The House that David Built

Im sorry I havent kept up on this blog. Ive kind of blended Davids story with my own on my blog as I got discouraged when I couldnt get the video I took downloaded to add to this one. I also lost 100's of pictures that I had taken of Davids work on his house when my computer crashed and had nothing to show you.

Everything is going according to plan though. The metal doors got removed, a wall with sliding doors and huge windows got put up in its place. David spent weeks hauling in huge logs and building 40 foot stringers to provide support over the open area. Walls had to be taken down and put back up to get it all in( nothing easy about any of this). Looking at the scope of the job, I would have said it was impossible to do, but he made it happen with brute strength, lots of coffee and a small winch. There were a few scary moments when wall supports came crashing down around his head, but other than a few knocks of his hard noggin, all came out alright.

Next he put braces in between all the stringers and laid plywood flooring over top. He had an opportunity to get the bottom of the house spray foamed so pulled the house up onto shore, ripped all the flooring back up and spent a few tense days worrying whether it would split in half from all the force on it. The tides finally cooperated and Jeff was able to get his equipment down to the house. It took several days to complete but the huge support logs got a good pressure washing to remove tons of mud and the whole bottom got sprayed with foam. The house now has lots of floatation and is sitting much higher in the water.

The floors were replaced and furniture rearranged in the new living space. By this time we were getting into the rainy season, so the attention turned to the roof. It was leaking quite badly from all the stress of when it was on shore, so days were spent applying sealant, tarps and plastic to waterproof things. The walls were insullated with free styrofoam blocks salvaged from a roof demolition. Plastic vapour barrier was stapled over that to keep out the drafts.

The temperture was continuing to drop, so he ripped down the chimney and hauled the woodstove into the middle of the house. The chimney was rebuilt in the new location and a wall framed in and vapour barriered around the stove and main living area to provide some warmth. Some days were then spent chopping firewood to feed the beast. Alot of it came from cutting up a stack of pallets that had been lying around here, the rest floats down to us on the river.

The work is now focused on getting a bathroom and kitchen installed. David had to go back and redo the floors from the area that had been open, to the old apartment.Everything had to be raised to make the floor level from one end to the other. More stringers, more walls removed and replaced, more plastic and floor laying and it was finally done. He had dragged down all his huge heavy tools from the garage and they were weighing down the front of the house putting more stress on it. The old apartment area has been made smaller and will be the workshop area. All the tools and spare wood etc were dragged back into the shop.The house is now sitting staight and the stage is set for the rest of the job.

David was given a natural gas water heater that he wants to convert to propane. Some parts are required for this but we cant seem to get a straight answer as to what exactly is involved. The last few days have been spent laying out the plumbing and pipes to get it all hooked up.Tile was considered for the bathroom floor but there is so much cutting involved, so going with linolium instead.

David found a free stove on Craigslist that runs on both wood or propane. Its a cool old beast that will be nice to have. Power down here is limited and sketchy at best so the more off the grid he can get , the better. There are some old kitchen cabinets at my old house that we will drag over here when the time is right. He wants to cover the tops with the tile he got.

The house is coming along beautifully. Its been a ton of work, 12-16 hours a day every day of the week. All of this was accomplished with many other distractions. David was building docks, rearranging his huge piles of material constantly, helping me with my boat, working at a welding job, fending off wildlife that wanted to move in with him and working on trying to get his new tugboat running. Its been frustrating and exhilarating at the same time. I had forgotten how much he has accomplished until I went back and looked at the pictures in the previous post. Way to go Superman, dont give up now, your almost there!!

It started like this

Well Im having some trouble getting the video editing sorted out, so in the meantime have decided to get started on this and will add the video links at a later date.

Meet David aka The Mad Canadian Artist

So as I mentioned in the last post, David was given a free 40x60 ft floating boathouse in late May by his boss Steve. They hooked it up to four tugboats and waited till late at night when the tide had dropped to haul it up to the shipyard on Mitchell Island. It looks like a big red barn. About one third of it is a long one- room apartment with a separate bathroom and the rest is a garage to store a boat.It is over 60 years old and had been hit by a deadhead that punched a hole through the floor of the apartment. Its basically a floating roof at this point, luckily the roof and supports are in excellent shape, leaving lots of room for creative building practices. The plan is to add more log stringers outside for stabalization and across the the open space that was the boat storage area so floors can be installed. The walls need to be raised and put on the new supports so the whole building will be straight and stabalized, then foam insulation sprayed throughout the whole thing. This will make it unsinkable and fireproof as well as toasty warm. The large garage doors will be removed and the back wall framed in with lots of windows and sliding glass doors which will go out to a deck that has yet to be built.The deck will wrap around the house with a large area in the front for a sunken woodfired hottub. The apartment wall will be moved back to double the space of the living room and kitchen. The bathroom is being enlarged to accomadate a double shower and some counter space. Two bedrooms are being added on the main floor, with the rest of the space to be used as an art studio with tons of windows for natural light. The loft above the apartment will be turned into a master bedroom with lots of storage under the eves.

David has his work cut out for him. He is doing all the work himself with the odd helping hand from roomates and friends. He is trying to do this for little or no cost, so time is spent looking online for free materials and organizing to go pick them up. Nothing about this is easy, its tons of work and determination, luckily David has the energy of ten men and is making this happen.

Here is some pictures of the floathouse when he first got it, as you can see its work in progress but if anyone can do this its David.

The Mad Canadian

Hi, My name is Cyberangel. I live in Vancouver BC, one of the most beautiful if not damp cities in the world. A few months ago I met David A. Labadie AKA " the Mad Canadian". He is an artist living on a floathome in the Fraser River. Check out his website to see his wonderful work. http://www.madcanadianartist.piczo.com/. He moved back to BC last December and found lodging on the MV Bowie http://www.mvbowie.com/ , a 140 foot US subchaser. Captain Grieg had a vision to start a floating cooperative comunity down on the Fraser River with a group of like -minded friends and has been building his dream over the last four years. Check out Bowiechicks blog about life on the water for more news about the happenings down here.

David was inspired by what he saw and decided to jump in with both feet. Within a month he had aquired a 30x40 foot barge that he salvaged from the bottom of the river and a 40x60 foot floating boathouse in some disreputable repair that was given to him. He dragged both of them up to the working shipyard here on Mitchell Island and has big plans for them. This blog is our record of the inspiration, perspiration and determanation of one man to build a empire for FREE!! Yes thats right FREE!

By scavenging, recycling, scouring craigslist http://www.craigslist.com/ for free stuff, and using his amazing ability to adapt,overcome and improvise , he will build several thousand feet of real estate on the Fraser River at a fraction of the cost that people paid for their condos on the other side. Stay tuned for updates on the progress of a dream by the "Lover of Life and Keeper of Dreams, the Mad Canadian"