Week #10 - Back on Track

(March 22-28, 2010)

You may have noted the title of the this week's update and might be wondering what the heck this means? Last week was a whirlwind of activity (including a business trip to Edmonton to set the week in motion) none of which had anything to do with Casa Roa. My sister Carmen was married on the first day of spring (20th) to Mike. Congratulations!! It was a fantastic day preceeded by a week of festivities and preparations. Fun times and well worth the distraction from the construction homefront to partake in the celebrations. So, despite feeling a wee bit tired, I'm getting back on track...

Here is the weekly shot of the exterior of Casa Roa. As you can see, not much has changed since last week. The Jameswood crew tidied up the front yard and the security fence is down leaving a clearer view of the house from the street. Its looking more like home and less like a construction zone!

Quick recap of the week...

The HVAC crew was in to continue with the furnace installation. The furnaces were delivered. Yes, two furnaces - one to heat the upstairs and the other to heat the main floor and basement. Perhaps this is overkill but considering (a) 8 years of space heaters and slippers round-the-clock and (b) this is the overbuilt house, this HVAC set-up is entirely appropriate.

The electricians arrived on Friday to start on the wiring. Nothing to report just yet on this part of construction.

Now that the basement floor is complete, the framing for the new section of the basement was started. If you check out the picture below, you can see where the old wall was cut out (left side of photo). Its a solid chunk of concrete that has some decorative appeal (once you get up close to see the exposed aggregate). :)

And last but not least, the bath tub has been installed!! It was a surprise to see it sitting there all by its lonely self. And look! More insulation. Now we have three times as much insulation as the old house.

Week #9 - A Brief Update

(March 15-21, 2010)

This has been an incredibly busy week!! My sister Carmen was married on Saturday. What a great way to mark the first day of Spring. I had many bridesmaid duties (not to mention a whirlwind trip to Edmonton for a business meeting) that kept me away from the house. The show did however, go on in my absence - thank goodness!!

I haven't had an opportunity to take any Week #9 progress pics but I've listed the highlights below. I'll write more in next week's blog, complete with photos.

• Temporary locks have been installed on all the doors. The front security fence was taken down.
• The basement floor was poured on Friday. It was covered and heated over the weekend to help with the curing process.
• The HVAC crew was in on Thursday to start installing the duct work for the furnace.
• The Jameswood crew installed the rest of the basement windows and tidied up the site. Looking good.

Next week: the electrican(s) start Monday, HVAC continues installation and I'm sure there is lots of selection work for me to get done.

Week #8 - Work Moves Indoors

(March 8-14, 2010)





This is a shot of Casa Roa at the beginning and end of Week #8.

As expected, work began indoors. The plumbing rough-ins were completed.

On Friday, Paul and I did a walk-thru of the house to review everything electrical. We went through every room in the house to check placement and type of electrical component. Good thing! We made only a few but important changes. Without them, we would have had those annoying light switches in places that make no sense. Okay, it was only one but a great save nonetheless. :) All set for the electrican(s) to come in and wire the house up.

The basement...we aren't doing a great deal of development in the basement. In the short term, its primary use will be a fitness area. Joey is in charge of getting this set up. In the meantime, we are having the walls framed and we will take care of the rest, with the help of our brother in-law Sean and others. This is what the basement is looking like right now. There is a big engineered wall offering some support to the main floor. Apparently it is overbuilt, like much of the original foundation, but its better to be safe than sorry.




So, Joey and I often speak about the lack of insulation in the old house. Demolition revealed how energy inefficient this house truly was. The following picture shows how much more efficient the new house already is! Not sure how this piece of insulation found its way into the house but I appreciate the humour in finding it all by its lonesome. A sign of things being on track...

One of the items that Joey and I had on our wish list for the project was the use of recycling for the construction materials. At the time we initated the project, Paul was exploring construction recycling options only to tell us this was not something that was readily available but would continue to check it out. Since this time, Paul has found a recycling solution and I/we are thrilled. In our backyard are two bins - a white bin for waste and a blue bin for recyclables (new construction material only (cardboard, plastic, etc.), not demolition waste). Signs are posted throughout the house that detail which materials are waste and which ones can be recycled. The recyclables are trucked to Okotoks to be sorted. Waste goes to the dump. The company that is responsible for this set-up will track the ratio of recycled material to waste and provide us with a report of this breakdown at the completion of the project. Why is this significant? Other than making us feel good about the amount of material we're not putting in the landfill, this reporting mechanism will be used for future construction projects where homebuilders can recoup portions of an anticipated waste levy that will eventually be paid to the City during the permitting process. We did not pay a levy but apparently its just around the corner. Nonetheless, we're happy that our builder was able to implement a recycling program. Thanks Jameswood!!

Week #7 - Final Framing Bits and a Roof!

(March 1-7, 2010)

The week's activities focused on finishing up the framing. This included installing the front door, the basement walls (including the heavy duty engineered wall), skirting on the front porch, cutting out the vents and other final details.

A roofing crew descended on the house for a few days to shingle the roof.

When time permits, I will post some pics of the house with the new roof and front door. I suspect that the visual progress will start to slow as the trades move in doors.

Next week: plumbing rough-ins and HVAC