is super-productive.  The wall forms are ready for the next inspection.  It was a perfect day.

The inspection will happen early next week and the concrete pouring will happen after that depending on Dana’s schedule.  That will be it for this year as there is not enough time to do the garage slab floor before I go to Mexico.

Goes to show how easy a project can be with the right people, and how problematic otherwise.  I feel very lucky to have finally connected with a professional builder.  The garage project is on track.

Ground-breaking was nine days ago but the guys were here for only the first two. I was grateful that they were not available as it gave me time work on my own. Having learned how to build a form I set out to complete the footing frame.

I quickly realized that the trench was not square and had a minor panic attack. Fortunately my time is my own and the weather was perfect. So I puttered around measuring squareness and adjusting the forms and trenches gaining an understanding of where and how big the problem was.

At the end of day three (Sunday) I started to build the final form.  Then I realized that the first thee forms were not the correct sizes to mesh together into a square.  WTF! Although tired and frustrated I couldn’t stop until I knew how to fix this.  Google SketchUp to the rescue and I quickly had a corrective plan for the next day.

I had to adjust all three of the existing forms.  That went well but not without rookie errors of my own and so humbled I remembered that everyone makes mistakes. These two days on my own were excellent preparation for the construction to come.  My neighbour helped my move the fourth form in place and I could then see how much earth was in the way.

My neighbour had the perfect tool, a steel rod, for eating away at the trench wall and for extracting the numerous rocks that were encountered including one that was too large to lift.  Simple machines (lever, wedge, inclined plane) to the rescue and the trench was squared up in short order.  My reward was total joy when the final corner of the frame matched up squarely.

Tuesday it rained and I was in Vancouver Wednesday-Thursday.  My objective Friday was to level the forms.  This was an easy task as the guys had left their tools including a laser level.  Couldn’t have done it otherwise.  Also that day I cut 48 rebars using their grinder.

I appreciate greatly that the workers I hired allow me to participate and that they have left their tools.  Tomorrow (Monday) Marcel returns and my objective is to complete the forming to be ready for inspection.  We will check the level, pin the forms in place, and hang the rebar.  Not sure we’ll get it all done but I expect to learn enough to finish the work on my own if not.

Not insignificant is learning to deal with stresses of the project.  I feel vulnerable not knowing how to build the foundation and having to rely on others.  I don’t have control of the schedule and am uncomfortable with the expenses, especially now that the stock market has sunk.

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Ground was broken today and all went well.  The digging machine was delivered last night.  Today the crew arrived and the trenches are dug.  It was a nice day and I helped as much as I could.  I will add photos to the slide show below to document foundation progress.

I visited family in Ontario for two weeks in early June.  Thanks to my sister Karen for hosting and keeping me busy.  Just before I left I ordered plans for a 2-car garage.

The plans were waiting for me when I returned home and since then I have been planning the construction.  Yesterday I applied for a building permit which will take a few weeks to be processed.  In the meantime I am searching for a contractor to build the slab-on-grade foundation.  The rest of the construction I will do myself with some help from friends to do heavy lifting.

Above is the site plan.  Currently the driveway extends from the road all the way back to the shed where there is a car/boat tent.  The strategic placement of the garage turns the area behind the garage into garden space, provides privacy, and increases the deer-free zone.  BTW the deer did not penetrate the newly constructed fences while I was away.

The schedule is to build the foundation this year and then construct the rest in 2016 after I return from Mexico.  Yes, I decided to return to Guanajuato next winter, leaving mid-November and returning mid-March.  I will be renting the same efficiency apartment and going to La Hacienda Spanish School, newly founded by my teacher friends.

Since the few days of relaxation at the cabin in April I have been busy.  Right after the sale of the apartment at the end of April I purchase 12 cubic yards of compost.  It took me a week to spread it around, much of it going into the new perennial bed which looks great even without hardly any plants.

The next project has been fencing to keep out the deer.  The back garden was enclosed May 18 and the front garden was finally enclosed yesterday.  It was a ton of work and even so I’m not finished.  There are a few sides that are short-term net barriers, how short-term is TBD.

I mentioned to the cashier at Home Depot one day that my biggest problem is the deer.  I guess I was subconsciously bragging.  She thought it was a beautiful problem to have.  I have to agree that not have bigger problems is beautiful, however, deer in your garden are not.  I can recognized at least four individual deer and they come every day.  This is how I feel about the deer (warning coarse language).

The problem is that the deer will almost eat any garden plant even if on the list of so-called deer-resistant plants.  They especially like eating flowers which is what I grow.  New introductions to the garden are particularly vulnerable being small and not established.  So the best solution is fencing and thus my drive to protect my front and back gardens these past few weeks.

I just saw the big solitary doe walk the front netting. She then turned into the yard and discovered that she was blocked out. They will continue to come, plot and scheme, trying to figure out a way in. It will happen and that will trigger a renewed frenzy of fortification.