Digging into the past!

Well today was fun!

Had the geotechnical engineer out to dig a couple test holes. This was needed to evaluate the bearing strength of the soil.

It was a little amusing as the backhoe driver got stuck and almost flipped over! They had to get another operator (with way more skill) to come and get it out and finish the job. This guy was much better than the first guy.

They dug two holes 3m deep, one in the front of the lot and one behind where the house will be. I scored a few big rocks from the front hole which I'll use for something.

The back hole was really cool as they hit a layer about 2.8m deep loaded with tiny shells. These are from when the area was submerged in the Champlain Sea. That means they have to be at least 8,000 yrs old. I tried to collect a few bits of shell but they were really decomposed and just crumbled when I picked them out of the mud. This layer had a lot of water running through it but it should not be a problem as it's about 2m deeper than my footings will be.


It's hard to see but the little white specs in the photo below are the shells.


I should have the engineering report within a couple weeks at which time we should be ready to submit the plans.

I also stopped off at the city desk and ordered a 911 sign for my lot. At least contractors will be able to find my lot when I get that up.

Process begins!

Welcome to my house building adventure!

After many years of trying to design a house myself and a few false starts, things are finally on the go. I am very happy I hired an architect ( http://www.linebox.ca/ ) to create this amazing design.

The house is a fairly simple in layout with open living and makes good use of a small space. I'm building the smallest house that the city will let me. I would much rather have a smaller house of higher quality than one of those overgrown houses all the developers are building.

Some feature of this house are hydronic radiant heating with polished concrete floors on the main level. I'll be using a double stud wall to get at least R45 insulating values (normal house is R18-23). These features will greatly reduce the amount of heating energy I will use. We have also positioned the south facing windows to keep the hot sun out in the summer and let it in in the winter. This will help to keep the house cool in the summer and warm in winter. I have some other ideas to aid in heating but they will be down the road.

Progress last week:

- Had the guy doing the grading plan come out to the lot and start working on the drawing.