Mud season

It's been a couple weeks since the last update. Last time we were waiting for drywall to start. At that time the drywall was already coming in five weeks behind schedule. The good news is the sheetrock is hung. The bad news is it still isn't mudded and the slab isn't poured. All this is contingent on getting some dry heat in the house. Fortunately the electrical mains are now connected. However when I last saw the panel it did not look connected inside.  The mains are hanging pretty close to where our back porch will be, too, so I'm pretty sure it'll have to be moved up.

Anyway. A couple weekends ago I went by the house to find snow melting off the roof and running down into the unfinished walk out basement area. I spent a few cold and damp hours trying to get plastic sheeting clamped up to direct some of the water away from the house. I was sick as a dog afterwards.

Most of the water puddled beside the house. 

Then it ran down into the walk out area. The plastic sheeting was to catch the roof runoff and direct it away from the house.

I hope nobody was planning to use these OSB boards for anything important.

I happened to have a submersible pump so I used that to get rid of some of the water that had pooled up by the door. Once the sump pump is connected there should be much better drainage.

Inside is looking better. The builder added a transom to house the top of the shoji screen sliding doors that will be in front of the tatami room. It doesn't house any mechanical systems or structural stuff, but it will hold up a track for the shoji screens to slide along.

It's a small house but the front office / spare room area is actually pretty spacious. The tall narrow windows are a nice touch by the architect, Linebox Studios. They have been moving toward commercial work and high end residential stuff, so our house is probably one of their smallest projects in Ottawa and one of the more conservative styles, but when you look at the house I think you can tell there is something special in the design. As the house begins to take shape we can begin to appreciate some of the architectural details. 

Seeing things finally beginning to take shape has given us a little more confidence that this will be a really special home when it's all said and done. As March slips by we sincerely hope the inside will be completed by the end of April as promised.