Delta Juliet Whiskey Reporting Back On Task

As I announced in my last update on 9th February, following my previous month in UK focused on family matters, I returned to BC for three weeks and then decided, what with weather constraints and a general desire to just take a decent break and refresh, to put the build on hold and plan for some time away.  Initially that was a flight back to London on the 11th February for a week to catch up with a few friends on the south coast in and either side of Portsmouth as I had been unable to do that on my previous visit for said family reasons, and also managed a couple of days up to visit my Mother, then I flew onto the Sultanate of Oman for 18+ days for one of my 3-4 yearly revisits that have habitually followed my 2005-2008 RN loan service time there. Oman proved a very welcome and restful break, pleasant winter sun and daytime temperatures of 24-28C, while catching up with both expat and Omani friends who continue to make me feel most welcome whenever I revisit.  While there are numerous friends there I could mention, I am particularly grateful to my host Clews Everard who offered me accommodation, and to Mohammed Humaid (once my OPS Officer in the RNO dive team and long since then gone on to much greater heights in his career) who so generously leant me a car for the duration of my visit and so saved me much cost.  Besides catching up with friends and enjoying the break, I continue to be impressed every time I go back as to how the country continues to develop under wise and forward thinking leadership, particularly in terms of its infrastructure. I broke the return flight back to Canada with a weekend in London 9-12th March and a splendid Saturday evening dining with Keith Hubber, an old friend from my 1985 RN entry.

Getting back to Koocanusa Ranch on Tuesday 13th March, I allowed myself a few days to adjust after travelling 11 time zones from Oman, and with clear evidence that we were at long last into a progressive thaw, then started to refocus on getting my build kick started after essentially three months on hold.  Over the last 18 days temperatures have typically started at -5C with good hard ground, then warming up to anything between +2 and + 10 C, with much of the ground turning to mud!  Planning accordingly so as to avoid traipsing that into the house! But as I type today on Easter Sunday, with the snow around the house almost gone, mother nature is yet again teasing me with a return of the snow as you can see in the photo below, and a dump forecast between 4 and 10 cm.  Hey ho, at least the outlook shows it will melt within a day or so.

The next big phase in the build is internal drywalling.  Having negotiated with three drywalling contractors last Fall, one who came highly recommended by my landlord Chris Walsh, but who was not then available, one who had quoted an absurd fee (clearly he saw a big house and thought this customer must be a Calgary oil magnate who he could gouge), and one who had a good reputation from two other contractors and quoted a sensible fee, I had selected the latter. He had understood my reasons for putting the build on hold, but on returning I found he had recently taken on more work in my absence and could not start on my property for at least 3 weeks (realistically experience has shown me how that would probably drift to 6 weeks).  Meanwhile the other sensible priced option had coincidentally called me while I was waiting at Calgary airport for my internal over the mountains flight connection, to enquire if I was still looking for a contractor.  That led to his site survey, an updated quote, an agreed contract and a plan to start immediately before the Easter weekend.

In the run up to that there was much practical work I still personally had to do to get things ready. I also needed to get my electrician back to finalise some minor roughing in work so that everything is in place before drywall covers his wiring thereafter. Things missed at this stage would lead to drywall being removed later to correct - an unnecessary expense! In addition I had the future supplier of my wood burning stove come in and fit the air supply line through the side wall (this had been sleeved prior to that walls concrete pour) and then between the floor joists and then up into the great room where the wood burner will be sited.

All good, except that in my haste last November during a weather window to get the hydronic heating loop put down by the plumbers and then get concrete delivered up my steep drive to pour on the main floor (see blog dated 21 Dec 17 "Winter And Time To Take A Break") I had forgotten to drill the hole through the sub floor immediately adjacent to the main central column.  That oversight cost me a bit of worry re-checking photographs to make sure where the heat loops ran, time, and the rental of an impact drill and cutting disc to go through the 2" of concrete from above - but fortunately, as this concrete is purely a heat sink and not structural, there was no rebar to cut through .    

I had also waxed and waned on whether to insulate my garage overhead joists that provide the immediate structural roof to the garage and the concrete deck above.  Not planned to be deliberately a heated garage, nevertheless the walls are already well insulated as built of Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) and there is provision for an electric wall heater should I want to either work in the garage during winter, or if I ultimately fit out one end of it as a home gym.  I considered a number of options.  While the quote for the spray foam system I had used in the main roof system was rather too expensive for what here is a luxury rather than a necessity, I considered installing batt insulation myself.  But already dealing with sound insulating internal walls and floor joists, all of which was proving to irritate a long term issue I have with a trapped nerve in my neck, I ultimately considered two relatively cheaper options to the sprayed foam and asked "High R Expectations" to quote on both blown cellulose and blown fibre-glass insulation.  I ultimately choose the latter, largely due to time and availability in order to get the job done before the drywallers arrived on site.

  

As for my own work, besides clearing out the inside of the house of the mass of materials that I had stored inside in a dry and heated building over the winter, in order to give the drywallers the necessary space to work, I also had/have three main tasks to finish: clear the loft bedroom of the deck treads and install the small 32' x 4' deck just behind my loft bedroom (these had been sitting up there for the last three months since I stained them); finish the sound insulation of internal walls and floors that I had started before my last few months away; and some minor additional furring out of some wall framing to account for plumbing / heat recovery ventilation structures.  

The first of these tasks being the deck, readers may well recall that I had been somewhat disgruntled (a mild understatement) with my supplier of deck timbers for the big front deck, as those timbers were an unequal mix of widths and thicknesses that inordinately complicated the task while seeking to achieve a consistent pattern of flat and straight line of treads (see post dated 26 Nov 17 "Blood, toil, tears, and sweat").  The result of my dissatisfaction at that time had been that I had left him little choice but to take away what remained and resupply me with a clean fresh cut of consistent timbers for my rather smaller loft bedroom deck. The result was, Chris Walch and I achieved the build of this deck in just 3 hours.  If I compare relative deck areas, such more consistent materials would have allowed Chris and I to take build the front deck in nearly half the 2½ days work that it had actually taken us.  Here you see the result.  Bob Damstrom is shortly to focus on the build and subsequent installation of the guard rails.

My sound insulating of internal walls and floor joists using Roxul Sound & Comfort batt has been an ongoing task over the last two weeks.  Necessitating gloves, a breathing mask and eye goggles, but still constantly getting bits in my eyes and exacerbating my neck issues, I have generally only spent a few hours at a time on this task.  As in the next three photos, both basement bedrooms and en suite bathroom walls and ceiling joists are complete, while at the same time I have also, with Chris's assistance, further thickened the load bearing wall columns between the two bedrooms.  While my various contractors and engineer had said the wall was adequate for the load above, my sixth sense has led me to add in some further load bearing.

Similar internal sound insulation work was undertaken across the entire ceiling joists of the daylight walkout basement family room, and then up in my loft bedroom, en-suite and walk in closet walls.

Readers may note in the photo three above that I have undertaken some additional after-framing to box in the heat recirculation fan trunking at the back of the walk in closet, ready for the drywallers.  Likewise readers might notice from the photo immediately above, having collected from my Calgary supplier last weekend the additional internal window that I want in order to allow some natural light into my shower from the stair gable trapezoid windows, I have yet to fit this prior to the drywallers doing their work in this area.

As shown in the photos below, in the last couple of days I have also made a big effort to get the underside of the loft bedroom floor joists sound insulated as I am keen to minimise noise that might transmit from late evening or early morning socialites in the living space below my own loft sleeping quarters. Some work here still to be completed over the next few days when my neck can bear it.

I have also had Bob Damstrom come on site to discuss the plan for fitting the main decks guard rails as these are now ready in his yard (but he has to wait until the second delivery of drywall materials is made for the main floor area as the supplier will crane that in over the deck and won't be able to cope with the obstruction of guard rails).  We have also discussed the plan for fitting the heavy timber stair system once drywall is complete in the stair well area.  He is also going to trim out that big yellow LVL beam that supports the edge of the loft that you see in the photos above and fit two two faux posts either end, one against the actual structural built up column in the framed load bearing wall by the stair well, and the other under the concrete pocket in the outer wall, in order to add more timber accents to this room.  

So, with all that work ongoing in preparation for drywalling, drywall materials were delivered last Thursday for the garage, basement and loft areas, and a second delivery will be made in a couple of weeks time for the main floor once other work on that floor is complete.  Next day, Good Friday, plus the Saturday, Bill McGonegal and his assistant Mike, started on site to fit drywall.  Bill anticipates 3-4 weeks to fit and mud finish (what us of an older generation might think of as plastering) ready for subsequent painting.  To give you a feel for work undertaken by them in just two days, as follows. 

Here you see Mike proudly admiring his initial work on boarding the garage ceiling, and later the walls.  Rest assured the gap between wall boards was just where they left off at end of work on Saturday and will have in fills cut to fit when work recommences tomorrow (Monday). In addition, the load bearing LVL will subsequently be hidden by drywall.

Inside in the daylight walk out basement family room work has already progressed rapidly in this two days, as you can see in the four photos below. 

So far I am highly impressed by Bill and Mike in terms of quality of work, team work and clearing up their mess as they progress. Keeping my fingers crossed, but the referral from Chris Walsh and the fact Bill was at short notice available when the other guy became overbooked, may prove to be one of the more pleasing contracting shifts in this build.

Mentioning earlier the trimming out of the LVL beam upstairs in the Great Room that supports the loft floor, the dropped beam you see in these photos for the family room will also be trimmed out by Bob Damstrom in timber in order to aesthetically tie in with the structural supporting timber columns at either end.  

While I have been busy over the last two weeks to get everything ready for drywalling, and to some extent will continue to be running to keep ahead of them, drywalling is another significant stage in terms of progress of my build, and these photos give a clear feel for the sudden change in feel of the building. What is also very apparent from my photos in the daylight walkout basement is that while the bedrooms (particularly one) will be relatively shaded, the planned design of the main family room at the front with lots of large windows has paid off in terms of light, even with that Great Room deck on the floor above extending out beyond 11 feet.  

So, as per the title, DJW is back on task.  This next week, while keeping ahead of the drywallers with minor jobs that have to be completed for them to then move into each area of the house, will also involve a day trip to Creston (2 hours away) to collect some 'free of heart' kiln dried timbers (<9% moisture content) for trimming out some of the internal LVL's.  Delivery of the main floor drywall will probably be week after next, and I anticipate ("possibly, maybe, Inshallah") that by the next time I write in three weeks time, much of the drywalling will be nearing completion, and Bob Damstrom will have started installing guard rails and possibly made a start on my stairs installation.  

Until then, tally ho!