It’s been a busy couple of weeks, with progress in some areas and delays in others.
Our plan was to install in-floor heating in the basement as part of our overall hydronic heating system. If you’re not familiar with what hydronic system is, it’s an alternative to forced air using heated water circulated through pipe and radiators to heat the house, not to mention providing hot water for use throughout the house. That also means no ductwork and no air (and dust) being blown around. For most of the rooms we are installing radiators. We found a place in Montreal that refurbishes antique rads for modern use. I cannot wait to see them installed in the house! Plus having heated floors in the basement (and eventually bathrooms when we get to that point) will be nice on the feet on a cold winter night!
The rain stayed away long enough to prepare for finishing the basement floors. The gravel and foam have been installed, ready for pipe to be laid for the in-floor heating which is scheduled for this week. Once that’s done we can have the concrete poured to complete the basement flooring.
Basement floor ready for pipe to be installed in-floor heating.
Wish I could say we’re making the same progress on the roof but sadly Mother Nature has had other plans. Now, admittedly it’s not a simple job. The square footage, different angles, overhangs, and height, not to mention tackling it with a small crew, all contribute to the amount of time needed. When we had a dry spell we took full advantage and were making headway setting up the overhangs and starting to lay the sheeting, but then apparently Mother Nature decided more rain was in order which has put a snag in our progress. Looking at the upcoming week we have some sunny days ahead, and let’s hope the expected rain stays away.
Crossing our fingers that the rain will stay away so we can get this roof on!
While all that is going on, we’ve started getting things in order to bring electricity to the house. Since this is a brand new build, there is currently no tie in to the grid. Earlier we had toyed with the idea of going off-grid for electricity, but if there’s one down side to being in the woods (besides the mosquitos for a brief part of the year), it’s that you’re in woods. Those beautiful trees naturally make it difficult for any chance of using solar, and our nearest field is too far away to set up a panel array. So we had to go with traditional hydro power. To do that we have to trench electric service 65 meters from the nearest pole along the road to the house. The process involves coordinating with the provincial authority, and pay for it of course (can you say cha-ching?), which is now in motion.
Hope to have more updates soon!