Worry not, I am still alive. Indeed, this is certainly a record for the blog… It’s been well over a month since I posted an update, and for that I must apologize. I usually spent some time on the weekend to update the site, but lately my weekends have been spent running around handling errands for the house. Who would have thought building a house would get in the way of updating a blog about building a house. Shocking, I know.

A lot has happened since my previous post—the brickwork has been completed, trim has been installed, the kitchen has been installed, everything has been painted, etc.—but in the spirit of maintaing focus for each post, I’ll stick to a single topic today. Tiling.

All of our tile was purchased from Saltillo, with the exception of the floor tile in the master bathroom. The hexagon carrara marble (pictured above) was actually purchased months ago when we stumbled upon a 40% off sale at Ciot. At $11/sqft, that was still outside of our budget, but Jess had wanted that style from the beginning… and the steep discount made it a little easier to swallow. So purchase it we did. Beyond the hexagon mosaic floor, we went with a polished Fiorito stone for the shower walls and tub surround. The stone is primarily white, with some grey veining and a hint of brown. The grey matches mosaic floor and a single random-brick carrara inlay that wraps the shower wall at about 4”. The brown touches should really bring everything together as it’ll compliment the walnut vanity that’s being made for us.

We also went with a Nuheat radiant floor heating system… although, can someone explain why Nuheat thought they could use the Coda application icon and nobody would notice? For shame.

Ok, so we definitely splurged a little lot in the master bathroom… so we needed to simplify things just a bit in the shared bathroom. The floor is a white penny tile ($6.75/sqft), and the tub surround is a 4×12 white subway tile ($2.32/sqft). For a little additional character, we added a little single inlay of 1/4 polished bluestone bricks. Now, these suckers cost $17/sqft, but luckily we didn’t need many of them.

The main floor is primarily hardwood, but the foyer and powder room floor is a beautiful 16×24 filled/honed Travertino. We had considered a number of options but at $9/sqft, the Travertino was a steal in my opinion. It has a warm, cream colour and the complex veining gives it a lot of character.

In the basement, we had toyed with the idea of stained concrete, but in the ended decided to finish the laundry and mechanical rooms with a simple and inexpensive ($3.38/sqft) 12×24 ashgrey tile. It certainly looks better than stained concrete, although the size of the tile made sloping the floors a little difficult.

The basement bathroom has a similar style to the shared bathroom upstairs, with a 1×1 white hexagon mosaic for the floors and a 3×6 white bevelled subway tile for the tub surround. In retrospect though, I’m not sure we’d do the bevelled tile again—It looks great on the wall, but really messy in the corners. The bevel creates uneven gaps where we cut pieces, which are further exacerbated by the grey grout we used. Granted, it’ll be behind a shower curtain in a room that won’t get much use, so it’s not the end of the world.

I must admit, choosing the species of hardwood was actually quite difficult for us. If you haven’t had the luxury of walking into a hardwood store (or looking online for that matter), you’ll quickly discover that there are thousands of options to choose from. For us, we wanted something that was strong, aesthetically pleasing and cost effective.

We were pretty sure we wanted a solid wood that would be finished on-site instead of a pre-finished product, although there was certainly some debate about it. The pre-finished products are usually stronger than their counterparts, but you have to like the particular finish options (which we didn’t). The pre-finished material was obviously more expensive, but the installation costs were cheaper… so comparatively, it was pretty much a wash.

From an aesthetic standpoint, we considered walnut… however it’s neither strong nor cost effective, so we abandoned it pretty quickly. We looked at bamboo as well, which is both strong and sustainable, but neither of us like the look of it. We also considered maple, which is very strong but has a pretty plain grain pattern. We were also warned a few times that maple doesn’t stain particularly well because of its density. It’s obviously workable, but you have to accept the imperfections that may result.

In the end, we went with a 3 1/4” quarter sawn white oak, which was installed on-site and stained a darkish “cappuccino” brown. On the Janka hardness scale, white oak is a 1360, which puts it more or less in the middle of the pack when it comes to general strength.

Quarter sawn refers to the way the material is cut, in which the logs are first cut into quarters before being cut into individual boards. The main benefits being a 50% increase of stability against warping and an improved grain aesthetic (in my opinion at least). From what I understand, this method doesn’t produce any more waste than plain sawing although it’s more labour intensive, which obviously adds to the cost.

It’s been 222 days since we began construction, and we finally have drywall. I’m actually shocked how quickly everything was installed—The insulation and vapour barrier was delivered on March 21st and subsequently installed on the 31st. Drywall was delivered on April 1st, and installation was completed this afternoon. They still have to mud, tape and sand everything, but for some reason I thought it would take a little more than 3 days to install the boards.

The installer’s efficiency has been quite remarkable and they seem to be leaving very little waste as well. I originally didn’t understand why they’d install 2 boards, skip a spot and then install another 2… but after noticing it in various places around the house, I realized they were leaving the odd sizes until they had leftover pieces that could be cut to fit. I’m also impressed their craftsmanship… These guys clearly understand how to measure and use a router.

For the most part we’ve used 1/2” drywall throughout, although we have 5/8” type X board along the south wall (which is close to the lot line) and Durock cement board around the tubs and shower.

All in all, I’m quite happy with how everything looks so far. I was certain that the rooms would all feel smaller once the drywall was installed, but thankfully that’s not the case.

I’ve posted a number of photos here.

Our ICF foundation has 2 5/8” of foam on the exterior, which created a minor aesthetic challenge for us. To ensure everything was flush once we added the cladding, we needed to strap the exterior walls out to compensate. The ideal solution would have been a continuous layer of rigid foam (for complete thermal break), however our contractor was concerned about the weight of the siding and insisted on a different approach. Instead, we’ve installed strapping at 16” on center, with rigid foam in between. We’ll then be adding a layer of plywood and wrapping everything in Tyvek. This should provide more than enough stability to affix the siding correctly.

Speaking of which, we really need to finalize our approach here. We’ve been leaning towards fir siding that’s stained with Sansin, but we’ve also been considering a pre-painted solution, such as Gemthane, Maibec, or Cape Cod. Aesthetically, we want to ensure the grain pattern/texture is still visible and we’re planning on a darker colour (probably dark brown). I’m favouring the stain because I love the style it’ll deliver, but I’m fearful of how well it will weather. Sansin promises a 25 year warranty if the stain in applied according to their directions, but still… I’m not 100% sold on it. Regardless, I think a wood siding will compliment the modern design by giving it a warmer, more traditional feel.

Beyond the wood siding, we’re planing on natural cedar soffits They’ll run along the bottom of the various overhangs, and I think they’ll really pop against the darker siding. Similarly, we’ve selected a “sandy” coloured brick for the front, which has a bit of brown and a bit of orange it. All in all, I think everything will tie together nicely.

At least that’s the plan.

When it comes to insulating a roof, there aren’t many options… and in the case of a flat roof, the options are even fewer. A traditionally pitched roof has a large ventilated space that sits between the insulation (typically cellulose or fiberglass) and the top of the roof. With a flat roof, there obviously isn’t room for the same ventilated space and you’re forced to take a slightly different approach. While it is possible to install a ventilated option, we opted to make the entire roof cavity airtight with R40 worth of BASF Walltite.

According to their website, Walltite is “is a polyurethane insulation/air barrier system intended for institutional, commercial, industrial and residential use. It provides a gap-free, airtight, monolithic envelope of low permeability that adheres tenaciously to virtually all surfaces, smooth or irregular.”

There are actually 2 kinds of polyurethane spray foam; Open-cell (or 1/2 pound), expands to about 150 times its original volume, however it is not considered a vapor barrier and only R3.6 per inch. This means you need a lot of it to achieve the R-Value you desire, plus you need to then install and tape 6 mil plastic as the vapor barrier. Closed-cell (or 2 pound) expands to about 40 times its original volume, is considered a vapor barrier and is about R5.5 per inch.

On the day of installation (which has to be above -10°C), a crew of sprayers arrived at the house, covered everything that wasn’t being sprayed and promptly filled every void with the bright blue foam. Apparently this stuff doesn’t come off once it’s applied and the last thing we wanted was blue stains on your newly-installed windows.

The garage ceiling was sprayed to R30, including the main HVAC stack and ductwork that runs along the inside wall. The floors of the exterior overhangs were both sprayed to R40, while the joist ends were sprayed to R30. We also sprayed all of the steel posts to ensure a thermal break was achieved.

In an ideal world, we would have sprayed everything… however, our pocketbook disagreed ever so slightly. In the end, we settled on a compromise of sorts and went for a mix of Walltite, Roxul and 2” of rigid exterior foam.

Sure, things slowed down as we approached Christmas, but with New Years behind us, there’s definitely been some action at the house and it appears we’ve fully awoken from the holiday-induced coma.

The plumbing is well underway, with most of the drains and vents already in place. As I mentioned back in May (I can’t believe it was that long ago), we’ll be running PEX throughout the house as well. As I suspected, we’ll be running a hybrid-manifold setup, with dedicated lines running to some fixtures and branch runs connecting the rest. If all goes according to plan, everything should be completed in the next few weeks.

The last of the windows arrived on Friday, which means we’ll finally be able to get the house entirely closed in. With the amount of snow and rain we’ve had this season, I really wish we had installed those windows before the holidays, but we decided to hold off and wait until everything was fully framed before we placed the final order. It’s a good thing too, because the dimensions of the large clerestory window changed once the framing was complete… and you can’t exactly return a custom-ordered window of that size.

The ductwork has been installed on the first and second floor, but there’s still plenty of work to be done in the basement. All of the components have been measured and ordered, so it’s just a matter of installation at this point. Oh, and I suppose we’ll actually have to install the various pieces of equipment as well… not that it actually matters at the moment. We can’t fire everything up until we have the gas connected and at the moment, we have to wait something like 40 days until Enbridge will come and hook us up. We anticipated a delay, but I’m shocked it’s going to take this long as we applied for our hookup weeks ago (well before the holiday if I’m not mistaken).

Things have been a little slow around the house this past week (‘tis the season, right?), so there hasn’t been much progress of late, however I did manage to climb up on the roof again to take a closer look at the completed roof and sun tunnel installation. As I mentioned previously, we have two Velux _“Rigid Low Profile Sun Tunnel Skylights”_ in the house, one in the walk-in closet and another in the en-suite bathroom.

The instructions state that they’re intended for pitched roofs only (between 15° and 60°), but they work fine so long as they’re raised up and away from possible snow buildup. In our case, they are installed on a box that stands about a foot off the roof, with the waterproof membrane covering the sides and the factory flashing on top. We had to bend the flashing to properly fit the box (which caused the paint to chip off at the edges), but everything appears to fit nicely. We’ll have to repair and paint the flashing later so it’ll standup to the weather well, plus we obviously need to caulk everything too.

The tunnels themselves are actually pretty rudimentary, made up of a highly-reflective metal tube that connects into the dome on the roof. The tube extends down through the roof and once the drywall has been installed, a defuser is installed into the bottom, flush with the ceiling.

At $270 each, they’re relatively inexpensive and I’m quite impressed with the amount of light they let into each room. However, that extra light is a little concerning given its proximity to the bedroom (I’d prefer there wasn’t a lot of light spilling into the bedroom first thing in the morning). To combat this issue, we’ve installed a pocket door at the entrance of the walk-in closet that will allow us to blackout the room. I’m all for the extra natural light… but only when we’re actually awake.

We began weatherproofing the roof this week, despite a continued beatdown from Mother Nature. The sky has been perpetually grey and in between the snow and rain, we’ve been rolling out and torching down a SBS modified bitumen membrane (I know you want to say that 5 times fast).

We’re using a product called TorchFlex, which is described as:

A strong reinforcing mat (polyester or fiberglass) which is coated with SBS modified bitumen. Styrene-Butadiene-Styrene (SBS) is a rubber-based chemical that endows the asphalt with some amazing qualities: superior elasticity, excellent moisture resistance, and exceptional cold weather flexibility. The end result is a long-lasting, durable membrane which can be applied to a wide variety of surfaces on roofs of almost any shape or design.

Installation seems pretty straightforward—The roof was first sprayed with an asphalt primer and then covered with sheets of fire-retardant protector board. Two layers of the TouchFlex were then rolled out and affixed by “heat-welding the membrane, fusing it to the protector board and using the same process to seal the seams.” Once that’s all complete, all of the aluminum flashing will be installed and everything will be caulked.

For aesthetic reasons, we’ve also foregone traditional eavestroughs in favour of a parapet with hoppers (or flow control roof drains). These have built-in strainers that will prevent large debris from clogging them, further reducing the likelihood of a leak. The rear downspouts will be connected to a rainwater tank (probably a Rainwater HOG) which will be used for irrigation in the backyard, and the other downspouts will direct their runoff to an underground drainage pit. This pit is also connected to our weeping tile, with the sole purpose of capturing the excess rainwater and allowing it to naturally dissipate into the soil (as opposed to, oh, running back into our house… which has happened to a few or our neighbours). Apparently we have incredibly dense soil that doesn’t absorb water particularly well.

We had also considered a green roof early on, however it was FAR more expensive than we expected. Beyond the plants themselves, you also have to account for the added waterproofing requirements, plus the increased structural demands (waterproofing and drainage layers, plus the soil, plus the plants, plus the water they hold). And let’s not forget that the plants need to be watered on a semi-regular basis, which meant we needed roof access. There are a few lower maintenance solutions, but they were all something we simply couldn’t swing (read: afford).

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 drainage is a must. This all sounds great, but what’s the difference?

Concrete Block
Let’s start with the quick and dirty solution. Block foundations are constructed by arranging a series of concrete blocks on top one another, each being held together with mortar. They are constructed in a straightforward manner, don’t require forming, require little maintenance, and are pretty much available everywhere. As a result, a talented mason can build the foundation relatively cheaply and quickly.

However, it’s not uncommon for moisture to weep through the walls and cause all sorts of problems. If improperly waterproofed, I suppose each approach is vulnerable to moisture in one way or another, but block construction is especially susceptible because of the amount of mortar used and the porous nature of the blocks themselves.

Poured Concrete
Poured walls are also quite common, however their construction is a little more involved when compared to a block wall. Before the concrete can be poured, temporary forms must first be erected. These forms create a hollow structure in which the concrete is poured, and they remain in place for about a day until the concrete has started to cure. As a result, labour costs are greater as you’ll need a crew to erect and dismantle the forming, plus you’ll need to coordinate the concrete delivery and pour.

Poured walls do result in a stronger structure (so long as the concrete mix is correct), so you can typically go deeper than you could with a block wall. Definitely a plus if you’re looking for higher basement ceilings.

Insulated Concrete Forms
We opted for ICFs, which are somewhat of a hybrid in that they require both blocks and poured concrete. According to the trusty Wiki, ICFs are described as a “stay-in-place formwork for energy-efficient, cast-in-place reinforced-concrete walls”.

There are a variety of companies that offer a variety of ICF solutions, but they all basically work the same way—Foundation walls are erected out of reinforced polystyrene foam blocks, and those blocks are then filled with concrete. Rebar is often inserted or integrated into the block for added strength, and temporary shoring is required for additional support during the pour.

ICFs are considered the “greener” solution because of the vast benefits they afford; even temperature, fewer drafts, fewer hot and cold spots, consistent floor-to-ceiling temperature, noise reduction, strength, and durability. But the real beauty of ICFs is the inherent insulation value that comes with the foam. There appears to be lot of varying opinions on the matter, but if the thermal mass and air-sealing effects of the concrete are considered, it’s argued that the effective R-value of ICFs is somewhere around 40+.

ICF foundations will ultimately cost more than other two solutions, but you’ll make up the difference in materials and labour costs as you don’t have to frame or insulate the basement (drywall affixes directly to furring strips built into the blocks), plus the energy savings that result from the higher R-values.

Once again, the greener solution costs more up front… however, it also appears to be a smarter investment with all things considered.

Photos via finehomebuilding.com & Flickr

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 of soil, however we’re going to approach things a bit differently.

Because our foundation will be built with ICFs, we’re planning on utilizing a “deck” system that will integrate a structural concrete slab directly into the foundation itself. This means we’ll be able to pour concrete for the foundation walls and the garage floor at the same time. When everything cures we’ll have a structurally sound garage floor capable of supporting the weight of a car, plus a completely insulated 10×20 space below it.

The decking system is pretty straightforward to install—Once the ICF blocks have been assembled, the foam deck panels are placed across the span that makes up the garage floor. These panels are then supported from below with temporary shoring and reinforced with rebar.

Obviously this approach is going to cost a little more, what with the additional concrete and rebar and foam panels and labour, but we’ll be gaining an additional 200 sqft of space that would have otherwise been inaccessible. If you take a look at our floor plans, you’ll see that we’ll have a very generous “study” and additional storage down there… which I’ll say is a decent use of that space, no?

For those itchin’ for the nitty gritty of how a system like this is installed, I also dug up a PDF aptly named Pouring A Structural Slab that explains it all.