inner city duplex part 13-16
Now we are not quite ready to begin the above ground work, and it is getting nasty out. winter is not fun...
post 13 - foundation coat
Once again the speed of our cribbers pays off in terms of staying just ahead of the weather allowing us to schedule and complete work that needs mild conditions to proceed. Earlier delays cost us a few weeks of good weather, but the production of our crews has got us back on track, and with -20 C weather likely in the forecast we finished the spray on damp proofing just in time
The first step of the damp proofing involves caulking the tie holes that bind the forms together. This is a nasty black goo that is squeezed out of a gun and into each tie.
post 14 the schedule
When it comes to the construction schedule, I believe it is possible to stay on schedule, even during the winter. The weather at this time of year does conspire against the builder. Cold, dark, snow and holidays play a major role to disrupt the momentum of progress on site. I have put together a schedule, as I always do, up to the pre-board inspection phase. This assists me with timing deliveries, booking the upcoming trades, and overall coordination of the many moving pieces that go into the inner city project.
Just last we we counted over 25 different tradespeople attending the site to do a variety of tasks, from sewer install, trucking concrete, all the way to spraying on foundation damp-proofing. This week, given the extreme deep freeze, we have a much less ambitious schedule. We have just completed the weeping tile and gravel around the foundation, and passed the pre-backfill inspection. From here we will be actually backfilling, getting the temporary power pole set up and running some conduit for later use as connecting the house and garage with underground power. Next week, if all goes well, we can begin the framing.
Here is a sample of the construction schedule. I like to have a Gantt style chart to make it easy to avoid booking jobs before the site is ready. This is far better than a spreadsheet because it allows the builder to navigate multiple tasks at the same time, and it has a good phone app. Without this type of schedule software the likelihood of making a costly mistake is increased.
post 15 - backfill
Despite the extreme cold, our excavator had the heavy machinery back on site this morning. The backfill wraps up the foundation stage of our project.
The underground phase of a project has a certain element of risk and unpredictability. Contractor selection is essential here and we were fortunate to have picked all excellent operators. We appear to be right on budget as we move into the framing stage of our project.
Underground and utility or basement work may be the stage of building where the most money is spent yet the least amount of progress is visible. To date we have incurred significant cost to demolish, survey, dig, connect sewer, pour and prep the basement for backfill. Cost of work to date on site plus the design and permitting fees likely exceeds $75k at this point of the process. We will describe the costs of infill building in a future post.
Here is what we have to show for our $75k.
post 16 - framing
Finally some above ground work is underway at the semi detached project. We lost a week due to some extremely cold weather but our framers are now on site and capping the main subfloor.
It often seems at this stage of the project such a significant passage of time and effort has taken place that we are at the end, rather than the very beginning of a job. Many of the next series of tasks is predictable and efficient compared to the launch of a new house project where weather and heavy equipment schedules need coordinated.
We will have enough lumber supplies delivered this week to get us through the holiday season and hopefully a framed house in another four weeks.
I hired a high quality crew of framers for my duplex project. Two of the guys on the crew I have wanted to use in the past but they were always too busy. They also tend to work on mansion type houses in the most expensive Calgary neighbourhoods. This led me to assume their cost of framing would be beyond my budget.
Once the recession hit they suddenly got a lot less busy and adjusted labour rates accordingly. So the future owners of this project are going to be getting a very well framed house by great carpenters.
One of the tasks they include on this project is screwing off the floors. The floor sheets get nailed and glued as they are laid as this is the quickest and easiest way to finish a floor. Screwing the sheets on each 16 inch centred joist is a lot more work. It also takes a costly drill and expensive consumables in the form of screw clips. For this reason floor screwing has become an "upgrade" item and a cottage industry of guys who just do floor screwing has developed, and they charge by the square foot.
Opinions also vary as to when the floors should be screwed. Some say to do it after the house is Drywalled. My framers disagree and do it immediately while the glue is still wet and the floor is unobstructed by walls. Right away is the easiest way to ensure every sheet gets the same amount of screws. So not only will our buyers get a well framed house they should get one without squeeks that could form over time if the nails loosen as humidity changes (calgary is subject to many humidity swings each year).
The first house I built for myself I screwed the floors down by hand using a cordless drill. It was a small house but it took forever and I enlisted my spouse help out with a second drill. It was really hard on the back and the knees. If I can find that photo I will post it. Here are some shots of how it is done by pro framers.
The flu-sick framers just didn't get better and we spent the entire week short of a full crew. Today was the first day we had three guys back. This means we are now a full week behind schedule and this is impacting my next trades that I have booked, from windows and fireplace all the way up to the first of the mechanical trades.
By now we were supposed to be framing the second floor bedroom walls and preparing the site so the trusses could be delivered and craned up on the roof. I would also be able to plot on my custom staircase on the main and make sure it will work as well as I want it to. Despite these challenges I suspect the framers will be putting in a big week next week to make up some lost days.
The main floor has turned out quite well, and the evolution of this floorplan has continued to improve via an accumulation of many small tweaks. A nice feature will be the ceiling height change in the area over the kitchen where it rises from 9ft to 10ft.
Here are some shots from today when the framers were raising the first of the many joists.
The framers were at work again today prepping the second floor for so the lumber can be hoisted by the crane tomorrow. The detail they were finishing was the second floor cantilever. A cantilever generally protrudes out of the side of the building into the four foot setback area.
The reason the side cantilever is only allowed on the second floor is to make sure there is room for fire or emergency access down the side yard. Or at least I think this is the reason, I've never read an official version. Regardless of the policy on cantilevers they require additional fire rating, and can be tricky to build. They add cost in terms of framing time, fire rating material, engineering, and spray foaming. The bottom of the cantilever needs to be spray foamed as that is the only way to really ensure it wont be a cold spot in the upper bedroom. It also has to be strong enough to carry some weight of the roof. A sagging cantilever would be a framing disaster we'd like to avoid.
It is debatable if the side cantilever is truly necessary. They are almost always featured on the inner city duplex because the houses are slightly too narrow at 21 ft wide to allow for two good sized second and third bedrooms. The cantilever seems to add just enough extra space to make the layout work. Without the cantilever we have found that bedroom furniture can fit poorly.
The detail we like to use is to notch the joists so that the top chord remains continuous where it passes over the wall. I will show a drawing and the actual framing detail that was finished on site today. It avoids a lot of messy dropped beams and ugly details that really hurt running ducting later on.
The photos below show the notched costs being placed over the double ply beam. In photo 2 you can see the space just below the top chord of the joist where it was cut out. Hangers and blocking are nailed on both sides of the beam, and from below you can see how the cantilever is hanging into space. This design is extremely effective in this project because we have cantilevers above the front door and also out side side in the same corner area. The third and fourth photo show this best. I can't think of a better way to retain structural strength and have dual cantilevers. Skilled framers make this look easy, but like most construction tasks it only looks easy until you have to try it yourself.
With all the truss and lumber package now sitting safely in the front yard the framers can safely commit to hiring the crane.
Roof assembly should begin Monday. We will use the opportunity to borrow the crane again to hoist our bathtub units. These don't really move well up the stairs plus they are awkward to pick up by hand.
hmm, I have skipped so much detail. lets move on.