Imagining the Gazebo Deck

Here is the view from the garden door on the main floor. Put your imagination cap on and you can see [well I can... ;-) ] the deck for the gazebo, and just over the hand railing I can see the top of our bunkie, or guest cottage. The rough opening for the gazebo is shown below.





The Bunkie is were the project manager and the project cook ( his wife) call home at the end of a construction day. Just in front of it (to the the left of the picture you can just see the front of the outhouse.

Our First Basement Flood

On Saturday evening and early Sunday morning, it rained causing the first basement (and hopefully the last ever!) flood in the basement.

AND, I discovered another reason why basement floors are poured AFTER the entire house is closed in.

Here is the story! After a long day framing, and a beautiful day weather wise, I procrastinated in putting the tarp back over the floor and to cover the hole for the stairwell. My fault - but tired and with supper cooking on the BBQ, I took a chance...

Of course it rained. And it rained very hard, not once but twice.

The result was about 3 inches of water in the middle portion of the basement.

The problem is that although the plumbing has been put in the floor, all the drain pipes are sticking out of the concrete and above the level of the water, waiting to be cut and be glued to a drain. Even if the drains were in the sewage basin doesn't yet have a pump.

I pushed the water our of the basement and out the space where the patio door is to go with a makeshift squeegee. An hour later the floor was dry - but I had wasted time that could have been devoted to framing.

A lesson learned for the next time... ;-)

Houston, We have a Concrete basement Floor...

When I arrived on This past Friday I was pleased to see that the contractor have poured the concrete basement floor.

The basement floor is usually poured well after the roof is on and the building closed in. This is so the concrete is not rained on or otherwise compromised by materials destroying the nice finish the concrete contractor puts on the floor.

It was kind of a nice feeling having the basement floor in - sort of a milestone of sorts... I could imagine what was to be built in the basement - two bedrooms, a workshop, bathroom and a laundry room, plus another living room area.

The floor is given a nice smooth finish and the concrete sloped, ever so gradually towards the drains that I install earlier. There are two drains. Can you determine where they are in the above picture? A clue -- there are a few water marks that give it away.

In a previous post (see "How to Make Sh#t Flow up Hill"") I described the process of putting in the plumbing under the basement floor. In the above and next two pictures you can see the almost finished product.

The first picture at the left shows, starting in the foreground, the water intake from the lake (with the wires taped to it), the sewage basin, the shower drain and the toilet waste pipe.

Of course these fixtures are not yet finished in that they need to be connected. each will have a specific adapter glued to it. For instance the toilet waste pipe will have something called a closet flange.

In the picture to the left, you see, from left to right, one of two floor drains and the wastes and vent pipe that will be used to drain the laundry tub and the washer.

The pictures don't quite do it justice but the floors are really smooth!

Batten down the Hatches

We covered the framed floor with a massive tarp (30 x 40), both after we put in the joists and then a week latter after put on the tongue and groove flooring material. We did this for two reasons:

1. The engineered lumber is not meant to be exposed to the weather for long lengths of time. Because we are not continuously building, and hence will not have the roof up quickly like the professional builders, the material will be exposed longer than is usual.
   
2. We would like to have the basement floor poured earlier than is usually the practice. The concrete contractor prefers to pour the floor after the building is closed in, and hence, the concrete is protected from the rain.

My foundation contractor takes pride in his workmanship. He prefers not to have any chance of rain spoiling the nice glassy finish of the basement floor. So my deal with him is to ensure the floor is covered and virtually leak-proof, hence, the floor in place and covered with a tarp.

A benefit of doing the basement floor sooner is that pouring the concrete will be much easier. The opening in the floor for the stairwell can be used to pour the concrete rather than the small entrance of the basement window.

Bringing Water to the Cottage

I have chosen to pump my water up from the Lake. The water in the lake is quite good and I already had installed a temporary pumping system.

I am using a submersible pump - so it is sitting at the bottom of the lake about 20 feet off the shore line. The supply line runs up the hill to the cottage. The height, or head as it is called in pumping lingo, is about 70 feet. The cable tied to the supply line is the power for the pump.

To protect the combination of water supply pipe and the power wires the entire length of the pipe from the lake to the entry point at the cottage is encased in 4" plastic weeping tile pipe (the stuff with no holes in it).

The supply pipe and the power line enter a 4" sleeve that was put in pace before the foundation was back filled. The sleeve enters the basement through the footing. We of course threaded the supply pipe and wire through the sleeve after the foundation was poured. This was a tough feat requiring all the strength of my son and I to pull the pipe/wire combination through the sleeve after fishing a pull line from inside the basement.

This is a picture of the supply line entering the basement through the sleeve in the footing. We had not yet pulled though the entire length required hence the wires are not visible yet. Once the package was though I cut the supply line and clamped on a 90 degree elbow and pipe extension. The exit point on the basement side of the footing was further protected by more tile pipe and the whole area supported and buried in crushed stone.

The combination of water supply pipe and power wires encased in the 4" tile pipe runs on the ground beside the stair from the top to the lake. The tile pipe was threaded over the supply pipe and wires. This turned out to be more difficult than expected. One of the obstacles to slipping the tile pipe over the supply line was the cable ties holding the wires tot he supply line.

The solution was to slip the tile pipe on in sections of 20 - 30 feet, and using tile connectors at each joint.

Jack (posts) supports the floor

Even though the LVL beam constructed in the previous post is very strong, the span is just too long so support is required under the beam. The plans call for 2 columns - steel jack posts - set at 11 feet intervals.

Jack posts have 6 components:

1) two metal plates
- a bottom plate which is secured to the concrete footing so that the jack post does not move, and
- a top plate which is secured to the underside of the beam. This plate has a special hole in to which the an end of the threaded bar fits.

2) two metal tubes, one of fits inside the other. The smaller diameter tube has a number of holes in it.

3) A short 4" solid metal bar which fits into the holes in the smaller diameter tube. The two tubes are adjusted in length to fit the distance from the footing to the beam, and the length secured by placing the short bar in one set of holes.

4) a plate with a threaded bar in it. The plate fits over the top of the small diameter tube, and the other end of the threaded bar fits into the top plate secured to the bottom of the beam.

The height of the jack post is adjusted in 2 ways. Gross adjustment is done with the 2 metal tubes, securing the length by placing the short bar in holes in the small diameter tube. Fine adjustment is made by turning the threaded bar using a wrench.

The idea is to adjust the jack post so it is just supporting the beam.

This picture illustrates the top plate and the threaded bar. The top plate is secured to the bottom of the LVL beam, and the threaded bar is inserted into a hole in the top plate. A smaller plate rests on the top of the smaller diameter tube.

There are 'bumps' on the bottom of the smaller plate into which the tube fits.


This picture illustrates how the bottom plate is secured to the concrete footing and the larger diameter tube is placed on top of the bottom plate.

There are 'bumps' on the bottom plate over which the tube fits to hold it in place.

When the concrete floor is eventually poured the bottom 4" or more of the post will be embedded in the concrete floor, and hence permanently secure the post.

Support worthy of a dance floor...

There has been new building materials, commonly called engineered wood products, on the market for quite some time. One of those materials we are using in the Cottage is laminated veneer lumber (LVL) for the main beam supporting the floor.

Similar in appearance to plywood, LVL is an engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives. It offers several advantages over typical milled lumber: it is stronger, straighter, and more uniform, and is much less likely than conventional lumber to warp, twist, bow, or shrink due to its composite nature. LVL is typically used for headers, beams, rimboard, and edge-forming material.

LVL is still a relatively new product; it was developed in Canada in the late 1990s. High-tech, computerized sawing systems are what makes it possible to produce large-size, top quality construction material using relatively small trees.

The beam we are using is made up of three pieces of 1.25" x 9.5" LVL that are each 33 feet long. These things are long, awkward and heavy. Two people can pick up one of them but three pieces would be impossible without a crane. So we assembled the full beam by inserting each piece into the slot formed in the concrete wall on opposing sides of the foundation and then nailing them together while in place. We used clamps to hold the pieces while we nailed them.

Like all framing, any wood must be insulated from the concrete using a thin bit of plastic called a sill gasket. Hence we lined the inside of the slot in the concrete wall with a sill gasket. From the picture you will notice that we also used some wood spacers to 1) raise the beam so that the top was flush with the sill board, and 2) to fill the gap on one side of the beam (essentially filling the rest of the slot.

The picture at right illustrates the slot, the wood spacers, and the sill gasket. If you look closely you can see that the beam is actually made up of 3 LVL beams.

Building Windows in Concrete

The cottage design calls for one window to be placed in a concrete wall. I was curious how this is done.

What happens is that the foundation contractor actually embeds the window right inside the concrete form as they pour the concrete walls. So the window is not crushed by the weight of the concrete and the concrete pouring operation, the contractor takes the glass part of the window out and temporarily replaces them with wooden support.

The whole window assembly is covered in thick plastic to protect it from the concrete.

After the concrete is cured and the forms are removed, the window becomes a seamless part of the wall structure.

The wood supports are removed and the glass parts of the window are inserted, usually after the window opening is used to pour the concrete for the basement floor - but that is a story for another post.

How to make Sh#t Flow Up Hill!

Yes it can be done!
You can indeed make the ugly stuff of toilets, showers and sinks flow up hill.

The problem is that the basement of the Cottage is below the septic system. This is a problem because I intend to build a bathroom down in the basement, complete with a toilet, shower and sink. Furthermore, the laundry room will be in the basement. I think we all realize that our modern sanitation systems make heavy use of Newton's discover of gravity to take our waste away. (BTW - that is the hole in the concrete wall that will eventually lead tot he septic tank.)

The problem is solved by burying a sewage basin under the concrete floor of the basement, into which all the sources of water, both black and grey water, in the basement are piped to. A special macerating pump is installed in the sewage basin which pumps the evil mixture up into the sewage pipe leading to the septic tank.

6 Steps to making Sh#t flow up hill:

STEP 1: Plan
You need to know exactly where your bathroom fixtures are going to be right down to the center of the holes (where the pipes go) for the toilet (usually about 16 inches from the side and 12 inches from the back), and the shower (this one is trick because every manufacturer does it differently - so pick out your shower and get its dimensions ahead of time.

STEP 2: Dig
...and I mean lots of digging!
After planning out the rough locations of the toilet, the shower (or bathtub), and where the other fixtures go, like the laundry tub, the washing machine, you will need to dig a trench for all the waste (sewer) lines and in the case of the sewage basin what seems to be a gigantic HOLE. The picture to the right shows the sewage basin and that hole, as well as the trench to the toilet.

Step 3: layout and Dry fit
It is very important that you get all the angles and lengths of pipe right before you glue all the pipes together. I found it important to lay it all out, fitting all the pipes together, and making sure it is all level and plumb. There is one rule! the pipes must all flow down hill at a grade of at least one quarter inch per foot of length. Sh#t really does only flow down hill after all...

These two pictures illustrate a few stages in Step 3 and 4.

Step 4: Level and Support
OK! I am going to tell you to do something again... Now that it is all together in a dry fit configuration, you need to keep for level and that quarter inch flow rule. THEN move the soil under the pipes to support the structure in the exact position it needs to be.

I found that the dry fit isn't as easy as it seems. When the pipes are dry (that means NOT glued), they don't really go all the way into their sockets, so this part is a bit of an art. You have to estimate the lengths.

Step 5: Gluing, and Final Leveling
Gluing is kind of neat. You put the glue on both parts: the pipe and the connector it is going into. Then move REALLY fast, because the glue sets very quickly. I quick back and forth twisting action makes the pipes go to get together really well.

TIP 1: Be sure to mark the place of each joint with a big long line on both parts so you know where and how they are to join. Also make sure mark goes beyond the area where the glue is going or you will loose the mark as it disappears into the connector.

TIP 2: Every structure is different but I found that creating logical assemblies and them putting the assemblies together really helped

Step 6: Bury your work.
Painful as it may be to bury your work of art you need to cover the whole works to maintain the level, stabilize it and to protect it from the weight of the concrete. And yes! Be sure to make sure all that burying hasn't put the structure our of level - so check constantly!

The next two pictures illustrate the finished structure with the crushed stone supporting and covering most of the pipes.

The first picture shows, in order from the front to the back, the pipes sticking up for the following: a floor drain, the waste and vent stack for the laundry room, another floor drain, the sewage basin which will eventually also have coming out from its top a vent stack, and the pipe to pump the water up to the septic tank line, the shower pipe and finally the toilet.

The second picture gives a closer view, going left to right, of the top of the sewage basin, the shower pipe, and the toilet pipe.

NEXT POST: I have so much to tell you I don't know what will be next - only to say there will be lots of next...

10 Key Elements of a Concrete Foundation

In the previous post (see 7 steps for pouring a Concrete Foundation)I described the basic steps for building, or as they say in the industry, pouring the foundation. In this post I describe a few of the elements important in building a poured concrete foundation.

1) Excavation
The excavation is the hole that in which the foundation will be built and then filled in. It is very important for two reasons: Safety during the building of the foundation and safety of the building. During the building of the foundation the workers will be moving in and about the excavation so appropriate sloping of the excavation walls is needed to ensure the safety of the workers.

The safety of the building, and ultimately the inhabitants is secured by ensuring that the foundation is placed on ground that can support the weight. Most of the time this is accomplished by placing the footings on undisturbed earth.

2) Footings
The footings receive the load of the house through the load-bearing walls and posts. The type and size of footing is based on a number of factors including soil conditions, size of the house and slope of the site. there are three kinds of footings wall, column and stepped. This cottage foundation has all three. It is obvious that wall footings support walls. Column footings support posts which in turn support beams that support floors for instance. On steeply sloped sites, like at this site, steeped footings are used to keep the footing below the frost line.

3) The Frostline
All building codes require that the footing be placed on undisturbed soil that will be always below the frostline. Frost is nasty thing. Water in the soil if it was below the footing and froze it would expand, thus heaving and possibly cracking and otherwise destroying the foundation.

4) The Key
The key is a slot in the top of the footing to ensure a structural join with the concrete wall above it. The footings are poured and cured - usually a 2 day process before the foundation walls are poured.

5) Rebar
Other material are used to strengthen both concrete footings and walls. Long metal rods call reinforcing bars or rebar for short, usually made of cast iron and is given ridges for better frictional adhesion to the concrete, are placed in the concrete as it is poured or just after it is poured to add strength. Concrete is a material that is very strong in compression, but virtually without strength in tension. To compensate for this imbalance in concrete's behavior, rebar is cast into it to carry the tensile loads.

6) Poured Concrete Wall
This is the most visible part of the foundation. It takes the load of the house and provides the walls for most basements. Like the stepped footings, concrete walls often are stepped, roughly following the shape of the site. The missing parts of the walls are later built using lumber.

7) Window insert
How do you put a window in concrete? This is done by inserting the frame of the window with a special supporting structure temporarily replacing the glass part of the window. So the once the wall concrete forms fo the walls are taken off the window is stuck in place.

8) Anchor Bolts
Everywhere the concrete foundation meets a wood structure above it anchor bolts are embedded in the concrete so that the wooden walls can be bolted to the foundation securely.

9) Knee-wall
The part of a foundation wall, really just a thinner part of the footing that is completing buried in the soil, is often referred to a knee-wall. The knee-wall depth is determined by the depth of the frost wall. Commonly in this area knee-walls are 5 feet deep. The part of the foundation wall that seems to missing in the picture actual has a a knee-wall buried, because of the slope of the site. Remember this is the Cottage on the Edge!

10) Floor Ledge
Eventually the basement floor will be poured in concrete. that will happen after the cottage is closed in a bit more to ensure rain doesn't damage the finish of the concrete floor. The concrete will be at least 4 inches thick and will be poured above and on the portion of the footing that sticks out under the wall. But with the knee-wall the footings are 5 feet under the ground -- of a notch is created in the top of the knee-wall to act as a ledge for the concrete floor.

NEXT: finally I get to use my hammer...

7 Steps to Pouring a Concrete Foundation

When I arrived on Friday (June 6th) the foundation was poured and ready to start building. While I wasn't present for much of the time that my contractor was putting in the foundation, I did make a few trips on prior weekend to see the progress. There are 7 basic steps to creating a foundation:

1) Excavate
The hole is dug, usually using a backhoe or shovel. The whole must be bigger than the area of the foundation in order to accommodate the workers

2) Pour the Footings
The footings are created using forms, place on undisturbed ground. The footing is always wider than the concrete walls. Also a number of smaller footing to support various posts inside the cottage are also usually poured at this time.

The forms for the footing are removed the day after they are poured, but must cure for at least 720 hours. This is to ensure they are strong enough to support the poured concrete walls.

3) Pour the Concrete Walls
Like the footings, forms are used for poured concrete walls. Prefab forms are used 99% of the time. You can see the outline of the forms left in the walls in the various pictures in this post.

Again the forms are taken off and the walls are cured before the next step.

4) Wet Proof
The exterior of the foundation walls are coated with a material which seals the concrete from water. This is often a black asphalt material. Only the portion of the exterior wall to be covered by the soil needs to treated in this way.

5) Weeping tile
Another means to keep water away from the foundation, and hence out of the basement, is to surround the outside of the foundation with a weeping tile. This comes in various forms but in this installation it is a 4 inch diameter flexible pipe with lots of holes in it that is place in a cloth sleeve and covered in washed clean stone. The idea is that any water flowing in the the soil near the foundation collects in the weeping tile and is is carried away from the foundation.

6) Backfill
After the weeping tile is in and the wall wet proofed then the outside of the foundation is backfilled. The soil that is put back is graded such that it slopes away from the foundation, again to ensure water flows away from the wall.

7) Basement floor
The last part of the foundation is the basement floor. This is usually poured when the cottage is built so that the floor is covered so that rain does not ruin the finish of the floor. Most of the time this is done when the house is 'closed-in' but in our case we are going to do it once the main floor is in and covered with a tarp. The reason is that we would like to have the basement completely finished so that we can use it during the rest of the building process for storage and to allow us to continue to work if it rains.

[NOTE: as of today the basement floor has not yet been poured - we are hoping that will be done the week of June 16-20]

Next Post: We will share more details about foundations.

The Dream has become a reality! The footings are in...

I went up to the Lot today for two reasons. First reason to was to take yet again more stuff from my just sold and vacated home up to store in the sled on the Lot. My most eager reason, however, was to see the progress of Doug on putting in the foundation.

Doug started earlier in the week, on Monday, and was hoping to get the foundation walls in. Rain and other issues meant he didn't quite get that far.

But I was elated!

Seeing the hole dug for the foundation and the footings in meant that my dream was finally happening. After walking around, on and over the footings I was finally able to spot pinching myself. As you can see from the pictures in the post the footing are there as well as the drainage system around the outside of the footings.

The footings are on two levels as the cottage is being built on the side of the hill. So the foundation is not a simple 'box'.

What amazed me was the awesome amount of sand that was dug out. There was almost not enough room on the rest of the lot to place the sand temporarily. Obviously some of the sand will be used to back fill the foundation and to create a grade up to the cottage, but I hazard a guess that a good portion of the sand will have to be trucked away.

ASIDE: The sand, as the septic engineer mentions in his report (see upcoming post), is absolutely the best material for the septic system. It percolates very well.

The plan calls for the foundation walls to be poured this upcoming week, followed by the piers (sonotubes) for the deck supports.

My status update and next pictures of the foundation will be a few days after my next trip up there which will be June 6-8th - when we build the lake side wall of the basement and install the engineered floor.

And the Foundation Contract goes to...

Another reason I was up to the Cottage Lot this past week end was to meet with one of the two contractors I asked for a quote to build the foundation.

In the request for quote each were asked to bid on the following:

• Excavate
  
• Install forms & pour concrete footings and walls per the supplier plans
• Install drainage tile
  
• Install water entrance sleeve (so I can bring in the water line from the lake)
• Install and pour 16 piers for the surround deck
• Pour the basement floor
• Backfill with stone and overburden as required

I met Saturday with Doug Zacharias. He has a company called Doug Zacharias Trucking Ltd and operates out of Otter Lake. I have used Doug previously to clear the lot and put in a driveway from the road. He also installs septic systems but I haven't contracted for that yet as I am waiting for the septic engineer's report.

Doug arrived around noon, and after a chat we got down to discussing the location of the cottage. Doug had some good suggests and recommendations on where the cottage should be placed. The changes were not dramatic if fact his suggest was to pull it away from the lake and towards the road about 15 feet. In doing so the lakeside knee-wall would not need to be as deep and/or high thus saving a lot of concrete.

We discussed the distance of the cottage from the east lot line, about 12 feet, and the potential location for the septic system. As for the septic system, that still needed to be confirmed by the engineer's report, however, having done a few I was sure Doug was right on in his prediction.

One final element was the window in the concrete wall. Doug offered to put these in at an additional $200. I liked the idea - one less thing for me to do - and it is better to embed them at pouring time anyway.

Bottom-line was the quoted price was good, and my past experience with Doug cemented (sorry for the pun) the deal.

To round out some of the logistics we discussed:

• Basement Floor: When I needed to put in the rough plumbing for the basement. This needs to be done prior to pouring the basement floor. His primary concern was that it be done when the cottage was built so the concrete is not affected by any rain and wreak the 'polished' floor. I suggested that right after the floor was put it would work as I intended to cover the floor with a tarp AND that the cutout in the floor for the stairwell would be perfect for access to the basement.
• Timing: I need the foundation to be completed before June 6th, excluding the basement floor. Doug agreed that target would be easily reached.
• Payment: This is still I'll get back to you on, as I suspect he needs to discuss it with his subs. But the last time it was pay at the end of the job. Give the size of the amount I would be prepared to pay in two installments, one up front and one after the job is complete.

So the first phase of the project, planning, is coming to an end, and execution is starting with the foundation going in by the end of May.

Doug can be reached at (819) ) 453-7830 or by eMail.

Project Status

Gee!
There is actually a bunch of people following my blog, and a many of you have asked for an update of where I am at in terms of the project:

The Cottage Plans:

• The plans have been adjusted to take advantage of the unique features of the lot - mostly the slope
• The tentative location of the rooms in the basement have been added to the plans.
• The location of the plumbing necessary for installation prior to pouring the basement floor have been determined.
  

Material Quotes:

• Material list created
• Request for quotes made to 4 major lumber yards and one truss company

Foundation:

• If you have been following my initial plan was to build a permanent wood foundation
• However, the lateness of the snow melting, and a realization that the cost differential is not as big as expected, I am changing back to a poured concrete foundation
• I think this is much to the relief of my sons and wife
• So I have made a request for quote to two local contractors in the Otter lake and Shawville areas:
• Doug Zacharias Trucking - I have used Doug in the past to put it the driveway and clear my lot
• Mickey McQuire Equipment Rentals - who was recommended by the engineer doing my septic system report

The Septic System Engineers Report:

• This is required now in order to get the building permit
• Peter MacIntosh, out of Shawville, has been contacts and faxed with all the particulars
• He and I are now waiting for the snow to melt so he can get on the lot and do his thing
• The snow is reported to still be two feet but Peter hopes to be out there late next week.

Building Inspector:

• I called the inspector on Friday to alert him
• He will be working with Peter the septic engineer
• Rick, the building inspector, stated that he could pretty much issue the building permit the next day after receiving Peter's report.

The Construction Plan:

• I am using a project management software to understand the interdependencies of the work and to schedule the necessary resources
• I have three sons who will be helping so they now know when they will be needed at various stages of the project - and of course negotiate...
• My wife, Lucie, also has been able to schedule me around her Golf
• I have the GANTT chart printed and up on the wall.

There should be a fair amount of activity this week:

• Foundation Quotes
• Material quotes
• Roof Truss Quotes
• and hopefully the septic report!
  

Finding a Backhoe, is becoming a problem...

The plan is to do as much of the construction as possible to keep the out of pocket cost for labour as low as possible. I am fortunate to have three strapping adult sons, two of which have significant experience in construction.

My eldest in fact is a heavy equipment operator. So I thought I had the perfect solution for excavating for the foundation and the septic system. However, I am encountering some obstacles.

1. All equipment like backhoes must have a vehicle license and plate in Quebec - so I can't bring one from Ottawa, Ontario
   
2. The distance from Ottawa to Otter Lake (where the cottage lot is) is about 125 km
3. I can't find a local backhoe that doesn't come with an operator (hence labour cost)

So it looks like bringing a backhoe up from Ottawa is not going to happen, and getting a local backhoe without and operator is looking to be difficult. I can get a backhoe (sans operator) in Hull, Quebec and have it delivered but the cost of renting the backhoe and the transportation to get it up to the lot is turning out to be more than the cost to get a local backhoe and operator.

So it looks like if I wish to keep close to the budget then I will likely have to use a local backhoe and operator.

Stay tuned I am still investigating.
;-)

A new way to do concrete piers... no concrete!

The deck surrounding the Cottage requires 16 concrete piers for the supporting colums. Which means digging 16 holes, most over 5 feet deep to get below the frost line. Furthermore, six of the posts require a 36" footing. I am not looking forward to digging those holes - especially on the side of a hill. They will likely all need to be dug virtually by hand.

Not that I am allergic to hard work - just if there is a better way I am all for it!

Well at the Home Show in Ottawa this past weekend, I happened to find an interesting alternative. It is a post pier that is quite literally screwed into the ground. So you can see the obvious advantages -- no digging - absolutely no digging.

This screw-in post is called "techno METAL POST". To find all about this technology go to www.tmpo.ca.

I am still investigating, and if it compares favourably with the standard sonotube and concrete approach both in price and bearing strength, I think it may be a winner for me. Stay tuned I'll let you know what I discover.