Move in!

The house is clean, quiet and ready for move in day tomorrow.  Over the Christmas break, the finishing trades have been diligent at coming to fix up the last remaining items.  The family is ready to start life in their new home and while the next couple of weeks will be chaotic I'm sure, the reviews so far are great.  We have built a very practical home with some great finishes and the exterior seems like it will fit into the neighbourhood for years to come.  This build has been very enjoyable, with responsiveness on the client's end making the process very smooth.  Enjoy!

All covered up

Now that the floors have been finished, we need to protect them for the next phase of the interior build - the trim and paint.  Mick, my trusty painter, was in today to protect those floors from all of the activity to come.

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.

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.

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!

Front door?

The front door was installed today... just kidding - obviously this is a temporary door to keep nosy neighbours out of the house :-).

Sewer and Water Upgrade

The City contractor, Co X Co, was in today upgrading the sewer main and water service line to 1".  This is one of the mandatory service requirements for a new build, and one in my opinion, that most people should do even in a major renovation.  The old style drains were pretty bad, and the default 1/2" water line does not have sufficent water pressure by today's standards.  

It was a messy job today - with the ground water being so high in the neighbourhood, the guys had a hard time.  We had some neighbour unrest as well, which is never an easy situation, but I smoothed it over as best I could (so far my plumber has visited her twice and I have had guys attending to various small requests in order to keep her happy).  Building is a very disruptive thing, so I'm making the best effort possible to keep things neat and orderly - but it's still construction.

Project Launch

Welcome to the 48 Edgecroft Road project site by TPM Custom Homes.  This year, we will be building a brand new, 2 storey home on this quiet street in the Norseman community beween Bloor and Queensway.