Building a home

[Krill]

You know, thank you for reminding me why I like brick houses so much. That house looks cold.

[Aeson]

You know, thank you for reminding me why I like brick houses so much. That house looks cold.

I think the plan is to eventually fill in the holes...

[VetLegion]

I'm intrigued... what is this "road" with a fence around it and no sidewalk?

[Cort Haus]

It's North America, Vet. The only walking people do is to and from their cars.

[Flubber]

[

I'm intrigued... what is this "road" with a fence around it and no sidewalk?

Most likely its a "walking trail" which can be used by walker, joggers, cyclists and the like--- we have them through all our neighborhood and they pave them and put a line down the centre. Ours actually passes through a few acres of ravines where its pretty usual to see deer

In neigborhoods that are laid out like ashers, its pretty common to have the walking trail just outside their back fence

[Asher]

You know, thank you for reminding me why I like brick houses so much. That house looks cold.

Brick isn't actually a good insulator...

You see lots of brick in warmer parts of Canada like Toronto, but not in the colder parts.

[Asher]

Most likely its a "walking trail" which can be used by walker, joggers, cyclists and the like--- we have them through all our neighborhood and they pave them and put a line down the centre. Ours actually passes through a few acres of ravines where its pretty usual to see deer

In neigborhoods that are laid out like ashers, its pretty common to have the walking trail just outside their back fence

Yes, this is what it is. We have a bunch of ravines as well that they connect to, as well as all of the public playgrounds and parks. In the picture you can actually see it heading towards a ravine area. The idea is you don't need to walk on the sidewalk to get around the neighbourhood by foot, there's a bunch of these maintained pathways that go around the neighbourhood and connect to the paths in the natural ravine areas as well. It's really good for people who walk dogs.

[Flubber]

Not to kill the sterotype but Calgary seems pretty active for a North American city-- yes we do love our cars and with the mountains and lake spots being favorites, we get to use them a fair bit to leave the city . . . and with a spread out city, we use them a lot in the city too. But there is a pretty decent system of walking and biking trails which see relatively heavy usage as well. WE don't have the density of some Euro spots so cars will always be a big thing but Calgary's relatively youthful population makes it a pretty active place.

[Sir Og]

Wooden homes look flimsy to me. I feel like the things can't last 30 years and are very fragile.
I guess in your climate and with quality, well treated wood this will not be the case.

[Donegeal]

The wood in wooden homes aren't exposed to the elements for very long. It gets incased in protective barriers on both sides. Aslong as those barriers (more so the outside barrier) stay in place, that wood will last hundreds of years.

[Asher]

^ What he said.

[Flubber]

The wood in wooden homes aren't exposed to the elements for very long. It gets incased in protective barriers on both sides. Aslong as those barriers (more so the outside barrier) stay in place, that wood will last hundreds of years.

yup

ON my house outside the wood was a black feltlike paper, what looked like chicken wire and then several coats of stuccoo-- no exterior wood is exposed. Asher's place will have a layer of vinyl siding IIRC

[Asher]

They actually don't use the black paper anymore on the higher end builders. They've moved to either Tyvek or DOW Weathermate Plus housewrap.

On my house it's the wood, then there's gypsum board, then there's the housewrap, then there's the vinyl siding/aluminum trim.

[Sir Og]

What is the thermal transmittance of your walls? Do you have this data? Maybe you have the R value which is the reciprocal of the thermal transmittance.
Thermal transmittance is given in W/m2K in normal countries.

[Asher]

Not sure what the total R value is. The insulation that's being used is:

Exterior house walls: R-20
Attic: R-40
Floor over garage: R-28
Garage walls: R-20
Cantilevers: R-28
Basement exterior walls: R-12

The windows are double-paned, argon-filled, and have a Low-E coating.