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00:00We need some concrete.
00:01It's working great.
00:03We did get an evacuation alert
00:05because the forest fires were coming closer.
00:08We didn't know what that road was going to be like.
00:13I'm Todd Talbot,
00:15and after 10 seasons of Love It or List at Vancouver,
00:17my wife, Rebecca, and I invite you to join us
00:19on our building journey.
00:21We are building a net zero passive house
00:23on the shores of Okanagan Lake
00:24in beautiful British Columbia.
00:26A resilient, energy efficient,
00:28and architecturally stunning house.
00:30And even though this story doesn't end
00:32the way we planned it,
00:33it was an adventure.
00:48It sounded like the forest fire
00:51had come through Patrick's neighborhood.
00:55So there was questions around
00:57whether his house was...
00:58His wife had been evacuated earlier.
01:00Yeah, she had taken their dogs,
01:02and they had left earlier,
01:03and Patrick wasn't allowed to go back.
01:08My neighbors had been there 20 or 30 years,
01:11and my house had been there 30 years,
01:13and they said,
01:15oh, don't worry, you know,
01:16sometimes it'll burn off in the distance,
01:18but it never gets in this far.
01:20It wasn't until three weeks later
01:23that they finally notified us
01:26and said that the house was burned up in the fire.
01:37They lost everything.
01:39The heat from that blaze
01:44must have been just incredible.
01:47The aluminum siding on my house
01:52was just puddles.
01:55The steel roof was buckled,
01:57and it was all-consuming.
01:59That fire rolling through
02:01was devastating for so many people.
02:06And even though I experienced
02:08watching Patrick's life be kind of torn apart
02:11because of this fire...
02:13At the end of the day,
02:14you had to translate it
02:15into how it impacted you
02:16and moving forward.
02:17The question is,
02:24did that fire make us think twice
02:27about what we were doing?
02:29I think the simple answer is no.
02:31It made us think we need to build better.
02:33It was what else can we do
02:35to make sure if a fire comes into our area
02:38that this house will be okay
02:39when it's all said and done.
02:47This is old zinc gray.
02:53Get them in perspective
02:54with where the house will be
02:56and then picture the roof coming down.
02:59There was definitely a backlog
03:00of design decisions
03:02before Rebecca would arrive on site.
03:04Sometimes I'd send her photos
03:05and there were certain things
03:07that I could make decisions by myself.
03:09Anything structural,
03:10anything, you know, air barrier,
03:12anything, like, to do with stuff
03:14that you don't see.
03:14That I don't care about.
03:15Yeah.
03:16Rebecca was fine with me
03:17just having carte blanche.
03:19That's just the way I want to do it.
03:21I don't know if that's smart.
03:23Oh, come on.
03:24You wanted me to participate.
03:25Yeah, I mean,
03:26I wanted the assurance
03:27that we were both on the same page.
03:30So we would have this backlog
03:32and then I would be like,
03:33okay, let's talk through.
03:34Bring examples.
03:35Yeah, let's talk this through.
03:36Let's talk this through it.
03:37And then we'd FaceTime with Amy
03:38and we'd try and, like,
03:39come up with an idea
03:40and then we'd finally make a decision
03:41and we'd move on to the next thing.
03:42I think probably the most important
03:44visual impact in your space
03:46is going to be the wood
03:47that you choose for the walls.
03:49Is this cedar?
03:50This is cedar, I think.
03:52Because it looks yellow to me.
03:53And cedar is yellow.
03:54Todd and I have this ongoing argument
03:56about painted or natural wood.
04:00I wanted to paint the tongue and groove.
04:03What's tongue and groove?
04:04That's the wood inside of the A-frame.
04:07Yeah.
04:08They fit together.
04:09A tongue and a groove.
04:12That's why they call it tongue and groove?
04:13Yeah, do you want me to explain it further?
04:14Something like that?
04:19That's tongue and groove.
04:20This is what I want to feel like
04:23in our bedrooms.
04:24Light, wood, and...
04:26Oh, yay, yay.
04:26We spent thousands of dollars on this wood.
04:29There was no way we were going to paint it.
04:31So we agreed to stain it
04:33and then we went through this big, long process
04:35to try and figure out the stain color
04:36and we tried a whole bunch of different things.
04:37We didn't want an ugly stain color.
04:39We might have to end up painting tongue and groove.
04:42No, we...
04:43Quiet, quiet.
04:45We stumbled across this stain color
04:47which is called pickled white.
04:49It's white that's slightly pickled.
04:51Yeah, so it literally has a little bit of green to it.
04:54You don't really see the green.
04:55You can't really see it.
04:55It just kind of softens up the white.
04:58Basically, we would like colorless wood.
04:59I love it.
05:00I truly...
05:01Like, that's true Scandinavian.
05:02It's so light and calming.
05:06It was gorgeous.
05:07It was absolutely stunning.
05:09Okay, bye.
05:11Bye.
05:14One of the interesting things
05:16about taking the forms off
05:17is that it's like unwrapping a present.
05:20There's a bit of anxiety
05:21because you want to make sure
05:22that it was poured correctly
05:24and vibrated correctly
05:25and everything is solid
05:26and it's going to be passed
05:27by the structural engineer, etc.
05:29So, as you peel these things off,
05:31when you look at it,
05:32you're like,
05:32oh, thank God.
05:33It worked.
05:35Then we introduce wood.
05:42When wood arrives on site,
05:44it's a celebration
05:45because you're now building
05:47the thing that you're going to be in.
05:49Damn, looks good.
05:50I continued to work with Todd.
05:54My wife and I stayed
05:55at a hotel in Kelowna.
05:58It was exciting, actually,
05:59to move on to the next big stage,
06:01which was to get the big timbers in.
06:07These big timbers came
06:09and I'm super excited
06:10to get framed up.
06:12The beams are massive.
06:13It's hard to kind of explain
06:14how big they were,
06:14but they were incredibly thick,
06:16incredibly large,
06:17and each one had to be hand-drilled.
06:19We tasked Peter,
06:21who really joined the crew,
06:23shall we say,
06:24at that point.
06:24We tasked Peter with
06:26finding a jig
06:28that we could
06:29drill perfectly
06:30through the wood.
06:31We had to put the bracket on.
06:33These brackets would be a ton.
06:34We had to strap it up
06:35to a backpack.
06:36So we had to trace out the holes,
06:39flip the whole thing over,
06:40trace out the holes
06:41on the other side,
06:42and then drill the holes
06:43through halfway
06:44because the drill bits
06:45that we found
06:45could only go so far.
06:47Then we'd finish drilling
06:48on the other side
06:49and hope like heck
06:50we would meet up.
06:52The V7 rod,
06:54which is an incredibly strong
06:56threaded rod
06:57that goes through,
06:58I mean,
06:58it holds bridges up.
07:00These things hold
07:02this entire structure together,
07:03but if it's off
07:04by an eighth of an inch,
07:05it will not go through,
07:06and if you pound it
07:07with a hammer,
07:09it strips the thread
07:10and you can't get the nuts on
07:11and it's just,
07:12it's a complete mess.
07:13So again,
07:14there's no margin of error.
07:15There we go.
07:16First one up.
07:18Can't really see it.
07:20You can just see Patrick's beard
07:21more than anything.
07:23So once we had attached
07:24the big fur timbers
07:27that would hold up
07:28the bottom part
07:29of the A-frame,
07:30we had this three-way connector
07:32that held the massive
07:35glulam beam
07:36that would create
07:37the base
07:38for our floor assembly.
07:41Glulam is essentially,
07:42you're taking
07:43two by six
07:44or two by four,
07:45whatever dimension,
07:46and you are gluing it together
07:47to create
07:49a dimensional piece of lumber
07:51that can be milled
07:53within a millimeter.
07:56We lifted in these beams.
07:59I mean,
07:59they were hundreds
08:00and hundreds of pounds.
08:02Peter and I actually
08:02did the first few
08:03with my little Kubota tractor,
08:06and then we brought in
08:07a crane to help us
08:08lift in the ones
08:10that were stretched out
08:11over the cliff.
08:13So we actually put
08:14these large nuts
08:16on the bottoms
08:17of the brackets
08:19that allowed us
08:20to shift it
08:20in very small degrees
08:22in order to actually
08:23have that floor
08:24plain properly.
08:25Just like a traditional
08:27floor from that point on,
08:28we put our TGIs in
08:30and we created
08:31our floor joists,
08:32and then we sheeted it all
08:34with plywood.
08:34We got as far as we could.
08:39I really wanted
08:40to have the A's up
08:41in the first year,
08:43but I didn't reach
08:44that goal.
08:45We stopped
08:46with the floor done.
08:48How does that feel?
08:49Good at it, eh?
08:50Final cut.
08:51Great job, guys.
08:54And then right on cue,
08:56the rain started.
08:57So I piled all
08:58of the material
08:59under these massive tarps
09:01and pinned it down
09:02as best I could.
09:04I'll put to bed.
09:06And crossed my fingers
09:07that it would
09:09survive the winter,
09:11and for all intents
09:12and purposes,
09:13it was well done.
09:17Just throwing everything
09:18on top now.
09:19Oh my goodness.
09:21I think this will hold, though.
09:23I had no idea
09:23another crazy weather
09:24system was coming.
09:30Powerful rain
09:31gale force winds
09:32and thunderstorms
09:33hit the Okanagan Monday
09:34with 80 kilometer
09:35per hour gusts
09:36as the atmospheric river
09:38brought widespread damage
09:40to the Kelowna area.
09:47So it is
09:49about minus four today,
09:52and I finally made it up
09:54after the storm.
09:55Just about to do
09:57a little site inspection
09:59to see
09:59how things are looking.
10:03It doesn't look good.
10:15Jesus.
10:18So we were building
10:20this house
10:20to be resilient
10:21against a changing climate,
10:23essentially,
10:24and we just kept
10:26getting kicked
10:26with crazy climate disaster
10:30one after another.
10:32Heat dome,
10:33atmospheric rivers,
10:35raging forest fires
10:36like we had not seen before.
10:39Maybe it's a statement
10:41we're behind the curve.
10:43You know,
10:43we needed to start
10:44this process earlier.
10:45So this is where
11:07we got to
11:08when we stopped
11:09last year
11:09before winter,
11:11and then we peeled off
11:12all the tarps.
11:18It's a very glamorous job here.
11:21So we're sitting
11:21underneath the A-frame,
11:23which is pretty cool.
11:24This is one of the,
11:25I think,
11:26best perspectives
11:27of the architectural design
11:28of this building.
11:30You can see
11:31that we've got
11:31these big fur beams
11:32that shoot up in the air.
11:34We sat the whole house
11:36so it floats out
11:37over the rock.
11:38You can see the floor joists.
11:39These are essentially 12 inches.
11:42They get packed
11:42with rock wool insulation
11:44and then metal cladding
11:45underneath that.
11:46So it's resilient
11:47to any sparks that happen.
11:49So we should be safe
11:51from any fires.
11:54So I'm standing
11:55on the sunken
11:56living room floor level.
11:58The A-frame
11:58goes way up above me,
12:0022 feet in the air.
12:03It's going to be
12:03pretty incredible.
12:04This is the kitchen
12:05right here.
12:06We'll have the sink
12:06right in front of the window
12:08so the people
12:08are motivated
12:09to wash the dishes
12:10and be some good
12:12dance parties.
12:15You can see below me
12:16we've got these
12:17massive fur beams
12:18holding the whole
12:20structure together.
12:21We're suspended
12:21quite high up in the air.
12:23It's unbelievable.
12:24We're probably 25 feet
12:25down to the ground
12:26and then 65 feet
12:28down to the dock level.
12:30The heck of a jump.
12:32I spent more time
12:33dealing with these
12:35concrete buttresses
12:36than probably anything
12:38else I'll deal with
12:39on this build.
12:40We had to create
12:41this 65 and a half
12:43degree angle
12:44so that this
12:45would connect
12:46with the A-frame
12:47from the main floor
12:48up.
12:49Everyone who comes
12:49to visit this house
12:50in the future
12:51is going to get a tour
12:51of these.
12:53Some people have mistresses.
12:54I have buttresses.
12:55I have buttresses.
13:08When it came to the second year,
13:10Todd had gone up
13:11way ahead of me
13:12and the kids.
13:13He had his own little
13:14living set up there
13:15at the bunkhouse
13:16for sleeping in.
13:17The bathroom
13:18was a shed
13:19built around a toilet
13:21and an old laundry sink.
13:24And a hot water tank.
13:25And spiders.
13:26Luxury.
13:27And open view
13:28of the lake.
13:29It was gorgeous.
13:30Hey babe.
13:31Party with a view.
13:33But even so,
13:34I was not convinced
13:36that this setup
13:37would be conducive
13:38to a summer long visit.
13:43I was like,
13:44we're not doing that again.
13:44So we kind of had
13:46one week stints built in.
13:49You guys can see on that.
13:51We're coming for a week
13:51and then we're going to Calgary.
13:53See you next time.
13:54We're coming for a week
13:55and then we're going to Vancouver.
13:56So that's how we managed it.
13:58I actually built in some times
13:59where I would pop back
14:01and that they could pop up.
14:02I did try my hardest
14:03to make the situation
14:06better than year one.
14:14So originally,
14:19I wanted actual timber
14:21to be the exposed structure
14:24inside the A-frame.
14:26I was dissuaded from that.
14:27The main reason was
14:28that length of a piece of timber
14:31has a tendency to twist,
14:35check,
14:35which is cracking,
14:37and the consistency
14:38of a piece of wood like that
14:40would be tricky
14:41to work with
14:42in such a tall assembly.
14:45So it was suggested
14:46working with a product
14:47that was much more
14:48consistent and true.
14:50And Glulam was
14:51the obvious answer.
14:57We had committed to,
14:59signed off on all of the plans
15:01to have all of that material
15:03delivered April 18th.
15:05On April 1st,
15:06April Fool's Day of all days,
15:08I get an email from them.
15:10Unfortunately,
15:11your order can't be delivered
15:12until January 2023.
15:16My whole summer,
15:17my whole plan
15:18is contingent upon
15:20these beams arriving.
15:22This is the house.
15:23It's the skeleton of the house.
15:26So they say,
15:27we can't process the material.
15:28We can't cut it or stain it.
15:31And I said,
15:32okay, so what you're telling me
15:33is you actually have the wood.
15:35Yeah, we've got the wood.
15:36The wood's not the problem.
15:38It's just cutting it
15:39and staining it.
15:44Eventually, I got connected
15:46with Driven Construction,
15:48a guy named Marty.
15:50I explained the situation
15:51and Marty says,
15:53I can do better.
15:54Over there is the main load.
15:56Go by the post there.
15:57And I was like,
15:57but you're going to cut this by hand.
15:59You're going to use a saw
16:00and a drill
16:01and a measuring tape
16:03as opposed to a computer
16:05and some sort of fancy machine
16:08to cut this.
16:08And I was like,
16:09yeah,
16:10it's what I do.
16:13We do precision work all the time.
16:15My guys in the shop
16:16are fantastic.
16:18It's always nerve-wracking,
16:19but the design was extraordinary.
16:22And that's what excites me.
16:23Unfortunately, there was a delay.
16:35So we decided that,
16:36well, since we didn't have the beans,
16:37we would then start on the beach room.
16:41So this is the beach room
16:42because I guess it's closest to the beach.
16:45Because of the extreme elevation change
16:47on this property,
16:48we thought we'd utilize this.
16:49This is going to be like a rec room,
16:52hangout space closer to the beach.
16:55Basically, along the north side here,
16:58you'll have a staircase running down the outside
17:00and then a wraparound deck.
17:02And this is the doorway to pop in here.
17:04And then you can continue down the stairs
17:06and down to the beach.
17:10The roof of the beach room
17:11was quite extraordinary.
17:13Todd, being who he is,
17:15could not be a square room.
17:17So it had to be some strange shape
17:19that I don't have any idea what it's called.
17:22So the roof of the beach room had giant beams
17:25because the top of the beach room
17:26was actually going to be his beautiful deck.
17:29Poking my head out of the beach room here,
17:31this is going to be a far more impressive space
17:33than I thought it was on the plans.
17:35Got 11-foot ceilings.
17:36And then this is our roof assembly
17:38that creates the ceiling
17:40and the roof of the beach room,
17:41but also creates the sun deck.
17:44And then there'll be a glass railing all around there
17:47and it's party time.
17:50Great views of the lake.
17:52It will also be very, very safe.
17:53It could even hold elephants.
17:56The walls of the beach room are 11 feet,
17:58so then we're working on top of that.
17:59But the beach room itself is elevated
18:01probably in the front side by 12 to 15 feet.
18:05So it's significantly high in the air,
18:08which adds complication
18:09because obviously you want to be safe.
18:12It's tricky to get around.
18:13Honestly, working up that high,
18:15it makes you tired.
18:16You're thinking more
18:17and just making sure
18:18that you don't make a mistake.
18:19You don't want to drop anything.
18:20You don't want to hurt yourself.
18:21We had this giant beam
18:24that spanned the majority of the beach room
18:27and it is cantilevered four to five feet over.
18:30There's no way to actually measure it
18:32and then put it up.
18:34So we ran it long
18:35and then basically ended up strapping myself
18:37to one of the beams
18:39and we kind of walked out onto the end of it
18:41with a chainsaw
18:42and ended up cutting it into place.
18:43So the glue lamps for the A-frame
18:50were finally delivered to Marty.
18:53He was able to complete the precision cutting
18:55and drilling and staining super efficiently.
18:59And the frames, they're on their way.
19:02The logistics were a challenge.
19:04We had a couple of ideas.
19:05Remember we talked about
19:06potentially assembling them on the road
19:08and then kind of lifting them into place.
19:11Or on the trailer.
19:12Marty and his crew came in
19:15and boy, they had fantastic crew.
19:17The beams were massive.
19:18We had to kind of think of creative ways
19:20to get those things up as well
19:21because Marty's like,
19:22well, we have to kind of assemble them first
19:24before we lift them.
19:26All of these A-frame trusses
19:28come as individual pieces.
19:30So first of all,
19:31we need to figure out
19:32how do we get these individual trusses put up
19:35and where are we going to do it?
19:37So we cleared the main floor
19:38and we actually built the A's there.
19:41We assembled them from the front
19:43moving backwards.
19:56The A's came pre-stained, pre-finished.
19:59Marty did all of that.
20:00It was fantastic.
20:02That put another challenge into the whole build too
20:04because that was actually the finished product.
20:06So you'd see them from the inside.
20:08You'd see them everywhere.
20:08So you had to be very, very careful.
20:12We like to pre-finish everything.
20:14You do get scuffs and scratches on site,
20:16but in the shop,
20:17you can control the temperature, humidity.
20:19You can buff things out, see things.
20:21You don't have to work up on scaffolding.
20:23So the cost versus reward is significant.
20:26The A's are up and they look fantastic.
20:29The most anxious moment for me was
20:30we assembled the first A,
20:32we lifted it up.
20:33It's dangling up in the air
20:35and we are slowly lowering it into position.
20:40And these beams and these three-way brackets
20:43that it needs to sit down into perfectly.
20:46These holes are all pre-drilled.
20:48We need to put the rods in
20:49and they need to slide in effortlessly
20:52for this whole system to sit in place.
20:54It is the ultimate test
20:57of whether we've done our job correctly
21:00up to this point.
21:01The visual of this wide A coming down
21:05until it's inches from sitting into the bracket,
21:09you're thinking,
21:10it doesn't fit.
21:11And then magically,
21:13it just sits down perfectly.
21:16And we slide these B7 rods into position
21:21and we're off to the races.
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