Inside jobs

This update is a little overdue but last week there was a lot of activity going on inside the house.

Stairs! Not the final ones of course, but much better for going up and down compared to the ladder we have been climbing. And notice that the alcove next to the stairs has been framed in now too.

In the tatami room area the drop ceiling has been framed in. It covers the ducts for the medium velocity forced air system.

And here's looking towards the bath area. It is worth saying that our project manager and builder have done a phenomenal job of dealing with a whole pile of design related issues, from figuring out where to place light switches, to adjusting door widths so that they will actually fit. There are so many little details involved in building houses that I never knew about. We feel quite lucky to have someone so knowledgeable and professional looking after these things.

Right now it all looks like a bunch of framing and sheathing but you can still get an idea of how it is shaping up. We're expecting windows from Dalmen to be delivered this week and that will be a major piece of the puzzle.

Ofuro and Slab

So there is a Japanese bath in our plan. Basically this means a wet room configuration where a shower and bath are placed next to each other in a tiled area so you can shower before you get in the tub to soak. Japanese bathrooms are super nice. We have nothing like it in North America; the Japanese companies are light years ahead in terms of bathroom products. Here's an example from a Japanese Toto catalogue.

When we went shopping for fixtures, Terry at Boone Plumbing put us onto this system called Maax Modulr. It's a similar idea, basically a shower floor and tub that lock together. Here's a picture of the Modulr wet room layout.

So with this setup you can make something very similar to the Japanese system baths and its pretty affordable. I would have liked a tiled floor with a linear drain but this option just had several advantages. Easy to install, affordable, all in one system with glass doors to match. I may try to make a thin wooden slat "floor" to lay over the shower pan, giving it a more earthy and custom look.

Outside of the bath is a sink area and separate water closet (toilet room).

Again this is a typical Japanese thing. We wanted this area to have a modern yet earthy vibe so one idea we had was to use a live edge wood slab for the countertop in this area. One day while we were browsing a home renovation store in Gatineau my wife pointed out these huge live edge Acacia slabs. Like, a single piece of wood literally the size of a dining room table, completely finished, boxed up, shrink wrapped and ready to take home and mount on legs (which they also had for sale). The whole affair would set you back less than a grand. Considering that tables of this sort go for a couple grand easily, and are almost always laminated from several boards, to get a table size slab from a single solid piece of wood for less than a grand is pretty crazy. We went back once or twice more and kept eyeing these slabs. It turns out they stocked some 24" deep slabs also, with a live edge on one side, perfect for a desk or countertop. I started thinking we had better jump on this soon so we went back today. The big table slabs were all gone but there were a couple of the counter slabs left. We looked at them both and liked the color on this piece so we scooped it up, loaded it in the back of the SUV and drove home with poor Chiyo scrunched in the front passenger seat, which was pushed as far forward as it could go. Not comfortable. But we have our slab! Check out this beauty.

Roughly Going

Bosch RedZone unit. We originally planned and budgeted for in floor radiant heat. However when the final hvac quotes came in from subcontractors  they were two to three times higher than the original budget. This meant we had to forego the radiant heat and use a forced air system. To make matters worse, a regular forced air system could not be used. We had to opt for a medium velocity system with smaller ducts. This was more expensive than the original hvac budget even. 

That said, there are a couple of advantages to the new system. It includes air conditioning (which we originally skipped for cost savings, planning to go with a wall mounted mini split system later) and a HEPA air filter that will improve air quality compared to a radiant system. It also gives us a few more options for flooring and simplifies (and hopefully speeds up) the construction process.

The basement has been mostly cleaned up and frost walls were framed up. Upstairs is mostly unchanged.

Since the beginning of the month, with everyone back from holidays, things have been moving along and we're starting to see things taking shape with the interior mechanical systems: plumbing, hvac and electrical. The rough plumbing (short of installing fixtures) was completed about two weeks ago, and the hvac duct work was roughed in about a week ago. Electrical was to be completed today but due to unexpected calls the electrician was only able to start today. 

The week of delays hurts us a lot because we can't just extend our lease for a week and we will end up paying another months rent in our temporary accommodation. Considering we're already four months behind our original schedule this is a hard pill to swallow but there's a chance we might make up for lost time if the drywall can be completed quickly.

The real hold up at this point is windows. Dalmen Windows and doors is the manufacturer of our custom Windows. They're a local manufacturer, and I like keeping our business in the Ottawa valley. Their product is nice looking, too. Its a hybrid window with aluminum exterior and vinyl interior. This makes for a really nice looking frame and it can be painted any color on both inside and out. The simulated divided lights are used to keep costs low and they look quite good. Unfortunately the manufacturer seems to be having trouble delivering on schedule, as the windows were supposed to be here this week, but are now scheduled to be delivered February 3rd.

Here's Rob the electrician going through to see where to put the wires.

Without windows some snow and ice have gotten in but now plastic is over the window openings to provide a bit of protection from the elements and there are propane heaters inside that have started to dry things out a bit.

Roof and such

I missed a couple of updates, but the big event two weeks ago was getting the roof trusses on. Today we had a look at last weeks progress. It basically amounted to getting the roof shingled, which happened last Monday, and some interior framing. On the logistics side there was a bit of running around figuring out what to do about two windows which were looking too big. Thankfully the builder's project manager caught it and got everything sorted out. She's really on the ball when it comes to organizing all the details.

The plumber bailed out so no plumbing got done last week as planned. It is planned for this week instead.

Here are a few of the latest pics!

More walls

Not much to report this week, except most of the interior walls are built on the second level. Now we can start to see the real shape and scale of things. My one concern after seeing it is the ofuro (Japanese bath) area. It seems smaller than expected, although still hard to tell with lumber laying around. I need to check the dimensions with the architect. 

Last week we found out the ensuing bathroom was in the wrong place by about a foot, so some new parts were ordered and that's being remedied this week as well, apparently.

Here are a couple photos of the second level.

Weekly update - upward!

It was neat to arrive Monday to see second story walls up! Visible progress has been slow, despite the fact that work was being done on the floor joists, which turned out to be rather complicated. The complicated floor structure is due partly to the 6" overhang at the back of the house. This means very few of the upstairs walls rest firmly upon the lower walls. To support overhangs on four sides, the joists must run in two different directions. Had we known this earlier we would have tried to avoid the 6" overhang at the back, which hardly seems necessary given the added complexity. I guess the benefit of the doubt must be given to the architect. Fitting the rooms in the footprint of a 1950's tiny bungalow was not easy.

Our excitement at seeing the second story walls framed in was dampened when we saw that only the front walls had been done, and then learning that the trusses needed to be re measured and due for delivery 10 days later than originally planned. Then, it was discovered today that a section of the new floor under the rear bathroom had been measured and built in the wrong place - off by a foot. Thankfully our builder realized the problem and has set about to correct it. He estimated a delay of about two days, and considering the trusses were delayed also, hopefully the timing will all come together next week for getting all the framing completed.

Last week it was also revealed that the design and construction of the stairs is not owned by the architect and his engineer. When stairs and railings are made of wood and typical framed walls, the building code covers them. For anything involving non standard materials and techniques, the city inspector may require an engineers stamp. And it's a good idea to have one, since we certainly want things to be sturdy and safe. There's a fair bit of figuring out to do though, regarding stairs, so I'll post more on that later.

Nobody said renovation was going to be easy. Quite the opposite!

Steel is up

In the last two days there's been some great progress, with the steel flush beam installed in the main floor, and two steel beams for the second floor in place. With the steel flush beam installed, the dip in the old floor is gone and we have the extra headroom in the basement. The steel on the second level is needed to support the stairwell area and the small indoor garden area beside it.

Weekly check-in: Materials update

November is here, and thankfully so are some of our materials. The steel beams for the house are in the yard and ready to go in today! The crew is making final preparations to the walls and prepping the basement. A 24' long steel "flush beam" is going into the basement, replacing the large spruce beam and metal jack posts of the original house. This will create a level ceiling with consistent height and no support posts in the middle of the room, making the basement a much nicer space.

Joists should be delivered tomorrow and framing of the second level should be underway within a few days. It's exciting to finally see some of the major structural pieces starting to happen.

Framing

Last week work was halted while the electricity got disconnected. In spite of the delay we began to see some progress on framing. The process is complicated by the fact that the height of the one remaining concrete block wall must be heightened and reinforced with rebar. At this point the rebar has been added and a good part of the first floor framing done. The plan for the week is to add three new rows of concrete block on the east wall and bring in the rest of the materials needed for framing the second level. Due to one of the joist suppliers shutting down, there have been delays in getting these materials as well.

Walls come tumbling down

The week got off to a pretty good start. With the roof gone, work started on enlarging window openings. It was soon discovered that after cutting openings in the concrete block walls, very little block was left over and it hardly made sense to keep. So the decision was made to simple remove the majority of the concrete block.

This was the view on Monday.

And on Tuesday.

The framing work started. Unfortunately on Wednsday the City came by and issued a stop work order due to concerns about the electrical connection still being hooked up. 

Seems like our neighbor called in to complain and try to make things difficult. Its silly because when this same individual began his own construction project next door and destroyed half our driveway, I didn't complain at all. Some people are just ignorant. Oh well, we should be back on track next week hopefully.

Pop the Top

Today the roof got removed! Nice weather for it, clear and cool. Hopefully it doesn't rain for a while now.

Next we have to raise the level of the walls, which are made out of concrete block, pour a "bond beam" with concrete and rebar around the top perimeter, and enlarge openings for the new windows.

Evidently rebar is in short supply in Ottawa right now. Hopefully it won't cause too many delays because the block work and bond beam needs to be done before the framing for the second storey and new roof can start.

With the new foundation poured, the backfill in, and the roof off, it looks like things are finally starting to progress in the upwards direction on our renovation.