‘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.

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.

And don’t it feel good!

Scott Andersen called yesterday and said, ‘Your construction blog is nice BUT if I see another photo full of rebar then …’  Yeah, the rebar was getting old.  Also, walking on the rebar was horrible.  And dangerous.

The new concrete on our site was looking great today, spectacular in the sunshine.  Next steps are to get ready to shotcrete the walls (which will require more rebar).

Form embedded in the concrete for the steel column.

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Steve Jackel of Jackel Enterprises was kind and provided us with complimentary tickets to West Coast Green in San Jose.

The show was excellent – lots of relevant exhibits and we made excellent contacts. Seeing, touching and discussing the new, innovative products all in one place was a huge timesaver for us.

We hope that everyone that we spoke with will follow up and contact us to provide the additional information that we are looking for to evaluate how their products and services can become part of our project.

Steve Jackel, from Jackel Enterprises in Watsonville, came to the house today and reviewed the site. He explained that the wood could definitely be remilled, and he could draft a proposal and send it to us for review.

We would have to have the wood ready for loading, with a forklift, onto his truck when it arrived. The wood would go to his shop in Watsonville, where it would be cut in two, and then milled with a new tongue and groove.

Steve explained that often a bevel is put on lumber that is fitted with a tongue and groove so any differences in thickness are not pronounced. The existing boards have a 1/4 inch bevel that we find particularly annoying, as it creates many vertical lines in the roof and makes it look busy. We prefer simple and clean.

Before leaving, Steve asked if we would like to attend West Coast Green, in San Jose. If so, he will provide us with tickets. That was a kind gesture that we hope to accept.

Next step is for Steve to provide a proposal and estimate for us to consider.

We sent an e-mail for Steve, thanking him for coming to the site.

We’re continuing to look for places to get the 2×6 Redwood roof decking and Douglas Fir beams remilled. The physical location must be close by, probably somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

It looks like a viable alternative may be Jackel Enterprises, located in Watsonville. According to Google Maps, Jackel Enterprises is 37.5 miles from our site so it is definitely within trucking distance.

I sent an e-mail to Steve Jackel today. Let’s see if he responds.