Day 36

Progress:

So we didn't really expect that there would be much done to the house but we were hoping.  Since they have not even delivered the "frame package" or whatever they called it (the many pieces of 2x4's and jazz that they will need to start the framing).  So we probably won't check on it until next Saturday.

I am happy that the front has been backfilled though.  Hopefully the framing starts sometime this week though.  I am not too sure when my meeting will be with the superintendant now since the last one didn't exactly work the way it was suppose to work out.

Hopefully next Saturday will bring much more progress!  The race against winter is on!

Day 30 - No Show

Progress:
So we learned that there is a 2 or so delay going on right now because Jayman is running low on framers and they refuse to hire average/poor quality framers.  If I have to wait 2 weeks for my house to be framed because they want to make sure they  have quality work that is absolutely fine with me.  A lot of the good framers are going up to Slave Lake to work because I think they are paying more and there is a lot of work up there due to the fires.  Jayman had a meeting saying that they might need to up what they are paying the framers due to the market.  We think that we are the next house in line to be framed which is nice.

I went down to the show home yesterday because I had a meeting with the superintendent (the elusive head guy.....new head guy) and I was completely disappointed.  I left my work two hours early so I could get to the meeting on time which was at 330pm.  It was 345pm by the time Brett was able to find out where Mike (head guy) was.  Apparently he was sick but didn't think that phoning someone to get them to let his appointment know not to show and to reschedule.  This still annoys me very much.  My job is very flexible and I still was able to get paid for the time I was gone but most jobs I would have lost 2 hours of work to come to this meeting only for him not to show or notify that he wasn't showing up.  I asked Brett to express that it was unacceptable of not letting me know and I am fully confident Brett will speak to him for me.  I said even if I was a stay at home mom it wouldn't be acceptable because that is time I could have used elsewhere.  This being the first meeting of the head guy doesn't make it easy for me to have confidence in him now...hopefully he just had so many things on his plate and it slipped his mind and this was the first time it has happened.

This being the only real negative thing so far (other than the time they forgot to give us our license back after copying it...no biggy) I am still fully happy with the process of the house.

Day 26 - Backfill (yesterday)

Progress:
So we were beginning to worry that we might actually not get backfilled this week as yesterday there had not been any visual progress made.  The Jayman boys guessed that our house may have started the framing process by now but as you can see that hasn't happened so mabye one of the other houses is just taking a bit longer than expected.  It's frusterating not knowing which of the houses being framed right now are the ones we're behind because then we could have a better guesstimate of the time frame we're looking at.

You can't really see on the picture above but there is no dirt backfilled right in front of the house or in the little rectangle that the deck will be.  Although there is no dirt there I don't really see that being an issue for being able to frame everything and if it is it shouldn't be much work to put the dirt in.  Although it was nice that we were able to get much closer to the foundation as there wasn't a 3 foot (estimate) gap on each side.

This was one of the days that my partner came with me as he was back in town and as per usually he was fretting about our yard size.  He always seems to want to try to get a better idea where our small yard will be (it will be bigger than most our neighbours due to our house being built up but it's still a small yard).  So after walking around the yard measuring it with his sandals he agreed that we'll have to wait and see....or at least wait till the next visit and I'll bet you he tries to measure that yard again.  Oh boy...he's entertaining though.

When we got to the site I realized that although I had my camera it didn't have it's SD card in it so I had to use my camera phone. I was surprised to see that the quality of photo it took was not actually that bad.

Day 24 - Weatherproofing?

Progress:
I don't exactly know the process of weatherproofing the foundation of your house but it seems that it might have been done?  When I went to the site today there was what appeared to be a black tarp-ish material wrapped around the foundation.  I'm not sure if they wrap a tarp around after they weatherproof the foundation so that nothing sticks to it but that is my guess.

 

Upon closer look at this picture it looks like the wooden ladder inside the house has moved too.

This red bin keeps moving on me as I can no longer stand in my normal spot to take the across the street photo.  I've been moving slightly to the right seemingly more each day.  I guess it would fill up fast everyday and need to be emptied frequently so that is how it must be moving to the right so often (maybe they'll start moving it to the left soon).

Day 21 - Dots of Weatherproofing

Progress: 
So in the end I didn't meet with the head guy last week due to no phone call came in to schedule it.  I assume it is really busy at Jayman right now (trying to beat bad weather and lots of move ins maybe). 

They have not weatherproofed the foundation but they do have little black dots of the weatherproofing on (i'm not too sure why the little black dots but I assume there were little holes in it that was from the structure that helped build the foundation).  They have also put rocks on the ground surrounding the structure.

It looks like they have sanded/leveled the cement to make it even.  I do like that they actually have a cement structure for the porch instead of pilings.  That will make it sturdier and it makes little room for mistakes.

Maybe tomorrow they will have the weatherproofing done although I am not aware of how long that takes to dry.  By Tuesday the excavation site might be backfilled (putting the dirt back in the hole) if everything goes well.  Fingers crossed for the framing to at least begin by the end of the week!

Day 16 - Waiting

Progress:
So since it was a long weekend it has been three says since the last update.  There has been no visible progress towards the house structure but we did find out a few things.

On Saturday we went to Jayman for their "official" grand opening and took the opportunity to inquire about a few things.  So this week I will be meeting with the elusive head guy (whom is roughly two weeks new) to both chat to make sure we're on the same page, to answer any questions I have, and to give me a bit of an insight into the whole construction process.  We also learned that there are two people in front of us to get their framing done because they got through the paperwork process a bit faster than us.  This means that we might get our framing started until next week.  There are a couple things they can still do while they wait though.  The two big things they can do will be to paint the black weatherproofing stuff around the foundation and then to back fill it (put all the dirt into the excavation site around the foundation...well, the dirt that fits in there).

Due to this I probably won't stop by again until this Thursday.

Day 12 - Rain Rain Go Away

Progress
So as I said before after you have poured the foundation you typically have to wait 2-3 days on average for it to dry/cure....that is...if it doesn't rain.  About 24 hours after the foundation was poured Mother Nature decided it would be funny to rain hard on Thursday and then again Friday during the day.  Yup, I normally love the rain but I wasn't celebrating the rain that night and day.  To look on the bright side though I am very happy that it rained after the foundation was poured and not before as I'm not too sure how that would have affected them being able to pour the foundation period. 

When I went down to the house today I found that they had taken the slats (probably not proper name) from around the foundation off and added one 2x4 to the side (also found out I have a window!)...  well more than one 2x4 as they lined a few things with them.

While I was scampering around I almost slipped and fell on my face in the mud (which would have been comical).  One of the neighbours offered me to come on his porch to take a photo from across the street but I let him know that my shoes were caked in mud and he probably wouldn't like it if I left mud-prints all over (it was nice of him to offer though).

This is why he offered his porch...because my normal view is blocked.

This will probably be the past post though until Monday as I am not sure that the workers work on the weekends or not.

Day 11 - Drying Cement / Talk with Construction Guy

Progress

So today when I went when I went to take my "stalker" photo there wasn't too much progress but the cement needs a bit of time to dry.  There were at least two workers working on site, one worker was working around the outside of the foundation while the other (assuming that there wasn't more) was working on the inside of the foundation.  I'm not sure what they were doing but I did get to learn a bit more about the construction progress.

 I ran into the the head guy today (he says he's second from the top but i've never met the the mysterious head guy so he's the head guy) and had a really good talk about the construction process.

So a few things I learned:
-When you put the walls of the foundation up it takes 2-3 days to dry before you can start putting up the frame (depending on good weather).
-The cement floor in the basement is not put in until the frame is done (and I believe that is fully framed with a roof but I'm not 100% sure).  After the frame is up all the electrical wires and plumbing goes in before the cement is put down on the floor in the basement.
-Snow is worse than rain for construction because they have to shovel the snow, the construction workers get cold (brrr!), and since it's so cold it's harder on the machines they use.
-The ground in Edmonton doesn't take that long to settle because it's clay based.  Calgary will take a little bit longer but different places in Edmonton can have different soil types.  Before they excavate the lot they get someone in to test the soil to see what soil they will be working with in regards to how long it will take to settle as well as how they will need to change the cement mixture (if they need to).
-The metal looking thing coming out of the foundation at the top (don't remember the name but I know it's not rebar) will be bent down and then back up and are suppose to help stabilize the house in case hurricanes and such come through.  He said that in Edmonton you really didn't need them but they put them on anyway for a just in case.  My guess for them after he said they'd bend them down was to maybe put more support for the main floor.

Hopefully I run into him again because I will no doubt be curious regarding something else and he's very good at giving out a lot of information (and very friendly).  He welcomes the questions and he doesn't give off the impression of "go away and let me do my job" which is really nice!  When winter hits and if there is a regular crew around the construction site I'll probably get them Timmies to help warm them up (esp since they've been doing such a great job) because I know I didn't enjoy working outside in winter when I had to.