We took a few minutes to walk around the project site (interior and roof), taking pictures that document our progress to date. 

Having these photos available will help us to focus our efforts on continuing to refine our comprehensive PERT chart.

View of Foyer, from front door, going across the bridge to the Living Room and swimming pool.

View of Foyer and front door opening, from bridge. Note Master Study on the right.

View of Master Suite from gable roof.

View of Master Bedroom with emergency egress window on right. Note the existing 2x4 West wall was increased to a 2x6 wall.

View of Master Closet (right) and Master Vanity (left). The door height will be framed to 86 inches from finished floor (equal to the bottom of the beams).

View of Master Bath. Skylights will be larger to allow more light into the bathrooms. Pony wall by Shower will be reduced in size and replaced with glass wall. Freestanding soaking tub to go under window at left.

West side of lower flat roof. Skylights will be larger and require insulated curbs.

West end of North Gable roof. Fascia needs to be constructed over the end of the SIP roof.

Mid-level flat roof over Living Room at North side of house.

View into Dining Room and Kitchen from North side of East Gable.

East side of East Gable. The gable roof must be extended to the Lower Roof deck and fireblocked every 10 feet.

East Gable, from South East corner of Lower Flat roof over Garage.

West side of East Gable, looking North.

North side of South Gable, looking West.

South Gable, looking East. Note the bottom of the SIP roof must be extended to the Lower Flat Roof deck and fireblocked every 10 feet.

Upper Flat Roof, looking North from South West corner.

Upper Flat Roof, looking North East from South West corner.

Upper Flat Roof, looking East from South West corner.

It was Los Gatos Little League Day today and we were there with Nik and Kate for the opening ceremonies (Nik is playing AAA on the Red Sox and Kate is playing Machine Pitch with the Orioles). 

After the ceremonies, Jo-Anne walked with Nik and Kate a few blocks to Starbucks to burn some energy and get some coffee.  Our neighbor, Kel Marchbank, was there and said, ‘Saw you guys in the San Jose Mercury News today.’

Way, way cool …

San Jose Mercury News, April 4, 2010

How Eichler’s ‘California Modern’ is going green
By Judy Peterson
Bay Area News Group

When real estate developer Joseph Eichler started building homes in Northern California in 1950, he targeted middle-class home buyers who appreciated the houses’ light and airy architecture that eventually became known as California Modern. With skylights and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out onto gardens, patios and pools, the houses reflected Eichler’s vision was to “Bring the Outside In.”

Fast forward to the 1960s, when Eichler set his sights on Monte Sereno, building a 16-house subdivision on Via Sereno, off Winchester Boulevard. One of those Eichlers is being rebuilt to reflect what could well be called California Green. The new California style is sustainable, healthier homes, with many homeowners trying to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.

Homeowners Bryan and Jo-Anne Mekechuk bought their 1969 Eichler in 1997. At the time, they had no children. Now they have two, plus they needed room for visiting grandparents. So, it was time to remodel.

At first, the couple considered adding a second story.

“A second floor on an Eichler is not appropriate,” Mekechuk says.

Instead, they took the house apart board by board and dug a basement. Even so, Mekechuk says the home will remain true to Eichler’s vision.

“We kept all the design,” Mekechuk said. “The footprint of the house is identical. For example, the garage door is in the same place.”

Well, almost identical. Besides the basement, 18 square feet was added and three windows were moved. But two windows at the front of the home are identical and Eichler’s trademark atrium will be rebuilt.

Mekechuk is reusing 100 percent of the original home’s redwood boarding, while adding structural insulated panels-styrofoam insulation sandwiched between plywood. Mekechuk gets LEED points for that. The LEED rating system gives homeowners points that, when added up, can determine if a house is LEED certified or if it is certified as silver, gold or platinum. Mekechuk is shooting for platinum.

The Mekechuks also get points for holding educational open houses.

But it is the guts of the house itself that will determine if they reach their platinum goal. That’s why a cistern was dug to capture rainwater that will irrigate drought-tolerant plants. Polished concrete floors are a key element as well.

“It’s easy to keep concrete clean, plus it doesn’t trap dust and dander,” Bryan Mekechuk says. The concrete floors are composed of 70 percent slag. “Slag is a byproduct of steel production. Slag usually goes to the landfill,” he adds.

The house will be heated and cooled by a geothermal system.

“Geothermal takes warm water out of the ground and uses it to heat the house through tubing in the concrete floors,” Mekechuk says. “Cooling is the reverse of that.”

Mekechuk also plans to put 48 solar panels on the roof.

“Monte Sereno is really pulling out all the stops to encourage this kind of project,” Mayor Don Perry said at a recent open house. “We’ve waived all permit fees for solar panels. We’re really proud of this project.”

Mekechuk expects his new “Eichler Green” to be completed by late October.

© San Jose Mercury News.

With the lower flat SIP roof and mid-level flat SIP roof completed, the team from Earth Bound Homes started to assemble the first gable roof.

The gable roofs have a 12:12 pitch so the angle at the peak of the roofs is 90 degrees.  We designed the SIP roof so one roof section is 12-1/2 inches longer than the other section, so the SIPs are not mitered, or split, in the center.  Other designs for such roofs use mitered connections.

At the base of each gable roof, we used rimboard with mitered ends.  The rimboard is fastened to the mid-level SIP roof and then the gable SIPs are attached to the mitered RM boards.  The top of the short gables have a 2×12 plate that the longer gables overlap with.  The overlapping gables are attached through to the structural ridge beam.

Structural details showing 2x12 in both the short SIP gable and long SIP gable.

These two flush beams will be inside the mid-level flat SIP roof very soon. The Living Room gable roof will be attached to the structrural beam on the left and the posts for the upper-level flat roof will be attached to the structural beam on the right. Note the flush steel beam inside the SIP, which is supported by the steel post.

Ridge beam detail. Note how the post supports the non-structural Douglas Fir beam from the original house, which is under the parastrand structrural beam, and these two beams have a continuous strap from one side of the post over the top to the other side of the post. As well, there is a wide strap at the back, holding the structural beam and non-structrural beam to the post. On top, we have a custom-milled triangular piece of wood that will support the two SIP roofs, which will connect at a 90 degree angle.

Rimboard, with the ends cut off. This rimboard will be connected to the mid-level flat roofs snd support the SIP gable roofs.

We used Simpson Column Caps (CCQs) to connect the posts to the structural beams. The FSC-certified 2x6s formed the base of each of the SIP pony walls. around the Atrum.

Lifting the first SIP gable into place over the rimboard and ridge beam.

First SIP gable in place over the Foyer.

Opposite end of first SIP gable. Note the holes in the foam for the electrical chases. Ultimately, the ends of these SIP gable roofs will have structrural LVL between the OSB and then the rakes will be covered with 2x fascia. And, that will be covered with zinc.

View from Via Sereno of first SIP gable in place.

First SIP gable roof, showing open ridge detail Note the holes for the chases that run vertically through the SIP roof.

First gable on opposite side. This SIP gable is longer than the other SIP gable. Note the 2x12 that is inside the first (shorter) SIP gable.

Posts over Dining Room and Kitchen. We need to put the Douglas Fir beams and structural beams in place over these posts next.

Our project is complex and we’re doing our best to stay on track. 

However, our non-maleable building materials (i.e., concrete, glass and steel) make it difficult to correct mistakes or make other changes and, consequently, we’re taking more time and money than we had planned for this project.  That said, a LEED-H Platinum project, by definition, requires more thoughtful planning, material sourcing and handling, and documentation than otherwise.  Especially in an earthquake prone location with increasing seismic conditions.

So, comparing our budget, timeline and other elements to traditional projects, which are generally energy- and resource-intensive, is not appropriate.  But, no surprise, that comparison, and evaluation of our project management, is done by others every day. 

If we were using traditional building materials with traditional construction methods (i.e., stick framing, wooden floor joists and roof rafters, baseboards and door trim) then we should be on a much faster timeline and a lower budget.

We just need to get over it.

Assembling the Lower-Level Flat Roof

Around the entire perimeter of the house is the ‘lower-level flat roof’.  The ceiling height of this roof is identical to the existing house at 96 inches (8 ft).  The only exception to this is the roof at the back of the house, which sits above the lower-flat roof, which we call the ‘mid-level flat roof’.  Yesterday, the entire perimeter roof was completed as the mid-level flat roof connecting the Dining Room and Kate’s Bedroom was assembled.

Way cool.

Steel Flush Beam in SIP Roof

There is only one steel beam in our SIP roof and it is a flush beam that is hidden inside a SIP.  This is a critical beam that supports the upper-level flat roof over the Atrium and allows us to have only one post in the Kitchen area.  And, of course, have an extremely strong structure that meets the new code requirements for seismic conditions.

This steel flush beam sits on top of a lower-level roof SIP over the Garage and goes over the steel post in the Kitchen and is connected to a 7.00 x 11.25 inch Paralam beam that sits on the 8×12 Douglas Fir drop beam.  This steel beam will carry lateral forces into the concrete wall in the Garage so it must be connected robustly to that concrete wall.

The fabrication of the steel beam must include:

• 5/8 inch Nelson studs to attach 2×6 nailers on the top and bottom;
• a hole in the top and bottom flange to connect the beam to a 5/8-inch anchor bolt that is embedded in the concrete wall;
• a Simpson GLT welded to the north end of the steel beam to connect it to the 7.00 x 11.25 Paralam flush beam;
• two sets of 5/16 inch stiffeners welded in the locations where there are vertical loads (i.e., over the concrete wall and over the steel column);
• four sets of plates welded to the flanges of the steel beam to connect to the 4×6 and 6×6 posts that support the upper-level flat roof; and
• four bolts connecting the steel beam to the HSS 4×4 steel column in the Kitchen.

The steel beam must be the correct length and each of the components noted above must be in the correct locations.  Yeah, there is a lot going on with this steel beam.

Hosting Thien Doan’s Site Visit

Duquette Engineering designed the concrete foundation for the structure and Thien Doan did most of the work under Steve Duquette’s supervision.  Thien was at our project site numerous times observing the drilling of the holes for our concrete piers as well as the placement of the reinforcing steel (rebar) in the concrete slabs. 

When Steve Duquette attended our integrated project planning meeting on March 9, 2010, he said that he would like Thien to come by at this interim point in the project and take some pictures.

Thien came to the site today and walked the property with Bryan.  Thien was most interested in the SIPs and how the SIP wall and roof assembly was designed to transfer the shear forces to the concrete foundation walls.  Thien appeared impressed with the design and the construction, noting that there would probably be limited cracking of the sheet rock in the house during an 8.8 earthquake.

Reviewing the Shop Drawings for the Steel Beam with Larson Steel

Bryan drove to Larson Steel’s fabrication shop in Gilroy and met with William Zapeda to go over the measurements they took on Friday, March 19, prior to fabrication of the W8x18 steel beam.  They went over each of the measurements, noting one key area where Bryan needs to confirm with the lead framer from Earth Bound Homes, Francisco Espinoz.

William and Bryan went in the yard and reviewed the actual W8x18 steel beam and measured it.  The beam was a beautiful blue color, which is exactly what we would like the exposed steel beams and two steel columns to look like.

Finding Curb Damage in Los Gatos

The City of Monte Sereno requested that we have three 1-1/2 inch pipes carrying our excess water from our underground cistern to the curb on Winchester Boulevard, where it would then flow into the storm drain.  The engineers from the Town of Los Gatos did not like this design and requested that we connect our underground cistern with an 8-inch pipe connecting directly to the back of the storm drain.

They cited potential damage and maintenance issues as the reasons for requesting this change.  Today, Bryan saw a location where the 1-1/2 inch drain went though a concrete curb and had subsequent cracking and damage. 

Now, we can appreciate the request for a direct connection.

ArchiCAD rendering showing the W8x18 steel beam and the lower-level SIP roof.

ArchiCAD rendering showing steel beam and posts supporting the upper-level flat roof structure.

Mid-level flat roof at the back of the house. This is where the three sliding glass panel doors will be located, which will go into a pocket behind the exposed concrete feature wall at the left of this photo (the Dining Room wall).

View from the middle of swimming pool to the front door, showing the mid-level SIP roof that was assembled yesterday.

Thien Doan, from Duquette Engineering, on the lower-flat roof over the Garage.

View of Master Study and Master Bedroom showing completed 2x4 wall under 6x10 beam in Foyer and pony walls ready to receive the posts and ridge beams to support the SIP gable roof.

Thien taking photos of the SIP roof structure.

Simpson Strong Tie HTT22 connecting the 6x6 post to the hollow core concrete panels. Solid.

LPT4s in the Master Bedroom, reinforcing the SIP walls to the 6x10 flush beams in the SIP roof structure.

Exposed feature concrete wall at the back of the house, showing the space for the pocket that will hold the three sliding glass panels. Note that we will be adding a drop beam under the mid-level flat roof.

Measuring the profile of the W8x18 steel beam in Larson Steel's yard in Gilroy

The W8x18 beam is 5-1/4 inches wide.

We like the blue color of the steel and are considering having all of the exposed structural steel in the house finished in gun-metal steel blue.

Concrete curb in Los Gatos, showing damage caused by the 1-1/2 inch pipe going through the curb.

At the end of each day, Jo-Anne does her best to drop by and review our progress. With the longer days and the time change, it is easier for her to do so. And, it is always good to see her smiling!

There is one steel flush beam in our roof, which will not be visible.  However, this beam connects many of the key structural components together in the house and must be fabricated to very fine tolerances so it will fit into the SIP roof assembly and connect the components as designed.

Given it was a beautiful Friday afternoon, Reed Kingston stopped by with his two boys, Graham and Cole, to see the progress.  And walk around the roof!

Taking Field Measurements

We are putting a W8x18 steel flush beam into the SIP that connects the concrete wall in the Garage/Atrium with the 7.00 x 11.25 inch Paralam flush beam by the Living Room. 

This steel beam will have:

• 2×6 nailers on the top and bottom, with Nelson studs connecting the nailers to the steel beam;
• a hole in the top and bottom flange to connect the beam to a 5/8-inch anchor bolt that is embedded in the concrete wall;
• six CS14 straps to connect the steel beam to the concrete shear wall;
• a Simpson GLT welded to the north end of the steel beam to connect it to the 7.00 x 11.25 Paralam flush beam;
• four sets of plates welded to the flanges of the steel beam to connect to the 4×6 and 6×6 posts that support the upper-flat roof; and
• four bolts connecting the steel beam to the HSS 4×4 steek column in the Kitchen.

Yeah, there is a lot going on with this beam.

(We better get it right!)

Cole and Graham Kingston Visit Our Project Site

Reed Kingston brought his twin boys, Cole and Graham, to the project site this afternoon.  All three of the boys tour the site on a regular basis so they have a good understanding of where we were and how the projects unfolds.

William Zapeda (left), from Larson Steel, and Francisco Espinoz (right), from Earth Bound Homes, review the structural plans and identify the various connections for this beam.

William Zepeda, from Larson Steel, measuring the HSS 4x4 steel column in the Kitchen.

Francisco Espinoz, Earth Bound Homes, measuring the W8x18 steel beam over the concrete wall in the Garage/Atrium. The CS14 straps will go over and under the nailers that will be attached to the steel beam.

Reed Kingston with his two boys, Cole and Graham, went to each corner of the roof as they reviewed progress to date.

The FSC-certified LVL is now inside of SIP panels around the perimeter of the lower-flat roof.

SIP roof over main entrance with LVL inside of SIP.

West side of front of house. Note the window well to bring light into the lower level (and allow emergency egress).

The week ended on another beautiful, blue-sky California day. The weather was the complete opposite of the torrential rains exactly one week ago today.

It was impossible to get up to Whistler in a rental car so Paul and Bryan went to see the Olympic snowboarding at Cypress Mountain.  Unfortunately, it started raining heavily so they left.  On his way out of Vancouver, Bryan took the opportunity to visit the Insulspan manufacturing facility in Delta.  Then, he enjoyed full tour and a fantastic meal at the Wise house on Bainbridge Island.

Seeing the Olympic Women’s Snowboarding

Although it was pleasant when Paul Marcaccio and Bryan left Vancouver, it was pouring rain at their arrival at Cypress Mountain.  After watching the final four snowboarders, they decided to leave the event. 

Weather 1, Spectators 0.

Touring Insulspan’s Manufacturing Facility

After returning from Cypress Mountain, Bryan left the Westin Bayshore and drove south in the rental car.  On the way, Dave Stevenson offered him a tour of Insulspan’s manufacturing facility in Delta, BC.  The facility is adjacent to Highway 91, so it was directly on the way to the Canada-U.S. border.

Dave took Bryan through the plant and showed him how they manufacture their SIPs (structural insulated panels).  All of the manufacturing waste is recycled, which is one of the reasons why SIPs are considered ‘green’ (vs the tremendous amount of construction waste that is generated through typical on-site construction activities.

Bryan even saw the exact location where our SIPs were stored after being manufactured in October.  Bill Edwards of Insulspan took photos of our SIPs on Thursday, November 5, 2009.  Our SIPs were loaded on three trucks at the manufacturing facility on Friday, November 27, 2009 and arrived at our job site on Wednesday, December 2, 2009.

We’re looking forward to hosting our second Collaborative Informational Session where Dave Stevenson can be at our project site and show others in the Bay Area how to build with SIPs.

Touring Two Homes on Bainbridge Island

Although Bryan went to Vancouver to see the 2010 Olympics on this trip, the primary focus was to see two homes on Bainbridge Island.  How these two homes were built is an interesting story.

First, the owners of the property, the Wise family, lived in the existing house while they built their guest house.  They moved into the guest house when it was completed so they could construct the main house.  This is where it gets interesting.

Rather that demolish (bad) or deconstruct (better), they chose to move the house to another location on Bainbridge Island (best).  That sounds reasonable, right?  Except they moved the house with a boat (amazing!).

The Do It Yourself Network filmed a full segment over the month that it took to move the house to its new location on Bainbridge Island.  The segment is currently being aired several times in March 2010.  You can see it under ‘Massive Moves – Floating House‘ on the Do It Yourself Network (episode DMSM-103).

Bob and Lisa Wise took Bryan on a full tour of both homes and then everyone enjoyed a fabulous dinner.

The tour of these two homes was inspiring!

View of Vancouver, including Lion's Gate Bridge and the downtown waterfront. The weather was looking ok.

Once at Cypress Mountain, we had to go through security screening. It was easy, fast and efficient.

Watching the semi-finals of the Ladies Snowboarding at the 2010 Olympics at Cypress Mountain.

On the way down, we saw the site of the aerials.

Arriving at the Insulspan manufacturing facility in Delta, Canada.

Dave Stevenson in his office, scheduling his presentation for the second Collaborative Informational Session at our project site.

Manufacting a SIP starts with huge sheets of OSB (Oriented Strand Board).

All waste in the plant is recycled and reused. A completed SIP is on the left and the white foam cuttings are being collected.

Warehousing of completed SIPs, manufactured to the specific requirements for each job.

The SIPs for our project were stored at this location (by the yellow posts) after they were manufactured in October. The green objects are styrofoam blanks, which get 'sandwiched' between the two sheets of OSB.

Bryan, Lisa and Bob, about to start the tour (cheers!). Photo by Alison Wise.

The finish detail was exceptional. You can see the vertical grain Douglas Fir cabinets and detailed reveals.

Central vacuum sweeping location in foyer. Several friends, including the Wise family, thoroughly endorse sweeping vents that are connected to the central vacuum system.

Another sweeping location under the island in the kitchen. Note the dual dishwashers.