Double trouble

I do not seem to be able to string two good days together, but boy can I get a roll off poor ones lined up.

Based on my description of Alfie’s arm weakness, they agreed it was most likely a bad hydraulic cylinder.  So I rushed this morning to get it off and was going to take it in.  Just as I was about to leave, I got a call from the ICF transport advising they had the next load on its way.  This threw a wrench into the morning but I put my new moto “Adapt and move on” into practice and called a freight company to take in the cylinder.  I set it up on an expedite only to get a call 10 minutes later saying they had radio issues with a driver and they had now left the north shore and the next opportunity would be mid afternoon. So I adapted and called a second company.  They came promptly but the cylinder still did not arrive till after lunch.  In the end it did not matter – the cylinder was pooched!

I got a call from the shop informing me that the barrel was deformed and it would just chew up the seals again.  What was weird was that the photos of the damage sent by the shop did not look anything like the unit I had sent out.   But I was assured that there was no mix-up and it was my part.  SO – they are transferring one from their prince George location by Greyhound and it SHOULD arrive tomorrow morning.  They are giving me a deal on the prioce but it will still be over $1500 all in.

So now I had an excavator stopped dead in its tracks and realized we may have yet another problem.  It was at the end of the driveway and may be in the way of the ICF truck coming.  The good news is that the truck arrived and just barely fit and the unload of the next 10 skids went fairly smoothly.  It was a tight squeeze and we had to jimmy one of the skids sideways 6″ using 2 large pry bars and two determined guys (me and the driver).

The downside is that there were even more damaged blocks (at least 2 and possible more, I will only find out when I unload the skids).  This also was not the last of the loads.  They had to leave 2 skids behind because they did not fit on the truck and they could not use a bigger truck because it would not have fit in the driveway.  I have asked for a tally of costs to date and am extremely nervous as what the answer will be.  I budgeted 6 hours at $130.  I think we will be WAY over this.

What is unfortunate is that is was just barely cheaper than my estimate to rent a all retain forklift, but I thought for the extra $100-$200, why not let someone else have the liability.  I now regret this decision as the cross Canada freight company would have delivered for free and I could have easily placed the skids in the right spot with the forklift.  It is all just money, but it is money we do not have until after the foundations are poured and I can get my first draw from the construction loan.  We are going to run out of cash flow before we get the first draw and I am not sure what the escape will be from that challenge.  I am making it the banks problem as they really should be giving us an advance considering the land value we have as collateral.

So the day was basically a wash.  I wanted to salvage at least a bit, so I finished loading the trailer with both a trash and a green waste run and Ron and I headed off to the transfer station and then Tim’s.  In the meantime everything else is on hold including the concrete removal, survey of excavation, tarp support cable installation by arbourist, and of course the actual excavation. Lets see what tomorrow brings.

Thanks for visiting.

Anatomy of a deconstructed wall