Sommer Brothers Construction

Sommer Brothers Construction Pt. 13 High Performance Building. Net Zero and Passive House. More on Instagram.

Residential and commercial builders serving Goderich and surrounding area

05/25/2026

Traditional OSB sub flooring is notorious for having significant swelling at the panel edges. Thankfully, makes Advantech subfloor, which can withstand some pretty extreme conditions.

On this project, we taped the panel joints to keep as much water out of our crawlspace as possible however, an additional benefit to that was perfect panel joints.

While Advantach subfloor typically holds up extremely well without the joints taped the side benefit of a dry crawlspace is no joint sanding.



05/18/2026

Even when you think you have thought about everything coming and going through an assembly. Sometimes a surprise pops up.

Adding a couple of conduit ports and maintaining water management and airtightness is simple in this ‘perfect’ double wall assembly.



05/12/2026

A splash bed is a simple and aesthetically pleasing way to maintain durability and cleanliness of siding.

Shrubs close to the siding hold moisture and restrict air movement. Grass and mulch tend to allow mud and debris to splash up the wall and not only make it look unsightly but can lead to increased wear and tear.



05/12/2026

Ok, so right after posting about a carbon reduction by eliminating a concrete slab, I’m going to post about using closed cell spray foam…. I know, I know..

Of course our goal is one day build a carbon negative project but sometimes we have to work with what is available and makes sense for a particular assembly.



05/06/2026

CUTTING CARBON- Every building that we construct has some level of carbon impact. There are trade-offs throughout the entire build as material selection is often dictated by budget and product availability.

With that said wherever can we evaluate our material selections based on cost, availability, and environmental impact they represent. Concrete represents one of the biggest carbon impact and whenever possible we try and reduce or eliminate it use.



05/05/2026

SERVICEABILITY | Providing easy access to HVAC equipment leads the likelihood that equipment will be inspected maintained.



04/29/2026

Normally the rim joist is go to location for closed cell spray foam. However in this assembly, it’s a good location to omit closed cell spray foam.

Our floor system is ledgered inside of our foundation wall. This means that we have very limited drying potential to the exterior.

By using vapour open insulation material at the interior of our rim joist, we are able to maintain inward dry potential.



04/27/2026

An underrated feature of a service cavity in a high performance wall assembly is the protection it provides for drywall install.

By protecting an interior air/vapour control membrane from the vicious cutting bit of a drywall cut out tool, no precious tape or membrane is harmed in the process.



An insulation strategy can be developed with a variety of products and systems. On this project we deployed several solu...
04/26/2026

An insulation strategy can be developed with a variety of products and systems. On this project we deployed several solutions depending on location.

Mineral wool across our crawl space floor and exterior half of above grade walls.

Fibreglass in interior half of above grade walls and in attic.

Closed cell spray foam on crawl space walls.



04/21/2026

Conditioned Crawlspace a.k.a. Service Corridor is an excellent alternative to a slab on grade foundation.

By utilizing this conditioned service corridor to run ductwork, a down flow air handler placed in a serviceable location on the main floor, bulkheads are eliminated and future service work can easily be performed for the life of the house.



04/20/2026

Rainscreen Attachment - Nothing complicated about this arrangement. Vertical 1/3 @ 24”oc nailed to gable truss studding @ 24” oc and intermediate verticals fastened to 7/16” Zip sheathing with 1.5” screws.
Horizontal 1x3 nailed with ring shank nails @ 16”oc.

And that’s it…



Address

Goderich, ON
N0M1R0

Telephone

+15194411129

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