Foaming the basement

For cost and performance, we are going with a hybrid of foam and conventional batt insulation in the house.  Home insulation was in today installing the foam on the basement walls, basement and 1st floor joist pockets, the garage ceiling, and some select areas (around steel beams) that are hard to insulate and would create a thermal bridge if left alone.

Hear that?

While Kevin had to wait around for his electrical inspector today, we had the boys in doing final clean up in the basement and installing the some soundproofing insulation.

We decided it was only needed around the upstairs laundry room, the kids washroom (it's between their two rooms), the master suite (that's a no brainer!) and some select areas downstairs.  It's amazing what a difference a little insulation makes.  

Now we wait for the foam guys tomorrow, conventional insulation guys on Thursday, then the drywall gets delivered Friday.  Next week, we'll see what the inside of this house looks like :-).

As a footnote, Mario also hooked up the water heater today!

Activity ramps up

With the installation of the stairs on Friday, we've been able to finish up the remaining items.  Today was a busy day - Miguel was in for a few hours in the morning to finish up the rough-in in the basement around the stairs..

...Mario was in doing some last minute basement tie ins...

... and Kevin was in doing the remaining items for his inspection scheduled for tomorrow morning.

A step in the right direction!

After a bit of delay (not too bad, but more than I'm used to), we got our stairs in today.  They look great, though with the protection paper on them, you can't really see the full effect of the open risers on the main floor stair.  Moving on!

We've got... gas!

Hmm... that post title seems a little off.  However, we did get our natural gas line installed today, which is great.  It helps to know the head subcontractor in the area (an annual donation to his Movember campaign doesn't hurt!).  Luis always looks out for me, otherwise we'd be at the mercy of the Enbridge installation process, which currently has new installs booking into December!  Yikes.

Power!

Finally, we are a little more independent.  Toronto Hydro came and installed the power service to the house today, which will make things a tad bit easier for the finishing trades to operate.

Clock Ticking

I always like to have a cooling off period between the rough-ins (electrical, HVAC, plumbing) and the insulation phase.  It's never a nice thing to go back and start making holes in drywall to install something that was missed, so this week long period is a good chance to catch our breaths.

That said, the cool off period has been extended four more days, as the stair company we're using, Stairtech Industries, has experienced manufacturing delays.  I've been assured they are back on track, and we should have the stairs installed on Thursday.

We are still looking at options on the exterior of the house.  Once that's done and the drywall, trim and doors have been delivered, we can pretty much complete the outside of the house.

Buried internet service

It was hot digging for Owen today.  We ran a conduit with 2 RG6 cables from the furnace room to the back of the yard where rogers or bell can hook in their internet and/or cable service.  This way, we don't have any ugly overhead wires running from back to front.

Fine cleaning

We were onsite today doing a pretty fine cleaning of the sill plates and nooks and crannies, trying to get as much dust away from the walls before insulation.  The basement is usually the most important area, as a pocket of sawdust can make for a cold pocket if it's foamed over.

Roof work and finishing the walkout

BHM was in finishing some odds and ends, including the base of the walkout.

Meanwhile, with the completion of masonry, Virgilio was back to finish the front and rear roof.  We are officially water-tight, though the caulking will be later.

Inspection Day

Today, the City Inspector was in for a few hours with me doing the comprehensive structural framing as well as the HVAC inspection.  We went room by room during each phase of the inspection, ticking off the boxes and making note of any changes needed.  It went very well, as just 2 framing items that we already have on the list are outstanding, which will be looked at again by the inspector during the insulation inspection.

Clean...ish

We are getting the exterior cleaned up, bit by bit.  If all goes well, by late August, we will be able to do some landscape work while we continue on the interior finish. 

Masonry complete!

Thom and the guys at BHM Exteriors have done a fantastic job.  In a few short weeks, they have transformed the exterior wood frame of the house to a beautiful brick and stone facade.  They finished the East wall today, and finished off all of the little odds and ends around the house, including cleaning up.  It's a fairly messy business, masonry, but Thom always leaves the site in good shape, which is just one of the reasons he's one of my five-star trades!

We also passed the electrical inspection today, so we should get our service really soon.  I'm looking forward to that!  We've been leeching (renting!) the power off the neighbour who has been really great, but it's time for us to be independent!

Narrow roads...

The poor neighbours.... when I arrived this morning, I sighed looking down the street - lined both sides with trucks of my trades.  It was one of those perfect storm days where I had a ton going on, everyone working well, but there was only so much room on the road (we like to stay parked on only one side of the street usually!).

So, 7 trades today....

1) Mason's working on the East side wall
2) Aluminum guys taking advantage of a hole in their schedule and some free scaffolding to work on
3) Plumbers - doing the rough-in work - installing mixing valves and bathtubs
4) HVAC - running the gas lines and venting for the water heater
5) Framers - continuing the rough-in carpentry
6) Electrical (though not for long) - tying up some odds and ends for the inspection tomorrow
7) Tech guys - installing alarm wire, speaker wire, ethernet and central vac lines!

Wow!