Building a house in Finland

[RogerS]

......

....above our inner roof there's 500mm of insulation separating us from the larger airspace in the attic.

500mm? That is amazing. In the UK you're lucky to find 100mm IIRC.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

270mm is the norm.

 

[DennisCA]

300mm in the walls and 500mm in the roof is standard I believe for modern 1 plane houses like this. Older houses have less.

Wall is layered like this:
1. Wood panelling
2. Airspace & wood framing
3. Drywall
4. insulation 250mm rockwool or glasswool
5. Moisture barrier
6. 50mm insulation
7. Plywood backing
8. Drywall

 

[DennisCA]

Here's a house of the same model from the builders website, we're aiming for the same color scheme:

 

[Steve Maskery]

Dennis, that looks like a beautiful house. Apart from the ladder, which makes it look as if you about to go diving... But if it is a legal requirement I guess it has to be. Why, what is the rationale?

I'm embarking on my own build, I'm casting the slab tomorrow. It's for a workshop rather than a house, but it's exciting, daunting, thrilling and scary all at the same time. I bet you have had a roller-coaster of a ride, too. Projects this size can't be anything else.
Thank you for posting. I shall follow with interest.
Steve

 

[Grayo]

Hi Denis,

I have read this thread right through and have enjoyed watching your new house progress I can't wait to see the finished house now. One thing that puzzles me is the legal requirement to have a ladder to the roof in place, is this in case you have a heavy snow fall and need to be able to remove the snow from the roof.

 

[Grayo]

Great minds think alike eh Steve lol

 

[DennisCA]

The rationale for the ladder is for chimney sweeping, which you have to do every year, roofs don't need to be cleared of snow unless its a flat roof. So work safety reasons is what I guess it boils down to.

You can't even skimp on the sweeping, the county sends the sweeper to you.

 

[Steve Maskery]

No use asking me, I'm brain-dead these days.
S

 

[Grayo]

The rationale for the ladder is for chimney sweeping, which you have to do every year, roofs don't need to be cleared of snow unless its a flat roof. So work safety reasons is what I guess it boils down to.

You can't even skimp on the sweeping, the county sends the sweeper to you.

Blimey our sweeps do it from inside the house, they stick a big round shaped brush up the chimney and push all the soot out the top then hoover up what's come down the chimney.

I think if everybody over here had a ladder up the side of their house the crime rate would hit the roof.

 

[Steve Maskery]

I think if everybody over here had a ladder up the side of their house the crime rate would hit the roof.

Boom-boom!

 

[DennisCA]

No big update, just done spring cleaning on the yard. Used to be a huge mountain of crap under a tarp behind the house. I've spent the last few days sorting the good wood that I can use for stuff like woodworking and the stuff that's only fit for firewood. Part of the reason is we're getting 40-50 cubic meters of soil next week and we need to clear the yard so the truck can dump the soil. This is maybe 1/3rd of what we need in terms of top soil.

Finally having a nice spring day:

Love how clear the back yard is now:

Here's all the crap that's only fit for firewood:

The ground is clay, we got it for the cost of transport when they built a nearby bioenergy plant and we needed lots of filling material to get the yard somewhat even. Now that the water has evaporated it's rock solid. Will make a good foundation we're told once we got a layer of topsoil above it:

Next monday the tile guy will put down the moisture barriers and then later the klinkers.

 

[Grayo]

Hi Dennis,

Looking good mate. All that rubbish wood as you call it would come in very handy. I use similar wood pallets etc etc to make bird boxes and with all those trees around you looks like they are just begging to have a bird box attached to them lol

 

[DennisCA]

Oh yeah the pallets themselves aren't rubbish, mostly what they're covering, but as you say I suspect I'll find uses for it still.

I got two other piles of stuff that I sorted out which is much nicer and longer too. I'll use those to build shelves and workbenches and such for my garage/workshop. Been doing some simple sketchup sketches to help me imagine it as well as what kind of space the machines will take up.

I just put the stuff randomly, I'll probably want mobile bases for everything, I liked this method where you use a lever to raise the machine onto castors, the rest of the time it stands on its own legs.

Also got this drill press for 100 euros, hope I didn't get fleeced, GERN something, taiwanese, 2/3 HP engine, heavy as heck:

(not my picture or workshop, but same press)

 

[Grayo]

Hi Dennis,

The bench drill is exactly the same as mine except mine is a NuTool model with 16 speed settings, around 1968 age. I found with mine the stem was to high so cut about six inches off it, It's now easier to use as the handle is not so high. I paid £70 for mine a few months ago so yes I think you have had a good deal. Workshop setup is looking good bet you can't wait to get it all up and running now. I have got the wheeled base on my band saw like the one you want which makes it a lot easier to move around.

 

[davin]

Wheres the sauna?

 

[DennisCA]

If you look at this layout, it's the room marked "B 3.0m2" next to the larger bathroom/shower, on the right side.

 

[DennisCA]

Today we got 100 cubic meters of soil:

I want 50 more still. I was quite impressed by the truck driver who backed in, around the house and around the big stones we got there to get to the side of the house.

Klinker tiles in the bathroom and laundry room are almost done:

Small toilet:

Started on the kitchen:

We got a professional doing this, not ourselves, included in the house package.

It's been between 26-28 degrees celcius here today, pretty sweet weather for May, but I bet we'll have a crappy summer as usual, good spring and warm winters tend to equal cold summers, I hope the trend breaks.

 

[Flatlander]

Being new to the forum, I've only just seen this topic. As I have spent a lot of time in the Scandinavian countries (Kemppi in Lahti as regards Finland) I enjoyed reading it. So first off, thanks for posting!

I do have a question, and comment. Regarding what you call the Masonry Heater. Is that like the ones they have over in Sweden? ie, you burn wood, and the stones accumulate the heat, slowly releasing it to the room for heating? It certainly looks like one, but I'm not sure.

As regards your heating system. I installed the same here around 8 years ago, albeit using twin bores, and have kept a record of the energy used.The savings as I'm sure you will be aware, are tremendous! Without wishing to hijack the thread, I can post the before and after figures for those interested.

 

[DennisCA]

Hi, that's exactly what the masonry heater is, the material that accumulates the heat isn't stones but made from some kind of leftover from steel smelting, supposed to have a higher heat retaining than stones can achieve. I do not exactly know what it is but the components of it where incredibly heavy and the whole thing weighs 1250 kilograms, the foundation underneath was reinforced before the plate was poured.