My wife and I have had this idea of building our own home for quite some time. We bought our house in late '90-ies. The 1-1/2 storey house was built in late 1940-ies on a 50'x150' lot in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Over the years, we maintained the house well, watching for investment-vs-benefit trade-offs. However, as the family grew, so did our need for space. On the other hand, there were more and more things that required more and more investment to keep it all going.
Late 2007
Finally, in late 2007, we decided that the cost of maintenance reached the point where things were not worth fixing any more. We had two options: either sell and upgrade or demolish and build. As it frequently happens, we got used to the neighborhood. Also, lots of this size are not that common in Toronto. So we started thinking about demolishing our old house and building a new one.
We did hear some numbers about cost per square foot to build a new house, but using rumors and hear-say is not a good way to do the initial math. Through some word-of-mouth, we came across two General Contractors and interviewed them.
Late 2007 and early 2008
A surveyor is hired.
We decide to hire a designer to help us with the design. My wife and I both have engineering background and pretty much know what we like and want, and we know even better what we do not. We needed someone tolerant of frequent changes to accommodate numerous requirements, and someone that knows by-laws, build code, etc. We talk to custom home designer Nick Saccone of Trademark by Design. Nick's approach to design happens to fit nicely our desire to drive things ourselves. Furthermore, in his collection of services, Nick has this nice Design Services product that includes unlimited changes until design is set as well as floor and roof design and structural engineering. We like this one-stop solution so we get Nick to join the project.
April 2008
We decide on a basic set of requirements:
- Two storey house
- We are limited by setbacks as well as by location of trees and consideration for our neighbours. The house is to have a reasonable footprint, large enough but not larger than what we really need. Also, the smaller the footprint the less expensive to build.
- In terms of footage, build something reasonable for the family.
- Avoid variances from local by-laws as much as possible. Avoid below-grade garage and height variances at all costs.
- Separate exit from the basement, on the side or front.
May-Jun 2008
We go through a couple of sessions with the designer and come up with an initial rough sketch. Soon it turns out it does not work, so we go back to the drawing board. We come up with another core design. We go over the design a couple of times and it looks like it could work. With all the requirements, we cannot get away without minor variances, so we opt for two that have the least impact on both our new home, the environment and the neighbours:
- side yard set-back
- first floor elevation (no height variance, though)
Jun-Jul 2008
We work hard on the design. There are many constraints and, being engineers, we know that the probability of missing something is proportionate to the number of requirements. We work together with the designer but after each session we spend hours and days independently looking at drawings, calculating dimensions, distances, clearances. As we go, we find problems and come across challenges but we address most of them or come up with acceptable trade-offs. The only major dilemma that we have at this point is whether to use ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) for the basement only, or go ICF all the way up. Our desire is to build it all-ICF but it costs more. On the other hand, there are benefits to going all-ICF. The designer advises us that we can defer the decision until later, so we do.
Aug 2008
Drawings are finalized just as much as it is needed for preliminary project review by the City and the Committee of Adjustment.
We file for Committee of Adjustment hearing.
Oct 2008
We prepare our case for the Committee of Adjustment and go in for hearing. The variances are granted.
Nov-Dec 2008
Now that the variances have been approved, we continue towards completing the design.
Jan 2009
At this point, we have to decide how we are going to build. After a lot of research, we decide it is worth exploring the Owner-Builder option. There is a number of reasons for this: there are things that we want done exactly our way, savings on General Contractor overhead, full control of the project, etc.
Early Feb 2009
This is the most intensive period for us so far. We start talking to different types of contractors and start collecting quotes. We create several spreadsheets so that we can come up with as accurate cost estimate as possible.
The first thing for us to do is to make the decision whether to use ICF for the basement only or for the entire shell. We need this in order to complete the design and send if for floor and roof engineering as well as for structural engineering. During this stage, we talk to ICF manufacturers Nudura, Amvic and Logix. The name of ICF/shell contractor Paul Stevens from Stevens Construction comes up through independent channels (Internet forums, 360 Winnett project, an ICF manufacturer). We meet Paul at one of his sites and are impressed with his work. Paul gives us two quotes for the shell: one for all-ICF, and one for ICF basement plus traditional framing above. Based on these preliminary quotes, we decide to go all-ICF.
At this time we also meet ICF contractor Don Schreader of ICF Contracting, who was also very professional. Although we talk about it, we don't find time to go see Don's work at this time.
Late Feb 2009
On the design side, we face a serious setback: it turns out that when standard 6" ICF concrete form is used, ICF-based walls have overall thickness of roughly 16 inches while traditional framing has thickness of only 11 inches. This suddenly becomes a problem because the drawings have been showing 11-inch exterior walls all along and the design is such that along the width of the house the space is maxed out. On the other hand, we are already bound with sideyard setback variance from the Committee of Adjustment and cannot widen the house any more. We consult ICF engineering documentation to see if a thinner concrete fill is an option. We come across an example where 2-storey all-ICF home is built with 6" fill in the basement and 4" fill for the main and second floor. However, when we talked to a structural engineer and an ICF sales representative, they suggested that, although possible, going with 4" concrete would make it harder to pour and properly pack concrete and would also require more rebar. Being it harder to pack concrete properly also meant higher risk of pockets of air, which could affect the structure. This was good enough reason to scare us away from 4" ICF walls. So, we spend some time trying to find ways to save the 10 inches inside the house, and we finally find a reasonable trade-off. Nick's Unlimited Changes package comes in handy yet again.
Final changes are made to the drawings and drawings sent for floor and roof engineering. No more changes to the design, at least not without affecting the whole process.
The drawings are sent for heat loss calculation. Suddenly, we face another problem: according to mechanical engineer, there is no room to route ducts without either drilling through TJI's or having numerous visible bulk-heads throughout the main floor. We go over the drawings ourselves and conclude the same. So why is this the case? As if open-concept does not already make it hard enough to conceal ducts, TJI make it an order of magnitude harder to deal with it after the design is done. This is because holes are allowed only in certain areas of a TJI, which also depends on hole size as well as TJI height. Now add external ICF walls in which you can burry pipes and ducts only to the depth of the foam and at the expense of reducing R-value. Routing of ducts should have been thought of during design stage, as different orientation of TJI's would or could have made a whole lot easier to deal with duct routing. So, what now? Well, for the kitchen, we decided to go with an acceptable trade-off: create a box above kitchen cabinetry that will be flush with kitchen cabinets. A couple of other places are 'fixable' by introducing coffered ceiling where we did not really want it. However, there are still places where there is no easy solution or an acceptable trade-off. We will have to think of something...
Early Mar 2009
We continue talking to different contractors and collecting quotes. We ask for an updated quote for ICF, this time for the entire shell: footing, ICF walls, concrete slab and porch, subfloor TJI assembly, roof assembly and interior framing. We like this 'package' because we have a single contractor responsible for the entire shell - better for both the contractor and for us.
Late March 2009
We are now in for a big surprise. Back in March, when we received the quote for the shell, we found the quotes reasonable for the amount of work to be done. While waiting for other quotes to start coming in, we partly used price/work ratio from ICF/shell quotes to estimate the cost of other work (demolition, excavation, plumbing, in-floor heating, electrical, mechanical, trim, painting, flooring, etc.). However, as actual quotes were coming in, the total cost exceeded our initial estimates. We double-checked and triple-checked our spreadsheets but that is what it was.
At the same time, we talk to general contractor Tony Siesto of Old Orchard Homes. Tony's initial rough quote is appealing, especially in the light of our own numbers. It is also a better offer than the one we had previously obtained for Owner-Builder vs. GC comparison purposes. While Owner-Builder estimates still beat GC option cost, the difference is just enough to make it not worth our time and warranty. Furthermore, Tony's professionalism leaves a good impression on us. Also, Tony has built many custom homes in the neighbourhood over the years, adding a doze of confidence. So we decide to explore this option further.
During this time, we applied for permit and are now waiting. We are checking our application status daily.
In Toronto, it takes up to 45 days to get certain utilities disconnected. We cannot afford to wait for the permit to be issued so we arrange for service disconnects.
Early April 2009
After taking all the factors into account, we decide to abandon the Owner-Builder option and have Tony build the house for us.
Permit application goes smoothly until additional structural engineering related information is requested from the structural engineer. A whole week is lost because of this.
YES, we got our permit!
Late April 2009
We just learned that demolition is scheduled for tomorrow! Lately, we have been anxious to see things start happening. Suddenly, and not surprisingly, that feeling is replaced with a mix of excitement and sadness. After all, the old house was our home for many years and it served us well for its age. We took good care of it, too.
Due to a couple of circumstances, Paul Stevens has been selected to do the ICF part of the project. We welcome this news because Paul was one of the ICF contractors we initially talked to, before we abandoned the Owner-Builder option. Both Tony Siesto (our GC) and Paul have so far been very professional so we hope this is going to be a great team for the project.
Apr 27
Well, today is the day. The machine is here and the time has come to say our goodbyes. As the machine enters the front yard, the construction phase starts...
