Anyone want parking in BC this summer? How bout a job, tools/workspace access too?

Van Living Forum

Help Support Van Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Duck

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2013
Messages
88
Reaction score
0
Hi all, 
I'm perhaps going the wrong way for someone who's attempting to downsize and become a Vandweller, but it's just sort of happened that I'm putting together a new shop space, and am in the process of purchasing a building to increase our shop space.  
We're located on Vancouver Island, BC.  We work on RVs, boats and campers.  For insurance reasons, I need to have a caretaker on site, even during renovations.  Now my van is sadly incomplete, so I can't live there.  The shop is about 5000 square feet, the parking lot about double that sq ft.  At this time there is no fencing around that parking lot, though I expect it to be up within the next three weeks at which time it will be secure parking.  There are washrooms in the building that will be accessible during the day, though no shower will be installed for at least a couple of months.    There's an RV sewage dump at Canadian tire, grocery stores, Wal-mart etc all within a five minute drive of the shop.   Water for tank fill-ups is inside, and we can run a 15amp circuit out via extension cord for power.  


Who I'm looking for:
Someone with a reasonably tidy approach to Vandwelling, I need to keep the site reasonably professional looking, so piles of junk and garbage are not OK.  A simple awning and clean outdoor area is acceptable though.
Age, race, religion, gender don't matter at all.  
If you want to work, and you want to stay after the renovations are done(likely Mid to late August), then citizenship matters, as I need to be able to make sure everyone is safe and insured through WCB etc.  I can help out with some of the paperwork if you're travelling and eligible for working visas though.  


The deal:  
In exchange for agreeing to act as a caretaker which includes staying on site at night, checking the front, rear door and gate once every day after the renovations are done, I'll supply a parking space in the soon to be fenced parking lot, access to the bathrooms, power and water supply.   The time frame is from as soon as possible through to the end of August, though towards the end it's likely that other RVs, boats and vehicles will start to be parked there, you can stay for part or all of it, depending on your travelling schedule.   
 
If you want to help out with the renovations, we can work out a pay rate for that work depending on experience.  
If you want to work on boats and RVs, the same applies, and we can teach you skills in all aspects of this kind of work, and you can stay on after, though we generally slow down in the winter season a bit. 
In either case, we end up with tons of used parts supplies and left over materials that could help with a van refit, from piles of wire and hoses, to fittings, drains, water tanks, holding tanks, batteries, stereos, you name it.  
We also have some of the best tools and technology available for this kind of work, from 6" Electric sanders hooked to HEPA filtered vacuums to any cordless tool you could need, battery cable/electrical crimpers and heat shrink connectors etc.  We can work out a plan for you to use them outside of business hours, you can just pay or trade time for the consumables used up like blades and sandpaper, since we buy the best quality and in bulk it works out pretty cheap.
If you want new parts for your refit, or materials while you're here, you can have them at staff prices(cost+10%), which gives you a discount usually between 15-50% off of retail prices, and access to a lot of parts that are not normally sold to the general public or only sold in large quantities.  
:)
 
Wow! That would be a great gig if I were already mobile. Vancouver and BC are on my wish list. Best of wishes for you and whoever you find for the position. :)
 
where are you on the Island? Walmart , Canadian Tire, close together on the road into Nanaimo??
 
dang, dang, dang, I wish I was on the road. very generous offer. so it's not impossible for us south of the border people to get a temporary work visa? highdesertranger
 
No it is not possible, even though Canada and the US have a long standing free trade agreement that came with the promise of cross border employment for some reason that never materialized. You would have to marry a Canadian( not advisable speaking from experience :) ) and even then it is not a sure thing since all the imigartion law changes from 911 fallout.  
 
It depends on age, there are options for travelling(not permanent) work papers. Easier when you're young or have a specific skill set that can be used.
I've worked in the USA on specific contracts before on short term visas. It's a bit of a pain though, it's one of the reasons it's basically impossible to get those camp host jobs in interesting places in the US as a Canadian. Flying kurbmaster, something like that. I don't want to narrow it down any more specifically in a public forum since the building's still empty.
 
Sounds tempting. Will show DH this when he comes home (in an hour or so). He's not experienced in working with boats etc., but he's done some caretaking and maintenance for a school board for several years, while driving a school bus in the mornings and late afternoons.

Currently, he has a job for the summer, but he's not committed to it, and we're not scheduled to go on tour 'til October. I'm guessing that he'd love to learn more about fixing/renovating RVs. We plan to install 4 solar panels on the roof or our 28' Bounder, and he could use some help with that. He's a brilliant musician and computer genius, and he's worked for years as a professional driver (part-time).

We need to be somewhere where we can make a little noise (music recording - you can hear the style on my site).

By the way, we live in the Whistler area.

Interested in having a summer apprentice?

Jesse.

Oh yeah, and we're tidy!
 
Where exactly are you located? I Googled both Wal-Mart and Canadian Tire and you could be anywhere from Victoria to Courtenay....

Are you anywhere near the ocean?

Jess.
 
That's a fabulous offer, Duck!
 
Top