cascadian telegrams: rain, rain, go away...

well it *did* go away for a few days (it's been lovely here the past few days) but it was storming last week. We got inches of rain dumped on us which slowed down the plumber (he's preparing the radiant heat piping in the basement slab) and the carpenter (also preparing for the slab pour) so now the basement slab -- which was to be poured last week -- won't be poured until early next week. Sigh.

Here you can sort-of see that the concrete for the first course has been poured and the rebar for the next course (first floor walls) is sticking out of the top. Just below the top lip of the wall is where the first floor plate will sit, so that is just a bit above where grade will be. You can see here where the beam to support the first floor will sit

We just keep loosing time, and the rainy season is already upon us. The adage is, if the house isn't "dried in" (i.e. roof and sheathed walls) by October it is a problem, and at our current clip, the house won't be dried in until December. To make matters worse, we probably won't be able to move in February as we'd planned and that's when our temporary housing runs out... it is very expensive to keep the temp apartment beyond the alotted time. So we'll squat in the basement if we have to.

The builder is now getting a bit despondent with the delays. He can't get paid until we finish this stage which includes the first floor plate and the slab and it is taking forever to pull everyone together, and he's having trouble collecting from other clients. It sucks being a small operator sometimes... I remember watching my dad trying to collect from clients who wouldn't pay, there's a few he's still chasing from retirement and it's nearly 10 years on now. What a drag. He says he just wants to "get out of the f*ckin' ground" at this point so the work is then more about his guys rather than the subcontractors and then things are more under his control. You and me both, m8.

On the bright side -- if there is one at this low point of the project -- they are making some progress this week. They're finishing waterproofing the foundation with three coats of material in preparation for backfill. No wait, I forgot: we've got massive water collecting in the "dry well" where the drainage around the foundation goes... it isn't percolating into the soil as we'd expected. Greg (the builder) thinks this is because the 'glacial till' soil down below 6 feet is like concrete. So we'll need to pump it or something because the storm & sewer drain from the existing house -- which we're re-using -- is above our lowest points.

So there really is no bright point right now.. we just keep slogging away I guess.

Comments

Bugger!!!

This is like watching that Channel Four show, 'Grand Designs', where the British home-builders are always getting screwed by the dreadful weather. I'm so sorry you're having trouble with the build.

Here's hoping the sun comes out!!!

Posted by: Trish | October 24, 2007 at 05:35 AM