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OwnerBuilderBuilding and Remodeling Your Own Home 06 Februar Completing GroundworkAfter establishing your building site's layout, meeting all permit requirements and accomplishing excavation, you'll start to get some real traction on your project and this is where the rubber hits the road. The moment of truth. If your elevations are incorrect, this is when a problem becomes apparent. If all's well, you are over-joyed.
Creating a balance, a sense of proportion, is vital for site layout. Once your foundation footers and walls are placed, you reach that moment of truth. Like my friend, Bill Wheeler, explained to me this morning, "The sun needs to shine on all four sides of the house." What Bill means is that the landscaping needs to look good, feel good and perform well on all four sides of the house!
What you're trying to achieve is a home layout that fits the topography of your building site. In general, we call this THE GROUNDWORK.
During the foundation phase, there are usually two inspections: footers and walls. Your field inspector from the local building department needs to sign-off on your inspection permit.
I depend on my Foundation Contractor to maintain code compliance. He calls for inspections. This contractor sets the foundation forms, places the steel rebar, schedules the pump truck and concrete delivery, and then makes the pour. WHAT HE DOES NOT DO...IS ESTABLISH LAYOUT TO FIT TOPOGRAPHY. This is established before he arrives on site.
You should know that it's always nice when a plan comes together.
15 Dezember Habitat for Humanity's Home Improvement Outlet StoreTom shops for great deals at Habitat for Humanity's Home Improvement Outlet Store.
There are 200 different outlets located across America, and Tom shops at the Seattle store.
Store Manager, Michael Albiar, would like you to visit him at http://www.seattlehabitatoutlet.org/
At Tom's last visit, he had a chance to speak with Michael about both new products and recycled materials.
17 November Analyzing CostsGoing from budget estimating to fixed bid proposals challenges us to weigh and consider the difference between the high bids, low bids, and middle bidders. There's a huge range of differences between folks who want too much money and others who are simply buying the work just to keep busy. I'm searching for the middle ground.
What I'm trying to balance are the aesthetic, scientific, technological, and financial aspects of each and every phase of work. It's a matter of balance and proportion.
Right now, there are several different products that catch my attention:
ELDORADO RIVER ROCK supplied by EVERGREEN BUILDING PRODUCTS
WEYERHAUSER ILEVEL supplied by THE PARR LUMBER COMPANY
JOIST JACKETS & LEDGER JACKETS also supplied by THE PARR LUMBER COMPANY
What I'm trying to accomplish is to find the middle ground...that "just right" quality...that creates a balance between art-science-technology-cost.
I'm trying to be true to the spirt of both "cabinology" and "green" values but I'm also looking for products with greater efficiencies and a good value for the dollar I'll be spending.
08 November What's currently on my bookshelf? CABINOLOGYCabinology is the newest book by Dale Mulfinger.
I'm currently reading Cabinology because this tradition inspires me as my logs are prepared, rockeries built, and foundation dug.
The cabin-building tradition has been part of the American landscape since the first immigrants stepped ashore.
On my Down Home Radio Show, I recently interviewed Jack Larkin, author of Where We Lived: Discovering the Places We Once Called Home. This book is considered the most evocative publication to date about how families lived at the dawn of the republic and how their houses shaped their lives.
Where We Lived describes how early American families lived in their homes from Boston to the small farms of the rural South, from New Orleans to the raw frontier of Ohio and Illinois.
You can listen to my conversation with Jack at the Where We Lived Podcast.
Dale, as an architect, and Jack, as a historian, help me better understand the cabin-building tradition.
02 November Creating a BudgetRecently, I had a conversation with Duo Dickinson, author of The House You Build: Making Real-World Choices to Get the Home You Want. Mr. Dickinson packs a career's worth of wisdom and practicality into this book, and he shared this wisdom with my Down Home Radio Show audience discussing actual techniques for getting a dollar's worth of value for every dime spent on the design/build process.
The following budget list represents cost categories to which you must assign preliminary dollar amounts for the work to be accomplished.
Download this free, Excel spreadsheet as a preliminary beginning point for your budget estimate BUT REMEMBER THAT YOUR LOCALE AND SITE REQUIRES THAT YOU ADD OR DELETE LINE ITEMS BASED ON YOUR CIRCUMSTANCE. You must go through a budget review process with your architect, designer, trade contractors and suppliers in order to do a thorough cost analysis.
18 Oktober Sharing Your DesignColors, textures, patterns, photos, and other resources are very helpful when it came time to share my vision with design and build professionals.
For me, it began with the historic Preston Fieldhouse (read Oct 5th post). I immediately felt connected to the Arts & Crafts elements and the use of round river rock. Some of the elements I suggest that you bring into your home are historic concepts from homes and buildings in your region. Take pictures of what inspires and connects you to your community. And, if you discover any old photos on your weekend trips around your area, be sure to hang onto them. You'll put all of this to use when it comes time to share with others.
Other sources of real inspiration are color and texture elements that represent a specific architectural style. You'll notice that certain color groups tend to 'hang together' as you begin making choices. An architectural style can offer visual cues about the direction in which to go.
I'm also forever collecting books. My latest favorite is Jill Butler's Create the Space You Deserve. Jill leads the reader through the design process and offers ideas and gives examples of how to make conscious design choices. Photos from books are a way of capturing the 'big picture' of what inspires you and there's no harm discovering your inspiration from what others have already accomplished.
For the past couple years, I've carried a digital camera with me, and boy, am I glad I did. Each time I caught a glimpse of an interesting space, whether a park bench or a corner of a knick-knack store, I caught the image in my digital camera. I never did make sense of how it all worked together or why I found each space interesting but, in combination, all of these pictures began to tell a story about my personal taste. Just go with the flow.
Now that it's time to share my vision with others, I can open my design file with two years worth of homework--historic pictures, colors and textures, books and articles, pix of spatial details--to give design/build professionals a glimpse of what's important to me.
In our community, we enjoy the Black Diamond Historical Depot Museum.
The Black Diamond Historical Society was formed by a small group who decided to honor the Nation’s Bicentennial by preserving a little bit of America right at home. Many felt a strong concern for the disappearing buildings and artifacts in Black Diamond. Restoration of the depot began following the formation of the Historical Society in 1976. The Museum, pictured above, opened in 1982.
09 Oktober Diggin' the foundationThere's great success on a project when experienced trade contractors are hired to do the work.
This is why I chose Bill Wheeler of Wheeler Construction to dig our foundation!
With the help of my son and daugher, Will and Gia, I established vertical and horizontal elevations. Bill brought his dozer and backhoe to the jobsite and dug the foundation to allow for all our formwork to be placed on undisturbed soil. We used the dirt spoils from the excavation to establish a roadway to our well location. We had such great gravelly soil that we were able to utilize the material from the excavation as a roadbed, which was really fortunate because it saved a ton of money.
With excavation completed, we trucked in several loads of single pass 2" rock to establish a driveable surface on our site. This broken-face rock locks into the top layer of the soil, avoiding the site becoming a mud hole, and it creates a clean, solid roadway for delivery trucks and trade contractors to get into the building site. I've included pictures in the photo album. 05 Oktober My Inspration!Originality is hard to come by, and so it is with my project. I do not claim originality.
The rustic style of my 'Green Home' is the result of a long-held tradition -- the emphasis on harmonious design with a low impact on nature -- that had its roots in the public park movement of the mid-19th century, the ideals of the Arts & Crafts Movement, and development of national parks at the turn of the 20th century.
This is where I found my inspiration!
The Arts & Crafts Movement favored the beauty and honesty of traditional hand craftsmanship, the use of natural materials, and emphasis on simplicity.
The Preston Fieldhouse was built by WPA crews between 1938 and 1939 on land donated by the Preston Mill Co. Its river-rock masonry walls are built on a poured concrete foundation. The gabled, wood-shingle roof is more steeply sloped than other WPA-built fieldhouses. The gable ends are clad in wood shingles and supported by large knee braces. An exposed river-rock chimney rises from the stone-sheathed ground floor on the gable end of the southeast elevation of the fieldhouse.
The Preston Fieldhouse was built by WPA crews between 1938 and 1939 on land donated by the Preston Mill Co. Its river-rock masonry walls are built on a poured concrete foundation. The gabled, wood-shingle roof is more steeply sloped than other WPA-built fieldhouses. The gable ends are clad in wood shingles and supported by large knee braces. An exposed river-rock chimney rises from the stone-sheathed ground floor on the gable end of the southeast elevation of the fieldhouse.
The Preston Community Center in Preston Washington is located just off the Preston-Fall City Road. River rocks were used to build the foundations and chimney. Credits: Photography by Mike Siegel. Text and Captions by Seattle Times. Originally published October 5, 2008. 01 Oktober Staging the Construction SiteHere's a quick overview of what we've accomplished thus far...
29 September Addin' a rockery....We're done hoggin' out the site so now we're addin' a rockery!
It's a double rockery so each level will only be 3 feet high. If rockeries are any higher than 3' then they need to be designed and certified (it's our local building code) by an an engineer.
So, we split the difference on our elevation by establishing two rockeries with a 12 foot level bench in between the upper and lower rockeries. We finished the bench with 5/8" crushed rock and we're using it as a place to store our oiled logs.
The round rocks used for the rockery wall were taken directly from our site during excavation. The soil at this location is rich with natural sand, gravel and boulders so we're able to use our local material right back into the rockery. How great is that?
One of the crucial elements of a good rockery is drainage behind the rock wall, and we've definitely established good drainage with the gravel mix behind our wall of round rock. Good drainage eliminates water pressure from the ground to exert a force on the rock wall, which will eventually cause a wall failure.
Jason Irish of Franklin Landscape did rockery work for us. He's the real star of the show!
Take a look at Jason's work in my photo album. 24 September BUILDING PERMIT ISSUED...hoggin' out the site...Our building permit was finally issued with very little fanfare.
It was just a matter of a final permit payment and then pickup the official stamped set of building plans.
Our local excavation contractor, Wheeler Construction, was on standby so he immediately arrived on site to begin staging the site, or in his own words, "We're hoggin' out the site!"
What this means is cutting and filling the existing topography.
Owner, Bill Wheeler, sent Dick with his John Deere 200 Trackhoe to do the hoggin'.
Take a look at Dick's work in my photo album! 15 September Log PrepThis summer we took advantage of the nice weather to peel and pressure wash logs to be used in a timber frame portage at the entrace of the new house.
It's taken the edge off anticipating our building permit...having a log prep to do, which we'll certain put to use next spring when it comes time to build the timber frame structure.
I finished the logs with Kelly-Moore Log Oil. The oil contains a mildewcide and a UV inhibitor, and the oil allows our logs to "breathe" throughout the winter months.
The moisture content of the logs will always present an issue so I intend to keep a 5-gal bucket of Daly's on hand to maintain the natural, golden patina of our fir logs.
I expect our permit to be issued most any day.
16 Juni Still Waiting for Building PermitPermit application was made in early February.
Four months later, still no building permit. I'm patient.
But, it's amazing to me that we're at a point in the construction industry where very little activity occurs, yet our local building department takes four months to process a building permit application.
In the meantime, I'm peeling logs, which will be used when building the house.
I can peel, clean and seal the logs, giving them a chance to age properly for a year before I put them to use next springtime.
Permit Process: It is what it is.
Peeling logs with a spud takes the edge off my anticipation. 04 Mai Permit Application for New Residential ConstructionSo far, so good.
I don't want to seem like a pollyanna, however every story I've heard about bad experiences during permit application were not valid in my experience.
Let me share why I believe my experience with a permit application went so well.
First, I paid attention to the Building Department's guidelines for application, following them religiously.
Second, I went to a reputable residential designer to create my drawings so they not only met my lifestyle but also met the conditions of the building code.
Third, I hired a professional familiar with creating an official site plan, identifying all site conditions and integrating water-power-septic-house-driveway.
Fourth, before I made official application, I took advantage of the free pre-application meeting offered by the Building Department just to certain all documentation was in order.
Fifth, when I made my application, I made certain I brought with me any supporting documents that would be useful just in case there were any final issues to discuss.
And, as I left the permit tech's office, I asked what the next steps would be in the application process. I learned that 3 professionals from the Building Department would be visiting the building site to review existing conditions.
The Fire Marshall needed to verify whether or not a fire sprinkler system would be required. In this situation, it was not because our access road and driveway allowed plenty of access for the fire trucks.
A Drainage Review needed to be done on site to determine how stormwater would be recovered and then dispersed back into the environment. A dispersal plan needed to be recorded with King County and included with the permit application.
A Soil Review needed to be done on site to determine how the topsoil would be reconditioned after construction so the surrounding landscape would remain as close to its natural condition as possible.
After these 3 professionals from the Building Department completed their site analysis, their findings were incoporated into the permit application.
This entire process has taken place over winter and early spring.
One learns the virtue of patience.
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