The house was originally built back in 1961 by my in-laws, Ralph and Elma Kriff, and was the house that Janice lived in from the age of 7 until she started a new life that included me. While we were still in Thompson, Manitoba, Janice's mother passed away in 2003. Her father wanted to leave Nipigon and move closer to as many of his daughters as possible but couldn't find a buyer for the house so Janice and I bought it from him in 2006 and he moved to Dawson Creek.
After taking possession of the house one of the first things I had done was the building of a garage in 2007. As time was limited since any work had to be done while I had vacation from work in Thompson, I settled on constructing a metal building. From start to finish, including site prep and the pouring on the concrete pad, it took a week to complete. Here are some pictures as it went up:
The pad has been poured and the concrete is setting
Family and friends helping erect the steel arches.
The arches are bolted to metal plates which in turn are fastened to the concrete pad.
And all is done including installation of an insulated garage door.
So this is what we started with.
After excavating down to the footing the concrete blocks were cleaned, a primer solution applied and then the Blue Skin membrane applied to above grade. Then all was covered with 2" foam insulation board.
Last step of this phase was to cover the foam board that is above grade with pressure treated plywood and then everything was back filled.
And that was the end of the 2009 construction season. As I don't like things looking unfinished I made sure that metal flashing was applied to cover the top of the foam insulation and the lower part of the wall where the vinyl siding had been removed.
In 2010 I began the next phase. This involved removing the old small, uninsulated porch and replaced it with a larger, fully insulated mud room.
And here it is as the 2010 construction season drew to a close. Later in the fall I added a deck and stairs.
Between 2011 and 2012 all of the old siding was removed, the foam insulation carried up to the top of the walls and clad with plywood followed by replacement of all of the old windows with more energy efficient triple pane windows. The house was then wrapped in a wind barrier film.
2013 was a quite year, on the outside. Outside work, as previously reported, involved fixing up my mothers house instead. But inside I laid down bamboo flooring through the living room, bedrooms and the main hallway.
Last year, 2014, I made a big push to try and get the outside finished by installing new vinyl siding. Here we are part way through.
And a view of the finished result from the west side.
And from the east side. One change completed since this picture was taken is that I eventually had to reconsider the kitchen exhaust fan vent as I tried to utilize the existing opening but it wouldn't work with any microwave oven that included an exhaust fan. Oh well.
This past winter, Jordan and I attacked a major project that I had been putting off for several years- renovating the kitchen. As Janice was gone on a trip we gutted the kitchen right down to the bare walls, re-insulated, including a layer of 3/4" foam board on the inside (the walls are rough 2" x 4" and fibreglass insulation is designed for studs only 3 1/2" deep. Then we put up drywall and painted. In addition we contracted a local cabinet builder to make a set of custom built natural maple cabinets.
Here is the kitchen after installing the new fibreglass and foam board insulation prior to being covered with plastic vapor barrier.
And now the drywall.
And here is the kitchen after the new cupboards were installed. I haven't even taken off the plastic protective film from the new dishwasher!
So there you have it. Other than replacing the main roof, with steel, and updating the bathroom, the end is pretty much in sight! It has been a major challenge but we are enjoying the almost finished product!
