Measure Twice, Cut Once

So on Saturday, it rained all day.  Rob was pumping out the garage drain receptacle to keep the water from overflowing onto our lumber pile.  And he was brushing off the pad as well.  Sort of seemed like a losing battle, but the rain let up about 4:00, so we did a few hours of prep work...like measuring more wood and cutting it (yes,measure twice, cut once).

We got up early on Sunday because the weather was nice (and we are under a deadline--need to get the walls up and sheathed by mid Setpebmer for the natural gas installation).  Rob spent the day doing more measuring (!), snapping chalk lines, and laying out lumber. I spent the day continuing to dig out the dirt and major tree roots along the south side, between us and our neighbours, in order for drainage to occur so we don't get the garage flooded with snow melt. Rob was about to start drilling holes in the concrete for the anchor bolts, and then discovered he didn't have the right drill bit.  So of course, that involved a tool run to Canadian Tire. 

And then the drilling began. He did 27 holes and it took all afternoon to drill--concrete takes forever to drill through. My job was to hold the nozzle of the shop vac next to the hole as he drilled, in order to suck up all the concrete dust so he could see where he was drilling--a very vital role, if I say so myself. Then we had to install the anchor bolts.

And this is what it looked like after a full day's work:

So we have the foundation for the walls installed and anchored down.  Then this weekend we will get the walls framed and upright. But first we have to buy the lumber for the walls--Rob calculates about 90 pieces of wood--which means we sort through lumber piles for the wood, then load the wood in the truck, and then unload the wood at the house--oh joy!

Another Milestone

Look at this little green piece of paper:

This is the approval slip from the City after they inspected our concrete slab.  You have to have an inspection at certain points along the way of construction and you need approval before you can move onto the next step. One more milestone reached. So yay, we can now move on to framing.

So we bought some lumber on Saturday (after much checking by Rob of each and every piece to ensure no bowing of the lumber; I read my quilting magazine in Home Depot during this arduous ordeal). 

And we popped the forms off the concrete (popped off very easy--like getting a cake out of the pan).

And then we ran out of energy.

So on this coming weekend, we will have a wall framing frenzy.  As well, Rob has ordered the roof trusses and they should arrive by mid September.  So we had better have some walls up.  And then the SaskEnergy dude will come the week after the trusses arrive and install the new gas meter on the outside of the garage, and we need a wall for that.  Let's hope for good weather this weekend!

Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Saskatoon

What does the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles have to do a Monster Garage in Saskatoon?  Think on that while I take you through the last couple of weeks.

As you will recall, at the end of July we did mondo rebar installation, followed by survey staking.  We then covered it with a tarp and left for the lake for a week.  This is what the tarp looks after 2 inches of rain.  Like hundreds of little tents formed by the weight of the water in the valleys!

Then this is what the tarp looks like when Rob pumps it off for an hour and half.  We didn't want the tarp to stretch and break and then have water flood the hard packed gravel.

And there was another reason why we didn't want water on the tarp.  Because....the concrete guy was coming!  Yes, it's true.  Concrete guy came on Monday August 13.  Yay!  (Rob stayed up from Regina to await their arrival; I went to the office). They arrived at 2:30, spent an hour and half pouring, and then another four hours smoothing it over.  That's a long day.  This is what I found when I got home: 

And here is the final version. That is a lot of concrete and a lot of garage! I was worried that someone would write their names in it (or handprints, a' la Grauman's Chinese Theatre with the handprints of movie stars), but it was firm enough by the time we went to sleep on Monday. (though I did keep waking up worrying about it, so kept getting up to check on it)

But it doesn't stop there.  Concrete as it cures gives off heat, and you want to keep it wet so it dries evenly and doesn't crack.  Which means watering it every waking moment so it doesn't dry out.

So I've been watering when I get up before work, coming home at noon to water, and water at night.  Our sprinkler makes the garage pad turn into a water fountain feature!



And we reported the slab to the City's Building Department and they will come out and do an inspection tomorrow.  If all goes well, then we are buying the first round of lumber on the weekend and up goes the walls.  Rob has said after each gruelling round of prep and construction work, that it will get easier.  I've yet to see that, but I'm optimistic!