It’s been a day and a half, but Haven has buildings! Again, they are fir-framed storage sheds once used to store grain. They are normally constructed on skids to make them easy to move.
The guy who moves graineries, J, has done hundreds of these. In a best case scenario, which is about 95% of the time, he just winches the graineries up, slides a dolly onto the rear of the side skids, attaches a hitch to the middle skid, hooks the hitch up to his truck, and away he goes. Average time from arrival on site to departure: 20 minutes.
My graineries were in the 5% that do not go smoothly.
The smaller one, which will be a shed, was not attached to its skids. J and Charles were shocked since they had come out recently to scout out the buildings and this completely escaped them.
Followed hours of trying to get the building attached securely to the skids, including a run back to Charles’ place for parts. We had arrived on site around 9:30 and didn’t get on the road with the first grainery till almost 1:30. I had complete faith in J by this point. He’s a bit of a loud mouth, but there was no cockiness here, just expertise.
It was slow going through a pasture and up a rutty private road to a gravel road, and then it was smooth going all the way to Haven.
When we got on site in the morning, I expected the buildings to be smaller than I remembered. They were bigger! I had this vision of Haven being completely crowded so I was relieved when the smaller building rolled into Haven and I saw that both would fit comfortably and still leave room for a clothesline, garden, guest RV parking spot, and Moya parking spot.
I had originally planned to stick both buildings together, but tree stumps and overhead lines nixed that plan. The shed wound up at the southwest corner of the property, near the street. Right now, its opening is right on the street, but Charles will make me a door on the side and the existing hole will be covered.
Having the first building in place, I could see where the other one would go and I hope it would be far enough south to clear my office window. My clothesline plans changed when I realised that instead of putting in posts, I could just string the clothesline between the two buildings!
It took a bit of time to get the first grainery settled and reasonably parallel to the curb. We had something to drink and set off to get the other one.
The larger grainery was on skids, but the middle skid, the one the hitch is supposed to attach to, was too wide! J got under there with a chainsaw and shaved the extra width off! After that, it was fairly quick going to get it loaded. I could tell that J and Charles fading fast.
It was much slower going bringing the larger grainery back to Haven as it is much heavier. It was a bit of work to back it in because the ground is so soft. I was really disappointed when J dropped it the first time as it was right between the RV and the neighbour’s shed, meaning a very closed in view from the office window. But after repositioning his truck, he was able to get it back just far enough for me to be happy with the positioning.
I don’t deserve any credit for all the hard work today. I documented the whole event and occasionally fetched parts, but mostly stayed out of the way. Charles and J are my heroes! I can’t believe how hard they worked today.
J originally quoted me $500, but because of the extra time, he asked for another $200. He hadn’t expected me to have the $500 today, so he said the extra can wait until I see him on the wagon train in a couple of months. $700 to get these two buildings on site is a bargain! Remember, the buildings themselves cost me nothing!
Charles and I started to work out a plan of attack for the buildings, but that will be the subject of a future post. They’re on site now and the rest can wait for a bit. The only thing I am going to try really hard for is to scrape the money to put a tin roof on them this year. We shall see.
There is short video after the pictures.
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- SaskPower moved onto my property this half of a tree that belongs to the neighbours in the book. J winched it out of the way.
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- My future shed and house! I can just hear what y’all are thinking. This is just easily changeable cosmetic stuff. What’s important is that these structures have solid and straight frames that will outlive me.
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- Back of the larger one.
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- The smaller one was filled with super heavy barrels, which J just winched out of the way.
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- Close up of the little one.
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- Moya on the prairie.
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- Winching it up to get the bad news that it’s not attached to the skids.
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- More abandoned buildings in the distance.
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- There were lots of birds on this pond and they put on quite the symphony.
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- Once I clean it up, I will have a bathtub. ???:) Or something. I couldn’t leave it behind.
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- You can see that the wood got wet, but it’s not rotten. I will be hosing both buildings down with a bleach solution.
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- Close up of how the buildings were winched upwards to get under them.
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- Wagon wheels behind the bigger one.
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- This is a big, two-story grainery. I’m glad J isn’t equipped to move these or I would have been tempted!
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- Classic car graveyard.
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- This barn is being reclaimed by the climate.
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- Hitching it up again now that the skids are attached.
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- A metal bar is run under the middle skid and attached to it with a bolt and then the bar is attached to the truck hitch.
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- Because the skids weren’t attached during construction, the guys has to resort to chaining them in place. Lots of extra work!
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- Back of the small grainery showing some of the chain.
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- Locked and loaded and legal!
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- On the move!
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- Stopped on the road watching the roof of my shed come up over the hill.
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- Winching up the house.
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- Getting the dollies under it.
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- Driving down into the hamlet.
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- Here comes my house! 🙂
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- Because of the soft ground and overheard wires, we had to drop the house a few feet further north than I would have liked, but the position is quite satisfactory as it does not block my office window.
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- Inside the house. It has less evidence of water damage and the floors are really nice fir boards.
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- Haven with buildings.
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- Inside the shed.
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- View from the office. I can still see through the neighbour’s yard.
This video is worth watching for the last couple of seconds. Listen to what I say and see if you can catch it.
I said, “Is it supposed to be baloting like that?” I meant wobbling or teetering, but I apparently lose my English and resort to French when I’m excited and tired and hungry. 🙂
Hey Rae!
I was out for a walk with Brootiful and I watched as your small grainery came down the hill into Haven! I know that you were too busy looking back at J’s truck to notice us on the big hill with the graves. “Home is more than just a cheap print hanging on the wall…” It’ll be as homey or as grand as you want to make it. Sweet. Glad to see that Charles’s pants weren’t any lower!
Caroline! Lovely to see you commenting!
Well, I am impressed! They are much better / nicer than I imagined and are a blank canvass for you to improve. You are right, a roof job is required for at least one of them. Heavy tar paper would do as a temporary roof and asphalt shingles are easy to nail on and should be cheaper than tin.
Watch for used windows in frames. They are easy to put in.
When Donald Brashear (a fluently bi-lingual hockey player) got knocked out and suffered a concussion, he completely lost his English for a couple of days after. None of the Canucks training staff spoke French so they had to bring a translator, 😉
Those buildings look super! With all the creativity you have I just know you will turn them into real jewels before long. I can’t wait to see your progress.
This is so exciting! I can just see a little painted cottage with contrasting trim (yellow?) sitting there (with geraniums in the window) someday! Love it and I am thrilled for you.
How exciting! You are going to have so much fun with those buildings. If you’re in the States see if you can find a Habitat for Humanity group. I’ve gotten a bunch of building materials thru that organization. Contractors donate used materials that still have a lot of years left. Canada may have HFH, to.
Thanks for the video — all the frogs and kildeer birds.
So happy for you,
P
PS.. HFH does charge for their materials, but it is a fraction of new costs.
Glad to see you now have the building s you wanted.
When you start the clean up be aware that you should be wearing a respirator to protect yourself against the dust you will be disturbing. Hanta Virus has been reported in Saskatchewan. This virus is reported to cause severe respiratory illness. It is carried on mouse droppings and can be come airborne when the droppings are disturbed, e.g. by sweeping. Protection is easy, you need to wear a respirator fitted with a high efficiency particulate filter. I suggest you check with the co-op and the local Agriculture Advisor for wear to purchase a respirator. They are a;so available at Industrial Safety supply houses.
Good luck wioth your renovations.
Ken
P.S. ” Hanta virus” is one word. further details are available by Googling HantaVirus
Ken: Charles is the pest control officer here. He gave me the same spiel almost word for word, LOL! Listen to Ken folks, this virus is nasty!
Croft: Both roofs are bad. I probably won’t worry about the shed for now. The amount of money and effort to get it weather tight would mean doing it right the first time; not worth doing it twice. But the roof on the larger one is much better and I might be able to bum a couple of shingles off a neighbour who has left over ones to cover the couple of holes.
Debbie: OMG I had the same vision. Well, maybe not the yellow, but definitely the geraniums!
PJ: I used to go to the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Ottawa all the time for my house projects. Not sure if we have one here, but I am looking through the local papers for materials being donated or for sale cheap. I really won’t need much, so an add for a single door or window would be enticing.
Way cool! The bathtub thingy, a watering trough?
glad you explained baloting, I had no idea what you were talking about. lol
Gina, yes, probably a watering trough. 🙂 As for baloting, being bilingual is fun! 😀
I am SO happy pour toi! If I were going out your way (from Victoria) I bring a bunch of stuff folks have tossed: near new sinks/counters/cabinets etc.. but alas 🙁
Lucie, thank you beaucoup!
Thanks for the thought! I’m sure I’ll find lots of good stuff here, too. It’s amazing what people toss!
Very thrilling, I look forward to watching you work your magic.
This is SO exciting! I can hardly wait to see what you make of the buildings. Will your Mom be coming to help? Not that you need her help but the two of you together are fantastic as you help develop each other’s ideas. So fun whatever route you take.
Thanks, Joni!
Linda, I doubt my mother will be coming out here, at least not till I have a comfortable place for her to stay.