Year 2023 and nine months of construction – completed. Thus, a good time also to do a (not so) short summary in the shape of key milestones of the journey so far, which feels both long and short at the same time. Long, because 9 months is a major chunk of a year, but short, since it’s been four years since we bought the property followed by nearly three years of waiting, but also because once started, construction work has been progressing well without delays. Of course, sometimes the progress is less visible and thus feels slower, but most times – both given the concrete changes at the house and the number of invoices paid, things are moving with a good speed.
The first big milestone was the roof. We chose to build the post and beam frame and roof under a weather cover, as the autumn weather in Finland tends to be quite unreliable. Thinking back, this was the only right (although a relatively expensive) choice, as work continued uninterrupted despite of the nearly continuous rain. Also, the glulam beams would have not reacted well to rain, so it made sense to think about the weather cover as an insurance.
At the removal of the weather cover, Pekka was rather anxious to see how the house would fit its surroundings – as the frame was built undercover, there was no way to get any hints before removal. However, what had looked great on paper also reflected reality. Even if the house still lacks the final exterior layer (thermo-ash from Thermory), it is in a smooth dialogue with the surrounding nature.
Since 90 m2 of the wall surface is glass, the installation of windows was another major milestone. We chose Schüco windows, as we wanted to invest on quality due to demands of rough Finnish weather. There are numerous ways of how window installation could go wrong, and probably between the two of us, all possible scenarios were reflected in our nightmares. But Team Lasiykköset delivered great, and windows were in place just before winter seriously reached Southern Finland. We had also gone back and forth between one big window element or a combination of a small and big elements on the seaside, and finally decided on the latter, as it is more in line with the mid century modern houses that have inspired the design of our home. Seeing the end result, we were really happy with our choice, the small windows on top of the big ones add character.
The next milestone was floor casting. Electricity, telecommunication and floor heating tubes were installed first, followed by the actual casting of slab-on-grade by Bekason. We chose semi-dry cementitious screed due to faster drying time, and thus faster progression to the next phase. At the moment, the floor needs a bit more time to fully dry, before tiling work can begin.
All construction projects have their detours, and ours isn’t an exception. Even if there has not been any big challenges, there is always something which doesn’t land exactly as planned, proves not practical, or a better idea comes along during the process. The key is to stay close to the construction team and spot things as early as possible. It is critical to be present on site and have a constant dialogue with the team, what is happening and when, and how everything connects to everything else. And finally, when something does need to be fixed the mindset, quoting our carpenters, which has worked for us is: let’s renovate (instead of build)!
We have also had the first visitors checking out the house. Friends and family members have been curious to see how things progress, and dropped by for a visit. A major social milestone was a New Years Celebration, when we invited some friends over to welcome 2024 in construction inspired, but relatively warm interiors. With some cleaning, lights and terrace furniture it started to feel a bit like a real home. Quoting Sofi: “It actually feels like we are living here already!”
It has been a journey of many feelings so far, but on top are definitely the excitement of seeing our plans finally turning into reality while the house is taking shape, curiosity to learn all the complexities of house building, and the resilience to keep the “rest” of life flowing forward in a balanced way at the same time. Let’s see what the last third will bring!
Olive Green 