greenspree.ca at The Sietch

Our strawbale home is moving forward! We ended up getting our mortgage approved through our broker without going through CMHC but had already started shopping elsewhere by then. We went to a bank and got a better deal and lower downpayment requirement and are going in today to sign the paperwork. We knew we were approved last week so went ahead and started the construction process rolling.

Monday the driveway and more importantly house pad were place and compacted on our lot! This seems to be a good time to go over the foundation construction to be used on our home.

We are going to install a Frost Protected Shallow Foundation (or FPSF) as both the base and finish floor of our home. The site was prepped by removing the top cover of topsoil down to the substrate level of indegenous undisturbed layer of brick clay. Then a layer of shale or crushed sandstone was installed level with the existing highpoint of the land and compacted with a vibratory roller. This is where we are at now, the next step will be to form a foundation, using the FPSF Guide developed by NAHB Research Center, Inc. and using Canadian AFI values found in US Army Corps Of Engineers AFI maps.

Our foundation will also be 8″ thick at the main section for two reasons, as a thermal heat sink, and to allow us to run 5″ round duct work in the slab which will be connected to a high level return plenum at the top of the second floor for redistributing rising heat from the wood stove and passive solar radiation.

I will add some photos and detail sketches on the weekend to this post, stay tuned!