inner city duplex post 17-20

[Sean Kollee]

A significant amount of detail work has occurred and I have elected not to post it here.  Lets try and get this project moving a little

post 17 - roofing 

After a few extra days of snow and harsh cold, the roofers were able to get the roof shingles delivered and the ice and water shield installed. The membrane applied to the entire roof surface protects the wood against moisture, and the ice and water shied in the valleys and along the perimeter prevents damage from possible ice damming.

Once it warms a little more the shingles will go on and we will have a much drier interior. This is good news because we need to get into the next phase of the project as soon as we can.

post 18 - electrical

With the project gaining a little momentum by having multiple crews on site, I was pleased to see some more progress today with the electricians beginning work on the main floor and the mechanical work complete on one house.

By the time I made it to site the electricians had already put up all the housings for the 4 inch LED pot lights. Pot light layout can be tricky (placing lights in the centre of a door opening vs. centre of a hall, how many pots, how far from the wall, etc). We went with a common arrangement of four in each room, plus a few extra in the hallway spaces and beneath the stair landings.

Having 20 pot lights on a main floor makes adjusting and controlling where the light is very easy. The biggest challenge of the new owner is to remember what switch controls what set of lights. The rough in of the LED housing is quick because the housing is essentially a holder for the light that goes in later and acts as a template for a drywall cutout tool. The wire is left free floating in the housing, it will be all connected at a much later date when the house is nearly done.

post 19 basement slab prep and pour

Yesterday the plumbing inspector arrived on site to look at the basement plumbing rough in. With his approval of the drainage work, we can now prepare the basement slab for the concrete pour. The first step is to connect the weeping tile under the footing into the sump basin, and then spread gravel to the top of footing, compact it, and lay a poly vapour barrier and rebar on top of that. The back flow valve is boxed in so that it can be accessed later (it forms sort of a cleanup in addition to flood or sewer backup protection).

This is another example of how winter conditions are going to cost a lot of money that would not be needed if we were operating in warmer season. While the air temperature is above zero during the day, the basement is very frozen and not likely to thaw any time soon. We will be renting heaters to warm the area before the pour, and keep it warm until the concrete has a few days to cure. I am making another big attempt to stay ahead of my other crews, and this cannot be done without a big management push. The early slab pour will pay off once the trades begin work, because we will have the basement framed. Here are some of the many advantages of having the slab done before framing is done.

1 - Framers don't leave and start another project (possibly never to return). Once the roof is done the framers move into the basement and frame the frost walls and partition walls

2 - The HVAC work is much easier - the furnace can be placed on the slab, rather than hung. All of the duct work is much easier working on a flat slab rather than a rough dirt surface. Most tin installation is in the subfloor accessible only by the basement

3 - plumbing work can be done for the basement bathroom and bar

4 - the electricians can hang the panel more neatly and wire the basement along with the upper floors. Once again this saves time over having the electricians come back later

All of the prep work done now allows the basement to be finished very smoothly, rather than have it treated as a separate project. I have yet to mention #5, possibly the biggest mess maker of all the trades...

5 - The drywall and taping can be done all at the same time so the mess, dust, scraps, and headaches of drywall finishing is only done once rather than twice. This in itself is worth early slab prep efforts.

Hopefully we can get this basement warmed up and poured quickly and make the above 5 items a reality.

Here are some photos of the various stages of the slab preparation. First the weeping tile is connected, second the gravel is placed, third the tamping machine is hauled away (note this is another example of why it is critical to have the stairs installed before the basement work begins), and finally the poly and rebar is installed over the gravel.

We had the heaters running overnight and the interiors of the basement warmed enough to melt any frost in the ground. The huge icicles on the sides of the concrete walls from snowmelt in the framed areas above also thawed and evaporated. Right now the air temperature is sitting at a balmy 6 celsius, however in the basement it would be freezing without heat, not a place for wet concrete to cure properly.

The heater was a timely installation because we had concrete and a placing crew arrive at 8 am to pour the slabs. Use of a pump truck allows much easier placing of the mix into the far corners of the basement. Once set up, the concrete is power troweled and left to cure. Here are a few pictures from the work on site this morning.

post 20 - pre board inspection

I booked what is known as the pre board inspection today, this is perhaps the most significant of the City inspections needed to construct a new house. While there are a few preliminary inspections for underground work, sewers, etc, the pre board inspection is the 'big one' in terms of the amount of work to be reviewed all at once.

Here is a list of what is inspected at the pre board phase:

• Electrical - all wiring in the house is exposed and can be examined easily by the inspector
• Plumbing - drainage, venting, water lines and other elements are looked at
• Gas - a pressure test is shown to the inspector to show the connections are not leaking
• Fireplace - the install and mainly the venting of the fireplace is inspected
• Mechanical - the furnace, ductwork and return air installation is reviewed
• Building - the structure, engineered work, soil bearing report and sulphate test, radon gas penetrations, fire barrier and many other minor items can be reviewed here

This multitude of inspections can be helpful to identify any of the countless mistakes or omissions the builder can encounter during the construction process. Each year a few changes are encountered and the interpretation of these new rules can be a puzzle to deal with. A recent example is the introduction of radon gas leak prevention, we had some issues here to be dealt with before we can start the drywall. Another change was to the electrical install for in floor heating has to be done differently than last year.

The good news is the semi-d project received all of its permission to proceed. This is a relief to me since I had already booked spray foam installation for this week (Wednesday), giving me just one day to react and correct any failures.

Since the pre-board inspection is such a large milestone, it is a good time to review how long it took to get to this level of completion since framing started (Dec. 20 - March 6). This 77 day period is a reasonable pace given we have had a nasty winter and we started just prior to the holiday period. Backing out weekends and holidays and serious cold snaps our 77 day period is reduced to more like 47 work days. This is a good pace to frame, plumb, wire, pipe gas, shingle, install windows and doors and stairs, furnaces and ductwork on two houses. If we were a little luckier with the weather we'd have more exterior work done and likely be insulated and starting drywall right now. Based on my earlier schedule we are about two weeks behind. Lets hope the next interior phase is more controllable, we get the heat on, and finishing work can really get going.