Garage Floor

I guess I've made everyone wait long enough!  Life has been a little crazy with all the construction, the wedding in vancouver, then Drew has come and gone a couple times.  The twins were born and I've been helping Andrea whenever I can, we had Christmas, etc.  I guess I could go on and on with the excuses....the plain truth is...I kind of got tired of taking pictures and I got out of the habit of blogging.  That's it!  So, here is my attempt to start again and get everyone caught up to where we are now.  I'll try to include any past pictures I may have.

Here is where we left off in the last post.  Now, do you see the upside-down bottles and cans?  There were a few of them placed around the wire mesh, and as far as I can tell, they were placed there so they would know when to start slanting the floor slightly so the water would flow into the drain they installed.

The first truck came and they started unloading the concrete.  He backed up as far as he could but could not reach the very back of the garage so the next picture shows the solution.

That's right - wheelbarrows!  I am soooo glad this was not my job.  they did the back half of the garage this way and then  ran out of cement.

So, the second truck arrived and they could start pouring directly from the truck.  Things went a little quicker after that.

Then they smoothed it all out with the long smoothers - i don't know the 'technical' names.

Then they pulled out these fancy machines.  They are like fans with flat blades that smooth out the cement in a circular motion.  They did this for what seemed like FOREVER.

Here's a shot of one up close.

Then they took a long lunch break while they waited for it to dry to the right consistency.  I didn't realize before the science behind cement.

When it was ready they changed the blades to smoother ones and started all over again. 

This went on for the rest of the afternoon!  Apparently these machines and the special smoothing blades help to push down the larger stones in the cement and pull up to the top the smooth cement and the blades smooth it down to a nice smooth, level surface.

Just like this!  That's actually not a very picture...you get the idea, right?

Then, the next day after it had dried a lot more, they came back and used this cutter to make some cuts in the cement.  It helps to keep it from settling and then cracking.

And they also wanted to create some channels to help the water flow to the drain.

And, VOILA!  A finished Beautiful floor!

My last post...for a few days.

I'ts official....I am out of things to blog about!  haha!  I've used up all the pictures.  Well, except for the ones I'll post today.  Work seems to have slowed down - A LOT!

But, Drew is back now, so that should help things out a bit.  Also, we'll be gone next weekend for Cindy's wedding in Vancouver so not much will happen next weekend either.

Now you'll get to experience this in real time, along with us.  I guess I'm going to have to be creative and think up other little things to post about from our renovation adventures.

Anyway, here's where things are at.  The floor of the garage is prepped and ready for cement.  Unfortunately 2 of their trucks broke down last week, so, we will hopefully get that poured on Tuesday.  It's been ready since last Tuesday.  Here's how the process went.

So here is the empty garage ready for them to work.  It was a lot of work to clear out everything we were storing in there.  Three staircases, doors, insulation - lots of insulation, tools, garbage, wood etc.  You get the idea.  And we only had an hours notice!

The gravel trucks back in to drop off 2 loads of gravel.

Load #1,

Load #2.

They dug a trench over to the side so they could hook up a drain in the middle of the floor.  It's mostly just for the snow and rain that will drip off - it's a nice feature.

Here is the worker man drilling the hole through the foundation wall for the drain pipe.

These long metal pieces will be screwed into the foundation wall of the house.  Then the cement floor will be poured up and over it.  This will provide extra support for us to put a couple posts to support the floor above against the house.  It's really confusing, but it's necessary.

Here he is drilling the holes and attaching the bolts.

There they are all done.

Then they backfill the gravel into the little trench they made.

And they do the same thing throughout the whole garage.

We used ALL the gravel they brought!

Here's the drain all finished and levelled out.

Then they used this little machine to tamp it all down and make it level and smooth and packed.

Then they lay out the re-bar and tie it all together.  It  really is a fascinating process to me.

They actually drill holes in the walls and insert the re-bar into them.  It gives extra support and strength to the floor and it also helps to keep the floor from settling and cracking over time.

Here is the machine they used to cut the re-bar.  Really cool.  The rebar is 20 ft long and needs to be cut sometimes.  So they insert it here...

And then push the handle down and it cuts!

And here it is all finished and ready for the cement.

This is where the stairs will go down to the entrance into the basement.  We'll cut the hole for the door and pour the stairs after the garage floor is finished and I can empty the storage room.   We'll move all that storage into the garage from now on.

Wow!  So neat and orderly.  Soon I'll have pictures of a brand new floor!

Windows and Doors!

I am really running out of things to post on here!  The work has slowed down a bit.  We are having quite a bit of nice weather right now, and there is a scramble for tradesmen to get all the outside jobs done with the weather is good.  So, we wait - not patiently btw!

So, last Saturday, Drew and Steve spent the day putting the windows in the new addition.  We are trying to get to lock-up stage before it snows, but also for our bank financing.  It took them a few hours to put in the 6 windows we have up there.  

The scaffolding was still up for the back and side windows, but for the front they used ladders.

I tried not to watch too closely - do you know how high up he is? - that's why I only got a few pictures.

So first they made sure there was home-wrap around the opening, and then they brought the window through from the inside.

Levelled them,

and then nailed them in place.  LOTS of nails!  they also put some weatherproofing tape around all the edges.  I don't have any pictures of them actually doing it, but you'll see it in the finished pictures below. You can't miss it - it's BRIGHT blue!

Then Monday morning Drew and Rich put in the 2 doors in the garage.  The new entrance from the garage into the basement, and the garage doors will come later - after the garage floor is finished.

Here is door #1.  it goes out the back of the garage into the backyard.

All done!  Well, sort of.  These are in temporarily.  Once the garage floor is poured they will be lowered into their final resting places.  You may remember from seeing the foundation pictures that there were cutouts where the doors would be.  Well, the garage floor actually gets poured into those door openings, so there's a nice flat level surface, and it also helps the cement slab from settling too much - so I'm told.

Here's the one at the front of the garage.  Rich is putting up the wrap.

I think they're pretty!

Here's a pic of the back of the house.

You can see that weather strip really well in this picture.

And this is what the front looks like today!