The Conscious Builder has an unusual project in the 2021 Reno Tour — a renovation in progress on a century home, showing what’s behind the walls.
The 1860 stone home needed a lot of work and The Conscious Builder was brought in to retrofit it for better efficiency while respecting the home’s heritage.
“We thought this was a great opportunity to showcase something a little different than people might be used to seeing,” says The Conscious Builder’s Casey Grey. “A lot of the value in efficient, high-performance home renos goes inside the walls, so we decided to do a walls-open tour.”
The Reno Tour is presented by the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association and showcases renovation projects by members of RenoMark (a program where participating companies are pre-screened and must meet strict guidelines).
The virtual tour offers interactive 3D walk-throughs that let you explore each project at your own pace and includes descriptions of each of the projects, many augmented with details such as before-and-after photos, intro videos and other multimedia labels.
Here’s more info on The Conscious Builder and its project (edited for clarity).
Q: What made you decide to join the tour this year?
A: People have gotten more comfortable doing so many things online. We wanted to support the event and we think it’s an opportunity not only for marketing but for education. We are happy to say we have been getting a lot of questions about renovating/retrofitting for better efficiency, and we thought this was a great opportunity to showcase something a little different than people might be used to seeing. A lot of the value in efficient, high-performance home renos goes inside the walls, so we decided to do a walls-open tour!
Q: Why choose this project for the tour?
A: This house is a beautiful old stone house built in 1860 so there was a ton of work to be done. We love that the owners decided to preserve the heritage while improving the health, comfort and efficiency of this home.
Q: Tell us a bit about this project.
A: The challenge was to make the home more comfortable while maintaining the structural integrity and esthetics of the building. Outside, the eavestrough had been directing water at one wall that was starting to crumble.
The home had a typical damp crawl space with a dirt floor for a basement, where most of the air leakage was coming from. The floor joists were cedar timbers and we had to reframe the entire main floor to make it level to work with the new stairs and landing.
We used a liquid applied air barrier on the interior and added two layers of Rockwool insulation and Intello Plus, a smart vapour barrier.
Q: What should visitors watch out for when they tour the project?
A: With this tour you’ll get to see the walls before the drywall went up! Look for pop-ups with videos of our work in progress, educational materials and before-and-after images.
Q: Tell us a bit about your company.
A: The Conscious Builder is celebrating over 11 years in business! Our mission is to be the leader in healthy, comfortable and efficient building. We bring our Passive House and NetZero Energy knowledge to every one of our renovations and custom homes.
The Conscious Builder team members are constantly educating ourselves and those around us about better building practices. We make sure to give our clients the information they need to make conscious decisions around renovating and building their dream home.
