Timber frame house build

Blogs end!

2011-03-03T23:45:00.001-05:00

Well after several months of not updating I have to concede that I have lost my enthusiasm to write about finishing the house. It was great to catalogue the major stuff, but writing about fitting trim and building walk-in showers is dull. Let's just say it's nearly done but very habitable. Anyway, they say a picture is worth a thousand words, so anyone who is still interested can see what is going on via our Flickr page which I will keep updating. If you want to know anything then just send me an email.

Cheers

Rich

2010-06-07T21:00:00.000-04:00

We finally got around to getting the siding put on. I didn't do this myself and I am so glad as it took a team of four pros 2 weeks to complete. I couldn't have done this on my own unless that was all I did for a very long time.

Floor

2010-02-01T21:57:00.003-05:00

We finally got around to laying the finished floor. There were 90 boxes of wood all weighing about 30kgs each. It is 3/4" thick and 4 1/4" wide red oak. I had to use a scrap piece of board and a lump hammer to get each board to seat, then you whack it with the pneumatic air gun which fires a staple into the plywood sub-floor. Each staple has resin to glue it in place. It took 8 days of backbreaking work just to do the ground floor. Thankfully, it comes pre-varnished.

For the upstairs I enlisted help and got my very handy friend Alex to fly over from UK and fit it with me. Only took a week most of which was Alex's work.

Family bathroom

2010-02-01T21:42:00.002-05:00

I tiled the floor and then tiled the wall so we could have showers again- hurrah! First I put up a plastic membrane over the plaster board (gyproc), then cement board (in this case WonderBoard). Note, don't put up the board with the label on the outside or you have to spend ages scraping the dam stuff off,

Porch deck

2010-02-01T21:35:00.001-05:00

Thanks to some help from my Dad we now have a proper entrance porch with a floor and steps. Much better than the plank we had before.

2010-02-01T21:21:00.001-05:00

More landscaping

2010-02-01T21:08:00.004-05:00

Landscaping

2010-02-01T20:41:00.004-05:00

We ended up getting quite a substantial landscaping job done. I originally envisaged some basic moulding of the land to ensure the rain water flowed away from the house, but one thing led to another. I have to say the guy who did it was excellent. Same guy/s who did the main excavating, drilled the well, put the drive in and the septic tank- Gaston Le Febvre. Robert made some steps on one side of the house through the retaining wall. They are just made of flat boulder he found and placed but it looks like they were carved for the job. He also placed all our spare boulders in creative ways including in the middle of the loop he built in our drive. We can now drive in and out without having to reverse, in case you were wondering how a loop worked.

We ended up with a lot more grass than I had planned. Good job we bought a ride on mower with our relatives next door. Some guy was selling one off cheap. I also had to buy a petrol leaf blower otherwise the carpet of falling leaves would have wrecked our seedling grass.

I think the overall result looks rather like the scene of 'In the Night Garden' one of Oscar's favourite Brit shows.

Blog resumed

2010-02-01T20:39:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I have been busy and I did think about ending the blog when we moved in but truth be told there is still a lot to do. Anywhere, I will now attempt to catch up.

We are in!

2009-07-23T20:33:00.002-04:00

So finally we have moved in! Not that I am complaining really, as the whole build went pretty fast overall. However, there is still a ton of work to be done before it is finished. So far we have a working toilet and wash basin in the downstairs powder room, a bath (only) in the family bathroom, a kitchen with no cabinets and a sink supported on maple off-cuts from the basement posts, 3 out of 10 interior doors, no closet doors, no finished floors, a back door that needs varnishing, no siding, no decks, and no trim anywhere. Still, we are in and are enjoying the space and the beautiful timbers. Also, it's a lot easier to work on the house when you are there and can fit jobs in here and there without having to travel.

Counting down to moving day

2009-06-24T20:00:00.003-04:00

The proper front door is on, we have basement stairs, electricity, water and a phone line. Before we move in we have to hang some interior doors, paint some walls, get the lights and sockets fitted, install a toilet, a wash-basin and a kitchen sink. After that, it should be habitable albeit far from finished. ETA is two weeks!

Getting plastered

2009-06-15T20:15:00.002-04:00

The walls have now been filled in with sheets of gyproc (plaster board) and now the rooms take their final shape. It looks as though my wall framing was good enough as all the rooms look as we expected. At the moment, the seams between the sheets are being taped and plastered, followed by sanding. In Canada, they don't put plaster over the entire wall, just the joints and screw holes. I don't understand why in the UK they plaster over everything. After all, plaster board is perfectly flat so why put a skim of plaster on it? I wonder if it is just tradition from when all the walls were made from lathes and had to be covered in plaster? Seems like a lot of UK plasterers are charging for a pointless task!

I am also in the process of waterproofing the exterior doors. The stuff we used on the basement doors was a bit dark, which is ok for the basement, but we would prefer a lighter finish for the main floor. We then bought another stain which when tested was too matt and looked like fence paint. Finally, we got a clear coating which I think will do the trick. It took over 10 hours to stain the basement doors and they are still not completely finished on the inside. The back doors are exactly the same but now need three coats rather than two. The front door is about half the size. Overall, a lot of sanding and painting still to do! We also have to stain all the inside of the windows, the outside has an aluminium coating. Wood looks really good, but it's a lot of work. I think it's worth it though.

We got the power!

2009-06-12T22:52:00.005-04:00

At last, after sorting out some confusion where Hydro Quebec sent the installation bill to the wrong address, we got the power line and the meter fitted. No more noisy generator! Now we can hook up the pump for the well and have running water. We have a sub-panel fitted so that if there is a major power cut the generator can power the well pump, some lights, fridge/freezer, furnace etc.

Ready for the drywall/plaster-board

2009-06-07T09:13:00.002-04:00

Heating and cooling

2009-05-22T22:09:00.004-04:00

This is our heat exchanger (the grey box on the left) that will provide cooling in the Summer and heat in the Winter. It is connected to a heat pump on the outside of the building. When it gets below -10C, or if we need an extra boost of heat, the propane powered furnace takes over (the silver thing on the right). The system uses air which is either warmed or cooled and then distributed around the house through ducts. There is no mains gas where we live so instead we will have a huge propane tank outside the house.

Interior wall framing complete!

2009-05-19T22:28:00.003-04:00

It only took about three times as long to complete as I expected but now it is done. The last walls went up a lot quicker than the first ones due to my increased experience. Building the walls on the ground and then standing them up is definitely the way to go. I used 120 8' 2 x 4s, 220 10' 2 x 4s, 30 10' 2 x 6s and about 3000 nails. The new DeWalt compressor is working really well and now my generator is back from the workshop and fully functional again.

More excavation

2009-05-11T21:37:00.004-04:00

Robert and his crew came back today to install the well pump, connect the water pipe from the well to the house, install the septic tank, and build the weeping field. The ground shook and the landscape changed again as Robert and his excavator dug huge trenches and holes, flattened vegetation and the odd tree, and spread dirt and rock by the lorry load.

Basement floor

2009-05-09T21:18:00.004-04:00

This week the HVAC and electrician guys were doing their thing. Now most of the ducting has been installed for the heating/cooling system and it fits nicely between the upstairs floor and the removable downstairs ceiling boards that can be removed at any time.

I spent most of of Tues & Weds preparing the basement floor ready for the concrete to be poured. First of all the gravel needed to be leveled using a shovel and a rake. Then a plastic sheet was put down and all the seams taped to form a vapour barrier. Finally, I put down 2" styrofoam board to insulate the floor. The board had to be cut to size to fit around all the posts and pipes, and I was working until 10.30pm finishing the job. I was back at the house by 6.30am to cut a hole in the upstairs sub-floor to pour the concrete through. This saved us $500-600 as we didn't have to rent a pump to bring the concrete around to the back of the house.

Once the basement floor had been poured, and an hour had passed, the concrete guys polished the surface using a machine that looked like an upside down helicopter to provide a smooth finish.

Upstairs wall framing

2009-04-28T22:05:00.002-04:00

I just spent the best part of a week building the stud walls that divide the various rooms upstairs. I certainly got my moneys worth out of the nail gun and the mitre saw, both worked like a dream. However, my new generator is being fixed and my compressor just seized up solid :(

I still have some closet walls to build and I need to extend some of the walls up to the ceiling, but there should be enough for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) guy to do his thing, followed by the plumber and the electrician.

We struck water!

2009-04-28T22:01:00.003-04:00

400ft down there is a good supply of drinking water. It took the rig three days to drill that deep mostly through rock which is good because we don't need so much pipe work as the hole in the rock is structurally sound. Also, we pay per foot not per hour.

Drilling a well

2009-04-24T20:55:00.003-04:00

We don't have mains water on Rigaud mountain so the only option is to drill a well. No water bills for us, although drilling a well doesn't come cheap. The humungous drilling rig will bang and churn away for about two days until it hits a decent water vane, probably several hundred feet underground. We will then have to get it tested and install a filter and water softener.

Windows

2009-04-23T22:25:00.004-04:00

All the windows are now fitted. We just need the front door and the two sets of French doors to make the building watertight. The window supplier ordered the frames about an inch too narrow as he didn't take into account the thickness of the furring strips that the siding attaches to despite the detailed drawings he was given. The cheeky sod is even trying to charge us for having a carpenter extend the frame (about 2 days work), but he isn't going to get a penny extra! We expected that there would be some issue with the windows, it seems like there always is in every house building program we have watched. Overall, the windows are very good, except for broken catches on one of them. The windows are wood with aluminium covers on the outside to protect them from the elements.

Floor ceiling system

2009-04-23T22:17:00.002-04:00

Hamlet fitted the system that raises the floor above the timber joists and allows room for all the services to pass under the floor. Also, ceiling boards will be fitted from below, rather than gyproc, and can be removed at any time to give access to all the services. It seems like a pretty neat system, and it's great to have an upstairs floor. My next job is to build all the partition walls that define the rooms, closets etc. They are needed soon so that the plumber, HVAC, and electrician can do their thing. A busy few days ahead for me!

Wrapping the basement

2009-04-19T20:28:00.003-04:00

Tomorrow the windows are arriving, so this weekend I cut out the openings in the basement and finished framing the rough openings. Also, we attached building wrap all around the basement which keeps water out but is also breathable. The full basement door hasn't been cut out yet as I am leaving the temporary door in place until the proper French window doors arrive.

Metal roof

2009-04-16T20:20:00.003-04:00

Today the metal roof was fitted and now just needs some trim to finish. Metal roofs are good in this climate as the snow slides off them easily and a metal roof is extremely strong and durable.

More partitioning

2009-04-12T20:04:00.002-04:00

The downstairs walls are just about done. I just need to finish a few bits tomorrow morning. My hands are sore, in fact most of me is sore.

Partition walls

2009-04-10T21:40:00.003-04:00

The pros are off for Easter so it's time for Rich & Tom the amateurs to step in and start building the partition walls. Check out those studs! Most of the downstairs is open plan except for the entrance vestibule, a powder room, a pantry and a couple of closets. My brand new generator wouldn't generate electricity despite the engine working? Luckily Tom had one next door. The pvc hose on the nail gun was a mistake as it is stiff and hard to handle. However, the Makita mitre saw worked like a dream and the ridgid saw stand was also excellent, which is just as well when you have hundreds of cuts to make in a day. We managed to get most of the walls done today and now we are up to speed the rest should be a lot easier (in theory).

More roof

2009-04-09T20:39:00.002-04:00

Today the snow has gone and it's sunny again. The rest of the SIPS roof panels are lifted into place with the crane and screwed onto the rafters. The roof will then be covered with the metal to form a very strong, warm, weather proof structure.

More snow!

2009-04-08T22:48:00.002-04:00

Woke up to about an inch and a half of snow. It won't stay for long but it's barely above zero temperatures again. The Hamlet guys prepare the roof panels to be lifted by the crane and put in place tomorrow.

More walls

2009-04-07T20:26:00.003-04:00

The last of the walls went up today, and the SIPS panels arrived for the roof. The SIPS are made from 10" of styrofoam sandwhiched between two sheets of OSB board, that's a lot of insulation!

Day 5 walls

2009-04-06T20:39:00.002-04:00

Today was cold and rainy, but despite the weather half of the walls go up. They are built in sections that sit on top of each other with a kind of tongue and groove joint and a rubber seal in between. The walls are filled with blown cellulose insulation which is basically recycled paper treated with a fire retardant coating. The outside is sealed with building wrap which is waterproof and forms part of the vapor barrier that prevents the moisture in warm air from condensing inside the walls. The interior of the walls also has a vapor barrier and a reflective coating to help reflect heat back in to the house. The outside walls have wooden furring strips to attach the siding. The inside walls have wooden strips to attach the dry wall (plaster board).

Day 4

2009-04-02T21:34:00.002-04:00

Today was a beautiful sunny day and +15C although it felt much warmer in the sun. We celebrated the completion of the frame with a topping out ceremony. Basically, this involves nailing a branch to the top of the building in honor of the trees that went into the frame. It also involved drinking scotch and barbequeing, which was a pleasant way to finish off the afternoon.

Day 3

2009-04-01T20:18:00.004-04:00

Now that the frame is complete, the ceiling boards could be installed prior to the roof which is insulated with SIPs (structured insulated panels), basically styrofoam sandwhiched between ply-wood, and then the metal roof will go over that. We were going to have a topping out ceremony today to celebrate the final beams going in place, but it rained all afternoon so we will do that tomorrow instead. I also managed to shovel out most of the remaining snow in the basement. Tomorrow is supposed to be +15C, and with the propane heater on as well the reminents of the snow should melt quickly.

Basement snow

2009-03-31T20:30:00.002-04:00

There is still a lot of snow in the basement from before the sub-floor closed the basement in. When the walls go up there is a danger that the moisture from the melting snow will get trapped in the house. Therefore, I rented a propane heater and spent several hours shoveling snow into a wheel barrow and dumping it outside. Luckily, the outside temperature is getting warmer, but it's still barely +10C so I need to help the melting process along.

The large maple posts in the basement, support the weight of the frame above.

Day 2 frame raising

2009-03-31T20:21:00.004-04:00

Today the frame is completed! That includes the floor joists, rafters, and even the stairs are in place. Apparently, being so close to the workshop means that less work has to be done on site and so everything goes together quicker. I am still amazed at the progress, and after all the planning it is just so amazing to see the actual house take shape.

Day 1 frame raising

2009-03-30T21:09:00.005-04:00

Today the frame arrived and things are moving quickly. Despite the drizzly rain, about a third of the frame is already up. It's such a relief to see the house take shape after all the planning and then waiting for Winter to end.

Walls to go

2009-03-23T22:42:00.003-04:00

The walls are almost ready. All they need now is the cellulose insulation pumping in. The silver side is the inside of the wall and the foil provides extra insulating power in addition to the 10" thick walls. The wood battens are there to attach the drywall to. The outside of the wall is covered in building wrap and will eventually have wooden siding attached to it. The walls are in section and slot together with a kind of tongue and groove sealed with a some kind of rubbery seal.

The frame goes up next Monday so things are going to move pretty fast after that. In about three to four weeks we will have the basic shell completed with walls, roof, windows, sub-floors and external doors.

Our back garden

2009-03-17T23:13:00.002-04:00

Snow be gone!

2009-03-17T23:08:00.003-04:00

Although the drive is now cleared there is still plenty of snow around the building and even inside it from before we covered over the basement. Also, some kind of iceberg has formed outside the basement entrance due to snow and ice being shoveled off the roof above. I expect the snow will melt pretty quickly as there is warmer weather moving in. Not sure about the iceberg though!

Closing in the joists

2009-03-17T23:02:00.004-04:00

Todays job was to nail plywood over the gap between the top of the foundation wall and the sub-floor above. I got to use my new nail gun and it made light work of the task.

Open again for business

2009-03-09T22:39:00.003-04:00

After about 3 hours of snow blowing and shoveling with Tom the drive is fully functional again. I expect (hope) that it will stay open for a very long time from this point onwards. All we need now is a house at the end of it which all going well will start to appear in a few weeks time.

Decisions and more decisions

2009-03-06T12:59:00.007-05:00

Building a house requires a lot of decision making, particularly if you are your own general contractor. Recently, we have had to decide on the final style and size of windows and opted for double hung (sash) windows that are wood with aluminium cladding on the outside. We have ordered elite windows from a local distributor who will also provide an installation service including fitting all the interior window mouldings. However, we still have to decide upon and purchase the materials for the mouldings. In the kitchen we had to decide whether or not to have support braces removed from the kitchen area to make way for cabinets. We decided to keep them all as we haven't fully designed the cabinet layout yet, and we can always take them out later if need be. Besides, we like the aesthetic of the wooden braces. Then Hamlet noticed that we had designed our kitchen windows too low and they would interfere with the counter top. After changing the sizes we then decided to not to install one of the kitchen windows in order to provide more useable wall space. There should be plenty of light but if it isn't right we could always add another window in later and it's easier this way than taking a window out. Anyway, these are just some of the examples of the things we have to decide upon but there are a thousand other decisions to be made about tiles, taps, switches, lights, basins etc........

A nice wavy Oak beam for over the back door

2009-02-24T22:19:00.002-05:00

Oiled Ash support post

2009-02-24T22:17:00.003-05:00

Oscar test

2009-02-11T20:40:00.002-05:00

Oscar tests the structural integrity of one of the posts and is satisfied with the results.

Joint

2009-02-11T20:34:00.004-05:00

Two beams being joined together with a splined joint. Oak pegs will eventually go in the holes.

Wall

2009-02-11T20:32:00.002-05:00

This picture shows one of the walls being built that will be the front of the house.

Ridge

2009-02-11T20:26:00.005-05:00

This picture shows the ridge beam (i.e. the main central beam spanning the top of the house) and the four central support posts. Also, one of the central beams supporting the 2nd floor is shown.

More timber pics

2009-02-11T20:21:00.002-05:00

The timbers arrive!

2009-02-10T21:45:00.003-05:00

The timbers from local lumber merchant Jacques Dubois arrive at Hamlet's workshop. We opted for a locally sourced mixed species timber frame, so we have quite a selection of different wood which should make for some interesting variations of grain and colour. There is hickory, maple, cherry, ash, douglas fir, oak, and a few bits of elm and birch. At the moment, the wood is being planed and prepared by Hamlet ready for the joints to be cut.

Ash support post

2009-02-10T21:40:00.002-05:00

Oak braces

2009-02-10T21:38:00.002-05:00

Hickory

2009-02-10T21:36:00.002-05:00

The light coloured pieces with dark heartwood markings are hickory which is the same species as pecan (as in nuts).

Protecting the footings from frost

2009-01-02T11:38:00.005-05:00

In this climate, the footings have to be buried four feet deep to avoid being affected by the frost. Whilst this is currently the case for the outside of the building, most of the inside footings are exposed as they will eventually be inside a heated house and only a few inches below floor level. The problem here is that whilst there is no heat in the building there is a potential for the gound under the footings to freeze and create frost heave which could move the footings and buckle the foundations. To avoid this, I have covered the footings over with a four inch thick layer of polystyrene board and also a layer of mineral wool insulation that will eventually be re-used to insulate the walkout basement wall. Also, the ground drains very well as it has lots of small stones and is therefore less likely to accumulate water that can cause frost damage. Now that the roof (sub-floor) is on it will also help to keep out some of the cold. So hopefully, everything should be fine until Spring. There is still a lot of snow inside the house, but it will also act as an insulator and will just melt away in Spring, unless I can be bothered to shovel it all out before then.

The pile of wooden posts will eventually support the timber frame above it and help support the ground floor as the current supports are temporary. The posts are 10" square maple sourced locally and are nine feet long which is the height of the basement walls. They still need to be planed and oiled.

Floor finished

2008-12-21T18:10:00.008-05:00

Saturday started with some light snow but as the day progressed it got really sunny and clear. The temperature was around -14C but it didn't actually feel too cold. We had another generator today, borrowed from Bob, as the other one broke down yesterday. All the joists were put in place and the plywood floor was glued and screwed down. Now there is a kind of roof over the basement covered over with a giant tarpaulin. Not a minute to soon either as today (Sunday) it has snowed constantly with 20-30cm expected and more snow storms next week. The media are calling it "Snowmaggedon." Thanks to Hamlet for getting the floor (basement roof) on in time! We will now leave the building work until Spring (prob March) when the timber frame will go up and the whole building will take shape.

Missing beam arrives

2008-12-19T20:25:00.008-05:00

In the afternoon the missing beam and the hangers turn up and more joists are put in place. Just as we are about to call it a day the generator blows it's oil filler plug out and packs up. The compressor is also struggling in the cold and has to be driven around in a van to warm it up again. All going well we will get the plywood down tomorrow as there is a major snow storm due on Sunday and the basement is already pretty full of snow.

Beams and floor joists

2008-12-19T11:47:00.009-05:00

Today work started on the ground floor. A central beam made in three parts spans the centre of the house and joists span from the beam to the front and back walls of the house. The only problem was that the central beam was too short, the company supplying it made a mistake. They also did not deliver the joist hangers that allow the joists to attach to the beam. So at the moment we have five guys working on the job for as long as they can and hopefully the correct beam will be delivered soon. Once the beam and joists are assembled we can put down the plywood to make the sub-floor, and then we will cover it over with a tarpaulin and leave everything until Spring. The race is on to get the floor done as there is another 20cm of snow forecast for this Sunday (today is Friday). All of this work is being done with an outside temperature of -18C!

Building walls

2008-12-05T16:20:00.005-05:00

After digging out the snow around the building we were ready to build the end wall of the basement and the missing bits from the side walls. Hamlet helped us out and by lunch time the basic walls were done. We just have to cut out the holes for the windows and door and strengthen above them with lintels. Next weekend we are going to put in the sub-floor (beam, joists, plywood) which will be the ground floor (basement ceiling). We will then cover it over with a big tarpaulin and this will act as a temporary roof and keep the snow and other Wintery stuff out of the basement. The only problem is that I have to get all of the existing snow out of the basement so that we can put the support posts in. Today I spent 2 hours shoveling and managed to shift about a third of the snow. Either, I find a better snow removal solution or maybe I should just consider it good exercise? The trouble is that more snow is forecast next week and the sub-floor won't go in until the weekend.

Winter arrives

2008-11-30T17:57:00.006-05:00

We are hoping that we can still build the end wall of the basement and the ground sub-floor this year but the snow has already arrived. This doesn't necessarily mean we will have to wait until Spring as long as we can keep the drive clear enough to deliver materials. Luckily our neighbor and Brother-in-Law Tom just bought a new snow blower :) I'm glad that we insulated our footings against the cold last week.

Winter protection

2008-11-23T11:56:00.005-05:00

I am hoping to get the ground sub-floor in place over the next couple of weeks to form a temporary roof over the basement. However, the inside footings need to be protected from the cold to avoid frost damage. The outside of the footings is buried under a minimum of 4 feet of earth (i.e. below the frost line). We placed some old foam insulation (courtesy of Tom) on top of the footings to insulate them from the worst of the cold, and then weighted them down with rocks. Any snow that lands on them won't really matter and will actually help to insulate them further.

Frame design

2008-11-11T06:37:00.005-05:00

So this is what our timber frame looks like. The posts are 10" thick and all the posts and beams will be visible on the inside of the house. The frame provides the support for the whole house so that none of the walls are actually structural, they just keep the weather out and sub-divide the house into rooms, although it's mostly open plan. The posts and beams are joined with traditional mortice joints and oak pegs, no metal brackets or nails etc. The wood will be of mixed species (yet to be decided) depending on what is available locally at the time. The wood is also used green which means that it will take 10 years to fully dry out. The oak pegs and traditional joints allow for shrinkage and there will also be some cracking. This is basically the way they built houses in medieval times in most of Europe. The frame, walls, roof and insulation will all be built and constructed by Hamlet Heavy Timberwork a local company based just a few miles away down the road in Riagud. They will build the frame and walls etc. in their workshop over Winter and then assemble it all on site in Spring as soon as the weather allows. The insulation will be cellulose and recycles the equivalent amount of paper that a person uses in 40 years. It is treated with a flame retardent coating to minimise fire hazards. The roof will be made of metal which is highly durable, and is good for shedding snow.

Fixing mistakes

2008-11-10T06:53:00.004-05:00

The posts from the timber frame have to rest on concrete footings most of which are next to the walls except for two which are in the middle of the house. One of the middle footings was put in the wrong place and didn't line up with the notch on the back wall where an adjacent post will go. After complaining to the foundation guy he eventually sent someone to rectify the problem and extend the central footing. The lighter coloured cement on the right is the new footing and it now lines up with the notch that is just visible at the top of the picture. Later on, the footings will be covered up by the basement floor.

Back-fill back of the house

2008-10-26T21:57:00.003-04:00

The basement wall at the back of the house is above ground so that it forms a walk-out basement. At the moment, there is no back wall as it has to be built from timber along with the step down bits on the side so that the wall is one height all of the way around. Once the wall is finished we will build the sub-floor on top of it (for the ground floor).

Back-fill side of the house

2008-10-26T21:46:00.002-04:00

From this picture you can see the slope of the land from the front to the back of the house. Most of this slope is natural but some of it has been sculpted with the help of a digger, a bull-dozer and a few extra tons of dirt and stone. I had to cut down the tree at the front of the picture as it was rotten almost all of the way through and might have fallen on the house in a strong wind.

Back-fill front of house

2008-10-26T21:23:00.004-04:00

Now that the foundation walls have cured the earth can be back-filled up to them to bury the basement wall. The top of the basement wall at the front of the house is level with the ground so you enter the house at ground level (i.e., above the basement).

Autumn/Fall colours

2008-10-11T12:34:00.004-04:00

This is what our street looks like at the moment

Foundation walls

2008-10-11T11:09:00.006-04:00

A few days later and the forms go up so that the foundation walls can be poured. Now we have all of the foundations done, but we still have to build a wall from timber for the walkout basement wall and part of the side wall to make it level with the main foundation wall. This is better than making it all out of cement as it is more cost effective and will look better when finished. The sides are painted with tar to prevent water seeping through the cement.

Next week the excavation guy will return to back-fill the soil up to the foundation walls and make the basement floor all one level. He will also dig a channel from the basement door leading into the woods so that rain water will drain away from the house.

Pouring the foundations

2008-10-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

Footings go in

2008-10-11T11:06:00.004-04:00

Whilst we are away in Nova Scotia the footings are poured. I hope they do it ok! Tom checks it out to make sure there are no problems and they have our number if there are any questions.

Digging the foundations

2008-10-11T10:59:00.006-04:00

Things are really moving quickly now and after 2 and a half days the foundations are fully excavated. Luckily the digger didn't hit any bedrock or massive boulders as then we would have needed a rock breaker or even dynamite and that can easily double the excavation costs. As the house will be on a slope the foundations have to be stepped down. When built the front of the house will be on two levels but the back of the house will have three levels including the walkout basement.

Driveway

2008-10-11T10:52:00.004-04:00

After numerous lorry loads of stone and sand and we have a driveway. Now we have proper access to the lot so all the equipment and supplies can be driven right up to the front of the house. Eventually, we will build a loop so that cars don't have to turn around to get out, but that will be done much later after the house is finished. It's a good feeling to drive down our own drive at last.

Building begins

2008-10-02T08:39:00.009-04:00

The excavation guy eventually turned up with his digger and bulldozer and thing started to happen. He moved all the felled trees into a pile, ripped out all the stumps to take away, and cleared the site ready to dig the foundations.

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-15T15:17:00.006-04:00

It was very windy last night as we caught the tail end of Hurricane Ike. The power went on and off a few times but overall it didn't seem too bad. When I got up this morning a rather large quaking aspen had blown over and just missed our car. The only damage to the car was the end of the radio aerial was bent! If the tree had fallen another way it would have landed on either two other cars or a barn. Unfortunately, the recycling bin was not so lucky :(

Preparing for 2nd Winter

2008-09-15T15:06:00.003-04:00

We are going to put in the driveway and the foundations for the new house this Autumn, all going well. The house itself will be built in the Spring next year as soon as the snow has cleared enough for the builders to start. In the mean time, we will spend another Winter in the Cottage so we bought another load of wood for the stove. We got 3 chords this time, plus we had about 1 chord left over, and I cut a nice sturdy chopping block for splitting logs from a maple that I felled . It took about 3 hours to stack the wood at the front of the cottage and all around the inside of the gallery. Wood chopping and stacking is good exercise and pretty rewarding in a prmitive kind of way.

The trees are now starting to change colour pretty fast, this is a great season as the bugs are pretty much gone, it's not too hot, and the trees look amazing. I will post more pictures in a few weeks when the trees look their best.

New plans

2008-09-02T23:29:00.009-04:00

This is what we are going to build, it's 2400 sq ft + 1200 sq ft walk out basement. The house is built on a timber frame, which you can't really see on the drawings. The exposed beams will be 10" thick and take 10 years to fully dry out. The siding will be a sage green colour and we will have a charcoal coloured metal roof. The windows and trim will be in white.

Our new plans were drawn up by Susie Aird in Hudson. Susie was a joy to work with and even supplied home-made pie during some of our consultations!

Clearing begins

2008-08-19T12:35:00.003-04:00

This week we got the permits for clearing the land, so I got to work on phase one which is felling the trees. On Saturday I cut down about 12 trees, and there are probably about another 12 to cut down so that there will be enough room for the house and the driveway. Now I have to limb the trees and cut the trunks up into manageable sizes so that they can be taken away and turned into lumber and floorboards.

We now also have our implementation plan which shows where the house will be positioned on our land, you can see a copy of the plan above. We are now almost ready to apply for the building permit, we just have to make a few alterations to the windows on the main drawings after talking to a window company.

Waiting

2008-08-12T22:26:00.002-04:00

Waiting for the tree clearing permit, waiting for the surveyor's plan of the house on the lot, waiting for quotes, waiting for drawings to be amended. I just want to get started but we have to be patient for a little while.

Some good news though. We got the percolation test results back, and apparently our land drains really well so we will only need the most basic sceptic tank.

I put a new chain on my chainsaw and it cuts through logs like a hot knife through butter again. You have to be careful that the blade never touches the ground for a second or it gets blunt real quick. I chopped up some felled trees at the weekend and stacked them up to dry, and in about a year they will be ok to burn. We may as well make good use of the trees we fell, although we are hoping to use some to make our floor boards and maybe make some into lumber for other projects.

Change of plan

2008-07-15T23:01:00.002-04:00

So far we have had two quotes (sort of) to build the house. The first was kind of expensive although it was a turn key contract which means they do everything and just hand you the key. The second quote was supposed to be from a builder who would just put up the basic structure. Unfortunately, the builder looked scared when he saw our plans and didn't want to build it. Apparently the log type house we designed is something strange around these parts. Even though the company who make it is only an hours drive away they may as well be on the moon as far as builders around here are concerned. The builders of the kit haven't been exactly helpful in finding a suitable builder either.

We have now decided that we are going to go back to our original idea and build a completely custom timber frame home. There is an excellent local company who we have talked to a few times before and it now looks as though it is within our budget. If we are going to build a house we may as well build what we really want. Hamlet Heavy Timberwork build beautiful hand crafted timber frames. They will build the frame and enclose the walls using panels built in their workshop. The walls will be filled with cellulose insulation which recycles the equivalent of the amount of paper a person uses in 40 years. They will also put on a metal roof which is great for the snow to slide off and much tougher than regular shingles, it looks cool too! We will have to hire contractors to do everything else but that should be reasonably straight forward (famous last words). Then all we have to do is put windows and doors in to make the shell water tight.

Tomorrow we are going to see a similar house that they recently built to get an idea for the floor plan. We pretty much know what we want but it's always good to get an idea what it might look like. We will now have to have a completely new set of plans drawn up.

I have applied for the tree cutting permit and we are in the middle of completing the implementation plan which is a scale plan of where the house will go, this is drawn up by a surveyor. We won't have time to build the house before Winter now, but we will get everything ready to put up the frame probably March next year. In the mean time, we will clear the trees that need to be removed and these may be used for our floor-boards. We will have a drive way put in and have the foundations dug out. We will also have the foundations poured and put in the ground floor sub floor. The whole thing will then be covered over for Winter and will wait until Spring. So plenty of things to keep us busy!

The work begins!

2008-07-15T13:36:00.002-04:00

The first ground is broken when we hire a guy to dig some 6' deep trenches so that the soil can be tested for it's percolation value. The test will determine the kind of septic tank that we will need. There are no drains around here and our water will come from our own well. Luckily there wasn't too much rock so it looks as though excavating the foundations should be straight forward. If you run in to bed rock the costs of excavating can double or triple. Sometimes they even have to use dynamite to break up the rock. It is a relief to get started but there is a long way to go yet.

Approval and paperwork

2008-06-13T15:58:00.009-04:00

So we just found out that we got approved for a build mortgage! I have to say that I did have my doubts considering that we are both self employed, we have only been here 7 months, and I don't even have permanent residence status yet. Nevertheless, La Caisse Desjardins decided we had enough of a deposit and prospects that we were were worth the risk, also we already own the land which helps as well. The Caisse is some sort of Quebecois building society and seem sto have a much better understanding of the concept of building your own house than most banks.

In the mean time, the plans have been finalised as you can see above, and we are just waiting for the final blueprints to be delivered. I have booked a percolation test so that we can determine what kind of well and septic tank we need. We already know this as Tom and Mellissa live a few hundred feet away so chances are our requirements will be the same as theirs. However, the test is a requirement to get a building permit. Apparently, I need to book a back hoe whatever that is. I think it is some kind of digging device. Then we need a surveyor to draw up the implementation plan showing where on the land the house will sit. After that we can apply for a building permit and I can start clearing the trees with my new chain saw.

Of course, we still need to get quotes from earth contractors, well diggers, septic tank installers, foundation pourers, builders, dry wall hangers, plumbers, electricians etc. so I'm not sure we will get chance to start building the actual house until next Spring. There is a lot of building work going on already in these parts and outside building work can only carry on until about November or whenever it starts to seriously snow. We might do better to get everything ready for next Spring but we will see how it goes. Nothing seems to move particulalry fast around here, at least not compared to England anyway. Having said that, it may only take a few weeks to put the shell of the house up and get it weather proof. Wood goes up a lot faster than bricks and mortar.

Woodland clearing

2008-04-29T19:16:00.005-04:00

Spring is here although it feels more like we skipped Spring and went straight to Summer as it has been +20/25C for the last two weeks and the snow has finally gone.

We have started clearing the land by cutting down all the brush where we think the house will go. Next we will hire a surveyor to put together an implementation plan, which is basically a scale drawing showing where the house, drive, well etc. are going to go. We can then get a permit to cut down the trees where the house, drive etc. will be. Must buy a chainsaw. The constuction plans should be done by the end of the week and then we can apply for the building permit.

The woods are now teeming with wildlife and I managed to catch this woodepecker pecking out a rotten tree. Don't know what kind it is but it was about a foot long. Some of them sound like jack hammers when they are pecking at full speed.

Spring is here and plans are being drawn

2008-04-12T11:53:00.003-04:00

Our path has gone a strange green/brown colour and apparently this is called "grass." It seems like so long ago that we saw grass, well 5 months to be exact. Anyway, it was pretty warm (+15C) for a few days and now the snow is beginning to melt rapidly, although it will be a while before we see the lawn. Having said that, it is 0 degrees C and raining today, and it could even snow again but it is unlikely to settle. My snowboarding days are over for this year.

Hopefully the snow on our land will melt soon so that we can start clearing out some of the brush and try and figure out where the house, drive etc. will go. We have paid for our first blueprints to be drawn up and when they are finalised we can apply for planning permission, get a tree cutting permit etc. and start preparing the land- hopefully in a few weeks time.

I have bought a machete in order to clear away the brush but we also have a petrol brush cutter with a steel blade. Tom has a chainsaw that I will borrow, or I might buy our own. I am a hoping that we can use the trees we fell to make floor boards as we know a man with a saw mill who can do this for us. However, the boards might have to dry out for a year unless we get them kiln dried. We could probably make do with a sub-floor for a while anyway.

Pictures and Videos etc.

2008-04-10T09:51:00.002-04:00

We are going to put most of our baby pics and videos on to Flickr and Vimeo otherwise this blog will just fill up with them. You can click on the links on the right hand side of this blog to access them.

Oscar update

2008-04-10T09:43:00.004-04:00

We went to our pediatrician yesterday as the antacid medication didn't seem to be working. Oscar checked out ok and was given a much higher does of Zantac. Our pediatrician explained that the dose they had given us at the hospital was really small. He also said that it is fairly common for babies with reflux to regurgitate onto their larynx which causes a spasm and they stop breathing momentarily. Wish we had seen him before. Apparently he works in the Chidlren's hospital 3 days a week so they could have sent him to see us. Anyway, better safe than sorry.

Oscar seems much better on the higher antacid dose. It seems that 75% of babies get some form of reflux at some point.

House plans and baby scares

2008-04-05T12:53:00.005-04:00

Monday 31st Feb I drove for about an hour and a half to Ste-Agathe-Des-Monte to see the log house people about getting our plans drawn up. Sabrina and Oscar stayed at home. On the way back the driver's side windscreen wiper blade started to flap around and was coming off the wiper arm. Unfortunately, it was raining quite heavily so I had to stop to fix it twice and eventually lash it in place with a boot lace. I passed a Canadian Tire store in St Jerome so I dropped in to get a new wiper blade.

It was only after I had almost got back to Montreal at about 4:30 pm that I realised I had 5 missed calls on my phone from Sabrina. I had left the phone in the car whilst I had been in Canadian Tire, and whilst fitting the new wiper blade. I called Sabrina back and she was in an ambulance heading to the Children's Hospital in Montreal. Oscar had experienced two choking episodes, turning blue, and Sabrina had to give him back blows to clear it.

I can't accurately describe the feeling when I saw our baby son emerge from an ambulance with his car seat strapped to a stretcher, and with an oxygen mask on his face. The weight of responsibility of parenthood suddenly became very real indeed.

Oscar was seen immediately and appeared to be in good health. The hospital staff checked him over but suggested that they keep him over night for observation. After more examinations and blood samples squeezed from his heal, we were taken up to a ward for the night. Oscar was connected to a monitor that measured his heart rate and oxygen saturation levels. Sabrina stayed with Oscar but there was only a fold out bed for one of us to staynowhere for both of us to sleep except for a rocking chair. At about midnight I came home, fed the cats and went to sleep.

The next morning back at the hospital, Oscar had been fine all night with no further episodes. We were looking forward to going home. However, the gastroenterologist wanted to do more tests, this time for acid reflux. We were very disappointed that we had to stay longer but it became apparent that we needed to get Oscar checked out further. That night, Oscar was attached to another machine that measured his breathing, heart rate, and oxygen saturation and made a 24 hour recording. The machine had an alarm which kept going off every time Oscar moved. Eventually, they changed the electrodes and it stayed quiet for most of the time.

The following morning, they fitted Oscar with a ph probe that recorded the acidity levels in his oesophagus over a 24 hour period. The probe was a small tube that was passed up his nose and down his throat, then taped in place. It sounds a lot worse than it actually was and was fitted in a few seconds. Once in place Oscar didn't seem to notice. It was hard seeing him lying there with wires and pipes everywhere, but at least it was all just for monitoring purposes and he was perfectly safe. Oscar was fairly oblivious to everything that was going on, we however were the worried parents. I guess we had better get used to worrying!

The third day in hospital arrived and so did all the results. The upshot of it all was that he is a healthy baby with a case of acid reflux. The reflux can cause a baby to regurgitate and choke. However, it could also be the case that the whole incident was caused by Oscar choking on some mucous. He was prescribed some antacid medicine and we will have to keep a close eye on him and he has to go back for some check ups. So far he seems perfectly fine, with the odd bout of crying for no apparent reason, probably reflux related.

The hospital was very thorough and we couldn't fault all the effort they put in and the time they took to explain everything to us in detail. Thank god Canada has a decent national health service, rather like the UK system but with a better cafeteria and no chavs.

The video was take the day after we all came home. Oscar seems happy enough.

Settling in

2008-03-22T17:42:00.003-04:00

So Oscar is now 11 days old and we are all settling in to a routine. The first few nights we didn't get much sleep but now he is doing much better (mostly), although changing nappies is still a shock at 3am. Last night I cautiously removed his nappy after making sure he wasn't going to pee, then of course he did and I had to ditch the fresh nappy I was about to use. Then he did it again as I was getting the 2nd nappy ready and I had to clean him up again, oh what fun! I guess there are just going to be some good and some bad nappy changes and that's that.

We went to Tom and Melissa's place last night which is close by and baby friendly. Oscar behaved very well and didn't cry much all night. I think taking him places is a good way to tire him out a bit, or maybe it is all just random how much he sleeps? time will tell.

Babe in the Woods

2008-03-16T18:21:00.007-04:00

This is probably a more accurate title for the blog at the moment.

Oscar kept us awake most of the night but we did have a long lie in to compensate. He seems to sleep all day and then get active at night. Tom suggests that maybe he is still working on UK time. I think he gets upset at night when it is quiet and he gets a little insecure. He needs feeding every couple of hours anyway so a long nights sleep was never on the cards.

Today we took him to the local community nursing centre to have him weighed and a few other routine checks. He is doing well and has put on 50 grams of weight which is about right. We have to find a local pediatrician which is turning out to be quite difficult as no one is taking on an new patients. The nurse gave us another list so we will keep calling.

Oscar enjoyed the car ride and so we stopped off at the local supermarket on the way back. He was an instant hit with the staff and customers. I'm glad non of them tried to touch him though as he is only 5 days old and we are probably a bit paranoid about him catching something. One woman was amazed we had him out and about so soon, but I think she was even more paranoid than us.

It was a beautiful sunny day today and around 0 degrees. A lot of the snow melted and I think it will go quickly when the temperatures shift, which happens rapidly. Although at the moment it is much colder hear than in the UK, in a month or two it will be warmer here. On the other hand, another 30cm of snow has been forecast for this week, which should make it the most snowy Winter ever recorded. I think my snowboarding might have to wait until next year in any case, but then again maybe not.

Baby Oscar

2008-03-12T15:22:00.009-04:00

Sunday night and Sabrina was having some mild contractions and Oscar seemed to move down her body even further. She looked like she had a football up her shirt (see pic). Monday morning at 9am and Sabrina's waters broke. We went to the hospital at 11am as the contractions weren't too bad at that point. A couple of hours later and Sabrina went in the whirlpool tub which really sped things up as an hour later she wanted to push. After an hour of pushing it was all over, an all natural birth without drugs. Sabrina was looking really good, and I think all the joga paid off! I guess we were also very lucky to have such a relatively easy labour.

We were moved to our maternity room where we both stayed until today (Thurs). Everyone was really nice at the hospital and the facilities were excellent. Our own room with an en suite bathroom and a fold out bed for me, all part of the free medicare service (Canadian NHS). I had bacon, sausage, and egg for breakfast, and a coffee in the canteen for $2.60, what a bargain.

We haven't had that much sleep the last couple of nights (no surprises there) but it's really good to be back home again.

Oscar Timothy Robert Wood, born at Lakeshore Hospital Montreal on March 11th 2008, weighing in at 7lbs 40z.

Winter Wonderland

2008-03-08T17:57:00.005-05:00

This is what it looked like this morning and there is another 40-50cm on the way. I wonder if our baby will be born in a snowstorm? The roads are still ok but it would probably be hard going on the highway. I shovelled the path twice already and it's going to need doing again soon. Anyway, we have plenty of logs for the stove and a film to watch so it's pretty cozy in the cottage. Tomorrow I am hoping to go snowboarding as soon i don't think I will have so much time for things like that.

Babies

2008-02-24T20:42:00.006-05:00

Although this blog started about building a house, it is also about our life in Canada. So it's probably time I started talking about the impending birth of our son who is due in about four weeks time.

I am really looking forward to being a parent although it is a bit scary and there seems a lot to learn. Just figuring out all the different products and brands available is mind boggling. We didn't want to use disposable nappies due to the massive environmental impact they have by filling up land fills. After months of research we have opted for bamboo cloth nappies, or "diapers" as they say around here. We have spent over $1000 dollars buying these and several other variations. Not the most exciting use of the money that I could think of but a necessary evil. Besides, compared to the long term cost of disposables it is actually more economical. We have some friends who use them, and swear by them, so I hope it works out ok. The main type we are using are on the right and we have 42 of them in two different sizes.

Not snow (houses)

2008-02-24T20:29:00.005-05:00

I have just realised how much I have been talking about snow. I like the snow but there are other things going on.

We talked to a mortgage advisor and it looks like we might be ok to start building sooner than we thought. Also we have changed our idea of what we want to build. Since living in the cottage we have come to appreciate the cottage style building. Also, it seems that timber frame buildings are not very economical to build compared to other methods that can achieve pretty much the same thing. At the moment, we are exploring log homes which can be bought as a kit and assembled fairly quickly. You still get all the beams and rustic charms but at a much more reasonable price. So we are thinking of building a traditioanl Quebec style cottage like this. Maybe we could even start building this year, although there is a lot going on at the moment.

Snow again

2008-02-24T20:18:00.002-05:00

Apparently this Winter has been a record for snowfall even though it has been relatively mild. All the businesses that clear people's drives are monaing that they won't make any money as they get paid on a flat rate and also the extra work has caused a lot of the machinery to break down. At the moment there is a half metre deep blanket of snow everywhere that isn't cleared. The picture is of our back door which obviously we aren't using at the moment.

Skidoo Rescue

2008-02-24T20:03:00.004-05:00

The skidoo has now been sat in the woods for two weeks as it was pretty cold last weekend (-18C) and we were too busy to get around to it. This Saturday there was glorious sunshine and a relatively balmy -4C. During the week Tom and I rebuilt the carburettor as this seemed to be the problem. We set off with the battery booster pack, shovel and plenty of tools. We had to use snow shoes and cross country skis to get there as otherwise we would sink knee deep with every step. Anyway, after fitting new plugs and putting the carb back on we managed to get it going again.

Ice bridge

2008-02-11T22:42:00.000-05:00

Usually at this time of year there is a road on the ice across Lac des deux Montagnes (Lake of two mountains). The 'road' goes from Hudson to Oka which is a Native American reserve. The distance is about two kilometres and they plough all the snow off the ice and you just drive on it. However, it hasn't been cold enough so it's not open yet, and maybe won't open at all. Having said that there were cars all over the ice, and huts, where people were ice fishing. The picture was taken a Vaudreuil Sur le Lac just down the road from Hudson. Although the weather hasn't been that cold, mostly just below zero, it has been a record year for snow. Although, it is supposed to be -25 C tonight.

Yesterday I went on the skidoo with Tom but it conked out and now it is stuck in the woods about a Kilometere from his house. We had to walk back through knee deep snow, very hard going. We returned with snow shoes at night but it needs daylight so that we can strip the carb down properly. It will have to wait until the weekend, but it's pretty safe where it is. I just hope it doesn't snow too much or we will have a lot of digging to do!

So far work is going very well and I haven't had a moment to spare as jobs keep coming in all the time. I am definitely glad that I left Trent. What a waste of time that place is commercially!

Martin and Tessa visit

2008-01-22T22:26:00.000-05:00

We had our first visitors from England so of course it began raining and went from -20 to +10 to make them feel at home. Luckily it did snow a bit so Martin and I managed to go snowboarding a few times. The mild weather was probably good as we managed to get out quite a bit and see some sights. Now Martin and Tessa have gone home so it has gone back to -20 and snowing again!

Trail clearing

2008-01-01T15:05:00.000-05:00

Decided to clear a trail from Tom and Melissa's land across to ours and back in a big loop so that we can ride the skidoo and the ATV around it. The idea was to clear out any small trees so that there was a clear run. However, after discovering that you sink almost up to your waist in snow when walking we had to abandon that plan for now. Took the skidoo about 100 metres into the woods before I sunk into the snow after slowing down to avoid a tree. It took about an hour to get it back to the house!

Bought some snow shoes yesterday so I can walk around the woods without sinking. It's a bit like walking on top of a giant marshmallow and is great fun. Will have another go at clearing a trail but really we should have started with the first snow fall. Woke up to another blizzard this morning, it's a good job we don't have to go anywhere today. I will shovel the path again later and dig the car out again. At least I am getting plenty of exercise!

Christmas walks

2007-12-29T16:40:00.000-05:00

Sabrina and I have been making the most of the mild weather (in the low +'s). You have to stick to the proper trails though or you sink up to your knees in snow. I reckon some snow shoes would be good fun or some cross country skies. I went snowboarding again yesterday with Tom. The weather was abou +4C with a fresh sprinking of snow to make perfect conditions. I seem to have got the hang of it now so soon we will prob head for some bigger slopes a bit further away. Mont Olympia and Belle Neige are about an hour away and offer a bit more variety and elevation. Rigaud is great for practising though and so convenient. Will take my camera next time.

Christmas

2007-12-29T16:31:00.000-05:00

Spent Christmas Eve in Rigaud at Tom and Melissa's place. All of Tom's family (the Morzyckis) were there and the meal had a Polish theme with no meat (fish) and borsht soup (beetroot). All very tasty! The kids (Julia & Nicky) opened most of their presents that day as well.

On Christmas day we went to Sabrina's parents place. You can see how much snow they have in their front garden, and that's in the suburbs. We had the traditional Christmas dinner with Turkey and all the trimmings, very nice!

More snow

2007-12-17T13:14:00.001-05:00

The top picture is the main street by our house. The next picture is the main Trans Canada Highway, later on it was completely whited out and we had to take a big detour because a lorry jacknifed on a main bridge and they closed the road. I am really glad we have four wheel drive as we have had to drive through some pretty deep snow, but when it gets higher than the doors then you can't really go any further until a plough comes. We have a shovel in the boot but so far we have managed without it. What worries me most are other drivers as some people drive crazy in the snow, luckily most people drive ok. If this was the UK the country would have ground to a complete halt but Canada expects these sort of conditions, although usually not until Jan/Feb.

Snow

2007-12-16T12:36:00.000-05:00

Snow is a big part of my life these days. I have never seen so much snow, except maybe when I lived here in 2000/1, but this much so soon is very unusual. Last night we had 40cm and today we are expecting another 30cm. Obviously, they are well set up here to deal with it and the ploughs work 24/7 as well as the lorries that have to take it all away, but I wonder how much they can cope with? I can't say that I am too worried. Even if the power goes out we have the wood burning stove which we keep lit pretty much all the time, and we have plenty of wood. I'm glad that I don't have to commute anywhere though.

Went snowboarding yesterday and although I have been a few times before this was my first proper lesson. Now I can pretty much go down the mountain properly without falling over (usually). Just need to keep practising so going to do plenty of evening sessions at Rigaud, it's not a very big mountain but its good for practising and its cheap and close by. Today I ache in my shoulders and calves but I expect I will get over that after a few sessions.