Day 84 - starting interior partition layout

Post recovered by Kevin! Many thanks, Kevin!!

Now that the joists and the plywood support for the concrete floor are in place, it is time to layout the interior partitions and prep for the concrete pour. The interior partitions are simply marked on the plywood with a marker, this is because the radiant heat tubing is not installed under a partition - which would simply waste heat and potentially risk puncturing the tubing when the partitions are fastened down.


The wood is the form for the edge of the porch. The outer ICF panel is used to hold in the concrete for the floor. However, since the inner panel is not in place, there are no webs to give the wall any rigidity. The steel stud is used for that purpose, and also to help hold the forms straight.


This is the holding tank that we had installed for the future basement bathroom. We are having this roughed in right now, as it will be much more expensive (and disruptive too) to have this done later.


This is a view of the basement. You can see the steel joists with the roll bars holding up the plywood. The finished height in the basement - under the joists - will be almost 8' (7'11').


This is the view of the underside of the porch - or the cold storage room, in other words. There are two doors from the basement to the cold storage area. Freda and I both really like squash and are hoping to be able to buy them at harvest time and then keep them in here to enjoy throughout the winter.


If you turned around when you are facing the future front door, this is the view you would see from the porch. Isn't this a beautiful sight!?!

Day 83 - triple-H means "time for ice cream!"

Post recovered by Loan! Many thanks, Loan!!


Another hot-hazy-humid day in Ottawa -- the humidex today was 43C, or 109F. Because it was so hot, Freda and I went out to the site with a jug of cold water and some ice cream. This is Freda holding the supplies for the ice cream break.

It was hotter than Florida again today.

L-R: Brian, Freda, Dave, Chris, and Steve.

The crew enjoying an ice cream break (especially Steve!).


Getting back to work after the ice cream break. The plywood sheathing is virtually all installed on the roll bars.


The mark of a true plumber . Two of the plumber's crew were working in the basement, breaking out the rock for a holding tank for the rough-in basement bathroom. I offered them some ice cream, and it was hard to talk them into taking it!

Visit from John and Jean

Post recovered by Loan! Many thanks, Loan!!


This is John (Freda's brother) and his wife Jean. John and Jean live in Kingston and came up for a visit and a swim in the lake. Today the humidex was 40C (that's 104F). John and Jean loved the land and our dog Tawny, we always have a good time when they come up.

Day 80 - Steel joists in place

Post recovered by Loan! Many thanks, Loan!!

This shot shows the approximate view of what we will see from the office window. Of course, the construction materials will not be there when all is completed.

This scene is from the office area, looking out over the main floor deck of the house. The gap with the grey I-beam is where the stairs will be located.

This shows the joists in the main part of the house.
The joists are held a fixed distance apart by the roll bars. The roll bars also serve to provide support for the plywood which will hold up the concrete for the floor while it is being poured and curing. Once the concrete has cured, the roll bars and the plywood will be removed. The plywood will be reused for the roof sheathing. Once again - very little construction waste. The roll bars are rented and will be returned and reused.

These are the joists that will support the porch. Note the front edge of the concrete (right side of picture) has been ground down somewhat where the lip of the joists rests. This is so the porch deck will have a slight slope to permit drainage.

Day 73 - tour of the site with Charles, Eric and Debra

Post recovered by Loan! Many thanks, Loan!!

Today, we visited the site with Charles, our builder, and some friends Debra Yee and Eric Sendel. Charles showed us the result of all the hard work that has gone into the building so far.

Charles explaining some of the details of pouring concrete into ICF to Eric and Freda. It is an amazing accomplishment that all of these walls are straight! Truly a testament to the craftsmanship of the crew. Brilliant!

Debra, Freda, and Eric standing on the WASS in the area where the master bath will be located on the main level. This will be the utility area in the basement.

This is the view of the house after the first concrete pour. You can see the concrete is visible on the brick ledge. It took this photo at a slight angle so you can see the various walls. (These walls are all level. Hard to believe but this is atypical for new house construction.)

The garage floor will extend over the notches in the wall for the garage doors. The grade will go up slightly towards the house, which will give good drainage.

This is one of the pockets for the steel beam. The end of the beam rests on the concrete, which carries the load down to the footings. This pocket is at the corner of the solarium wall by the great room.

Freda and Eric, on the pile of rock behind the house. Photo courtesy of Debra Yee.

Debra and Freda on the rock formations at the back of the property. This rock looks like cake icing that hardened. In fact, it was formed like that - it was mud that was converted into rock over time by pressure, likely from the glaciers that covered this land some millenia ago. There are some geologists that want us to apply to get this certified as ANSI (Area of Natural and Scientific Interest). There may be some tax incentives for that...

Day 70 - Numbers again (updated)

Post recovered by Loan! Many thanks, Loan!!

Concrete was poured yesterday. 68 cubic metres.

So... the permanent weight of this building (excluding temporary bracing) so far...
* 193 tonnes of crushed stone (drainage under footings and basement slab)
* 68 cubic meters of concrete @ 2.37 tonnes / m^3, for a total of 398 tonnes.

Cured concrete weighs 148 lbs per cubic ft, which is 3,996 pds per cubic yd -- about 2 tons (a ton usually means a "short ton", or 2,000 pounds). In metric, 1 cubic meter is 1.30795062 cubic yards (according to Google). This means 1 cubic meter weighs 2.37 tonnes (1 tonne = 1000 kg). For more details, check here.

For the moment, I exclude the weight of the foam and webs, wood to build frames around doors and windows, and the rebar. Off all of the parts excluded. the rebar is the bit that has any significant mass. There is very little wood and styrofoam has very little mass.

So.. the total of crushed stone and concrete is 193 + 398 = 591 tonnes. So the permanent part of the building weighs 1.3 million pounds (with the above exclusions). I guess you could argue that the crushed stone is not part of the building, although I include it as it is required to give proper support and drainage to the structure.

Looking forward...
Weather... poured rain all day today, more forecast for tomorrow.
Next steps... strip the WASS, add more crushed stone to level basement floor, lift the structural steel into place (not yet arrived) and install the Hambro floor joists.

Day 65 - ready for the concrete pour #2 (basement walls)...

Post recovered by Gerry! Many thanks, Gerry!!

Friday June 10th, 2005

The scaffolding system. The string is to align the walls, keep them straight. The scaffolding reminds me of the battlements on castles, specifically the parapet...


Looking at the garage and master bedroom suite from the rear.


The Hambro steel joists

Day 63 - Canam-Hambro joists arrived!

Post recovered by Gerry! Many thanks, Gerry!!

The steel joists for the main floor arrived today.

And the sun shade blew down in some of the strong winds we've had recently, so I need to reinforce some parts of the frame so it will stand up.

Plan is to pour the basement walls on Friday. Today's forecast for Friday is high of 30C, with a 40% chance of thunderstorms.

Hopefully pictures later...

Day 61 - it's not the heat, it's the humidity...

Post recovered by Gerry! Many thanks, Gerry!!

It was 31C today, and 36C humidex rating! I hope the crew had sufficient water to stay hydrated!

Freda and I popped out to the site on Sunday to erect a sun shade, to give the crew a place where they can get out of the sun. Of course, there's also the lake they can take a swim in to cool off.

Day 58 - meeting some sub-contractors

Post recovered by Gerry! Many thanks, Gerry!!
Friday June 3rd.

Today I went out to the site to meet the plumber, electrician, and heating/HVAC sub-contractors. These guys have all worked with Charles before on ICF buildings, so that is good.

First, the plumber Kevin and I chatted briefly. We have most of the fixtures selected, but are not quite finalized on the fixtures for the powder room. We will need to get that finalized soon by the time the first floor is ready for partition layout. After this, Kevin and Charles discussed the technicalities of prepping the basement rough-in for a future bathroom.

Next, the electrician Dave and I discussed the electrical. First, we discussed the electrical panel - we want a generator ready type of panel, so we can run our generator in the case of power failure. Then we talked about plugs, lights, etc. We don't have an official electrical plan, so Dave is going to get the plan derived from the building code (that Charles submitted to get the building permit) and we will go from there. We are having pot lights in the hallway, great room, and kitchen, so the biggest question for us is the number of pot lights we need in those locations. Dave will call us and come over to discuss the plans in a week or so.

Dave the electrician

Finally, Luc the heating/HVAC guy came by. We talked about the fuel source (propane) and heating zones. We need to think about that somewhat. Charles and Luc discussed the layout of the boiler, valves, etc, in the utility room. Luc has suggested the Trinity high-efficiency boiler by NY Thermal, a company from New Brunswick.

Charles and Luc, the heating and HVAC guy, talking about the best placement for the boiler and exhaust.

Day 57 - basement in progress

Post recovered by Gerry! Many thanks, Gerry!!


Day 56 - Thursday Jun 2nd.

This is a closeup of basement window cutout at front of the house, showing the brick ledge to carry the weight of the stone. Notice the extensive rebar.


Chris in the forest of WASS (Wall Alignment and Scaffolding System). Charles had 40 units, and had to rent another 50. This is the 2nd biggest building in Ontario the distributor (EMM) has been involved with, largely because this is a bungalow. (Photo taken early Friday morning.)