Installing the first bales - learning as we go!

We install the very first bale in the playroom!

Wishe has taken over from Adam who went back to ironwork in New York. He will be working with Will on the bale installation, stucco, drywall & plastering. Welcome aboard Wishe. We look forward to trying out your innovative ideas!

Lynn beats the bales into place so they fit snug and straight. Grandma is watching the kids so we can have more hands on-site during this important process. Thanks Mom!!

Will made a "bale needle" out of wire and threads twine through the bales to create smaller ones needed for certain areas. It's a long process but we're starting to get a system going and hope to get more efficient as we learn.

Survival School students stop by for a tour and help out for a while.

Nia:wen Arenhoktha!

Here's the playroom with the walls almost complete. There's a 5-6 inch gap on the top of each bay because the farmer's bales are not exactly the same width as we had hoped. We need to find some wheat, oat or barley straw bales so we can fill those gaps. They hold together better than switch grass. Anyone know where we can get some dry bales?

Pretty amazing huh?! Well, we think it looks cool... but we still have a long way to go!

We're planning a baling-bee next Saturday October 3rd. Anyone want to come help?

The straw has arrived!

We wait eagerly as the farmer backs his trailer full of switch-grass bales to our house.

Mr. Norman Caron's farm is in St-Timothe, about 25 minutes away. He grows several varieties of switch-grass (a grass native to our area) for homes like ours, and as biomass for pellet stoves.

We begin the back-breaking work of unloading the bales and pile them in the house.

Radiant Heating Part 2

TM Briggs sets up the radiant heating system in the mechanical room and the manifold under the staircase.

The radiant heating loops are installed in the upstairs bathroom and laundry room.

Electricity!

Kim Wilkins' electricians are quick to install the service entrance and wire the house.

Hydro Quebec arrives to connect us to the grid... just in time for the trades to plug-in.

We're so happy about this because we have had enough generator problems to last a lifetime!

Windows, doors & walls

The interior walls go up and the rooms in the house start to take shape.

We get help from Will's brother Mitchell to hoist our windows & very heavy patio door up to the second floor.

The windows & doors are installed.

On the left is the window above our future kitchen sink. On the right is a window in the playroom.

At the start of our project, we decided that we would bite the bullet and spend a whole lot of money on good windows so that we won't be stuck replacing leaky inefficient windows in the future. They're triple paned, low-E & argon filled. All the windows have integrated shades or blinds so there's no need for window treatments. Less cleaning... love that feature!

Set Back

We had the biggest setback of our project so far! Will noticed some discoloration in the ring beam between the first and second floor. He opened it up and there was a lot of moisture and the start of mold! This is thanks to our very wet summer and how difficult it was to protect the beam during the many rain storms we had. We opened up other areas and found similar problems. We had to take out all the nails, cut the plywood, pull out the insulation, wash down the whole interior with a fungicide solution and then put it all back together again. On the positive side, we're thankful that we caught this before the walls were closed-in because this could have been disastrous for the straw bale walls!