With the approval of our building wrap by the City of Monte Sereno on Friday afternoon, we started on building the rainscreen over the radiant barrier on the West side of the house today.  Dan Shurter joined the team today and will certainly increase our capacity and accelerate our progress.

Addressing the Issues Relating to Our Solar Rebate

Our rebate under the NHSP expires on September 29, 2011, which is only days away.  On Friday, September 16, 2011, the Building Official at the City of Monte Sereno, Howard Bell, noted that the installation is complete but he would not approve the permit.  Since then, we have been working with the City of Monte Sereno and Pacific Gas & Electric Company to search for ways to connect our solar photovoltaic system to the grid through our temporary electric service but have not been successful.

Bryan met with Brian Loventhal, City Manager, today and Brian requested that we submit a document outlining the situation we are facing, the alternatives, and a proposed solution.  Brian noted that he cannot address the issues relating to our project based on conversations.

So, Bryan focused on documenting the issues relating to our solar rebate and a recommended solution.  He will deliver two copies to the City of Monte Sereno on Tuesday morning.

Starting on Our Rainscreen over the Radiant Barrier

We noticed that the siding on our house was damaged by water and sunlight, and needed maintenance.  To address this, we decided to extend the roof overhang as much as possible and to use a ‘rainscreen’ to reduce damage caused by moisture.  In addition, we included a radiant barrier to reduce the cooling load in the house.

While researching radiant barriers, we learned that a radiant barrier is not effective without a 3/4 inch air gap over the radiant barrier.  This ‘fit’ well with a rain screen design as the back of the siding needs to be exposed to air.  We found a product, Cor-A-Vent, that could go at the top and bottom of the wall that would allow air, but not insects, to flow through the air space.

For siding, we worked with Robert Spaulding (Roseburg Forest Products) and Chris Tritschler (Channel Lumber) to specify and source FSC siding that would be the closest match to the original siding that Eichler used.  Note that the original siding is still on the structure, it is under the Tyvek building wrap and the radiant barrier.  As well, Chris provided the FSC furring strips for the rainscreen.

Front view of the rainscreen design. Air enters at the bottom and flows out the top. Furring strips every 16 inches on center.

Detail of bottom of rainscreen, showing how air enters through the Cor-A-Vent.

Top of rainscreen, showing how air exits.

FSC siding from Roseburg Forest Products.

Roseburg Forest Products' chain-of-custody number is stamped on each sheet of siding.

FSC furring strips, primed and ready ...

Radiant barrier at front of house.

Furring strips on 16-inch centers on West side of house.

Fresh air intake (bottom) and exhaust air (top) that supply air to, and exhaust air from, the house. These air flows go through our heat recovery unit in the Air Handler room.

Detail at top of wall, showing wooden beams above windows.

The first sheet of primed FSC siding is in place.

One of the nagging issues that we’ve been facing is, ‘how to finish the upper parts (e.g., ceiling) of the Atrium.’  The issue relates to access, since the ceiling is 24 ft 6 inches above the finished floor.  Actually, the issue relates to safety too, as anything dropping from above could land on someone or, if a person slipped or fell, they would land on 20 inches of solid concrete, which is not very resiliant.

We solved this problem today by constructing a temporary deck over the two bridges that covered the entire Atrium.  This allows us to use regular ladders to gain access to the ceiling, where we will be putting lights and speakers, and then finishing the ceiling with the refinished redwood.  In addition, the temporary deck increases the safety during construction since it reduces the risk of injury or damage relating to materials and tools dropping from the ground floor to the lower level.

Focusing on Safety

Craig Butcher, Chief Safety Officer for Teamwrkx, has monitored the safety relating to our project and he has stressed the importance of reducing hazardous situations.  As well, Ram Reyna, a very good friend who works at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (formerly Stanford Linear Accelerator Center), identified opportunities for us to increase the safety at our job site  in order to meet SLAC’s extremely high safety requirements.  SLAC is hypersensitive to safety and incorporates leading safety practices with all of their construction, maintenance and ongoing operations.

We’ve considered multiple alternatives to increase the safety at our job site, which is somewhat dangerous to start with since it has a opening between the ground floor and the lower level.  The high ceiling in the Atrium and the 9 ft 6 inch ceiling in the lower level combine to make a very tall Atrium.

Yesterday, when reviewing the site with Al DeBeaclair, Bryan had an epiphany regarding how to address the access to the Atrium.  Cover the two bridges with a temporary deck, just like we covered the pool!  Bryan and Al measured the space between the walls and found it to be just more than 16 ft wide and just more than 20 ft long.  Perfect for using 4×8 sheets of plywood on 20 ft 2×8 joists.

The temporary panels could be constructed individually with duplex nails and deck screws.  Al understood quickly and agreed that a temporary deck would be easy to assemble, and disassemble, and solve the access and safety issues.

Assembling the Temporary Deck

The delivery truck from Channel Lumber arrived at 9:30 am this morning.  Chris Tritschler, our salesperson at Channel Lumber, promised that the materials would be delivered on Friday but he said he would do his best to have it delivered today.  And it was!

With the materials on site, Al set up his chop saw in the driveway while his helper, Nep, worked with Bryan to disassemble the temporary wood railings around the Atrium.  Then, Al and Nep measured and cut the 2×8 joists to size and assembled the first 4 ft x 20 ft frame in the driveway.  Getting it in place was easy and then the 3/4 inch plywood went on quickly.

With the first panel in place, the second and subsequent panels were build inside the house. 

Tomorrow, we will put temporary lighting in place so work can proceed in the lower level.

The delivery truck from Channel Lumber unloading our materials at 9:36 am.

Nep cutting the straps around the materials so we can start to assemble the temporary decking across the bridges in the Atrium.

Nep disassembles the temporary wood railings around the Atrium so we can assemble the temporary decking across the bridges.

Laying out the 2x8 joists for the first panel at the foot fo the driveway on Via Sereno.

Al DeBeuclair and Nep had the first frame, consisting of five boards, assembled with 12 duplex nails in minutes.

Ready for the first panel.

The first two of four temporary decks in place across the two bridges in the Atrium.

With two of the temporary panels in place, the lower level is getting dramatically darker!

The posts will be covered with temporary railings again, after the four panels are in place.

Three panels in place!

View of the Atrium, now dark with the full temporary deck in place across the two bridges. We need to install some temporary lighting fixtures tomorrow.