Road Trip 2

Pack the van!  We're going west!

Jacobson Construction, along with my wife and daughter, are heading west to do a big renovation for my mother.  We packed the van with personal items, the rental trailer with tools, and drove from Sarnia ON to Medicine Hat AB.  

Fun with Mom.

Fun with Dad.

Hooray!  We made it to Winnipeg!

It sure is windy here.

At last...

After 6 days we arrive on the high plains around Med Hat.  The drive is possible in 3 days, but not with a 5 month old baby!

Now it's time to go to work...

Custom Doors

We got this contract through our friend Dave Dillon.  The client wanted to spruce up their screened in porch.  The idea was to cap the white columns with cedar, as well as replace the existing screen door with a custom one and add an additional screen door at the rear of the house.  Although one could use cedar for the doors, I persuaded the client to go with spanish cedar.  Strangely enough, it is neither spanish, nor cedar.  It is a hardwood from the tropics, is most similar to my eye to mahogany, and it has a delightful aroma.  It is most often used for making humidors, and is naturally resistant to rot, a great quality for exterior doors.

The doors were built in the shop.  That process is not shown here, but next time, I promise.

I set up shop in the driveway, where all the cedar would be cut to fit, as well as fitting the doors with hardware and installing the screens.

It is great to have a shop that will set up in small locations.  That way any problems that spring up can be solved right on site, without the delay of having to haul things back and forth.

A shot of the screen door at the rear of the house.  The design is simple, but very pleasing to the eye.

Note the great colour on that spanish cedar.

A shot of the screened-in porch after capping with cedar and the installation of the new door.  The clients also had us put a finish on the deck.  They are thrilled and so are we.

Fun for the Whole Family!

My family and I recently took a trip out to Vancouver to visit my brother, and what family vacation is complete without building a play set?

This is a hardware kit from www.swing-n-slide.com.  Like the box says: "Just add lumber".  It comes with instructions, a cut list, and all the necessary hardware.  Great for a weekend project.

That sounds fine Uncle Josh, but where is my play set?

My niece is standing on the foundation.  We used simple deck blocks slightly below grade.  Not much risk of frost in Vancouver...

 Next we assembled the frames...

And stood them up.

We were sure to treat the bottoms of the posts with a preservative to prevent rot.

 The decking goes on.

Starting to look better, Uncle Josh.

This is my brother's custom feature.  A large 4x6 will support three swings.

Yes, the 2x2 brace is temporary.  An A-frame to be installed at a later date.

 Three floors for three levels of fun!

We assembled the roof on the ground...

Then lifted it in to place.

Added a climbing rope.

And voila!  Railings have been added for safety.  Just waiting for the swings and a slide.

I think the kids will really like this.

Thanks for the visit brother!