It has been a long tome coming but it seems Marie and I have finally turned the corner and the years of planning and dreaming are soon to be realized. For those who have followed this blog and remember, it has been ages it seems since we had our road built, the well dug and the septic field marked off on our small property in the Quebec side of the Appalachian mountains. The road was completed in 2009, involving the removal of hundreds of trees that I had cut down over a week. Later we had half a dozen huge boulders that had laid there in the open since the last ice age moved aside. Following that truckloads of rock and gravel were laid down, ditches dug and the road smoothed out. A year later we had the well dug at the top of the road, close to where the house will be built. This was in itself quite an adventure in logistics and patience - and extra cost to repair the road afterwards! Last year we had the septic tank temporarily installed but it and the septic field have to be moved to another location - this will be done in May.
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| trees cut to make road |
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| trees removed and gravel and rock down |
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| well truck being hauled up road |
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| septic tank almost in place |
During all this prep work the past few years we have spent countless hours researching and discovering the intricacies and capabilities of solar power, the benefits of triple glaze energy efficient windows, the beauty of fiber cement siding, the luxury of radiant flooring as well as the necessity of a well made, efficient and properly insulated foundation - basically learning how to design our house from the ground up! After eliminating various modular homes builders and log cabin designs we settled on a local company in Ange-Gardien just east of Montreal that we both felt very comfortable in dealing with that will build the walls, floors and roof of our house in their plant - using sophisticated software and highly specialized equipment - and then truck the forms out to our site and and assemble them. Marie and I agonized over the plan for months, making changes to the roof line, the location, size and number of windows and the type and colour of the exterior finish and the exact orientation and footprint of the house itself on it's little piece of land. Below you can see two views of the final plan. Our design incorporates 25 windows, 4 patio doors, one main door and 3 skylights that will be on the western slope of the roof over the master bedroom and bathroom. The deck in front will be 28x10, built of recyclable materiel, with steps at either end. Marie has been using special software to help her design the interior, including wall colours and flooring, placement of furniture, wiring etc. Contracts are being signed and slowly but surely loose ends are being gathered together. It is now the end of April and, having approved the final design and had the final plans drawn up, we are now ready to begin...49 Chemin Maxime! The foundation is scheduled to be laid near the end of May and the erection of the walls, roof and insertion of the doors and windows the middle of June. Marie and I will be on site the whole time, living out of our cabin and supervising all stages of the construction. I will be updating this blog regularly with photos and comments during each and every stage. I shall endeavour to record the trials as well as the triumphs we will encounter along the way and will appreciate any suggestions or congrats! Hope you come back often to see it all happen! gws
