Archive for Posts Tagged foundation:

  • Sep 22

Poured Foundation

It’s been a few weeks, and we’ve made quite a lot of progress on the house. We had evaluated a number of manufacturers, but ultimately decided upon Nudura for our ICF foundation. Paul Stevens and his crew from Stevens Construction handled the formation and pour of the foundation, and by all accounts they did a smashing ...
  • Jul 15

ICF to the roof?

I’ve already discussed the benefits of using ICFs for our foundation, but we’re now considering using them to construct the entire building envelope. We had originally expected it to be cost probative, but after getting a few quotes it appears to be comparable to traditional stick framing with spray foam insulation, which makes it far more palatable than ...
  • Jun 25

Fawning Over Foundations

When it comes to foundation construction in Canada, there are essentially 3 methods to consider: Block, Poured or ICF. Each is made with concrete, they all must be constructed on top of a concrete footing, and proper waterproofing, insulation and drainage is a must. This all sounds great, but what’s the difference? Concrete Block ...
  • Jun 23

Under The Garage

I don’t believe this is particularly common, but we’re planning on building two extra rooms in our basement by excavating the space under our garage. In a typical garage, the floor is simply a concrete slab that sits on top of soil, however we’re going to approach things a bit differently. Because our foundation will be ...
  • Jun 02

How Green is Green?

What exactly spurs someone to take on a project like this? After 5 years in a small pre-war bungalow, my wife and I decided we wanted more room to start a family. So for us, this project was born out of a need for more space. However, at some point along the way, our priorities changed. ...