on dudes with tools

building unconventional lives

My favourite words in the building code capture more than a type of structure. They tend to encapsulate who I am and how I’ve lived. Over time here in Canadia, the code has evolved with the hopes of making structures more accessible and efficient. This is a noble goal. Like oh so many noble goals before, it has a shadow.

I’m guessing you’ll figure it out, but I’ma gunna save it till closer to the end. Read on and delight in a story of the evolution of boyish ambition.

My granddad built his own home. He used wood from trees he felled and milled himself. Permits were simple and engineered wood products didn’t exist. My dad? He built our home. He built a few. All were built with dimensional lumber. All included energy efficient additions - like 6mil vapour barrier. Nothing better than a tight, efficient house right?

Well… they hadn’t yet realized that buildings needed to breathe. At least not around here. Air exchangers were not in use or required by the code. The results were not so lov…