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Front view of the house, cedar shake and metal roof finished from Scotia Metal Products. |
Amazing how time flies when you’re building a home and how the bank account dwindles! Our studio spaces and Euro-style home is starting to look more like a house than a bunker! Read previous blog entries of the start; clearing land and beginning building.
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In-floor heating tubes. |
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Demiliec Closed cell 2 lb spray foam ceiling insulation for the airtight leak-proof roof. |
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In-floor heating with insulation over the tubing and ready for concrete pouring. |
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ICF block building Started in MAY 2011 |
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| ICF Quad lock looks like lego, then concrete is poured into the blocks for airtight, soundproof, bugproof, and waterproof walls. |
The walls are made from ICF Quad-Lock styro form blocks filled with concrete in two stages. We opted for in-floor heating under concrete floors for ambient heat throughout the main house and studio/garage space.
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Two ways to open windows and doors called tilt and turn... European style windows from Polytech Products Ltd. |
Windows were a big deal for us, wanting to capture the incredible views as well to get natural light throughout the spaces. This type of window from Polytech Products is made in Cape Britain NS, each order is custom and made from plastics/poly rather than glass, creating a heavy-duty surface for the intense Atlantic winds to bounce off while creating an airtight seal. Windows open two ways, from the side opening into the home as well it pops open from the top but closed tight on the bottom so while the winds are blowing, you can still have airflow without the winds whipping everything off the walls and tables... is a sure way to get the dust off the tabletops!
I decided not to have a fireplace but rather the available space to hang artworks. I am not that fond of cleaning fireplaces and all the hoopla that goes into having a wood-burning fireplace. I always find fireplaces get the home too hot and then I need to open windows, defeating the purpose of fire heat. It's romantic but I can get over it!
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The Blue Metal roof is corrugated and matches the blue fascia on the studio/garage space. |
We looked at different roofing systems and since our roof is slopped and yet flat, we wanted something that is practical and yet doesn't break our budget. We settled on the practical barn-type blue metal roof with the matching blue metal fascia...which saved us about $3,000.00 from the traditional fascia style.
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The first row of freshly cut eastern cedar shakes from New Brunswick |
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Cedar shake corners are just getting started...
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We were fortunate in our timing to luck out on some great deals to buy cedar shake since the building of houses in the eastern USA has near stopped, the freshly cut cedar shake has to be used immediately as it drys into shape once applied carefully by builders. This siding will last longer than the years we will be alive and it can take a shit-kicking from Atlantic ocean winds. we also decided to not paint and go with the natural greying of cedar shake allowing a fusion of the house to blend visually into the natural landscape. The land all around us will eventually have bushes, wildflowers, etc. that fill in the spaces of the scrappy alder bushes that used to cover the hillside.
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Back of house and studio space..notice the roof lines that slant. |
Building our own home has been a HUGE learning experience, to say the least, and thankfully we have creative builders who were willing to build for us, taking on the challenge with only a few details to get started. John Brannen and Jordan Maerz have indulged us creative folk to design with them a practical, heavy-duty, and yet funky building that reflects who Jim and I are as two creative beings. We have been open to all their expertise and are totally ecstatic about how it’s all turning out to be a very unique building that the locals have been most curious about in our small town of Seaforth,
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Art studio & garage building |
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View lines from the hillside neighbors... our building fits into the landscape. |
Our hillside neighbors are thrilled as we designed the buildings to fit into the landscape rather than on top and to keep it from blocking their precious views as much as we could muster. Our cedar shake will turn grey and the blue roof blends into the water view so they will not see much of anything from the presence of our buildings.
Moving into our new home will certainly NEED a celebrating housewarming party... have a wonderful fall...Minaz Jantz
1 comment :
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) blocks make an insulated concrete form. These blocks are separated by plastic webbing, making them more rigid (ICF). To pour concrete, it is used as an integrated superform instead of a traditional wood plank or plywood form. This means there is no longer a need for a separate concrete wall shaper. The parts of an ICF block that fit together make it easy to build a strong wall. As soon as the blocks are where they should be, concrete is poured into their place. Then, the drywall and siding are attached to fastener strips that have been put in insulation.
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