Plaster, roof, and more
It's been quite some time since the last update. Last Friday (Aug 3), we went to the house after spending almost 3 weeks of vacation in NH. We were expecting lots of progress and our expectations were met.
The finish siding has been completed on the north side of the house and it looks great. There are some color variations but these will be dealt with via another treatment with the magic aging solution. (This is a secret mixture of water, iron particles, and acid. After it is allowed to "ferment" for a period of time, it causes rapid darkening when sprayed on redwood.) The majority of the siding is applied in a "reverse" board-and- batten pattern but it is highlighted with sections of smooth horizontal sections. I really like how this mixture of styles looks.
The plasterers have come and put on the first two coats while we were gone. (That is why the windows and floors are covered in plastic.) The finish coat will be applied after we get a sample of the tinted finish plaster and verify it is correct. (For those of you on the east coast, one of the advantages of plaster is that the color is in the plaster so no paint is necessary.)
We are using plaster around the outside fireplace, on the soffits (the underside of the overhang), and on the ceiling of the patio and walkways. The color of the plaster is critical because the house is designed so that it looks like the interior ceiling continues out to the soffits; if the plaster color doesn't match the ceiling color, the illusion won't work. (The fact that the windows go almost to the ceiling also helps.)
One of the crew mentioned that the plasterers were "interesting". They left 2 sculptures, one of a giant eye with a quarter as a pupil. You can see a picture of the other one below. (Those are quarters as eyes.)
Framing inspection (this has to occur just prior to application of insulation) occurs next Wednesday. The electrical is all in, including power, lights, network, audio, video. Smoke detectors and security are also complete. (In a rural area a security system seems kind of silly but it is required by the insurance company.) The final rough plumbing has also been completed.
While on vacation, we made a final decision on the insulation. The simple solution, fiberglass, is by far the cheapest. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that well compared to newer insulation types and isn't very green. The state of the art choice is closed-cell spray in foam. The problem is that it costs about four times as much as fiberglass. The foam contractor is very up on the technology and very aware of his cost issues; he worked with us to come up with a hybrid approach that uses both foam and fiberglass. For areas where efficiency is critical (roof, walls exposed to full sun, and the wine closet) we're using foam. For interior walls and floors, we're using fiberglass. This reduces cost differential down to something more palatable.
The roof is now complete. All the panels were manufactured on site with a machine that works like a giant version of a seamless gutter fabricator. The roofer orders a large roll of flat steel pre-painted in the desired color. It is then run it through the machine which bends and cuts it into the required size and shape. This eliminates the need to ship a huge number of large, easily dented pieces of thin metal. The sheets are joined via a "standing seam". The roofers loosely connect the panels then use a powered crimper that runs along the seam doing the final crimping. The end result is (hopefully) a leak proof roof that will last for decades.
When we moved the pool due to the soil conditions, the downhill part ended up being essentially above ground. We were all worried about how to make this fit with the landscaping since it really stuck up. The simple approach would be to just pile dirt up next to the pool. Unfortunately, this would probably end up looking like dirt piled up next to a pool. The solution was to add a retaining wall downhill from the pool that would create a raised planting bed below the top of the pool. The final grading will be used to soften the line of the retaining wall. Susan is working with the landscape architect on what should be planted in these raised beds; lavender is one possibility.
Next week the pool concrete work continues, the framing will be inspected, and the insulation crew will start. We are going to finalize the wood for the floor (a Eucalyptus variant called "Sydney Blue" which is much harder than oak or maple) and cabinets. We should also start to look at color schemes.
The finish siding has been completed on the north side of the house and it looks great. There are some color variations but these will be dealt with via another treatment with the magic aging solution. (This is a secret mixture of water, iron particles, and acid. After it is allowed to "ferment" for a period of time, it causes rapid darkening when sprayed on redwood.) The majority of the siding is applied in a "reverse" board-and- batten pattern but it is highlighted with sections of smooth horizontal sections. I really like how this mixture of styles looks.
North side siding.
The plasterers have come and put on the first two coats while we were gone. (That is why the windows and floors are covered in plastic.) The finish coat will be applied after we get a sample of the tinted finish plaster and verify it is correct. (For those of you on the east coast, one of the advantages of plaster is that the color is in the plaster so no paint is necessary.)
We are using plaster around the outside fireplace, on the soffits (the underside of the overhang), and on the ceiling of the patio and walkways. The color of the plaster is critical because the house is designed so that it looks like the interior ceiling continues out to the soffits; if the plaster color doesn't match the ceiling color, the illusion won't work. (The fact that the windows go almost to the ceiling also helps.)
Plaster ceiling in outside patio and soffits.
One of the crew mentioned that the plasterers were "interesting". They left 2 sculptures, one of a giant eye with a quarter as a pupil. You can see a picture of the other one below. (Those are quarters as eyes.)
Sculpture left by the plaster crew.
Framing inspection (this has to occur just prior to application of insulation) occurs next Wednesday. The electrical is all in, including power, lights, network, audio, video. Smoke detectors and security are also complete. (In a rural area a security system seems kind of silly but it is required by the insurance company.) The final rough plumbing has also been completed.
Network and power wires.
While on vacation, we made a final decision on the insulation. The simple solution, fiberglass, is by far the cheapest. Unfortunately, it doesn't work that well compared to newer insulation types and isn't very green. The state of the art choice is closed-cell spray in foam. The problem is that it costs about four times as much as fiberglass. The foam contractor is very up on the technology and very aware of his cost issues; he worked with us to come up with a hybrid approach that uses both foam and fiberglass. For areas where efficiency is critical (roof, walls exposed to full sun, and the wine closet) we're using foam. For interior walls and floors, we're using fiberglass. This reduces cost differential down to something more palatable.
The roof is now complete. All the panels were manufactured on site with a machine that works like a giant version of a seamless gutter fabricator. The roofer orders a large roll of flat steel pre-painted in the desired color. It is then run it through the machine which bends and cuts it into the required size and shape. This eliminates the need to ship a huge number of large, easily dented pieces of thin metal. The sheets are joined via a "standing seam". The roofers loosely connect the panels then use a powered crimper that runs along the seam doing the final crimping. The end result is (hopefully) a leak proof roof that will last for decades.
Roof panels.
Roof seam before crimping.
Panorama from below. (Click for a larger image.)
When we moved the pool due to the soil conditions, the downhill part ended up being essentially above ground. We were all worried about how to make this fit with the landscaping since it really stuck up. The simple approach would be to just pile dirt up next to the pool. Unfortunately, this would probably end up looking like dirt piled up next to a pool. The solution was to add a retaining wall downhill from the pool that would create a raised planting bed below the top of the pool. The final grading will be used to soften the line of the retaining wall. Susan is working with the landscape architect on what should be planted in these raised beds; lavender is one possibility.
New retaining wall below the pool.
Next week the pool concrete work continues, the framing will be inspected, and the insulation crew will start. We are going to finalize the wood for the floor (a Eucalyptus variant called "Sydney Blue" which is much harder than oak or maple) and cabinets. We should also start to look at color schemes.
posted by Jim Barstow at
12:34 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home