We’ve been putting up the garage walls this weekend. It’s been exciting, and interesting and scary. Each wall goes up in two interlocking pieces, one piece at a time. We’re using 5 people to lift each section, and these sections are really heavy, and really big, awkward to lift because the walls are 14 feet high. Had I known that lifting such high walls would be so difficult, there is no way that I would have signed onto walls that high. I mean, I like the size of the walls, but it’s just a job to get them up there. What would have been worse is trying to lift the walls up on an even higher concrete wall. Well Steve thinks we will get through this part of the job, this weekend. I’ll be glad of that, but face the next task with some unease. The next job is to put the trusses up. Each time I hear the words, “this is the easy part, the next part is harder”, and each time I believe it. I’ve stopped believing it.
July 27, 2008
July 26, 2008
Deadheading Flowers
I just watched this great video on how to deadhead flowers. Maybe everyone knows how to do this but me. You can find it at http://video.about.com/gardening/deadheading-flowers.htm.Â
July 23, 2008
I’ve Just Obtained A Electrical Permit – Kitchen Renovation
I know that most people might think I’m crazy to start a kitchen renovation, when we haven’t finished building the garage, but there it is. The kitchen redesign and renovation is largely my project, and it won’t get done with me just thinking about it. So I decided to apply for my electrical permit. I don’t need a renovation permit from the county, but I do need a permit to move electrical outlets. To add or change 8 electrical circuits, cost $66, and the electrical permit is good for a year. Here’s hoping I finish in time.
July 17, 2008
A Secure Area for Garbage
We’re building a secure area for our garbage cans. I’m collecting plans:
July 9, 2008
Episode 14 – Breaking Ground on the Garage, Building Permit Approved, Concrete Work, Quotes, etc.
In this episode I talk about breaking ground, building the garage, working on the footings and stem walls, purchasing the lumber package, comparing bids, finishing the bathroom and miscellaneous. Length: 45:41. Published 07/08/08. Podcast
Here’s where we broke ground on the garage site. The site had been cleared for the garage 5 years ago when I built the house, but Stevie is actually cutting out the site for the building.
Stevie using his excavator. He certainly has justified the money he spent on acquiring this old excavator and fixing it up.
Installing the silt fencing was my job.
 
Steve lays out the stakes for the footings with the help of a transom.
The Footings
Let me begin by recommending a good book, the For Pros By Pros Series. Foundations & Concrete Work. I found an older version of this book at the Half Price book store and found it useful. The sections on Site Layout and Stemwall Foundations were particularly on point. The illustrations and photographs were extremely useful. Be warned that the newest version has received poorer reviews. There is also another book I’d like to recommend, the Working with Concrete (Illustrated). This book contains excellent photographs, and it’s inexpensive.
Here is a picture of the footings that we built from 2 by 6′s and 2 foot stakes. We also laid 5/8″ inch rebar in the center.Â
 
Look how we turned the corner with the rebar.
 
 The footings that Stevie built on the right side of the garage. We used the transom and the orange string to get things as straight as possible. The stakes weren’t that hard to pound into the ground, just pounded them in a foot or so.
 
 The inspector told us that we couldn’t do a wetset of the rebar sitting in the footings vertically. You can see the we had to create a crossbow of another small piece of rebar to attach the vertical piece to the structure. We used bar ties to do that. We pre-drilled the stakes and then slipped the rebar through that and it kind of held in place.
 These are bar tie clips.
Here’s another picture of the bar tie clips we used, and small piece of rebar that we used to tie the vertical piece to the long piece of rebar. We came up with this process on the fly and in worked, but next time Stevie said that instead of cutting off a piece and using it in a cross, we will bend the 28 inch piece of rebar and then bend it to 22 inch, into a j, and then tie that off to the long piece of rebar in the footing.
The First Concrete Pour
Here’s how the first concrete pour went when we built the footings.Â
Here comes the concrete truck. It was enormous. There was only one way into the back and that was through the lake side lawn. Good thing we waited to build the deck, because there is no way we could have gotten a concrete truck down that far.Â
 
We also ordered a concrete pump truck along with the concrete because we needed help getting concrete back to the area where the footings would go.Â
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You can see that the concrete pours down the chute into the concrete pump.
 
Chuck volunteered to hold the concrete hose. Stevie is closely supervising.Â
 Screeing the concrete.
Chuck holding the hose. It was extremely heavy to manipulate and it was hot work.
 
Teresa screeing the concrete.
Steve screeing the concrete.
Bomac Concrete – Â http://bomacconcrete.com/
Strong Arm Concrete Pumping
3 hr rate $100 hr, Sat fee $50
253-310-2337
On the Subject of the Bathroom:Â I finished painting and installed a new light fixture.
Taking Up Gardening
I’ve been thinking about taking up gardening (growing vegetables) for a while now, but it’s only lately that I thought I might have time to do the job. I gardened once, about 10 years ago, and was only partially successful. This time, I’m going to do more reading and preparing up front. Think about where I’m going to put the garden, make sure it’s fenced in, think about what I’m going to grow, and what I’m going to do with the produce. Stevie suggested that I start small, and work my way into it, and that’s a good suggestion. I’d also like to can. I saw a real interesting set of videos on YouTube of Home Canning Basics, delivered by Granny Miller. The videos give you an idea of the basics, the equipment you’ll need, and techniques. A great series of videos. Ball Canning should be supporting her video habit, at the very least.
July 8, 2008
Someone Takes A Dump on The Property
Yesterday afternoon, someone dumped a couple of yards, maybe more, of some sort of concrete, sand and dirt mixture right underneath the wetlands sign. Dukie, our lab, is standing in front of the pile to give you some idea of the scale.
It was still wet when I saw the pile, but the wetlands it was dumped in are just gone. Well, they were Category III wetlands anyway. I’m so careful not to break a stick in the buffer area, and here goes someone up and does that. I ran up and down the street looking for some evidence of the concrete truck that dumped the load. They could have asked me. We could have used fill somewhere or in the driveway, depending on what was in the mixture or we could use some fill when we do the backfill of the garage. Â
Anyway, I reported the problem to the wetlands folks at the county right away. I measured the amount of the damage. Because the dump occurred on a slope it goes back quite a ways, at least 50 feet. It will take moving equipment to clean that up. Maybe, I need to send a sample to the lab and find out what’s in it, and then see about planting some stuff around it to obscure the view of it. Quite an eyesore. 
Later found out today that the Peninsula Light operations crew or someone working for them,  dropped the load. I took a few pictures of it. They said that they’ll send someone to clean it up. We will see.
Footnote: At least 3 guys have stopped by in the last 2 days to say that they were going to take care of the problem. They’ll need to bring in excavators and heavy machinery but they’re supposed to fix the problem next week.
July 5, 2008
Using Coffee Grinds in Your Garden
I’ve been saving my coffee grounds for months now. I keep a bucket next to the kitchen door and toss my compost items into it. This includes the coffee grinds. Old coffee I toss onto my garden. Coffee loving plants include tomatoes, fuschia, azaleas, peas, asparagus, lettuce, blueberries, etc. Worms also go nuts over coffee grinds.
Good Articles About Using Coffee in Your Garden:
Knee Deep in Building
We are knee deep in building the garage. I have an episode to get up on the subject, but real life has got in the way and we’re too busy with the process. I just wanted to keep my blog up to date, with the status of the garage permit, e.g., issued. Footings poured, stem walls being constructed, and lumber package to be delivered some time this month. I’ll try and get out a podcast soon.