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.

We completed several tasks on our critical path to completing our SIP roof today.  An important task was to have all of the beams on site so they could be graded.  Having our beams is critical so the structural framing can be completed on the ground floor so we can move the SIPs onto the roof with the crane on Wednesday.

Picking Up Our Reclaimed Beams After Milling in Watsonville

Dave Merchant, from Out of the Woods, loaded the three beams that we milled to size on Tuesday at his site in Bonny Doon.  Dave met Bryan in Watsonville at Jackel Enterprises, where we loaded the remainder of the beams that were being milled.  From there, Bryan followed Dave up Highway #1 and over the hill to our project site.  There, our framing crew unloaded the beams by hand and staged them for grading.

Charlie Jourdain, from Redwood Inspection Service in Pleasant Hill, arrived on our site as planned and the beams were ready for him.  Charlie examined and graded each beam, then stamped the end of each beam.  He will be sending us a certificate stating the grade of each beam.  Note that Redwood Inspection Service is a division of California Redwood Association, of which Charlie is the President.

Loading our recently milled reclaimed Douglas Fir beams in Watsonville. The beams on the truck were milled by Dave Merchant in Bonny Doon.

Bryan followed Dave's truck back from Watsonville. Dave is going up Winchester Boulevard with our reclaimed beams.

Dave backed the trailer into our site so it could be unloaded quickly and easily.

Charlie Jourdain, President of California Redwood Association, came to our job site and graded our reclaimed beams. Charlie is measuring the grain of the wood as the grain runs diagonally in this beam.

Charlie measured and graded all of our beams on site, which were just delivered a few hours ago.

Making Insulated Headers

On the West side of our house we have two bathrooms.  The beams that support the SIP roof at the front and back of the house extend through the building.  However, we have two bathrooms on the West side and, even with exhaust fans, these bathrooms will have a high moisture content.

To provide greater protection from condensation, our durability plan requires insulated headers to keep keep the surfaces of the exposed beams warmer and prevent condensation from occuring. 

From two of the reclaimed Douglas Fir beams, we had Jackel Enterprises cut two 1-3/4 inch wide planks.  Using these planks, we sandwiched 2 inches of rigid R-10 insulation.  Thus, we end up with an insulated header that is 5-1/2 inches wide and over 19 ft long.  This insulated header will be over the windows in the two bathrooms.

Similarly, we require a small insulated header on the East side of the house, above the exterior Kitchen door.

Francisco makes the insulated headers by sandwiching 2 inches of rigid insulation between two planks, cut from our reclaimed Douglas Fir beams.

Completed insulated header. The two pieces of reclaimed Douglas Fir are held together by a number of 4-1/2 inch galvanized Simpson Strong Tie SDS screws, countersunk into the planks.

Moving the Temporary Steel Beams

The temporary steel beams supporting the existing East and West walls of our house were moved clear of the structure today.  Several inches of the concrete haunches were removed so the existing walls are now free and clear, and are entirely supported by the house once again.

We’re ready to remove the temporary steel beams from the site on Wednesday, February 24.

Reducing Construction Waste

Renovation and construction projects can generate a tremendous amount of waste that goes to landfill sites.  According to the LEED for Homes Reference Guide, ‘Construction and demolition wastes constitute about 40% of the total solid waste stream in the United States.’  For our project, we are targeting to create as little construction waste as possible.  When our Green Rater, Darrel Kelly, came to our project site on Tuesday, February 16, he was surprised, and delighted, to see how little waste we were generating as we were using three 35 gallon garbage bins to hold our framing debris.

Earth Bound Homes delivered a trailer to our job site today that will be used for all the framing debris.  All the framing waste on our job site was dumped into the trailer as it will be taken for recycling.  We will obtain tags on the debris removed with the trailer.

This is the trailer from Earth Bound Homes, which contains all of our framing debris to date. Note that a number of the pieces in trailer are reclaimed wood, which would otherwise be landfill. This debris will be taken for recycling, not landfill. Reduce, reuse and recycle (redirect).

Overview and Inspection of Progress this Week

Given the days are longer now, Jo-Anne was able to drop by the job site at the end of the day today to inspect our progress. 

Our first major shear wall is in place in Kate’s bedroom (formerly the Master Bedroom).  Having the shear wall in place prior to Jo-Anne’s inspection showed significant progress. 

In line with that shear wall is another shear wall adjacent to the Atrium.  Scott Andersen, who did the conceptual design of the remodel, specified during his most recent job site progress review that we include recessed art niches in the wall behind the glass bridge to the Master Suite.  Three recessed art niches were framed in today and the plywood will be nailed in place next week.

Jo-Anne walked the property and was smiling as she was pleased with our progress this week.

Completed SIP walls on either side of our doorway at the front of the house.

Same view of the foyer, taken on September 29, 2008 when the roof was being deconstructed. Note the diagonal brace on the temporary site fence through the door - it is the same diagonal brace in the photo above. Way cool.

Three art niches that are framed in the shear wall behind the glass bridge facing the Atrium.

Example of recessed art niches (not in a contemporary style house).

Example of recessed art niches on a large exposed wall.

Plywood 2x6 shear wall between the Living Room and Kate's Bedroom.

Jo-Anne, standing in Kate's Bedroom, smiles as she walks the property inspecting our progress this week.

Our flag is flying and our Insulspan sign is posted. The site is buttoned up, ready for the rain that is forecasted through the weekend.

We love wood and want our house to have some history to it.  Accordingly, we’re looking for old wood that we can remill to use in the house.

Using reclaimed wood is good for the environment, it looks beautiful, and it gets us some LEED points.  The only problems are that it is difficult to find and, when you do find it, the wood is expensive.

Bryan set off to visit a ranch near Livermore to see some 50+ year old lumber.  He liked it but didn’t buy any.

Barn north of Livermore where wood is covered by the white tarp.

2x Redwood lumber that is more than 50 years old. This would clean up nicely.

The Douglas Fir beams were too short and didn't meet our requirements.

Measuring the 4x beams. We need 6x beams and have reclaimed 4x beams from the original house.

If we need more 2x Redwood decking, this is where we will get it from.

Measuring the SIPs

We need to put lumber into the SIPs so we can attach the roof panels to the flat decking and attached the roof panels to the pony walls.  The foam will need to be removed in the roof panels, just like the pony wall panels.

Bryan measured the actual dimensions so we can order the LVL and other 2x materials.

The SIPs are under a tarp, so they are all dry.

The SIP pony walls and other components are all individually numbered.

The 45 degree roof SIP requires a 16-1/2 inch LVL.

Looks like the pony walls will require a 2x10 to attach to the 45 degree roof SIPs.

Given the forecast, Bryan got some addtional tarps and cords. 

Jim O’Brien and Doug McNeil helped Bryan button up the site and prepare for the rain storms.

Doug McNeil in at the back of the property. Our SIPs are secure for the forecasted rains.

Bryan, feeling much better now that our SIPs are secure, at the front of our property.

Since there was rain forecasted, we got some tarps to cover our SIPs. 

We need to keep the SIPs dry so the OSB (Oriented Strand Board) doesn’t get soaked and expand.

We covered our SIPs and need some ropes and cords to hold the tarps in place.

Protecting our SIPs from rain.