Pool coping

The pool coping has been set and the forms removed.  The pool is now done until spring!

Pool pour

Rebar inspection

Lawrence was in again today to inspect the rebar for the garage and porch. There were a couple of places that were deficient (top layer of 5' bent rebar all around the perimeter) so we will have to put off the pour to jan 2/3. The gravel is in the remainder of the basement so it all looks nice and need. Once again doubt about the drain height was raised, but we got out the level and confirmed it was fine. I also figured out how to squeeze extra space into Herbert's win cellar so he'll appreciate that! The pool guys are also ready to pour.

Pool deck prep

Slab insulation

Rainy day... work goes on!

It was a pretty rainy day.. but work doesn't stop!  It's so mild that Gib-san followed through on their desire to get the liner in.  If it's too cold, the material doesn't give at all, and then they have to end up tenting the whole area and heating.  So the guys arrived today in the rain and worked away until it was done.  We had to get three truckloads of water to fill the pool up - swimming anyone?

Tomorrow they'll pour the concrete coping and probably cover the pool up for winter.

Aveiro will be back tomorrow to do the rebar and pours, as well as putting another load of stone in the house.  Lots of good work done in the this last week before the break.

Perks of hiring Italian plumbers

We received 2 bottles of vintage "carefree plumbing" vino. The perks of hiring Italian plumbers!

Final look at the days work

So, at the end of a very busy day, I snapped some pics of the progress.  The forming went pretty well - the garage is almost ready for insulation and rebar, with some more vertical supports required down below.  The porch is also at the same stage.  The footings have been protected for now, with some more gravel coming in tomorrow morning.  Great progress today.

Rock slinger

In my next life, I want to be a rock slinger.  Such a cool machine, relatively low pressure job where you stand on the back of the truck and use a remote to fire gravel into an area...  boys - don't go to university - become a rock slinger! 

Pool

The Gib-san guys were in again today - a full crew of 5 guys working the whole day.  Their job was getting additional fine gravel filled in around the pool before they put the liner and water in tomorrow.  I love the fact that they insist on using this fine gravel (as opposed to earth, 1/2" gravel or bigger) - it gets very compacted and will be a great "foundation" for pool shell stability.  I continue to be impressed with Gib-san.

Site clean up

I like a clean workspace - seems to make everyone move more quickly and efficiently on site.  Sam was on site for a full day today to work on hay and more leveling of earth.

Concrete and drains

Aveiro Concrete and Drains is the contractor responsible for the garage floor, porch, basement slab, bringing the sanitary into the house, and doing all of the floor drains in the basement.  They got their delivery of lumber this morning, and arrived at 11am to start forming for their pour.  The garage is a suspended ceiling (room underneath) so requires a hell of a lot of lumber to support the pour.

Sanitary and water upgrade

Utility Force, the company assigned to this area to perform the City portion of the sanitary and water upgrade from the road, arrived as promised at 7:30am.  There was a little trepidation on my part on the depth of the drains.  Herbert and Cheryl's house is at the end point of one section of the sewer line, which means that it is the high point for this section.  I discovered this several months ago when I had a pre-construction meeting with Utility Force.  Subsequently, I went to the City and got the "plan in profile" for the house, and the architect had to calculate the height of the foundation of the house and adjust it up about a foot.

Still, when the foreman arrived and looked at the massive depth of the foundation walls, he said the drain would be too high.  I just had to think... "trust John (Culmone)".  Sure enough, after four hours of work, I got some great news that the drain was indeed perfectly matched with the new foundation depth (with barely a millimeter of extra space).  Phew!  What would have happened?  A "so-so" case scenario would be that the floor drains in the basement would come up a little higher than normal, and we would simply put more gravel in the basement and raise the floor a couple of inches.  The worst case scenario?  I don't want to think of that.... pumping sanitary waste?  ew.

Pool fence

Randy from Roma fence came and installed our permanent (temporary!) pool fence.  The City of Toronto has some pretty strict rules on fence enclosures - many of which are great for safety and security.  But I draw the line and having to install a "permanent" (concrete enclosed posts) fence in order to put the liner and water in the pool.  They need to make provisions or allowances for sites that are under construction.  As it is, we have to install this fence, then rip it down in the spring and put up a nicer, aluminum or iron fence.  Argh!  That said, Roma fence was great to work with.

Reviewing the site

The backfill looks great - a little high on the North side, by design, as we couldn't get too much compacting done there.  We'll have the sanitary guys in tomorrow to do the sewer and water lines, and Alveiro will hopefully come in to work on some drains and the garage.

Backfill almost complete

From almost getting nothing done, to getting almost everything done - today was a whirlwind.  Up at the crack of dawn, I had Manuel's guy put some bracing on the South wall as Horatio wanted to bring in some heavier equipment.  The small bobcat was not working well on the still very wet ground between the foundation and the neighbour to the South.  The solution?  A quick call for some recycled gravel.

We took off 2 feet of mud then had some gravel shot up the side of the house (what a great job that guy has - stands around with a remote control shooting gravel all over the place).  One hour later, and Horatio was whistling away while working in the hole of the former walkout.  By end of day, they'd finished 90% of the backfill.  A great day!

Machines

Lots of machines here today. Still having trouble with access on south so we've ordered some stone to "pave" the way to the back.

Wet mess

The rain has created a really wet, sticky mess.  The mud is unbelievable and has really slowed down the backfill.  Horatio has had to bring his back how over to try and move the top layer of mud a bit to put some dry earth on top, otherwise the going is too tough with the small bobcat.

Sam is onsite doing a lot of cleanup and prep of the inside of the house to prepare for arrival of stone and more hay to protect the footings (probably next week).

Tony was in to partially fix the electrical conduit on the neighbours side (it will be completely fixed when the backfill is done) and hopefully Pinewood will come by to reattach the gas line for the neighbours pool heater.

Rainy day again??

Who would have planned for 36 hours of rain in mid-December (and a high of 16 degrees).  There's no climate change going on here!  So this fine weather is holding back our backfill progress another day, but we should be done by Saturday.  The pool guys have said they're going to be putting the liner and water in today - that will be very messy work, but I guess the appeal of the warm temperatures is outweighing the damp and muddy conditions.  Good luck to them! 

Backfill Continues

We've completed the front and are working on the sides.  I'm just not comfortable, given the tightness on the side and the reaction from the neighbours on the excavation caving in a bit, with using the larger bobcat as per usual.  We've decided to rent a smaller bobcat (3 foot).  It will take more labour effort, but be much safer and respectful of the neighbours space.

Backfill

Backfilling started this morning - awesome.  Although, we're looking at another rainy forecast for this afternoon and tomorrow.  Hopefully we can get the south side done, but it's 50/50 at this point.

Inspection Passed

So the inspector was early again, and I wasn't there... luckily my carpenter was there and he passed the inspection.  These guys are very hard to nail down - I begged him to come today, even though I had booked the appointment last week, but because he just got back from vacation, it wasn't on his to-do list.  So he said he's "squeeze it in" to the end of the day (which ends at 3:30!) and meet me there at 3:15.  I get a call at 2:45 from my carpenter who was just passing by and said the inspector was looking for me (guess he didn't have my phone number, email address etc!).  Wow, frustrating!  But, another milestone passed and we're ready to backfill.

Waterproofing complete

The stone has been spread around the base of the house and the weeping tile pipe beneath the windows on the South side have been hung (see second picture), so we're just waiting for the inspector to approve.  Hopefully we'll be backfilling tomorrow morning!

Waterproofing

The guys arrived just after lunch to start and complete the waterproofing.  The gravel should arrive early morning tomorrow (to cover the weeping tile) and then we'll just need a nod from the inspector before we begin backfilling on Wednesday.  I had an advisor come look at the walls today to get his opinion on whether the walls needed bracing or not, and we agreed that since the window areas on the south side were above grade (they are the weakest areas) and the walls are so thick and reinforced, that we should be good to proceed with backfilling without the bracing.

The sanitary upgrade was supposed to take place on Wednesday, but I've pushed it back to Monday so we would have the fill out of the way (they have to trench all the way to the road).  Hopefully my concrete guys will also show up to do the drain connection to the house, as well as begin forming/pouring the garage ceiling.

Walls looking good

The forms have been stripped and things are looking good.  They're a little too soft right now to do the waterproofing, so we're going to wait until Monday.  Can't wait to back fill!

Stripping forms

Walls!

Foundation pour

Big day

It will be a big day. The forming guys are finishing their last tasks - brick veneer and garage slab ledges, small knee wall for basement supporting walls as well as giving the whole area a good once over. The guys from Rock Concrete have been amazing. We will start pouring the walls at 1pm today. If all goes well we strip and waterproof tomorrow.

Rebar inspection

Lawrence, the structural engineer, came by to inspect the rebar placement and consistency.  He passed the job with flying colours, and commented how good a job Rock Concrete have done.  Good to hear!