Another whirlwind couple of build days are behind us! Quite honestly, after how long permitting and approvals took for this project, the speed of the actual build progress is almost overwhelming. Crews came back yesterday to finish the excavation for the footings and begin doing the sewer connection work, both for our basement toilet and to connect the future water and sewer line to the triplex. Today, the sewer connection was mostly finished, our excavation was approved by our engineers (who also happen to be former ultimate frisbee teammates of Peter's), insulation foam was added, and the footings were poured. I'll be honest, it is hard to do my own work when I can just watch this out the window. I might have to go back to the office more just to focus a bit. Yesterday and today were both exciting and a good reminder of how far we have to go in terms of sustainable construction. We worked with our architect and builder to reduce the amount of oil products (foams, glues, etc) as much as possible. Right now, we couldn't find a usable, approved, remotely affordable product for foundation insulation or the mandatory radon remediation plastic layer underneath the foundation (even ethanol plastics aren't currently approved here). As you can see in some of the pictures today, we are at least trying to repurpose/reuse any plywood or OSB that we need in the project and are even planning to use planks instead of OSB for roof decking. We know this project won't be perfect. The chainsaws today were electric, but we still have the foam in general, gas powered bobcat and digger, cement and cement truck, etc. We are trying our best and hope that our project will continue to push the construction industry in a more sustainable direction! Big shoutout to our architects (Precipitate) and builder (A-squared) for accommodating our sustainable goals and bothering sales reps about more sustainable products. This kind of pressure will make a difference in the long run! Minimal construction hiccups so far. Our triplex sewer line was a bit shallower in the cement than expected, so we had to pivot our basement layout slightly. Our basement stairs will have a new, extended landing platform, but nothing too tragic overall. We do have to find a light to go with our new basement WC. The slats let in some light, but I'm not sure that is what the user is looking for... Onward!
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AuthorKatie Jones and Peter Schmitt chronicle their building adventure. Archives
January 2024
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