This is another post commenting on the remarkable productivity of the framers. No technical hurdle appears to slow these guys down. They just proceed with limited discussion or philosophy and productivity ensues. Raising a 25 ft tall wall wasn’t a challenge for the two of them although there was some bludgeoning needed to get it to fit. Enough scrap has been produced to fill a bin and almost all the framing is done with the exception of the roof, planned for delivery after the holiday weekend.
Framing day 7
The framers are continuing to produce at a rate we’ve had a hard time keeping up with for material delivery. The pace will slow with a long weekend approaching and the low likelihood of us moving the roof truss delivery day forward. Regardless we’ve been blessed with stable weather and a great crew.
The machine is the framers secret weapon. Anything to make a tough job easier.
Framing progress
Lots of updates from k35. We’ve got plumbing in the basement, the sewer and water deep services connected and the framers are on the second floor walls.
Framing begins
With foundation backfill and a large load of floor joist material delivered, the k35 project framing work is officially underway. It is always a nice stage of the project to see the structure go up. Summer weather and a good crew will mean quick progress and we can get it sealed up by the time fall arrives.
Raspberry season market update
We are well past the midpoint of 2019 and various reports in the industry are cautiously calling out a bottom. I’m not so certain. I think we may be observing a behaviour common to the Calgary market where stubborn and prideful sellers refuse to drop prices or even list property they no longer want. Most people consider their primary residence an investment and certainly for a rental property there is this built in expectation that even a cash flow negative rental somehow inflated in value each year. In my view most Calgary rental properties don’t warrant the valuation they already have and certainly haven’t earned a boost over the past couple (5) years … I had a seller contact me recently and offered to sell me a bunch of low demand low rebuild potential properties at very high cost. The local market seems not to have instilled any discipline in ambitious sellers.
2019 is more than half over and the raspberry crop has peaked. The raspberry crop was better than the summer real estate market this year.
Cribbing stage
We have now arrived at the stage of the project where we are building the basement walls. This is another specialized task that uses some really old building techniques with plywood forms held together with metal ties and wood braces. It is the sort of rough and hard construction labour that most people would not be capable of doing. Various high tech prefab approaches have been considered for building basements. For now the old ways seem continue to be the most predictable and cost effective.
Footing pour
It is always nice to begin the process of building up rather than tearing down at a new project. With the footing in place the wall forms can be raised over the next few days.
Are single detached homes some kind of endangered species worthy of our conservation?
I’ve heard this type of comment before and always found it inherently cringeworthy. It often relates to a sentimental view of the ‘gold old days’ because homes aren’t ‘built like they used to be’. I’ve torn down enough of these so called jewels of 50’s construction and they are far from wonderful once you see the guts of how they were built. The old house conservation sentiment also can come from a wish to protect history. The problem is the old bungalow doesn’t have any architectural value that couldn’t be easily replaced. We aren’t talking about mid century modern builds from Palm Springs. Just simple boxes with thin walls and site built trusses that need a lot of partition walls to be held up. Often they are plagued with vermiculite and asbestos drywall compound. The plumbing and electrical is completely rotten and would never pass an inspection today. Yet these are considered worthy of protection by the same people that’d never want to live in them without a full renovation. Yet the renovation expense isn’t worth it as the property only can trade at land value and not much more. And the same people that want other people to pay to conserve bungalows would also complain about the cost of suburban sprawl. Replacing the bungalow with a rowhouse project is perhaps the best way to add some density back into older neigbourhoods where the population is dropping because family size is less today. So I was interested in seeing a new map made about the proportion of single zoned land in Calgary. Definitely seems to indicate we aren’t short or detached housing options. What we are really short on is reinvestment in inner city urbanism that’d make more people willing to live in a smaller attached home vs a cheap house in suburbia.
Look at the desperate shortage we have of detached zoned property in Calgary!
Excavation complete at k35
We are deep underground at the k35 semi d. At this point we can get the Footings poured and walls set up. Unfortunately we missed the window to get my survey crew in and the footing crew is also booked elsewhere. I’m hearing reports the industry is quite busy. This conflicts with the other end of the business which is sales. Perhaps a positive forward looking indicator?
Sidewalk removal and restoration project - almost done
During the permitting phase of the Richmond semi d project we had a large security deposit requirement to fund the eventual sidewalk replacement. Unfortunately the funds are required in advance of the DP being issued by the City, so that while you have paid for the work to be done, it won’t likely be done for another year, but the City gets to use the funds for whatever purpose it desires. It is a terrible use of precious builder capital to tie up that much money for work that can’t be done for a year, but you can’t delay funding these deposits or you will never get a permit to begin work. An option was to hire a private contractor to do the work a little sooner, however, we were shocked at the pricing for replacing 50 ft of sidewalk and curb. It was far better to wait for the City to bid out a large number of jobs so the work could be done according to its rates (about half of the lowest private contractor). Despite the City getting a way better price on the job than we could ourselves, our original deposit wasn’t enough, and we had to top it up. Despite this added cost, the overall project was as much as $15k less than hiring it out ourselves, so we feel we really dodged a terrifying cost.
Work is almost done and finally our clients will be able to access the front door by driving in from the street.
About that vintage hardwood restoration project...
I have been neglecting my website updating this past July, maybe too distracted by the summer weather and lots of other business related stuff ongoing. Anyway, the hardwood project at the renovation site was quite a lengthy process, and I learned a fair bit as well. One factor was the requirement for good power to run the sander and vacuum machine. That pro level equipment doesn’t play nicely with the old panel still in the house (electrician was away and it didn’t get changed soon enough). We got lucky and salvaged a bunch of identical material to piece in from another job site, which was free to acquire. This was great and the finished product looks totally fantastic. I am super impressed with the way it turned out, from absolutely awful to a charmingly restored ‘like new’ hardwood floor. I would estimate that to do this in a new home with new site finished oak would cost about $10,000 for the small bungalow we worked on, if you could even get it from a store. We’ve considered salvaging enough of this to do a full new build such as at K35, but it does not seem viable. We’d have to do a lot of work to get 2000 sq ft of product. Are we that motivated?
Just a light buff and this is done. Walked around today on it barefoot. Lovely natural wood, and extremely old, probably 200 year old material here that looks almost new in 2019.
One of the many stages of sanding, this is the final round…already looked great raw.
Hidden gem of a floor right here, and this was a good spot. There was some really bad areas…
Killarney35 - tree removal, demo and excavation
Site work is proceeding at the new project site. We’ve had a large tree first pruned by the utility company because it was growing into the power lines. To do this we first demolished the garage in the lane and pulled the machine well into the centre of the now crushed house. This allowed access for the tree trimmer elevator rig to drive into the back yard. This was far safer because they didn’t have to work over or through the power lines, which is next to impossible to do. Once the trimmers left, more demolition and hauling could begin in earnest. Once more space was made on site the pruning crew could arrive to actually climb the tree and cut it down in large chunks. So the excavation operator had to take a few half days off as the tree was managed. I wasn’t aware of the schedule juggling at the outset of the project to deal with such a large tree growing into the power lines, so another management lesson has been learned.
Making space for the tree removal crews to access the yard
Dropping each of the large limbs safely
Another round of touchups
I met with the siding installer and we tackled a bunch of exterior touchups including painting over some colour matched caulking that didn’t match very well. We filled a few nail holes and added some fasteners in a few spots that seemed to have buckled a little, typical Calgary response to heating, cooling and humidity. Then of course effort was made to fix up areas where the stucco was spread on the siding and silicon caulked a few flashings. At this point you have to say enough because you can continue to do touchups forever. Once the exterior handrails go on we can get the photographer to return to do the exterior shots and list the second half of the building. Expect to see this complete by the end of the week and new photos will be published.
Tricky ladder work but we’ve got a skilled pro named Claude
Another City fee increase, adjusted to inflation (+97%)
I was not surprised to see another City fee increase passed on to the builders. This time it is for one of the cheapest fees they have, the demolition permit. I’m not sure of the rationale or reasoning why they need to increase the price of the demo fee. It takes virtually no staff time to process as the system allows you to upload all the files and have them screened by someone at City hall who then issues you the permit. It is a lot of work for the builder to chase down all the various suppliers and get the water, gas and electricity disconnected, but no work for the staff. This increase is not at all linked to inflation. If it was a 5$ increase it would not be noticeable. Instead they increase the fee by 99%, less I guess inflation of 2% so we are still at a 97% increase. Each time an eyesore of a house is demolished maybe the city should give the builder a break on the property taxes so the builder would have a little more cash to rebuild with….
Looks like they doubled the fee. The City makes good money from demolition permits, I think they should pay me to tear down old houses as an incentive to tear down more.
Activity at the next Killarney semi d
I’ve christened the next project as ‘Killarney 35’ in honour of its west side street address. Each of these projects is like my baby and this will be #23 upon its completion. And I remember them all…(and the asbestos bills have accumulated enough to fund at least one of your children attending college).
Remediation is complete
The bizarre state of fixer upper sale attempts at non-distressed, non-recession, non-reality based pricing levels
One must assume half of a million dollars for a run down old shack in a b- neighbourhood is peanuts these days based on asking prices for homes. These 60 year old gems aren’t just a coat of paint and new carpet away from being someone’s dream home. They are filled with asbestos and many kinds of gremlins reside within the walls, some minor and others requiring a lot of expense to deal with. Items like windows (old, drafty, too small, wrong place in the wall), plumbing (cast iron, corroded and filled with debris), poor insulation (sometimes non-existing or just some sawdust in the cavity), and awful kitchen layouts with tiny counters confined behind walls that are load bearing. And no master bathroom ensuite or space to build one. Of course, to the realtor, these issues are glossed over as the home is a tremendous opportunity ‘awaiting your creative style to make it your own’. My own personal style involves a track hoe and a trailer to haul this place to the landfill, not a further investment of $200k to make it my dream home.
Here is your opportunity to add your own personal style to this 1958 bungalow!
More exterior details
After concrete work and some landscaping in the front we were finally able to get going on the stairs to the front door. Soon the inconvenience of mandatory entry via the garage will be in the past. Also the new house numbers arrived in the mail and were installed. Next up is some railings and touchups and we can call it complete.
House numbers on and protective tape peeled off the garage door.
First set of stairs goes up and is ready for handrail install
Inner city garage building
Generally the site coverage limitation decided upon by the city leads to a trade off between garage size and house size. Usually house size is maximized and garage size reduced to a practical minimum such as 20x20. Those of us with larger cars and especially truck owners much prefer a bigger garage. At the recent Richmond project the decision was made early on to accommodate a longer garage so the future client would have the option of parking a truck inside all winter. This was a particular benefit because little street parking is offered in the area where most of the houses have front garages (no lane). We also squeezed in an 8 ft door which was a lot more difficult that defaulting to a 7 ft door. Regardless of car size, I’m sure our future home owners will enjoy being able to park inside in an attached garage.
Lots of room to park two vehicles including a full sized pickup with space to open the doors and get out !
Landscaping progress
A few minor touches remain and the landscaping at the Richmond project will be complete. While it can be hard to get plants to survive the first year, we’ve got a really nice south exposed yard to increase the likelihood the plants thrive. Still waiting on those custom house numbers and front stairs to be done but we are very close on both of those items.
low maintenance is the idea on this yard. Many clients have told us they don’t want to own mowers...
a lot of hand work to get the material into the inaccessible back yards.
Renovation project update
The reno had some schedule setbacks largely related to a sales arrangement/change requests so now the push is back on. Once momentum falters on these projects it can be hard to get moving again. A concrete contractor, hired against my better judgement, bungled the prep work big time and got sent away to hopefully experience some shame at their ineptitude. Somehow that wasted a couple weeks. The replacement crew (who we knew is good) came in and is doing a fantastic and fast job (at 2x the price of course).
Drywall taping, sanding and ceiling texture is done. The basement looks like a new build, at this point it basically is with new plumbing, framing, electrical, windows, insulation and drywall. next up is the cabinetry and finishing work. That will be quick too and we can get to paint, and framing the garage.
Drywall and taping is done
Massive progress on the garage with Footings and a wall being poured.
Totally new basement