Incredibly enough the house is ready for us to move in. It's not complete, but the major work inside & outside is done enough for us to live in relative peace. We even have cleaners coming in tomorrow to clean the bathrooms, vacuum and dust.
Even with the tight schedule and me being away almost the entire week at my new VMware job, we managed to get the house ready for people. The floors were finished, the counter was installed, the deck and steps were laid in, and most of the siding is up. A lot of the lights even got done which is great, and some of the kitchen appliances even work like the GFCI's and the fridge, so we can make food, eat it, and store it!
Tomorrow we will move our belongings in from Eugenia's apartment in San Francisco. I'm also hoping to install the china cabinet so we have kitchen storage space.
I'm feeling quite a bit relieved, especially since we had a few little hiccups this week. The ipe wood is proving hard to work with due to its hardness. I'm hoping though that means it will last a long time.
We also had to do some creative counter work. Apparently Kenichi & I didn't make the cabinets perfectly level but there's only maybe a 1/8" gap at the worst, so there was a little shimming they had to do. We also found the wall was a major problem. because of the curve of the wall, especially where the big glue-lam beam is, the counter guys had to cut the granite backsplash in 2 places so the backsplash would stay relatively flush against the wall. If they had kept the 2 long pieces, there would have been a 1" gap at one end between the backsplash & the wall!
The kitchen dimensions are just right for the appliances. Kenichi and I were able to squeeze in the wine fridge and it fit snugly. The dishwasher looks like it'll just fit in and I'm really hoping there's no problems with the stove! I am a little worried since the counter edge around the stove sticks out about 1/8" and I thought the space was already a bit tight...
Friday, April 25, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
final cabinetry work
This week was tough but exciting. We finished the cabinets tonight, and we celebrated with another Ramen Club dinner. We did:
The house now looks almost like a proper home! With the floors basically in place throughout the house and the cabinets, it's really starting to look like the home we envisioned!
The next few days are critical again. Terry & Cody will be in to do a finish sanding coat, and then apply the stain and finish coats of oil sealer. Then hopefully the counters will be ready and installed by next Friday. I'm also hoping Eric will get in for a few days of lighting and electrical install because we need them to live in the house! Next week Shaun, Jed, Mauricio and day guys need to finish the deck and siding so the house is presentable and we can walk in from the backyard.
- Install the floor and wall cabinets
- finish and sanding of all drawer faces and cabinet doors
- Install drawers, faces and alignment
- Install hinges and doors and aligned them
- installed the wine fridge and regular fridge
- The island was also installed with doors and drawers
- installed the border walls to cover up the cabinet sides, and the long back side facing the family room
- Kenichi even installed the remaining natural plyboo at the one stepdown to make it look consistent with the cabinet wall.
The house now looks almost like a proper home! With the floors basically in place throughout the house and the cabinets, it's really starting to look like the home we envisioned!
The next few days are critical again. Terry & Cody will be in to do a finish sanding coat, and then apply the stain and finish coats of oil sealer. Then hopefully the counters will be ready and installed by next Friday. I'm also hoping Eric will get in for a few days of lighting and electrical install because we need them to live in the house! Next week Shaun, Jed, Mauricio and day guys need to finish the deck and siding so the house is presentable and we can walk in from the backyard.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
cabinets day 1 and 2
Wow! what a difference a day makes! Yesterday we had cabinetry sitting around the rooms and appliances in the garage. Today the house is really starting to take on it's character.
The cabinets are awesome. Ken came in Monday night. I saw the cabinets as we unloaded yesterday and they are beautiful black and natural bamboo colors. The drawers look great with the plywood and bamboo lines and the cutouts for the handles instead of hardware. Can't wait to finish the cabinets this week.
Yesterday, we also measured out the space and the leveling. We found there's quite a bit of a discrepancy along the floor - nearly 1 1/2" from 1 end of the kitchen to the dining room! The wall is slightly off-plumb but it's not too bad, we can work with it.
We started the cabinets with the corner floor piece. From there, everything else has to flow correctly so it's critical we got the corner in correctly. The corner took some time and then we made sure to measure the stove gap correctly.
We also had to cut down most of the pony wall that Bob's crew put in place. Originally they had the pony wall spanning the entire length of the floor cabinets that bordered the kitchen & family room. We really just needed a short wall for the back of the stove, where the electrical would come up and also where the gas for the stove will be. So I cut that down and re-sized it to fit the stove only. We butted the cabinets squarely up against the wall and did a little shimming and sawing to get a fairly level surface for the countertop. We'll see how good a job we did in a few days...
We are working pretty hard to make sure we get the floor cabinets all in by today. Reason being is Marble City is coming tomorrow morning to make a template of the counter, and we are hoping to approve the template and granite layout on Friday. So to meet that schedule, we are working a little backwards. We are installing the wall cabinets AFTER the floor cabinets. Normally this would be done in reverse, since the wall cabinets are easier to install without navigating around the floor cabinets. But there's not too many so it should be OK.
The cabinets are awesome. Ken came in Monday night. I saw the cabinets as we unloaded yesterday and they are beautiful black and natural bamboo colors. The drawers look great with the plywood and bamboo lines and the cutouts for the handles instead of hardware. Can't wait to finish the cabinets this week.
Yesterday, we also measured out the space and the leveling. We found there's quite a bit of a discrepancy along the floor - nearly 1 1/2" from 1 end of the kitchen to the dining room! The wall is slightly off-plumb but it's not too bad, we can work with it.
We started the cabinets with the corner floor piece. From there, everything else has to flow correctly so it's critical we got the corner in correctly. The corner took some time and then we made sure to measure the stove gap correctly.
We also had to cut down most of the pony wall that Bob's crew put in place. Originally they had the pony wall spanning the entire length of the floor cabinets that bordered the kitchen & family room. We really just needed a short wall for the back of the stove, where the electrical would come up and also where the gas for the stove will be. So I cut that down and re-sized it to fit the stove only. We butted the cabinets squarely up against the wall and did a little shimming and sawing to get a fairly level surface for the countertop. We'll see how good a job we did in a few days...
We are working pretty hard to make sure we get the floor cabinets all in by today. Reason being is Marble City is coming tomorrow morning to make a template of the counter, and we are hoping to approve the template and granite layout on Friday. So to meet that schedule, we are working a little backwards. We are installing the wall cabinets AFTER the floor cabinets. Normally this would be done in reverse, since the wall cabinets are easier to install without navigating around the floor cabinets. But there's not too many so it should be OK.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
paint and flooring progress
The last few days we did quite a bit of painting. The ceilings were done last week, and we put up the primer paint layer. It's a special primer for new drywall which basically seals the drywall. Pretty neat stuff since now we have a nice, impermeable surface to put the real colors on.
I feel fortunate - Julie liked my color suggestions. After a lot of back and forth this winter, we settled on Benjamin Moore for most of the finish paint, Lighthouse for the basic wall color and we chose Caliente for the accent wall, which basically is what the south interior wall of the house became.
I told the drywall guys & day laborers not to bother painting the entire wall. We'll put cabinets up so no reason to paint the whole thing. The colors have turned out quite nicely and add a lot of character to the house, reflecting the sunlight into the house quite nicely.
We're basically now ready for Kenichi's cabinets to go in, since the flooring is also laid in, but not entirely finished.
Cody and Terry came in and put in the rest of the hardwood flooring. We at least got the base floor in, and after the cabinets are done they'll come in to sand and refinish the floors. It was really tough getting them in since they had some major personal family stuff going on, which is totally understandable, but boy was I getting nervous!
I'm also now really trying to manage the schedule tightly as I know I'm starting with VMware in a week's time, and we really want to move in 2 weekends from now - April 26 and 27! So much left to do inside the house to get it ready for us to live in. It's critical now that we get the major work done so that we don't have to create lots of noise and especially dust when the baby is living in the house.
I feel fortunate - Julie liked my color suggestions. After a lot of back and forth this winter, we settled on Benjamin Moore for most of the finish paint, Lighthouse for the basic wall color and we chose Caliente for the accent wall, which basically is what the south interior wall of the house became.
I told the drywall guys & day laborers not to bother painting the entire wall. We'll put cabinets up so no reason to paint the whole thing. The colors have turned out quite nicely and add a lot of character to the house, reflecting the sunlight into the house quite nicely.
We're basically now ready for Kenichi's cabinets to go in, since the flooring is also laid in, but not entirely finished.
Cody and Terry came in and put in the rest of the hardwood flooring. We at least got the base floor in, and after the cabinets are done they'll come in to sand and refinish the floors. It was really tough getting them in since they had some major personal family stuff going on, which is totally understandable, but boy was I getting nervous!
I'm also now really trying to manage the schedule tightly as I know I'm starting with VMware in a week's time, and we really want to move in 2 weekends from now - April 26 and 27! So much left to do inside the house to get it ready for us to live in. It's critical now that we get the major work done so that we don't have to create lots of noise and especially dust when the baby is living in the house.
Sunday, April 13, 2008
deck solution and progress!
Ah, so while we didn't get the flooring going this week, we started putting up some siding and painting the ceiling. House is starting to look like a real home. We cleaned up the floor and vacuumed a bit as well - my wet-vac showed up and it's way better for cleaning the drywall crud and dust.
We figured out a solution for the deck. I also talked with Dominic Chu, the structural engineer, about what to do. We'll use 2x8's for the framing, and it's OK to cut some of the hold-downs in the concrete pads, as long as we leave 4 screw holes on each side of the 4x4 posts. Actually, since we measured and leveled all 4 pads, it's only the pad closest to the driveway that needs to be cut off a lot -the rest just need 1/2" to 1" max. This will allow us to use the 4x8 beam as a foundation beam across the pads and rest the 2x8 joists on top of it.
We will also change the steps slightly, so that the concrete pad will now be the first step. This will keep the wood off the dirt which is great, plus we're doing the standard 7 to 8 inch rise so we only need 3 steps!
We figured out a solution for the deck. I also talked with Dominic Chu, the structural engineer, about what to do. We'll use 2x8's for the framing, and it's OK to cut some of the hold-downs in the concrete pads, as long as we leave 4 screw holes on each side of the 4x4 posts. Actually, since we measured and leveled all 4 pads, it's only the pad closest to the driveway that needs to be cut off a lot -the rest just need 1/2" to 1" max. This will allow us to use the 4x8 beam as a foundation beam across the pads and rest the 2x8 joists on top of it.
We will also change the steps slightly, so that the concrete pad will now be the first step. This will keep the wood off the dirt which is great, plus we're doing the standard 7 to 8 inch rise so we only need 3 steps!
Monday, April 7, 2008
new schedule hiccups
ok... more schedule changes - what else is new? looks like now we won't have Kenichi install the cabinets until next week. Fortunately that should be OK. he's been pretty backed up with having to go to Japan last month and also getting the flu. we'll still be able to have the granite counter template made and approved before we move in, which means that if timing is good, we'll have the counter installed our first week of living in the house.
Not too bad, i think.
We should still be able to complete the bathroom and painting on time. I also believe we'll get the electrical and plumbing done in time. Plus we should also have the deck installed by this time so we can get into the house! At least from the backyard, or what will be the backyard.
The tricky thing now, for me at least, is getting the flooring done at the right time. As I'm writing, supposedly the hardwood floors were sanded and the bamboo floors (master BR, family and study) were installed.
However, the staining & sealing of the hardwood floors will still take about 2 days to complete. TJC flooring told me they really would like the HVAC in place so they can run the heat all day & night when they stain the floor. This ensures the newly-wet wood won't buckle due to the temperature fluctuations. So we can't do it right now. I may be able to jury-rig the HVAC with electrical so that at least we can do the floors later this week.
But I think that even if we got the floors done after the cabinets, we can still get the interior of the house 95% done in time for when Julie and I move in. Keep praying for good timing!
Not too bad, i think.
We should still be able to complete the bathroom and painting on time. I also believe we'll get the electrical and plumbing done in time. Plus we should also have the deck installed by this time so we can get into the house! At least from the backyard, or what will be the backyard.
The tricky thing now, for me at least, is getting the flooring done at the right time. As I'm writing, supposedly the hardwood floors were sanded and the bamboo floors (master BR, family and study) were installed.
However, the staining & sealing of the hardwood floors will still take about 2 days to complete. TJC flooring told me they really would like the HVAC in place so they can run the heat all day & night when they stain the floor. This ensures the newly-wet wood won't buckle due to the temperature fluctuations. So we can't do it right now. I may be able to jury-rig the HVAC with electrical so that at least we can do the floors later this week.
But I think that even if we got the floors done after the cabinets, we can still get the interior of the house 95% done in time for when Julie and I move in. Keep praying for good timing!
Friday, April 4, 2008
drywall taping and mudding
we are now full-on into the mud and topping work. we've got joint compounds on all the joints and screws.
BTW, forgot to mention that we smartly bought a HILTI drywall gun so that the screws went in perfectly, plus i also bought several drywall drivers for the power drills. this ensured we didn't break any of the drywall when drilling it to the walls.
Jed and Shaun are making sure we're doing 2 coats of topping. i didn't know if this would be overkill, but it's turning out nicely. it is really helpful as it's smoothed out the walls quite a bit. we've actually not had to do much sanding as a result.
the other benefit is that i am getting a really good idea of how the natural light works in the house. we are getting a lot of light thru the skylight and the front windows & door, and even the kitchen garden window!
looks like we'll get to putting primer on Saturday. the guys want to get it up before the floor guys start sanding.
BTW, forgot to mention that we smartly bought a HILTI drywall gun so that the screws went in perfectly, plus i also bought several drywall drivers for the power drills. this ensured we didn't break any of the drywall when drilling it to the walls.
Jed and Shaun are making sure we're doing 2 coats of topping. i didn't know if this would be overkill, but it's turning out nicely. it is really helpful as it's smoothed out the walls quite a bit. we've actually not had to do much sanding as a result.
the other benefit is that i am getting a really good idea of how the natural light works in the house. we are getting a lot of light thru the skylight and the front windows & door, and even the kitchen garden window!
looks like we'll get to putting primer on Saturday. the guys want to get it up before the floor guys start sanding.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
drywall installation
sweet! we've got the drywall up, and started mudding some of the joints and screws. Things are moving nicely. we were surprised to learn that Burlingame doesn't require inspections of the drywall but i took pictures anyway in case. plus i took pix of the mud & tape work so that we have that as well.
learned quite a bit here. before, G and I did a quick drywall work up in SF, where we converted the 2-room front rooms on Magnolia Street into 2 bedrooms. at the time i didn't know to wet the tape and lay it on, and we also did a couple layers of joint compound.
this time around, i watched and helped out with a little work. Jed and Shaun are doing a very nice job with a single pass of joint compound.
learned quite a bit here. before, G and I did a quick drywall work up in SF, where we converted the 2-room front rooms on Magnolia Street into 2 bedrooms. at the time i didn't know to wet the tape and lay it on, and we also did a couple layers of joint compound.
this time around, i watched and helped out with a little work. Jed and Shaun are doing a very nice job with a single pass of joint compound.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Insulation inspection - now for drywall!
Alright! Things are moving in a very positive direction with the remodel. We passed insulation inspection. This time, we had a different inspector, but I pointed out all the items that our "regular" inspector had specified we fix. i definitely didn't want something to be missed and then come back to haunt me... this included some 2x4 studs directly underneath several of the new dining room's ceiling joists; a 2x6 king stud in the rear bathroom corner; and the HVAC needing the flux.
We installed R-30 for ceilings and areas touching the attic space; R-19 for the flooring - installed in the floor joists under the house, and R-13 for exterior walls and some interior walls (eg bathrooms). Walls and ceilings were stapled, and the floor insulation used wire.
Well, we still need to fix a few little things with HVAC; namely putting insulation around the boots (ducts facing into the rooms) and we also need to add some sleepers (slippers?) for the furnace itself. the inspector grabbed the unit and shook it! and then told me it shouldn't move around in the event of an earthquake.
We will start putting up the drywall on Monday. If all goes well, we'll get to the floors the following week, just in time for Kenichi to come in and install the cabinets. We can't get the kitchen counter installed until after the floor cabinets are in, so that is now our critical path.
Then I guess we'll get to the paint, bathroom, and finishing details like electrical outlets & lights and the molding and window trim. We're now planning to move in by the end of the April and it looks really good that we'll have 90 or 95% of the work done by then!
We installed R-30 for ceilings and areas touching the attic space; R-19 for the flooring - installed in the floor joists under the house, and R-13 for exterior walls and some interior walls (eg bathrooms). Walls and ceilings were stapled, and the floor insulation used wire.
Well, we still need to fix a few little things with HVAC; namely putting insulation around the boots (ducts facing into the rooms) and we also need to add some sleepers (slippers?) for the furnace itself. the inspector grabbed the unit and shook it! and then told me it shouldn't move around in the event of an earthquake.
We will start putting up the drywall on Monday. If all goes well, we'll get to the floors the following week, just in time for Kenichi to come in and install the cabinets. We can't get the kitchen counter installed until after the floor cabinets are in, so that is now our critical path.
Then I guess we'll get to the paint, bathroom, and finishing details like electrical outlets & lights and the molding and window trim. We're now planning to move in by the end of the April and it looks really good that we'll have 90 or 95% of the work done by then!
Monday, March 17, 2008
final rough inspection
Woo hoo! Today we had our rough inspections for everything in the house. As you can guess from my opening statement, we are basically good to go for insulation, and that will hopefully go well so we can start drywall.
We had: rough electrical, plumbing, exterior lathe, shearwalls, framing and HVAC. We had only a few small things to take care of on framing, HVAC and the exterior lath. Since the inspector felt he could see this work with insulation in, he let us go ahead on insulation installation. Big sigh of relief from me & the contractors!
We were happy that we had properly fixed the shearwall hold-down (HDQ6) in the back corner in time for Friday. We had the pull test performed on Friday for the hold-downs (3 total, 1 per shearwall), so the 7/8" bolts are properly glued to the concrete, which means the shearwalls are good and the inspector didn't have any big comments on framing so the carpenter was smart to add some extra hangers for the 2x's, instead of using just A35 clips.
Now we're on to insulation and no one is too worried about that inspection. Should go OK but we'll see. We're hoping to have the inspection on Thursday but I'm not sure that we can really get all the work done in 2 days; everything seems to take at least 25% if not 50% longer than anyone estimates.
We had: rough electrical, plumbing, exterior lathe, shearwalls, framing and HVAC. We had only a few small things to take care of on framing, HVAC and the exterior lath. Since the inspector felt he could see this work with insulation in, he let us go ahead on insulation installation. Big sigh of relief from me & the contractors!
We were happy that we had properly fixed the shearwall hold-down (HDQ6) in the back corner in time for Friday. We had the pull test performed on Friday for the hold-downs (3 total, 1 per shearwall), so the 7/8" bolts are properly glued to the concrete, which means the shearwalls are good and the inspector didn't have any big comments on framing so the carpenter was smart to add some extra hangers for the 2x's, instead of using just A35 clips.
Now we're on to insulation and no one is too worried about that inspection. Should go OK but we'll see. We're hoping to have the inspection on Thursday but I'm not sure that we can really get all the work done in 2 days; everything seems to take at least 25% if not 50% longer than anyone estimates.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
conversation with the inspector
OK, i think we'll get back on track now. talked with the inspector and i think we're both on the same page. maybe he felt we were trying to rush everything through and i hope he understands that as the owner i plan to stick around a while!
I got clarification on the problems with electrical - just need to clean up the old stuff that isn't in use, just like the plumbing. And we need to move dirt away from the concrete wall and shearwalls. I'm going to visit the engineer to get clarification on how we can properly do the 1 subfloor shearwall since the concrete wall and the floor joist aren't well-lined up. This means we need to do a little extra work, somehow, to make the shearwall connect solidly to the concrete and the floor joists.
apparently we ARE supposed to have an interior shearwall that goes above the subfloor. right now we only had 3 shearwalls below the floor. now we gotta take the middle one all the way up to the attic, so that is more plywood, 2x4s and nails.
we also will need to re-do part of the shearwall on the other side of the basement. the fix that the carpenters came up with won't cut it so i'll talk to the structural engineer to figure out what we need to do.
we also need to get some sort of pull-test done, which i learned is simply to pull on the bolts that are newly glued into the concrete foundation to ensure they are set properly. i mean, this makes sense, but why wasn't this raised up by the engineers, either my structural guy or the city engineers?
We're also double-checking all the shearwalls and I'm taking pictures to review with the engineer. Hopefully this extra work will ensure the next 2 rough inspections go smoothly. We still have to schedule
1. the rough subfloor inspection, including framing, electrical and plumbing
2. rough inspection for framing, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical, PLUS exterior lathe to ensure the house is watertight from outside
3. insulation
4. gas test before final inspection
5. final inspection
I made sure to ask the inspector about all the inspections he wants to see, since i don't want to get caught off-guard again. I was surprised to learn there is no drywall inspections needed, but that is also good - we can just plow through the work instead of losing a day or two to inspections.
I got clarification on the problems with electrical - just need to clean up the old stuff that isn't in use, just like the plumbing. And we need to move dirt away from the concrete wall and shearwalls. I'm going to visit the engineer to get clarification on how we can properly do the 1 subfloor shearwall since the concrete wall and the floor joist aren't well-lined up. This means we need to do a little extra work, somehow, to make the shearwall connect solidly to the concrete and the floor joists.
apparently we ARE supposed to have an interior shearwall that goes above the subfloor. right now we only had 3 shearwalls below the floor. now we gotta take the middle one all the way up to the attic, so that is more plywood, 2x4s and nails.
we also will need to re-do part of the shearwall on the other side of the basement. the fix that the carpenters came up with won't cut it so i'll talk to the structural engineer to figure out what we need to do.
we also need to get some sort of pull-test done, which i learned is simply to pull on the bolts that are newly glued into the concrete foundation to ensure they are set properly. i mean, this makes sense, but why wasn't this raised up by the engineers, either my structural guy or the city engineers?
We're also double-checking all the shearwalls and I'm taking pictures to review with the engineer. Hopefully this extra work will ensure the next 2 rough inspections go smoothly. We still have to schedule
1. the rough subfloor inspection, including framing, electrical and plumbing
2. rough inspection for framing, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical, PLUS exterior lathe to ensure the house is watertight from outside
3. insulation
4. gas test before final inspection
5. final inspection
I made sure to ask the inspector about all the inspections he wants to see, since i don't want to get caught off-guard again. I was surprised to learn there is no drywall inspections needed, but that is also good - we can just plow through the work instead of losing a day or two to inspections.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Argh - failed rough inspection #2
Sheesh. 2nd rough inspection that failed. As luck had it, this was also the 2nd inspection that I planned to be present for, but had gambled and ran off to get something we thought we needed, and of course the inspector shows up when I wasn't around.
Well we got dinged on the subfloor work again. Apparently the electrical isn't correctly roughed-in, and all mechanical has to out, and we need to get the shearwall fixed properly. Plus a couple other things.
I think my next step is to talk to the city, figure out what the inspector's deal is, and see if I can explain the situation so we can all get back on track. I'm not sure why he's so upset with us, since we're trying to do things correctly. This is definitely a communication issue.
Well I could go on about this inspection but we're all quite frustrated. Hopefully I'll have better news in a few days. But this time I'm definitely going to make sure we take all the time we need to get the work done correctly instead of trying to get things done quickly.
Well we got dinged on the subfloor work again. Apparently the electrical isn't correctly roughed-in, and all mechanical has to out, and we need to get the shearwall fixed properly. Plus a couple other things.
I think my next step is to talk to the city, figure out what the inspector's deal is, and see if I can explain the situation so we can all get back on track. I'm not sure why he's so upset with us, since we're trying to do things correctly. This is definitely a communication issue.
Well I could go on about this inspection but we're all quite frustrated. Hopefully I'll have better news in a few days. But this time I'm definitely going to make sure we take all the time we need to get the work done correctly instead of trying to get things done quickly.
Friday, February 8, 2008
Framing entry, attic and details
We finally added the new entry door and walled it up. We also have the new entry closet added in as well as the ceiling joists finished. The foyer is pretty much done, and we also had to add pieces of 1" or 7/8" on top of the existing studs for the interior walls. We learned since most of the walls had lathe & plaster, plus being old 2x4s, they don't match the width of new 2x4s, so we had to even the wall out.
We also added new roof supports to replace the older, rickety ones.
We are also debating what to do about HVAC. Learned that we'll need to have it back in place for the inspections - we had an inspection of the concrete pads the other day. Will need to go out and get some quotes for the HVAC.
We also added new roof supports to replace the older, rickety ones.
We are also debating what to do about HVAC. Learned that we'll need to have it back in place for the inspections - we had an inspection of the concrete pads the other day. Will need to go out and get some quotes for the HVAC.
Monday, January 21, 2008
framing the foyer
today we finalized (sort of) how the foyer will be framed. the foyer will have raised ceiling, to about 13 feet, to incorporate the dormer window into the foyer space. however, the dormer is not lined up with the foyer, so the dormer walls and foyer walls are also not lined up. in order to keep the foyer symmetrical, we'll frame the walls so they go up to the 9' height, and from there the walls will move in about 10" and then go vertical again up the the new 13' ceiling. this is to account for the line of the dormer wall. the ceiling height is the top of the dormer window and will stay flat across to the front of the hallway closet.
however, the dormer window will still be asymmetric. therefore, above the front entry door, we plan to install a rice paper or other translucent screen, which will allow light to enter the foyer, which was the intent of this exercise, but it will also hide the dormer window.
Bob also noted that the jog-in or move-in of 10" would break the line of the dormer window frame, so we'll have to figure out how to do some funky framing between the plane of the front door and the dormer window so we don't mess up the exterior framing work.
however, the dormer window will still be asymmetric. therefore, above the front entry door, we plan to install a rice paper or other translucent screen, which will allow light to enter the foyer, which was the intent of this exercise, but it will also hide the dormer window.
Bob also noted that the jog-in or move-in of 10" would break the line of the dormer window frame, so we'll have to figure out how to do some funky framing between the plane of the front door and the dormer window so we don't mess up the exterior framing work.
framing the kitchen and dining room
framing the kitchen and dining room turned out to be more straightforward than we expected. perhaps it's that we found a lot of other interesting stuff going on inside the walls.
we learned the original ceiling members over the dining room and hallway were joined simply by nailing together, resulting in a zig-zag beam, not using a nail plate to keep them in line. not only that, many of the nail joints weren't even resting on the hallway wall!
our engineer specified tying the new 2x8s to the existing 2x4 dining ceiling members. in order to do that, we had to add an additional 2x4 piece next to the hallway member - the 2x8 is tied next to the dining room ceiling member. hard to explain, so i've included pix on flickr to illustrate. we had to do this because we're removing the hallway wall, so we needed to beef up the ceiling as it also is supporting several roof joists. Bob's team had to mill the ends so they fit into the roof/soffit termination.
we learned the original ceiling members over the dining room and hallway were joined simply by nailing together, resulting in a zig-zag beam, not using a nail plate to keep them in line. not only that, many of the nail joints weren't even resting on the hallway wall!
our engineer specified tying the new 2x8s to the existing 2x4 dining ceiling members. in order to do that, we had to add an additional 2x4 piece next to the hallway member - the 2x8 is tied next to the dining room ceiling member. hard to explain, so i've included pix on flickr to illustrate. we had to do this because we're removing the hallway wall, so we needed to beef up the ceiling as it also is supporting several roof joists. Bob's team had to mill the ends so they fit into the roof/soffit termination.
Saturday, January 19, 2008
framing week 1
we have nearly the entire structure of the house framed up now. you can see some of the details on our flickr pages for the remodel, check out Jan 17 and 18. Bob's team had to do some milling to create the ceiling beams for the family room, and the kitchen & dining ceiling members were also quite unusual. more on that on another post when i get some detail photos.
there are 2x8's for the ceiling members in both the family room and kitchen/dining area. the family room area is using 2x12's for the members supporting roof joists.
the vaulted ceiling for the kitchen is partially framed. we set up the ceiling above the sink and spaced this vaulted section 5' wide. the existing 2x2 skylight is there, but we'll replace it with a 2'x4' skylight. where the vaulted ceiling section meets the interior middle wall, we realized the upper wall won't be vertical due to the joists supporting the roof ridge line. julie and i decided to use the joists as the upper wall studs rather than trying to change that angle. this way there will be a short horizontal ceiling section beside the skylight; kenichi did some renderings which i included.
the white box on left will be our built-in wall pantry/china cabinet.
we've got a massive 4x12 glue lam header for the support beam bordering the kitchen and family room. i think it'll be a beautiful detail, especially as it's going to be nearly fully exposed when the house is finished.
our new rear bathroom is now partly where the old master bedroom closets were, so we had to lower the floor. we assumed the previous owners simply built over the lower floor but it turned out they didn't, there was only the higher subfloor, so we had to build a new subfloor for the bathroom.
the rear patio door is rough-framed now, but we discovered the patio door is off-center from where we planned to put it. if you're standing right by the middle wall inside the house and look towards the back, the left part of the patio door will be obscured since it will be to the left of the wall. so we'll have to re-frame the patio door opening about 12" closer to the SE corner.
we also had to furr the studs near the old laundry room - it had 2x6 studs but the other parts of the walls (former rear bathroom) had 2x4s, so those walls needed to be lined up.
there are 2x8's for the ceiling members in both the family room and kitchen/dining area. the family room area is using 2x12's for the members supporting roof joists.
the vaulted ceiling for the kitchen is partially framed. we set up the ceiling above the sink and spaced this vaulted section 5' wide. the existing 2x2 skylight is there, but we'll replace it with a 2'x4' skylight. where the vaulted ceiling section meets the interior middle wall, we realized the upper wall won't be vertical due to the joists supporting the roof ridge line. julie and i decided to use the joists as the upper wall studs rather than trying to change that angle. this way there will be a short horizontal ceiling section beside the skylight; kenichi did some renderings which i included.
the white box on left will be our built-in wall pantry/china cabinet.
we've got a massive 4x12 glue lam header for the support beam bordering the kitchen and family room. i think it'll be a beautiful detail, especially as it's going to be nearly fully exposed when the house is finished.
our new rear bathroom is now partly where the old master bedroom closets were, so we had to lower the floor. we assumed the previous owners simply built over the lower floor but it turned out they didn't, there was only the higher subfloor, so we had to build a new subfloor for the bathroom.
the rear patio door is rough-framed now, but we discovered the patio door is off-center from where we planned to put it. if you're standing right by the middle wall inside the house and look towards the back, the left part of the patio door will be obscured since it will be to the left of the wall. so we'll have to re-frame the patio door opening about 12" closer to the SE corner.
we also had to furr the studs near the old laundry room - it had 2x6 studs but the other parts of the walls (former rear bathroom) had 2x4s, so those walls needed to be lined up.
Friday, January 18, 2008
Our remodel team
thought it would be a good idea to explain all the people involved in our project
1. G = Gerard, my brother. he is our principal designer/drafter and source of ideas on many design details. G also helped in getting the permit going. he'll also be overseeing the fence design since it'll be a bamboo fence using many of his products he sources. somehow he's managed to keep redrafting our house design between getting bamboo dna started, planning his RISD class in bolivia, and planning for coachella 2007 artwork. hopefully we'll get him to make us a few more chairs while he's at it ;)
2. Josh Birch is a artist, sculpture, landscape designer and contractor, as far as i can tell. kind of a jack of all trades but the guy is a creative and interesting landscape designer, so i've decided with the little time i have that he can take over the landscaping. he's also been helping run some demo work. his buddy Mauricio has been a huge help in working with our day laborers and is another sharp contractor so that has been another plus. Josh has also been helping us with procuring some items which is helpful in saving us a little $$.
3. Bob Ortiz is our principal contractor for the foundation and framing work. he came highly recommended by some friends and we have been super pleased at the quality and speed of his work. i'm really glad he's asking a lot of questions about some of the minor details around the house. his carpenter is Rick and electrician is Eric, who are also some sharp guys as well.
4. Ken Tomita is our cabinet and furniture guy. we know ken thru gerard, a RISD connection, and worked with ken out at burning man 06 on the Starry Bamboo Mandala. he'll be designing our cabinets, wall pantry, kitchen island and a few pieces of furniture like the media console, built-in dining bench, and dining tables. my guess is he'll also end up providing a lot of details on the house trim details as well.
we don't know yet who will do the drywall work, painting, and the floor installation for the family room and study. Josh has mentioned Mauricio has an eye for detail so perhaps we'll utilize him with the day laborers. We need to figure that out still.
1. G = Gerard, my brother. he is our principal designer/drafter and source of ideas on many design details. G also helped in getting the permit going. he'll also be overseeing the fence design since it'll be a bamboo fence using many of his products he sources. somehow he's managed to keep redrafting our house design between getting bamboo dna started, planning his RISD class in bolivia, and planning for coachella 2007 artwork. hopefully we'll get him to make us a few more chairs while he's at it ;)
2. Josh Birch is a artist, sculpture, landscape designer and contractor, as far as i can tell. kind of a jack of all trades but the guy is a creative and interesting landscape designer, so i've decided with the little time i have that he can take over the landscaping. he's also been helping run some demo work. his buddy Mauricio has been a huge help in working with our day laborers and is another sharp contractor so that has been another plus. Josh has also been helping us with procuring some items which is helpful in saving us a little $$.
3. Bob Ortiz is our principal contractor for the foundation and framing work. he came highly recommended by some friends and we have been super pleased at the quality and speed of his work. i'm really glad he's asking a lot of questions about some of the minor details around the house. his carpenter is Rick and electrician is Eric, who are also some sharp guys as well.
4. Ken Tomita is our cabinet and furniture guy. we know ken thru gerard, a RISD connection, and worked with ken out at burning man 06 on the Starry Bamboo Mandala. he'll be designing our cabinets, wall pantry, kitchen island and a few pieces of furniture like the media console, built-in dining bench, and dining tables. my guess is he'll also end up providing a lot of details on the house trim details as well.
we don't know yet who will do the drywall work, painting, and the floor installation for the family room and study. Josh has mentioned Mauricio has an eye for detail so perhaps we'll utilize him with the day laborers. We need to figure that out still.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
final demolition
I was happy to hear from Josh that we were able to donate all the appliances and cabinets. not only are we helping to re-use, we'll get a donation credit for it! we kept the rear bath cabinet & sink as we plan to re-use it ourselves. This was at Building Resources in SF.
one hiccup we found is that the exterior siding is full of nails. our plan was to recycle the exterior siding to use for patch jobs. it's solidly bolted to plywood underneath and it's been a long process just to remove from the 2x4 studs. we haven't really tried to remove the siding from the plywood yet. Bob Ortiz is not confident that we can salvage it, so we'll see if it's less hassle to find a supplier or mill it.
the flooring in the family room was much easier to remove than we thought; it was only nailed down, not glued. unfortunately we weren't able to donate it to Building Resources in SF, so that went to the dump.
on a more positive note, we had the 3 debris boxes sorted & recycled as much as possible, so we won't have any problem meeting Burlingame's recycling requirement of 60%.
Eric, our electrician, wired up the 2 bathrooms and a few outlets for the guys to use, so now we have power inside the house. but he found the wiring under the house is not done well; it's a spaghetti mess of multiple splicings. he'll be able to re-use most of the wiring but will need to re-do the current configuration to fit into our electrical plan.
one hiccup we found is that the exterior siding is full of nails. our plan was to recycle the exterior siding to use for patch jobs. it's solidly bolted to plywood underneath and it's been a long process just to remove from the 2x4 studs. we haven't really tried to remove the siding from the plywood yet. Bob Ortiz is not confident that we can salvage it, so we'll see if it's less hassle to find a supplier or mill it.
the flooring in the family room was much easier to remove than we thought; it was only nailed down, not glued. unfortunately we weren't able to donate it to Building Resources in SF, so that went to the dump.
on a more positive note, we had the 3 debris boxes sorted & recycled as much as possible, so we won't have any problem meeting Burlingame's recycling requirement of 60%.
Eric, our electrician, wired up the 2 bathrooms and a few outlets for the guys to use, so now we have power inside the house. but he found the wiring under the house is not done well; it's a spaghetti mess of multiple splicings. he'll be able to re-use most of the wiring but will need to re-do the current configuration to fit into our electrical plan.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
final step - Public Works
oops! This week Julie called again and found out that as one of the final steps, we need to get Public Works signoff. Apparently this means a backwater valve certification and an encroachment permit. I found this confusing because I thought the plumber who came out in November to do the backwater valve test had sent a copy to Burlingame. Turns out they didn't...
I also had not heard anything about an encroachment permit, which is needed if you're building anything in the city's right of way, which for us is the planter strip and sidewalk.
Well we weren't planning anything there, so I don't know why we needed it.
On Wed the 16th we stopped by Public Works and learned they don't think we need the encroachment permit. They also looked at our backwater valve certificate, which I brought, and they noticed the plumber hadn't signed it.
Doh! Ok, a few frantic calls and we get the plumber to sign the paperwork.
I couldn't get back to the city until late afternoon, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I gave Building the backwater valve certificate and told them Public Works said we didn't need the encroachment permit, so they said we have all the paperwork they need.
Even better, the senior inspector was walking by with the approved sets of plans (3 sets)! So they were able to issue the permit on the spot.
That was the best news I'd heard all week!
I also had not heard anything about an encroachment permit, which is needed if you're building anything in the city's right of way, which for us is the planter strip and sidewalk.
Well we weren't planning anything there, so I don't know why we needed it.
On Wed the 16th we stopped by Public Works and learned they don't think we need the encroachment permit. They also looked at our backwater valve certificate, which I brought, and they noticed the plumber hadn't signed it.
Doh! Ok, a few frantic calls and we get the plumber to sign the paperwork.
I couldn't get back to the city until late afternoon, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I gave Building the backwater valve certificate and told them Public Works said we didn't need the encroachment permit, so they said we have all the paperwork they need.
Even better, the senior inspector was walking by with the approved sets of plans (3 sets)! So they were able to issue the permit on the spot.
That was the best news I'd heard all week!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
demolition stage 1
We started demolition a little too early, when we thought we'd get the permit right after New Year's. I posted the pictures up on my flickr pages under the 712 Linden collection, and I'll keep a running photo update as we move along, and as I have time to be at the house.
It was very interesting to see the structure of the house. Most of the lathe & plaster walls have what looks like a 2x3 framing, and there's R-11 insulation everywhere. We thought we'd keep the insulation but finally decided to trash it in favor of eco- and health-friendly insulation that works better. So far we have been removing all the insulation under the assumption that we'll replace it, plus it'll be easier to run the new electrical and plumbing without the insulation in place.
The kitchen walls are all interlocked and support the roof and skylight, so we couldn't demo these walls like we originally thought.
Unfortunately G seems to have been a bit zealous in demo'ing; he cut 2 studs in the master bedroom which I think was a waste of time, in addition to ripping the drywall off the wall that borders the hallway. So that will have to be fixed.
Josh demo'd the family room chimney; the brick floor took some time but then we discovered that was the only brick - the rest of the chimney is insulation and wood framing! easy work.
The good thing is everybody's been working hard, so we've gotten a lot accomplished. G and Josh's crew have stripped all the lathe & plaster from the walls we're changing, and removed all the interior materials possible - electrical hardware, appliances, plumbing fixtures and cabinets.
We've also gone through a lot of debris boxes. We've had a 15 yard box, a 20 yard box, and an 8 yard box so far.
It was very interesting to see the structure of the house. Most of the lathe & plaster walls have what looks like a 2x3 framing, and there's R-11 insulation everywhere. We thought we'd keep the insulation but finally decided to trash it in favor of eco- and health-friendly insulation that works better. So far we have been removing all the insulation under the assumption that we'll replace it, plus it'll be easier to run the new electrical and plumbing without the insulation in place.
The kitchen walls are all interlocked and support the roof and skylight, so we couldn't demo these walls like we originally thought.
Unfortunately G seems to have been a bit zealous in demo'ing; he cut 2 studs in the master bedroom which I think was a waste of time, in addition to ripping the drywall off the wall that borders the hallway. So that will have to be fixed.
Josh demo'd the family room chimney; the brick floor took some time but then we discovered that was the only brick - the rest of the chimney is insulation and wood framing! easy work.
The good thing is everybody's been working hard, so we've gotten a lot accomplished. G and Josh's crew have stripped all the lathe & plaster from the walls we're changing, and removed all the interior materials possible - electrical hardware, appliances, plumbing fixtures and cabinets.
We've also gone through a lot of debris boxes. We've had a 15 yard box, a 20 yard box, and an 8 yard box so far.
Friday, January 11, 2008
surprise surprise
Aia! Julie called Wed the 9th to find out what was the status on our permit. we found out Planning was nixing our plans because we left the trellis in place - it's 48" wide so that adds to lot coverage, which then requires our lot to be "conforming" meaning we'd have to update the parking situation. So I simply removed the trellis, it was really the easiest option.
ok, now we should be able to get the permit soon!
ok, now we should be able to get the permit soon!
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