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.