Slabs of concrete

When I was looking at the photos I wanted to use in this post, I was surprised to see that there was no snow on the ground when our concrete pads were poured. It seems like we've had snow on the ground for weeks already. But the photos are proof, that while it was pretty darned cold, the snow that had fallen earlier had definitely all melted away.

For two weeks we anxiously followed various weather report web sites, tracking storms and falling temperatures, and worrying that we were a bit too ambitious in thinking that we could get our concrete pads poured before winter arrived. But somehow we lucked out, and a little bit of warmer air arrived just in time for the pour, and lingered long enough to allow the concrete a couple of days to set properly.

I don't think either of us slept well the night before the pour. Rob was out on the highway by 7 a.m. to meet the pumping truck and to help guide him in. The concrete work team arrived shortly after, and because the truck was a bit late, the concrete trucks arrived around the same time. We were excited, but nervous. We were worried that the forms wouldn't hold, and although I was sure that Rob had put all the pipes in the right place, I must admit I was a little worried about the finality of encasing everything in concrete !

The pumping truck was quickly set up and positioned so it could reach both pads, but still allow the concrete trucks to attach themselves to the back of the truck to transfer the concrete.  Then it pumped a nice big blat of concrete on the ground behind the house, in order to clear all the lines, before they started to fill the forms. I of course thought he had forgotten to move the pump and was about to fill the yard with concrete!

The truck driver (wearing the red hoodie) controlled the pump with a remote device that he carried around.  Sometimes I think he was just having fun with the young guys who were hanging onto that pipe as he would jerk it around a lot!

They worked quickly to fill and spread the concrete, taking measurements of the levels all along to make sure everything was where it should be. The heavy flow of concrete did push the forms out a bit, but they held. Whew.

As more and more concrete filled in the forms they worked faster with their rakes. They make it look easy, like some kind of dance. But I tried raking some of the leftover concrete later on, and it's really hard work!

As they moved along the first pour (which was the house pad) one of them fired up the gas powered tamper, but it soon broke down. Rob tried to help fix it, but it looked like it was beyond repair.

Luckily they had brought along the wooden "manual" style tamper, so they had to use it instead. It's really hard work to bend over and use this one, and it doesn't do the same smooth job. But when they used the smoother/finisher it made it all look the same later on. This is going to be our finished floor in most of the rooms, so we want it to look good!

 

Once they finished the house pad pour they moved on to the workshop. They would periodically check the house pad concrete by lightly putting their foot on it to see if it was set enough for smoothing/polishing. Despite the slight bows in the forms, and the broken tamper, things seemed to be going pretty well. It was still colder out than promised, and I headed back to the house to warm up and add a few more layers on.  I came back a short while later to watch the work on the workshop. Unfortunately, that's when we ran out of concrete.  Ordering concrete is a bit tricky as whatever you order, you pay for, and it's yours. They don't take back unused concrete in the concrete trucks. So you sort of want to get the amount right! It's a bit difficult to guess how much you are short by, in the middle of a pour.  We weren't short by much, but it was enough that we had to wait a while for more to be delivered.

 

When it arrived it was a bit different consistency, so hopefully this doesn't affect the floor in the workshop. There was also more than we needed. If we had known, we would have set up some concrete forms elsewhere around the house pad, for things like the pads for our future propane tanks. We will need front steps too, but couldn't prepare for that as there will be more fill added before we can build those. So, we looked around, spied our new rock wall, and opted to pour the remaining concrete around the rocks.  Hopefully the concrete will help the rocks to stay in place a bit better as we did have concerns that they would move out. Here Rob gets to try his hand at pumping concrete! It's not easy to hang on to, and I was worried he would go out over the rocks.

Once the pour was complete, we were probably all relieved. We watched the pumping truck fold up and prepare to leave. They insert a big ball in the end of the pump and it sucks it up and this cleans out the entire arm. Everything gets hosed down as well to ensure there is no remaining concrete anywhere. As they pointed out - tomorrow will be too late - it will have set everywhere! The concrete that is in the pump ALSO gets dumped, but we had them put it in an area that needed some fill.  I guess it is fairly organic at least... Later on when it was still soft, Rob went back out with the tractor and scooped up and broke up the concrete where it had been dumped, leaving most of the concrete around the rocks though.

As the concrete firmed up slowly, they were able to start the smoothing process. They kicked off their big boots, replaced them with clean sneakers and fired up the smoothing machines. Then they walked these machines all around the pad. Waited half an hour, did it again, waited half an hour, did it again....They make this part look easy too, but it isn't.

While they smoothed the surface, we walked around and admired their work, the sun broke out, and the air began to warm up a bit at last.  It was really amazing to see our house floors begin to take shape! Rob had worked hard the last few weeks to get ready for this part.

 

I loved the patterns in the concrete, but after each smoothing session they slowly disappeared. After a long day, the concrete team  gave the pads one last polish, and then cleaned everything up and went home. Rob and I went home too, but couldn't resist going out for one more look before it got dark.

It was pretty amazing to be able to stand on the concrete, and now be at the finished height of our new floors.  Suddenly I could imagine that I was in the kitchen, the dining room.....

We went to sleep that night feeling pretty relieved that this part was done. Somehow, I thought that would be it for this year. Of course I forgot all about the fact that the concrete has to have lines cut into it, which Rob did the next day. And I forgot about the curing, and that it's best if the concrete stays wet and warm. So we had to keep checking the weather forecast, and when we heard it was going to get cold, Rob covered it with straw and plastic.  Rob had read that if we just put plastic down directly on the concrete, it might affect our acid stain finish when we apply it next year. I have visions of the straw leaving marks too, but that would be kind of cool maybe!

We had a couple of extra bales of straw so left them there for now, but I can use them for mulch next spring.

And THEN I thought that was it for this year, but of course - it isn't! Rob has been busy ever since, catching up on all the things that didn't get done in the fall - servicing the tractor, preparing for winter, and working on the next stage of the house plans. As well, he decided to try rigging up a small insulated room on the porch so that he can work on some of the smaller timbers if it's warm enough during the winter. 

We took one afternoon off though to clear a new walking path.  It's our goal to have a few loops through the woods, and I had hoped that I could simply trim some branches to clear the way, but the recent storms have dropped a lot of large trees in the areas we want to walk. With the help of the tractor we were able to clear one path for now, and it's lovely. It leads to a different area of the river. 
We climbed up through the woods on another path that we would like to clear and were stunned to see how many trees came down in the last wind storm. We will have to leave that area for another time, it's going to take a bit of work!

As always, we had plans to get a few more things done outside. But the temperatures kept dropping, and then the snow arrived.

 

Now it's time to get ourselves sorted out a bit here in the cabin. We've had to bring in anything that will be adversely affected by the cold temperatures, and are still trying to sort out our collection of hats, mitts, scarves and winter coats.  Every time Rob plows, or we walk the dog, we have a new collection of things that are wet and need to put somewhere to dry. On the plus side, it adds a bit of much needed moisture to the air !

Christmas is fast approaching, and I think we are both looking forward to some quiet nights by the fire, playing our favourite Christmas tunes, and curling up with a good book. We have a lot of research to do over the next few months, but I think we could both use the next couple of weeks to relax a bit.  I've stocked up on some books from the local library, and some new fabric paints just arrived in the mail.  And if you had told me 2 years ago, that two weeks before Christmas I would even be thinking about reading and painting, I would have not have believed it!!  What a lovely change this has been for us....

Oh, and Jet says don't forget we have to go play in the snow too.....

 Although even Jet has been lying closer to the wood stove the last few nights!

Words of encouragement always welcome

I would like to start off this month's blog with a big thank you to my big brother for taking the time to email us this month, and sending along some much needed words of encouragement. As the weather rapidly deteriorated, and we worried that we had run out of time to get the concrete pads poured, and began to wonder whether we had accomplished much over the year, he sent us the most wonderful email. In it he reminded us of our accomplishments and suggested we take the time to congratulate ourselves for all that we had done in the last several months. It's easy to think that things aren't progressing when you are not quite as far along as you had hoped, but it was a good reminder to us to take a good look back, which we did. I sure love my big brother!!

I keep a short daily journal, and so I turned back the pages to this time last year and read out loud the daily goings on, and of course, he was right. This time last year, we had three weeks to vacate our home of 35 years as we had sold it, and Rob was busy packing up the entire house, driving back and forth, and getting all of our belongings into storage.

In the year since then we finished sealing off the pole barn where Rob would be carving the timbers. We got the last of the gravel down onto the roads into the cabin and the new house site. We spent the winter planning and designing the new house, while keeping the wood stove going and the cabin warm. We did some work on the inside of the cabin, and we both took time to visit our families. We ordered our lumber, had the excitement of seeing our timbers arrive, and got a good number of them carved and ready. We cleared the lot, removed much of the brush from the clearing, and installed the well and septic system. We levelled and filled the building site, prepared the forms for both the house and the workshop, installed the plumbing pipes, filled areas with gravel, put down the mesh and rebar ... well, I will let the photos from the latest endeavours tell some of that story. In between we took a bit of time with old friends, made new friends, tried our hands at snowshoeing, berry and apple picking, and kayaking. I started a new part time job, and a volunteer job.  I've been practising yoga and learning how to make bread. We have indeed managed to do quite a lot!

At the end of last month's blog, Rob had just finished laying down and bracing the forms in preparation for the concrete pour for the house, and installed the plumbing pipes. He then had to do the same for the workshop, (which will hold our solar panels on the roof once it is completed). Once the forms were in place for the house and workshop, and the plumbing pipes all put into place, and inspected, Rob was able to lay down a layer of plastic and installed 3 " pink foam board in the bases. He filled the interiors with gravel, in small incremental layers so that each layer could be compacted properly each time. He left a "moat" all around that will allow for deeper concrete to be filled at all of the edges.

There was a lot of manual work done with adding the gravel, raking it flat, measuring levels, compacting, measuring levels, topping up the gravel.... I was around to help a bit with that part!

 

The house also has 5 holes hollowed out that will hold extra concrete for supports for the timbers.

 

Oops, there are only four here. Rob discovered that his plans actually contained five, but the drawing program only printed off four, so he had to go back and do a fifth one.

After compacting everything down, and measuring the levels again to make sure everything was where it should be, our dear friend Bob came over and helped to move and bend and install the rebar and wire mesh. Some jobs just go WAY better when there are more people. We were very grateful for his help.

We tried different methods of bending the rebar. It worked well enough when we tried to bend it by using the tractor, but in the end we did it by hand using a metal pipe. We measured where the bend needed to be, and then Bob and I stood on the rebar, while Rob slipped the metal pipe over, and torqued it up by hand. No photos of that process as all three of us were involved with the bending !
The tractor was also used to pick up the wire mesh, and store it until we were ready for it.

Not everybody finds a photo of rebar to be that exciting, but I found the whole process to be pretty interesting as we tried to fit it in according to building code, which dictates the spacing, the overlaps, etc.!

 

The large format mesh was not easy to move around. Once it was laid down, each piece had to be attached to the next one by wire, and then plastic "chairs" were inserted below the rebar and mesh to raise them up a little, so that when the concrete is poured, the rebar and mesh is at the correct height.

 

 

Pink foam board had to be installed on the insides of all the edges, and then trimmed to the correct height. Then Rob sprayed foam into a lot of the cracks to make sure everything would be well sealed.

We had another inspection and learned we needed a bit more rebar in the corners, but everything else was just fine. Rob then installed the Pex tubing that will run the hydronic heat, later crimping the edges, and running a pressure test to make sure there were no leaks. Installing the Pex wasn't easy due to the cold weather, and he rigged up a gizmo that would help it to unwind without kinking.

 

There was a lot of time spent looking at drawings, and making changes, and thinking a lot about things like not having the hydronic heat running under the kitchen cupboards, but making sure it was running in the areas where the water pipes come in. Rob thinks a lot about the details in the middle of the night ! And there were lots of details to think about - once that concrete is poured it's pretty hard to make changes.

He called the concrete pouring team to say we were ready - and we learned that everyone here pretty much goes hunting during the first week of deer hunting season, and there would be no work done until they returned. In the end, this proved to be a good thing, as there were lots of adjustments to be made to the site, and it gave Rob a bit more time to do it and to think about everything a bit more. However, the weather was getting colder, and we were beginning to worry about it being too cold.  Rob tried dropping a thermometer probe down some of the pipes to see what the temperature was sitting at, and we bought black plastic to put over the site to try warm things up if needed.

It didn't help when Rob was in the middle of laying the Pex and the first snow arrived either!

The second snowfall wasn't much better.

Not to mention the  heavy wind storms, and two power outages.

 

The heavy winds brought down a number of trees and they needed to be dealt with. They rarely blow down and land in a convenient location - more often than not they hang somewhere up high and provide us with some difficulty in getting them down safely! We've dealt with some of the more urgent ones, the rest will have to wait.

This post seems a bit different from my past ones. I think there is an edge to it, a tinge of worry, or a touch of tiredness. The "concrete slab" building has been a tad stressful, and stretched out perhaps a bit longer than planned. I feel like we have both been living it and breathing it for the past several weeks. However, I still try to take some time out each day for a good long walk, and take my camera.

 

We play with Jet three times a day and take him for good long walks as well. Sometimes, I just sit - either at the building site, or at the edge of the river and enjoy the view.

The concrete pour should happen later this week. (Weather permitting and fingers crossed!) Then I think we will relax a little, and take a good deep breath, and settle in for the winter.  Our firewood is stacked, our winter coats and boots have been pulled from storage and are piled in the cabin. We are both ready for some quiet walks in the woods, and some time to think about the next step of this building adventure.

Saving for a rainy day

 

We went into September thinking summer had passed us by this year, but the last few weeks have sure made up for our lack of summer weather. We have seen deep blue skies, brilliant sunshine and above normal day time temperatures almost every day. Just as we pulled out our fall and winter coats, hats and scarves, and started tucking away our summer clothes, the weather changed. This was good news for Rob, who was able to forge ahead with the concrete pad plans. I had just started a thorough cleanup of the cabin, but soon found myself drawn outdoors, believing every warm sunny day may be the last for a while. I spent some of my time sitting at the river's edge and walking through the woods. Every day I would promise myself that I would save my indoor chores for the next rainy day. We've had a couple of rainy days , but not many, and most of the chores are still waiting to be done. And they can wait, as I know there will be lots of days in the upcoming months when I won't mind being inside the cabin at all!

I love sitting by the river. I have learned that if I sit quietly and patiently, I will soon notice lots more going on than I first thought. Staring into the river I will begin to notice the movement of insects, the way the sunlight bounces off the water, and see the number of shells gathering around the edges of the rocks.

Eventually, I will become more aware of the many sounds of the river. It changes every day. Depending on the level of the water, I may hear it tumbling over the rocks, or trickling over them. I may hear the roar of the river upstream, or sometimes it seems louder downstream. Mostly though I scan the river banks for signs of deer, heron, beaver, mink or otter. Look up at the sky and look for the ravens and turkey vultures. Sit quietly looking around until I realize that the rock next to me actually has a frog sitting on the edge, or maybe a dragon fly.

Or even one day realizing that a tiny Northern water snake was sitting with it's nose out of the water just inches away.

Sometimes the leaves fall out of the trees, land in the river and float by.

Once a white feather appeared and lingered in an eddy before floating off. It's an incredibly peaceful and lovely place to sit and observe.

Taking some time each day to sit at the river's edge has been even more important the last few weeks as there has been a lot going on at the building site. It's good to take some time to sit and breathe! If we want to get the concrete pad in this fall, it must be poured before November 1st or we will have to pay extra for concrete after that date. (When it gets too cold they have to put in additives to help with the curing process, which costs more)  Rob has a lot to do before the concrete can be poured. We have been struggling to get everything we need, and delivered here in time. A recent trip to Ottawa to pick up some of the harder to get items seemed like a good idea, until I found out that road construction almost doubled my travel time, and we just discovered we were given the wrong items! We will have to sort that all out this week, but I am hoping it doesn't mean another road trip.

Once Rob got all of the area nice and level, he mapped out the outline with string. And we measured. And measured. And measured some more. We measured the diagonals. Then the sides. Then the diagonals. The next day we did it all again.

Rob then built the forms for the concrete, installed them, and we measured again.  I've been really excited about the house ever since the forms went in. Suddenly I could really see the house taking shape, and everything changed.

The forms have to be really strong so that when the concrete is poured, your concrete doesn't suddenly flow out and end up somewhere else on the property. That would also be very expensive as you would have to somehow remove the concrete and start again. The problem with bracing the forms is that we are on rock, so there isn't much to hammer the braces into. Rob did it once with some wood that we had. But it just didn't seem strong enough so he pulled out the stakes he had used and replaced them all with 2x2 stakes. Whew, that was hard work. Good thing he wears good knee pads. And now the forms seem to be a lot more solid.

He also installed some of the pipes that will run under the concrete and drain into the septic tank. The pipes are joined with cement and primer. I came home from "work" one day to find that Rob had not progressed much as he couldn't get the can of primer open! (I still find it hard to call it "work" as I enjoy it so much !) As I take the truck when I am "working", he had no way to get back to the store where he had purchased it. He took it back to the store the next morning and they had to break the can open. They gave it back to him tucked into a box, but it tipped over and emptied out into the truck on the way home. Luckily I was on my way for my weekly drive to the garbage and recycle depot, and I was able to pick up another can, swing back to drop off the primer, and still make my way to work on time. And Rob was able to get the job done, and ready for the next inspection.

Last year we visited two homes that were part of the Ontario Natural Homes tour. Both were solar powered off-grid homes. This year we decided to take the tour again, as we had a few more questions, and thought it would be a good idea to see the houses again. There was another house listed on the tour so we visited it this year as well. It was a very lovely small straw bale home, also off grid. I love the rounded corners and deep window wells on the straw bale homes and the plastered walls reminded me of the beautiful adobe houses in New Mexico. Now that we are serious about being off grid though, I tried to spend most of the tour taking a good look at how the owners cope with the changes in sunlight hours, and thought carefully about the need for generators and propane powered kitchen stoves, and monitors that tell you how much power you have left in the batteries. Still, it was nice to look at the straw bale design. I would love a small straw bale studio or building.....

The house tour also gave us a chance to take an afternoon off together. Although it was a rainy and misty day, the drive around the area was beautiful. We found ourselves on narrow twisty dirt roads, surrounded by stunningly beautiful fall colours. We even had time to take in a studio tour of one of our favourite local potters on the way home, and swung past one of the lovely lakes to admire the view.

Now Rob has mapped out a timetable, and it's pretty tight. There will be no afternoons off together again for the next few weeks. He still has to finish preparing the house site; laying down the layers of 3 inch foam board, topping it with gravel, installing the hydronic system, and wire mesh and spacers before the concrete is poured. He also had to finalize the plans for the workshop and the areas that will house the wood boiler and solar batteries, and get the site ready for the concrete pour there as well. He is putting the forms in place for those this week. We also have to consider where the pipes go for propane for the kitchen stove, and a trench had to be dug for all the water pipes between the house, the well, and the workshop. The workshop will also have a hydronic heating system, so it needs to be installed too. However, in one of his usual middle-of-the-night eureka-moments, he decided to slightly downsize the size of the workshop, and change the solar panel roof design for it. As he said, all the planning in the world doesn't do it - it's once you are on site that you really understand what you've designed, and may see the need for some changes. And he has certainly been spending lots of time there lately! I think we are both happier that the new plan is for a smaller building. We can now  build it back a bit further, and change the angle to take advantage of the sun's rays a touch more. I guess we'll see how it goes. We spend a lot of time stepping back from the site and taking a good long look....

 

 

Now Thanksgiving has passed, and we know the unusually warm weather is about to disappear. The chipmunks and red squirrels have stripped the oaks of their acorns, and the cedars of most of their seeds. The haws on the hawthorn bushes are suddenly disappearing as well. I have seen some small birds flitting in and out around the berries, and this week a young red squirrel was busy filling his cheeks with some. I have no idea how it avoided the sharp thorns on the Hawthorne branches though. Those thorns are wickedly sharp.

I know that Rob is only too aware of the fast approaching colder weather. But when I watch all the squirrel and chipmunk activity, and hear the sound of the geese flying south above us every day, it is my reminder that it's time to think about the arrival of real fall weather. It's almost time to prepare for the winter ahead as well. Those chores I saved for the rainy days will soon be getting done!