In October 2023, we enjoyed a week-long school break from the British International School in Tbilisi, Georgia. Seizing the opportunity, we made plans to travel back to Latvia to advance our DIY project involving a Frame House.
In preparation for our trip, I had already placed orders for OSB (Oriented Strand Board) and hardwood flooring from local suppliers. We had coordinated the delivery, with an agreed-upon date of the evening of October 18. As soon as we landed in Riga, we wasted no time and immediately headed to the construction site to unload the eagerly anticipated wooden boards.
Feeling somewhat weary after the flight from Tbilisi to Riga and a two-hour drive to the construction site.
The nearest DIY store is approximately 30 kilometers away from the construction site, and it required multiple trips solely to transport the rockwool needed for the flooring.
Upon our arrival at the site, two significant issues immediately caught our attention. Firstly, we observed that the house had shifted by approximately 15 centimeters. Secondly, on one side of the house, the roofing was flapping freely in the wind. To address these concerns, we immediately set to work. First things first, we secured a few bolts to stabilize the roof, and then we eagerly embarked on the exciting task of leveling the house back to its proper position.
Though it cost us a valuable few hours, we were determined to address these critical issues, and we succeeded in fixing and securing the house. With that essential task behind us, it was finally time to proceed with the flooring installation.
Our next step involved placing rockwool on top of the OSB. Attaching the OSB beneath the floor proved to be a challenging task, but we persevered and successfully accomplished it.
For insulation, we opted for a 15 cm rockwool layer, equivalent to 2x750mm thickness. Additionally, we encountered a slight setback as we needed to readjust and re-screw supporting beams to align with the rockwool's dimensions, which were 600mm.
Hopefully, the vapor barrier will effectively retain the warmth indoors and prevent moisture from entering.
Due to time constraints, I found myself working late into the evenings, meticulously installing this beautiful pine wood flooring.
It's a beautiful sight to see electricity flowing within the house.
We have exciting plans to create a charming attic-style room for our daughter in this space.
Looks quit awesome.
Cant wait to open a laptop here and trade some stock.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to complete all the planned tasks this time, as we had to return to Tbilisi once the school break ended. In these brief five days in Latvia, we managed to install roughly half of the flooring. I'll consider it a significant achievement nonetheless!
