Integer Homes

View Original

Winter Construction - all kinds of added grief

With the huge dump of snow over the New Year holiday, our framer arrived back to the site to find the houses once again full of deep snow.  Now it is hard to clear out because the snow must be shovelled through the windows rather than pushed off the sides.

Two of the three main framers are off sick, either they didn't get their flu shots or it is something else related to the season.  I neglected to mention that if we were on schedule the second floor would have been on and the snow would have been easily brushed off rather than fill every possible crevice and stud space inside the main floor walls.

At my other site there has been an unexpected but welcome development, the Atco contractor has dropped off the ground heating unit.  This will thaw the ground enough so they can disconnect the gas line in the alley.  Once this gas line is done, we can have Atco sign off the disconnect and I can pull the demolition permit at City Hall.  I am not sure when I am going to proceed with the actual demo, it is a costly process to fence the site and dump the waste and without immediate plans to build on the site (no Development Permit) it isn't a job that needs rushed.

Winter construction definitely adds a layer of difficulty and often cost for the builder.  Since the winter season is so long in Calgary we must make the best of it.  At least it does not rain here in winter!

  

This looks to be a propane fired ground heater rigged to a trailer.  I have not seen this used before. I do remember in the 'old days' they used to dump a bunch of coal under a barrel cut in half and leave it to smoulder for days.  Avoiding the toxic smell of that is a welcome improvement.  Hopefully they get it done quickly so the neighbour across the alley can get back in their garage.