Truss me, we'll get this roof on soon! But first: Sill plates and airtight envelope (passive house)

On our last concrete pour, we capped the sloping walls of our single slope (aka shed roof) with plywood to keep the concrete flush with the icf foam. Today we get to pull the plywood off and see what the concrete looks like.

Our trusses are delivered before we are ready for them because, well, everything takes longer than we think. We land the trusses on the roof and then continue working on the sill plates.

Directly over the concrete we put a layer of poly with a bead of acoustic sealant. The poly will be sealed to the house wrap on the exterior and continue in along the trusses on the interior. Air sealing our ICF house to create an airtight envelope is crucial to achieving passive house status. We may only make it to step 5 of the BC ENERGY STEP CODE (⤵️) but we will still need an air tight envelope to do that.

https://energystepcode.ca/

Next over the poly goes the sill gasket. Then the anchor bolt holes are drilled in the 2x6 sill plates and they are bolted into place. This is where the trusses will sit.


About Us:

For a long time, Terry and I have been dreaming of a simpler life for ourselves- an off-grid cabin, wilderness, gardening, livestock, homesteading and lots of adventures. Last year we decided it was time to start working toward our dream and we set out on the hunt for our little slice of paradise. Over time our vision morphed from a small cabin in the woods to a net zero passive house powered by solar power. We haven't taken on a challenge like this before so there will be a lot of hard work and learning as we go. Join our journey of buying raw land and building our home as first time owner builders. Welcome to An Average Acre!