Nova Scotia Build

Graham's first-person build series — from land clearing through framing, slab insulation, and the cold-climate decisions made along the way.

This is my own build, documented in real time. I'm building a high-performance, cold-climate home on a piece of land in Nova Scotia — climate zone 6 leaning toward 7, coastal exposure, wet shoulder seasons, and the kind of winter that punishes any envelope shortcut you took in October. I started this site partly to share what I learned during the planning years, and partly to force myself to write things down while I'm doing them.

My design choices reflect what the climate demands: a deep, well-drained slab-on-grade with sub-slab EPS, a double-stud or Larsen truss wall assembly for very high R-values without thermal bridging, a tight air barrier targeting well under 1.0 ACH50, balanced HRV ventilation, and a cold-climate heat pump sized against a real Manual J. I'm doing as much of the work as I reasonably can myself — site clearing, framing, sheathing, air sealing, and finish work — and hiring out the parts where my time, skills, or insurance situation make subcontracting smarter.

If you're new to the series, these are the most useful entry points:

I'm not a licensed builder. I'm an owner-builder who has read more building-science papers than is probably healthy. Everything I publish here is what I'd want to know if I were standing where you are. When I make mistakes — and I have — I write those up too. The Nova Scotia provincial resources are the official starting point for anyone planning to build here.

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Build Update 8: Sheds Nearly Done, Cottages Finally Starting

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