Construction weeks 26 & 27: windows and air barrier

We have windows! The Hermann’s installed those that could be man-handled and lifted into place by hand on week one, and the remainder on week two with the help of a crane.

Getting the house sealed in and weather proofed is holding us back at this point so it feels good to have them in place. And damn they’re fine. Feels like a legit house now. It’s a thing of beauty.

The crew also finished off the wall cavity insulation and started installing the air barrier, which is a layer of OSB (oriented strand board -- comes in sheets like plywood) that gets taped at all the seams with a special Siga membrane tape.

And some photos:

Window delivery

Our glass

Mark and Andreas trying to give high 5s while holding up a 2000 lb window in place

The thickness of our triple-pane kitchen window. NO backyard baseball games.

Kitchen window install -- Justin and Andreas

Rear elevation avec les windows

Front elevation with temporary door

The loft window lift-and-slide

What else of news?

There have been some headaches around getting our second construction mortgage withdraw because our unconventional build is being treated as conventional. We hope things have been ironed out, but have yet to receive the monies in our bank. This is a longer blog post for another time. Argh.

Now our shell is 95% complete. There are still a few items outstanding:

• our attic and flat roof need insulating (blown-in cellulose)

• some wood fibreboard is missing on the outside (because of how the walls were lifted)

• some weather-proof taping to be done on the seams of the wood fibre board

We need to start making decisions ASAP on a lot of things. Our kitchen will need 10–12 weeks at the factory, which means we are already behind the 8-ball. Our lighting and plumbing fixtures need sorting too. We have yet to make these decisions and already decision fatigue has set in.

If I’ve made light of building a home, in any way, you have been misguided. It’s not for the weak of heart or will. One the one hand, I’m ecstatic to see our home coming together and to reach these huge milestones. One the other, there is still so much to do. It’s a massive source of stress. In some ways though, it feels like the homestretch (before the homestretch). And when I walk into our home, I am in complete awe. I love it so much, which definitely helps to ease the stress. Looking forward to ticking some key decisions off the list.

Construction week 24 & 25: lots of snow shoveling

We had record snow fall in Ottawa last week. Apart from shoveling, here's a quick summary from the last couple weeks:

• roof sheathing, membrane, and metal roof 
• truss blocking
• window bucks installed, reinforced and double-checked for size
• insulation started

Earlier today, Mark gave our first public tour of the house. We had around 15 people brave the construction site and cool temps to listen to how our house is coming together. Thanks to all who came out. Hope you learned something.

Here's Mark introducing our home on the tour.

This upcoming week, Mark will finish insulating. And our windows are getting installed. EeK!!!

Update - Upcoming house tours

***UPDATE*** Due to the extreme cold forecast for Saturday Feb. 13th we have decided to postpone the tour scheduled for that date. Wind chill is expected to be -32 and we don't have insulation in yet! Still planning to offer the tour scheduled for Sunday Feb. 21st, so please sign up for then.

 —

Mark has offered to give tours of our place over the next couple weeks. If you're a Passive House junkie, architecture-enthusiast, nosey neighbour or just plain curious, come on out. We're happy and excited to show it off. The house is in Hintonburg, a neighbourhood in downtown Ottawa.

Please sign-up using this form.

If you can't make either of the first dates, have no fear – if there's good interest, we will continue to conduct them periodically throughout the build. Just make sure to sign-up on the form to let us know you're interested. And we'll email out the dates so you won't miss out.

Construction week 23: roof trusses

Mark did a pretty great job explaining the roof truss install, which happened this past Tuesday. Thanks to Mark Greenacre for helping out the team. With the remaining days, they built additional frame walls to support the trusses and added the cross bracing to keep it square.

This upcoming week, they'll be finishing the roof prep and installing the roof sheathing. The roofers are due to arrive Wednesday! We are going with a black/grey metal roof, which will be seen by no one.

I had a couple concerns with the metal roof at first:

1. Would it attract lightening bolts?
2. And would the dark colour add to the cities 'heat island effect'?

I'm glad to report, through diligent googly research, that I need not be worried, in either case.

If you're flying your drone overhead, our roof will look something like this:

Persiscope(s): We have a roof

Yesterday was a big day. It started bright an early with the crane set-up on site. It was there to haul up and help install our roof trusses. Mark was in and out throughout the day and broadcast a few times with progress updates. Here they are:

Construction week 22: wall framing complete

The girls are happy (and toasty) in these walls.

At long last, our house has been framed in. (We still need a roof over our heads — a minor matter.) It feels good to have that massive task behind us. Our builders are, no doubt, also quite happy about this.

Our walls were no ordinary walls; they were an experiment/idea Mark had as to what they needed to be and how they needed to come together. This wall phase took a couple weeks longer than anticipated by Mark. There were bumps along the road, and a definite learning curve, but the team hit their groove, in spite of the bone-chilling temps, and put together one helluva house shell. We were fortunate to have such an open-minded and capable team, headed by Justin at Cornelis Grey.

We've rented a crane, for this coming Tues, to lift our roof trusses up so the roof can get going this week. Yay! And we're starting to line up tasks to follow. Windows, insulation, siding... Not to mention a whole slew of decisions requiring our attention, e.g. cabinetry, fixtures, flooring... There's no shortage of things to do.

And here are some shots of the shell from today.

Hello walls

Welcome inside

In the kitchen

The wander window in the 'void'. Only 19'10" high (HA!)

In the loft

Looking towards the back of the house

Rooftop patio

Construction week 20: 3rd floor framing

There's snow in the house. We always liked the idea of bringing the outside - in. But this is taking it too far. Wah-wah.

Our second floor (third if you include the walk-out basement) has been framed in. The cold temps have definitely come with challenges. We're using an adhesive on the edges of the wood fibre board that needs to be warm to be malleable. So we've rented space heaters to keep a small section of the basement warm for the adhesives. And there's snow on everything.

It's so bloody cold. Went out there for half an hour last week and my toes almost fell off. Props to construction workers in this city. It's unreal. And then I go sit in my cushy, warm office job, feeling slightly unworthy. Respect.

We took some friends on a tour of the house this past weekend. They had their children with them. The five year old said, "Mina's house looks like Elsa's* castle because it's tall and there was snow inside".

* For those of you who don't have a child, Elsa is a snow queen from Disney's film Frozen.

The third floor joists should be going in this week. In the meantime, Mark and I are trying to work out some design details for the inside, of which there are many. He's working on our kitchen & bath layouts so we can get them priced out to make decisions. We're agreeing on all the big picture items, so hopefully that bodes well for when we have to start selecting finishes.

He's also working on our HRV design. Where the fresh air and exhaust vents will be located. It's fascinating stuff. I'm working on a post with fancy visuals to help illustrate the concepts. I'm also doing a bit of research in to automated home technologies – ways to make the house smart. If anyone has any knowledge in this, please share! Just because the house is low-tech (crudely-speaking), doesn't mean other areas of the house have to be. Lights that learn? Maybe.

Dwindling winter daylight. Pano of the second floor.

Rear elevation.

Views of the city beyond the tree and rooftops.

Periscope winter framing

The build has been frozen over the holidays, both literally and figuratively. So has my writing. Admittedly, I've been feeling frustrated that we weren't able to race ahead while the going was good (with the weather). I had hopes and dreams to be closed in before Christmas. Alas. There's a learning curve to be had with our wall system. And we've only had 2 or 3 guys out working most days. The second floor framing is coming along nicely now. We're full steam ahead in the new year. Whoooot! Attempting to stay warm and carry on.