poplar road

Those friends and readers who’ve been following our barn renovations from the beginning may still remember the hulking mess shown at left. I’m happy to announce that the transformation from those chicken coops and rodent nests to a working shop is almost done!

Getting a heating system in soon is essential with temperatures down below freezing at night already, so he’s taking advantage of this visit from Chris and Dagny to get the gas line finished off (see June 2007 for the first part of that job, the big trench). The barn will also need ceiling insulation, new shingles and siding, a septic system and bathroom fixtures one of these days. But he won’t be out there much this winter as we’re about to continue with renos in the basement, so if we don’t get heat et cetera until spring, I think he’ll survive. There is so much other stuff to do inside while the snow flies. But his progress this fall is the kind that I love to photograph because it’s the “makeover” part of the reno. He’s even started decorating. I don’t think he’s had time to stop, take stock, and do a yippy skippy dance, but he’s a happy man. Tell us what you think!

Hanging in the old hayloft doorway is the roof from Richard’s beloved old Toyota 4x4. He's kept the roof with his signature Canadian Flag as a memento since he dismantled the truck back in 2002 to start over with “Mechano”. He polished it up and it looks like it was made for this spot. No matter what work still needs to be done in there, this makes the space officially his shop. I love it.

Hmm, what could be going on in there? The barn is boarded up even more than usual. Nailed and bolted, in fact. And why did the little guy shown here at left suddenly move out?

Richard has been working hard for the past few weeks, determined to get enough done on the barn renovations that we can move all the accumulated tools, materials etc out of the garage. The goal this fall is to stop the influx of rodents from garage to house and make room for our vehicles before winter weather strikes. And his time frame is short, because he got a new job, starting the first week of November. He’ll be on the road again pretty quick. (More on that and other news later.)

What’s “enough”? I’m not allowed to say just yet… Richard has let me in to take photos but hasn’t let me post, so as not to spoil the surprise. But I will reveal all at the end of this weekend. Chris and Dagny are coming up for a visit and Richard can't wait for their reaction. (I'll try and photograph that, too.) Stay tuned!

Last night we arrived home from a short, rainy, but very relaxing 4th of July celebration with our friends in Washington state. Without stopping to unpack a single thing from the camper (which we bought from one of the friends we visit with down there) Richard was off to the back yard, looking forward to seeing the rest of his concrete pads in place from the job started a week ago.

Sadly, all they’d returned to do is cut the interior pads already poured and put on another layer of sealant. Richard rushed us home from vacation for nothing. But they returned this morning to do the rest, so here is the latest. Richard is out there keeping an eye on things, very tired but pleased with how it has turned out. It is amazing what a difference the evenness of the concrete makes to the look of the barn and the back yard as a whole. I really must get out the weed whacker and get the rest of the yard tidied up - only three weeks 'til our annual August long weekend gathering, and while nothing like last year's UnWedding, we still hope to make this place worthy of a party.

Today was set in the calendar weeks ago as the day to pour the cement for Richard’s barn. (I asked him if I could refer to it as the shop now, but no, he says it will always be the barn.) To get it done in time, Richard had to take Friday off work, and then begged Chris to come up one more time to help him get it done. What nobody expected was the unseasonably hot weather: 30 degrees in the shade by midday, requiring an extended siesta on Saturday, and yesterday reached 39 by mid-afternoon but Richard carried on after only a brief break when Chris and Dagny headed home. It was the mosquitoes which finally drove him inside at dusk, and he was up again at 5am, ready just in time for the arrival of the cement truck at 8. They started early, knowing today would be another scorcher, and had to split the job in two, to make sure the interior floors that needed polishing would get done before the heat marred the work. We’ll see the final results of the outside pour on Monday, but here’s the latest – I know Chris is anxious to see the results of sweating his ass off for two days. Richard is doing his yippee-skippy dance behind me and Rene, the concrete finisher, is finally going home for the day. It may still be a barn on the outside, but the inside is chicken crap-filled moon craters no longer! And thanks to a tip from the finisher, they also were able to make the floor completely level. Hurrah!

As covered in my last post, Richard raised our barn onto a row of cinder blocks to allow him to pour a new concrete floor thick enough for structural integrity. The old floor had a huge slant downward from east to west, but the good news is, with a laser leveler to check his measurements, he confirmed he can pour to the top of the cinder block row on the west side and the minimum four inches on the east, and only be an inch off of level. That’s a huge relief for him, after all that work. Now he’s just finished two intense days in the blazing sun to get ready for the concrete pour, with lots more still to do next weekend. I’ve a number of photos over the past month to catch up on, and I’ve just put in a 12 hour day in the garden myself (another post on that coming soon) so here’s a gallery, pics only. If you want to know more, please use the Comments to ask.

The first two weekends of this month (before the cold weather returned with a vengeance this Friday), Richard excitedly started work on the next phase of his project to transform our 35-year old horse barn/chicken coop into a 1000 square foot shop. (Click the link for a recap of the first three years.)

The latest challenge is a floor like moon rock. The so-called slab appears to have been dumped in bucket loads and left to dry as it fell, and there’s a varying slope which amounts to a 6” difference in height between the east side and the west. Richard came up with a simple solution to a) lay a new slab capable of supporting the weight of his hoist and other shop equipment and b) ensure his 14 foot ceiling remains to allow for the hoist.

He began on the 5th, with (forgive me, fellas) the most adorable little red jacks I’ve ever seen. Once all the walls, posts, and roof beams were supported with criss-crossed struts, and the handful of bolts that were all that was holding the walls to the floor had been cut, eight or nine of these bottle jacks was all it took for him to begin lifting the barn off its footings. I couldn’t believe he actually did the entire lifting process by himself—to about 10” above the footings. In the space he inserted concrete cinder blocks. These will form a strong new perimeter within which to pour the new slab overtop of the old one, the height allowing Richard to make it completely level from east to west without having cement touching and rotting the walls.

Chris and Dagny came up for the weekend again, and the boys spent all day Saturday and well into the night laying the cinder blocks with rebar and buckets of cement. They had to call it quits at 2am with only a dozen blocks left to do, which Richard will finish when he recovers from this flu. (Let’s hope the cold weather will be gone for good by next weekend!) Next he’ll fasten the walls and posts to the blocks and cement everything in place, and then an expert will pour the new concrete pads, both inside and out. After that, the interior of the barn just needs basic finishing work to get it ready for its new life as Richard’s shop. It’s about time.

Bottle jacks and scrap 2x4s did the trick.

Wood supports kept the walls from buckling.

8 inch high blocks fit underneath after a day’s work.

OTT’s cement mixer was the perfect tool for the job.

Chris in his requisite work gear: suspenders.

Richard stops to make faces while Chris gets more cement.

They began at the corner by the old chicken door.

Quicker work with two, one inside, one out.

At weight-bearing points they had to lift higher…

…and lower the weight on finished blocks, fingers crossed.

Rebar, sunk in the footings and laid through the blocks.

The east wall, with space for a new doorway.

The new slab will almost reach the top of the west row.

The west wall exterior, ready for stage two.

This entry is for the twins – here is what you missed not coming up here with Rob this weekend. Thought you might like to see his latest pet project.

And Dad, I know I once laughed about your predilection for video-taping machinery… but even Mom can see how beautiful this antique thresher is! All those wheels and gears and original paint. I admit this is only a selection of the photos I took, and the compression for the web doesn't do them justice. This is one piece of machinery I don't mind lying about the yard. Yet.

Richard had that look in his eye, had to remind him about the guest bedroom project before he trotted out the door like a boy with a toy plane. Note: this is Rob's thresher, not ours. We just happen to have this great big yard to store it in….

The guys were having some fun trying to get this thing off the trailer – gently – so I scooted around to capture these photos. Luckily most of the snow is gone from our yard after the last couple of +5 degree days, although the puddled front drive was all ice when Rob arrived with the thresher in tow late Saturday night. It still took Mechano a bit of tugging to pull the trailer out from under it. Rob doesn't know how much it weighs… let's just say, a lot. Richard was happy Mechano started up fine after three months sitting in the cold and wet.

It doesn't look quite as charming from the front, the "business end", so I'm glad it's tucked over by the barn where I can't see it from the dining room doors. The neighbours had asked before Christmas if they could take away our chicken wire and some of the manure for their yards (yes!), so I'm hopeful that as soon as it warms up for good, we'll say goodbye to the ring of bird cages and make enough space to turn the thresher around to show off its good side. And a gravel drive back there (as well as out front!) will have to happen pretty soon. With this thaw everything is getting chewed up and muddy.

Anyway, the guys got the beast off the trailer successfully and also had a bit of a drive up the mountain in Mechano. They were lucky it was such a warm day – when Rob picked up the trailer a few weeks ago, they had to dig it out of two feet of snow in the dark in a –22 degree chill. It's so warm right now in comparison, the plants are confused and the lilac bush has buds all over it. Great, yard work already! One more reason Richard doesn't get to start truck projects just yet… the renos go on. I'm going to have new renovation pictures to post tonight!

It's Tuesday, and after putting in a day at work close to home, Richard is doing one brief road trip before we head down to Vancouver. They have finally had enough accumulation at the ski resorts and other areas where Richard's potential clients clear snow to make it worthwhile for him to show off the Unimog. So he left at 5am for a place near Vernon to demo the plow and blower, and will leave it with the client for the week in the hopes they won't want to part with it on Sunday...

Which means he's stranded there, so I'm going to brave the winter roads and drive down to pick him up, and we'll be on our way to Vancouver late this afternoon, ahead of schedule. We'll be in late, so don't expect to hear from us tonight, but knowing Richard he'll probably wake a few of you up tomorrow morning (sorry!).

Richard did manage to clear our driveway using the blower when we had the big snowfall Christmas Day, but he took a pretty large chunk of dirt out of it in the process (our drive is gravel, not pavement, and grown over). This photo is from Whistler, where Richard finally found enough snow for the Mog to really sink its teeth into. As most of you know, the category "Shop Talk" refers to the fabricating (I don't dare say "tinkering") Richard looks forward to doing on his off-road rig once the barn has been converted. (And initially will probably feature pictures of the process of reconstructing the barn...) But as Richard's life outside our home renovations is pretty obsessed with the Unimog, I'm giving the first Shop Talk space to it.

Anyway, we're off... looking forward to seeing as many of you as we can for sushi at 7pm on Thursday, or for New Year's Eve. We've got the cell, so please give us a call.