Just after cleaning up the garage, the two-person delivery team from Murray Windows & Doors came by and delivered 25 windows, bringing our total to 26 windows.  There are 72 windows in our total order so we have received over one-third of the windows (the glass is half full).  Alternatively, one could say that we haven’t taken delivery of almost two-thirds of the windows (the glass is half empty).

After unloading the windows and staging them neatly in the garage, Bryan worked with the team from Earth Bound Homes completing the ‘cool roof’ over the gables.  He drove to Union City and picked up a Vent-A-Hood roof jack for our range hood in the kitchen.

Our range hood will have an 8-inch duct so we need to have a VP541-HP roof jack, which is designed for gable roofs with more than a 4:12 roof pitch.

After picking up the roof jack, Bryan returned to the job site and worked with Carlos on placing the roof jack into position.

Clean, tidy and fully swept garage, waiting for 25 boxes of windows from Murray Windows & Doors.

Backing up the truck - here come the windows!

Each window box was carried in and stacked against the wall by hand.

The boxes of windows are stacked neatly in the clean garage. These are all of the clerestory windows that go in the gable ends (large boxes) and the clerestory windows that go around the atrium.

Valley on the North side of the East gable. Also, there is an intermediate 1x1 furring strip that must be completed.

View of the completed North side of the South gable. The FSC plywood deck is completed and ready for roofing felt and shakes.

South side of the North gable. Note where the radiant barrier needs to be covered with plywood.

VP541-HP roof jack from Vent-A-Hood on the East side of the East gable.

Our friend and neighbor, John McLaren, came to the job site today to review our progress. John lives on Daves Avenue and is very supportive of our project. It is great to be able to park in our driveway again!

Bryan was at the job site this morning and opened the gate at 7:50 am.  Kel Marchbank was completing a mountain bike ride and dropped by for a minute.  Then, promptly at 8:00 am, Manny and Izzy arrived to work on the underground elements at the front of the property.

After working all morning, Izzy and Manny left at 12:00 noon.  Exhausted from helping with the shovelling, Bryan returned the compactor (‘jumping jack’) to A1 Rentals then went to Safeway and bought seven cases of sodas.  Back to the project site.

As Bryan was recovering and was reviewing the progress to date, he heard a vehicle drive up outside the gate.  The car door closed and Bryan was going up to the gate.

Bryan looked at Wido Menhardt, wondering, ‘who is this?’ (Wido and Trixi now live in Bangalore, India).  Wido smiled broadly and said, ‘It looks good’.

Ambushed.

The inlet box for the underground CUDO cistern has two 4-inch pipes, with a 6-inch pipe into the cistern (left side) and a six-inch overflow bypass (top). The 1-inch conduit was just glued in place (over the concrete box). The irrigation supply water going to the manifold at the front of our property is stubbed and needs to be completed.

Outlet from underground CUDO cistern, with concrete riser on top. The irrigation water supply and 1-inch conduit are stubbed to the manifold location at the top of the photo. Note the compactor in the bottom left.

Backfilled and compacted areas at the front of the house. Manny, Izzy and Bryan shovelled, and compacted in 6-inch lifts, over six cubic yards of soil this morning.

Wido Menhardt, just arrived from Bangalore, India, tours the project site reviewing progress to date.

View of backfilled and compacted trenches from South East corner of roof.

Enjoying a beautiful, blue-sky California day, Wido leaves for Santa Cruz to get some surfing in.

Although the sky is clear, the weather forecast for the upcoming week includes a 10% chance of rain.  We know that the rains are coming and we need to be weather tight.  Today, Bryan confirmed that Statewide Roofing will arrive on Wednesday, 09/15/10, to install our tapered insulation on the flat roofs.  Then, they will install the 60 mil white single-ply roof membrane over the tapered insulation.  This system is our ‘cool roof’.

In order to place the materials on the roof, they need clear access from the street.  The supervisor, Mel, explained that they will have a generator on site for their ‘welding’ equipment that will seal/weld the seams of the white TPO membrane.

Thus, Bryan needed to move some dirt.

Jerry Ditto Drops By and Reviews Our Progress

During the day, Jerry Ditto dropped by for a quick visit.  Jerry wrote the first book on Eichlers — Eichler Homes, Design for Living and has been an advisor to our project since its inception.  Jerry walked around the house, acknowledging the progress and providing encouragement.  He commented positively on the amount of light going through to the lower level (Jerry never refers to it as a ‘basement’) and how one could see the blue, California sky.

Jerry subscribes to Dwell magazine and noted that Sam Grawe, the Editor-in-Chief, wrote in his editorial for the September 2010 issue about the Eichler that he just purchased.  Sam has an Eichler built in 1962 that was designed by Claude Oakland (our Eichler was designed by Claude Oakland and built in 1969).  Jerry believes that Sam should visit our project site in person to see how we have done our remodel and added the lower level.

‘Over the past few weeks I’ve been getting to know my new house, a nicely preserved 1962 Eichler designed by Bay Area architect Claude Oakland.’

Jerry Ditto drops by to review our progress.

Our open trenches to the East, which are still open for our water overflow bypass, irrigation manifold and conduit to Verizon

The sand needs to be moved completely and the pile of soil to the left needs to be moved. This soil is to backfill around the new concrete vault that PG&E will be installing for our underground electric service. Bryan has some work to do.

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!

‘That’s it Bryan.  If you bring any more beams then we won’t make the Thursday deadline.’  Steve Jackel was smiling, but firm.

‘No problem, Steve.  There aren’t any beams left.’  Bryan was smiling, too.

Delivering Another Two Beams to Watsonville

After coordinating the 2-inch rigid insulation for the exposed slab this morning, Bryan delivered the two 22 ft 6×14 reclaimed Douglas Fir beams to Jackel Enterprises in Watsonville.  Tim was there and unloaded the beams in minutes.  Then, Bryan set to work.

Bryan went through each beam, looking for reinforcing steel (rebar) and nails.  In less than 45 minutes, he removed five pieces of #5 rebar (5/8-inch in diameter) from the two beams a number of nails, and a strap tie.  Steve’s team will use metal detectors to verify no more metal fragments are in the two beams, then the beams can be milled.

Tim had done some initial milling of the 12-1/4 tall by 5-inch wide beam that will be in the Foyer and Master Study.  It looked magnificent.

Tim unloaded the two reclaimed beams with the forklift so Bryan could de-nail them and remove all the metal.

Within 45 minutes, Bryan had removed five pieces of rebar and a number of nails from the two beams.

Steve Jackel enjoys the sunshine while writing up the milling tags for these beams.

Tim started milling the 12-1/4 inch beam that will be visible in the Foyer and Master Study.

The end of the beam looks magnificent.

This beam will be milled to 12-1/4 inches tall. This face will be visible in the Foyer and Master Study.

Driving to Bonny Doon

After removing all the metal, Bryan drove north through Santa Cruz to Bonny Doon.  As he was driving along Highway #1, Bryan reflected on the same day (February 15) in 1998.  On that day, just north of Davenport on Highway #1, Jo-Anne married Ian Fowler and Merril Schmitt.  We’d love to complete our renovation/construction project and host their visit in February 2011.

Out of the Woods

To get to Dave Mechant’s mill site, one has to stop, open the gate, drive through, close the gate and get to the mill location.  When the sun is shining, as it was today, it is a pleasant break in the day.

Dave and his team were milling some spectacular wood flooring.  They had an order for 1,200 sq ft of vertical grain flooring, with no knots.  Absolutely beautiful wood.

Stop. Open the gate. Drive through. Close the gate. Drive to the mill location.

The Out of the Woods milling operation. It was a great day to be milling wood in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Take a look at the vertical grain with no knots. This is very, very nice wood. Dave had an order for 1,200 sq ft that he was filling. (You can click on this photo and expand it to full size in your browser.)

Completed bundles of flooring, measured and wrapped very carefully. Dave finds that having eight layers of wood in each bundle is the best, yielding approximately 28 sq ft per bundle.

Measuring Our Beams

Dave will be milling our beams tomorrow so Bryan had to complete the specifications for Dave.  A few minutes with the measuring tape and reviewing the beams.  No problem.  Just have to e-mail Dave the measurements tonight.

Back through the gate, and back to our project site.

Finalizing the milling requirements for these four beams.

John McLaren Visits Our Project Site

John stopped by for a quick visit.  He hadn’t been to the site for several months and we’d made visible progress since then  John and Bryan walked through the framed rooms on the ground floor and lower level. 

He was wearing sandals and shorts, hardly appropriate for an active construction site.  But he was careful.

John McLaren reviews our progress the the Master Bathroom. Note the smile, open toe sandals and shorts (February in California).

John leaves the 'empty' Wine Dining - sorry John.

Jo-Anne and Nik came to the site today to review our progress (Jo-Anne wanted to verify the actual progress herself, as noted yesterday).  Everything looked fine to them, especially in the sunshine.

Reviewing Kate’s Bathroom

After reviewing the progress, Jo-Anne made a change to Kate’s bathroom as she would prefer Kate to have a pony wall with a full frosted glass window.

She believes that Kate’s bathroom will appear larger with fewer walls and, given there is a skylight that will provide natural light, a single frosted glass window is preferable to having a full wall with split glass (frosted glass on one side of the wall and clear glass on the other side).

The framing on the ground floor has progressed nicely.

The cabinet wall between the Kitchen and Dining room needs the post that will support the ridge beam.

Nik is pleased with how his bedroom is looking.

Jo-Anne, standing in the Wine Dining, inspected the Wine Cellar and thought it looked fine.