Last week in preparation for the windows our builder covered the entire building with 1 ½” of blue foam board. This provides an extra R7.5 insulation value to the wall (bringing the overall insulation to almost R30) and most importantly covers all the wood framing , which is about R5, removing what are called cold bridges. The other important quality of wall foam is vapour permeabilty, it means that humidity can move through the wall. The wrong kind of insulation can trap moisture behind it causing mould or worse rot. The crew took extra care with the insulation and filled any large gaps between the sheets with spray foam. After a few delays with ice and snow the roof was safe enough to work on. The shingling was almost finished at weeks end and will be complete on Monday.
On Wednesday, the windows arrived. Manufactured by Ostaco here in Toronto, they are a custom blue colour on the outside and most importantly custom glazed. All the south facing windows are tripled glazed for extra sound protection and this also adds extra insulation value. The lower bedroom level windows are silvered on the outside as well to reflect daytime light for privacy. Triple glazing greatly increases the weight of the windows. Tom and the crew were extra careful hoisting these very heavy windows into place using the zoom boom lift. Throughout out the building, the windows have a triple low e coating on the inner surface of the glass, called 366 by Cardinal Glass, which lowers winter heat loss but also significantly lowers solar heat gain in the summer for greater air conditioning savings. With all the south windows facing the lake, this is an important upgrade. The glass also features NEAT technology that works with sunlight to shed dirt and make it almost self-cleaning. Inside plumbing continues and the heating systems have started. On Tuesday weather permitting the brick layers return! More on that next week.