Week 8 – Aug 19, 2019: Well, today as scheduled, Heneault et Gosselin arrived and lowered High Water Cottage onto its new foundation. The steel beams were removed, one by one, and the house was secured to its knee wall and cement foundation by the crew. When all is said and done, it sits nearly five feet higher than the top of the old foundation and the land has been elevated as well. We hope this is sufficient for subsequent high water, but we have the added security of a gravel crawl-space and 3 large sumps with a pumping capacity of 600 gallons a minute. Take THAT, Mother Nature!
Our fantastique team from Quebec 😃
Removing the steel beams and placing new beams and jack posts
High Water Cottage is back to Terra Firma
Loading up for the trip back home
The rest of the week was spent by the Jo-At crew prepping for the build of the deck and verandah. Before that, though, the berm and protective wall need to be built. Digger Dean used all of the old broken cement as an underpinning and shaped truckloads of dirt into an 8-foot wide berm wrapping around the front and sides of the house. This will allow us to walk across the top to gain access around the cottage with a small seating area in one corner, as well as to plant small bushes, vines and flowers along the top. The slope will be constructed of blasted rock, providing a breakwater against wave action. We face directly northeast, so waves are something we prepare for, especially during spring storms.
And so, we are officially up to 75 tandem loads of rock and dirt. The repurposed cement turned out to be a big bonus to help wall stability. Next week Rob will finish the sloping and shaping, wrap the wall in fabric (to deter weeds) and add the large pieces of blasted rock – we’ll have a look at the finished product in the next blog post as the deck takes shape.
Building the berm. There’s a LOT of room on top!
And we are not done with dirt. For good measure, the ground under the deck has been raised as the freshet can reach the back of the house; this will help to slow it down, and provide stable ground for the Bigfoot deck posts supporting the deck and verandah.
Prepping the ground for the deck. There’s now 3-4 feet of land at the back of the house. The stairs will be hidden by a road-level ramp to the new wrap-around deck
Seeing the berm-breakwater in place is exciting. It feels like the project has really picked up pace again. A big shout-out to all who have worked on this project so far – so much has already been done, and, really, we have been in great hands. And, we think the septic field has come out unscathed! Fingers crossed (every little bit helps 😉).
As we roll into the fall, we start the work that will finish off our property and make it truly spectacular. Still a lot to be done, but it’s really starting to take shape!
Believe it or not, the house used to be at the level of the green lawn in the front of this picture. Almost looks like an optical illusion (but it’s not!)
High Water Cottage 