Baby it's Cold Outside

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It's now nice and toasty and quiet in the house. Read on for details! Honestly, compared to other parts of the country it's been pretty nice. But the wind does blow and the rain is chilly and sometimes it seems like the sky will always be a shade of gray. 

On this particular day the skies were partly cloudy and the rain had ceased. We walked up to the house and oohed and ahhed as Rob was adding full planks of cedar siding to the front of the house between the windows. It was beautiful. But wrong. Shoot! Rob read the expression on my face and Scott headed for the hills. Rob was certain he had it right, but no. He went inside to check the plans and we heard "Noooo!" 

Not to worry, Rob had a plan. These guys are truly gifted with saws. The next day we showed up on sight and you would never know there was an oops. Hardie panel, which will be painted black, was in place and things kept moving forward. Rob was pleased that only one of the pieces that was removed was damaged beyond future use.

Updates from the last blog entry...

We passed the electrical and plumbing rough-in inspections. Still awaiting the permit for the sprinkler system. There were some questions on the framing inspection so the engineer is working through that. 

The solar guys showed up on Friday (no prior warning) and there wasn't enough room for them to pull their truck in so they said they'd be back this week. It's been raining this week, but is supposed to dry up tomorrow. I have a call into Stan the Solar Man to see if they'll be on site tomorrow. 

While I was in Portland last week I received an email from our hardwood flooring vendor. The material for the 5 inch custom white oak flooring is backordered until late January. The 4.25 inch material is available. Oh, and as it happens the 4.25 inch material is what their showroom sample was made of. So on my way out of town I stopped at Portland Flooring to have a look.

Sure enough, 4.25 inches and still gorgeous. And we'll get a discount too! Sold. It will be ready just after the holidays.

So while it actually has been cold outside Brian was able to schedule the spray foam insulation in the rafters on the second floor. The spray foam is three inches thick, so it doesn't interfere with the sprinkler system. 

There will be additional bat insulation in the ceiling below the foam once we get the sprinkler permits. In fact, there will be bat insulation in just about every wall in the house. The specifications are all bedroom, bathroom, laundry and elevator interior walls; floors, garage and under the stairs.

Living room facing east

Living room facing west (Joe Sr. in the foreground)

Living Room facing north

Facing north at the stairwell, with the non-insulated pony wall

West wall of the primary bedroom

East wall of the primary bedroom

Den facing northeast

Den facing south

Den facing west (back of the laundry wall)

First floor bath

The insulation on the exterior walls is R21 and I believe the interior insulation in R14. Brian had the insulation crew hold off on the first floor ceiling insulation while we await the engineer on the framing question. Meanwhile, since first floor ceiling insulation is not required by the city Brian called for the insulation inspection and interior shear wall inspection, hoping to slip a conditional approval for the sprinkler system in as well.

Gutters and Fireplace and Siding and Electricity!

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Lots going on at 464 Astoria View last week. First and foremost, we have electricity in the house. Well, not much, but some! Pacific Power came by on Tuesday and installed the permanent meter and removed the temporary meter which was located by the sidewalk. The electricians had pre-wired two outlets in the house for temporary power, one upstairs and one downstairs. They also provisioned a 220 outlet in the kitchen for an electric furnace to warm the insides for when the sheetrock goes in.

Our permanent electric meter

The western red cedar, pre-stained with Benjamin Moore Semi-transparent Fairview Taupe, arrived on Tuesday, a week late. Rob and Hank got right on putting up the cedar at the south east corner of the house.

Cedar siding delivery

South east corner of the house, first to get cedar siding

Rough electrical was inspected and approved on Tuesday and the plumbing systems were put into test, awaiting inspection. They will continue to wait as the sprinkler permit hasn't been issued yet and the City won't inspect the plumbing systems until all the permits are issued. I told them. The plumbers also remembered to install the forgotten water line for the refrigerator.

First floor deck hose bib with pressure gauge for plumbing inspection

Inside, Dugan's Heating Solutions installed the fireplace with accompanying vent and chimney. All that lovely steel will be enclosed and clad in blackened steel when the interiors are complete. Ron Dugan also installed the vent for the make up air in the kitchen. He wants to hold off on the cooktop hood vent until the cooktop is installed (the better to make sure it's in the right place).

Our German engineered, zero-clearance wood burning fireplace - the Wittus 600

Right side showing the vent to the outside

Left side, with a little pull switch to open and close the vent

Make up air vent

More of that lovely cedar siding with the make up air vent to the left and fireplace vent to the right

I haven't mentioned the gutters, which were installed on Monday. The job isn't quite complete because they didn't bring enough material for the downspouts at the east and west corner of the house. So there are currently two corrugated plastic downspouts hanging from the gutter. It doesn't look great, but they work. Even with all the rain this past week things remained dry enough for Rob and Hank to (almost) finish the shiplap siding on the front of the house during some pretty good downpours.

I love the cedar siding...corrugated downspout, not so much

All buttoned up for the winter! In this photo you can see the shiplap on the first floor, the
front door installed, our temporary downspouts, the cedar siding and our bright, shiny chimney!

On Thursday we ordered the hardwood flooring that will be installed through most of the house. The flooring is custom white oak and it's 5 inches wide in varying lengths from 18 to 84 inches long.

Next week we expect the installation of the cedar siding to continue. We hope (fingers crossed) to get the rough-in plumbing inspection and approval. Assuming that happens, Wednesday the insulation contractor can spray the foam insulation in the ceiling and at the rims, followed by bat insulation just about everywhere else in the house. And possibly solar panels!

Holiday Retreat, Concrete and Ready for Inspection

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The holiday season has arrived and with it our contractors have taken traditional time off and Brian traveled to see family in other parts of the country, which means progress temporarily slowed on our home in Astoria. That doesn't mean, however that progress has completely stopped.

Hint: click on photos to see them in full screen.

The electricians came back to dress all the wires, trimming, stripping and capping them before tucking them in their appropriate boxes. Above you can see the before and after at the electrical box. You can also see the plywood wall, one of the sheer walls inside the house.

Garage sheer wall and conduit for the solar array wires

Laundry sheer wall

For those uninitiated in construction terminology, a shear wall is a structural support element that resists shear forces, like heavy winds and seismic activity. Our home will definitely experience high winds, hopefully not seismic activity! The house has three interior sheer walls, the first two shown above in the garage and the laundry, surrounding the first floor of the stairwell. The third interior sheer wall, not yet installed because we're awaiting inspections, is on the south wall of the primary bath on the second floor.

The plumbers were on hand installing the sprinkler system, required by the City of Astoria Fire Department. It was a sprinkler system or we would have to pay for a fire hydrant. Our system has nineteen sprinkler heads on the first and second floor. Interesting fact, the sprinkler system, by code, has to be connected to a (non-potable) fixture in the home that will occasionally flush the sprinkler lines. As it happens, that fixture is the toilet in the powder room on the second floor. So the water for that toilet is provided by the sprinkler system, not the main plumbing lines. Weird.

A break in the weather allowed the concrete contractor, Alex, to pour the sidewalk directly in front of the house and the pad for the trash and recycling area next to our future driveway. The sidewalk gives way to the apron in front of the garage. Two days after the pour, Alex returned to remove the forms and "wash" the concrete. I'm not exactly sure what is involved with the the wash, but I think there was acid.

Trash and recycling pad, fence enclosure to come

It seems customary for concrete contractors to leave chunks of cement droppings in odd places, but I digress. What's really cool is something that I really never thought of until designing this house... zero threshold. After watching my parents struggle with even the smallest of steps to the threshold of their home, it was something we really wanted, and behold...

The concrete is level with the threshold at the front door and the garage. Brian says it's the "lowest" house he's ever built. It's not been without planning challenges, but it's worth it.

Hardie Plank siding complete at the west side of the house

Hardie Plank siding at the north side of the house. Behind the garage,
around the deck and the North wall of the den

Hardie Plank siding at the east wall

Meanwhile, Rob and Hank completed installing the Hardie Plank shiplap siding on the sides and back of the house. They were waiting for the concrete to install the siding on the front first floor of the house. Now, with concrete in place, they began by installing stainless steel flashing along the bottom edge. 

Shortly thereafter it began to pour, time to call it a week. The next week or so should be pretty busy. The gutter contractor should be on site on Monday. The permanent electric meter will be installed by Pacific Power on Monday or Tuesday. The pre-stained western red cedar siding is being delivered on Tuesday. The HVAC contractor is due in this week to install the fireplace and makeup air system. The hardwood flooring should be ordered this week. No idea when the solar guys will show up...the permits have been issued. But with any luck, the electrical and plumbing rough-ins will be inspected and approved!