Today was an important milestone for the Hazelnut Inn. The inn passed the last of the official city progress inspections required before we could finish the building’s spray foam insulation and start on the final interior theme work.
The next few months are going to be a whole lot of fun!
Stay tuned…
It has been six years, to the day, since we first shared the concept drawings for the Hazelnut Inn. Soon after we began the lengthy process of making our dream a reality. It has been a complicated project.
First creating the blueprints and engineered drawings took time. Then gaining the required approvals and building permits before beginning shaping the land and the installation of the underground services.
It took a year to build the inn’s basic structure. And various trades have been installing all of the plumbing, ventilation, cooling, heating, electrical, fire suppression and all the other systems since then. And of course we have been busy adding all the details that make the Hazelnut Inn one of a kind.
The result of all this time and effort is a fanciful building that appears finished from the outside, complete with beautiful landscaping. And the interior, which will be every bit as special as the exterior, is coming along nicely.
We aren’t ready to announce our opening yet but our dream is getting closer to reality every day!
Today we worked hard to cut and fit all of the edge pieces of the paver stone driveway at the Hazelnut Inn. Once the stones were laid we jumped on the tractor and brought in about a cubic yard of sand and spread it over the driveway. We then worked it into all of the joints with large brooms and ran a plate packer over the driveway in both directions to settle the stones and the fill sand. By that time it was just about quitting time but we weren’t quite ready to stop. The sand was dry and easily worked but rain is in the forecast over the next few days. As we contemplated the two or three hours of sweeping ahead we remembered that our favourite neighbour, Gord, has a power sweep. We popped him a text and a few minutes later things were going much quicker. It was still a tough workout but just over an hour later the driveway was finished. Thanks Gord!!!
The paving stones forming the Hazelnut Inn’s driveway are numerous, and they require close attention to get the pattern correct, but the real work is in the edge pieces. Each edge brick must be carefully measured and cut. The curved edges are the trickiest. However, the end result is well worth the effort!
Years ago, when we began planning the Hazelnut Inn, we built a scale model of the building. The model focused on the building itself of course, but it also included the sidewalks and a little corner of the driveway.
That miniature scrap of driveway has tiny little bricks carved into it. And today if you happen to walk by the inn you will see it is covered in paving bricks.
Slowly, slowly and bit by bit we are making our dream a reality.
There was a flurry of activity at the Hazelnut Inn today. Inside the buildings, we were finishing the final details in preparation for the spray foam insulation. Outside we were rinsing off the walls and sidewalks with the pressure washer. And we were also busy laying down the last layer of sand in preparation for the paving stones we will begin laying tomorrow. Stay tuned…
