Category Archives: Construction

Tree Protection

One the reasons we were originally attracted to our home was the large maple tree that sits in the front yard. It’s quite large and quite beautiful, but we’ve come to realize that a large maple tree equals mountains of … Continue reading

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Poured Foundation

It’s been a few weeks, and we’ve made quite a lot of progress on the house. We had evaluated a number of manufacturers, but ultimately decided upon Nudura for our ICF foundation. Paul Stevens and his crew from Stevens Construction … Continue reading

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Demolished

Like a circus trainer guiding an elephant, a truck pulled up in front of our house yesterday with a massive excavator in tow. A crowd formed across the street with passerby’s stopping to watch as the excavator was backed off … Continue reading

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Permission Granted

It took twenty two days longer than we anticipated, but the City of Toronto has finally issued us our building and demolition permits. The house has been sitting vacant for more than a month now, but she’s finally coming down … Continue reading

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Construction Drawings

Our construction drawings were submitted to the city a few weeks ago, so we’re in a bit of a holding pattern while we wait for our building permits. This process usually takes around 10 business days, so we’re expecting we’ll … Continue reading

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Lines of Communication

When compared to the construction itself, I suppose this may seem somewhat trivial, but I believe communication and collaboration are critical factors that shouldn’t be overlooked. Especially in the design stages of the project. Working with a constrained timeline has … Continue reading

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Fawning Over Foundations

When it comes to foundation construction in Canada, there are essentially 3 methods to consider: Block, Poured or ICF. Each is made with concrete, they all must be constructed on top of a concrete footing, and proper waterproofing, insulation and … Continue reading

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Under The Garage

I don’t believe this is particularly common, but we’re planning on building two extra rooms in our basement by excavating the space under our garage. In a typical garage, the floor is simply a concrete slab that sits on top … Continue reading

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Day by Day

After spending the better part of 2 hours trying to craft this into a witty and/or clever post, I’ve come to realize there isn’t a particularly glitzy way to spin this, so I’m just going to cut right to the … Continue reading

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Energy Consultation

As part of the design process, we’ve also begun working with an energy consultant who will help us define the HVAC system for the new house. The first step in defining the system is determining what the heating and cooling … Continue reading

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