The Weeks That Slipped By
Over the past three weeks so much has happened that it’s hard to decide where to begin. With our family welcoming its fifth member, I haven’t been able to spend much time on-site myself, but the house has moved forward quickly regardless. During this time it has gained a roof, a chimney, a heat pump, a boiler, and plenty of other details that make it feel more and more like a real home.
Time to Overthink Again
One of the biggest arrivals was our air-to-water heat pump. It’s unusual in the sense that it doesn’t have an indoor unit at all, everything is handled by the machine outside. Finding the right spot for it, however, turned out to be trickier than expected. Our initial plan was to place it right next to the house wall, but since we’re planning to build a garage there someday, we would only have to move it again. So it was time to overthink. Should we place it next to the imaginary garage or next to the existing house wall or is there a third option?
In the end, we chose a location 16 feet away from the house, right next to where the future garage will be. We also received the 300-liter boiler that the heat pump will warm. It’s already mounted on the wall, and its size was chosen based on our bathtub. The goal was simple: to have enough hot water to fill the entire tub without worrying about running out.
When Drawings Meet Reality
When I originally drew the electrical plans, I thought that marking all sockets, switches, and lights would be enough. It turns out reality has its own ideas. Once we compared the actual first-floor ceiling to the plans, it became clear, that some of the recessed lights landed exactly where the ceiling beams run. Not ideal, and definitely not something we wanted to drill through.
So we put the old drawings aside, grabbed a can of red spray paint, and spent two evenings marking new, more logical light locations directly on the ceiling, all while trying to work around two very opinionated little girls. We updated the drawings afterward so everything matches the new layout.
Fireplace Now or Later?
Our chimney is now fully finished as well and is waiting for the fireplace that will sit beside it. In this house, we wanted to get it move-in ready as cheap as we could. Bank does not want to give a big loan to a family of five with only one income. So we decided to postpone some not so necessary spendings, like building a garage, fireplace or installing solar panels.
In our house project we planned to only include fireplace readiness, so it would be possible to add one in the future. We soon realized that since the chimney system had to be built right away anyway, there was really no reason to delay the actual fireplace. It would have been too difficult to build it later. I made a sketch for the stove builders so they’d know exactly what we want. Two craftsmen are currently working on it. They should be done in about a week, and then we’ll finally be able to light the first fire.
The Kind of Change You Can See
In the master bedroom, the wardrobe wall has also made progress. The sliding door system is installed, and half of the opening will soon be covered with drywall. We’ll paint the door white, and I think it will look simple and beautiful once finished.
The ventilation system is also close to completion. Most of the ducts have already been installed. After the ventilation unit goes in, that part should be fully done as well.
One of the most exciting changes is the new metal roof. Four men installed it in just four hours. The roof also received a hatch, the only access to the attic, walkways, a snow guard, and a ladder to the chimney. Because both the hatch and chimney are located on the front side of the house, the entire back side, which faces south, will remain free for solar panels in the future.
What Comes Next
Looking ahead, the plan for next week is to install the front and back balconies, attach the remaining cladding boards, build the boxes around the second-floor ventilation ducts, and take care of various smaller tasks. And one piece of very good news: our windows and doors have been ordered, so now we’re simply waiting for their arrival.
As a final touch, the scaffolding has now been taken down and the sand pile has been spread out. Slowly but surely, everything is starting to look like the home we’ve been imagining.
In case you missed our previous post about the house progress, you can read it here.
You also won’t want to miss this time-lapse of our house build! Here is the video.
