After many months of design/financing/permitting preparation, site work, and waiting for a dry day to pour concrete, the best part of the construction process finally began November 4. 2 weeks later, the roof is nearly complete. Steve Parker, along with his business partners Emil and Jim, has worked hard and got the job done super fast. I’m excited because now I can get to work too! The plan was for them to get the outer shell frames and sealed up, then I can begin framing the interiors.
Let’s talk about the house construction. It may look fairly standard at this point but it is not! Some of the major goals for the house:
- Economical to build.
- Limit waste as much as possible.
- Super tight, highly insulated envelope.
- Modern aesthetic.
First off, in terms of economy, I decided to keep it as simple as possible. The house is a rectangle. No dormers. No bumpouts, no angles. Just a plain old rectangle. Boring? Well, there are a lot more factors like the gorgeous site that will make this quite exciting. Sticking to the subject though, all those fancy details you see on faux traditional homes cost money. They are complicated, and not only that, are prone to leakage and extremely difficult to insulate and make air tight. So sticking to the simple unadorned rectangle actually fulfills all 4 goals in
one shot!
Reducing waste is one of Modern Vermont’s prime directives. In furniture and cabinetry construction, I always carefully plan projects to minimize wood extras, and wherever it is unavoidable, the pieces are saved, and incorporated into one of my many scrap projects. The house design was meticulously planned out to minimize cutting and waste of material. The dimensions are 48′ x 20′, making perfect use of a 4′ module, as this is how all contruction materials are sized. Plywood needs to be cut less. Sheetrock needs to be cut less. Insulation boards need to be cut less. Etc Etc.
The framing adheres to efficient framing practices as well. Most framing done today is ridiculously overbuilt. Studs are cheap, so builders would rather put more in to be safe and in many instances it is not needed. The outer shell studs are 24″ on center (vs 16″ typical). Every floor & roof joist is lined up directly over a stud on the same spacing, so no double top plate is required. Keeping the framing to a minimium has another enormous benefit: more insulation and less thermal bridging. Window openings were planned to align on the 24″ module in
almost every instance, also requiring less framing.
The exterior wall and roof sheathing is Zip System. This is a plywood with an integrated coating that acts as both a vapor and air barrier. Typically on homes you see them wrapped with plastic on top of the plywood or osb sheathing. No need here. The seams are taped with a
specially formulated tape that adheres well to the boards. This makes a totally weather tight envelope even before siding and roofing are installed
After the Zip system is zipped up, Marvin Integrity windows will be installed. Then a layer of 1-1/2" Roxul Comfortboard IS panels will be applied to the outside of the wall, providing the first layer of insulation with a product that acts like your wool sweater. If it gets wet, it keeps on keeping you warm, and dries out quickly. 3/4″ furring strips will be applied to this with venting at the top and bottom, then the cedar siding. This space allows the siding to get air on all sides, allowing it to dry out more easily.
On the inside, a second 2×4 wall will be framed, making the framing cavity 10-1/2" wide. This cavity will be filled with dense packed cellulose insulation. With all this insulation the R value of the walls will be about R50, more than double a typical wall. The roof, also filled with dense packed cellulose and ranging from 16" to 20" deep will be R60-74. So the house is going to be Very easy to heat in the brutal northern Vermont winters.
Since I skipped over the foundation, I’ll quickly mention the specs there. The frost walls were constructed using Insulated Concrete Forms, which are like lego blocks of styrofoam that are hollow so concrete can be poured inside. These make R24 walls below grade. Underneath the ground floor concrete slab is 6″ of rigid insulation for R30. Far more than a typical home.
These insulation details of course cost more money than typical, but it is some of the best money spent. We will save plenty of $ in heating over the years and keep our carbon footprint very low!
In terms of aesthetics, I am a devout, if not a bit obsessive minimalist. I strive to get the most impact out of the least number of elements. So this simple volume will express itself mostly through the carefully designed fenestration layout (architect speak for windows/doors) and by the use of material. More on all that when the time comes!