Drywall is Underway

Sheet by sheet the drywall goes on the walls and then is secured to a unique framing system to the ceilings ... with the poured concrete interior floors and Hambro joist system there is no wood to just screw your drywall to. 

Drywall Delivery

The arrival of numerous sheets of drywall is a welcome sight after months of rough-in work.  Soon these interesting spaces will start to look like bright rooms.

Underfloor Insulation

One more step before the drywall can go up.  Framing done, rough-ins done, spray-foam insulation on all non-ICF walls done.  Now we need to add one more layer of  insulation to the bottom of the heated concrete slab floors.  So close we can already taste the drywall dust! 

Light

One of the best features of Haus 8+10's open concept living design is light.  The many different ways that light streams into the homes is bright and welcoming already.  Imagine what they will feel like with painted walls, finished floors and millwork...From am environmental perspective, having ample daylight throughout the day via well thought out window placement in all parts of the home reduces energy needed to otherwise light spaces. 

Bathroom Framing

Most of the interior framing is complete now with bathtubs in place.  Kind of amusing to see a bathtub in the midst of a construction site but they have to go in now if you want a bathtub to fit. 

Unveiling

The tarps are off!Finally a view of what the finished Haus 8+10 will look like. We have to admit, we are pretty smitten with them.

The Journey of the Black Bricks cont.

We salvaged the beautiful over-sized charcoal black bricks from the original house on this site. Then they were moved, stacked, moved and moved again ending up on a pallet in the front yard. Now most of them have landed in their final resting spot. Some still remain to be used for a few other fun small details that you will have to watch for. Check out what we did with them... 

Soy & Silver

The first glimpses at the finished stucco colour of Haus 8+10 - soy & silver.Can't wait to see this unveiled from under 'big-white' the tarp! 

Under the White Tarp

The big green tarp covering the front of Haus 8+10 has now been replaced with a huge white one...Let's take a peak underneath to see what's happening

Are the Rough-in's Done yet?

Oh... sooo close now!  We have said this before, rough-in's take forever but they are essential to the long term quality of the homes functionality.  Better to take longer and get it right.

Water Services

Somethings are never as simple as you think they should be...When it came time to reconnect the water services (water & sewer) it was known where in the building site we needed to hook up to.  But where were the lines in the road?  Well thankfully the contractor had some big equipment to find it.  Digging up that much frozen road was no small feat. 

Spray Foam

What about the walls that are not poured concrete?  There were some wooden walls put up... how is the same superior level of insulation ensured (R-Value attained)?Simple, we use sprayfoam.  Choosing a soya based spray foam for environmental and indoor air quality reasons, the walls end up tightly sealed eliminating air infiltration that is typical in stick-framed walls and homes.  That spray foam insulative layer on the inside combined with the styrofoam layer underneath the stucco on the outside of the home ensures warm winter days and cool summer days. 

Front Sidewalks

Once the front sidewalks are shoveled it makes for a great view of the grand front walks up to the homes. 

Garage Doors

Groovy garage doors arrive just in time to ensure greater heat retention during the winter building season.  The upper row of window panels in the doors allows for sufficient natural daylight to significantly reduce the need for electric powered lighting when in the garage. 

Roughins Continue

Rough-in are always the slowest part of building any home... they just seem to take forever while nothing is really happening visually.  But then you stop and take a closer look... take a wander down to the mechanical room of the homes and you will see the web of plumbing and all the electrical branches being anchored back at the 'trunk of the homes tree', the mechanical room.  There is loads of progress... it's just a bit harder to see. 

Electrical Service

Cold weather and snow might slow things down but progress still gets made.A trench to bury electrical services from the rear alley power pole into the home is dug to keep the electricians moving.  For the couple of days that the trench is open temporary safety fences get installed. 

First Snow

Winter has come again and with it brought a lower hanging sun and of course the first snow.  Fortunately these homes can now be locked up and keep any generated heat inside.  The temporary Garage doors also help significantly with reducing heat loss.   

Finished Front Walks

The front walks are finished and just in the nick of time... the snow has already been falling and the rest of the site is getting muddy. Once it freezes solid the mud situation improves but that also means the projects need to be heated with a temporary heat source for the duration of winter if we want to keep crews comfortable and working. 

Rough-ins Continue

Rough-ins take forever.It's the stage of construction where nothing seems to be happening despite the buzz of activity on the site. You can start to see a web of wires emerge, black PVC and tin pipes in some walls, but beyond that not much is visibly changing.  The importance of the rough-ins; electrical, plumbing, heating, gas, solar, etc. is like the bones, circulatory, respiratory, nervous system, etc. to a human - essential to functioning. 

Bathtub Delivery

In every home the bathtubs are the first piece of 'finished' plumbing that get delivered so you can build the walls around the tubs.It's kind of exciting to catch a glimpse of the finished home yet stressful hoping that nothing happens to them during the next several months through the rough-in processes, drywall, paint and ultimately finishing work.