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.

Ian and Bryan left for PCBC in San Francisco and then went to Via Sereno to set up the Davis weather station.

Attending PCBC

This was the first day of the Pacific Coast Builders Conference at Moscone Center in San Francisco.  Bryan attended the same show in June 2008.  It was a bit smaller this year.

The objective of attending the show was to make contacts with companies that are bringing innovative building products to market and could be interested in having their products included in our project.

Specifically, we were looking for:

• Glass panels for the Bridge Hall
• Closed and open cell spray foam
• Engineered lumber (beams)
• Structural insulated panels
• Radiant heating and cooling materials
• Reflective materials
• Windows
• Cable railing systems and hardware

This was the first of three days.  Bryan will be back.

Ian at the Canadian lumber booth. Note the Rock Star.

Setting up the Weather Station

The Davis weather station that we bought in December 2008 had not been set up.  The purpose of getting a weather station was to obtain accurate and local weather data so we could ensure our house was designed properly for local conditions, and then to help measure the performance of the home.

Setting up the weather station has been on ‘the list’ for some time.  Ian’s visit was the perfect opportunity to make it happen.

Laying out the parts, and reading the instructions.

Ian doing some fine-tuning of the weather station.

Ian posing proudly with the newly installed weather station. Note the Miller Lite.

Weather station is now logging data!

With the 3/4 inch crushed rock groomed for the plumbing drains and the corresponding compaction completed, the crew placed the Dow High Load 40 rigid styrofoam in place.  After taping, they will prepare the Pre-Prufe waterproofing membrane over the styrofoam sheets.

Laying out Dow High Load 40 rigid styrofoam.

Bryan and his father drilled a hole and put the 10 ft pole on the temporary site office so it can support the Davis weather station.  This was a two-person job that had to be completed before John returns to winter in Edmonton, Canada.

Pole on temporary site office for Davis weather station.

Bryan’s father, John, struggles with a smile, knowing he returns to Edmonton, Canada tomorrow where it truly is winter!

John on the project site, knowing it is back to Canada tomorrow!

In order to monitor the rain and winds on the building site, we bought a weather station today.

After reviewing the various systems, we decided on Davis Weather Stations as it appears to be the most scaleable and reasonably priced system available.

We reviewed a number of sellers and spoke with Ryan Wilhour, of Archer Trading Post. Ryan helped guide us through the product alternatives, and outlined the difference between wired and wireless models. Although our preference would be for a wired system, the wireless have more ports available for input modules. Thus, wireless is a more scaleable system.

We decided to buy a wireless system from Ryan.

We bought a Davis 6152 Pro2 Wireless Weather Station with a Davis 6510 USB port datalogger and software. It is being delivered and should arrive on Monday.

Setting up and configuring the weather station may take some effort; the benefit will be that we will know the wind speeds and precipitation so we can understand exactly what is happening on our job site.