So how did it all go? Well as you know the first company totally bailed out of doing the roof and the second company sent us a crew of one good worker with a couple of helpers. I have to say he did a good job but he could only work a couple of hours a day and on weekends only. Slow progress of course. Well then he decided he could not do it any longer so the company sent another crew of 2 out. Well first they took at least half a day to figure out what the first guy had done and decided to finish it their way. Again they only did so much of the roof and then had all kinds of excuses why they could not come to finish it. Finally our contractor said the heck with it and asked our carpenter/framer to finish it. We were happy as we really trust the carpenter and his work. He decided to take of part of the roof which the second crew had done and do it all over again. They worked hard to get the roof finished as snow was forecasted for the next day. They worked even after it got dark and they had to turn on some lights but they got it done. The snow did come so we were very happy. They also worked on the inside and finished the dividing walls on the top story and the passage way from old to new. This last part did not happen in one day like they thought it would and took a total of 3 days. Of course they had to finish lots of things. Like installing the door and build a roof above the door. At the same time we had the eavestroughing guys come to do the fascia and soffit for the whole house (old and new) and they also took 3 days to do this. They are to come back in the Spring after we finish the siding on the house so they can hang the gutter.
But that was not the only thing happening. As you read Leo had fallen down a hole in September and he did not know if he had hit his head at that time. I guess he must have as on October 24th it looked like he had a minor stroke and his symptoms actually got worse. On Sunday November 4 he took another fall and I took him in to emergency to have him checked out. The doctors did a CT scan and they discovered he had bleeding on the brain causing pressure which also caused the stroke symptoms. He was taken by ambulance to Calgary and on the Monday he had surgery. They drilled a hole in his skull and put a tube in to drain the blood. It worked. I can tell you that I have never seen someone change so much in an 1 1/2 hours.
Leo was in the hospital until Wednesday and I went back home Monday night to 'supervise' the final building process. But now Leo is home again and we can start planning on finishing the inside of the house.
But first some more pictures of the last stages of the house.
This was taken on the Wednesday just before the snow fall. One of the carpenters had build a little landing as it was time to put in the door. The door is leaning up against the landing next to the ladder.
Here you see Jesse working on the door and Ryan and Brian working on the eavestrough. They had to do it all with ladders as they could not use their lift.
The snow is starting to fall and these guys just kept on working. This is the drive way side of the house.
Again all ladder work. Here they are working on the picture windows side of the house.
You can see the snow coming down is this picture.
This is near the end of the day on Wednesday. Lots of snow had fallen already.
And now for the passage ways from old to new. First the basement.
This is not the official hole. The promised me it would be big enough for me to go through.
But I had to see what was on the other side, just could not wait.
And this is the hole after they were done with it. I could now go from old to new without having to climb a ladder.
And now for the moment I have been waiting for since they started back in July. The upstairs passage way.
This is Darren getting the 'wall' ready. What he is working on is the old cabin wall which had to be cut out. Darren is standing the the basement while I took the picture from the main floor.
These are the steps which will give us access to the new part from the old part. You can see the hole to where they have to go. This is also the hole Leo fell down in. The steps to the basement are in the back.
Again the steps and Darren standing in front of the picture window trying to get cell phone access.
And now for the big moment. . . . .
Here Jesse is making sure that when they cut the hole the small pieces of cedar won't come down with it.
Before and
AFTER
This was done on Wednesday just when I had to leave to pick up Leo so I missed the actual cutting. Which most likely was a good thing as I really did not like the idea of having the cedar wall 'damaged'.
But it is nice to have and I am sure we will really enjoy our new house once it is all finished on the inside.
I will keep you updated with the progress of the inside as we finish it. But not as many posts as before.
Hope you enjoyed building our house with us.
