been a long time

I'll start off by saying I really underestimated the complexity of this construction. I really should have given 8 months as a target. It looks like we will be approximately 7 months. We have had quite cold weather for the last month (minus 27 degrees C  on several mornings.) We had a 1 week delay on the concrete floor pour due to the cold weather. Even then the equipment broke down twice on the day we poured. They had to come back the next day in -25 degrees C to finish it. It took 1 week to get the boiler running. As the concrete cured we had 100% humidity inside with -24 outside at night. Had to open many of the windows during the day. On the plus side, it has been sunny and the building warms up dramatically from all the solar.

On the good side we passed our final inspection with only the occupancy inspection remaining. We reorganized the work a bit. Initially I thought we would do the drywall before the concrete floors. We have done it the other way around. In addition, I might rethink which heating to energize first, the fan/coil units first and then the radiant floors, maybe. We also have installed all the doors prior to drywall so that the drywall can go right up against the door frame with no trim required. The siding will be complete this week. We tested the sprinkler and water systems all they are all leak free. The water will stay on to ensure the drywallers don't puncture the systems.

Christmas - New Years

Well, so much for the plans of moving in before the new year, but we are almost ready for drywall. The in floor hydronic heating will be installed on Jan 6th, drywall to start shortly after that. About 1/2 of the siding is complete and the City has installed a water meter and turned on the water. The interior stairs are under construction off site. They will be aluminum with a rubber tread.

moving along

The siding is being installed and we are getting ready for drywall, late Dec. Here is a pic with some of the siding

colder than normal but we are ready

The building is fully enclosed and we are starting the exterior rigid insulation with vapour barrier. The siding has arrived from Vancouver and will be delivered on site on Thursday. The large carport is fantastic for keeping materials out of the weather. Some drywall and mechanical has started and we have a 4.5 kw heater in the building to take the chill off.

Just to recap how the envelope works. We have to main zones in the building. The entry and stairwell will be kept at 5 degrees C in the winter. The stairwell has a very large southeast facing glazed area 1.8m x 9m. When the temperature gets over 5 degrees C we will start to cool it and store the heat in a domestic hot water preheat tank. Currently we are planning to use that heat only for domestic hot water as we expect the heating requirement for the building to be less than the hot water demand. The entry and stairwell are insulated in a conventional manner ( 6" batt for the most part). The wall between the stairwell and entry is also being treated as a conventional exterior wall. The other exterior walls are insulated with 2 1/2" batt inside the sheathing. The vapour barrier is on the outside of the sheathing, then 3" of rigid insulation, then tyvek, then strapping and siding. This way the building gets a full blanket of insulation and vapour barrier with no thermal breaks.

Here are some pictures with the leaves down.

Into November

The siding installer has been hired, the rigid insulation for the exterior should be here in 2 weeks, the rough in plumbing drainage is almost complete and the foam insulation is being done today and tomorrow. Rear stairs are in with railings. Just waiting to nail down the drywall installer and finalizing kitchen plans. Sylvia and I have picked the tile and the mechanical systems install will start next Monday.

One week later

The roof is complete, the underground hydro trenches, meter base and 4 electrical panels are in and approved. We started installing the rear exit stair and installed the landings. The plumbing and electrical rough in will start this week.

Almost have a roof

The roofers were able to finish the 3 small roofs before the monsoon set in for this week. The natural gas has been connected to the building, thank you Aecom, it was a bit struggle to get you there but you came through. The trenches for the hydro have been dug by me in the rain yesterday with the help of a machine (see below). The tree has been trimmed. The weather looks good to finish the main roof next week. We ordered the siding and have contracted the main insulation installer. A couple of exterior windows and doors need to be installed and the interior framing will be done by next Tuesday. The rough ins while start soon. We are now about 2 to 3 weeks behind the schedule I had hoped for, but we are still on budget.