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.

Pressure is on to complete the site office.  We leave for Canada tomorrow morning (6:30 am departure) and I wanted to get as much ‘buttoned down’ as possible today.

I have never hung a door before and I wasn’t sure exactly how it should work.  The first issue that I needed to address was cutting the bottom 2×4 plate that the structure was framed on.  I called Stafford and he explained to me, in no uncertain terms, that the plate needed to be cut.

The next issue was, ‘how to hang the door?’  Reed called me and stopped by at lunch for a few minutes.  He showed me how to hang the door and fit the shims.  Easy with two people.

As he left, Reed said, ‘good luck with the other door.’

West door complete from inside.

You can see the windows from the existing house that are leaning against the east fence in the photo below.  With the deck completed, it will be much easier to move the two windows.

East door, showing bottom plate cut.

The east side is now complete.  Sure, I can add some trim around the door to make it tighter but that can wait.  The windows are next.

East door installed and now complete.

Darren showed me on Sunday how to stand the materials up inside the site office.  Floor space is important and everything should be easy to find.

Materials standing up inside the site office.

The sun is very low in the sky now.  The overhang allows the light to come in at this point in the year.

Low sun angle.

Well, the day is over and we’re off to Canada tomorrow.  Everything is done now – I’ll be back on December 26.

Site office ready for windows on Monday, December 29.

Darren made it back to Edmonton last night without incident.  And then he tried to start his vehicle.  He made it to bed at 2:30 am.  Ouch!

I arrived at the job site early in the morning – the site office was looking great!

Site office in the morning sun.

The back of the site office is looking exactly as planned.  We wanted to have an overhang and part of the deck exposed so materials could be leaned again the site office yet sheltered from the weather.  Easy access was a key criteria in the design.

Rear of site office showing protected outside storage area.

The punch list for completing the site office includes the plywood on both the east and west sides.

Requires plywood and door to complete east side.

After a few hours, the east side is complete, and ready for a door.

Completed east side of temporary site office.

And here comes the next rain storm.

Rain storm approaching in minutes!