Moving Forward

We don't have many images for this update, but several things have been done on the house since the doors and windows were installed.  The stucco was installed on the eyebrow and rear elevation of the house.  The HVAC, plumbing and electrical were all finished up and inspected so that we could begin gyp board.  Currently they are taping and bedding the interior and should be finished in the next couple of days.

The Ipe (Brazillian Cherry) wall at the entrance was also recently installed.  Ipe is prized for its stability, durability, strength, natural resistance to decay, and wet conditions.  It is truly one of the best woods you can use on an exterior and is easy to maintain.  Another unique benefit of Ipe is that holds a Class A fire rating, the same rating given to concrete and steel.  Given that it is classified as an "exotic wood" we were required by LEED to make sure the wood we purchased was certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

What made our installation a tricky is that our front door is also clad in Ipe, giving it the hidden door effect.  This was a little difficult to figure out, but our awesome finish carpenter, Randy Timmerman, got the job done.  He worked with us to make sure the door worked perfectly and even built a mock-up of how it would hinge to confirm that we had the detail right prior to beginning work.  The final result turned out beautifully.

Ipe wall & door installation prior to being oiled

The gypsum board being delivered.  We used 5/8" Type 'X' gyp through out the entire house.

Doors & Windows

We love our doors and windows! Ross worked closely with Architectural Openings in Dallas to specify the perfect doors and windows for our home. We both knew that we wanted metal on both the interior and exterior and we were looking for a bronze finish. After several go arounds Ross narrowed it down to the Western Windows 900 series, largely in part due to the 5 foot wide doors on the South side our home that will open to the side yard.  “They manage to provide the durability, size, and modern styling of commercial aluminium doors while also having the refinement, precision, and protection of residential door systems.”  These doors and windows also offer an R value & U factor of commercial quality which is much higher than what you typically find in a residence.  These numbers mainly tell you how well the window or door insulates and the heat loss or gain, which significantly contributes to the energy efficiency of the home and have a major impact on the energy modelling done for LEED.

http://www.westernwindowsystems.com/product-information/thermally-broken-aluminum/hinged--pivot-door.html

Below are images of the doors on the first day of installation, many more to come in future posts.

Here's where it looks like we have an all black house.  The windows are in fact dark bronze.  Everything else that is black will be covered with white fiber concrete panels.

Rainscreen Part One

The exterior cladding of our house will be a vented rainscreen.  A rainscreen is most often found in commercial construction and is recognized as the most effective method for preventing moisture issues in modern homes.  It is not required by LEED, although some countries are now beginning to require it for new construction.

A vented rainscreen mainly consists of an air gap in between the cladding and the water resistant barrier or house wrap applied to the exterior sheathing.  This vented gap, allows water that penetrates the cladding to freely drain down the barrier and away from the house. It also allows extra circulation during the summer months that helps to keep the house naturally cooler.  For instance, the sun hits the cladding which is separated from the sheathing.  Therefore, it makes it harder for the heat to transfer into the home.  The blog link below succinctly explains the construction of a rainscreen and we’ll be adding additional posts as ours comes together.  http://blog.buildllc.com/2008/03/rainscreens/

As for the house currently, it has been wrapped with Vapro Shield’s Wrap Shield product.  We chose Vapro Shield for a number of reasons.  One of those reasons is that it has a permeability rating of 50 perms, which is the highest vapor permeability in a commercial quality membrane. This allows wet sheathing to dry quickly and moisture vapor to escape, which ensures good indoor air quality while reducing the mold, mildew, wood rot, lumber distortion and metal corrosion.  This product is also 100% recyclable which is another plus.  You can find out more information on Wrap Sheild at the following location: http://www.vaproshield.com/products/wrapshield

As you can see in the images below the Wrap Shield product is black.  We’ve actually had people mention how strange it would be to be to have black home.  In all actuality the black will be just barely visible through reveals between our exterior cladding.

Framing Update

The framing and steel are finally finished!  Due to the fact that the South side of our home consists mainly of glass doors we had to add steel over the garage to keep the house from racking.  Steel columns were also utilized in between the door locations and the eyebrow that runs above the glass doors and front door also required steel framing.

You may not see much change in these photos, but quite a few things were being done.  In addition to the steel, framing and exterior sheathing the plumbing and HVAC were also being installed.  After the exterior sheathing was finished Ross sprayed Bora Care, an eco-friendly termite treatment, on all of framing and sheathing up to 3' high.  This treatment is 1/2 LEED point under sustainable sites.  Its a fairly easy and inexpensive point to complete, as well as beneficial to your home.

The steel above the garage door is in place and they're starting on the steel above the glass doors.

It's really starting to take shape.

Abby enjoying HER house.  She loves coming to the site with us.

The eyebrow finally in place.

The underside of the eyebrow showing the steel and wood framing.

The underside of the eyebrow will be will be finished out as one continuous piece so the bronze color will continue to the interior and run along the main walkway in the home.  The writing on the house is not vandalism, we actually wrote this as a note to our framers.  It was shortly thereafter covered with waterproofing - our next post.

Ross and his Bora Care.

Abby loves laying on the cool concrete slab and watching us work.

Ross spraying the Bora Care with a typical garden sprayer.  This product is non-toxic, but Aaron made him wear gloves and a mask just in case.

Coating the North side of the house.  The North side of the house is 1 hour rated fire wall, so treated plywood was used as sheathing instead of OSB.

Material Efficient Framing

The framing has begun, actually it's almost finished, we'll update with a second post once it's done.  LEED for Homes has many requirements for material efficient framing and it was our goal to achieve 5 points on this area of the home.

LEED MR1 has a prerequisite to limit the framing waste factor to 10% or less.  Waste factor is defined as the percentage of framing material ordered in excess of the estimated material needed for construction.  We actually used two credits in order to achieve this prerequisite.  First, we created detailed framing drawings showing the specific location and size of each framing member in the house.  Then we used those framing drawings to create a detailed cut list and lumber order, limiting the waste to 10%.

To achieve the framing efficiencies credit the exterior walls were framed with 2x6 studs at 24" on center instead of 2x4 studs at 16" on center.  This not only cuts back on the amount of wood used in the home up to 40%, but it also allows for more insulation which increases the energy efficiency of the home.  Additionally, floor joists, ceiling joists and roof rafters were also placed 24" on center and 2 stud corners were used.

Detailed Framing Drawings - Elevations

Detailed Framing Drawings - Elevations

First day of framing

2 stud corners

Starting the second floor

Ross checking out the second floor

It's really starting to take shape

View of the interior

North side of the house.  Our neighbor's yard will run right up next to the side of our house so it was important for this side to be simple and clean.

Really starting to look like our drawings!

The framing, steel, & plumbing should be finished soon.  More to come!

Slabtek Structural Slab - Part Two

Once inspections were completed, we were finally able to pour the concrete slab.  We used 4,000 PSI concrete which is more structurally stable and allowed us to pour a thinner slab.  In total we used 40% less concrete than a traditional structural slab.  The higher PSI also has a greater crack resistance and richer, darker gray color which is benefical to us since the slab will be exposed.

The slab was poured, hand trowelled and machine trowelled on the same day.  The entire process took approximately 10 hours.  Considering that this is the finished floor of the home, a super smooth finish was important.  Marshall Bailey and his crew did an impeccable job.  After approximately five days the slab was post tensioned by stretching the cables and bolting them to the slab.  The bolts were recessed in the side of the slab and the holes were filled with concrete grout.  One week after the slab was poured it was ready to be raised off the ground.

In the images you can see that there are 3" diameter discs approximately every 10 feet.  This is where the slab lifting mechanisms are located.  A pole is attached to the device and each turn raises the slab 1/4".  We had approximately 4 workers turning at once throughout this process to raise the slab 5" off the ground.  Once the slab was raised the discs were filled with concrete grout and leveled off.  We considered placing a round piece of stone in these holes as an accent and we may still do so in the future.

The slab being hand trowelled shortly after being poured

Our nice smooth machine trowelled slab

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The slab cantilever over the back edge of the hill

The Backyard

When we decided on this location and purchased the land, we still had no idea what our backyard would look like.  The trees and bushes were so dense and filled with vines that we could barely see the ground below.  Once winter began we finally got our first glance of what our future yard would look like.  Since then we've had the vines and underbrush removed for an even better view.

First View of the backyard

It's hard to see, but there is a fence that runs along the back of the property

Yes, that is a dart train.  We actually chose this lot because of it's wooded view with the Dart train behind.  "Urban" is the key word here.  The train really makes you feel like in you're in the middle of metropolitan area.

The backyard after the vines and undergrowth were cleared.  Our yard runs from the orange flagged stake on the left to the orange flagged stake on the right.  Our pets cannot wait to run up and down the hill chasing squirrels.

Slabtek Structural Slab - Part One

The Dallas Fort-Worth area is known to have very difficult soil conditions for building.  The majority of the soil is composed of clay and is highly expansive. Expansive soil, expands and contracts due to changes in the moisture content of the soil, causing structural problems through differential movement of the structure.  In many cases the soil type may vary underneath the structure, causing non-uniform movement.  When sections of the structure move separately, damage can occur to the foundation and framing.  This is most often seen as cracking in the slab or foundation, cracking in interior or exterior walls and misaligned doors and windows.  As with much of Dallas, the soil under our property is listed as expansive and a structural slab is required.

Structural slabs have long been referred to as the “Cadillac” of residential slabs.  There are two reasons for this:  1. The slab is structurally suspended above the ground to isolate the slab from soil movement.  2. They are the most expensive type of slab to construct.  They are often difficult to design and build, require additional excavation of the site and are very labor intensive.  Given these issues Diane Cheatham of Urban Edge Development pointed us towards the new Slabtek slab system.

Slabtek is a unique system that is more economical to build, requires less construction time, and allows for future adjustment of the slab.  The Slabtek system also uses 40% less piers and approximately 40% less concrete than a typical structured slab, therefore contributing to our green home.
A slabtek slab is a post-tensioned concrete slab that is poured on the ground and then raised to the desired height using lifting mechanisms that remain in place.  These lifting mechanisms also allow for future adjustment of the slab to counter shifts in the soil, preventing any future structural issues.

For additional information on this revolutionary product see: http://www.slabtek.com/SLABTEK.HTM

Leveling the site and putting the form boards in place

The measurements must be extremely precise on this project so we visit as often as possible.

Ross standing on the form boards for our bedroom cantilever.

Getting the slab ready for pouring

Adding the rebar and lifting mechanisms