Day 104 : Ceiling insulation

We past the 100 day mark and the leaves started to turn (there was a frost at night last week that did the trick). They will all be gone by the time we move in, so we have to savor these precious moments...

Foliage colors along our driveway

The drywall taping and finishing is taking longer than expected (at least from my view), but the cool temperatures slow down the drying process. They got some small space heaters going, but the additional problem is our tight shell which makes it difficult for the moisture to exit the house. We just have to be patient.

In the meantime, the first layer of insulation (spray foam) has been applied above the main floor ceiling (in the attic). There is only a small access hatch in the master bedroom closet, but I got a peek at the result today. Soon there will be about two feet of loose cellulose added on top of that to increase the insulation R value to > 60. But the spray foam will close all those little gaps.

Day 90 : Exterior wall insulation

One of our energy efficiency goals was to have a tight and very well insulated exterior shell. The exterior walls are quite a big thicker than in standard houses here (8 inches) and we have a two-layer insulation here: About 2" of spray foam on the outside and then 6" of fiber batts on the inside (drywall-side). This should give us well over R-30 insulation for the exterior walls.

Sprayfoam applied to bedroom wall

Fiber batts being installed in kitchen

Day 38 : Sub-slab insulation, Utility trench

When we went to the site today, the crew was working on the installing pipes for the utility lines (power, cable/telephone, sewer) from the road to the house site. Quite a few feet of PVC are going into this trench...
The alternative, using a shorter route through the woods would have created lots of headaches due to the ledges there. We also like not having another path clearcut in the woods.

Our builder told us that the basement slab will be poured tomorrow, so we will make an effort to get there and watch if possible. As preparation for that, 4" of rigid foam have been installed on top of the stones. That gives us an extra R-20 insulation value. 

The area of the root cellar has been intentionally left out to keep that room as cool as possible.