Richard Holman, an instructor in the Environmental Studies Department at De Anza College, visited our site today.  He teaches energy courses, such as design of solar thermal systems.  Once we install our geothermal and other systems, Richard may bring his students for a site visit.

Also, Bryan bought a number of Simpson Strong Tie products that will be used for our framing on the ground floor.

Richard Holman arrives at our job site.

Richard, not familiar with SIPs (structural insulated panels), peeked under the protective tarps.

Richard spotted, and liked, the FSC-certified wood that we are using in our project.

At the back of the house, we will hang the Paralam beam to other beams, which will require Simpson hangers.

Stack of Simpson 6x hangers.

Simpson SDS fasteners and galvanized nuts for anchor bolts.

Jo-Anne’s cousin, Christie Tunnoch, was visiting us for the holidays so we dropped by the job site on Christmas Day for a quick tour.  The site was looking good in the sunshine.

Sunny Christmas day at the job site.

Christie walks the property with a critical eye in the sunshine. (We passed her inspection!)

Lisa Meline, of Meline Engineering, is a key member of our design team as she designed our geothermal heat exchange ground loops and completed the initial design of our radiant system inside the house.  Importantly, Lisa introduced us to Matt Jung of 88HVAC.

Lisa sent an e-mail last week saying that she had some meetings in the Bay Area and she would like to visit our site and see the progress to date.  Perfect.  Lisa showed up 15 minutes early and reviewed the site with Bryan.

Lisa arrived at the site early to review our progress to date.

Lisa taking photos of the PEX in the concrete piers.

Lisa was most impressed with the PEX in the concrete and took a photo of the PEX that was pressurized to 100 PSI (and holding the pressure!).

Quick Trip to Watsonville to See Jackel Enterprises

After Lisa left, Bryan and Christie Tunnoch, who was visiting from Vancouver, Canada, went ‘over the hill’ to Watsonville to Jackel Enterprises so we could measure the reclaimed beams from the original structure and to take a quick look at our resawn redwood decking.

Since we need 6×10 beams, we will need to identify where we will use the original beams in the remodelled ground floor.

Bryan and Christie met with Steve Jackel, who showed them some of the FSC inventory of FSC lumber that he had as well as other large timbers from British Columbia, Canada.

Steve Jackel showing FSC lumber that he is holding in his inventory.

Original Douglas Fir beams from 1969.

More original beams from 1969.

The original 2x6 tongue and groove redwood decking that has been cut in half and remilled (now is 5/8-inch thick) with a new tongue and groove.

Huge 14-inch by 14-inch Douglas Fir beams from British Columbia (not FSC).

Steve showed us some wood that he is drying slowly in his kiln.

Bryan received a call today from Bill Edwards of Insulspan.  Bill apologized for interrupting our tool shopping on ’Black Friday’ (we bought an air compressor and a DeWalt miter saw) as he wanted to advise us that our SIPs will arrive at our job site on Wednesday morning (12/02/09) at 8:00 am.

Shipping Our SIPs

Bill explained that there will be three trucks; two truckloads full of SIPs and the third truck will have the remaining SIPs and all the hardware.  He sent the photos below to show us what to expect.

We need to ensure we have a crane ready and waiting, and that we have space to store the SIPs until we can place the SIPs on the structural framing.

Once we have the SIPs, the house should come together quickly.

Our SIPs in Delta, BC (Vancouver) loaded and ready to go on Friday, 11/27/09.

Back of the truck. Note the reference numbers on each panel.

Truck #2, with more SIPs.

Front of truck #2.

The Walters Visit Our Site

It was a great Thanksgiving dinner last night and, yes, we discussed our project several times.  Worth and Lena Walters were at the dinner with their two sons, Bjorn and Andreas.  Everyone, except Bjorn, has visited our project site and, during a lull in their Black Friday shopping, they called and said they would drop by.

Jo-Anne wanted to verify the progress so she joined us, too.

The Walters inspecting progress since their last visit.

The lower level is looking fine - we need to pour concrete!

The forecast is for 100% probability of rain tomorrow.  It was time to ensure the site office is watertight and the site is ready for rain.

Bryan had a good design session with Scott this morning at Hotel Los Gatos.  Scott and Sue are were there last night and are staying in San Francisco tonight before returning to Toronto tomorrow morning.

Design Discussion with Scott

Scott reviewed the plans and, after seeing the space yesterday, outlined the lighting plan for each of the rooms.  Scott and Bryan reviewed a number of alternatives for the atrium, gable roofs, and exterior.  During the discussion, Scott recommended that we consider including some art niches in the wall by the Bridge Hall.  We will definitely be following up on this one.

For the atrium and feature concrete wall, Scott is going to put some light fixture samples together so we can ‘test’ how the lights will wash the concrete wall.  These samples are not for the fixtures but, rather, so we can see what type of lighting we would prefer.  This will help Scott in recommending which fixtures to use.

Scott, Sue and Bryan then went to the project site so they could consider the design alternatives relative to the space.  After 45 minutes, Scott and Sue left for San Francisco.

Scott, on Canadian Thanksgiving, reflecting on the bridge.

Bryan and Scott discussing lighting alternatives and how to show our feature concrete wall.

Scott and Bryan discussing design alternatives.

Scott explaining how to the test lights will work.

Buttoning Up the Temporary Site Office

Given the weather forecast, Bryan spent several hours buttoning up the project site.  Importantly, he put a new tarp over the temporary site office roof to help reduce the probability of leaks tomorrow.

Our Davis weather station looked good today.  We’ll see exactly how much rain and wind our site receives tomorrow.

The site is looking secure with our first winter rain storm arriving shortly.

Bryan put primer on the exposed steel, where the bridges and posts were welded on Saturday.

Ends of Bridge Hall, primed and ready.

New blue tarp on the roof of our temporary site office.

Our Davis weather station, ready to log the rainfall and winds tomorrow.

Scott Andersen and Sue Therrien are in California for a couple days and carved out some time to review our progress.  Scott has been involved in this project since the start and led the conceptual design.

Reviewing Progress

Scott liked the progress and thoroughly enjoyed testing the bridge.  We walked the around the site for over an hour, so Scott could get a good feel for the space.

Sue needed to do some shopping in Old Town, so Scott and Bryan slipped over to Whole Foods in Cupertino to take a look at the finished concrete floors there. 

Back to Los Gatos and to the Rose Collection.  We engaged Cherie Rose to put our color palette together so we thought Cherie should meet Scott.  Fortunately, Cherie was in her store on North Santa Cruz and Bryan was able to introduce Cherie to Scott and Sue.

We went back to 1621 Rebel Way where Jo-Anne made dinner.  Bryan and Scott agreed to meet tomorrow morning at Hotel Los Gatos for a design session.

Sue and Scott arrive, right on schedule, to review our progress.

Scott testing the bridge. He approved.

Scott reviewing the stained and polished floor in Whole Foods, in Cupertino.

More polished concrete in Whole Foods. This section is just 'in the cream' of the concrete and not in the aggregate. This is a nice looking finish.