Construction, Day 2: The Poles Go In

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I cannot believe how quickly this happened.

The workers arrived at 7 AM sharp yesterday morning and got right to work. Within 30 minutes, two poles had been placed.

First Posts Planted
These guys didn’t waste any time. Within 30 minutes, the first two posts had been planted.

On May 20, 2014, I began blogging about the construction of my new home in Malaga, WA. You can read all of these posts — and see the time-lapse movies that go with them — by clicking the new home construction tag.

I was writing yesterday’s blog post in my RV and happened to glance out my office window. What I saw blew me away. I couldn’t believe how quickly the poles went in. At one point, I think they were averaging 10-15 minutes per pole.

My building will be one story tall on one side and two stories on the other side. The two-story side has some seriously long poles — 32 feet, according to Angel (the worker foreman). Apparently, that’s among the tallest the company usually does.

Hoisting with a Crane
The long posts were hoisted with a crane.

Of course, the chances of four workers being able to hoist a 32-foot long 8×8 post are slim. I was just wondering how they’d lift the long poles when the boss, Corey, showed up. With a crane.

The pace slowed down a bit, but still moved along at a good clip. By 2 PM, they were almost done placing poles. That’s when the Chelan County building inspector showed up. (Yes, I had my first inspection on the second day of construction.) He chatted with me and Corey and went through the plans, asking a few questions. Then he looked into all the holes and at all the poles suspended over the hole bottoms. In the end, he signed off on something Corey gave him.

He was still in the driveway when another truckload of lumber arrived. I scooted him out and then rearranged my vehicles to make room for the lumber on the RV side of the driveway. The other side was getting very crowded.

More Lumber Delivered
More lumber arrived in early afternoon.

Pouring Concrete

They used a concrete caddy to shuttle loads of concrete to the post bases.

When he was finished, the first cement mixer arrived. Corey wasn’t too happy. He was done with the crane and had been hoping to get it out before they poured concrete around the pole bases. (My driveway is rather long and very narrow; just one vehicle at a time.) They used a concrete caddy on the bobcat to shuttle loads of concrete out to the poles on the south end.

Cement Mixer at Jobsite
The first cement mixer at the job site.

Concrete around Posts
A post with concrete at its base.

The second truckload was already waiting when the first finished. Corey chased the first truck out with the crane and the second truck came in. They filled in the rest of the holes and topped off the first ones.

By 4 PM, they’d erected all 40 posts and poured concrete around the post bases. I’m not sure whether they can start framing today or if they have to wait for the concrete to cure. I guess I’ll find out soon enough.

Want to see it for yourself? Here’s yesterday’s time-lapse. I slowed it down to 15 frames per second; each second of video corresponds to 15 minutes of time.

Next up: framing begins.

Construction, Day 1: Lumber Delivery, Post Hole Digging

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Off to a good start.

On May 20, 2014, I began blogging about the construction of my new home in Malaga, WA. You can read all of these posts — and see the time-lapse movies that go with them — by clicking the new home construction tag.

The lumber delivery truck pulled into my driveway at 6:15 AM sharp. I was already up. In fact, I was setting up my time-lapse camera on the roof of my RV.

The truck was neatly stacked with lumber. A forklift clung to the back. It didn’t look like enough lumber for a 48 x 60 foot building, but the driver assured me it was. In fact, he told me it was a lot of lumber.

My Lumber
The lumber truck arrived at 6:15 AM. I was awake (of course).

Special Order for Langer
It must be mine. It has my name on it.

He didn’t waste any time offloading it and leaving it spread out on the building site. Then, without taking up my offer of coffee, he backed down the driveway the way he came and was gone.

I looked over the lumber he’d left behind — my lumber. The skeleton of my future home in a sort of kit.

Assembly Required
As one of my Twitter friends said about this photo, “Some assembly required.”

The builders showed up less than 20 minutes later. There were 3 hispanic guys who introduced themselves and shook my hand, the owner of the company, and a bobcat with two augers. They spent about an hour moving around the lumber. Then the boss left and the workers got down to work with the auger.

A pole building utilizes post-frame construction. From Wikipedia:

Pole framing or post-frame construction (pole building framing, pole building, pole barn), is a simplified building technique adapted from the labor-intensive traditional timber framing technique. It uses large poles or posts buried in the ground or on a foundation to provide the vertical structural support and girts to provide horizontal support. The method was developed and matured during the 1930s as changes in agricultural practices, including the shift toward engine-powered farm equipment and the demand for cheaper, larger barns and storage areas. Unlike competing building methods, once the poles, girts, and rafters are put in place, much of the construction work on a pole-built structure can be handled by a single individual over the course of a month or season.

My building required 40 holes roughly 3-4 feet in diameter and 4 feet deep. The builder estimated that construction could be completed in 6 to 8 weeks. Of course, that’s just the exterior of the building; I still needed to finish my living space.

Auger
Close-up view of one of the augers they used to dig holes for my building.

So that first day was all about digging holes. I was worried about rocks on the south side of the site. I’d been warned that although the pricing included some work with rocks, if there was a lot of rocks and they couldn’t do the digging, I’d have to pay extra for earth moving equipment to come back in and dig the holes. Extra could get into the thousands of dollars. Every extra dollar I spent on the building’s frame was a dollar that wouldn’t be available to finish the living space. Needless to say, I wanted those holes to be easy to dig.

They encountered a rock about three feet down on the first hole. The workers stopped and got tools out of their truck. I came over to watch. Angel, who seemed to be in charge of the workers, told me it didn’t seem to be a big rock. They banged away on it with a digging stick and then dug it out with shovels. And then they got the auger back in place and dug.

They had the same problem with the other south corner. Angel said it wasn’t bad, though.

Digging Holes
The workers deal with a rock on the second hole.

And when they moved north, they didn’t hit any rocks. At all.

In fact, of the 40 holes they dug, they only hit rocks on four of them — the four south side holes.

The digging went amazingly fast. I’d estimate about 10 minutes per hole. The auger went in and filled its grooves with earth. Angel moved aside and then rotate the auger in the opposite direction to dump the earth in a pile. He made two of these piles and later used the bobcat to move the earth into my future driveway apron. They took a break for lunch at 11:30 AM. By about 2 PM, they were done with the holes.

Sometime around the middle of the day I emailed Tanya, the woman I’d been working with at the builder, to let her know how it was going. I think she was just as happy as I was that the work was going smoothly.

I had to leave at 3 PM, so I didn’t get a chance to see them finish up. I did watch on the time-lapse, though. After finishing the holes and moving that dirt, they spent the rest of the day moving the posts around. By 4:15 PM, they were gone.

The project is definitely off to a good start. Even today, as I type this, I can’t believe how much they’ve gotten done in less than 90 minutes. A crane is pulling down my driveway right now. You can read about that tomorrow.

In the meantime, here’s yesterday’s time-lapse.

Construction: The Earth Work

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Moving earth to make room for my new home.

On May 20, 2014, I began blogging about the construction of my new home in Malaga, WA. You can read all of these posts — and see the time-lapse movies that go with them — by clicking the new home construction tag.

Yesterday, they finally began construction on what will be my new home.

I blogged about the home here. It’s not a typical home by any means — I’m not the kind of person who really wants to live in a typical house. As an old ex-friend of mine would say, it’s a garage with a house attached. It’s a pole building, which is a type of construction popular here in farm country. Instead of framing from a foundation up, a pole building basically hangs the structure on a series of vertical beams or “poles” and puts a metal (usually) skin over it. They’re cost effective to build, especially for storage, and that’s primarily what this will be, with roughly 1200 square feet on the second floor for me to settle into.

I’d been working with the builder on plans for over a year. The plans themselves didn’t change much at all over that time. But I had a few delays, mostly related to the failure of my wasband to do the right thing. (Seriously: What the hell is wrong with that man?) This spring with money coming in from cherry drying contracts and the promise of a loan from a family member (if needed), I’m ready to move forward. It’s amazing what a person can save up for when she knows how to live within her means.

The earthwork for the project was mostly completed in late April, started almost right after I got home from my California contract. I see from looking at my blog archives that I didn’t blog about it — likely because I was busy with a writing project. I may as well do that now. I know I posted a lot of photos on Facebook. Here are a few of them for the folks wise enough to stay off that time-sucking social network.

First Shovel
Jeff of Parkway Excavation scooped up the first shovelful of earth on April 24, 2014. I highly recommend Jeff. He knows his stuff, is honest, and is a really great guy to work with.

Time-Lapse Setup
I set up one of my old GoPros as a time-lapse camera far above the action. (Video below.)

Penny Supervises
Penny was not afraid of the heavy equipment. She’s fearless! Of course, with all that dust, she got unbelievably dirty every day.

It took Jeff a few days to get the job done. It required him to clear out and level an area roughly 80 x 70 in size. The whole time he worked, I was sort of holding my breath, worried about him hitting rocks. I live on a sort of “shelf” at the base of some basalt cliffs. Over the past 11,000 years (since the Missoula Floods), pieces of those cliffs have tumbled down and embedded themselves in the earth. My neighbors across the road are much closer to all that broken rock and have lots of rock in their earth. But I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t hit any at all when I dug the trench for my temporary power post in August 2013. Still, on the south side of the building site, Jeff had to dig down more than 5 feet. Would he hit rock? If he did, that would crank up the cost of his work and the cost of getting the poles for my building planted.

But I lucked out. He hit a few rocks on the south side, but nothing worth worrying about. I think even he was surprised at how nice my dirt was.

Dust Control
Dust was a real issue. I had a sprinkler going almost the entire time Jeff was working.

Digging In
To make a large, level pad, Jeff had to dig into the side of the hill. I also had him dig out a drainage ditch for water off the hillside and roof.

While I had Jeff there, I also had him move my shed, which I’d put in a dumb place. (I usually plan better, but I had lots of distractions when I took delivery of it in November. And I had him clear an area for my garden and chicken yard. And dig a trench across the driveway so I could run my RV power and water in a conduit underground, thus heading off any fears of damage to wires/hoses from construction vehicles. I worked my ass off that day and slept like the dead that night.

Dragging the Shed
Jeff used his backhoe and a chain to drag the shed into its new position on the other side of the driveway beside the garden. I’d planned to sell the shed when my building was done, but now I think I’ll keep it for garden tools.

Trenching
Jeff dug the trench and I laid in conduit with a water line and 30 amp power line. Then Jeff covered it all back up.

Gravel Delivery
Jeff delivers the second load of gravel.

The job required a lot of earth moving — actually taking dirt from the south side of the site to the north end. I’d need a driveway to access the four-car garage on the south side and the earth sloped away a bit there. Jeff fixed that right up. He then came through with a compacter and made a rock-hard surface in the ground.

Jeff finished off the job with three loads of gravel requested by the builder. He dumped them in two places on the cleared out pad. The builder had come by to check out his work earlier in the week and I think he was pleased with what he saw. I know I was.

When he was all finished, I had a huge, flat, level pad. A friend came by the next day and parked his motorhome on it for an overnight stay. The day after that, I landed my helicopter on it. Nice!

Makeshift Helipad
It fits!

Here’s the promised time-lapse:

Although the builders were supposed to start on April 30, there was a delay in the permits. They needed some sort of drainage plan. What that meant was I needed to pay someone $600 to satisfy the county. This is no real surprise. The delay didn’t really bother me. I had to go to California for a week anyway and wanted to be home when they started work. They got the permit while I was gone and showed up on time yesterday morning.

More on that in another blog post.

Bad Advice Ruins Lives

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Sad to see the dreams of a good man destroyed by taking bad advice.

I got some sad news not long ago. A very close former friend of mine sold his airplane.

He’d owned the plane for more than 10 years and had often told me of the role it would play in his retirement: he planned to become a CFI (certified flight instructor) and use the plane to do biennial flight reviews and some flight training. It was a goal I thought suited him and I supported it to the best of my ability — although there was nothing I could do beyond offering moral support and advice to help him achieve it. My advice: fly as often as you can, build time, build experience.

He didn’t take that advice.

I thought he was serious about that dream — like so many of the others he shared with me. But he never moved forward with any of them beyond making some notes on paper and buying domain names he’d never use. Maybe he wasn’t as serious as he led me to believe. I thought aviation, which we’d discovered around the same time, meant something to him. But apparently, it didn’t.

When he pissed off a friend whose hangar he was sharing and got the plane kicked out, the hangar he got in Scottsdale cost him far more each month, making the plane suddenly very costly to keep. (Some people just don’t know a good deal when they have one.) I suspect that was a factor in the plane’s sale in November 2013.

Not long afterward, he sold a condo he’d bought in Phoenix back in 2008. He’d bought as the housing market was falling but hadn’t quite hit bottom. He got what he thought was a good price, but the thing came with outrageous monthly maintenance fees that, when coupled with the mortgage, was a real financial burden on him. And, in all honesty, the place wasn’t very pleasant — its windows looked out onto a courtyard so there was no privacy unless the blinds were closed — which only made it darker and drearier than it already was. Most of the other units were owned by speculators and either empty or inhabited by renters. I’d advised him to buy the other condo he’d been looking at, a bright and airy second floor unit not far away.

He didn’t take that advice.

When he lost his job and got stuck in one he grew to hate, it seemed to me that he was working primarily to make payments on that condo. He was miserable most of the time, living in the condo part-time instead of the house he owned half of and used as his primary address. The house was completely paid off and far more comfortable, and it had a heck of a lot more light and privacy.

In 2011 and early 2012, I advised him to sell the condo, despite the fact that he owed a bit more than the market value. The loss would help on his tax returns and the sale would stop the bleeding of money for mortgage payments and maintenance fees. It would relieve his financial burden so he could live within his means and wouldn’t be a slave to the job he hated.

He didn’t take that advice.

I even offered to buy the place for what he owed. I’d take the loss. (I was a very good friend.)

He didn’t want to do that, either. Instead, he claimed he wanted to keep it as an investment and rent it out. And he expected me to help him.

But I’d already gone through the nightmarish experience of being a landlord and wanted no part of it. My refusal to get involved was one of the things that began the destruction of our friendship.

When I learned in March that he’d sold the condo in December, it made me sad. I knew that if he’d sold it when I advised, before he turned his back on our friendship, we’d still be friends. I don’t think he ever put a tenant in there, but I really don’t know. I can imagine him stubbornly paying the mortgage and taxes and maintenance fees on the place, month after month, before finally giving up.

The sell-off of his assets doesn’t really come as a big surprise. Nearly two years ago, he initiated a costly legal battle to end a long-term partnership and take possession of assets that weren’t his. He misunderstood the law governing the case. The very last time I had a chance to speak to him directly, back in December 2012, I tried to reason with him. I tried to make him understand how the law would be applied. His angry and defiant response proved that he had no idea what the law was. I urged him to talk to his lawyer, to have his lawyer explain it. I urged him to take the counteroffer he’d received from the other party — a counteroffer I know that party’s lawyers thought was far too generous.

But he didn’t take that advice.

It frustrated me. He’d always been so reasonable. He’d always understood the difference between right and wrong. He’d always had morals and principals that I could respect and look up to. But now he was acting unreasonably, doing something stupid and hurtful that was so obviously wrong. What had happened to him?

It didn’t really matter. By that time he was no longer my friend and never would be again.

AdviceInstead, he listened to other, newer friends — including one he’d only recently met — friends who apparently either didn’t know the law or didn’t know the facts of the case. They told him he could get so much more if he just kept fighting. They fed him lies about the other party, convincing him that the other party had been using and manipulating him for years, convincing him that the other party was now an enemy and couldn’t be trusted.

So he kept feeding his lawyers money — tens of thousands of dollars, month after month. (I don’t know why the lawyers didn’t set him straight; maybe he wouldn’t listen to them, either?) And he kept harassing the other party with legal action, hoping that other party would give in to his outrageous demands.

And while all this was going on, my old friend began to take on the financial responsibilities of his new friend, helping her with mortgage payments and the like. He likely justified this by living with her, leaving the condo that was costing him so much money every month empty. She kept urging him to fight, to take one action after another to wear the other party down. She even began directly issuing orders to his lawyers and feeding them incorrect information that she misinterpreted from things she read online. She was rabid in her hatred, insanely jealous — or maybe, by some accounts, just insane.

But the other party in this legal battle was in the right and wasn’t about to give in, especially after investing in a costly legal defense. The other party needed to win. And unlike my friend, the other party was living within their means so there was money to pay lawyers for the fight. And to keep paying as long as necessary to bring an end to the battle and closure to the wounds it had caused.

In the end, my old friend lost his legal battle. The other party was awarded far more than the December 2012 counteroffer would have given. (After all, it really was a generous offer.)

I suspect my friend thought he would pay his legal fees with the proceeds from his win. I suspect he and his new friend looked forward to celebrating their victory over the other party.

But there was no win, there was no big settlement. Even later accounting for other matters proved disappointing. There was no windfall coming. My friend had acted on bad advice and had lost all the money he’d spent on legal fees plus the additional amount he’d have to pay over that original counteroffer.

Ah, if only he had taken my advice!

My former friend’s downfall fills me with pity for him. Not only do I care very much for him and value the years of our friendship, but I’m sad that he remains so close with the people who led him astray, friends and a lover so full of hate and anger and greed that they can’t see facts and listen to reason. I’m sad that they have his ear and are likely, to this day, giving him advice that will only cost him more in the long run. I’m sad that a man I once thought the world of has become a greedy and delusional puppet.

So he sold the airplane that would give him his retirement “job.” And he sold the condo that he claimed he wanted to keep as an investment. And now he’s trying to sell the house he has part ownership of. Liquidating his assets — one can only assume that he has money problems.

Meanwhile, he’s failed to comply with court orders regarding the case and has to defend himself against legal action related to that. More legal fees because he failed to do the right thing. What will happen next? Who knows?

It’ll be interesting to see if the friends who led him astray step up to the plate and help bail him out of the mess he’s in.

I know that I won’t.

Bees: My Second Swarm Capture

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Not as easy as my first swarm capture, but just as rewarding.

I started my beekeeping hobby in June 2013 and have been blogging about it periodically. If you’re interested in reading the other posts in this series, follow the Adventures in Beekeeping tag. Keep in mind that the most recent posts always appear first on this blog.

The bees are starting to swarm. They do it every year around this time. They’ve outgrown their homes and their colonies split. The queen and about 2/3 of the workers leave the hive in search of a new home. They’ll gather in tree branches and on building eaves, resting while scouts look for the perfect place to move in. Sometimes it’s a hollow tree; other times, it’s an empty space in the wall of your home or garage, accessed by a hole so small you didn’t even know it was there. I blogged more about swarms here.

Beekeepers like this time of year. It means free bees. But we have to work for it.

I was called out for a swarm capture the other day. Some new beekeepers met me there — the plan was for them to assist and learn. But the bees flew off right as they arrived.

Yesterday I got another call. I grabbed my bee box — that’s a rolling plastic toolbox I store all my beekeeping equipment in — and a cardboard nuc box with six frames in it and jumped in the truck. The bees were up in a pine tree and I was hoping it was near where I could park so I wouldn’t have to deal with a ladder. That’s how I’d handled my first swarm capture last year.

No such luck. The homeowner met me and escorted me to the back yard. The bees were about 12-14 feet up, gathered in two big clumps on the branches of a pine tree. Beneath them were some huge ornamental rocks and a somewhat neglected rock garden. Even if I could back my truck into the yard, I’d never get it close enough to use it as a platform.

Stan, a new beekeeper, and his wife arrived. Stan seemed very knowledgeable — so knowledgeable that I didn’t realize he was new. I suited up while the homeowner fetched a 12-foot orchard ladder. Orchard ladders are the best for outdoor work in trees; with just three legs, they’re really easy to set up and keep balanced. Stan set it up and it was rock solid. That didn’t make me feel any better, though; I don’t like climbing ladders.

But I wanted this swarm so I climbed.

Stan held the ladder while his wife, on the ground, held one of the tree branches away. While most of the bees were clumped together, hundreds of them buzzed around my head while I dealt with the thick pine branches and needles. Bees are not aggressive when swarming. They have very little to protect — just the queen, in fact — and have gorged themselves with honey prior to departure so they’re a bit on the sluggish side.

The idea was to cut the branches the bees were clumped on and lower them into the nuc box. I’d already prepared it by removing four of the six frames. The two frames I left in there contained drawn-out comb made by other bees. I was basically offering them not only a new home, but one that was partially furnished.

Trouble was, the big clump of bees, which was probably the one protecting the queen, was on a big branch — so big, in fact, that I needed a saw to cut it. All I had was my clippers. (Note to self: add saw to bee box.) Fortunately, Stan had a saw. He fetched it and I did what I didn’t think I’d ever do: I released the ladder so I could hold the branch with one hand and saw with the other.

12 feet off the ground. Wearing a bee suit complete with pith helmet and veil.

I must have looked comical.

The branch came free remarkably easily. I was going to walk it down the ladder, but Stan volunteered to take it from me. He wasn’t suited up at all. A brave man who understands bee mentality. (I prefer to feel “invincible” in my bee suit while working closely with bees.) I handed the branch to him. It slipped as he changed his grasp on it, dumping about 1,000 bees onto the ground. But then he pulled another frame out of the nuc box and stuck the branch in.

A crowd of spectators had begun to gather, all keeping their distance.

I turned to the other clump, which was smaller. It was gathered on a pair of much smaller branches that intersected. I’d need to grab the branches together and cut them together. No problem. The clippers made short work of them. I descended the ladder holding a branch with about 3000 bees clinging to it. I lowered it into the box.

By this time, the bees had taken a liking to the box. Bees covered both sides of the frame in the box and were climbing up the outside of the box to move into it. They were abandoning the branch to move into the box. Bees were fanning all over the top of the box, sending the queen’s scent out to the other bees so they could find them. Even the bees on the ground were heading for the box. It was pretty amazing stuff.

Bees on a branch in a box
We started by lowering the branches of bees into the prepared nuc box.

Over the next 20 minutes, we worked to encourage the bees to move into the box. I trimmed away empty branches to make the bee branches smaller. I slid another frame into the box. I lifted the branch and used my bee brush to sweep bees from the branch into the box. Stan slid in another frame. I banged the branch to shake the bees into the box. The whole time, spectators watched, taking photos, getting closer and closer. The bees were completely docile. The ones that knew about the box clearly wanted in.

Eventually, we got them off the branches and into the box. We slid three more frames in for a total of five. I think three of them had drawn out comb and the others were brand new. I left the box open for a while. About 100 bees were still flying around, looking for their friends. They’d never all be in the box. It was time to close it up and head home.

Bees in a Nuc Box
Most of the bees were in the box within about 20 minutes.

I thanked everyone for their help and gave my email address to one spectator who claimed to have video. (I hope she sends it!) I told Stan that now I owed him an assist.

I put the bees and the rest of my gear in the back of my truck and headed out. May 10 and my first swarm capture. It was a good start for the year. Would I have any others? Swarm season ran until the end of June. I have my fingers crossed.