NF - Our House Build & Touching Base

[The Urban Fisherman]

Hey Guys!

 

I always try to pop by to see what's going on with everybody but 2013 has been brutal for me with regards to getting out on the water so I've had nothing to report. Aside from an awesome trout opener with some of my best buds, I haven't been on the water at all this year. That's right I'm rounding up on 6 months with only 1 real day of fishing under my belt!!! lol It's honestly starting to look like I'm only going to be fishing bass opener next Saturday then the Fish-A-Thon weekend at the end of July!

 

I've got a bunch of things on the go but a big part of the reason is that we're building a new house this summer. I figured since I don't have a damn thing to report about with regards to actually catching a fish, I might as well contribute somehow with a house building report!

 

The lot is only 56 x 120 - we went with a 2 storey home so we'd have more of a back-yard and we also wanted the build to be as cost effective as possible. Less roof and less foundation tends to help lower the cost of building, so 2 storey it was. We came up with a "tradtional" style home, somewhat of a mix between comtemporary & old school colonial style house with the front porch, shutters and so on. It's just in the early stages and we're moving in with Ginny's grandmother next week so it's going to be a long couple of months until it's done!

 

Specs are 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, finished basement, drive-thru garage, front porch, rear deck, fenced in back-yard the whole deal! I cannot wait to get this finished - it's been a long time coming and we're very excited about it.

 

If you guys are interested I'll update this thread throughout the summer - feel free to throw any suggestions my way!

 

I was probably most excited just to see them start digging - it was finally happening!

 

 

Rain has slowed things down a little... hopefully the weather get's better in the coming weeks!

 

 

First mistake - they forgot to leave a cut-out for our rear garage door when they poured the foundation.. they had to come back and cut it out!

 

 

Next up was the beginnings of hte main level - it doesn't take them long to make progress when the weather is on our side.

 

 

Open concept on the main level...

 

 

Kitchen

 

Dinning room

 

Living Room - a little tight but I'm fine with that.

 

 

Garage started as a single and we decided to make it a 2 car garage at the last minute..

 

 

And here we are with the start of framing the second level...

 

 

 

 

Thanks for checking out our summer project - Good luck to those who are going to enjoy zone 17 bass opener tomorrow... we have one more week to wait around here... then you'll actually get a fishing report out of me.

 

Cheers,

Ryan

 

[Fisherman]

Nice, just out of curiosity, am I seeing regular 2x10 spruce joists everywhere? I thought the new fad was all the engineered joists, or is it an expense thing?

[fishnsled]

Looking good! Keep posting pics of the progress.

[Sinker]

Moving along well! I hope they scraped The mud out of that hole before the footings were put in/poured!

 

S.

[Joey]

Nice, keep us updated. Would be neat to see how it is progressing.

[davey buoy]

Quite interesting,would love to follow along!

[misfish]

Drive through garage. SWEET

[Twocoda]

Congrates Ryan....if you have any questions along the journey...feel free to ask at any point in the build.....looks like its almost time to get you tubs on site....love the druve through garage...i also have a 16 foot front and 10 foot rear door..did you alot for 8 Foot hieght instead of 7?

 

 

Tyyping on my phone ...sorry for the typos

Edited June 14, 2013 by Twocoda

[motv8tr]

Very cool, would love to follow along....make sure they screw down the sub floor, not nail it, and if you can afford it, get spray foam insulation if you haven't already planned on it, it can save you tonnes in heating costs over the long term.

 

Also looking forward to a fishing report

 

Maureen

[danc]

Looking good Ryan. Must be exciting times for you.

[woodenboater]

Definitely keep 'em coming ! and you say 'only' 56 x 120, that would be a very nice sized lot in Toronto (I'm 25). And also loving the two door garage.

 

Can't wait to see the trusses go up !

[mcdougy]

Spray foam or dont go home!!! Is that a type G build? low e 366 coating windows

Edited June 15, 2013 by mcdougy

[The Urban Fisherman]

NOOOOOOO - I had awesome responses for everyone and screwed up just before hitting POST and lost everything... so I appologize if my answered are short and sweet.. I have to get to bed soon!!!

 

Nice, just out of curiosity, am I seeing regular 2x10 spruce joists everywhere? I thought the new fad was all the engineered joists, or is it an expense thing?

 

Yep, 2x10 as per our designers specifications. We're working on a pretty tight budget to...

 

Looking good! Keep posting pics of the progress.

 

Will do brother!

 

Moving along well! I hope they scraped The mud out of that hole before the footings were put in/poured!

S.

 

Thanks Sinker, they pumped out the water and cleaned it up good before pouring the footing..

 

Nice, keep us updated. Would be neat to see how it is progressing.

 

Will do Joey!!

 

Quite interesting,would love to follow along!

 

Thanks Davey, I will post updates for sure!

 

Drive through garage. SWEET

 

Yessir!!

 

Congrates Ryan....if you have any questions along the journey...feel free to ask at any point in the build.....looks like its almost time to get you tubs on site....love the druve through garage...i also have a 16 foot front and 10 foot rear door..did you alot for 8 Foot hieght instead of 7?


Tyyping on my phone ...sorry for the typos

 

Thanks dude very much appreciated, I might have to take you up on that! 9 foot ceilings on the back half and 11 foot on the front half... 8 foot high doors on both ends!

[The Urban Fisherman]

Very cool, would love to follow along....make sure they screw down the sub floor, not nail it, and if you can afford it, get spray foam insulation if you haven't already planned on it, it can save you tonnes in heating costs over the long term.

 

Also looking forward to a fishing report

 

Maureen

 

Thanks Maureen! My designer specified that they are to glue and screw the subfloor down, so I would assume they will follow the plans, but I will keep an eye on it to make sure!!! Dunno if i'll be able to afford spray foam but will ask my builder about it for sure!

 

Hoping to get the kids out for an hour or so sunday from shore - if I do I will report!

 

Looking good Ryan. Must be exciting times for you.

 

Sure is - It's going to be a long couple of months living with ginny's grandmother but her grandma and the kids are looking forward to it and it's something hte kids will always remember... going to be an adventure.

 

Definitely keep 'em coming ! and you say 'only' 56 x 120, that would be a very nice sized lot in Toronto (I'm 25). And also loving the two door garage.

 

Can't wait to see the trusses go up !

 

Will do dude - I'm 31 and my wife is 27 so we're not far off... we moved from Port Credit where we lived in a tiny appartment so we know how lucky we are... our current home of 5 years has nearly an acre so it's going to be quite a bit smaller but there's a bunch of trade off's that make it worth while for us. Being from Toronto you'd probably be pretty surprised to know tha the lot was only about $30,000. lol

 

Spray foam or dont go home!!! Is that a type G build? low e 366 coating windows

 

Love to do the spray foam if we can squeeze it in but we're already on the highest end of our budget... we'll see what the builder has to say. By type G do you mean classical or collonial style home? If so then yes, more or less. There's going to be a bunch of vinyl though because we can't afford to do the entire house in brick. There's just going to be a strip of brick a few feet high around the bottom of the house with a limestone edge on top.

Edited June 15, 2013 by The Urban Fisherman

[mcdougy]

Type G is in reference to the building package that was submitted at the time of permit. There is A,B,C,------J. It Lays out the R values of walls, under slabs , attics, basements, windows and the effieciency of mechanical equipment. It appears that you are going with a package similar with G ----R24 walls R50 attic......so on. Are you heating the basement slab.. With a finished basement there are steps that are important and commonly overloooked by homeowners\ builders. Sealing the basement walls is extremely important and insulating under the slab IMO.The room over the garage is another critical area to be addressed as far as making it comfortable down the road. Is this a home you plan on staying at for many years...If so there are spots where a little extra money at build can be well worth it down the road. Again this is IMO but I do have 20 years experience in the 4th generation business.

Edited June 15, 2013 by mcdougy

[The Urban Fisherman]

Type G is in reference to the building package that was submitted at the time of permit. There is A,B,C,------J. It Lays out the R values of walls, under slabs , attics, basements, windows and the effieciency of mechanical equipment. It appears that you are going with a package similar with G ----R24 walls R50 attic......so on. Are you heating the basement slab.. With a finished basement there are steps that are important and commonly overloooked by homeowners\ builders. Sealing the basement walls is extremely important and insulating under the slab IMO.The room over the garage is another critical area to be addressed as far as making it comfortable down the road. Is this a home you plan on staying at for many years...If so there are spots where a little extra money at build can be well worth it down the road. Again this is IMO but I do have 20 years experience in the 4th generation business.

Ah - Gotcha. Sorry as you can tell I'm a little clueless on that front. I did a quick online search for a Type G Build and classical or collonial style home was what came up as my answer! ) We're taking steps with regards to the room above the garage for both insulation and gas exchange reasons, and our basement walls are well sealed and insulated - we're also putting in a good system to avoid any floods as I've had issues with that in the past. We aren't insulating under the slap though nor are we going to have a heated slab. We started with a budget of $210,000 and stretched it to $228,000 to stay under hte $230,000 we were able to spend. Thanks so much for the insight!!

[mcdougy]

At the very least place 6 mil vapour barrier under the basement floor. Spray foam can be placed under there for $1.50 a square foot. Insulation pays for itself within reason. Stack pressure is very significant in these tightly sealed homes. The basement slab is becoming a significant culprit. A good seal is critical imo and a little insulation helps gets rid of the cold floor feeling.The offset for spraing foam in the basement vs paying for insulation batts may not be overwhelming. You need to consider operating costs that will never get cheaper than now imo. I am Scottish, not trying to upsell, i'm trying to save you money in the long term and make your house as comfortable as possible with budget in mind.

Edited June 15, 2013 by mcdougy

[The Urban Fisherman]

Thanks a bunch McDougy you clearny know what you're talking about and I thoroughly appreciate the advice!!! The builder is "finishing" the basement, but is leaving the painting and installation of the flooring and trim to me. So before I get to the point of putting the floors in I might hit you up with a PM for some advice. When I finished my current home's basement we put down that foam/plastic that's made to go underneath laminate in basements. The floor isn't near as cold as some of my friends who have tile throughout their basement but it's still slipper worthy... My current house was build in the 60's and though we did upgrade it a ton, it still isn't near as efficient as any new homes are these days. Thanks again!!!!

At the very least place 6 mil vapour barrier under the basement floor. Spray foam can be placed under there for $1.50 a square foot. Insulation pays for itself within reason. Stack pressure is very significant in these tightly sealed homes. The basement slab is becoming a significant culprit. A good seal is critical imo and a little insulation helps gets rid of the cold floor feeling.The offset for spraing foam in the basement vs paying for insulation batts may not be overwhelming. You need to consider operating costs that will never get cheaper than now imo. I am Scottish, not trying to upsell, i'm trying to save you money in the long term and make your house as comfortable as possible with budget in mind.

[alphaalpha]

wow cool report. I will be looking to upgrade to a bigger place in about two years and was kicking around the idea of building a home. I didn't think it would be financially feasible but maybe i should do some more research. That is looking like it's going to be a great place for a reasonable price. I live in pickering so will likely have to spend more on the lot if i want to stay somewhat close to where we are now.

 

keep the reports coming please and good luck with the build!

 

-AA

[The Urban Fisherman]

Hey Guys!

 

WE ARE INSANELY BUSY! BUT I wanted to take two seconds to post a quick picture as I said I would..... a bunch has happened to our house in the past couple of weeks. Roof is on and shingled, doors and windows are in, wiring is roughed in and so is the duct work... I'm going to get some interior photos for you guys at some point, but here's a quick shot I took at sunset last night!

 

Thanks again for the interest.

Cheers,

Ryan

[kickingfrog]

Man, I remember when our house was being built. We'd be over checking on it all the time. At times it would seem to drag and then others it was going so fast and we didn't think we would be ready when the house was. Exciting.

[Pigeontroller]

Looks great Ryan, I really like the design!