So yesterday was officially our first "missed deadline"...ah well. It's not that big of a deal. We're getting closer and closer to our permit applications and are expecting to submit things next week. Apparently from what I can gather, the City is most interested in what the external "look" of the house is like, as well as whether it violates any zoning issues (setbacks from property lines - i.e., where your building is vs. where your property line is; height, floor space ratio - i.e., the area of your land vs. the amount of liveable building area, etc.). According to what I'm told, they're less concerned with the internal layout of the place which can still be altered some. So, we'll get them the external look and things they're looking for and go from there as we haven't finalized all of the internal details yet.
We've had some challenging times of late working with our architects which has been difficult for all of us. From the outset, the hope was to have a collaborative team-based approach where Kris and I, Brett, and Bruce and Ian all contributed ideas and design thoughts towards a collective vision. In the end, I think there have been some misunderstandings on the extent to which any given party would be involved in the design phase. I was keen to be more involved (we're the owners!), and I believe Bruce and Ian felt that design was really their space (they're the design professionals!). We're working through some of the communication challenges so that we can come to a common understanding, but unfortunately it's added some stress to all of our lives (theirs included). Funny how communication is always at the heart of a relationship. Hopefully we can sort it out soon and move along.
One thing I have realized in recent weeks however, is that the federal EcoEnergy program deadline is just not realistic, so I'm officially giving up on that timeline (March 31st). The hope had been to take advantage of the $5-10K available from the federal government (since we'll be doing most of those things anyhow). Sadly, it will be money that will be lost...crappy timing, but then, that's life for you sometimes. Conversely, the decision to let go of the timeline definitely lifts a weight from our shoulders and lets us slow down a bit. The decisions had been coming fast and furious and no doubt have been adding stress to what should be a fun process - not a negative one.
That brings us back to the space of decisions....so what's left to decide? Well a few things in terms of design/layout.
(1) The ceiling. We heard back from our structural engineer and there are a bunch of seismic and structural upgrades that are required. Accordingly, we're evaluating their implications on the design - in particular the ceiling height and look/feel of the downstairs. Basically we have the option of going as I noted in my earlier posting with the exposed joists/beams, or we can cover them up and have a slightly lower ceiling. It's a bit loft vs. traditional and so I'm wrestling with that one a bit. Thoughts anyone?
(2) The mechanical room. In a small place, the mechanical room potentially eats up valuable space. We're trying to optimize its location, but are struggling somewhat to do so. I think it's going to mean moving the bathroom a bit, but so be it...
(3) DIY vs. not. The DIY question is one that looms large. Increasingly I'm thinking that we need to save money by having me do more DIY components. While I won't touch things like electrical and plumbing, I think there are some things that I can probably have a crack at including some of the demolition (which allows me to reclaim more materials, and save on dumping fees), as well as some relatively simple things like installing laminate click-in-place flooring on the upper level. I think these sorts of things will likely force an extension of the timeline, BUT will also allow us to save probably about $20K in total which, at this point, is pretty critical for us. So far, the DIY pieces include: some demolition (some interior, some exterior + non-asbestos containing vermiculite removal), re-finishing the lead-painted cedar siding, landscaping, finishing the floors, and installing the floating laminate floor upstairs. I know this seems like a good idea now...we'll see later on when I haven't had sleep because of work and life...
(4) Kitchen counters. Struggling with this one a bit as well - splurge or not...options are basically butcher block (looks decent, affordable, but degrades in time), Eco (composite quartz like Silestone - looks great, expensive, but lasts - or possibly IceStone), or a bit of a hybrid where we use some quartz and some wood. Thoughts anyone?
(5) Windows - this one will merit its own entry unto itself. There's a dizzying array of choices....I'll walk you through the options soon.
So - there you have some musings on a Friday afternoon. I'll post next week with the submitted drawings to show you what the final layout looks like.
Friday 16 December 2011
Thursday 8 December 2011
Back into the blogzone - the near-final house layout
Righty - I'm back in the blogzone - the zone between a beer at 8pm and the time to actually put up a post.
So what have a learned in the past 24 hrs about the house? Well - a few things:
1) We're actually closing in on a final design. Here's what it's looking like at present:
or this...
But back to realty (ooh that rant felt good!).
So, what kind of doors DO I like. Simple, clean, elegant and timeless. Examples? Voila.
Simple - elegant and pleasing. No need for silly lines or etching. Just a door.
If I'm looking for something more modern and contemporary, here's what I'm thinking:
Again - simple, and pleasing. Much more reasonable. And no giraffes or bald cats to boot. Weird thing about this particular door (from Crestview Doors) is that it's crazy cheap - a couple of hundred dollars even with a double glazed glass area (which raises another beef - "double glazed" ...when I think of "glazing" I think cake glazing...I don't think of "number of panes of glass". Why don't they call it "double paned"??). I'm guessing it's crap, but heck, it looks nice! The other one above is from Masonite and is a fiberglass door - and looks like quality (great R-value, looks good, well built). Might very well be the one we go with in the end.
3) Awesome website for US-Canada cross border shopping. As I get further into this, I'm increasingly realizing that there are so many deals to be had in the US. Not sure what they do down there, but they just seem to make things cheaper! This site is SUPER useful for all sorts of info on calculating duty, figuring out exemptions, etc. Check it out.
Ok. That's probably enough for now. Make these things too long and nobody read's 'em. Night all!
So what have a learned in the past 24 hrs about the house? Well - a few things:
1) We're actually closing in on a final design. Here's what it's looking like at present:
So - let me walk you through things: Starting on the left image at the bottom...
The front of the house has a series of windows and enters in on the ground level. The front door is in the bottom left (SW corner). Beside it is a closet, with a landing and a couple of stairs down to the main living area. To the right are the stairs leading upstairs. Looking out in front of you, there's the kitchen and off to your right is the main floor bathroom (full bathroom). Beyond those are the living room/family room/dining room - which is all open concept. At the back will be a full glass back end (8' high windows/doors) with two fixed glass panels and two doors (8' opening). We're guessing that there will be some storage on the walls, along with some storage possibly under the stairs. You can also see on here a set of dashed lines (tightly dashed and loosely dashed). The tightly dashed ones are our fancy new steel reinforcing beams...ooh black steel you say? You bet. We're high rollers. These will drop below our exposed wood joists (see last entry) and sit at roughly 9'. The loosely dashed lines are the new foundations that we need to add (ugghhh). Yep - those are the non-sexy expensive shit that you need to add so your house doesn't fall down (psshhaw..."fall down"...details).
Upstairs (the right hand image), leads you to the landing which is currently an office/guest bedroom. It will be my primary work area which will have a good amount of light via some big windows. The thinking is that this will be able to be converted (when needed) to a guest bedroom - so for all of you reading this that's where you'll be when you come to visit! We're not walling it in for now, so we'll probably put some kind of privacy screen / curtain, etc. to provide the necessary privacy. Going right from the top of the stairs, there's the bathroom (right) and mechanical room and laundry room (left). We've had to extend the size of the mechanical room (as you see in red) to make sure we've got the necessary room for all of the equipment...and if we need more space we've got some of the area under the stairs and/or the attic. If we don't use the space in the mechanical room, we'll just use it for linen. Continuing on, there's the second bedroom (straight ahead). That's going to be the kid's room. On the left is the master bedroom, with...wait for it...a freakin' WALK-IN closet! I can't say that I thought we could squeeze in a walk-in in a house this small, but we've managed it. In fact, despite going over budget, I think we've actually managed to put in the vast majority of the things we'd hoped for at the beginning of this. We'll see how much we regret that in time! The rest of the master bedroom...walk out (glass slider) to a second level deck that is above the new extension. We probably won't build this immediately (being totally out of money), but it shouldn't be hard to do at a later point as necessary.
So - that's the general layout...what do you think!?
2) Contemporary/modern doors are tough to find in Canada!
For some god-unknown reason, it seems that the vast majority of people seem to like stupidly ugly doors with weird notching in it? Which ranges (in my opinion) from ugly...
...to absolutely hideous...
It's like a giant ugly competition. I'm spoilt for choice of ugly.
In all honesty, front doors are ridiculous. Google them and you'll see! You find images like this:
Seriously??? A giraffe coming through your front door? "Honey, who's at the front door?", "Oh, just Fred Jones, the Jehovah's Witness Giraffe". Really, who thinks up these things? And moreover, where can I rent a giraffe for a photo shoot?!
Google "ugly doors" and you get this:
I mean really... what's wrong with humans. First we make ugly doors, then we breed cats to have no fur. We should be ashamed.
But back to realty (ooh that rant felt good!).
So, what kind of doors DO I like. Simple, clean, elegant and timeless. Examples? Voila.
If I'm looking for something more modern and contemporary, here's what I'm thinking:
Again - simple, and pleasing. Much more reasonable. And no giraffes or bald cats to boot. Weird thing about this particular door (from Crestview Doors) is that it's crazy cheap - a couple of hundred dollars even with a double glazed glass area (which raises another beef - "double glazed" ...when I think of "glazing" I think cake glazing...I don't think of "number of panes of glass". Why don't they call it "double paned"??). I'm guessing it's crap, but heck, it looks nice! The other one above is from Masonite and is a fiberglass door - and looks like quality (great R-value, looks good, well built). Might very well be the one we go with in the end.
3) Awesome website for US-Canada cross border shopping. As I get further into this, I'm increasingly realizing that there are so many deals to be had in the US. Not sure what they do down there, but they just seem to make things cheaper! This site is SUPER useful for all sorts of info on calculating duty, figuring out exemptions, etc. Check it out.
Ok. That's probably enough for now. Make these things too long and nobody read's 'em. Night all!
Wednesday 7 December 2011
The long overdue update
So in addition to my Hazmat update, I feel the need to update everyone the status of things as a LOT has transpired since my last posting. So...
1) Structural: We've hired a structural engineer - Henry Hsu from Formosa Engineering. He's someone that came recommended from Brett (our GC) and so far, he looks great. Today I met with him, Bruce and Ian (our architects) and went over the structural plans. Unfortunately the news on the structural front isn't the greatest: we're going to need shear walls (basically bracing walls for seismic purposes to stop the house moving side to side) at the front and back of the house, along with reinforcing steel beams and strengthened foundations in order to manage the open concept floor plan we've requested. Early estimates are another $12K (gulp), but I suppose the good news is that we won't have a house that will fall down in an earthquake.
2) Facade: We've gone around on the facade for a while now. Originally I had been intending to use fiber cement board (Hardieboard as it is commonly called). Made from cement, this facade is notably for its fire resistance and durability (not requiring much in the way of upkeep). While it has fairly high embodied energy demands, there's a pretty strong environmental argument to be made for it. I had also thought it was going to be a fair bit cheaper to install, but it seems that labour costs associated with it are very high. Accordingly, we've switched plans and will be doing mainly stucco (grey) with a bit of cedar at the front and back to give it some additional contrast and "spunk". The cedar is nice in that it's renewable, local, etc. but it definitely has a maintenance downside which is going to be a bit of bummer. The stucco I'm fine with - it's non-combustible as well (a requirement for our side walls) and has a long life span if properly done. Roughly speaking, it should have a bit of the look and feel of this shot:
I'm still fighting with my architect (and possibly the City) on putting 4" of exterior insulation on the place, but we'll save the outcome of that battle for another post.
I'm also hopeful that I might be able to reclaim some of my current wood siding. While covered in lead paint, I'm hoping that underneath it's in good condition and that it's cedar. If so, I might be able to strip it off, strip it down to wood again, and use it which would have multiple benefits: wouldn't have to buy new cedar siding ($), wouldn't have to pay for the removal of my current siding ($), and it saves landfill. However, it's going to take some luck (that it's indeed cedar), time (to strip the planks and then refinish them), and safety (safely dealing with the lead). We'll see what happens...but would be a nice story to tell if I can make it happen.
3) Interior modifications - ceilings: So found out today that the architects have planned to leave the floor joists (the cross "beams" running from one side of the house to the other that keep the floor in place). I had been thinking that we would have a flat, white ceiling with pot lights, but this is an interesting twist that I do think is probably a good call. It respects (and reflects) the history and bones of the old house - something we're shelling out for! - and at the same time, is probably more cost effective (cost of pot lights alone). Here's a shot of roughly what we think it will look like (joists will be like the ones in the background, not the ones in the foreground which go front to back). In fact this shot should give a pretty good feel of what the main part of our house will feel like - long(ish), narrow, with glass at the back (and front), and concrete floors.
4) Interior modifications - windows: Still sorting windows, but we're going back and forth with two suppliers at this point: Centra and Innotech. Both seem to make pretty solid vinyl windows. I've sadly had to eliminate fiberglass windows (my first choice) because they were just too cost prohibitive. PVC isn't the best product from an environmental perspective, but it does offer some good energy savings. The windows and doors are all rated to at least U 0.28 (which is an R-value of about 3-4...not great when you consider that walls are required to be about 20, but not bad when you consider that my current walls are about R-8). Furthermore, we're down to two options for the back window: Centra is quoting about $6K (basic, but good windows), while Innotech is quoting about $9K (more tilt-and-turn). We also need to decide whether to go with white frames or pay a 15% premium and get charcoal grey frames.
A) Canfold: Folding windows from the UK which aren't as good quality U-0.56, but do offer folding doors for under $10,000 (yes, large sets of folding doors are expensive!!). This was going to be one of the premium features of our place (and still will be to some extent), but we're thinking about different options at this point. Pros: Full 14'-16' span would open, roughly $10K installed, decent U values. Cons: only 7' tall, not as good quality, could have a delay in getting 16' version.
B) Innotech: A combination of two 4' fixed windows combined with a double door in between (8' span). While it wouldn't have quite the same "open feel" as the Canfold, it would much of the same look for most of the year.
Pros: Cheaper, better U-values, 8' tall, better quality. Cons: Don't open the full way.
Other brief updates:
- My parents have been INCREDIBLY generous (again) and will be helping us out with our kitchen (thanks!!!)
- Kris's dad visited and provided a bunch of good suggestions on layout, etc. (thanks!!!)
- I've gone back and forth on solar hot water - there's a great deal on with the City of Vancouver right now, but it's yet more money (which we're more than out of), so it will probably not happen.
- I've been going back and forth on water heating systems as a whole as well, and sadly I think we'll have to opt for whatever the cheapest system is because again...we're out of money.
- I'm coming to realize that I'll have to put in a lot of sweat equity ($10-$20K's worth). Not sure how this is going to happen, but it's going to have to because we're past our limits financially.
- I'm still hopeful that we can get some of the federal/provincial energy rebate money that's going to be made available - I basically am in a race against the clock for March 31st. We'll see how much we can get done by then! Accordingly, we're shooting to submit for development and building permits by December 15th (yikes!). It's all systems go!
- I'm finalizing contract agreements with Brett as things begin to pick up. There's more time in the contract than I had thought (it's a combination of project management and site supervision), but Brett's been amazing so far and I'm sure we can figure things out in terms of me taking over some of those roles as budget begins to wear down.
- Have also had help from my Mom and cousin on plant ID (thanks), old neighbour (thanks Mario!) and friends on a bunch of fronts providing advice and kind offers. All of it will be necessary if we're going to survive this thing.
Lastly, wanted to flag another blog post that I found the other day that is an excellent read (or at least was for me). Made me a little scared, but that's probably a good thing. Have a look and check it out yourself:
http://vreaa.wordpress.com/
So, in summary, things are going ok - over-budget, stressful, but moving quickly and aside from some sleepless nights, it's all on track overall. While there's more to update on, I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed for the night. Will post more drawings soon with updated plans.
1) Structural: We've hired a structural engineer - Henry Hsu from Formosa Engineering. He's someone that came recommended from Brett (our GC) and so far, he looks great. Today I met with him, Bruce and Ian (our architects) and went over the structural plans. Unfortunately the news on the structural front isn't the greatest: we're going to need shear walls (basically bracing walls for seismic purposes to stop the house moving side to side) at the front and back of the house, along with reinforcing steel beams and strengthened foundations in order to manage the open concept floor plan we've requested. Early estimates are another $12K (gulp), but I suppose the good news is that we won't have a house that will fall down in an earthquake.
2) Facade: We've gone around on the facade for a while now. Originally I had been intending to use fiber cement board (Hardieboard as it is commonly called). Made from cement, this facade is notably for its fire resistance and durability (not requiring much in the way of upkeep). While it has fairly high embodied energy demands, there's a pretty strong environmental argument to be made for it. I had also thought it was going to be a fair bit cheaper to install, but it seems that labour costs associated with it are very high. Accordingly, we've switched plans and will be doing mainly stucco (grey) with a bit of cedar at the front and back to give it some additional contrast and "spunk". The cedar is nice in that it's renewable, local, etc. but it definitely has a maintenance downside which is going to be a bit of bummer. The stucco I'm fine with - it's non-combustible as well (a requirement for our side walls) and has a long life span if properly done. Roughly speaking, it should have a bit of the look and feel of this shot:
 |
| The front of our house should look something like the right hand side of this house (probably the same size too!) |
I'm also hopeful that I might be able to reclaim some of my current wood siding. While covered in lead paint, I'm hoping that underneath it's in good condition and that it's cedar. If so, I might be able to strip it off, strip it down to wood again, and use it which would have multiple benefits: wouldn't have to buy new cedar siding ($), wouldn't have to pay for the removal of my current siding ($), and it saves landfill. However, it's going to take some luck (that it's indeed cedar), time (to strip the planks and then refinish them), and safety (safely dealing with the lead). We'll see what happens...but would be a nice story to tell if I can make it happen.
3) Interior modifications - ceilings: So found out today that the architects have planned to leave the floor joists (the cross "beams" running from one side of the house to the other that keep the floor in place). I had been thinking that we would have a flat, white ceiling with pot lights, but this is an interesting twist that I do think is probably a good call. It respects (and reflects) the history and bones of the old house - something we're shelling out for! - and at the same time, is probably more cost effective (cost of pot lights alone). Here's a shot of roughly what we think it will look like (joists will be like the ones in the background, not the ones in the foreground which go front to back). In fact this shot should give a pretty good feel of what the main part of our house will feel like - long(ish), narrow, with glass at the back (and front), and concrete floors.
4) Interior modifications - windows: Still sorting windows, but we're going back and forth with two suppliers at this point: Centra and Innotech. Both seem to make pretty solid vinyl windows. I've sadly had to eliminate fiberglass windows (my first choice) because they were just too cost prohibitive. PVC isn't the best product from an environmental perspective, but it does offer some good energy savings. The windows and doors are all rated to at least U 0.28 (which is an R-value of about 3-4...not great when you consider that walls are required to be about 20, but not bad when you consider that my current walls are about R-8). Furthermore, we're down to two options for the back window: Centra is quoting about $6K (basic, but good windows), while Innotech is quoting about $9K (more tilt-and-turn). We also need to decide whether to go with white frames or pay a 15% premium and get charcoal grey frames.
A) Canfold: Folding windows from the UK which aren't as good quality U-0.56, but do offer folding doors for under $10,000 (yes, large sets of folding doors are expensive!!). This was going to be one of the premium features of our place (and still will be to some extent), but we're thinking about different options at this point. Pros: Full 14'-16' span would open, roughly $10K installed, decent U values. Cons: only 7' tall, not as good quality, could have a delay in getting 16' version.
B) Innotech: A combination of two 4' fixed windows combined with a double door in between (8' span). While it wouldn't have quite the same "open feel" as the Canfold, it would much of the same look for most of the year.
Pros: Cheaper, better U-values, 8' tall, better quality. Cons: Don't open the full way.
Other brief updates:
- My parents have been INCREDIBLY generous (again) and will be helping us out with our kitchen (thanks!!!)
- Kris's dad visited and provided a bunch of good suggestions on layout, etc. (thanks!!!)
- I've gone back and forth on solar hot water - there's a great deal on with the City of Vancouver right now, but it's yet more money (which we're more than out of), so it will probably not happen.
- I've been going back and forth on water heating systems as a whole as well, and sadly I think we'll have to opt for whatever the cheapest system is because again...we're out of money.
- I'm coming to realize that I'll have to put in a lot of sweat equity ($10-$20K's worth). Not sure how this is going to happen, but it's going to have to because we're past our limits financially.
- I'm still hopeful that we can get some of the federal/provincial energy rebate money that's going to be made available - I basically am in a race against the clock for March 31st. We'll see how much we can get done by then! Accordingly, we're shooting to submit for development and building permits by December 15th (yikes!). It's all systems go!
- I'm finalizing contract agreements with Brett as things begin to pick up. There's more time in the contract than I had thought (it's a combination of project management and site supervision), but Brett's been amazing so far and I'm sure we can figure things out in terms of me taking over some of those roles as budget begins to wear down.
- Have also had help from my Mom and cousin on plant ID (thanks), old neighbour (thanks Mario!) and friends on a bunch of fronts providing advice and kind offers. All of it will be necessary if we're going to survive this thing.
Lastly, wanted to flag another blog post that I found the other day that is an excellent read (or at least was for me). Made me a little scared, but that's probably a good thing. Have a look and check it out yourself:
http://vreaa.wordpress.com/
So, in summary, things are going ok - over-budget, stressful, but moving quickly and aside from some sleepless nights, it's all on track overall. While there's more to update on, I'm exhausted, so I'm heading to bed for the night. Will post more drawings soon with updated plans.
Hazardous Materials Testing - B
It's well past due that I write in here, let alone update the status of the Hazmat report. While I had been very concerned about the information that would come back from the hazmat report (and frankly, rightly so!), the results were definitely on the "good" side of things.
Asbestos-containing:
1. Ducting tape around vents/furnace
2. Breeching cement around chimney
3. Linoleum in Kitchen flooring
4. Linoleum in Bathroom
Lead-containing:
1. Exterior siding paint
2. Kitchen paint
The good news you ask? The vermiculite in the attic was non-containing (apparently I won the "which mine did your vermiculite come from" lottery - about 70% of the world's vermiculite used for insulation came from the Libby Mine in Montana which had asbestos mixed into it). So, what's the bottom line?....well...depends on who you ask.
I solicited I think four or five quotes and they ranged by $10,000 - a pretty big delta! In the end, I'll be going with someone that our friend and semi-GC (general contractor), Brett, recommended and it's one of the few things thus far that's come in under budget. Sadly, there is much, much more news....
Asbestos-containing:
1. Ducting tape around vents/furnace
2. Breeching cement around chimney
3. Linoleum in Kitchen flooring
4. Linoleum in Bathroom
Lead-containing:
1. Exterior siding paint
2. Kitchen paint
The good news you ask? The vermiculite in the attic was non-containing (apparently I won the "which mine did your vermiculite come from" lottery - about 70% of the world's vermiculite used for insulation came from the Libby Mine in Montana which had asbestos mixed into it). So, what's the bottom line?....well...depends on who you ask.
I solicited I think four or five quotes and they ranged by $10,000 - a pretty big delta! In the end, I'll be going with someone that our friend and semi-GC (general contractor), Brett, recommended and it's one of the few things thus far that's come in under budget. Sadly, there is much, much more news....
Sunday 27 November 2011
Design updates
Hey All,
Been a week since I've posted, so going to put up the latest design ideas and thoughts. So - in no particular order....
1) Have had a number of great chats with a guy that I happened to meet at the Fortis BC (energy) pavillion at the Home show about a month ago. He's a building inspector by trade, but has been studying building sciences and is a guru on wall assemblies and all sorts of other building related matters. He's also planning on building his own house in North Van in the coming year (and possibly a business related to this down the road), and so has been learning all about things like Passive House design and the like. I'm hoping that I can meet more people like him and that we can provide learning opportunities for one another as I go along this journey. So a big thanks to you Sean!
2) Had a chat with the architects on Friday (and even visited City Hall for the first time to get a sense of the permitting side of things). We're definitely getting closer to where this thing will end up and the latest (exterior) designs are noted below. Soon we should have a mocked up model and be set to apply to the City for various permits (aiming for December 15th). We've pushed the timelines about as hard as we can in order to try to get the building envelope closed in (insulated with some basic systems) by March 31st in order to apply for the federal government eco-energy rebate program. It's going to be a tough squeeze to make it all happen, so I'm doing my utmost to get things lined up at this point, including exploring initial quotes on windows, insulation, etc. I think I've sent out like 10 different quotes at this point, so we'll see what comes back, but the latest designs call for a considerable amount more of window space, so we're going to need to be very careful about window costs (they're pricey...especially good ones!).
So - that's a quick update for the time being. Will post a bunch more this week as there are a few other things that have happened that I need to update on.
Been a week since I've posted, so going to put up the latest design ideas and thoughts. So - in no particular order....
1) Have had a number of great chats with a guy that I happened to meet at the Fortis BC (energy) pavillion at the Home show about a month ago. He's a building inspector by trade, but has been studying building sciences and is a guru on wall assemblies and all sorts of other building related matters. He's also planning on building his own house in North Van in the coming year (and possibly a business related to this down the road), and so has been learning all about things like Passive House design and the like. I'm hoping that I can meet more people like him and that we can provide learning opportunities for one another as I go along this journey. So a big thanks to you Sean!
2) Had a chat with the architects on Friday (and even visited City Hall for the first time to get a sense of the permitting side of things). We're definitely getting closer to where this thing will end up and the latest (exterior) designs are noted below. Soon we should have a mocked up model and be set to apply to the City for various permits (aiming for December 15th). We've pushed the timelines about as hard as we can in order to try to get the building envelope closed in (insulated with some basic systems) by March 31st in order to apply for the federal government eco-energy rebate program. It's going to be a tough squeeze to make it all happen, so I'm doing my utmost to get things lined up at this point, including exploring initial quotes on windows, insulation, etc. I think I've sent out like 10 different quotes at this point, so we'll see what comes back, but the latest designs call for a considerable amount more of window space, so we're going to need to be very careful about window costs (they're pricey...especially good ones!).
 |
| Back of house with notes. Latest changes include a deck with double-doors from the master bedroom above. |
 |
| Front of house with notes: latest changes include two story window, small ground level wall at front and a triple-window for the office upstairs. |
So - that's a quick update for the time being. Will post a bunch more this week as there are a few other things that have happened that I need to update on.
Sunday 20 November 2011
More than you ever wanted to know about insulation
Sorry to all for the delay on postings...it's just going to be like that sometimes...but what I will say is that I will always return and post in the end!
So a brief update on a bunch of things and then some gory details on insulation. In general, things are with BCA right now as they update design documents and get things ready to go to permitting with the City of Vancouver. Accordingly, not much to report in terms of design (except for the fact that I've been fiddling around with a few internal, 3D programs ranging from Ikea's kitchen planner (which seems to constantly crash my computer as a warning) to a relatively nifty one I found the other day while poking around on YouTube called Homestyler. I've also been doing a ton of research into wall assemblies (wall design/composition in simple terms), insulation, and a little bit on foundations/draintile and excavations...oh, and soil remediation. I've had quotes for a bunch of demolition/hazmat removal (will get to hazmat stuff in another posting), as well as a few quotes for insulation thus far. That and I need to start thinking about plants and shifting vegetation if possible. And that's the general update of things.
More specifically: insulation. What kind to use?
Options and thoughts:
1) Fiberglass (loose fill/batt)
Basically fiberglass is spun chunks of glass...it's what we all grew up with.
Upside is that it's cheap, it is relatively heat resistant (doesn't melt until a few hundred degrees), and it offers pretty good "bang for your buck".
Downsides are that it's an irritant to the skin (etc), it's not super environmentally friendly all-around, and it doesn't offer large R values. It can also droop in the wall cavity and is totally ineffective if not properly installed.
Cost: To give you a sense of cost to R-value (effective "warming" value), Home Depot offers this: Owens-Corning EcoTouch R12 (3.5") for 2x4 studs (which equals an R of 3.42/in.) for about $64 for 150 sq.ft. ( = $0.42/R3.42/sq.ft.). To put this into perspective, to insulate the proposed full house to R20 walls, would roughly cost $850 + HST.
2) Cellulose (loose fill/wet spray)
Basically chopped up (recycled) newspaper plus a non-toxic mold/insect/rodent repellent/fire retardant (borate).
Upsides are that it's also cheap, and offers very good bang-for-your buck, and is environmentally friendly. Downsides are that it's less flame resistant, can also sag in the wall cavity and can create a fair bit of dust. Cost wise it's about the same as fiberglass , but takes up a little bit less space if done via wet-spray (so more R-value can go into the same space).
Cost: An R-value of about 3.5/inch is reasonable, with a rough cost of about $0.50/sq.ft. or, for R20 walls and an R60 attic in our place, about $2200 + HST.
3) Foam (soy-based/standard/cementitious)
Foam is the touted "wonder solution" of the insulation world. Not only does it (largely) form a vapour barrier, it has a relatively higher R-value to inch ration (around R4-6/inch) and can be sprayed into all sorts of spaces. While relatively expensive, it is the choice of many people (including Mike Holmes!) because of the fact that it seals in air while giving a high R-value, thus delivering a 2-in-1 value. Furthermore, there are a bunch of types of foam (see this for a more complete list): more "environmentally friendly" soy versions that are non toxic; standard (and toxic) Icynene foams that are made up of who-knows-what (can contain VOCs and produces poisonous gases when burned); and lastly cementitious foam (commonly called AirKrete) which is magnesium oxide and cermaic talc. Unlike a bunch of other foams, it doesn't do the crazy (expand in a nano second thing) but rather comes out like shaving cream and then hardens over 24 hours. Each one has its own pluses and minuses but in general...
Upsides: Vapour barrier, fits into many spaces, dense R-value for tight spaces (can get upwards of 24 into a 2x4 studded wall), mostly environmentally benign.
Downsides: Poisonous when it burns, though fire retardant it often has a low melting point (note: both of these are not true for cementitious foam - but it has the downside of being more fragile at lower densities), expensive, and not easily removed (therefore does not permit deconstruction). Some types of foam also produce nasty chemicals when created (e.g., CFCs, etc.)
Costs: Rough quotes for something like BASF Walltite Eco Foam are about $4/sq.ft. (R5, but includes a vapour barrier that makes the effective R value better overall). This means that quotes for R30 walls + R55 attic come out to about $11-12K + HST.
4) Rockwool (loose fill/batt/rigid)
Rockwool (which in Canada is sold under the brand Roxul) is a mineral wool composite basically made up of 75% recycled slag (steel) and 25% basalt. The products are heated to very high temperatures (1600 degrees C) and then spun into various forms.
Upsides: Decent R value (~R4/inch), extremely fire resistant, quite sound resistant, moisture/insect/vermin resistant, comes in various forms (some of which can be applied to the outside).
Downsides: Moderately expensive; not easily available; quite heavy; high initial carbon footprint (embedded energy). Furthermore, while not noted as carcinogenic, early forms were harmful and other forms used to be classed as dangerous. More recently, non-human-available forms have been downgraded in their danger, but are still known to be irritants (like fiberglass).
Costs: Costs vary for the different forms (batt vs. hard), but come out a bit more expensive than fiberglass for the batting ($0.60/inch at R4) and I've had a rough estimate of about $1.15/inch at R4 for the hard (IS form). Combined, these would give a wall assembly of R38 and an attic of R58 (via Comfortbatt) for a total of about $6,100 + HST.
5) Natural wool (Sheep/Cotton)
Of late there has been an increased push to generate more natural forms of insulation. Accordingly, more traditional fibers such as wool and cotton have started entering the game. Sheeps wool, long used to insulate...well...sheep (and people from New Zealand, Wales, etc.) has made a resurgence, as has recycled denim jeans (cotton).
Upsides: Good sound absorption and decent R-value (just less than 4/inch), very little embedded energy and contains a large percentage of recycled materials (>85%), not dangerous in the least and can be handed without any protection safely. All things said and done, it's probably the most environmentally friendly insulation form of those listed here.
Downsides: Not easily available (though it is sold in BC - Bonded Logic - by Twin Maple Marketing in Abbotsford), not as cheap as some other forms of insulation, could be susceptible to moisture/mold issues and not as fire retardant as most other materials (though it does indicate protection from all of those things). It's also heavier than some other forms of insulation.
Cost: Roughly $65 for 84 sq.ft. for 3.5" (R13) (or $0.76/sq.ft), which means about $4,500 if I were to put in R24 walls along with an additional $2,300 for an R65 attic space.
6) Polystyrene/Structural Insulated Panels (hard foam)
While technically this is really another form of "foam", it's a bit different for several reasons. While polystyrene panels can (and do) exist on their own, I was keen to look into SIPs (or Structural Insulated Panels). These are basically a giant, pre-assembled walls made up of a big chunk of polystyrene sandwiched between two MDF boards (combined with a few other odds and ends). The cool thing about SIPs is that they're precision cut off-site and then just brought in and assembled directly from a crane. Accordingly, there's little was and assembly time is super fast (no framing). They're often used as a manner of doing "pre-fab" and have shown useful especially for modern housing design (especially in remote areas).
Upsides: High R-values (40+ possible), fast to assemble, little waste
Downsides: No cheaper than other forms, must have plumb surfaces, some quality/performance issues have emerged as the technology improves.
So - with all of that, here's what I've concluded so far:
1) SIPs aren't very suitable for a renovation (non-plumb foundation = nightmare)
2) Fiberglass, while cheap, weirds me out.
3) Cellulose is an option for the attic, but settling eliminates it as an option for the walls.
4) Rock wool is an interesting option, but the batt stuff kind of weirds me out (like fiberglass). That said, I'm pretty keen on the hard form on the outside...so it's still in the running.
5) I like the fact that spray foam creates an air seal, but I'm hoping I can do this in other means and avoid using it. It's expensive, and I don't like the fact that it eliminates deconstruction options in the future.
6) I'm pretty down with using the denim batts in the attic if I can because it makes it safe for us to go up there in the future (plus allow us to access it for potential "deep storage").
In summary, at the moment I'm thinking I'll probably go for a double layer of the Roxul ComfortBoard IS (rigid rock wool) on the exterior (giving me R24), along with either ComfortBatt (R14) or Ultratouch Denim (R13) on the interior walls. For the attic, I'll probably either do wet spray cellulose (super cost effective, but makes the attic dusty) to R60 or more Ultratouch Denim (to around R60). This provides a bunch of advantages - including minimizing thermal bridging, allowing me to maximize internal space, having a very warm/fireproof/soundproof house, while keeping costs somewhat lower.
The fronts and backs of the house will still be a bit cool (too much glass!), but such is life...we're trading off some heat for sunlight and views...
A few websites:
http://insulation.sustainablesources.com/
www.roxul.com/residential/products
www.smartlivingdirect.com
www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/green-basics/spray-foam-insulation-open-and-closed-cell
sprayinsulationbc.com
www.stocorp.com
And last but not least before I sign off for the night (will need to come back and finish up a few of the cost details), congrats to Vancouver for keeping Gregor in for another few years...looking forward to seeing what happens re: Greenest City. Yay to bike lanes and chickens!
So a brief update on a bunch of things and then some gory details on insulation. In general, things are with BCA right now as they update design documents and get things ready to go to permitting with the City of Vancouver. Accordingly, not much to report in terms of design (except for the fact that I've been fiddling around with a few internal, 3D programs ranging from Ikea's kitchen planner (which seems to constantly crash my computer as a warning) to a relatively nifty one I found the other day while poking around on YouTube called Homestyler. I've also been doing a ton of research into wall assemblies (wall design/composition in simple terms), insulation, and a little bit on foundations/draintile and excavations...oh, and soil remediation. I've had quotes for a bunch of demolition/hazmat removal (will get to hazmat stuff in another posting), as well as a few quotes for insulation thus far. That and I need to start thinking about plants and shifting vegetation if possible. And that's the general update of things.
More specifically: insulation. What kind to use?
Options and thoughts:
1) Fiberglass (loose fill/batt)
Basically fiberglass is spun chunks of glass...it's what we all grew up with.
Upside is that it's cheap, it is relatively heat resistant (doesn't melt until a few hundred degrees), and it offers pretty good "bang for your buck".
Downsides are that it's an irritant to the skin (etc), it's not super environmentally friendly all-around, and it doesn't offer large R values. It can also droop in the wall cavity and is totally ineffective if not properly installed.
Cost: To give you a sense of cost to R-value (effective "warming" value), Home Depot offers this: Owens-Corning EcoTouch R12 (3.5") for 2x4 studs (which equals an R of 3.42/in.) for about $64 for 150 sq.ft. ( = $0.42/R3.42/sq.ft.). To put this into perspective, to insulate the proposed full house to R20 walls, would roughly cost $850 + HST.
2) Cellulose (loose fill/wet spray)
Basically chopped up (recycled) newspaper plus a non-toxic mold/insect/rodent repellent/fire retardant (borate).
Upsides are that it's also cheap, and offers very good bang-for-your buck, and is environmentally friendly. Downsides are that it's less flame resistant, can also sag in the wall cavity and can create a fair bit of dust. Cost wise it's about the same as fiberglass , but takes up a little bit less space if done via wet-spray (so more R-value can go into the same space).
Cost: An R-value of about 3.5/inch is reasonable, with a rough cost of about $0.50/sq.ft. or, for R20 walls and an R60 attic in our place, about $2200 + HST.
3) Foam (soy-based/standard/cementitious)
Foam is the touted "wonder solution" of the insulation world. Not only does it (largely) form a vapour barrier, it has a relatively higher R-value to inch ration (around R4-6/inch) and can be sprayed into all sorts of spaces. While relatively expensive, it is the choice of many people (including Mike Holmes!) because of the fact that it seals in air while giving a high R-value, thus delivering a 2-in-1 value. Furthermore, there are a bunch of types of foam (see this for a more complete list): more "environmentally friendly" soy versions that are non toxic; standard (and toxic) Icynene foams that are made up of who-knows-what (can contain VOCs and produces poisonous gases when burned); and lastly cementitious foam (commonly called AirKrete) which is magnesium oxide and cermaic talc. Unlike a bunch of other foams, it doesn't do the crazy (expand in a nano second thing) but rather comes out like shaving cream and then hardens over 24 hours. Each one has its own pluses and minuses but in general...
Upsides: Vapour barrier, fits into many spaces, dense R-value for tight spaces (can get upwards of 24 into a 2x4 studded wall), mostly environmentally benign.
Downsides: Poisonous when it burns, though fire retardant it often has a low melting point (note: both of these are not true for cementitious foam - but it has the downside of being more fragile at lower densities), expensive, and not easily removed (therefore does not permit deconstruction). Some types of foam also produce nasty chemicals when created (e.g., CFCs, etc.)
Costs: Rough quotes for something like BASF Walltite Eco Foam are about $4/sq.ft. (R5, but includes a vapour barrier that makes the effective R value better overall). This means that quotes for R30 walls + R55 attic come out to about $11-12K + HST.
4) Rockwool (loose fill/batt/rigid)
Rockwool (which in Canada is sold under the brand Roxul) is a mineral wool composite basically made up of 75% recycled slag (steel) and 25% basalt. The products are heated to very high temperatures (1600 degrees C) and then spun into various forms.
Upsides: Decent R value (~R4/inch), extremely fire resistant, quite sound resistant, moisture/insect/vermin resistant, comes in various forms (some of which can be applied to the outside).
Downsides: Moderately expensive; not easily available; quite heavy; high initial carbon footprint (embedded energy). Furthermore, while not noted as carcinogenic, early forms were harmful and other forms used to be classed as dangerous. More recently, non-human-available forms have been downgraded in their danger, but are still known to be irritants (like fiberglass).
Costs: Costs vary for the different forms (batt vs. hard), but come out a bit more expensive than fiberglass for the batting ($0.60/inch at R4) and I've had a rough estimate of about $1.15/inch at R4 for the hard (IS form). Combined, these would give a wall assembly of R38 and an attic of R58 (via Comfortbatt) for a total of about $6,100 + HST.
5) Natural wool (Sheep/Cotton)
Of late there has been an increased push to generate more natural forms of insulation. Accordingly, more traditional fibers such as wool and cotton have started entering the game. Sheeps wool, long used to insulate...well...sheep (and people from New Zealand, Wales, etc.) has made a resurgence, as has recycled denim jeans (cotton).
Upsides: Good sound absorption and decent R-value (just less than 4/inch), very little embedded energy and contains a large percentage of recycled materials (>85%), not dangerous in the least and can be handed without any protection safely. All things said and done, it's probably the most environmentally friendly insulation form of those listed here.
Downsides: Not easily available (though it is sold in BC - Bonded Logic - by Twin Maple Marketing in Abbotsford), not as cheap as some other forms of insulation, could be susceptible to moisture/mold issues and not as fire retardant as most other materials (though it does indicate protection from all of those things). It's also heavier than some other forms of insulation.
Cost: Roughly $65 for 84 sq.ft. for 3.5" (R13) (or $0.76/sq.ft), which means about $4,500 if I were to put in R24 walls along with an additional $2,300 for an R65 attic space.
6) Polystyrene/Structural Insulated Panels (hard foam)
While technically this is really another form of "foam", it's a bit different for several reasons. While polystyrene panels can (and do) exist on their own, I was keen to look into SIPs (or Structural Insulated Panels). These are basically a giant, pre-assembled walls made up of a big chunk of polystyrene sandwiched between two MDF boards (combined with a few other odds and ends). The cool thing about SIPs is that they're precision cut off-site and then just brought in and assembled directly from a crane. Accordingly, there's little was and assembly time is super fast (no framing). They're often used as a manner of doing "pre-fab" and have shown useful especially for modern housing design (especially in remote areas).
Upsides: High R-values (40+ possible), fast to assemble, little waste
Downsides: No cheaper than other forms, must have plumb surfaces, some quality/performance issues have emerged as the technology improves.
So - with all of that, here's what I've concluded so far:
1) SIPs aren't very suitable for a renovation (non-plumb foundation = nightmare)
2) Fiberglass, while cheap, weirds me out.
3) Cellulose is an option for the attic, but settling eliminates it as an option for the walls.
4) Rock wool is an interesting option, but the batt stuff kind of weirds me out (like fiberglass). That said, I'm pretty keen on the hard form on the outside...so it's still in the running.
5) I like the fact that spray foam creates an air seal, but I'm hoping I can do this in other means and avoid using it. It's expensive, and I don't like the fact that it eliminates deconstruction options in the future.
6) I'm pretty down with using the denim batts in the attic if I can because it makes it safe for us to go up there in the future (plus allow us to access it for potential "deep storage").
In summary, at the moment I'm thinking I'll probably go for a double layer of the Roxul ComfortBoard IS (rigid rock wool) on the exterior (giving me R24), along with either ComfortBatt (R14) or Ultratouch Denim (R13) on the interior walls. For the attic, I'll probably either do wet spray cellulose (super cost effective, but makes the attic dusty) to R60 or more Ultratouch Denim (to around R60). This provides a bunch of advantages - including minimizing thermal bridging, allowing me to maximize internal space, having a very warm/fireproof/soundproof house, while keeping costs somewhat lower.
The fronts and backs of the house will still be a bit cool (too much glass!), but such is life...we're trading off some heat for sunlight and views...
A few websites:
http://insulation.sustainablesources.com/
www.roxul.com/residential/products
www.smartlivingdirect.com
www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/green-basics/spray-foam-insulation-open-and-closed-cell
sprayinsulationbc.com
www.stocorp.com
And last but not least before I sign off for the night (will need to come back and finish up a few of the cost details), congrats to Vancouver for keeping Gregor in for another few years...looking forward to seeing what happens re: Greenest City. Yay to bike lanes and chickens!
Tuesday 8 November 2011
The first major hurdle...CLEARED!
So, Kris and I were back at BCA this evening, going over two modified options: one is a derivative of Option 2 (with the external stair) from way back, and the other is a derivative of Option 5. In both cases, we opted to add an extension on the back (170SF and 140SF respectively). We only had an hour to go through the options (I had another meeting this evening), and feeling pressured, we opted to get back to them later tonight.
In the end, we've come down on the derivative of Option 5 (once it's redrawn I'll post it for people). Basically it involves three zones from front to back. The first zone (front of the house, south end) is a threshold with a couple of stairs down to the kitchen, an internal staircase at the front of the house (with storage and mechanical under the stairs), as well as a closet. The middle zone has the kitchen and a full bathroom (with shower). Lastly, the end zone (kind of like the ring of that) is the dining/living space (now extended by an additional 8 feet at the back) with a full set of folding glass doors across the back (roughly 14-16') that opens to the backyard and a patio. The upstairs largely maintains the current layout, but has the option of putting in an upper level deck over the new extension which could be really nice later on. The whole thing takes the liveable space to around 1350SF plus another 150 of deck area.
The external stair option did have a lot going for it - it gave us probably an additional 150SF of liveable space (while only being an additional 105SF in actual building), it created a interesting set of perspectives, and it moved the downstairs bathroom to a more private location. Nevertheless, we both decided to go against the recommendations of the architects and opted against the external stair option in the end for a series of reasons:
1) It cost more (at least $15K more)
2) You would have to walk through the entire house to get the stairs and go up
3) It made both of the living spaces at the back of the house (on both levels), whereas on the plan we've opted for one is at the back, and the other at the front.
4) It put the master bedroom at the sunny (south) end of the house (vs. the office/guest bedroom)
...and most importantly...
5) It diminished the expansive view/walkout nature of the back which both Kris and I were set on.
So, with a layout in place, we're on to the next steps of detailing the plan and getting a structural engineer into the mix (whoo hoo).
In other research, I'm coming back to the use of Structural Insulated Panels (or SIPs for short). These are basically "pre-built" walls that are two sheets of plywood with Styrofoam in the middle (crudely put). Why use SIPs? Well, they've got a bunch of pluses:
- They're precision cut and so there's minimal waste generated
- They're created off site, so there's no mess on site
- There's no framing so they go up super-fast relative to normal framing (days vs. weeks)
- They can squeeze in pretty high R-values (insulation to non-building geeks) so I can get about R-36 from a 10" wall. Conversely, while I can get about R-30 if I used 2*6 studs with spray foam, the cost is higher, and I would need to go to about 8" (non-traditional) anyhow to get upwards of R-36.
I've been reading about them in a number of the green building books I've been pouring over, and they seem to be the way to go if you can swing it...so we'll see (I've got two calls tomorrow to find out more on them), but I'm hopeful.
Aside from that, also have a meeting with another guy who's building a passive house on Thursday, so that should be useful for me as well. Seems like Vancouver is emerging as a mini-hub for passive house design, which is cool.
That's all for tonight!
In the end, we've come down on the derivative of Option 5 (once it's redrawn I'll post it for people). Basically it involves three zones from front to back. The first zone (front of the house, south end) is a threshold with a couple of stairs down to the kitchen, an internal staircase at the front of the house (with storage and mechanical under the stairs), as well as a closet. The middle zone has the kitchen and a full bathroom (with shower). Lastly, the end zone (kind of like the ring of that) is the dining/living space (now extended by an additional 8 feet at the back) with a full set of folding glass doors across the back (roughly 14-16') that opens to the backyard and a patio. The upstairs largely maintains the current layout, but has the option of putting in an upper level deck over the new extension which could be really nice later on. The whole thing takes the liveable space to around 1350SF plus another 150 of deck area.
The external stair option did have a lot going for it - it gave us probably an additional 150SF of liveable space (while only being an additional 105SF in actual building), it created a interesting set of perspectives, and it moved the downstairs bathroom to a more private location. Nevertheless, we both decided to go against the recommendations of the architects and opted against the external stair option in the end for a series of reasons:
1) It cost more (at least $15K more)
2) You would have to walk through the entire house to get the stairs and go up
3) It made both of the living spaces at the back of the house (on both levels), whereas on the plan we've opted for one is at the back, and the other at the front.
4) It put the master bedroom at the sunny (south) end of the house (vs. the office/guest bedroom)
...and most importantly...
5) It diminished the expansive view/walkout nature of the back which both Kris and I were set on.
So, with a layout in place, we're on to the next steps of detailing the plan and getting a structural engineer into the mix (whoo hoo).
In other research, I'm coming back to the use of Structural Insulated Panels (or SIPs for short). These are basically "pre-built" walls that are two sheets of plywood with Styrofoam in the middle (crudely put). Why use SIPs? Well, they've got a bunch of pluses:
- They're precision cut and so there's minimal waste generated
- They're created off site, so there's no mess on site
- There's no framing so they go up super-fast relative to normal framing (days vs. weeks)
- They can squeeze in pretty high R-values (insulation to non-building geeks) so I can get about R-36 from a 10" wall. Conversely, while I can get about R-30 if I used 2*6 studs with spray foam, the cost is higher, and I would need to go to about 8" (non-traditional) anyhow to get upwards of R-36.
I've been reading about them in a number of the green building books I've been pouring over, and they seem to be the way to go if you can swing it...so we'll see (I've got two calls tomorrow to find out more on them), but I'm hopeful.
Aside from that, also have a meeting with another guy who's building a passive house on Thursday, so that should be useful for me as well. Seems like Vancouver is emerging as a mini-hub for passive house design, which is cool.
That's all for tonight!
Sunday 6 November 2011
Options, options, options
So, on Friday, we met up with Bruce and Ian at Salt Tasting Room (which is a great little wine/artisinal cheese place in Gastown). Over some beer, cheese, cured meats and relishes we chatted about options 4 and 5 (which was similar to a blend of Option 1 - galley kitchen, and Option 4).
 |
| A shot of Salt - designed by Busby, Perkins + Will |
After Ian took off on a date and Bruce headed out to see his wife, Kris and I headed home and mulled over things. In fact we mulled the whole weekend. Conclusion: we're going to hybridize a bunch of ideas and generally do the following:
- Go for the layout of Option 1 + Option 4 (see older posts) with 10' ceilings on the ground floor
- Put on a 6-8 foot addition on the back (ground level only - which will leave the option of an upper level deck for later)
- Maintain most of the upstairs as is (with a few little shifts - including adding a 'laundry closet' and a walk-in closet)
- Put on a 6-8 foot addition on the back (ground level only - which will leave the option of an upper level deck for later)
- Maintain most of the upstairs as is (with a few little shifts - including adding a 'laundry closet' and a walk-in closet)
I'll post the layout and images of it all once we've got the updated versions from BCA. In the meantime, I'll post a bit more on the hazmat report - which I've got back and had some initial quotes on (more this coming week). I'll also try to post a few things this week on design inspirations.
Wednesday 2 November 2011
Design schematics - Round 2
On Tuesday, Kris and I met once again with Bruce and Ian over at the new digs. In our stinky, dark, and dilapidated living room, we went over the new round of designs which had been developed off of the feedback from round one. Here are the new versions - let us know what you think of them....
Our general preference was 4.3, though we still had a bunch of points of feedback....
So - on Friday we're slated to have another round of things with an additional version that has a galley like kitchen (like Option 1 above) combined with most of the feel of 4.3. We'll see how that goes and take it from there. In the meantime, I'm trying to nail down some numbers on the Hazmat info, which I'll post this weekend.
Our general preference was 4.3, though we still had a bunch of points of feedback....
So - on Friday we're slated to have another round of things with an additional version that has a galley like kitchen (like Option 1 above) combined with most of the feel of 4.3. We'll see how that goes and take it from there. In the meantime, I'm trying to nail down some numbers on the Hazmat info, which I'll post this weekend.
Tuesday 1 November 2011
Preliminary designs and edits
So as you're probably gathering from the array of posts, there's been a lot happening over the past few weeks while I've had radio silence on my blog. Perhaps most significantly have been the first couple of rounds of designs from Bruce Carscadden Architects (BCA). After giving some input to both Ian and Bruce (rough primary instructions were: minimize cost, maximize light/storage/space, have an indoor/outdoor seamless transition, and keep the feel modern yet natural), they generated three initial layouts (or schematic design).
So....
So....
...What do you think? I'll fill you in on our thoughts soon...
Toronto Design Scene: who knew?
A special travel-edition of my blog from the past few days in TO. Who knew that my home of nigh-ten years is all grown up? When I left Toronto a little over three years ago, it definitely had some solid roots in the design scene: institutions like OCAD have ensured that. But with the building boom of the past decade, it would seem like things have shifted into the mainstream. From the completion of the Liebskind-inspired ROM and the Gehry-driven AGO to Mississauga's (I know...MISSISSAUGA!?!) "Marilyn Munrow Towers" I've been impressed with the world-class architectural additions of late. But perhaps even more impressive is the emergence of the interior and industrial design scene throughout the city.
For the past few years, there's been a publication called Design Lines - almost like a free, quarterly, Toronto-specific design mag that also doubles as a great reference guide for shopping in the city. They identify various design-hubs in the city (Queen E/W, King E/W, the Junction, Ave-Dav, Caledonia) and provide brief reviews, hours, etc. Gotta admit to being jealous that Van doesn't have an equivalent (the Make it Local publication isn't quite the same - though still good).
So - highlights/fave stores:
1) Mjolk (pronounced Mi-yelk, and meaning...go figure..."Milk" in Swedish) - it's a Scandinavian-inspired higher-end design shop. The interior falls somewhere between a gallery, a sauna (without the heat - its got a lot of wood), and a gift shop, and the products range from furniture to kitchen utensils and jewelry. Saw an awesome set of tongs and a very cool built-in drain rack.
Choice items:
2) Made - a Canadian-design store that has more interior furnishings (lights, chairs, credenzas - aka ground-level cabinets with legs, etc.) Some very cool stuff and the owners were lovely. In particular - have a look in their catalogue at the credenza by Heidi Earnshaw, the live-edge side tables by Deanne Lehtinen, the lamps by Propellor Design, and the pendant lamp by Rob Southcott.
3) Stylegarage - another Canadian company that's sort of like a high-end version of Nood (or a higher-high end version of Ikea). Great design: clean, simple, modern, natural, and sustainable...that's what I'm all about!
Lots of neat stuff, but we thought we might be able to steal the concrete table idea...
And again....was going to post more here, but decided that more frequent was better than more comprehensive! So, that's it for now.
For the past few years, there's been a publication called Design Lines - almost like a free, quarterly, Toronto-specific design mag that also doubles as a great reference guide for shopping in the city. They identify various design-hubs in the city (Queen E/W, King E/W, the Junction, Ave-Dav, Caledonia) and provide brief reviews, hours, etc. Gotta admit to being jealous that Van doesn't have an equivalent (the Make it Local publication isn't quite the same - though still good).
So - highlights/fave stores:
1) Mjolk (pronounced Mi-yelk, and meaning...go figure..."Milk" in Swedish) - it's a Scandinavian-inspired higher-end design shop. The interior falls somewhere between a gallery, a sauna (without the heat - its got a lot of wood), and a gift shop, and the products range from furniture to kitchen utensils and jewelry. Saw an awesome set of tongs and a very cool built-in drain rack.
Choice items:
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| Scissors/kitchen tool |
.jpg) |
| Sori Yanagi Perforated tongs |
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| Hand hammered Yukihira Pot |
2) Made - a Canadian-design store that has more interior furnishings (lights, chairs, credenzas - aka ground-level cabinets with legs, etc.) Some very cool stuff and the owners were lovely. In particular - have a look in their catalogue at the credenza by Heidi Earnshaw, the live-edge side tables by Deanne Lehtinen, the lamps by Propellor Design, and the pendant lamp by Rob Southcott.
3) Stylegarage - another Canadian company that's sort of like a high-end version of Nood (or a higher-high end version of Ikea). Great design: clean, simple, modern, natural, and sustainable...that's what I'm all about!
Lots of neat stuff, but we thought we might be able to steal the concrete table idea...
And again....was going to post more here, but decided that more frequent was better than more comprehensive! So, that's it for now.
The up days and down days
The past week has been a mixed bag entirely on the house front. I had the initial energy audit/assessment last week ($168, due to a $150 subsidy from the gov't) which I used Energywise Solutions. In a nutshell it was probably one of the best dollars spent thus far. He did a pretty quick tour of the place, took some basic measurements, looked at materials (windows, walls, insulation, etc.) and then did a blower test (seal the house, suck out the air and then see how long it takes to balance - which tells you how much air is leaking in). It took about an hour in all, and he then sent me a report later that night. The good news: I'm eligible for many thousands of dollars in subsidies. The bad news: to receive them, I have to have the building envelope in place by March 31st, which is going to be VERY tight according to our timelines.
Over the weekend, Kris and I went to the Vancouver Home Show which was interesting, but not mind blowing. Did get a bunch of options for everything from heat recovery ventilator systems, to sheds, to countertops, toilets, and so forth. Here are some of the ones we're thinking of:
1) Modern Shed: Shed, gear storage, guest room, office...all in a very cool shell. Not sure what size we'd do (probably below the non-permit size of 107 sq.ft) - or even if we can do it - but it's definitely appealing!
2) Eco by Consentino: pretty awesome countertop surface - green, durable, looks great...but a bit pricey. We'll see if we can swing it in the end....
3) Dual Flush Siphonic Water Toilet / Fresca Dorado Elongated Toilet: We're desperately in search of a pimpin' dual-flush toilet that doesn't have nasty areas to clean. Here are our faves thus far...
4) Lighting: I quite like the Le Klint lamps (stylish and affordable), but there are lots of options on that front. My other lighting of choice includes this Nuevo Asparagus lamp and the classic Poulsen lamp
I could go on, but I'm several weeks behind in posting, so that will do for now...
Over the weekend, Kris and I went to the Vancouver Home Show which was interesting, but not mind blowing. Did get a bunch of options for everything from heat recovery ventilator systems, to sheds, to countertops, toilets, and so forth. Here are some of the ones we're thinking of:
1) Modern Shed: Shed, gear storage, guest room, office...all in a very cool shell. Not sure what size we'd do (probably below the non-permit size of 107 sq.ft) - or even if we can do it - but it's definitely appealing!
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| Example of a a "Modern Shed" shed. Hey baby - nice clerestory windows... |
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| White Diamond is our choice of colours |
4) Lighting: I quite like the Le Klint lamps (stylish and affordable), but there are lots of options on that front. My other lighting of choice includes this Nuevo Asparagus lamp and the classic Poulsen lamp
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| Le Klint |
| Nuevo Asparagus |
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| And the classic Poulsen Artichoke (don't ask me why they want to name them after vegetables) |
Wednesday 12 October 2011
Hazardous Materials Testing - A
So - just got back from the haz-mat testing at the new place. It was not the best thing ever. We used Alara Environmental Health and Safety - who gave us the best quote in the end (or so it seemed). That said, Steven Seewald (the president) was actually the one who did the testing and he was really pleasant and despite the extra costs, think that he did what he had to. It wasn't him, so much as the owners who created this monstrosity of a mish-mash of materials (that and probably overly zealous rules by the Workers Compensation Board)
The testing ran $900 over. Ugh. Give your thanks to small Italian men who like to patch over shit over, and over, and over again...resulting in a zillion samples. The original quote from Alara was for $595 (including 7 samples) + $45/sample + HST. I started to grow a bit concerned when he started taking samples like they were going out of style. I'm guessing the final bill will be close to $1500. Ouch.
The testing ran $900 over. Ugh. Give your thanks to small Italian men who like to patch over shit over, and over, and over again...resulting in a zillion samples. The original quote from Alara was for $595 (including 7 samples) + $45/sample + HST. I started to grow a bit concerned when he started taking samples like they were going out of style. I'm guessing the final bill will be close to $1500. Ouch.
The bad news:
A) $900 extra (~25 samples, vs. an estimated 7. The guy explained it - it's largely due to WCB. Understandable (and the guy was really nice about it), but frustrating.
B) Lots of possible asbestos (linoleum shit EVERYWHERE...and so freakin' random...e.g., part of the living room has it?!)
C) Sounds like demolition is going to be even more expensive than I'd guessed...but I guess we'll wait and see.
The "good" news:
A) I think the flooring "might" be able to be refinished...which at least saves us a bit of money.
A) I think the flooring "might" be able to be refinished...which at least saves us a bit of money.
B) There are no issues in the basement (hallelujah!).
C) We got a Home Depot gift card (amount unknown) in the mail from the RBC mortgage broker - who didn't even issue our mortgage...how odd... (so make that $880 over)
D) We got a city of Vancouver survey worth $10 in the mail as well (now down to $870!!!)
E) The guy saved us another $100 by opting out of two tests that he felt pretty confident on.
F) I don't have to pay for more testing...well...except for the energy audit...
G) I realized that I can circumvent the fact that nobody takes credit cards by using credit card cheques...
Welcome to the world of house ownership. And now I'm off to drink.
Tuesday 11 October 2011
Design inspirations
A quick update (read little amounts of text) and a bunch of pictures - because they're more fun than my words.
So - updates
1) Have booked the hazmat testing, which happens tomorrow. Guessing it will cost us about $800 all in...let's just hope that there's as little asbestos as possible (fingers crossed everyone!). Should have the results back in about a week or two.
2) Have also booked a household energy audit/assessment. This is a requirement before you start into any kind of renovation in order to be eligible for the fed/prov ecoENERGY rebate program. The bad news is that it costs more, the good news being that it's subsidized ($150 off, so will cost $168 in total), and should make us eligible for a bunch of savings (I'm guessing a few thousand dollars).
3) We managed to score our neighbours old tub, which I'm pretty excited about. It's a nice jacuzzi-style tub (see below) and saves us a few hundred bucks. It will likely go in the upstairs bathroom.
Also scored the following from our neighbour (current, but soon moving), Susan.
So - updates
1) Have booked the hazmat testing, which happens tomorrow. Guessing it will cost us about $800 all in...let's just hope that there's as little asbestos as possible (fingers crossed everyone!). Should have the results back in about a week or two.
2) Have also booked a household energy audit/assessment. This is a requirement before you start into any kind of renovation in order to be eligible for the fed/prov ecoENERGY rebate program. The bad news is that it costs more, the good news being that it's subsidized ($150 off, so will cost $168 in total), and should make us eligible for a bunch of savings (I'm guessing a few thousand dollars).
3) We managed to score our neighbours old tub, which I'm pretty excited about. It's a nice jacuzzi-style tub (see below) and saves us a few hundred bucks. It will likely go in the upstairs bathroom.
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| Our new jacuzzi tub! Note - think we might need to change the faucet... |
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| Fancy (ok, not so fancy) red wheelbarrow! |
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| A pretty cool bench for the garden (yup, some refinishing required) |
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| And another little cabinet that might turn out nicely with some love. |
4) We've now sent over our initial ideas to Ian, so he and Bruce (our architects for those of you who can't keep the cast straight) will be drafting up initial schematic designs (3 options), as well as a schedule for us to have a look at a week from now (October 18th). With our ideas, we sent over a bunch of pictures to help provide a sense of the sort of style/look/feel that we're aiming for. You can laugh when the house is completed as to whether we were in la-la land. So...enjoy the pics.
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| I love the use of reclaimed windows here to create a bank of windows. |
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| If Kris and I could replicate these cabinets, we would...sadly, we won't be able to afford such luxuries. |
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| Nice general look/feel - built in book shelves and neat use of space. |
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| An accessible bathroom is something we're shooting for - along with frosted glass. Not sure about the sunken tub! |
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| Cool corner window, simple but elegant/modern kitchen...all our kind of things |
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| And lastly, some clerestory windows, and a walk-out back area (not the best image to show the latter) |
Tuesday 4 October 2011
Back from a Solar Decathalon...a what???
Wow - how time flies when you're busy. So, apologies for the lack of postings over the past week - I was down in Washington DC for work and so the house was on the back burner. First, a few observations about DC:
1) I'm loathe to admit it, but I think DC may, in fact, be the most cycling-friendly city. I don't mean the car drivers (they're mean, nasty beasts nearly everywhere on the planet) but rather the cycling infrastructure. In addition to a pretty big (and popular!) bike share program, there are a zillion bike lanes and tons of dedicated trails throughout not just "the District" (as the locals call it), but the surrounding Greater DC area. It's impressive...and so I packed my folding bike (my beloved Brompton - there will be a full dedicated blog on that at some point, including love poetry).
2) DC is more fun that I ever used to give it credit for. I can't say I like the weather (sticky is an understatement in the summer), but I do like its left-leaning vibe, the copious amounts of Ethiopian restaurants, a generally young, intelligent and informed populace, and the international flavour it has (despite being pretty whitewashed overall). While I'm not a big fan of the racial divide that clearly exists (all servers, cab drivers, wage-earners are either black, latino, or from MENA - yes, I'm acronymizing you). Other pluses are the cherry blossoms in the spring (though we've got that one covered here in VCBC - my friend Tim's term for Vancouver - which he seems convinced will earn him a mint one day...perhaps not now that I've published his genius online), the free museums (the Smithsonian...which goes by a singular, but in fact is a range of museums, zoos, etc. - confusing eh?)
3) As an example of the above, this past weekend had a "Solar house" theme to it. In addition to there being a city tour of "solar houses" - which was really just code for "green homes" - they also had this thing on down at by the Mall (the giant strip of grass in front of the White house that lines up all of the various monuments) called a "Solar Decathalon" (who comes up with these names???!). This time, however, there was a decent reason - these houses, which were entries from about 20 different universities throughout the world (Canada's entry was from the University of Calgary), were indeed "solar powered" and had to meet ten different requirements (ergo "decathalon" I'm assuming). It was a pretty cool event, and I toured about 7 or so of the houses on Friday when I had a couple of hours I could squeeze out of my week. Some neat designs - lots of heat exchange systems, massive insulation, air tight houses, passive solar orientation, and a few fancy bells and whistles to boot. I could go on (I'll fill in the details on the pics below later), but its getting late and I want to post about the other significant house happenings this past week.
While I had been away, Target Land Surveying had visited the place and done a formal site survey. This $1200 piece of magic provides you with the formal dimensions of your lot, house, neighbours place, etc. including elevations (again, both the site and the house itself). Basically it tells you how much contaminated junk you truly own (ok, well in our case that's what it tells us). But, it's an input required by the architects to start designing. So, with that completed on Friday (as I was busy decathaloning), we were ready for meetings this week. Drum roll....and here's what they look like:
So once I returned home to Kris and pup, we had our first "official" meeting with our architect, Ian. We sat down with our fancy new drawing and talked about what we wanted in our new place. We looked through some pictures that Ian had pulled out, and told him what we liked about them, and what we hated. In general, there are a few things that are emerging about what we want: lots of light, lots of storage (bikes, gear, books, booze - you know, the good things in life that are also clutter when not put away), lots of green features, universal design (accessibility), future-proofing (thinking about its use when we have parents, guests, dogs, kids, etc.), and a combination of modern and old design.
Tonight we went over the architect's contract (no we haven't actually signed it yet...but that's a formality really), which requires a few points of clarification. On Wednesday, I'll be sitting down with Brett, Ian and Bruce to go over some scheduling questions along with communications and a few other odds and ends.
And in my spare time, I'll book the hazardous material assessment, which I'm guessing will set me back another $650 or so. That's going to be a heart in throat moment when those details come back as it will be the difference between a pretty dreamy house, versus a bare bones thing.
It's 10:30pm though, Kris has been in bed for over an hour, and while she's up at 5am, I'll be up at 7am, so time to head to bed.
1) I'm loathe to admit it, but I think DC may, in fact, be the most cycling-friendly city. I don't mean the car drivers (they're mean, nasty beasts nearly everywhere on the planet) but rather the cycling infrastructure. In addition to a pretty big (and popular!) bike share program, there are a zillion bike lanes and tons of dedicated trails throughout not just "the District" (as the locals call it), but the surrounding Greater DC area. It's impressive...and so I packed my folding bike (my beloved Brompton - there will be a full dedicated blog on that at some point, including love poetry).
2) DC is more fun that I ever used to give it credit for. I can't say I like the weather (sticky is an understatement in the summer), but I do like its left-leaning vibe, the copious amounts of Ethiopian restaurants, a generally young, intelligent and informed populace, and the international flavour it has (despite being pretty whitewashed overall). While I'm not a big fan of the racial divide that clearly exists (all servers, cab drivers, wage-earners are either black, latino, or from MENA - yes, I'm acronymizing you). Other pluses are the cherry blossoms in the spring (though we've got that one covered here in VCBC - my friend Tim's term for Vancouver - which he seems convinced will earn him a mint one day...perhaps not now that I've published his genius online), the free museums (the Smithsonian...which goes by a singular, but in fact is a range of museums, zoos, etc. - confusing eh?)
3) As an example of the above, this past weekend had a "Solar house" theme to it. In addition to there being a city tour of "solar houses" - which was really just code for "green homes" - they also had this thing on down at by the Mall (the giant strip of grass in front of the White house that lines up all of the various monuments) called a "Solar Decathalon" (who comes up with these names???!). This time, however, there was a decent reason - these houses, which were entries from about 20 different universities throughout the world (Canada's entry was from the University of Calgary), were indeed "solar powered" and had to meet ten different requirements (ergo "decathalon" I'm assuming). It was a pretty cool event, and I toured about 7 or so of the houses on Friday when I had a couple of hours I could squeeze out of my week. Some neat designs - lots of heat exchange systems, massive insulation, air tight houses, passive solar orientation, and a few fancy bells and whistles to boot. I could go on (I'll fill in the details on the pics below later), but its getting late and I want to post about the other significant house happenings this past week.
While I had been away, Target Land Surveying had visited the place and done a formal site survey. This $1200 piece of magic provides you with the formal dimensions of your lot, house, neighbours place, etc. including elevations (again, both the site and the house itself). Basically it tells you how much contaminated junk you truly own (ok, well in our case that's what it tells us). But, it's an input required by the architects to start designing. So, with that completed on Friday (as I was busy decathaloning), we were ready for meetings this week. Drum roll....and here's what they look like:
So once I returned home to Kris and pup, we had our first "official" meeting with our architect, Ian. We sat down with our fancy new drawing and talked about what we wanted in our new place. We looked through some pictures that Ian had pulled out, and told him what we liked about them, and what we hated. In general, there are a few things that are emerging about what we want: lots of light, lots of storage (bikes, gear, books, booze - you know, the good things in life that are also clutter when not put away), lots of green features, universal design (accessibility), future-proofing (thinking about its use when we have parents, guests, dogs, kids, etc.), and a combination of modern and old design.
Tonight we went over the architect's contract (no we haven't actually signed it yet...but that's a formality really), which requires a few points of clarification. On Wednesday, I'll be sitting down with Brett, Ian and Bruce to go over some scheduling questions along with communications and a few other odds and ends.
And in my spare time, I'll book the hazardous material assessment, which I'm guessing will set me back another $650 or so. That's going to be a heart in throat moment when those details come back as it will be the difference between a pretty dreamy house, versus a bare bones thing.
It's 10:30pm though, Kris has been in bed for over an hour, and while she's up at 5am, I'll be up at 7am, so time to head to bed.
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