All posts tagged with construction

Spring Mud and Other Topics

We looked at the calendar and noticed that we are speeding through March and apparently the weather has noticed as well, bringing with it temperatures in the 60’s to the frigid North.

The roofer’s metal has arrived by truck. We are third in line on his client list. I’m not sure what that means but it probably indicates that we will have a roof at some point in the future I guess, which is good.


Inside the house, things have slowed, as the builders have moved outside to work on the porches and walkways. The electrician has roughed out all of the wiring which is looking good. Also this week, Efficiency Vermont came by the build to do some tests, notably the blower door test. Once the calculations were made and the square footage was figured, it looks like we got a 0.6ACH which is passivehaus level of air-tightness. I was surprised given that we weren’t as restrictive as the passivehaus certification is regarding the number of holes we punched into the exterior (Zehnder, range hood, drier, fireplace). Right now, due to the insulation and sealing, the house is currently heated entirely by a space heater placed in the kitchen area even when the temperature was down in the tens.

The rafter work is almost completed. They attached all of the ledgers (see previous post) with gigantic fasteners and now the rafters and porch ceilings are nearly complete.




And the builders are enjoying the 65F weather to finish the porch areas, despite the roaring start to mud season. We learned that one half of our road is basically impassible due to the mud this week as things melt and thaw. Our neighbors have a tractor-support-system in place to pull each other out of the ruts if they get stuck. I plan on being a part of that group as soon as the tractor arrives. The porches look good though. The silhouette of the house comes into view…


Ledgers and Rafters

This week saw the start of some warmer weather for the crew and some outside tasks that need getting done. Colin and his team started taking on ledger preparation and fastening and made some good progress. Each ledger gets cut and the router is used to rout a strip of wood in which to install an device to join the ledgers to the rafters invisibly. It looks very tight and I think it will be a clean look from below.



The rafters are being attached to the exterior with long, specialized fasteners which bite into the wood after making their way through the exterior insulation. The thickness of the walls is something to behold and is going to help us throughout the year to both hold heat and cool air and reduce energy costs and improve air quality. To quote our builder:

“This will be insulated with Roxul for R23 and then a layer of R25 polyiso on the outside for R48 walls. Ceiling will be R80 cellulose and our air tightness target is 0.6.”


Speaking of Roxul, the rest of the insulation was also installed inside in the interior walls so the house is completely sealed and insulated now. The light looks good and judging from the pics I see of builders in short sleeves, I am assuming it is staying plenty warm. I saw on the construction crew’s Instagram that they purchased their own blower door assembly so I’m curious to see how tightly they got it sealed up.


On other fronts, we have found a good pre-school setup for our kid which should be perfect for his temperament and activity level and is very close to home (about 5 minutes away from both our house and the rental property where we are living until the house is complete). Our old house is being photographed this coming week so we’re scrambling to make sure it looks photogenic. We are on the precipice of a strange, disjointed and stressful couple of months.

More Insulation and a Visit

The family went up to Vermont this past weekend. I had messed up my back chopping up heavy snow and ice a few days prior and it was sore before we left. Unfortunately after the long drive, I was completely done in and I was basically useless carrying anything all weekend. Hell, I was useless getting out of the car… It wasn’t fun. But we still had a good trip and got a lot done.

We relieved some pressure by signing a lease for a temporary place to live during the summer. It should be a great place and we’re excited to move up in the late spring. It is only three minutes from the new house so it will be very convenient for checking progress or just hanging out there during the day.

The visits to the construction site greeted us with chaos. Wires, wood framing, pipes, venting, hoses, cables, switch boxes, and other good stuff overwhelmed us. Also it was about 6F in the house when we got there on Saturday night. Chilly!

The Zehnder ComfoAir 450 unit had been backordered. I was worried it was going to be a victim of Covid scarcity but it finally arrived so they can complete our ERV install. It is essential hardware that was experiencing sourcing delays, so I’m glad to see that one arrive in tact and it won’t affect our overall project timeline.

Our builder set up some space heaters to keep the team warm during the sub-10 degree weather. The windows are starting to warm the house on sunny days but since there is no insulation, it doesn’t do a whole lot over the course of the day yet. The report we received yesterday is that the external insulation is almost done and the solar gain is staying around during the day. Once the external insulation is done and wall’s internal insulation is in place, we should be in great shape until warmer weather arrives. The 24” of cellulose insulation was pumped into the attic enclosure last Friday, earlier than expected.

The front door and the south-facing sliding doors look great. The porch door is a lift-and-slide and it is very satisfying to see and feel the door lock in place with the big lever-handle. The door, laden with triple-glazed metal frames, weighs something on the order of 600lbs but slides easily and smoothly. I can’t get over how well made these doors and windows are. You get what you pay for I guess because these things weren’t cheap. I can’t wait to walk out onto the south facing porch in the morning with a mug of coffee in hand.



Speaking of the south porch, the timber arrived for the porch structure so they may start installing that next week. You may be wondering why, if we are so interested in solar gain to keep the house warm, we would want a porch overhang over those big windows. The angles and architecture are such that the low angle of the winter sun will track just under the porch and into the house itself. During the warmer months, the angle of the sun is higher so it will be blocked by the roof of the porch and keep the house from heating up.

Also arriving this week are some piles of beautiful ash planks . One pile is for the door trim and door jambs and one is for the stairs. We are still waiting for the big delivery of ceiling tongue-in-groove ash and the wider, second floor hardwood flooring ash.


I also spotted the boxes for the heat pumps in the garage to be installed this week or next. Getting all of these mechanicals in place is a big load off of my mind. I see these line items on the project plan and the dates get closer but, not being there, I never see the plan put into action. Seeing it all in place and moving when we’re on site is very gratifying, knowing that we picked a good builder who is project managing this thing towards the goal.

The builder’s son was on site and our kid had a great time playing with him. They kept each other busy so we could discuss things like electrical outlet placement, thermostat operation, siding and roof colors, ash grain patterning and a million other things we had to consider in our discussions with the architect (who was also on site), the electrical subcontractor and the builder. It was an intense morning but felt like we are definitely heading in the right direction.

Lastly, the Starlink dish has been installed and is working. This should help the builder with communcation but also give us a good test bed to make sure things are working well prior to move in.

Exterior Insulation

The last time we went up to Vermont to see the build progress they received a massive delivery of EPS foam insulation for the exterior of the house. When they received the windows the next day, the insulation went on the back burner for a bit. Now that all of the exterior windows and doors are installed, the team has turned their attention to the exterior insulation again. This exterior work can continue while the rough-ins for mechanicals, electrical and plumbing (MEPs) are completed. As these exterior walls get their foil-coated approximately 2-3” thick EPS installed, the house will start on its path to being not only sealed from air leaks, but also start acting like a beer cooler except with the goal of keeping the warm are in instead of out.


Alongside of progress on the exterior and the MEPs rough-ins getting done, we are also doing final choices for things like floor finishes, exterior material colors, interior plasterwork contractor choices (and colors and textures for what they will do once they get started), furniture hunting (and buying where we find deep sales) and move planning. It is getting daunting from our end but I’m sure our builder Colin has it well in hand on his side of things. So far he’s done an amazing job with sourcing materials and keeping things pretty much matching the trajectory laid out for the project back in March 2020.

Also on our agenda is searching for and applying to pre-schools for our child, getting the lease sorted out for our temporary summer housing, getting moving vehicles sorted and figuring out how we are going to do all of this while also working, picking up a college kid from Champlain on a random weekend in May, selling a car, selling our house and packing. During a pandemic. No problem!

The Walls of Glass Continue

As our latest invoice reflects, the changes over the last few weeks have been massive and encouraging. We are still on target with regards to our scheduling (mid-August completion) and there are a lot of big things happening. The subcontractors doing the HVAC rough-in should get the remaining Zehnder devices and connections this week, the mini-splits are in, the plumbing is all roughed-in and the electrician is finishing up running all of the wires.

We also had a team meeting yesterday where we did things like confirmed siding and roofing colors, discussed the choice on shou-sugi ban wood that will be installed under the porch roof, discussed the ordering and installation of appliances (which we did last week), and a ton of other things. Our project manager keeps things organized and it is greatly appreciated to have someone with that much attention to detail handling it.

Going unmentioned among all of the activity is that our wood stove/fireplace was installed. The stovepipe goes up to just under the roof and they won’t do the penetration until the roofer is ready (when things thaw).

The front door was installed along with all of the remaining windows.


The only glass that isn’t installed is the sliding glass on the south wall but, by and large, the wall of glass that will heat the house is going to be in by Tuesday. What is shocking when in the space that doesn’t translate in the photos is the fact that the sliding doors are eight feet high and ten feet wide. It truly feels massive.



Next week (or soon) they will be scheduling the blower door test. Efficiency Vermont, a non-profit based in the state, runs the test and measures the pressure when you pull air through the house. We hope for a very low number which means that there is little-to-no air leakage. The process is to do the blower door test now and then do it again when all of the insulation is in and the walls are sealed up on the inside.

Once the first blower door test is completed, all of the rockwool, cellulose and other indoor insulation will be installed and they will begin work attaching the EPS foam to the outside of the structure.


New Windows Are Installed

The builders have started installing the windows in the house. Everything is going well with the exception of the fact that one of the windows was broken during shipment. The break was curious as it was one of the windows packed between other windows but the builder isn’t that worried as they will have new glass sent from the manufacturer in a few weeks and he said it shouldn’t hold them up. Just one pane of the glass was broken and, with two more panes of glass in the window frame, it will hold heat. This is probably a good thing because the temperature is -15F this morning and 10” of snow is expected over the next couple of days.




The subcontractors are hard at work as well. Plumbing is going in and wires are being run to all of the rooms. The last I heard there was a wait for the Zehnder unit (a ComfoAir Q450 TR) but they have a lot of work to do before that is setup so we should be OK on that front.

We also signed the contract for our appliances and we plan on ordering light fixtures this week.

On the housing front, it looks like we have a good chance of having a place in May as planned. Waiting for final confirmation from the people who own the apartment we plan on renting. I want that buttoned up this week if possible, just to get that weight off of my conscience. Then the big worry becomes selling our current house (and finishing the new one!).

Catching Up

We had a prolonged break due to a trip for family reasons but we were still receiving sporadic photo drops from people. After the run up to the holidays there was a time of great progress and it looks like, post-holidays, it seems to have continued.

The screened porch, which comprises the back side of the garage, has been framed and I have to assume the roof line will make contact with the main house forming the covered walkway soon.


Inside, the rockwool insulation that will serve as sound baffling is being cut and inserted and all of the walls upstairs have been framed.

In the past week, they have started roughing in the plumbing and worked towards installation of the Zehnder. The delivery of all of the external doors and windows are arriving via boat sometime this week. It’s possible that they could arrive as early as tomorrow but the end of the week is more likely.

Now that we have moved past pure framing, the checklist of items that are getting worked on is much more varied. Next week we will be in Vermont to test out the placement of outlets and switches.


  • Thanks to Sam for pointing out the batting type! I had it wrong.

Winter Break

The holidays have brought a lull to construction and snow continues to fall in Stowe. We are working through approvals as much as we can so that there will be no hangups on our end waiting for us to approve a fixture or wood type.

Speaking of which, the fabricators sent some wood samples for the floor and cabinets in the kitchen.

Our neighbor was able to snap some photos of the framed screened porch area and the fireplace enclosure the other day.




Next week we are going to have our monthly team meeting to discuss approvals and open items and look at what is up next for the build. I think we are going to finish screened porch framing and get the window bucks completed because the windows and doors are apparently on a boat heading our way with a late January delivery date.

Roof Story

We have been closing in on seeing a completed roof for what feels like weeks now. Weather delays, wind delays, and worker availability have all conspired to slow things to a crawl. This is all from our perspective of course, because I know Colin, our builder, and his team have been working hard to get things closed in for their own benefit and there aren’t a lot of things they could have done to speed things up. And the progress being made on large, necessary things like soffets and rakes doesn’t translate visually but they must be done before you can sheathe the roof.


While the roof was close to completion, it had been getting snowed on for almost two weeks. That said there were many steps going while it was in this state like removing truss supports on the outside and adding remaining sheathing to the exterior. During all of this chaos, the electric company came to hook up the power and the builders created makeshift window coverings because the actual windows are being fabricated in Germany and won’t be completed until the week of Christmas. Once fabricated, they ship to the US for arrival in mid-to-late-January. Until then we needed something to keep the impending snow out.


Once the lower trusses were sheathed and “chicken runs” added to the sheathing, they built the peak rafter structure and readied it for installation. This entire structure was then lifted into place and secured.



With a large snowstorm in the forecast, the crew worked an extra day this week trying to close things up, get the seams taped up and all of the necessary steps to get the house as dried in as possible. They succeeded and I received two photos of the completed roof taken by the dim light of darkening evening. The long work week paid off for the Shelterwood crew because this should make many of the ensuing steps much easier, shielded from the cold and snow.

Next week they are going to add some overlayment called Titanium UDL which should make the structure water and snow tight for at least six months. Our builder also said that he communicated with the roofing subcontractor who said he may have a window to install the standing seam roof before the end of the year. This would be great because we were originally scheduled to get that done months from now.


Our neighbor Chuck snapped these pictures the next day. It looks like the house I have had in my head for many months now! Next steps are roof protection, second floor room framing, and screened porch framing and roofing.

Also relevant right now are the monthly meetings we have started having with the build and design teams. After our last site visit we left with a number of to-dos that were related to pricing of changes we might want to make. Some of the changes were things that we removed due to price constraints and some were things that we felt would work better in the house, now that we can see sight lines and can feel the room sizes. We get a full list of things to make decisions on soon.

Here is a tentative working list of changes:

  1. Add another skylight above the side door. The passageway between the garage and main house is going to be pretty dark most of the year so having another source of light from above would help.
  2. Lower the mudroom wall. Now that we see what windows the higher wall is blocking, we think having more view of the trees is better and we will just adjust the area to hang coats and such to compensate for it.
  3. Add some sort of aesthetic element to the garage wall in the walkway. TBD. We have some neat ideas for it.
  4. Adding windows to the garage doors. Expense prohibited it before, and still might, but we feel like pricing it out and doing it if it is viable would be nice.

Big Week

Monday is a big day for the build because construction starts on the concrete foundation. It is about two months later than I would have liked but at least it is moving ahead. We also got a schedule for the entire project plan and, as expected given the timing of the foundation start, the finish date will be sometime next year in mid to late August. This is much later than we were hoping for since we wanted to be in Vermont during the summer getting things ready for the winter given that we’ve never lived day-to-day through a Vermont winter before. There was a lot of log splitting that was planned and that will all be somewhat rushed now or moved far ahead. I was starting to formulate plans on taking the chainsaw along with me during our trips up over the next year and chopping up as much of the wood that was set aside as possible to start the seasoning process. The neighbor has a tractor and log splitter which I might be able to borrow to move the bucks and piles around as well as use the tractor’s PTO to drive the log splitter.

In a week, I am taking my oldest kid up to college at Champlain in Burlington so I’ll be able to see the week’s progress on Saturday night or Sunday morning before driving the long march back to PA. I am hoping that we don’t have any major hitches over the next year because I’d love to start making up ground on this schedule in case we hit heavy snows or supply issues due to COVID-19 throughout the year. I don’t suspect the latter will happen because we are focusing so much on local resources. The supply lines for lumber in the midwest and western regions are stressed right now because our idiot president opened things up too early and now building materials are getting scarce and expensive in large parts of the country.

So the layout and slab work starts on Monday, the process will get rolling and the slab pours will happen around September 17th. Once those are all done – a process that will take about two weeks – we move on to framing. That phase will be very interesting and the house will start getting a real form and shape at that point. When Thanksgiving rolls around, we should have the house framed and roof framed and dried in, and the windows and doors installed. By the end of December, we should have much of the insulation done and readying for a preliminary blower test. January and February see the sheet rock and soundproofing take place and the plan rolls on from there.

So things are going to start happening and I am hoping we have a nice clean runway to completion with no surprises. After the nonsense 2020 had thrown at us so far, I think we’ve all earned it.

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