Workin' Down @ The Lake

[kenzy31]

One of the best threads going, and for sure my favourite! Keep it up Dave, you're killing it! ?

[Toronto_Angler]

Not sure if you've answered this already but how long do you think it will be before its finished? Excited for the day to see the finished product but will also be sad for no more building updates!

[Old Ironmaker]

I have to say she's lookin' good Dave. Those invisible Minions you hide out of camera view are doing a bang up job. That view of the Norden Lites from inside is much more than a million dollar view, it's in the billion range.

 

I don't know that it's the same out there, but here in SW Ontario, we literally do not have to build beyond R24 (in the walls at least) as building beyond that is redundant, the energy savings won't increase as by the time the heat/cold makes it through, typically the sun has set or is coming out (depending on heating/cooling season)

I can't agree with that Lucas. I could go on for pages talking about heat/cooling loss. In my experience the difference between R-24 bat insulation and spraying in a closed cell makes a huge difference in savings on heating and cooling. The other thing that Mr. Holmes stresses is to insulate both sides of the building envelope, I can not for the life of me remember the term as I type. Imagine a large or even small home that has bat insulation between the wall studs. There is virally no resistance value to dimensional lumber. Add up all the wall 2x's and you may be surprised how much of the house has only the R value of the dimensional lumber. Having a place on the lake and the lake side has rather large windows and an 8.5' patio door, a single pane window is something like R-2, even a triple pane window might be R-6. If I remember the term for completely enveloping a building I will post it. Oldtimers moment. I was in the Sunroom business and we sold some products through Home Depot as installation services contractors after I took my pension and not to name drop but had a couple of cold ones and chicken wings with Mr. Holmes on a few occasions and insulting was one of the topics of conversation besides fishing. He was working with HD at the time, 2006.

 

For anyone that is new here and has not read back 30 pages it has to be stated that Dave has a few dozen of those little Minions helping him, he will deny it but there is no way 1 man has done that solo, no way whatsoever!!! Either that or Dave is an Alien.

Edited October 7, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[leaf4]

I have to say she's lookin' good Dave. Those invisible Minions you hide out of camera view are doing a bang up job. That view of the Norden Lites from inside is much more than a million dollar view, it's in the billion range.

 

 

I can't agree with that Lucas. I could go on for pages talking about heat/cooling loss. In my experience the difference between R-24 bat insulation and spraying in a closed cell makes a huge difference in savings on heating and cooling. The other thing that Mr. Holmes stresses is to insulate both sides of the building envelope, I can not for the life of me remember the term as I type. Imagine a large or even small home that has bat insulation between the wall studs. There is virally no resistance value to dimensional lumber. Add up all the wall 2x's and you may be surprised how much of the house has only the R value of the dimensional lumber. Having a place on the lake and the lake side has rather large windows and an 8.5' patio door, a single pane window is something like R-2, even a triple pane window might be R-6. If I remember the term for completely enveloping a building I will post it. Oldtimers moment. I was in the Sunroom business and we sold some products through Home Depot as installation services contractors after I took my pension and not to name drop but had a couple of cold ones and chicken wings with Mr. Holmes on a few occasions and insulting was one of the topics of conversation besides fishing. He was working with HD at the time, 2006.

 

For anyone that is new here and has not read back 30 pages it has to be stated that Dave has a few dozen of those little Minions helping him, he will deny it but there is no way 1 man has done that solo, no way whatsoever!!! Either that or Dave is an Alien.

I don't disagree that closed cell 2lb spray foam is a superior product, but take up the rest with the engineering documents I had to study for my advanced sheet metal course! ?

[Old Ironmaker]

I don't disagree that closed cell 2lb spray foam is a superior product, but take up the rest with the engineering documents I had to study for my advanced sheet metal course!

Yep, there is always someone in the field that will disagree with the scientists that don't know what end of a framing hammer to hold. A very good site for the discussion is buildingscience.com.

 

I meant to say "insulating, not insulting." Though a few insults were tossed about. All in good fun though. Mike is a real good guy, I was surprised to learn earlier on in his TV career most of the money for the remodels came out of his own pocket. He is a lot smaller on TV than in real life.

[Old Ironmaker]

Packed it in and headed home today.

Had enough of the crappy weather and not getting anything done.

Tried to do some work yesterday but the cold wind made it impossible.

Cleaned the site up and put stuff away for the winter.

Was cloudy and calm and in the low 30's when I left the dock so I went fisihin' fer an hour.

The fall bite is on!!!!!

Went 4 for 10 with 15 or 20 other smacks from pike in the hour.

No giants but one decent fish in the 36-38" range.

It only gets better between now and freeze up.

 

2.

Will pull the dock next weekend hopefully the weather cooperates.

It sure must be nice to catch some quality fish to wind down from a hard days work. Living the dream Big Dave. They hardly miss a step building here in Southern On. all winter long. The last 2 we didn't have frost below a foot or 2. We dug a pals basement this past January and poured without a problem. The 40 gallon fire drum and some Jack D was nice, after the work was done of course.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[Tom S]

I don't disagree that closed cell 2lb spray foam is a superior product, but take up the rest with the engineering documents I had to study for my advanced sheet metal course!

 

 

Yep, there is always someone in the field that will disagree with the scientists that don't know what end of a framing hammer to hold. A very good site for the discussion is buildingscience.com.

 

I meant to say "insulating, not insulting." Though a few insults were tossed about. All in good fun though. Mike is a real good guy, I was surprised to learn earlier on in his TV career most of the money for the remodels came out of his own pocket. He is a lot smaller on TV than in real life.

 

My two cents on this - closed cell is nice and is in many was a superior insulating product, but it's insulating and sealing properties can actually be detrimental at times. Building envelopes become so tight that heat recovery ventilators are required to be installed because the building is unable to breathe. At a certain point any energy savings gained by the use of foam is lost through the ventilators, which can run anywhere from 50-90% efficient (depending on models and design). I believe that spray foam is excellent for use in places such as basements where a tight seal and mold resistance is a great property, but not so much on the main levels of buildings. R24 batting between studs with an R5 sheathing is plenty good enough for the rest of the building and may reduce the need for whole house ventilation compared to sprayed foam.

 

PS. Love watching this build progress thread.

Edited October 8, 2017 by Tom S

[Old Ironmaker]

Yes Tom I'm with you. Many homes now do need a whole house ventilation system due to it's air tightness. They have come a long way since first introduced in the trade. Blowing cold air in a warm home isn't good. I worked with an engineer years back to preheat the incoming ventilating air with the waste gases from a furnace, gas fireplace and or gas hot water heater. The incoming duct had an exterior sleeve where warm waste gas heated the incoming line. Same principle as combustion air being preheated going to Blast Furnace stoves. The problem, ensuring the incoming line could not be breached or you will kill everyone in the house with CO, not good. Too many intangibles for me to continue in the project.

 

There was a time when those R-2000 houses came out a fire in a fireplace wouldn't stay lit or a candle on a table. The advantage I see beyond the R value in closed cell is that it makes the envelope air tight. One can have R-36 in a wall and a few light switches, receptacles or windows etc. that are not properly sealed and tapped vapour barrier can be like leaving a window or even the front door open in January. The other thing I constantly shake my head at is improper roof venting. Reverse ventilation can take place if too much or too little can rot a roof in no time. There is a McMansion out my way that is 5 years old, they are replacing the roof including the sheathing because some roofer thought the more vents the better. The underside of the roof is laden with mold and has rotted, 5 years new!!

Edited October 8, 2017 by Old Ironmaker

[Jds63]

Amazing Dave !!! a one man construction crew ..

that view of the northern lights from your place is unbelievable... when SHTF happens you will be in the best place

[Old Ironmaker]

Dave that Hardy board shingles sure sets the gable end off nice, really nice. Plus the stuff is like ballistic armour plate. What are you going to use for the siding? A neighbour tore down an old cottage lakeside and built new and used the Hardy board siding set vertically and did the gable ends in the shingles very similar to yours. We love the look of the board and siding vertically rather than horizontally. Nothing but a Hurricane will damage it, then it's maybe a Hurricane.

[DRIFTER_016]

Dave that Hardy board shingles sure sets the gable end off nice, really nice. Plus the stuff is like ballistic armour plate. What are you going to use for the siding? A neighbour tore down an old cottage lakeside and built new and used the Hardy board siding set vertically and did the gable ends in the shingles very similar to yours. We love the look of the board and siding vertically rather than horizontally. Nothing but a Hurricane will damage it, then it's maybe a Hurricane.

 

OI, the siding is Hardie Plank.

 

 

When the cabin is finished inside I will be adding river rock veneer below the siding to give the illusion of a stone foundation.

Like this.

 

 

The area behind my pellet stove will be getting the same treatment.

[Old Ironmaker]

Very nice Dave. I like that Hardy board and the river rock will really set it off nicely. You should be a pro designer to add to your CVR.

 

We too can't have a big enough bathroom and shower. I turned a 8.5'X 16' bedroom into a bathroom and 4'X8' laundry room. No tub, but it is roughed in for the next owners. I can count on 1 hand how many times we filled the tub where we lived before we moved to the lake. Yes there are days I wish I could soak this old tired body but we decided to put a Spa on the deck instead. That was 17 years ago, still no Spa and I was in the business???? The shower is 4'X6', should have made it bigger.

[DRIFTER_016]

Last day of vacation today so I went to the cabin and pulled the dock for the winter.

Got a nice shot of the cabin from the lake too.

Once the dock work was done I got some rod time on the lake.

Landed 12-15 pike with the biggest a real fatty in the teens.

Unfortunately my pic turned out pretty crappy.

Hopefully the lakers are on the chew this weekend.

The launch bay is down to 37* so she'll be hard soon.

[Old Ironmaker]

Very nice Dave. I know why the pic didn't turn out well.

 

A tip when you decide to tile the shower. I forgot to put wall niches in, they are great in a shower. Takes a bit of time but well worth it. Much neater and cleaner looking than hanging racks to hold stuff.

[DRIFTER_016]

A tip when you decide to tile the shower. I forgot to put wall niches in, they are great in a shower. Takes a bit of time but well worth it. Much neater and cleaner looking than hanging racks to hold stuff.

 

 

Yup, already in the plan.

[Old Ironmaker]

Of course it is Dave, you have all the bases covered.

[akaShag]

Hmmm. At MY camp, the shower is a galvanized pail with a cook pot for a dipper..............

 

Doug

[DRIFTER_016]

Stick a fork in 'er!!!

The open water season is done now.

Launch bay will be frozen completely by next weekend.

Time to tune the sled, fire up the auger and sort my ice fishin' gear.

Managed to boat a few fishes on my last boating trip of the year.

[akaShag]

Dave I would MUCH rather have your weather than this stupid HEAT we are still having here. Plus 21 C today in K-town, freakin' ridiculous.

 

Doug

[DRIFTER_016]

Finally made it out to the cabin for a couple of hours.
Broke in the trail and packed down the snow around the cabin. 
Snow was waist deep but uber fluffy so I still ended up bouncing off rocks here and there. It should firm up nicely now that it has been run over a couple of times.

[DRIFTER_016]

Been out @ the cabin the last couple of weekends getting the trail ready to haul supplies.
Got to play with my new toy today and got some great shots from the air.  ;D

Also found out this week that Google Earth has updated and my cabin is now seen from space.

[Tomcat]

Thanks for sharing Dave. It's always a treat to read/view your posts. Colour me envious.

[DRIFTER_016]

Did some more trail work and took my pellet stove out  to the ole cabin today.  

Feel like I may have gotten a bit of sun today too. Nothing like the Arctic sun in the spring.  

More work next weekend. 

[akaShag]

Dave, out of idle curiosity, why a pellet stove instead of a wood stove?  Not enough firewood in that area?  Just thinking what a PITA to haul in loads of pellets????????

 

Doug

[dave524]

I would guess by the aerial photos it is all spruce, closest thing to hardwood might be some aspen or stunted willows. Not really firewood.