#sierrapacific

[pamitect]

Windows and Lath

We stopped by the site this week and it was exciting to see the windows getting installed. They were working on the building paper & lath being installed to get ready for the stucco next week.

Here's our bedroom and bathroom 1 on the left. Prior to installing the windows they added some peel and stick waterproof membrane underlayment.

Above and below here you can see the window underlayment (white) being installed.

Above you can see the underlayment. Below you can see how they are lapping the black layers of building paper over the plywood and the window underlayment. Then on top of 2 layers of building paper is the lath (chicken wire). It makes me cringe a little to see them using chicken wire for the lath since my company standard is to use expanded metal lath that comes in large flat sheets instead of rolls. But this is only residential construction, not a shopping center that is going to take a beating from shopping carts and general public use - so the chicken wire lath is going to be just fine. The stucco is basically like a 1" thick concrete coating; it contains the same ingredients as concrete, plus the addition of lime (that's limestone not the citrus).

Did I mention that we have windows now?!!!!

Oh and we have a tub now too!!! (This is bath 2)

The shower in bath 1 was hot mopped with tar this week to make it completely waterproof at the bottom. It sure did stink in there!

In the photo above you can see the tar is running up the sides all around the shower and the bench too. This allows it to function like a mini-bath tub without the water leaking into the walls (just don't let it fill more than an inch). We purchased a linear drain that will be located right at the base of the bench, this way we don't have to stand on a drain when we're showering.

Here's a view of the great room. The kitchen island wall is in the foreground, and our new windows are in the background!

The Sierra Pacific pocketing multi-slide door was installed as well. This door will separate Brett's office from the great room. All three panels can be slid into the pocket on the left so there's a 10' wide by 8' tall opening between Brett's office and the dining area of the great room. Oh hey, the mechanical is all installed too. Shout out to the mechanical contractor - he gave us clear options, his guys worked cleanly and efficiently, and their install looks good!

And above here is one of those Velux skylights that was installed last week.

Exciting times!! Drywall starts next week, then it will really start to look like a home once we get some of the interior finishes going. Can't wait to see it!!

[pamitect]

Initial Roofing Site Visit

Did I mention previously that Brett's Dad has been a roofer for a long time? Well we didn't trust anyone but him to do our roof. So Chuck came down last weekend to check out the site and confirm some final measurements for some custom flashing pieces that we are ordering for weird roof angle intersections, and a chimney cricket piece. Chuck also had some custom flashing boots made for our skylights too.

Anyway, to get those measurements they had to go up on the roof. So of course I had to get a photo:

While they were up playing on the roof, I took some more photos of the progress on site.

It was going to rain the next day, so the contractor was eager to get a bunch of plastic over the whole roof before they left for the day. Above you can see the dutch gable being framed over our bedroom, and the new gable that faces west.

Here's the back patio roof with the 2x tongue and grove boards on top and our cantilevered beam holding it all up. Looking good!

Oh and our fancy doors were delivered! The thing wrapped in plastic on the right is the front door frame and 2 sidelights. This gets installed in the opening on the left side of this photo above. The door panel is behind the sidelights wrapped in cardboard. Unfortunately that cardboard was not enough to protect the door during transit.

They transported the door with the hinges on it, and I guess something bumped the hinge hard because the door split right down the edge and through a couple screw locations. This split also happened on the aluminum clad side of the door so we think the aluminum is also dented or bent. It's hard to see because the door is all wrapped up and strapped to the wall studs. But we notified the rep and he is working on getting us a replacement.

Here's another view of that great room:

And hey - rough plumbing in the walls is starting too!

and here's the view off our back patio:

That 8x8 patio post was oversized so that it would look more substantial than a twiggy little 4x4. It's also sitting on a hidden knife plate connection that has been bolted to the concrete. This steel base plate keeps the wood off the concrete and that should help keep the wood from rotting longer. Our previous covered patio had the 4x4 posts going right through the concrete and they sucked up water like a sponge.

What do you know - our massive rosemary bush that we planted in 2008 is still alive!

[pamitect]

Fancy Doors!

We are very excited that we just ordered our new front door and sliding door between the dining room and Brett’s new office.  The front door is Aluminum Clad Wood.  The inside will be painted white, and the outside will be light blue (the one with the orange arrow below):

Here’s what the front door will look like from the exterior below.  It will have 2 side lights (windows on either side of the door).

Here’s a photo of a similar door from the Sierra Pacific Showroom:

The door above from the showroom only has one side light.  Ours will have one on each side and the glass will go all the way to the bottom of the side lights. The side lights are operable, meaning that they swing open inward.  Like this:

The glass in the door and side lights will be obscure glass - meaning you cannot see through it.  We selected the narrow reed glass with the orange arrow below.

The other fancy door that we ordered from Sierra Pacific is a pocketing multi-slide door.  With 3 sliding panels that hide within a pocket at the side of the door the entire opening is 10′ wide x 8′ tall.

You can see in the plan above that the door will nest in a pocket next to the closet of Brett’s office. 

These are plans of the pocket above - the top one showing the door fully closed and the bottom one showing the 3 door panels in the pocket fully open.

The 3rd panel has a blackout piece attached to it that closes the pocket when the door is fully closed.

Here’s an elevation view of the door.  You can see the three panels of glass with narrow frames or styles around them.  The door slides on thin tracks (one for each door) that is less than a quarter inch above the floor so you don’t trip on them.

In the section above you can see the track below - little nubs above the flooring.  

This is the door hardware above.

In the section above you can see the vaulted ceiling of Brett’s new office and the sliding door location on the left.

Can’t wait until these babies are installed - they are going to be so beautiful!