Regina man takes advantage of winter by building igloo in backyard

In the winter, most people like to hunker down and stay warm — but that’s not how Regina’s Irv Tremblay is wired.

Over the winter, he got the bright idea to construct a nine-foot-tall igloo in his backyard.

Tremblay says he was able to construct the igloo after buying an igloo maker online from the United States.

When it arrived, he started working away.

Irv Tremblay puts snow in the igloo maker he used to construct the structure in his backyard. (Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

“I built it early on when we first got snow. I built a two-foot-round base and then I ordered an igloo maker. I bought this box (the igloo maker) and that makes the blocks,” he explained.

Tremblay’s igloo maker is pretty basic and not complex at all; it’s literally just a plastic box with four sides. Two of the sides help shape the angle of the block and the other two are adjustable in order to make the block the proper shape.

“So I had the base done and then you choose how big of igloo you want. (The igloo maker) figures out the angle and then you change it, adjust the pole, (and keep doing that) until you get to the top.” he said.

Tremblay made the blocks by using fresh snow that had just fallen in his backyard. He shovelled it into the box, packed it down and made the blocks for the igloo.

He said when building an igloo, it’s best to do it when the snow is nice and fresh.

“You can’t have lumps in the snow. It should be like sugar,” he said.

He added that if you don’t have fresh snow, those lumps from the older snow can create cracks and break apart the snow blocks.

Because he used fresh snow, Tremblay said he only broke three blocks throughout the construction process.

In total, the igloo took him 30 hours of work over more than two weeks. Some of the days he noted he was outside for 12-plus hours because he wanted to get it done.

The igloo Irv Tremblay built in his backyard. (Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

While in the construction process, Tremblay said he had to go into the field behind his house and haul snow from there because he had essentially stripped his backyard of any remaining snow.

Once the igloo was constructed, Tremblay made sure he left no stone unturned when it came to the look.

He made sure there were ice windows to allow for sunlight to peek inside, a ventilation pipe in case he wanted to add a heater and enough room to sleep inside.

“It’s really made for four people. I put the windows in for light during the day. If you wanted, you can get a small titanium stove with a chimney and you’d heat it up to plus-12 (Celsius) and it would stay warm all night,” he said. “If there’s four people in here, it will be very comfortable, probably between plus-6 and plus-10.”

While some people would think Tremblay is crazy for sleeping inside the igloo, he said he loves it.

“It’s great because it’s so quiet in here,” he said. “It’s eight inches of snow for insulation and you can’t hear anything. It’s great.”

For the rest of the winter, he says he’ll sleep in it at least once a week until it melts.

Irv Tremblay and his wife Diane outside the igloo Tremblay made in his backyard. (Shane Clausing/980 CJME)

“We like sleeping (outside) overnight in the winter,” he said. “You could be in here if it’s minus-40 outside and you’ll be fine.”

His wife also sleeps inside the igloo. While she didn’t want to comment about her husband’s habits, Tremblay said he didn’t have to convince her as she’s used to him doing crazy things like building super shelters in the woods on his free time.

Tremblay noted the hardest thing about building the igloo was making sure everything was in alignment and making sure he had the right angle.

“If you’re off on your bottom row, your next rows aren’t going to line up and you’re going to have a real challenge,” he said.

Tremblay thinks his igloo will stay standing until April because of the amount of snow and ice on it.

If he were to do it again, he said he would make the igloo seven feet tall in order to save some space and make it a little warmer.