The day has finally come to pour the driveway. For two years, we have endured loads of fill and gravel, mud, vehicles getting stuck, mud, gravel getting tracked onto our beautiful fir floors on dog’s (and other mammals’) paws, and did I mention mud?

Level access area "BEFORE"

We debated (oh, okay, I debated with myself) the issue of building green by using permeable concrete which allows rain to percolate into the ground below, to avoid flooding the neighbours’ yards and causing erosion. Permeable concrete incorporates a different gravel and concrete mix which is very dry, and involves much more tooling to finish properly. Denis, the concrete guru, says it would cost about 50% more. He has designed the driveway to drain into the storm sewer and along the bank side of the driveway.

When I started this blog, I described my process of decision-making as balancing cost with green-ness. Almost all our decisions were controlled by these parameters (plus our sense of aesthetics, of course, which has lead to a considerably higher cost than a plainer house would have.)

The driveway is already a huge expense, involving some 30 meters of fly-ash concrete. (Fly-ash is a waste product from industry, used in the concrete mix, so that’s the green angle here.) FYI, we’re talking $15,000 in this area of the world.

The driveway is also a huge expanse. Again, our philosophy of green-ness lead to a little debate about its size. (Are we paving paradise, putting up a parking lot?) As with our perhaps excessive use of stone, our desire to make this an easy-to-care-for xeriscaped yard has dictated this mix of concrete and strategically-placed planting areas. We know the spring will bring a huge effort on our part to tame this large yard, then make it “wild” (sustainable) again!

Denis and his huge crew arrived about 1:30. The rainy, windy weather of late means they have to do all their pours when suitable weather arrives. Dark comes at 4:30.

Pouring a greenhouse pad

They worked feverishly into the evening hours, then Denis and Harry came back after dinner to finish smoothing the driveway, using worklights and flashlights to see what they were doing. There’s no rest or coming back tomorrow when you’re pouring concrete. The job has to be finished in one go. I think they did a beautiful job.

Level access "AFTER"

In my insomnia-induced delirium the night before the pour, I conceived of this idea for finishing the stair treads:

The forms are stripped four days later. Here are photos:

An example of how the stones blend with the concrete

So, that’s the driveway.

One day last year, while D was working alongside our stonemason, he overheard a visitor to the site (a new tradesperson) comment to the stonemason, almost bitterly, “What do you care, you’re working on a million-dollar house?”

We had never thought of it as a million-dollar house. It’s just our home, the last home we will live in, if we have the freedom to choose where we live in our dotage. If you’ve been following the “Spending and Saving” page, though, it would appear that this IS a million-dollar house, especially if you include in its value the “Saving” contributions we’ve made.

When we worked on the design, more than two years ago, we were asked by architects and the regional district building department, what our budget was, and we had no idea. We have just been building as we can afford it (with help from the local credit union!)

Interestingly, from my point-of-view, a homeowner-built house is assessed lower than a professionally-built home and its green features don’t appear to be a factor in its assessment (this I gather from talking to the assessor who came around to determine a value.) I could be wrong about this. If any reader knows better, let me know, please. When the assessment notices come out, the neighbourhood’s property values seem to be based on square footage and number of bedrooms (we have a smaller square footage than the homes in our area and only two bedrooms.)

To readers who may be interested in building green but are discouraged by its high cost, I have some comments and suggestions which may encourage you:

1. The actual cost to build our home is closer to $660,000, or $244 per square foot, after I deduct the cost to build the studio and the landscaping/land-shaping/garden.

2. The studio, using insulated concrete forms (ICFs), has been a bargain to build (and it’s green-to-the-bones!) It weighs in at $94 per square foot. I know that it doesn’t have a kitchen or a bathroom, but it is a basic, well-insulated building that would pass the EnergyGuide 80+ratings.  If we did it over again, I would seriously consider building the whole house with ICFs, then just use the expensive spray foam insulation in the ceiling. That way, you could avoid the whole rainscreen headache and cost. The thing is, you’d have to be sure of your design – not so easy to alter this building material once it’s built. On the other hand, ICFs are just Lego blocks, that come with excellent instructions, and a careful, logical homeowner with more time than we had, could build with this product him/herself.

3. If you build on a level lot, the foundation would cost about $60, 000 less.

4. Our rentals (forms/scaffolding/toilet/storage bin/generator) cost over $16,000. If we were smarter about this building stuff,  we would have bought a generator (or got a temporary pole for Hydro hookup) and a simple two-stage scaffolding to move around the house as needed. Both could be sold afterward. We also could have built a bigger storage shed and biffy for the framing crew, rather than renting a bin and toilet. And, if we had used ICFs (see #2 above) no forms would need to be rented or taken apart after the pour.

If we had taken this advice before WE started building, we could have built just as green, but for $191/square foot. Mind you, if you build before the reversal of the HST in 2013 (with its additional 7% sales tax on labour) it will cost you at least $18000 more. If you’re contemplating building in BC, I would recommend waiting until after the HST is reversed.

Recently I attended a Green Builders Forum offered by the Sunshine Coast Regional District for  builders, developers, realtors or anyone contemplating building a new home as a ‘homeowner builder’. It provided an opportunity to:
1.       Discuss 2012 Building Code changes – a significant shift in building requirements across the province
2.       See a hands-on demonstration of air leakage testing
3.       Review important new building techniques to save time and money
4.       Learn about new guidelines for EnerGuide and Energy Star

Murray Frank, from Constructive Home Solutions for the Homeowner Protection Office, gave a fast-paced and most informative rundown of the new Energuide requirements. The salient point he made was that, to raise the Energuide rating to the soon-to-be-required 80+ level for new homes, it will cost the builder an average of only $8000 more than it currently costs. This estimate was based on sample homes constructed in (if I remember correctly) Edmonton, Kelowna and Vancouver, and it can vary depending on labour costs.

Since it has cost us considerably more to build green (I estimate at least $60,000), I was skeptical about this claim, until he explained that it’s just the airtight, well-insulated building envelope (including non-thermal-bridging structure and windows and doors) that can bring the home to 80+. These are the essentials the builder invests in at the outset, steps that would be difficult and expensive to remediate after the house is built. Other energy-saving strategies, such as energy-star appliances, heat recovery ventilation, air source heat pump and solar or on-demand hot water for example, can be added on in later years to improve the rating even more.

I also learned that Fortis, BC Hydro, Federal and Provincial governments, and the regional district are providing incentives for building to this Energuide level now. Up to $2200 in rebates from BC Hydro, a deduction from the cost of a building permit, and, as before, considerable grants to retrofit existing homes. Some examples: furnace replacement – up to $1290; air source heat pump- up to $2790; tankless hot water heater – up to $675; Energy Star windows and doors – up to $100 ea ($3500 worth in our house); insulation in attic, exterior walls, basement and crawlspace – up to $4425; heat recovery ventilator – up to $1175; energy star appliances – up to $200. I listed those particular examples because that’s what we have included in our home. However, we do not qualify for ANY of those incentives – up to $16855(!) because we have already built, and this applies to new building permits (or existing home retrofits.) Once again, our project falls between the cracks. Do I sound bitter? We did get a provincial government rebate to the tune of $200 for our energy-star-rated dishwasher and clothes-washer.

I guess I just have to remind myself why we wanted to build green in the first place, and be happy that many others are being “incentivized.” But it’s kind-of hard to take.

D has finished shingling the house. I am mightily impressed, and it looks fantastic. I estimate the area covered is 2500 sq ft.

We used 103 bundles of shingles. Each bundle is supposed to cover 25 sq ft, and 4 bundles-worth is called a “square,” so we used 26 squares. We got the shingles from Craig’s List and various other sources, at an average cost of $20.89 per bundle (including any taxes). Total cost of shingles: $2152.

There are an average of 100 shingles in a bundle.

So, the number of shingles on this house is… wait for it… 10,300!

D used the “heritage-style” spacing (5.5″ between courses) and overlapping corners (not trimmed with a vertical board at the house corners)  It’s a more traditional look, but takes more care and time.

I hand-dipped the shingles into the semi-transparent stain. I used ten 18.9 litre buckets of stain, or approximately 1.8 litres per bundle. Total cost of stain: $1852.

Total cost of shingles and stain: $4004. Not included: staples and rainscreen (dimple board).

Slightly removed from our building project, but building green in BC for $85 total (for nails and screws, 4×4 bed posts and roof cap), our daughter has built this charming 12×16 cabin mostly by herself:

The plywood and 2×4 are denailed and re-used from old staging. The metal roof is salvaged from a local re-roofed community building. The building paper leftover from This Green House. The door and windows salvaged from the local landfill. The flooring from a remodelled condo in Vancouver. The rounds used for “siding” cut from dead standing trees.

Even the little “artwork” seen in the broken window is a piece of rusty tin found on a walk.

How cool is this?

It was illuminating to sort through old records today, in my effort to thin out our possessions. I reckon I’m doing our children a favour by throwing out/recycling/donating as many items that no longer have relevance in our new lives in this pared-down home. That way, they won’t have to when we are gone.

We built our first family home the year our child was born, 30 years ago. I found all the records of that project, a 2100 square foot “cedar and glass contemporary” as it was described at that time,  built on a steep slope uncannily similar to this lot. We contracted out the framing to lock-up, the brick and stonework, heating and drywall. The rest we did ourselves, with frequent help from family and friends. It cost $80,000 to build. Some interesting comparisons:

The building permit: Then: $332   Now: $4349 (including Homeowner Protection Office registration, and the municipality now requires engineers we pay for to take all the responsibility/liability.)

Windows: Then: $1990 (22 windows, avg. $90 per window) Now: $31,268 (32 windows, avg. $977 per window)

Foundations and Framing to lock-up: Then: $5000 (inc. $300 for nails) Now: $116,986 (no idea how much we paid for nails)

Furnace, fireplace and hot water heater: Then: $6531   Now: $40948

Drywall: Then: $3617 Now: $20,682

This is one-fifth of the old wooden garage door I got on Craigslist for $90. It’s pretty ugly, but I think I can turn it into a silk purse.

That's not smoke above the door - we just haven't cleaned it yet.

And the ugly smoking door is no more. We have a silk purse of a functioning fire. D put gaskets along the top of the door, in spite of Lakeshore Design’s advice to the contrary. We also got a draft going in the side chimney with a burning newspaper before lighting. We didn’t remove the chimney cap. It’s a miracle!

my shingle-dipping system

Partly because of the classic appearance of shingled homes and partly because cedar shingles are produced locally, we are using shingles as our exterior cladding. We managed to find 48 bundles of #1 and #2 grade 18″ shingles, for an average price of $18/bundle, about half what you’d expect to pay at a shingle mill.

Shingles need to be pre-stained before application. They need finishing on both sides to prevent cupping/cracking after weathering. One could pay big bucks to have them stained at a staining facility. Painting them by hand with a brush or roller is a messy and time-consuming endeavour (and practically impossible after they are applied to the wall.) Dipping them is the best option.

Everyone I talk to about dipping shingles warns me to expect a real logistical headache. Visions of clothespins and laundry lines, or drilling holes in all the tops and stringing a wire through them.

view from the business end of the process

But the best advice I’ve received is the system pictured. In a morning, I was able to dip 4 bundles, quite painlessly. I’ve set up a relatively permanent processing corner, protected from rain by the deck above, facing south and east, so I will get sun on them to dry.

The components:

1. A set of  grooved 2x4s (from the skids of lumber previously delivered. They come with grooves for the metal bands that hold the skids together). They allow the wet shingles to be placed upside down, with spaces between them. I line them up in decending rows, so the ends will be accessible. If these and regular 2x4s are nailed down with narrow spaces in between, the thin ends of the shingles can be wedged into the spaces so they won’t touch each other (this latest design improvement courtesy of Tess.)

2. A garbage can about 18″ tall (the length of the shingles), filled with the stain, at the top of

3. A trough, made from 2×4 and plywood, covered by stovepipe to collect the drips of excess stain in

4. A pail at the bottom of the trough

5. Dairy cases (the kind with holes in them). After the shingles are dipped, they go into the dairy cases on the trough.

6. The shingles (which need to be dried and cleaned of insect casings, larvae, dirt before dipping.)

They only need to be dipped about 15″, which is the maximum that will be exposed with two layers of a 6″ exposure. Depending on the stain you’re using, and the weather, they dry in a few hours. Our builders recommend storing them by width to make application smoother. So I will invest in more dairy cases at the recycling depot.

Dave, the Vaproshield representative came by the lot to sell us on this green building wrap, GreenShield.

It’s a weather resistive vapour- and air-permeable membrane.  The construction of WallShield (triple layer spunbond polypropylene) allows moisture to continue to filter through to exterior of the building during and after construction and occupancy. Water vapour transmission is 212 perms.

To prepare the window openings for window installation, we used 15” strips of Greenshield membrane to layer with the red plastic upper corners and water-shedding sill pans with their clever glued-on sill pan corners. (VaproSillSaver components are made from reprocessed residual vinyl trim material from old windows.) Any water that somehow gets into the window cavity past all the flashings and building wrap and waterproof tape will be drained into the plastic sill pans to the outside.

The system is considerably more expensive than “tar paper” or “Tyvek”. Our 32 windows and 3000 sq. ft of exterior wall is costing us about $3200 to outfit in this wrap. I’ll report on the wrapping of the house later.

I’ve been skirting around giving a chronological account of our progress. So here’s some of that.

Ron determines the elevation

Ron and Doug laid out the corner pins and the proposed elevation on Sunday, Sept. 13. The next day, we watched the start of the excavation. The machine found hardpan (undisturbed ground) at just about the expected level (about two feet below the architect’s rough estimate for floor level) in the back south corner. Ron had the brilliant idea to lower the basement floor 1 foot (resulting in 10’ basement ceilings) and raise the loft ceiling the other foot.

We decided to locate the studio closer to the house and back against the hill’s setback allowance. It didn’t require much more than leveling, since its floor will be a slab-on-grade, not a basement. We will build the studio foundation later.

My first of many “green dilemmas” occurred when I was sent to get 200-foot rolls of black plastic, to cover and prevent rain erosion of the high bank before the foundation could be built. Would something else do the job? Could I reclaim and pass the plastic to some other use rather than discard it?

When we left that afternoon, it appeared that the digging was nearly done.

It wasn’t. A day and a half later, the hole was ready and the forms for the footings began. The surveyor was called to confirm the corner pins and siting of the house. We wouldn’t want to have to tear out concrete in the event we were wrong about the set-back allowances.

On Sept. 24, the footings were poured, using 12.5 cubic meters of the more environmentally-friendly fly-ash concrete.

Our builders say that the fly-ash concrete is quite different to work. It is kind-of slick and takes significantly longer to harden before the next layer can be poured on top. With all that weight on the tall forms, there is a risk that the liquid concrete will just explode out of the forms. They have to give it more time before layers.

The footing forms were stripped (cleaner stripping than regular, non-fly-ash concrete), and the foundation walls forms begun. Forms were rented, which helps to avoid waste, but ended up costing much more.

We have a 14’ high wall on the uphill side, and plenty of weight planned for portions of the house, so the wall forms were extensive. Five weeks after the footings were poured, we poured the foundation walls, with 34 more cubic meters of fly-ash concrete. This was rather more time than the builders estimated, so the budget has already been blown.

Add to that a total of 64 truckloads of sand fill for inside the walls to bring them up to floor level, packable road base for the driveway and perimeter, and drain rock, and I can understand why we have already spent $84,000 on the foundations of the house alone. This figure is eerily close to our total cost to build our first home in 1980!

Cost breakdowns so far for foundation, with more to come: Labour: $43364, Materials: $29142, Rentals: $7665, Excavation: $3722, Ferry: $91.