A Saskatoon-area spray foam insulator is keeping busy during the offseason by channeling his creative side.
Calvin Sawatsky has been doing spray foam insulation for over 30 years, but it was a random experiment with a Flintstones house that gave him the seed of an idea.
“I got that by just spray-outs that I was doing, getting from one chemical to the other.” said Sawatsky, creator of Real Fake Creations. “And I just played around, kind of thought that looked pretty cool. And I had the idea, but I left it at that.”
Once his twin sons took an interest in designing and building, the hobby evolved into something bigger.
“We just started making a tree,” he said. “We thought we’d make a shed so we made that, and it didn’t turn out very well. But one led to another, and then someone had phoned and asked if I’d make him a log cabin. We had no idea how we were gonna, but I said sure.”
But things came to a tragic halt when Sawatsky’s son Carson died in a car accident in 2018.
His other son later decided to pursue a different line of work, and the passion faded for a few years.
“It was slow going, to be honest,” Sawatsky told CTV News.
But by 2021, he was back in the workshop playing with different ideas.
In the years since, he’s built a variety of custom spray foam buildings from ice fishing huts and bunkhouses to hunting blinds and play structures.
Another benefit is keeping busy during the winter months, when his outdoor construction schedule grinds to a halt.
“Come November when the snow comes, the guys are pretty happy to get off the roofs and change their mindset and be creative,” he said. “And every day is a learning day in here, so it’s quite fun.”
“It’s a nice break,” said Kevin Pankratz, who works for Real Fake Creations in the winters. “In the summertime, enjoy the nice hot weather and sunshine. And working here, it’s warm, you get away from the coolness.”
Over the years, Sawatsky has played with different foam compositions to get the best effect. And he says it makes for a surprisingly durable structure.
“They’re extremely durable and energy efficient, so it’s a win-win when you’re trying to heat them or cool them.”
While Sawatsky is doing it without his two sons by his side, they remain his inspiration.
And he still gets valuable input on his projects.
“They were the force behind it, no doubt about it,” he said. “Every morning they would come in and see what I’ve done and critique it. They always critiqued it. And like you said, my one son still does that.”
