Studio 1230

Summer 2011

2011-08-25T20:44:00.000-07:00

Built-in Sofa

2011-08-25T20:27:00.000-07:00

Meawhile inside the house, the new sofa was almost done.

Plumbing the system

2010-12-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

Here is the plumbing diagram we will use for the system. We had to make a few minor changes including:
1. Using a temperature differential controller instead of an automatic controller in the floor loop
2. Adding a mixing valve to the domestic hot water supply.
3. Providing some form of 'heat drop' for excess heat that will be generated in the warmer months.
Installation will begin soon.....stay tuned!

Happy New Year! Let the plumbing begin! We started installing the system on New Years Eve. Not for any symbolic reason, I just didn't have anything better to do.......

I mocked everything up and had Solar Services Inc. come by and make sure we were on track. The Radiant Floor Company also provided a lot of feedback on the diagrams (which were revised once more) before we soldered all the pipes. Our original need for a 'heat dump' turned to be unnecessary. This system includes a drain back tank so the heat transfer fluid (water) can drop out of the panels when the system is not in use. The trade off here lies in the need for a larger circulation pump to lift the water every time the system kicks on.

With all that copper in the utility room someone recommended we get a guard dog. This little lady seemed scary enough!

Shower Repairs

2010-06-15T21:44:00.001-07:00

The outside shower is being replaced. We removed all the decking and plumbing to make way for the new shower design....(see our precision drawings below). I spend so much time drawing this stuff on napkins during my lunch break that CADD drawings have been replaced with site sketches on plywood panels. The outside shower is one of the most important items in this renovation and we all look forward to having it back!

The Rear Window

2010-06-15T21:28:00.001-07:00

We finally finished most of the trim on the rear window and the colored panels have been installed. Most of the day was spent cutting small pieces of trim and staining them prior to installation.

Back Porch Ceiling

2010-06-15T21:15:00.000-07:00

Glen came back last weekend to help us with the back porch ceiling. As usual, he did a fantastic job putting it all together. We used the same plywood panels found on the interior ceiling. I spent the night before they arrived pulling the sub base off the ceiling and removing all the bird nests. PETA would have a fit, but I won't tell if you don't!

The Back Deck

2010-06-15T21:00:00.000-07:00

Back outside again to finish the deck. We are using recycled flooring from an old furniture factory. The boards are about 3 1/2" thick and vary in length from 4' to 13' long. This ended up being a lot of work so I hope it works out. I don't know how I would ever price this if I had to do it again! There is something to be said for standardized lumber......

Meanwhile, Pam was hard at work on the brick path that will connect the driveway to the deck. These are the bricks we have been collecting from all over town and most have been used at least once before on the house. We seem to just keep pulling them up and re-using them.

Finishing the Floor

2010-06-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

The interface between the old wood floor and the concrete will be slate tiles. These had to be cut to fit along the line of the old exterior wall.

Staining the Floor

2010-06-15T20:27:00.000-07:00

Once we had our mixture set we applied the stain. We ended up applying the stain in two coats. The first coat set the color and the second coat was used to even out some of the variations. We polished the concrete prior to applying the stain but the porosity of the floor created quite a bit of variation.
After the stain set up we applied the neutralizer. When the surface was ready we applied the sealer and headed for the hills! One thing is for sure... the smell is strong! It was a good night to go visit the grandparents.

The Wall Comes Down!

2010-06-15T19:50:00.000-07:00

The temporary partition in our living room was up for about 6 months. Our little 850 square foot house was reduced to about 450 sf for most of the winter. For the first time we are getting as sense of what the finished house will look and feel like. We had a few friends over to help us remove the remaining studs, share a few drinks and mess up our messy little house..... big day today! Next up on the agenda will be the concrete floors.

The concrete has to be cleaned several times prior to applying the stain. We are using a black (Ebony) colored acid stain that will be diluted to about 25% of its full strength. We started with a small sample area in the corner to determine this mixture.

2010-02-25T20:57:00.000-08:00

Lopi 1250

2010-02-25T20:30:00.000-08:00

Guest Geckos and a fire box

2010-02-25T20:17:00.000-08:00

Powered by Doughnuts

2010-02-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

If if weren't for the doughnuts, we would only be half way there......

Flue

2010-02-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

POURING THE BOX

2010-01-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

We poured the wood stove box this past weekend. It was a long overdue event and a great milestone for the project. Never having attempted anything like this, I was nervous to say the least. I consulted everyone from concrete contractors, suppliers, radiant floor specialists, mechanical engineers, a local solar panel rep. and the code official that will ultimately pass or fail me next month. I learned more than I ever anticipated and was once again reminded of how little I know about so many fundamental things we do as designers.

We cast 2 lines of 3/8" Pex tubing inside the concrete that will distribute water throughout the box. These lines are connected to a larger line set in the radiant floor and will transfer heat from the wood stove to the floor. We want the concrete to absorb heat from the wood stove, but we don't want it to overheat. We will have two thermostats on this part of the system: one on the water as it exits, another on the box itself directly behind the wood stove. These will allow us to monitor the temperature of the water and the concrete. An expansion tank and pressure relief valve will provide relief for the water line. A digital display will provide a readout of the actual concrete temperature.
We rented a mixer to make sure we were consistent and used as little water as possible. To minimize the labor involved, we set up a mini assembly line to get the concrete mixed and in the forms without killing ourselves. I looks a little bit hillbilly, but it sure did make the job easy. Hats off to Monster truck for this one!
It's a pretty narrow form and we worked hard to make sure the piping stayed in place.
We were concerned about the dry mix not penetrating all the reinforcing and piping. We used a 1" dia. vibrator (the smallest we could find) to help us work the mix through. We tried not to over-vibrate the pour but only time will tell.
We drilled a small hole and placed a nail in it to create a cavity for the thermostat.
Later that evening we troweled the edges and covered it up to dry. We plan to leave the forms on for about 10 days. (The concrete will take about 28 days to cure.) This should give us time to complete the framing and bring in the wood stove. As I sit here blogging in my winter coat and stocking cap I dream of firing that thing up!

Ceilings, painted walls and other Winter colors

2009-12-28T20:02:00.000-08:00

It's winter again and the days are short and cold. Most of our work is inside but there is still plenty to be done on the exterior. I finally put the metal cap on the second vent box last week. In the spring we will put the roof vents on these two boxes.
We had a day of nice weather so we clad the back porch ceiling with plywood. This will serve as a sub-base for the wood cladding we have been saving over the years. The original house has a lot of wide plank, heart pine on the walls and floor. We tried to save as much as possible during the demolition phase. If we have enough, we will use this to clad the porch ceiling.

Meanwhile, the walls were being painted inside. The front room is almost finished and should be ready for use by the end of the year. Julie's boyfriend dropped by to have a look....

Ceiling Panels

2009-12-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

With the walls primed, we began staining our ceiling panels. Because of the cold weather we had to stain all 16 panels inside the house. We had panels drying everywhere! We are using 1/2" Sandyply plywood panels that will match the existing ceiling we installed 6 years ago. It's a lot harder to discard a piece of cabinet grade plywood than a sheet of drywall so we spent a lot of time laying out our cuts. Glen came back to give us a hand and the installation went off without a hitch.

Corner beads and Tape seams

2009-12-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

With the drywall in place, Sam and his crew began taping and mudding. I had forgotten how drywall cleans up all the rough corners. After looking at rough framing for the last 8 months, the precision of corner beads and taped seams was a welcome addition to our little project. We haven't turned on our heat pump this season because of the dust and the cold weather was coming fast. Sam and the guys worked straight through Thanksgiving weekend to help us get ready for the upcoming cold spell.

Sam and his guys did a great job of cleaning up some difficult corners where the new house met the old.After a fresh coat of primer (yes, low VOC) we were ready for some paint!

Insulation

2009-11-29T18:01:00.001-08:00

We used a Knauff insulation product called EcoBatt for this phase. It's a fiberglass insulation product but has a brown, rather than pink or yellow color to it. It is formaldehyde free and uses a specially formulated binder material to create the batts. For more details visit http://www.ecobatt.us/eco_batt.html. None of the workers on this page are wearing dust masks but we did. Fiberglass is fiberglass and it stinks to breath in. One thing I have learned about insulation that is worth noting; when you are installing insulation in ceilings, make sure you extend the insulation beyond the plane of the top plate. This can be tricky with cathedral ceilings but top plates conduct a lot of heat energy through the exterior soffits. We made it a point to do this in the new construction, and correct this in the original construction. This meant extending the ventilation baffles further into the soffits as well. Other areas of concern include corners, tees and headers within exterior walls. Corners and tees can be configured to accommodate insulation. These are hot spots of energy transfer in typical residential construction. Headers are another problem. Typically, headers are made with 1/2" plywood sandwiched between two (2x) members. This 1/2 material can be replaced with rigid insulation board to break up the thermal bridge. The plywood doesn't serve any structural purpose and transfers heat energy back and forth through the wall. I missed the header tip on our project but maybe you won't! You can find all these tips on the Earthcraft website.

Drywall continued...

2009-11-29T17:39:00.000-08:00

The loft in the front room is coming along. Our little wood ladder is still around and just may end up becoming a permanent fixture.
Here is my to do list for the evening. The third bullet is one of the most important. For those of you familiar with the EarthCraft program, this is a key item. All the HVAC connections will be sealed with duct mastic. This is one area where the EC inspectors get tough. Although our project would not qualify for this program, we are following many of the guidelines. I will have to complete this before we close everything in with drywall. Unfortunately, they recommend against duct work in between cathedral ceiling joists, but this is our best option for air mixing at the front of the house.

One day we will actually use this front door!

Help from Bill and Don

2009-11-29T17:27:00.001-08:00

We began installing drywall in early November and had help from Bill and Don. It was exciting to see the rooms take shape. Let's hope we didn't forget any wires or pipes!

You gotta love that Roto-Zip!
Winter has begun to reach its cool fingers into our little construction project again. Memories of last fall's rain storms still haunt us all! We are all working like crazy to get our little house warm.
There will be many long nights ahead....

Chinese Drywall?

2009-11-12T12:06:00.000-08:00

Let's hope not. We began installing drywall last weekend and made good progress with the help of Don, Bill and Chad. We will have more shots soon!

THE WOOD STOVE BOX

2009-11-08T19:52:00.000-08:00

We began working on the concrete wood stove box last month. We built the formwork out of 3/4" plywood, welded wire mesh and reinforcing ties made from threaded rods. Within this box we ran 3/8" pex tubes that connect to the backup heating loop in the concrete floor. This loop is separate from the primary heating loop driven by the solar hot water panels. It will serve as a back up heating source at night or on cloudy days.
When complete, this will be a 3 1/2" thick, 3 sided concrete box that will transfer heat from the wood stove into the circulating water and down to the concrete floor. We hope to pour the box in the next few weeks. More details on this to follow....

2009-11-08T19:39:00.000-08:00

We reworked some of the HVAC ductwork to fit the new room layouts. This return vent was relocated to the West wall of the bedroom overlooking the loft space. We have it sealed up right now while we work on some of the drywall. I have been applying duct mastic to all the joints to prevent any air leakage in the future. We are doing this to the existing registers as well. This is not a code requirement but it will help reduce the amount of air leakage in an around the supply registers throughout the house.
We increased the size of the opening in the original loft to have more free air movement throughout the house. The whole house exhaust vent on this side of the house is located above my head in this photo. With the new opening, we will be able to exhaust the original loft through this space.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2009-11-08T19:34:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween everyone! We have been working hard over the last month and have lot of photos to show. There are still some gaps in our envelope so spiders and birds have been joining us inside our house. This guy was a little large for the unsealed window gaps so he hung out on the front porch for a week or so.

REMOVING THE DECK

2009-09-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

While we cleaned up the front, Dad was getting things ready to demo the deck back on the East side. Without any type of cover, the deck took a beating from the sun and rain. We got 7 years out of a 5/4" treated pine deck but it now needs replacing. We decided to keep the structure and find a new decking material that would last a little longer.
We have looked into several options and now realize that the southeast U.S. has an abundance of trees but none of them are appropriate for exterior decking without the aid of modern chemistry. The West coast has Redwood, South America has Ipe and Garapa and Australia has Ironwood and Eucalyptus. (BTW, if you have never seen Garapa take a look, the stuff is beautiful!) I recently came across a product call Timbersil. It's made from SYP infused with glass to create a durable, non-toxic and non-corrosive material that is guaranteed to last 40 years. We will continue to look into this so stay tuned.

2009-09-17T20:40:00.000-07:00

Steve decided to skip a beautiful day at his new beach home and join us for a little manual labor.
He and my dad are getting ready to open up the last wall that separates the old house from the new. As you can see all the wiring is being saved so some of this work was more like surgery than demolition.
The front room is opening up...

2009-09-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

Meanwhile, on the West side of the house the interior walls were all coming down. The picture above is from the new entry looking back into the existing house. The one below is looking into the new space. We had some last minute design changes after we removed all the walls and spent that evening redesigning interiors in this area.

The exterior sheathing on the original house was tongue and groove southern yellow pine. We salvaged most of this for the ceiling area back on the East side.

EAST SIDE continued..

2009-09-17T20:14:00.000-07:00

Not only is demolition dangerous, it's messy. Everyone worked hard this weekend and we all began to see the new house take shape.
With the East wall removed we can now begin to see our new space. I can't wait to get those colored panels for glass wall above.

THE ENVELOPE IS COMPLETE

2009-09-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

We finished glazing in the corner window above the deck. The mullions and framing were cut from stock Douglas fir boards. Most of the glass was taken from left over samples that I have been collecting over the past few years at work. We have ordered colored recycled resin panels from Lightblocks that will eventually replace 6 of the glass panels shown here. These include blue, green and red panels and should be here in a month or so. We have been saving the exterior planks from the original house and will use these to clad the ceiling over the porch.
We began removing the south east corner of the house, including the window box I built 5 years ago. It turns out that the angle I chose for the roof here was off and we hope to correct this in the new renovation. The house is actually 18-20 degrees off of true south so this window was letting in more light during the spring and fall then we anticipated.
A temporary wall was built inside the house to separate the living space from the demo area. Our small house is a lot smaller now but it's livable. It's like living inside an art installation with really good light quality.

INTERIOR DEMOLITION BEGINS

2009-09-12T20:12:00.001-07:00

We had a lot of help today and completed the interior demolition. Tomorrow we begin framing the new walls. I'll post more pictures soon.

Stay tuned!

Kids, don't do this at home....

2009-08-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

In preparation for the demolition this weekend we cut out the drywall around the switches and outlets so we knew which way the wires were going. I didn't have the generator yet so you will have use your imagination to figure how we did all this safely......
More work on the East side of the house. Today we framed up the beams that will support the awning over the East window. We also set the water table band around the back door. Soon we will complete the siding on this side and complete the window wall in the upper East corner. More pics to come!

TAKING SHAPE

2009-08-06T20:41:00.000-07:00

This weekend we will try to complete the siding on the East elevation. Once we finish the shell we will begin demolition on the interior so we get things ready for winter. We are working on the interior detailing and hope to have the heating systems up and running before old man winter sets in.

EAST WINDOW INSTALLATION

2009-08-04T20:45:00.000-07:00

The last window to be installed will be the high corner window on the east elevation. The window will be a collection of random insulated glazing units we have been collecting over the last year or so.

SIDING CONTINUED....

2009-08-04T20:39:00.000-07:00

Bill's Swamp bridge

2009-07-19T18:51:00.000-07:00

My dad took some time off from my house and built a bridge over a small water course in his back yard. It's going to be a whole lot easier to get a wheel barrow to and from the wood pile! The following are some pictures he sent over.

SIDING THE FRONT

2009-06-21T20:20:00.000-07:00

The awning over the front window will provide shade during summer afternoons. We have placed it 'around' the top of the window (rather than simply 'on top' of the window) to have more window coverage and allow us to leave the upper windows open during rain storms. We still have a few modifications to perform but this is close. We have also planted a small Japanese Pine in the NW corner and a butterfly bush near the steps. Lately we have seen some butterfly bushes in the area that are huge so this will probably have to move.

I also placed the metal cap on the West vent box. All I need to do on this one is install the vent pipe. When we side the rear of the house I will cap off the East vent box.

We finished installing the cement siding and began painting it. We also began plastering over the cement board on the the eaves and soffits. We used a Portland cement mixture with white pigment and fiberglass strands for this. I will never make a living as a plaster worker but I am doing ok so far. Pam is doing most of the painting and it is coming along great. We are using 2 shades of green on the exterior; one (lighter) for the siding and one (darker) for the window trim. The plaster will remain white for now.

Siding

2009-05-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

We started the siding this weekend. Glen and the gang came back to help us and pointed out a few things I messed up while they were gone. I spent all Saturday evening tearing out and adjusting 2 of our little square windows because they were not working with the siding alignment. Glen had and interesting point; he said that with siding you should be more concerned with the appearance of straight lines than straight lines themselves, especially when with working with an old house. As you can see this window was not where it should have been and had to be moved.

I know it bugged the guys to have to install second hand cement siding. The boards were dirty and many of them had been chipped. I had to keep telling them that it was going to look great when we were done. With a little soapy water and some elbow grease these boards will be ready to paint in no time.

2009-05-03T20:39:00.000-07:00

We have decided on the Green Guard DC-14 product for our rain screen. After looking at several products that seemed appropriate we went with this one for two reasons: 1 - it was highly recommended by a builder in this area and 2 -I thought it would go up faster than a batten system. I've been hearing stories of horizontal lap siding not holding up as long as expected and paint that should have lasted for 10 years only lasting 2 or 3. Most of the finger pointing has been directed to poorly ventilated walls. The same way a shingle deteriorates faster on an unvented roof, paint can be "baked off" siding that is not able to breath.

This product actually has drain/vent channels on both sides of the panel to promote air flow.

Soffits

2009-05-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

If you decide to put your soffit vents in like this, make sure you place a 1/8" wide by 1/4" deep channel (typical saw blade set at 1/4" depth) along the inside face of the facia board. The lip of the aluminum vent slides into this groove and supports its outside edge. The inside edge gets face nailed and covered with cement board. Also, we ran the soffit vent continuous because the bottom half is partially blocked by the 2x4 sub fascia.

Little Ductlings

2009-05-03T20:06:00.000-07:00

We have two exhaust ducts coming out of the soffit on the north side of the house. One is for the bathroom and one for the kitchen. For our renovation I have designed the eaves to be thin (3.5") and didn't think about how to make a 3" duct turn 90 degrees in a 3.5" cavity. I spent a good deal of time looking on the web for soffit vents that would work and found nothing. I also spent a lot of time in the hardware store trying to put something together from off the shelf pieces. I ended up taking standard galvanized steel duct and fabricating these two 90 degree elbows. With my snips, a rivet gun and some foil metal duct tape I came up with these two. When I was done (and it took a while to make these) I thought to myself that someone who knows a lot more than me must have done this before. A product must be out there because not everyone wants to see those exhaust hoods on the side of there house.

BEES

2009-05-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Lots of bees!

When I heard that we had bees in the back yard I was not expecting this. Several thousand honey bees had gathered on a branch in our pear tree. Massed together they were the size of two basketballs. At first we thought there was a hive but it turned out to be all bees. We called our neighbors Walter and Rachael because we had seen them working with bees before. They came over to have a look and decided that one of their queen bees had returned. They set to work right away gathering the bees and relocating them to their bee boxes.

Walter would place a box on top of the ladder and brush the bees into it. He was trying to catch the queen bee. If the queen bee went into the box, the others would follow. The bees were full with honey so they were not aggressive. It was daytime and many of the bees were still out gathering pollen. That night we returned to have a look and another large group was back in the tree. They seemed pretty quiet after a hard day of pollen gathering. According to Rachael and Walter, these bees would soon find their way to the bee boxes where the queen was.

We ended up learning a lot about bees and their place in our food chain. They play a huge role in the distribution of pollen and as Walter put it, "Everything you eat that comes from the ground depends on pollination in some way."

Above is a typical apiary where these bees will be kept. Below is a photo of a typical honeycomb you might find inside the boxes.

DRIVEWAY

2009-04-11T20:25:00.001-07:00

Operable windows 101

2009-04-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Next to the front door we are building a sidelight with a fixed upper unit and an operable lower unit. I was not sure how to glaze in this unit until Todd over at Walker and Laberge showed me this gasket material. It's basically a rubber boot for the glazing unit that seals it to the frame. (In our case a Douglas Fir wood frame.) We are using a standard piano hinge that will hold the frame about 1/8" off the outer frame. This will give us just enough room for a weather seal all the way around the unit.

We held the gasket to the glazing unit with tape until the frame was on. Afterwards, we cut the tape out with a razor knife.

After the door and sidelight frame was in we built the return wall on the right side of the porch. The return is about 14" deep and will eventually have a bench in it. This is where we will leave our dirty boots when we no longer live in a construction site. The sidelight will be finished later once we figure out what type of latch to use on the operable unit.

TRIMMING QUARTER ROUND.....

2009-04-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

In order to increase the energy efficiency of our salvaged wood door we replaced all the single pane glass panels with 1/2" insulated glazing units. When you do this you have to take 3/8" off the trim pieces that hold the glass in. This wouldn't have been a problem if I had the New Yankee Workshop in my back yard.......but I don't. On my table saw there is a 1/2" gap around the blade that grabs little quarter round pieces, chops them up and shoots them out in a million pieces. So we made another jig with some 3/4" plywood. The bottom layer provides a base with a narrow blade opening, the long strip beside the blade serves as a fence and the little square (with 2 black screws) holds the cut piece down so it doesn't fly back and hit me.

Here are the finished pieces ready to be installed on the door. We had the glazing units sandblasted at Sandblasting Experts over near Norfolk. Apparently they can sandblast anything into a piece of glass. I have lots of ideas now for future projects!!!

The glazing units were set in a bead of glazer's putty before we installed the trim. This will keep the glass from moving around as well as seal up any air leaks. The two wood panels at the bottom of the door were held in place in a similar fashion. Foam insulation has been sandwiched in between the panels to reduce energy loss.

Before we could build the door frame and hang it we had to square off the top and bottom. This old door must have been scraped along a floor for years! The hinge side (at the bottom) was about 5/8" longer than the door knob side.

PANELS ARE IN!

2009-03-24T22:19:00.000-07:00

We installed 4 panels last weekend with help from my dad, brother, some friends at work and a technician from Solar Services Inc. The panels are 4'-0" wide x 8'-0" long. Because of the way water moves through the panels and the size of our roof, we chose to orient them vertically. One thing we tried to avoid was a lot of exposed plumbing. The panels are AE-32 model solar hot water panels. (http://www.aetsolar.com/literature/AE_Collector_Brochure.pdf) Our current hot water demands require about 2.5 collectors but we installed 4 because of the radiant floor system that we mentioned in an earlier post. Our goal is to: 1. get all our domestic hot water from solar and 2. Use the extra hot water that is generated to heat the concrete slab in the addition. We want to use the system as actively as possible.

The panels are constructed from copper fin plates (absorbers) connected to small copper tubes. The heat from the fin plates is transferred to the tubes and ultimately the liquid inside. (In our case domestic water) In the photo above you can see the tubes running vertically up the panel. The photo below shows a detail of a fin plate. I was surprised at how little water is actually inside the panel.

The first step was to get them on the roof. My brother PJ and Carmine, a friend from work helped us lift them into place. The specifications say this panel is supposed to weigh 113 lbs but the awkwardness factor made it seem heavier.

The first panel was aligned and anchored to a roof rafter below.
The remaining panels are anchored to adjoining rafters and connected to each other via 1" copper couplings. You can also see the top portion of the anchorage clip (on the left panel) that holds the panel to the roof. These clips fit into an extrusion profile on the panel and get lag bolted to the roof. Because of the metal roof profile we had to use rafters that occurred within the 'lows' (or flat spots) of our roof. This is why shingle roofs are much easier to work with.

We had plenty of advice from the ground crew. For a while we had a large hump between the 2nd and 3rd panels; they were quick to point this out! Carmine works on the hot water return line. The piping will come out of the top right corner of the panel array and into the roof soffit. Eventually it will enter the house and return to the utility room where the tank and pumps will be located.

Cold water in (bottom left) and hot water out (top right).

Thomas was fine tuning the panels and soldering them all together.

Thomas had more patience than we could have asked for today. Not only did he have to work with the homeowner, the homeowner is an architect who asks a lot of questions...... a lot of questions! The panels are in!!!

Panel no.1

2009-03-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

PICKING UP THE SOLAR PANELS!

2009-03-19T19:16:00.000-07:00

We plan to install the solar hot water panels this weekend and have to pick them up from the shop today. I have a short meeting with the owner to work out some last minute details before loading up Monster Truck.
The panels are 4' x 8' and weigh about 113 lbs ea. The model number is AET-ae-32 and made by a company called Alternate Energy Technologies, LLC. In addition to the tax credits I received with these panels, I was told that I will be able to sell alternative energy credits. Once I understand the details I will post my findings on this site. If this is true I may be able to reduce my payback period by several years.

WINDOW TRIM

2009-03-19T18:42:00.001-07:00

With nicer weather on tap for the weekend, we set up shop outside to build window frames. After several variations we finally ended up with a suitable frame that worked with all the windows;1" x 2" on edge, mitered corners with a sill that's 1/2 " deeper and set on a 5 degree slope. We were able to use standard brick molding, however we turned it on edge so the 1" dimension was facing out. After the frames were together we caulked the screw heads and put a coat of paint on.

This picture reminds me that I have to put those last 5 screws in the roof! Wires need to go too.

South side of house along driveway.

High of 28, Low of 19

2009-03-03T20:41:00.000-08:00

It is cold in my house this week, real cold.........I feel like Clark Grizwald stuck in the attic except I am blogging instead of watching reel to reels.

JIGS

2009-03-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

More rain this week so we are working inside building window frames. This is a simple jig that allows us to make these frames fast. Jigs are great because they represent the ideas involved in the process of making objects and not just the object itself. There are entire books on the subject of jigs and many craftsman are equally as proud of their jigs as they are of their products.

Miles of Seamless Gutters

2009-03-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

That's the name of the company and they are not kidding! This machine is from Australia and can extrude a 6 1/2", half round gutter......well forever if you had the room and the material. They just pull up their truck, hit the power switch and squirt out a big gutter.

Awesome!!!!!!

The soffit beam

2009-03-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Because of the loft area on the south side of this room we were not able to use our standard collar ties to resist the roof thrust. Instead we have created a 'beam' that is turned on its side to resist the lateral forces of the roof. This 'beam' is fixed at both ends and tied back to each rafter to form a truss of sorts that will keep the exterior wall to the north from deforming. We located the beam in line with an existing soffit from the house. When we are done it should look like a continuation of this existing soffit. (It should......famous last words!)

The electrical raceway

2009-03-03T19:34:00.000-08:00

We had rain over the last few days so we framed around our the electrical wires located in the front of the house. You might remember these wires from the demo pictures (seems like so long ago!). They run out to the breaker box located in the closet on the front wall.

Front porch pavers installed

2009-03-03T19:18:00.000-08:00

Last weekend David and his dad installed the brick pavers on the front porch. We are expecting cold weather over the next few days and will have to insulate the mortar. We are leaving a small gap around the perimeter to be filled with a silicon caulk. Finishing the porch is a great benchmark for our project. This is one of the first 'finished' products in the project. It is starting to look like a house again.

Collar Ties

2009-03-03T19:08:00.000-08:00

We installed the collar tie in the back of the house. This collar tie will span between rafters on the inside and outside of the house. The photo below shows the tie penetrating through the rough framing of the exterior wall. We originally designed this connection to occur within the cavity of the roof vent flue. Now this will be exposed with glass above and below. I am interested to see how it reacts to extreme temperature differentials during the summer and winter months.

Flashing for the pavers

2009-03-03T18:39:00.000-08:00

We installed flashing the other night in preparation for the brick pavers. The precast concrete caps have been mortared into place. Some spalling occurred on the 3/4" chamfer so we will have smooth it out with the grinder later.

Pavers!

#57 Granite

We have gravel down in most of the driveway so I don't have to wear my boots to the car every morning. The graded lawn and gravel driveway are giving hints of a finished product. (Is that grass in the corner...)

The Front Porch Slab

2009-02-10T21:04:00.000-08:00

Pouring the front porch

2009-02-10T20:48:00.000-08:00

Tonight's low will be 45 degrees......we can pour concrete all night! We have the brick pavers for the porch and rented a concrete mixer. I didn't realize there was a difference between a concrete mixer and a cement mixer. A cement mixer (generally used for mixing mortar) cannot handle the large aggregate stone you would find in a concrete mix. The aggregate would damage the mixing screen that creates the buttery consistency that a brick mason needs. A concrete mixer (like the ones you see driving around on the highway) is basically a hollow can with fins and can handle the large aggregate that you would find in a concrete mix.

Tonight after work we poured the paver base for the front porch. Can't wait to set the door!

THE FRONT PORCH

2009-02-10T20:31:00.000-08:00

The brick steps are coming along. The precast pieces are in place and the sub-slab below the pavers is going in this week.

IF I HAD A DOLLAR

2009-02-10T20:27:00.001-08:00

for every time I screwed up a rough opening I would have enough to hire someone who knew what they were doing. I am ashamed to say I used to do this for a living. This is my third RO I have messed up and this is not a rocket science. 3/4" for the jambs and 3/4" for the head and sill.

2009-02-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

The front door is shaping up. The first stain wasn't red enough so we are adding a coat of Sedona Red to help it along. The two bottom panels are cut out and waiting for stain. We glued a layer of 1/8" insulation to the back side of each bottom panel. This should help insulate the panel area and prevent cracking in the winter. The new glazing pieces should be in soon and we hope to frame and hang the door in the next two weeks.

The exterior wood door we have right now dries up and cracks every winter. This year there are 3 cracks in the door panels that are large enough to see light through. I think it has an R-value of -5. In the summer the heat blisters the door until most of the finish peels off. I think we have refinished it 3 times in the 5 years that it has been up. Word of advice:

If you want an exterior wood door then protect it from the sun and the rain.

When you salvage windows you have to be prepared for a few things:

1. There is a good chance that there is problem with the window, even if you haven't found one yet. Ours had trim nails that poked through the aluminum cladding. We didn't see this when we bought them because they were not very clean.....which leads us to our next point.

2. If there is a problem, the owner (and probably the contractor who was supposed to install them) won't care what happens to them as long as they get replaced. This particular window was removed from the job site and stored in an aviary for pigeons with gastro-intestinal disorders. We have Pella windows in the existing house and have been happy with them. As we mentioned before, do your homework on the performance characteristics, be a little open minded with the sizes and give yourself a little time. Windows are pretty easy to come by, especially double hungs.

PRECAST AND COLLAR TIES

2009-02-07T21:15:00.000-08:00

The brick piers at the front porch will be finished with precast concrete caps. The forms are simple wood boxes with hardboard liners, 1/2" wire mesh and #4 rebar for reinforcing. The weather is warm enough to pour right now and the masons will need these in place to complete their work. A friend from work spent the day helping us with the forms and placing the concrete. We hope to have them both ready by next weekend. (Kevin, please note the water to mix ratio.)

We have insulation in the forms to take up space and reduce the weight. It turned out that the mix was not fluid enough to fill in the gaps so we removed the insulation and installed it after the forms were filled.

The collar ties were made from steel pipes and angles I recycled from a local scrap yard. The pipes are welded to angles cut at an 8 pitch to fit into our roof rafters. These will match the collar ties used in the first phase.

Houston, we have a problem...

2009-02-07T21:06:00.000-08:00

Over the past week we re-located several casement windows along the South side of the house. Getting the windows where we wanted them involved minor surgery on the existing house. As Murphy's Law would have it, where there is a window there is a wire......or 5. The temperature on this day was about 24 degrees (high) so getting the windows in took precedence over re-routing all of our existing wiring.

GRADING

2009-02-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

We had a break in the wet weather long enough for Premier Earthshaping Inc. to regrade the West and South sides of the house. The lawn has never drained properly and we are finally trying to correct this. Winter is not the ideal time to uproot your entire lawn but we were running out of options.

They did a great job and we look forward to spring when we can have our lawn back. In the mean time we sprinkled rye seed down to get us through the next few months. The gravel for the driveway will be here on Monday.

Winter is here!

2009-02-07T20:29:00.000-08:00

We had our first big wind storm of the season the other night. Late in the evening we heard a loud banging noise coming from the shed and saw that one of the roofing panels had come loose. We watched it whip back and forth, smashing into the adjacent panels before flying off into the yard. The panel that broke free was directly above several boxes of materials that were waiting to be installed so we had to replace it before the rain set in. After wrestling it back into place we nailed down several others and secured everything else in the yard.

The temperature was dropping and tomorrow was going to be cold......

When the temperature drops.......It's Top Ramen!!! (I seem to remember living off this stuff a few years ago.)

Front door prep

2009-01-12T21:24:00.001-08:00

For our front door we are recycling an old wood door we found downtown. The paint has been stripped and we are now removing the existing (single pane) glass pieces. These will be replaced with insulated glazing units similar to what you would find in a typical residential window. Tomorrow we are meeting with a door manufacturer to see if we can have the 2 panels at the bottom replaced with insulated panels.

2009-01-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

December - our neighbors (father and son) are brick masons and are in the middle of working on our front porch and skirt. It is exciting to see final materials starting to go on. Rain poured down on us once again this week making it hard to get to the back door - yuck! We met with a landscaper today to get pricing for new topsoil and grading.

The Roof arrives....

2008-12-30T20:56:00.000-08:00

From mid December until Christmas we installed a metal roof. It was a lot of work as this is our first metal roof installation. Funny, we haven't had any rain lately. There is still a lot of flashing and gasket installation that needs to take place but we are close. Our goal was to have the house dried in by the new year but it looks like early to mid January will be the date. Soon after this we will install the solar hot water panels. The masons have begun placing the brick skirt around the West and South side of the house.

Windows and siding are coming up. We have been collecting the windows from recycle yards and Craig's list and have most of what we need. There are a few pieces on the East and North elevations that will be custom made with glazing units from a local supplier. We are also waiting for the roof vents to arrive. These will be located on top of the roof at the East and West ends.

Framing cont.

2008-12-30T20:17:00.000-08:00

Framing

2008-12-30T19:55:00.000-08:00

Clear skies ahead

2008-12-30T19:49:00.000-08:00

In early November we were able to start framing. We had some great carpentry help from DBG and Seaside Homes and things are finally taking shape.

You guessed it, more rain.......

2008-12-30T19:35:00.001-08:00

Late September......

Bring on the tarps again! More rain in the forecast and we have insulation under the front floor that can't get wet. This is image is quickly becoming the norm around the construction site. We are trapped between a Christo and Jeanne-Claude exhibit and a perpetual fumigation project. And did I mention the mud!

A cold corner post...

2008-12-30T19:20:00.000-08:00

We have some help coming this weekend to begin framing but we need to pour one more footing for the corner post that will support the roof in the back. The footing will need to set up for a couple of days before we set the post and the weather man is calling for cold weather all week. We cut out the deck and demo'ed part of the brick walk to make way for the form work. I don't want to pour the concrete when the temp is falling so we prepared everything at night and poured early in the morning. We heated the water on the stove, mixed the concrete and immediately covered everything with insulation and clear plastic. We are supposed to have sunshine for two days so I am hoping for a little green-house effect here!

The Slab..

2008-12-30T19:05:00.000-08:00

Radiant piping installation

2008-12-30T18:39:00.000-08:00

After finishing the floor framing up front we began installing the radiant floor system in the back. We backfilled the foundation first. The layers above the compacted back fill include a vapor barrier, 2 " of rigid insulation, wire mesh and #4 rebar. We are placing the pex piping within the concrete slab instead of below it to control the thermal lag time in the concrete. We will not be able to hold heat in the slab as long, but we should be able to control the temperature fluctuations in our region this way. We are also using regular strength concrete (as opposed to lightweight concrete) because of its conduction properties. If our calculations are correct, we should be able to prevent any overheating in the late winter months. The four line of pex in the front of the picture are for two future loops that will heat the floor in phase 3 . The white piping will be connected to the wood stove and will provide back up heat during times of low sunshine.

Water.....again

2008-12-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

Wouldn't you know it. Several days of straight rain! We continued to demo the front of the house to make room for the floor framing. The wall with the electrical panel has been braced up and will have to float over the new floor for a while until we are dried in. At the beginning of the project we had a disconnect box installed to control the power when necessary. For now we have brought the tarps back and built tents over the front and back of the house.

The foundation goes up

2008-12-30T18:00:00.000-08:00

Mid September....

The foundation is underway. The front of the house will have a traditional crawl space to match the existing house. The electrical panel is located inside the portion of the house that is being demolished. This will require some strategic demolition on our part so we can maintain power in the house during construction. The back will have an elevated concrete slab that will eventually have radiant heating pipes. In order to maintain ventilation under the existing crawl space we have located several pvc pipes under the concrete slab that connect to foundation vents at the perimeter. We drilled several test holes through the existing wall to make sure the new concrete floor lines up with the existing wood floor. Keep your fingers crossed.....

2008-12-27T22:02:00.000-08:00

Early September -08

The footing is in! I was up until 2:00am finishing the forms and tying rebar trying to beat another storm that was moving in. We called in the inspection that night and DBG was able to get a concrete truck to the house by that afternoon. That night the rains returned and filled the trench back up . We now have a water cured, high strength concrete footing! (Note the tarp standing by.....)

Water.....again

2008-12-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

August -08
As we prepared the footing for a concrete pour a tropical storm moved through the area. In an attempt to keep the water out of our footing trench we put tarps around three sides of the house. Much to our dismay the water got in and although our house looks like a spaceship here, it looked like castle (complete with moat) the day after the storm. Needless to say it was a long night.

2008-12-27T21:36:00.000-08:00

We received our permit and began digging the footing in late summer.

Phase 2

2008-12-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

Phase two is finally underway!

This phase will include a new front porch, eight more feet of bedroom space and some additional living room space. These study models show a few early options.

End of Phase One

2008-12-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

A brief history.....

2008-12-27T20:46:00.000-08:00

These windows were all recycled from a local building recycle yard. If you do some research on performance characteristics and don't mind a little variety you can get some quality windows for a fraction of the cost of new ones. (And this was before we had Craig's list!) Now, with a little persistence you can find almost anything you need. The south wall has larger windows while the East and West walls are made up of small windows like these. We still get more heat gain from the East than we anticipated. We hope to correct this in phase 2.

2008-12-27T20:38:00.000-08:00

We used particle board with oak trim for the stairs. We liked the particle board so much we cased some of the windows with it. It's hard to deal with the edges but when a stain is applied it looks great! The kitchen cabinets were plywood, garage type cabinets that we reconfigured to hold a sink basin.

2008-12-27T20:27:00.000-08:00

A brief history continued.....

With all the infrastructure issues resolved we were able to frame the interior. The two core walls shown here house all the plumbing and mechanical systems as well as the stove, refrigerator, washer/dryer, a desk and storage. We fabricated the collar ties from recycled steel bars from a local junkyard.

2008-12-27T19:25:00.000-08:00

The city inspectors and the Health Department got involved. Apparently the previous owners had tried to re-route some of the drain lines to the back yard. The outflow pipes in the septic tank and grease trap were broken and would not drain properly. Luckily, all this happened with rain water and we were able to correct the situation before installing the new plumbing lines. We have set up our plumbing system so that in the future we can separate some of our grey water and reduce the burden on the septic system. This has to be coordinated with the Health Department and will be discussed in detail later.

WATER !!!

2008-12-27T19:02:00.000-08:00

After the first significant rain storm we had a mess! The crawl space was flooding and some of the water seemed to be coming from the existing drain pipe. We had no idea what was going but water was pooling in two locations on the north side of the house by the septic tank.

Saving the flooring...

2008-12-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

Once the roof was in place we started removing the flooring in the new 'core' area of the house. This 'core' would include the wet areas, vertical circulation and would be finished with slate tiles. The remaining pine floors were kept in tact and replaced as needed with the our salvaged boards. This turned out to be a lot of work but was well worth it in the end. While the floor was open we added insulation, 60 mil poly and cleaned up the crawl space. We were almost ready to start framing!

2008-12-27T17:55:00.000-08:00

A brief history continued.....

The roof was sagging and curved along the ridge line. We had to jack up the ridge and pull the walls into plumb with a system of cable come-a-longs and wood braces. We were able to get most of the sag out and some of the curve. The new ceiling would be a cathedral and current energy codes required R-30 insulation. Once the roof was straightened we had to extend the rafters down to accommodate the required insulation and air space. Our budget would not allow us to have a metal roof in this phase so we had asphalt shingles installed. This was one of the few things we contracted out and it was worth every penny. It took the workers 1-1/2 days to remove the existing roof and install the new roof. (The cost at the time was about $1.15 per sf installed.) This would have taken us at least 2 weeks as we were only working at night and on the weekends.

2008-12-27T17:03:00.000-08:00

A brief history continued....

After cleaning out the interior we began removing and rebuilding the damaged areas. The existing bathroom was rotten. The floor joists had been destroyed by water and were now infested with termites. The girder and rim joist along the exterior wall also need replacing. We stabilized the exterior wall and replaced everything. This same scenario occurred in the back of the house where the hot water heater was kept.

2008-12-27T15:47:00.000-08:00

Happy Holiday's to all.

The following is a brief history of the project which started several years ago.

At the time of closing the house was inhabitable and needed quite a bit of work. We found significant damage from water,termites and what appeared to be smoke/fire damage in some of the roof framing members. A quick check with a level showed some of the walls out of plumb but the floor was relatively level. A structural engineer surveyed the house and indicated that the foundation was solid would support the work we were proposing. We had little information on the septic tank but it appeared to be working based on a survey of the drain field. We closed on the house with an additional construction loan and set to work. All the infrastructure in the house would have to be replaced.

2008-11-27T08:54:00.001-08:00

This blog site was set up to profile the renovation process of a small residence. This blog will be updated regularly as the project progresses. Stay tuned!