“Come on down and see the house this weekend. We’re having a couple people over to celebrate,” Ernie Porter said in his email.

The Porters turned building a house into a family project, and I wanted to write about it. The building features structural insulated panels (SIPS) that the family of four also crafted by hand. In addition to this just being ambitious, I was interesting in the cost and energy savings of erecting walls with the insulation built in.

When I walked in the door I expected to see a collection of family and neighbours. What I found was a full-scale party with more food than an all-night buffet. I got to meet friends, family and neighbours who lent a hand, and most of the tradespeople who worked on the house.

Read the story on EastCoastLiving.ca