Installing the Finishes

In the past couple of weeks, most of the tile and slabwork has been installed and the rough- cabinet boxes are in place - the photo shows the dining room-kitchen areas with the bookshelf and the pantry-fridge cabinet in the back. On the left, a small piece of the high bar counter can be seen- we're using Eurostone's Lido, a quartz-resin man made material with small sea shells cast in. The backsplash is a glass tile in random brick pattern and the kitchen floor consists of 16" square polished Absolute Black granite tiles. The cabinetry in the kitchen and the dining room is clear vertical grain Douglas fir- a beautiful material (matching the doors), but very soft and not cheap. In some other parts of the house we are using grade "A" rift cut oak which matches the flooring ( a glimpse of it can be seen in the bottom right corner- unfinished, though) and has a similar appearance but is much harder and less expensive. Something to consider for future jobs.
On the bottom right shelf you can see a sample piece of the Mangaris Diamond Decking we have to use on the exterior deck- Being in a wildfire zone means, that only ignition resistant materials can be used on the outside- and this includes the decking material. Originally, we had a 5/4" thickness spec'd out, but one of the swing doors got installed too low and was likely not to open when the deck was wet and soaked with water after a rain. Consequently we had to change to a 3/4" thick plank. With that, we could not use the concealed fasteners orginally selected any more but had to go with stainless steel screws- a pity, but that's not the first time we had to change things- It's simply part of the reality of construction.

Rainscreen

During the last week of 2010, the first area of the rainscreen facade went up.
The photo shows the different stages of the assembly:
First, the vertical battens that will provide the airspace for the circulation of air behind the rainscreen are installed and shimmed as required. Then, the horizontal aluminum hat channels are installed and straightened to provide a level and true substrate for the Abet Laminati facade panels that are being put up last. We expect the rainscreen facade to significantly reduce the cooling load of the building during summer. The photo shows also the solar hot water panels on the rooftop and the aluminum garage door.

Solar- complete

As 2010 is coming to a close, we finally have all of our solar components in place- the water heaters are -alas- finally up on the rooftop and the tank & equipment is being installed by Valley Solar's team in the garage. we are really excited to see the water heater work and use the energy of the sun for a good hot shower. Progress on the inside has slowed somewhat unfortunately- the holidays are approaching fast and everyone wants their work finished- so the subs are stretching their resources thin and sometimes don't show up for work. That's frustrating for us and Abe alike.
However, we are still confident, that most of the critical equipment will be in place by the end of the year and that only finishes and a few other small items will carry over into 2011.

Solar Panels (2)

They're finally up- During the past week, the crew of California Green Designs installed the panels, the disconnects (all 3 of them) and the inverter to complete the solar PV installation. Now, we only need to hook it up to benefit from the sun.
On the inside, the cabinetry is taking shape: Michael, our cabinet maker, has installed most of the boxes and is now waiting for the slab fabricator to put on the countertops before he can tackle the finish panels for doors and drawers.

Solar Panels

One year into construction now.
We originally had planned to celebrate Thanksgiving in our house- but the numerous delays did not allow for that.
On Wednesday, the solar sub started with the installation of the substructure for the PV array- aluminum channels mounted on S-5T! clips that attach to the standing seam roofing without penetrating it, The panels will be delivered and mounted early next week-
Note that Mt Baldy in the background has snow on it's top again! Winter has arrived in Southern California!

A stucco safety net

Past Friday, we started with the main building's stucco (The Saturday before, we already did the bathroom box). In order to reduce the risk of cracks in the finish plaster, we applied a self-adhesive fiberglass mesh to the brown coat (after all brown coat cracks have been fixed and the control screeds cleaned and taped). The mesh installs easily- The hardest thing is to get it off the roll though. The stickiness makes it somewhat hard to unroll.
In areas of rough brown coat, we helped a bit with 3M-77 spray adhesive. In one day, we covered a bit more than half the building (the stucco crew actually applied two coats of the 30/30 sand finish on half of the area and one coat to the rest, since it was already getting dark. The subsequent rain on Saturday prohibited us from continuing and the stucco sub will pick up teh work tomorrow. With a bit of luck, they'll be done on Wednesday- if not on Monday after Thanksgiving.
On the inside, the tile work is almost done (except for the backsplash areas and the grouting). Michael, our cabinet sub, started to put in some boxes already and we hope that we'll finish the rough work by Thanksgiving. The doors are on-site and being stained and the solar panel installer will start with the framework tomorrow. On Monday, the garage door installer will then follow suit.

Bathroom finishes

Over the past week, the finishes of the bathrooms have been one of the focal points of construction- Mortar beds and waterproofing have been added to the walls and the first pieces of tiles- in out case Cafe Creme Marfil from Daltile, a limestone, set in place. The main focal point of the Master Bath is the "picture of a tree", a piece of a Rainforest Green slab that has been put in the center of the wall. The natural veining of the stone resembles the branching of a tree. The tree appears to be leaning towards the bathtub on the left and you almost have the impression to sit in a pond under a tree.
The rest of the slab will be used for countertops in the basement to minimize waste.
We also set some more trees in the ground and now have only 3 of the major trees left to plant: The Butia Capitata, the Bismarckia and the Brahea Armata. They have to wait until the scaffolding is removed from the site to avoid damage to the plants.