Download The Keith Beedie Story - Beedie Group

CHAPTER 8
If it wasnʼt for
BAD LUCK, ,
Iʼd have
NO LUCK at all …
LAWSUITS AND LAWYERS AND
COURTROOMS, OH MY!
Beedie Construction was up and running. Incorporating didn’t change
the business much. Keith kept it lean and simple, continuing to use
his house as his offi ce and Charlie Metcalfe as his superintendent.
Charlie had quit fi refi ghting as the work with Keith was coming
consistently enough to merit a career change. Mentally, creating
Beedie Construction Ltd. was a big step for Keith. He gave his name to
the company and dedicated himself to its growth and reputation.
“I was 10 or so when my dad quit fi refi ghting to work with Keith.
I imagine it was hard to give up that security for a future he didn’t
know. I remember that my mom wasn’t too happy about it.”
—TED METCALFE, SUPERINTENDENT (RETIRED)
Keith didn’t have to wait long to see his new commitment put to the
test. Th e houses in Central Park Garden Village continued to go up.
Th e fi rst one constructed there under the Beedie Construction Ltd.
letterhead was another of the split-level homes that Keith had been
having such success with and had been built for the Th ompson family.
Th e subdivision was fi lling in quickly, and at that time, there were no
sewers to complicate matters. Builders were responsible for installing
septic systems to support the plumbing. On the Th ompson house,
Keith had wanted to put the septic tank in the backyard and
the septic fi eld in the front because of the site grades. Th e
Burnaby engineers in charge insisted that the fi eld had to
be in the back with the tank. Keith’s instincts told him that
arrangement was fl awed but he had no choice but to comply.
He put the tank and fi eld in the back, completed the house
and handed it over to the Th ompsons.
Not long aft erwards, Keith was walking down the lane at the
subdivision while working on another project. As he passed
by the Th ompsons’ place, Mrs. Th ompson came running out
of the house calling his name. “She was shouting and waving
at me,” says Keith. “Apparently she’d been trying to get a hold of me
through her realtor, but I hadn’t heard a thing from him.” She told
Keith she had something to show him and led him into her house and
down into the basement. “Th e downstairs reeked,” says Keith. “She
walked me over to her laundry tubs and told me to look inside.” What
Keith saw turned his stomach. Th e tubs were fi lled with septic. Keith’s
doubts about the septic system were confi rmed. Th e tank and fi eld had
backed up, forcing raw sewage up the pipes into the basement. “She
told me it had been that way for two or three days,” says Keith. “I felt
What Keith saw
turned his stomach.
The tubs were fi lled
with septic.
89