It was a lot of work and was completed by 4:00 pm Pacific.  And the shotcrete core samples were delivered to HP Inspections by 5:15 pm.

Concrete Core Samples from the Shotcrete Test Panel

We completed the shotcrete test panel on Wednesday, March 18 so now we had to deliver the three shotcrete core samples to HP Inspections.  Bryan, under Jorge’s instructions, used a concrete drill to obtain the core samples.

Bill Brown provided a Hilti concrete drill with various coring bits (3 inch, 4 inch and 6 inch).  Drilling into the shotcrete test panel, with several layers of reinforcing steel, required anchoring the concrete drill to the test panel and then drilling slowing into the concrete.

Anchoring the Concrete Drill

We used a 5/8 inch bit to dril a hole into the shotcrete test panel.  This hole had to be 11 to 16 inches away from where the special inspector wanted the core samples taken from.  After drilling the hole, we used a Red Head Trubolt anchor bolt in the hole and then attached the concrete drill to that bolt.

Concrete drill with 3 inch coring bit attached to shotcrete test panel.

Drilling Core Samples

Bryan used the 3 inch bit to obtain a core sample from the first two test locations that were scribed on the shotcrete test panel.  The drilling worked fine until the 3 inch bit went through the #8 reinforcing steel (rebar).  Unless drilled through the center of the rebar, there is very little concrete attached to the rebar and it breaks up.  This condition is exacerbated with a (relatively) small core size.  Thus, the first two 3 inch cores broke up when going through the large rebar locations. (more…)

Given the wet weather and limited on-site work underway, we scheduled a meeting today with our LEED evaluator, Darrel Kelly, so we could understand our Title 24 report.  We engaged Davis Energy Group to certify our house under the LEED for Homes program and they assigned Darrel to our project.  He is with Builder’s Energy Services, Inc.

Our Title 24 Report was prepared by Meline Engineering.  They modeled our house using Energy Pro software (by EnergySoft) and, with that model, evaluated the projected performance of our house.  Based on the model that Meline Engineering developed, our house came in at an amazing 72.9% better than the standard, or baseline, design.  In California, if a house is 60% better than standard then it will receive the maximum points available under the LEED-H program. 

Graph showing how a maximum of 19 points can be earned by exceeding Title 24 by 60%.

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The sun rose at 6:34 am this morning.  It was comforting to see the sunshine so the urgency to check the pump status was diminished slightly.  The days are getting longer and it will be nice to ‘spring ahead’ on Sunday morning.

Arriving at the job site, the pump was working and the water coming down Via Sereno was down to a trickle.  Still flowing, but just a trickle.  The sunshine was nice although there were periodic rain showers as large, dark clouds came in from the Pacific.  Overall, it rained almost a tenth of an inch today (0.08 to be precise).

The water coming down the street has slowed to a trickle.

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Today was our first inspection.  It could have gone better.

We called for the inspection last week and, since the Building Official for the City of Monte Sereno was not available on Friday, we had our inspection this morning at 11:00 am.  We needed to have the reinforcing steel (rebar) inspected, as well as the rough-in of the plumbing and the electrical conduit inspected.

Ready for inspection.

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With the delay on the inspection by the City of Monte Sereno, we worked with Larson Steel and made some changes to the design, and agreed to move forward on this project with Larson Steel.

Larson Steel, Inc. in Gilroy

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Our plan is to pour the foundation slab on Monday, March 2.  This requires having the City of Monte Sereno inspect and approve the progress to date.  Bryan called the City of Monte Sereno to request an inspection for Friday, February 27 and learned that no inspections will be done on that date.  OK, we just slipped by a day and the inspection will be between 10:00 am and noon on Monday, March 2.

Jessica from Duquette Engineering arrived to review the structural steel.  Since she had not been to the project site before, Thien had her look at this construction blog to prepare for her site visit (that rocks!). 

Jessica inspects the reinforcing steel (dimensions, spacing and overlaps).

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