Tim's First Vocational Day

My first visit was to Zetsen Homes to meet with Garry Zetsen, Garry is a very experienced & knowledgable house builder in the Camrose area. I was fortunate to spend some time with Garry talking about the local construction industry followed by a viewing of his current construction projects at Creek View (a new subdivision).

Although there are a lot of similarities in the way we build, there are also a lot of differences. The alpine climate means that all water, sewer & stormwater pipework must be installed 6-8 feet underground as the ground freezes in winter to a depth of 5 feet. They work all year round, however during winter, prior to excavation of the basement they lay pipework over the ground, cover it with insulated blankets & pump hot water through the pipework for several days. This thaws the ground out enough to enable excavation to commence.

Basements are generally installed in all houses, however they are usually unlined with the owners lining them at a later date when the need arises for an additional bedroom. The houses are framed using timber as due to the abundant supply it is very low cost. The external of the house is fully sheeted with chipboard & plastic cladding is applied over the top.

The next visit was to Habitat for Humanity where I met with Dominic Kowalczyk. Habitat for Humanity is a non for profit organization who provide low cost housing to low income families caught in the poverty cycle. The program is funded through donations & also ``Restores`, which are shops similar to opportunity shops in Australia. People donate second hand goods which are sold at a reduced price with the profits channelled into building more houses.

When a new house is built the family who move into must pay for the home at market value, however there is no interest on the loan or no deposit. The loan repayments are fixed at 25% of the gross income & as soon as the principal is paid the client owns the house. All repayments are sent into the fund to build future houses. A number of people & tradesman volunteer their time to help build the houses.

My last visit was to the Betheny Group where I was taken on a site inspection of there new aged care development. The building was 4 stories high with an underground carpark, which I was informed in not usually provided in this type of development. Although Canada uses the metric system, the building trades all work in the imperial system.