Well oh well….
As the house construction continues apace, we’re also doing site work so we can install the driveway, finish grading, and move onto landscaping this summer. We need to move many of the large boulders on site (some of them [...]
Newest Construction Video
Here’s the second segment of time-lapse video showing progress since early December 2017. Lots of activity on the site! The video shows the excavation for the new foundation, pouring the footings and foundation walls, setting the house back down on the foundation, exterior framing, and foundation waterproofing and backfilling. Watch for the house being set back down on the new foundation on February 12.
Foundation waterproofing
Our contractor took advantage of a break in our March snowstorms to cover the foundation with the waterproof spray-applied membrane and drain boards. We're using the Tuff-N-Dri membrane and Warm-N-Dri drainage board system from Tremco Barrier Solutions. Next the site [...]
NESEA BE18 – Boston High-Performance Building Show
Spent all day Thursday 3/8 at the NESEA BE18 (Northeast Sustainable Energy Association) Building Energy 2018 conference in Boston. Saw some great presentations on roof insulation, energy code compliance, and integrating design/build/development. Many New England experts in high-performance building attended ([...]
Framing Continues
Until last Friday’s storm, the last few weeks of good weather have let our great framing crew make excellent progress. In the main photo above you can see the original house, the new first floor, and the end walls [...]
A little insulation goes a long way…
While the house gets set down on the new foundation and framing continues, we're already preparing to insulate and clad the home. One of the key objectives of Highland is to build a home that is significantly better insulated and [...]
Framing Starts
Now that the weather has moderated, our framing crew is going gangbusters. They started with the garage and then moved to the main house. Our steel beam provider stepped up to get accommodate our schedule – we’ve incorporated a lot [...]
Foundation – Finally!
Since Thanksgiving it has been a race to get the foundation in place before the worst of winter arrives. We got part-way there but then the early January cold snap settled in. Once the house was elevated on its cribbing [...]
A month of work – in 2 minutes!
The design team felt it would be educational – and fun! – to document the construction process in a variety of ways. Early in the demo process we placed two time-lapse cameras around the property and I’ll periodically post videos from each as interesting things happen. Images are 15 minutes apart. This video is about a months’ worth of daily activities, including house demo, lifting the house, and excavating the new basement and foundation. House lift occurs on 11/22 and watch carefully – the actual process takes just a second!
