DRYWALL STARTED

Drywalling has started in the basement. Bed and bath rooms are complete. Family area remains.

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

WINDOWS

Windows were set the week before xmas. Entry door from Simpson is a VG doug fir 5 panel cross-reed glass with matching sidelight and transom. Windows and patio doors from Kolbe are extruded aluminum mill finish exterior with doug fir trim on the interior.

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

Living room interior / Patio exterior

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

Mud room interior / Patio exterior door

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

PLANTER BOXES

The last week of warmer weather has allowed the front porch planter boxes to be poured and the forms stripped. The front steps will be contained between the boxes. Facing material for the boxes has yet to be determined.

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

INSIDE PROGRESS

The house has been closed in for the last three weeks and the rough electrical, HVAC, and plumbing systems are complete. Foam insulation has been sprayed in walls and ceilings.

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

From House 12 2009

ROOF SHEATHED

Roof is on and sheathing is complete. Interior should stay fairly dry now, and the spaces are becoming more defined. Lighting plan to be worked over the next couple weeks. All plumbing fixture and cabinet choices have been made.

Living Area - Vaulted roof is hand laid BCIs on glu-lam beams.

From House 11 2009

Patio

From House 11 2009

Entrance - Footings poured for planter boxes. Boxes should pour this week as temperatures in the 50's are expected.

From House 11 2009

From House 11 2009

Street shot with family checking out the porta-potty

From House 11 2009

FRAMING CONTINUES

Double shed low slope roof starting to take shape. Beams for living area roof to be set next week. Colder weather has slowed our progress on pouring footings for the front porch planters. Roof should be sheathed by Turkey-day.

Living area view north onto patio

From House 11 2009

Street view

From House 11 2009

Glu-lams waiting to be set

From House 11 2009

SUBFLOOR & FRAMING

Floor trusses are set and sheathed and Main Floor framing should wrap up within the next two weeks. The biggest design issue right now is determining how to deal with the elevation and south slope off the front entrance. We are currently planning some concrete planter boxes off the entrance to contain the steps and soften the slope on the south side.

Entrance Opening on Facing Wall

From House 10 2009

View from Lower Level Walkout

From House 10 2009

ROUGH GRADING

Backfill and rough grading complete. Drainage issues have been worked out. Floor trusses should show up this week and framing will begin in the basement.

Backyard looking north


Street view


North edge of lot street view

SLABS POURED

With the shift back to normal fall weather the basement and garage floors were poured on Friday this last week. Backfill and rough lot grading should finish up this week. Sandstone boulders pictured below will be used to terrace the slopes on the front and back of the lot.

BASEMENT WALL FORMS

Poured footings are in place and the basement wall forms are shown built up on the footings. Walls were poured just before the snow hit on Tuesday, Oct. 6th. We have been choosing flooring and plumbing fixtures over the last week.

FOOTING FORMS

Footings should get poured next week. Detail below of a helical pier with top plate welded in place.

HELICAL PIERS

The house footings will be supported by a series of 42 helical piers. Each pier is made of solid steel square stock and is "screwed" into bedrock located about 15-feet below grade in our case. Piers come in 4-foot sections and are coupled as they are sunk into the ground. Based on the results of the soils test, piers were not required per building code, but we opted to incur the incremental cost of the pier system as insurance against settling issues which have occurred to several homes in the area. Shown below is the small track-hoe used to install the piers.

DIRT

Ubiquitous "dirt has been moved" photos.



Go Chase!

ELEVATIONS

Front (east) elevation - Entrance on left.  Double intersecting shed roofs allow for window placement along the upper living room section.  Two of these upper windows will be operable to facilitate ventilation during warmer months.  Roof material plan is for standing seam steel.  Siding to be a combination of corrugated steel below roof lines and Hardiepanel and Hardieplank on walls.


North elevation - Living room windows (3 ganged) with set of french doors (not visible - obscured by garage) to the left of windows.  Master bedroom to right.


West elevation - Backside of house exposed to western sun so windows minimized.


South elevation - Basement level walkout.


Living Room Section Drawing

FLOOR PLAN

We initially started this project as a two story based on Dwell's "Next House" with a main floor master and bedrooms upstairs located around a central area open to living below.  Cost considerations moved us to a ranch with bedrooms in the basement.  From here we found a lot with walkout potential and covenants that would not restrict roof pitch or building materials.

We basically kept the "Next House" floor plan concept with an addition to get a guest bedroom / office.  Main floor is at 2469 square feet.  Living area will be vaulted using exposed glue-lams.  Garage space was doubled - more room for mostly bicycles and a shop area.  The 90-degree orientation of the garages allows for minimizing the driveway width going to the street. 

Main Floor


Basement has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and 2 large open family areas.  Walkout is on the right side below. 

Basement

BARE LOT

Pic of the bare lot with the house perimeter staked out.  We walked out the lot with the builder today and we will need to make some adjustments to the garage bump out to be able to move the foundation to the north in order to accommodate the walkout basement on the south side.  Drainage issues stemming from the existing neighbors improperly sloped landscape will need to be addressed with the grading of our lot.

Front Elevation, Street View of Lot, & Plot Plan below