DAY 1: Our walls arrived this morning at 7:00 AM. They were unloaded and the truck on his way by 10:00. The loads are all labeled for the areas of the house where they belong - so they have all been placed where they are needed. Why move a wall too far if you don't have to?
Today is all about unloading, checking, planning, layout and prep. Sill gasket and gasket plates are bolted to the foundation and serve as the base to attach the walls. The walls are constructed of 2X6 SPF lumber with 1/2" fir sheathing on the outside and 4" EPS foam insulation (R20 equivalent) on the inside.
DAY 2: The 4-man crew arrives at 7:30 AM and work begins. It's all about putting the walls up.
And up they go - quickly! They're straight and square and fit perfectly. Amazing to watch.
Carry it over, line it up, raise it into position and nail it into place...and yes, that's Roy in the middle of the action. He wasn't kidding when he said "we" were building our own house.
By the end of the day the carport and workshop are complete and the house is about 75% there.
DAY 3: It rained last night. The walls and the floors are wet, but life goes on. The sun comes out by mid morning and things start to dry out...life in the pacific rain forest. The crew erects the last of the walls before noon and depart to work on a foundation in Parksville. There are a few really heavy support beams that will wait for the crane to return (on Monday with the trusses) to be lifted into place. So that's it for this week - we have walls in 2 1/2 days - crazy!
This is our house as it appears from the street, the door at the far left leads into the mudroom and out to Roy's workshop. Visitors will enter through the door in the centre and into the sunroom. The room on the far right corner is the guest bedroom (for anyone thinking of visiting).
Above left: looking into the sunroom, through the living and dining areas to the patio doors and out to the creek. Top right: the kitchen. The large white pipe is where the island will be.
And oh, how did we do with the placement of services in the concrete? The electrician so far scores 100%. His stuff was all exactly where it should have been. Plumbers didn't fare quite so well...a couple of sill plates had to be cut to allow for pipes coming up in the middle of walls...just a couple of inches off. No big deal so far, we've adjusted and moved on.
We're one week closer to lock-up. Roof trusses come on Monday. Roofer is lined up, skylights ready, insulator waiting, fireplaces ordered and ready for installation, plumber and electrician waiting to be called. Windows and doors due to arrive week of the 25th. Hope we haven't forgotten anything....
Having built our own home, we made a few mistakes and learned from them. When it came to the plumbing, one bathroom had to have the sill cut for the stack which is in the space between 2 floor joists and wall studs and wall went around it so that the drywall hides it well. Don't even know it's there. The other one we couldn't do that because of the double floor joist underneath the wall. This one we had to elbow the vent and cover it with a box behind the toilet. It actually sounds like your pipes can be hidden very well. Good for you guys.
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