Spray foam and rear deck

Spray foam began today.  They are applying 1" on all exterior walls and along the rim joist (where the concrete meets wood).  Although it has some insulating value (R 6.5) this is primarily being done for air sealing purposes.  Much of the day today was prep work - they are pretty meticulous with covering all windows, switches,outlets, floors, objects, etc.  Now that that's all in place they should be able to finish up tomorrow by mid afternoon.

Unfortunately no work can be done during application and within 12-24 hours afterwards (due to the fumes) so I'll get a few days/evenings off.  But then it's full steam ahead through the weekend and Monday/Tuesday night in preparation for drywall on the 1st floor on Wednesday (I think).

Also the rear deck build began.  The majority of that should be completed sometime tomorrow.  That will be nice to have proper steps out of the back of the house (1st floor) again.  It is wide enough to put the grill on one side of the doorway and a pair of chairs on the other side

Waterproofing

The two major activities today were to finish the CMU wall and to install the Blueskin waterproofing membrane and insulation.  Blueskin is adhesive waterproofing membrane product that Mike Holmes, among others, has been recommending and using for years.  Glad we are able to incorporate it into our build.

On top of it is the 2" EPS Type II insulation board.  It is attached to the membrane using construction adhesive so as not to create penetrations in the membrane.

The final layer (Miradrain dimpled drain board) will be installed tomorrow or Saturday depending on when they're able to dig for and lay the footing drains and gravel.  It gets installed using nails but the nails only penetrate an inch or so into the foam board only.

So, the layers in order are:

• concrete wall
• waterproofing primer (dark red)
• Blueskin membrane
• insulation board
• Dimpled drain board
• backfill

The plumber will most likely begin groundwork tomorrow.

Reno week 2

Relatively uneventful day progress wise today.  Interior demo is nearly complete, excavation has just about 2 hours of work left.  They have started building the formwork for the footers...hoping to have footers poured on Wednesday, inspection and weather permitting.
Two large deliveries today: Type II EPS foam insulation board (foundation walls, basement slab perimeter) (pictured) and the Henry Blueskin foundation waterproofing membrane.