What Was I Thinking?

Waterloo, Ontario, October 11, 2007I keep getting strange jobs to do in Waterloo. I've installed paving stones and shower tiles. I've patched the peak of a roof. I seem to do every trade but carpentry. But hey, it's a living. So here I am, building scaffolds so that I can install aluminum soffit and fascia on this 1905 home. Fortunately, I have a harness on for protection at these heights.You see that vent up there on that gable? I have to install vented soffit over it. As I stand up here reaching as far out as I can; holding myself in place with one foot while reaching out with the opposite hand, I find myself asking myself the question over and over again: "What was I thinking?"

Truck Learning Curve

This is my new (old) construction truck. It's a nice looking truck and it has a powerful engine. If I push on the gas pedal the wheels squeal and burn rubber. But I wasn't sure I would actually get it on the road. Melbah and I answered an ad on the Internet. We both had the feeling that this was the truck to buy. We make an appointment and drive an hour and a half to a farm on the banks of Lake Huron. A young Dutch couple; Eric and Petra, meet us and we take the truck for a spin. The driver's door doesn't close properly and I see rust spots but we make a deal to buy it for just under two thousand dollars. The only problem is that it needs a safety inspection to be legal on the road. Eric tells us he has had it inspected just six months earlier. He promises me it will pass again and implies that he will take the truck back if we have a problem. This is the moment of my fateful mistake. I should have refused to proceed until he completed the inspection and paperwork, but I didn't. I decide to take the chance on it passing again. But the next day when I take it to the mechanic he comes back with bad news. Steve tells me the truck is a wreck. An engine mount is broken, a brake is installed backwards, there is a hole in the cab wall that needs welding and a body mount has rusted through. Then he shows me that the truck has NO EXHAUST PIPE. EEK. It looks like it could cost a thousand dollars or more to make it road worthy. I am very upset by this news. I phone Eric and Petra and tell them the news. At first Eric is very sympathetic and sets up an appointment at the mechanic's where he had the other safety inspection done. But when I take it in that following Monday, the other mechanic knows nothing of the arrangement. I phone Eric and ask if he will pay for this other inspection. He tells me I am on my own. He has had the weekend to talk himself out of his own ethics and let's me know I can kiss off. So here I am with a truck that is quickly becoming a white elephant. My sister and I go back to the Steve the mechanic and explain the situation. But mysteriously, he seems to not think so many things have to be done to the truck after all. I get out of there for five hundred and fifty dollars. I got off easy. I should have never bought the truck without having the safety inspection done. In fact, Eric and Petra should have paid for the transfer papers as well. But now I have a truck, and I have it working. Melbah and I even manage to find a white topper that fits that exact model of truck. And we got it for just fifty dollars. So now I'm in business. I build some plywood compartments inside and a pull out drawer and I'm ready to carry my tools. I learned a big lesson here. I am just happy I got through this with a truck on the road. Whew!

Calgary Tweak

Calgary Alberta, Canada September 8, 2007

I'm in Calgary today with Duncan and we're tweaking this deck that we built last year. Suzanne and Steve are great people and we want to make sure they are really happy with this project so I've flown in from Waterloo and teamed up with Duncan; who I worked with last year; to make sure everything is just right here.This is one of my favorite projects of all time because we got to do so many interesting things. This lot has a big slope to it and so we built this multi-tiered deck to extend the living space. Then we built around these beautiful old trees
Our clients live in a beautiful old neighborhood and they say they are getting wonderful use out of the new deck. You can see other photos of this deck on my construction page.

Private Eyes 2

The new PI Office team made great progress today.

While I continued with the doors and baseboards, Dan, the owner, put his office staff to work painting the whole place.

Christa is the receptionist for the firm. She's a pretty good painter but I think she's got a promising career in Vegas as a comedian if she gets tired of answering the phone.

Pina continued to lead the team with the finish coats of painting.

Frazer is our tree topper guy. He has been doing the cutting in for the paint. He doesn't use a ladder.

The whole crew is a delight to work with. That's Sheena in the back next to Frazer. She's our Primer specialist.
Other than the fact that I haven't seen daylight for seven days, it's really been a joy working with all you guys.

Private Eyes

It seems that all my skills as a renovator have come together in the last little while. I never thought of myself as a taper, but when a Private Investigator asked me to help him put his offices together I decided to give it a try.

I took this picture at 9pm the other night as I was finishing putting the mud on the walls. Jookie in Thailand, asked me what taping was. I told her it's what we use to finish drywall. Then she wanted to know what drywall was.

So I hope this gives you some idea, Jookie.

Pina, (Pronounced 'Pee-nah' is the office administrator for the Private Investigation firm, and a very skilled renovator. She is one of staff who helped put this complex together. The whole job will take me 7 days to complete, including gyprocking, taping and finishing carpentry. It's easy to focus on work here in Calgary when I have no distractions.

The Fence That Jack Built

Most of my days can be summed up in seven words or less. If you had asked me what I did this week I would have replied: "I scraped a fence."

And scraped...and scraped...

Hardly a good use of my talents as a Journeyman carpenter but the money is great. I scraped six hundred feet of fence while Ted painted the fascia on the house. Then I stained the fence using a roller while Ted did the cut-in work with a brush. I really thought we would have trouble with this customer. Jack is a sour looking guy who seemed to have no sense of humour. But when he saw we were getting the job done in record time (4 days to scrape, prime and stain the fence and house trim) he started bringing us donuts and he even cracked a joke one day.

His wife is quite the opposite to Jack. Susan is a warm, friendly,enthusiastic woman; She posed for me to show off the finished product.

The Saga Of Geeta

It is such a joy to work on Geeta's Basement. She is more enthusiastic every day.

She set out several paint samples on the wall to help her make up her mind.

Once the colors were chosen, my partner in crime, Mr Ted Heller, set about making Geeta's vision a reality. Ted likes to play classical music while he paints and he keeps time with the roller.

By this afternoon we were all getting pretty excited about the progress.

As for me, I got to sample some of Geeta's chicken curie. The flavor was great and it was just hot enough to be enjoyable without making my tongue dial the fire department.

Geeta's such a sweetie pie. She told us that with all the changes happening in her life right now she doesn't think she could have had anyone else but us working on her place. All three of us agree with the philosophy that people meet at exactly the right time and place. I could not have asked for a better environment in which to work. Thank you very much Geeta.

Canadian Carpenter

Sawadee krup!
My friends in Thailand wanted to know what construction work is all about in Canada. I will show you with a few projects I have just done here in Waterloo for my Mom.

I dug in a pond that is now the home for the 5 gold fish I talked about recently

Enquiring minds have been asking: why the hole? There it is Alex, the mystery revealed.

I thought fixing this fence would be the easiest task I did. But it was very difficult because this section was too narrow.

I had to add two inches to length of this fence to make it all fit properly.

Mom's been wanting a step here since I arrived in Waterloo.

The key is to make sure the step is fastened to the asphalt so that everything stays together over the coming years.

She had steps here already but they were uneven. The unconscious mind knows how to walk on stairs based on the first step. These varied by as much as two inches from riser to riser so I added an extra step and made them uniform. I enjoy this kind of project because it's a big challenge to get it right.

I've worn a tool belt so long that even though it weighs almost fifty lbs, sometimes I forget I have it on.

Spring Therapy

My Mom is impressive. She just returned from eight days in one of the busiest Cities in the World; London England; and the next day she was up shopping, making lists and working on her garden.

We went to Home Depot where she picked up a lilac bush for her back yard which I dug in for her.

Here is Mom, resting for a moment by her two pals, Phyl and Bob. And between the two geese is one of my favorite symbols; a hummingbird. That's right Hummingbird. I'm not in England. I'm right here in Waterloo.

Then I installed the brackets for a Canadian Flag at the front of the house.

I enjoy working with my Mom in this beautiful Spring weather. It's good therapy for me while I decide what I want to do next. I will probably just go back to carpentry for now. But I got such encouraging feedback from my Blog that I am looking seriously at doing some professional writing. I especially want to thank Somsoc in Ohio and Kitty in Cape Cod for your kind suggestions.