We would be so appreciative to have some help around the house with carpentry and landscaping in Mission, Canada

Details

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  Description

  Hello to all!
  
  Here is a little bit about Jeff and I. We met about 11 years ago...we love life and love our area here in Beautiful British Columbia! We have a deep love for our families and friends and love that they are very close to us. We do really enjoy getting away even if its just a day trip but then love the joy of coming back to our home surroundings. We bought our 1 acre property about 7 years ago which we both fell in love with the yard and location but the house needs a lot of work. We used to refer to the main house as a “BC box.” This home needed a ton of work as it is older than me (over 50) and hadnt been updated in many years until we moved in. We are both entrepreneurs in our own fields…Jeff works in the sales of used auto parts and I am a hair stylist of 40 years now working from home. We both work exceptionally long hours averaging 10 to 12 hours Mondays through Fridays. We started to turn our little BC box into what we are hoping to be our dream home over time. We have an addition to our home we have subcontracted people to work on but our main house, the original home on the property is what we are trying to fix up ourselves. We are very happy with the progress compared to what it looked like originally but it still has a long way to go so we are hoping for some help, insight and direction as neither of us are experienced in home renovations, but we are most definitely willing to learn. What we need from our house guests are those who are experienced in carpentry, drywall, paining, cabinetry, finishings and tiling. If this is something you could help us with, we would love to hear from you.
  
  We absolutely love our surroundings and our property…. Our home sits on a flat, square acre with fruit trees, rhododendrons, a rose garden, vegetable garden, green house and two giant willow trees which stole my heart. This is the yard I dreamed of when I was a little girl imagining where I would live when I grew up! We loved the property so much, we had our wedding here 3 years ago under our front yard willow tree. It was a magical and beautiful ceremony and all our guests loved it! We host a ton of family gatherings on sunny days where we can host larger crowds…we don’t have a ton of room to host gatherings inside the house so to invite our families here for bbqs is always a fun time spent outside in our yard. We have a sitting area under the willow out front along with two hammock chairs hanging from the tree and a hammock on a stand in the sunshine. We have a play structure with macrame swings…it’s a favorite place by all who come to visit. Between Jeff and I, we have 5 grown kids and 5 grandchildren..,the kids love the yard and all the fun play structures we have set up for them. About two years ago, we were required to redo our septic field to meet our district requirements in order to complete our build…this meant ripping up a lot of our yard and leaving a bit of a mound that needed to settle over the next few years. We are now nearing the end of year 2 so the mound has all settled and we are hoping to level it out once again making it the nice, flat yard it was when we first moved here.
  
  Here is a bit more about our surroundings: We live in a beautiful country setting here on our little acre. We are near the base of a beautiful mountain and situated close to 2 rivers and many hiking trails for all levels of hiking. We are about a 5 minute drive into town of Mission, about an hour from.Vancouver and about a half hour from Harrison Hot Springs. Our area boasts some very unique features; Our general store is within a short walk or bikeride and was BC's first post office back in the day! About a block away from the general store, you'll find our Historic Dewdney Pub also known as the Church of the Blues....excellent venue for live music on weekend, stand up comedy on a weeknight and pre covid karaoke will hopefully return soon. There is a boat launch down the road from the pub so we like to offer free use of our kayaks as well. Our property sits on a square flat acre at the end of a private dead end road. The historic town of Kilby is a short drive down the Lougheed highway. We have a lovely and relaxing hot tub off our front deck that makes star gazing magical since there are no street lights where we live so the stars really light up the sky on a clear night! Also our fire pit is an amazing retreat in any night. We have a full stock of marshmallows just for this occasion.
  
  We are home to 5 beautiful furry family members,...my pug/Brussels cross, Otis is our 14 year old boy who has an absolute heart of gold! He is deaf and almost completely blind but has a true passion for life and is the most loving companion. We have 4 charsmatic and playful kitties. Koda, Holly, Bridgette and Louie who are full of life! They are indoor/outdoor kitties with a curfew to return back inside as we do have coyotes from time to time. We also have a resident stray cat that come by,(Sylvester) in hopes to grab a bite to eat and also a little raccoon (Ricky) who has been with us for about 6 years now. We don't interact with him up close as he is after all a wild animal and needs to be respected but he loves to give "high 5's" through the glass door to our deck where he has a bowl of food waiting. Our favorite night time retreat on a chilly night is in front of the gas fireplace in the living room while watching some Netflix or Prime or on a warm summer night, sitting on our deck with a nive glass of wine. We have amazing neighbors and a great neighborhood watch so we always feel safe and secure. All in all, we really hit the jackpot when we moved here. We welcome others to share in our joy now that we are empty nesters with extra space.

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Help around the house

  General Maintenance
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  As I mentioned above, our area has so much to offer. We are one hour east of Vancouver where you will find many wonderful sight seeing wonders such as the Capilano Suspension Bridge, the Flying Over Canada exhibit right in the heart of Vancouver inside Canada Place which is a 4D experience that will make you feel like you’re actually flying in a hang glider throughout Canada! There are several amazing mountain peaks with year round fun, one being Grouse Mountain which boasts a gondola ride, zip lining, bear and wolf sanctuary and loads of hiking trails along with exceptionally beautiful views of the cities and pacific ocean. There are tons of beaches along Vancouver’s coastline, a favorite of ours being in the city of Whiterock with its famous pier. While out this way, definitely indulge in our local seafood as its always fresh off the boat! Stanley park is another one of Vancouver’s “must sees”! You can tour the park in a horse drawn carriage, rent a bike and ride along the sea wall or just walk any path you like. While there, don’t forget to visit the Vancouver aquarium; a rehabilitation center and home to many aquatic creatures. Coming back in our direction, about a half hour away in Aldergrove, BC is the Greater Vancouver Zoo, a favorite for all ages! Closer yet is Abbotsford with many nature parks, great for bird watchers and tons of trails for walking or hiking. Abbotsford and Mission are surrounded by farmers fields, some of which offer you to purchase items or delicacies such as ice cream, cheese, coffee, art, jewellery or what have you. Across the bridge from Abbotsford you will then be in our area, Mission. There are several amazing lakes that are close by including Harrison Hot Springs, a great place for eagle and hawk watching during their migrating season, going paddle boarding, kayaking or just enjoying a beautiful beach and making sand castles. The salmon fishing is amazing in our area! We live between two rivers so finding smoked salmon at a nearby store is not hard. We have a historical building across our field that used to be BC’s first post office, now it’s our local general store offering many locally made goodies. Behind this store nd just off the highway is our Historical Dewdney Pub, famous for its history as it used to be a church…now famously known as the Church of the Blues as people come from all over North America to take part in the “Jam sessions” on a Sunday afternoon! They also host stand up comedy nights or amateur nights throughout the week! Around the corner from us, you’ll find a recently renovated nature park and walk leading to the most beautiful waterfall and suspension bridge! This place is beautIful lol year round! Up on the hillside looking from where we live towards Mission is Westminster Abbey…the grounds are stunning so we highly recommend talking a walk there to all who come to visit. The church also welcomes new comers s well. We have many nearby hikes…one of our favorites is the Dewdney Grind which you can see from our house. It’s a bit steep but once at the top, you’ll be welcomed by a quaint cabin filled with basic needs and fresh water from a rain barrel. This cabin was build by some local men, each piece of material brought up by foot as there was no road back then to travel up…now there is. Logging rod that takes you closer but still recommend the hike as it’s exhilarating! The view from the top is amazing and will make you feel as if you’ve won the lottery! Across the field from our yard, you will see beautiful views of Mount Cheam, another beautiful hike that sits just passed Chilliwack, about 45 minutes away heading south east. The border to the US is about 20 minutes from here with the historic town of Sumas, Washington being the closest US town to us. Bellingham, Washington is about an hour from here as well. Our list of “Must see” places continues on and on. I suggest this is an area you simply must see.

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  Projects involving children

  This project could involve children. For more information see our guidelines and tips here.

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  Help

  We are really hoping to find someone who is experienced with carpentry, finishing work, installing cabinetry, drywalling, tiling, flooring, painting and landscaping.
  
  We have a house that is filled with jobs, some big, some small in which we started or someone else has started but never finished. We have a basement that recently flooded so we needed to rip out all we had redone. We are a bit overwhelmed with everything so really hoping someone can just come in, see the work that needs to be done and conquer it.
  
  We need a bathroom and tiling installed…all the plumbing and electrical is there, we just need to install the pretty stuff now. Once this bathroom is done, we have two more upstairs…one that desperately needs to be ripped apart and rebuilt (our only bathroom at the moment) and one we are hoping to add in our bedroom. The drywalling that needs to be done is just pieces here and there where we had redone electrical or plumbing behind it or was water damaged, there are a few small walls that will need full sheets but only a few. We need trim, base boards and edging in areas. We have cleared an area in our basement and picked up some cabinets so hoping to have them installed to create a downstairs kitchen. The upstairs kitchen also needs cabinets installed. Outside we would love help with power washing and paining of our deck and a few other small structures. Some yard maintenance would be appreciated as well but not as much of a priority as the inside of the house.

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  Languages spoken

  English: Fluent

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  Accommodation

  We would like to offer our guest a shared home with Jeff and myself but with your own private bedroom furnished with a queen sized bed and all bedding with a dresser, night stand, television with basic cable, Netflix and Prime and of course wifi is included. We have a few bedrooms to choose from but we would need to share the bathroom until we have the other one built as well as sharing a kitchen until the downstairs kitchen is built. While our guests stay here, we would be happy to take care and supply of any grocery needs you may have or offer a grocery allowance, which ever is preferred. Because we are sharing some common spaces, we ask that you keep things tidy neat and clean after yourself and we will do the same. If you have a drivers licence, we are happy to offer a car to drive from time to time so you can do some sight seeing. We want you to make yourself feel like our home is as comfortable to you as it is for us.

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  What else ...

  I believe I have covered all this already. There is no bus service within our local vicinity but bus service does begin about 2 km west from us. We are very happy to allow the use of one of our vehicles with notice. Another option is for one of us to drop you off on our way through Mission where there bus service to get you from.city to city or there is a commuter train that takes you right into Vancouver on weekdays in the event you can’t drive or don’t feel comfortable driving the distance in. We welcome our guests to balance their time with us with both work and relaxing pleasure.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Space for parking camper vans

  We welcome campers, trailers as well but please know we have several rooms to choose from as well.

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  Two

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  Hours expected

  Maximum 4-5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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