My friend Rob is an electrician by trade. Rob and I put together the Procession West photography exhibition and toured it around western Canada over the past three years or so. Rob used to live in Beaumont, and we met many years ago through our mutual interest in large format photography. He has since moved to the interior of British Columbia. He graciously offered to do the electrical installation for me at our property up in Nordegg. I'm a fairly handy guy and have a pretty good understanding of most aspects of construction. There will be many things that I will do myself. Electrical is one scope that I have never been able to garner a clear understanding of. Rob's offer to help with this part of the project is very much appreciated.
I picked up a used construction heater for Scott of Shunda Creek Contracting here in the city on the weekend of March 11. I was bringing it out Nordegg for Scott, and would be renting it from him to temporarily heat the cabin while the electrical work took place. Rob was flying in from British Columbia on March 15th. The flight was delayed a day due to heavy fog in British Columbia but we eventually got back on track on March 16th. I picked up Rob at the airport, with the heater and all our tools, materials and supplies loaded in the back of the truck. We arrived out at Nordegg at about 4:00 in the afternoon. We unloaded all the tools and materials at the cottage and got set up for work to start the next morning. Scott showed up with his skid steer and we unloaded the big diesel heater and set it into place. Then we headed over to Cheechako Cabins, just up the road on Grouse Meadow Lane. I had rented their two bedroom "Owl" cabin for us for a few nights. We unpacked all of our groceries and supplies and settled down for the evening. I had brought along enough food to allow us to cook all of our meals at the cottage. We ate pretty well, and this allowed us to avoid having to eat at the restaurant in town. Nothing against it, but home cooked food is always better than restaurant stuff. Needless to say we also brought along a healthy supply of beer and enjoyed a few cold ones every evening after the work was done.
For the next several days the routine would be the same. We got up every morning around 6:00 or 6:30 and made breakfast. After breakfast we headed over to the cottage and started working. We would work all morning on the electrical installation, taking a break around noon. We headed back over to the Owl cabin and made a small lunch, and then headed back to work in the afternoon. We usually worked until around 6:00 or 6:30 in the evening. Then it was back over to Cheechako for our evening meal. The cabin had a BBQ and a fully stocked kitchen. We had stuff like BBQ steak and chicken, pasta with shrimp and chicken in alfredo sauce, homemade pizza, etc. After working two long days we realized that we would not be able to complete the project to rough in without an extension of the schedule. I called in to the office and let them know I would be staying an extra day. Rob postponed his departing flight by one day, and we rented the Owl cabin for an extra night.
We had a little trouble with that rented construction heater as it would not stay running, and tripped the breaker of the GFI outlet it was plugged into. We later determined that there must have been some moisture on the cord ends. On Sunday night it was clear and the temperature dipped down to about -12C overnight. We made a point of firing up the heater on Monday morning when we started work. The two days prior had been milder and overcast and we were comfortable without any heat. We worked all day Monday on the same sort of schedule as the first two days. By the end of this day we had most of the critical stuff done necessary for rough in inspection. All the boxes were mounted and all the wires strung on the main and second floor. The wires were all cut in and grounded at all the boxes. The home runs were all routed to the panel down in the basement. We cut through the siding on the exterior wall in four locations to mount the meter box and the exterior outlets. We also put in boxes for the security cameras and strung the CAT5 cable to those. Boxes for exterior lights were also mounted on the cabin. We started a little rough in out in the garage but didn't get very far with that. We did get some of the electrical roughed in down in the basement including cables to the water pump and hot water heater, as well as some of the lights.
We put up three sections of scaffold in the dinette area of the cottage
when we arrived. I had previously put up the first two sections when I
was out there by myself a short time prior. Rob gave me a hand to put
up the third section. We used this to install an octagon box for a
ceiling fan. We ran the wires up to it, and this is the only electrical
component that will be up in the high ceiling. Wow...!! That's a long
way up... When I kneel on the platforms of the third section and
extend my arms up, I can just reach the underside of the trusses at the
ridge. Although the only electrical work remaining up high will be the
installation of the fan, this scaffold will get used for insulation,
vapor barrier and the installation of pine paneling to the high
ceiling. The drywall crew will also use it to install drywall to the
upper walls in the kitchen and dinette areas.
On Tuesday morning we mostly just tidied up and made some notes as to what was done and what remained to be done. I also made a materials list of all the light fixtures, smoke detectors, switches, receptacles and cover plates that will be needed to complete the project later in the summer. We headed back over to the Owl cabin and packed up all our personal stuff and hit the road for home a little before noon. We made a brief stop for lunch and fuel in Rocky Mountain House. I dropped Rob off at the airport around 2:30, so that he could catch his 5:00pm flight back home. Then I went in to the office and signed all the paycheques for the staff. I hung around work for a couple of hours and got a start on sorting through all the questions and correspondence that came my way while I was out of town.
I've since called the permit company to arrange for the rough in inspection. This is tentatively scheduled for late this week or early next. As soon as everything is approved I can continue with installation of insulation and vapor barrier. I need to get on that right away so that I can be ready for my drywall crew who are scheduled to start at the end of April.
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