I was debating whether or not I would make a mid week update considering I just posted an update yesterday, and I'll be revisiting the site this weekend, but so much is happening so quickly that I think I'll need more posts to cover the changes.
I was scheduled for a meeting with Jonathon from The Sound Design today for the preliminary walk through on the distributed audio/video/data, lighting control, and security. He showed up with four members of his team to review the plan and talk shop. On top of two electricians, Mikes carpenter, two plumbers, and two siding installers, the house was a hive of activity. I'll wait for the weekend update to post most of the progress pictures, but I can't wait to share some things now.
The first thing I saw when I walked up to the house was a new delivery of lumber and siding sitting in the garage. The lumber will be used in general areas and for the porch column finishing. The other two stacks are for the cedar siding that is currently going up. I'm not sure if there will be more deliveries or if everything needed is on site.
A good number of boards and some thinner sheets at the bottom. I didn't take a close look at it, but I think it's mostly rough sawn cedar and some pine. I know some framing still needs to be completed on the great room and garage exterior doors so that's what the pine and sheets are probably for. We're really nearing the end of rough lumber phase.
At first I was confused about what this was for. The box says "trim coil" and I have no idea what that is. Turns out it's the aluminum for the flashing that will sit between the cedar siding and brick ledge. It comes in rolls like this and is bent on site. I figured it out when I saw it on the wall as they were installing it.
Here's the label on the cedar siding covers. It's western red cedar shingles, which I've read is more durable then white cedar shingles so that's good. 12 squares per pallet and the shingle has a 7-1/8" exposure, which is probably enough. At least the stuff they installed while I was there looks good. I still have a little apprehension about this product since it all relies on the durability of the plywood it's attached to. For most of the house, it will be protected by porch roof. I've read that southern exposures are the toughest for shingles, and that's the front of our house. Only time will tell if it can hold up.
All the additional posts have been installed and all the exterior porch lighting is in. Some porch shrouding will be fabricated by the carpenter so we can agree on a design. Initially we were thinking about using polyurethane columns to sheath the posts, but their dimensions didn't work out. The bases and caps don't work well with the post positions on the deck. It was decided that the post exteriors will be built on site out of exterior MDF and rough sawn cedar. Exterior MDF? I know, I've never heard of it before because everyone knows that MDF and water don't mix. Rather, it mixes well into a pulpy slurry. When we get the product on site, I'll take a look at it, but Mike gave the go-ahead, and I trust him.
In addition to socket and switch boxes, and rough light boxes, the electricians are also installing bathroom vents. Two in the master bathroom and one for each of the other bathrooms for a total of seven around the house, not including the unfinished basement bathroom. I think the master water closet is the only one that has an integrated light.
The
Panasonic FV-08VQ are the fans that are going in and they have a great rating on
Amazon. They're rated at 80 cfm, LEED compliant, and only 0.3 sones which is as loud as a
very calm room. Can't wait to hear them in action.
The plumbers wrestled the two, 300+ lb cast iron tubs up the temporary stairs into their respective bathrooms. It's ironic that the two heaviest tubs were on the second floor since the two bathrooms downstairs will only be showers. They don't need any concrete bed underneath since they're heavy and strong so I guess that's it. I'm not sure if there will be any mechanical fastening or if it will just be held in place with the tile and mortar.
The turret tub isn't in location yet, but it's in the bathroom. By the time we revisit the house this weekend, this will probably be set in place. I resisted the urge to sit in it this time, but I'll probably try it out next time. As the reviews said, they're pretty shallow for a tub, but it's enough for young children to take a bath in and it's large enough for showers. The bottom is slightly textured for anti-slip but not so rough to annoy skin. I think the shallower depth will make it easier for ingress/egress since it will mostly be used as a shower.
Electrician are in full swing with almost all lighting, socket, and switch locations in place. I did an initial walk through, but we'll get another one with Margaret next week, and maybe a final walk through before drywall goes on. Coordination with The Sound Design was great since the lighting control drastically changes how the light switches are installed. Since the lighting control system can be programmed to make any Control4 switch control any room, all the lighting wires are run to the Control4 light control box, then each controller uses a low voltage wire to run to the switch location. This makes it so the six gang light switch box in the master bathroom is changed into a single box that will control all lights and sound distribution in the room. As I mentioned each switch doesn't necessarily have to control the room it's in. We could have a switch in the master bedroom turn on all the house lights as a "panic" button. We can also control all the connected lights with the phone app, touch screen, or TV remote. I was also just informed today that Control4 has Amazon Alexa and Google Home integration for voice commands. This should be interesting.
Here's how the Hoffman Electric installs wire runs in the metal studs and ICF. They're actually the electrical installers that Ken Trever used, so they're well versed in ICF installations. The metal stud pass throughs are filled with a plastic protector to keep scraping and abrasion on the wire sheathing down. The wall channels are cut out with an electric chainsaw. Exterior wall boxes can only be two inches deep so even single gang boxes look like double boxes so there's space for wire nuts and socket boxes. A hot knife can be used to cut out the channels but in rough construction, there's really no need. I didn't ask if the channels will be refilled with spray foam, but it might be nice if they were.
Here's what three trades and a builder look like on site. Not shown is my car and The Sound Design fleet. I was "previously" told that the trades don't like working at the same time, but there didn't seem to be any issue with getting in each others ways. There was plenty of power runs for all the tools and a couple of air compressors in use. It's amazing to see so much work going on at the same time.
Parting shot as I walked to my car. Here's where the siding installers started and how much they got accomplished in the few hours I was there. I think they'll be done by next week. The slower parts will be on the second floor where they'll need to cut around roof lines and decorative pediments, but it seems like we'll have it all up very soon. Much faster than I would have thought.
That's about it for now. I'll have more pictures and another update soon. We have an electrical walk through scheduled with Margaret next week to verify lighting placement and talk about finished electrical fixtures. There are a lot of decisions coming up very quickly, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
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