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Gulf Island Building.

1M views 8K replies 149 participants last post by  Katie Cabana 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi all:
Since the summer of 1997, I have been building a cabin and house on our 1/2 acre lot here. Before I dive into that part, I am going to show a few photos to set the stage a bit. We are remote here. No services of any kind, except that which we provide for ourselves. So don't expect to see any paved roads with big trucks delivering any materials.
We live at the head of a small bay, which is both a blessing and a curse.
When the tide goes out, we have to clamber over hundreds of yards of rocks to get to our boat. When it is in, I can float logs right up to my little railway to move them onto the log deck. Well, not any more, but more about that later.
This is the bay in front of us.
 

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#1,902 ·
Man, now is a fine time for me to remember,.. when I was gluing up a bending hand rail I used a small roller to put my glue on with. There was no way to glue seven strips and clamp all together in 20 minutes without using a roller, at least for me.

Buddy, you are on a roll now. When you explained what you were doing I started to hyperventilate, I love to see a good plan come together. Using the board clamped on as a table is a great idea and a great time saver. You da man:thumbup:

Thanks for the site where you got your information on your electrical system, I am going to check it out. I have been interested in that kind of thing for a few years now.

Barb, thank you for tell me about the Kill-A-Watt, I will be checking them out, it would be of benefit to know what our appliances are pulling.

Jim
 
#1,913 ·
Aside from looking at boats, I have now finished all the soffit. We have been looking at that underframing on that deck for darn nearly 10 years! That's about long enough.

Only thing left to do now is to hang the two lights the missus has...she just wants to give them a spit and polish before I put them up.
 

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#1,914 ·
It has turned out that the prudent thing to do with regard to the gluing of that top railing is to do as much as possible in the morning before the sun gets there, and then wait until the early evening when it has gone around past the trees again.

Even with that limited time, the new system is still pretty quick.

Roof Architecture Wood


I am up to 10 rows of cedar now.
 
#1,915 ·
The last trip we made over to Coombs, I spotted this nifty old light at the Goat Store. The missus kindly bought it for us and thought it might look pretty cool near the tub.

She's going to put some small citronella candles inside it.
 

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#1,917 ·
I didn't have to crop it much. The top one was cropped a little more.

I put the camera on a tripod, and used a remote shutter control to take the pic. That contributes to why it is still nice and clear. It's a 10 megapixel chip in a DSLR which is the rest of the story.
 
#1,919 ·
Man that is a really sharp ole craft. It has for sure been well maintained.

Buddy, you are moving right along on your rail, looking good. I know you are happy to have the soffit complete, that is one less thing on the ole punch list. Thanks Keith.
 
#1,922 ·
I have to wonder if the "Belle" came over from Hawaii on her bottom, or as deck cargo on a freighter. The elderly couple on board didn't look like they would be able to handle several thousand miles of the Pacific Ocean.

Right, it was good to get the soffit out of the way...that one has been bugging my wife almost as much as it's been bugging me!
 
#1,923 ·
Today, I did get the lights installed in that ceiling. For some reason, the threaded tubes which hold them in place were about 1/4" too short. Sometime in the past, (we got these from Habitat) someone had added a extra piece of tube with a connector.

Fortunately, the connector was about 1/2" long, and I was able to unthread it just enough so that it would reach the crossbar.
 

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#1,926 ·
I never noticed this before, but the peeling bark on the arbutus tree all seems to be on one side.

I'll have to look at some others and see if they all have the same habit.
 

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#1,928 ·
A couple of other things I got out of the way yesterday...cleaned the gutters out from all the fir needles we get every time we have a big wind, and put up a new chimney on the back of the house.

I hate to admit it, but the last one came down in a doozy of a windstorm because I neglected to screw the sections together. This time they are screwed plus I have a brace to put on as well. That's not done yet.
 

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#1,929 ·
Let me bring you up to date on the saga of the terra cotta tiles.

I had a suitable agreement in place from a chap in San Diego who handled these tiles from the Mexican distributor. :)

He provided me with the shipping weight and packaging method - 2 pallets weighing 2,200 kilos - but would never give me a price. Plus it was taking him a week or more to reply to every email. It was frustrating to say the least. :(

I found a shipper who would bring the tile from San Diego and drop it off right at the dock at our marina for what I think is a very reasonable price.

The shipper has given me the name of a local broker right in Nanaimo who will take care of all those nasty little customs details...so things were looking good. :yes:

All we needed was the price so we could get the tile on the way.

Yesterday I was advised by the seller "that after a lot of soul searching he had decided not to handle these tiles any more". Not only that but he had none left in stock. I had been assured previously that there was sufficient stock on hand to complete this order. :(

Grrrr...back to square one. :censored:

I contacted the Mexican supplier right away, and it seems that the big stumbling block is the actual shipping of these tiles out of Mexico due to the cost being so high. :huh:

I found out that the tiles will come from Saltillo, which is - according to my Mexican supplier - about a 3 hour drive from Laredo. He says that to get these tiles to San Diego will cost $1500 - $2000 U.S.!!! :mad:

That is more than the Canadian shipper is charging to bring the tile all the way from San Diego!! What gives?

Then I was advised that the supplier has a distributor for these tiles in Quebec, which would be something like 3,000 miles from here. It might as well be on the moon.

Anyway, I have contacted the Quebec distributor, who turns out to have a warehouse in London, Ontario and they do have stock. They will get me a price to ship out to B.C. I doubt by the time that all is added up that this will be anywhere near economically feasible.

They have given me a price per tile ($3.45) but they are already sealed, which is definitely worth something.

The original cost in Saltillo, from the manufacturer is - get this - 74 cents.

As you might imagine, I have been burning up the internet airwaves trying to locate a better source, and I believe I may have located another one in San Diego and one in Anaheim. I am presently awaiting replies to my inquiries...fingers crossed.

What this has effectively done is to waste better than a month's worth of time for no apparent reason. :furious:
 
#1,931 ·
My stars, for that kind of money you may want to drive down and pick them up yourself, well, depending on how far it is. That is one heck of a difference in price. :eek:

Keith your rail is really taking shape and looking great, how wide do you plan to make it? I know what you mean with the inside strips, they do handle differently. What are you going to do under the rail, Lexan maybe? Man, I am just full of questions today, among other things. :thumbsup:

Buddy, I don't see where in the world you get all your energy to do all you do, must be that clean Canadian air. My hat's off to you my friend.

I like your wife's creation with the beach finds, that does look nice.

Ole Jim
 
#1,930 ·
Oboy, am I one surprised cowboy! :eek:

Just heard from the gal in Quebec. Shipping on these tiles is only $750 all the way from Ontario to Nanaimo! I can't believe it. That's twice as far as it is from San Diego, and barely over 1/2 the cost???

This is getting stranger by the minute.

Now I am just waiting for the total bottom line cost, and confirming that these are the exact tiles we want. It sounds like they are. I should know within the hour.

Might be a good day after all! :thumbsup:
 
#1,932 ·
Jim:

I did consider driving to Saltillo, but then I was told that evidently there might be a problem driving in Mexico, something to do with drug wars. I'm not sure that the warlords would be terribly interested in me and a handful of tiles...but...

The cost for me to drive down, buy the tiles, pay the taxes, rent a double axle trailer, put the brake setup on the van and all that comes up to around $2,700. Not worth it for the 10 days it would probably take.

The rail should end up somewhere around 7" - 8" wide.

Stainless steel cable going below through all those little holes.
 
#1,933 ·
Just received a telephone call from Ontario. Now we aren't sure if these are the right tiles.

We are going to exchange email pics - mine are already sent off. Just awaiting theirs.

Let's hope this goes right for a change.

Failing that I think I will just paint the plywood with faux terra cotta tiles!
 
#1,934 ·
I see your point, that wouldn't be worth it.

That SS cable will really look great, and will go with all the other work you have done. I don't know why I didn't remember you using the SS cable in other places, old timers I guess.LOL Your rail looks close to that width already, it is really looking good and when the finish is on it will really look sharp.

Ole Jim
 
#1,936 ·
It's a hair under 6" as it is, so I will be adding at least 3 more rows on the inside.

Now will have to cut up one other long board so that I will have enough strips.
 
#1,937 ·
Have received the pics of the sealed tile, and she who thinks she must be obeyed likes them. :thumbsup: So that's all there is to it. The order will be in today, and then we just wait for the truck to find its' way to this end of the country.

Man, these will be some well traveled tiles by the time they get here! Close to 5,000 miles I guess! :yes:
 
#1,939 · (Edited)
Have received the pics of the sealed tile, and she who thinks she must be obeyed likes them. :thumbsup: So that's all there is to it.
:laughing: I get a kick out of all the funny terms of endearment you have for your wife. If I ever get time, I'd like to go through the thread and make a list of them. There must be 5 or 6, maybe more. :yes:

The collage she made with the treasures she found at the beach is beautiful! She is very talented.
 
#1,940 ·
Let's hope you're right! After all this messing around they ought to cut themselves into shape as well! :thumbsup:

But take a look at the response I have for Barb,,,
 
#1,942 ·
...I really shouldn't complain too loudly, as her mind change might save a few $. It is 134 miles less distance from Santa Monica than it is from San Diego, and the original weight as quoted by the alleged original supplier was 4,840 lbs.

Hopefully, with 500 lbs. off the original freight quote the shipper will see fit to drop the price accordingly. You can bet I will be bringing that to his attention on the morrow. :yes:
 
#1,943 ·
Talented she may be...but as with so many of the lovely ladies, she has a habit of changing her mind now and then. And now would be one of those times. :yes:

She has taken it upon herself to decide that now she does not want the regular saltillo tiles, she wants the rounded edge ones, super saltillo tiles instead. :huh:

So, after all this time, it has now become necessary for me to find said tiles, not only at a decent price, but not in Mexico either! :)

The difficult we do immediately, but the impossible takes just a little longer. :eek:

Found - in Santa Monica - super saltillo tiles - at a reasonable price - in stock - ready to go at a moments notice - 4,238 lbs. of tiles and crates - broker and shipper will be advised first thing in AM before that utterly charming wife of mine changes her mind again! :thumbsup:
I'm ROFL ..............:lol:

You're ........:bangin:

How nice it is that she's making it so much easier for you. But yea, order them quick! Then hide any and all brochures or magazines in the house that may show other tile choices! :laughing:

Santa Monica? Will the Canadian shipping company pick it up there?

one thing for sure is, it must be some beautiful tile because you've gone through a lot of hassle for it.

Never again will I complain when the Lowe's on my side of town is out of something and I have to drive to the Lowe's south of town to find it.
 
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