Paint prep has begun

My eyes in the field (OK, my wife) reports that the exterior paint prep has begun. Through some shenanigans involving a recently remedied license situation, J.D. and James got us a very good deal on the paint quote from a top notch crew. Did I mention that the stairwell siding will be orange?! The existing house stucco will be painted a taupe (I think) while the new stucco will have a warmish gray integral color. Interior will mostly be off-white, with possible accents to be painted in the future when we have our wits about us again.

Park Oak vanity

This vanity is from one of Leanarch's other projects, the Park Oak house. I'd like our hacked together Ikea sink/base to look sort of like this.

If I squint just right, maybe. . .

Before my morning espresso. . .

Six Weeks?!

J.D. thinks that the house will be done in about six weeks. That would be awesome, as I'd been envisioning twice that.

We passed the latest stucco inspection two weeks ago; there's no clear reason why that crew hasn't come to finish it yet.

The guys hanging the siding say they'll be working this weekend and next and then be done.

We cut the $4000 interior door budget in half by going with plain solid core doors @ $60 (and hollow on closets @ $40) instead of the single-panel doors with square sticking. Did anyone out there know that interior doors cost so much? Around $150 a door for the panel doors, pre-hanging adds another $120-ish. We're doing 13 doors.

Other victims of the eleventh-hour budget reality check include:

• Pocket doors for the studio. Gone for now, though the pockets are in place, hidden under drywall.
  
• Underfloor radiant heating in the master bathroom. Gone. We live in Southern California, so we won't miss it that much.
  
• Glass panel doors for the bathrooms and laundry. Gone.
  

I'll reserve writing a post-mortem until things are, well, post-mortem, but I will reflect on the budget for a moment:

For one thing, we intended to be more involved with selecting less expensive "allowance items" than those in the contract, but having small children left little time for that research.

For another, we added things (change orders, in contractor-speak) like solar power, can lights, and a skylight.

Lastly, the unexpected $8000 city mandated fire sprinkler system didn't help matters.

Meeting about finishing

We met with James and J.D. yesterday to figure out how we can finish construction within our remaining budget. We started going down a path of talking through each line item, figuring out what we could ditch, which things we could skimp on, etc.

Then James went out back to walk through the addition. When he returned he said (I'm paraphrasing) "Look, I'd recommend, as your Architect, more than your Builder, that we don't start ditching things and giving you less than the original vision of your home. J.D. and I need to take a long look at the remaining work and find a way to get it to you within the budget."

This is more work for them, and we really appreciate it. It would be far simpler for them to go with their usual sub-contractors and high-end materials. But we can't afford that, and they are not the kind of firm that is willing to cut and run, or tell us "too bad, find more money".

Awful quiet

Nothing seemed to happen last week. Could this have anything to do with us mentioning to J.D. that we're running out of money? We're meeting James on Wednesday to talk over the remaining allowance items and where we can save.

Here's a question: Do we avoid buying cheap stuff that isn't needed for a Certificate of Occupancy (e.g., laundry room door?) altogether and just buy the better stuff later when money magically appears in our lives? Or do we get everything in place, even if it means replacing some of it down the road?

Today I saw the plumber lurking around, but that's about it. The siding guys were supposed to come either Saturday or today, hopefully they'll be here today. Once they're done the stucco can continue.

Inspection passed, drywall to begin

I just spoke with J.D., who relayed the good news. We now have to pick our bathroom tile and stone, because everything will start happening very quickly. I'm not sure what other outstanding decisions we have to make, but J.D. said he'll pass that info along with the revised schedule in the next couple of days.

Roofing

We've been passing various inspections without too much trouble and the roofing guys are busily roofing away. J.D. said that the insulation will be going in soon, and after that the drywall. I've been telling people that we'll host a party once the drywall is in. More details to come.



We're awaiting an official, revised schedule, but we've been able to divine from J.D. that the house should be done sometime in February. (Historical note: The original end date was yesterday.) Not too far off track, but it seems that hitting that date would have cost a lot more money. I don't know if that's because of overtime/weekends or simply paying sub-contractors to "forget" about their other jobs for a little while.

Where it's at

We met with James and J.D. the other evening to go over some design and schedule items. Looks like we're going to be slipping on the schedule a bit in order to keep costs down. Not sure yet what the new end date is, but we should hear back next week on that.
Design-wise, James brought some seriously cool samples of materials to look at. We have narrowed down the stair treads and upstairs flooring to either the reclaimed, vertical-cut Douglas Fir or a pre-finished hardwood plank (I forget which hardwood it was made of, I'll post a photo soon). The planks fit together like a Pergo system, with no bevel between boards, so you can't really tell it's not smaller strips.
The master bathroom. Very nice array of stone tiles to look at. We're thinking of doing large cuts on the floor, smaller on the walls and an accent strip of colored (glass?) tiles up the vanity column.

Today, the electricians are back to install can lights in the kitchen. I can't wait to have real light in there when I'm cooking!

The structural inspection went very well earlier this week, with only a couple of minor corrections that can apparently be photographed when complete to save the cost of another on-site.

Doors and Windows are in (as in arrived, not installed)

After about two weeks of little activity, the level of bustle is once again high; Erin just called to tell me that J.D., Kevin, and a truckload of doors and windows have arrived.
Update:
I just went over there at lunch -- the doors and windows are awesome! Some of them are insanely huge. I took some photos which I'll post later.

Klawin House

We went down to Manhattan Beach to see this house that Leanarch have almost finished building (small details, like staining, painting, and cleanup left to do). It's beautiful, stylish, and clever. It's on a 20' x 60' lot, yet feels large on the inside. Man, those beach dwellers have some nice breezes flowing though their homes! Congratulations to James, J.D. and everyone else for creating such a wonderful home for the Klawins.

Of special interest to us were the materials and finishes; we're using many of them on our house -- the smooth stucco, siding, railings, and windows. Some of the shapes and forms are similar to ours, so it was inspiring to see them realized.

They've used a beautiful, old-growth, reclaimed Douglas Fir throughout. It looks like James may be grabbing up some of their excess wood to use for our stair runners at a discount. It's vertical cut and sumptuous.

Looking for fixture suggestions

The plumber told me this morning that we need to have our bath and shower fixtures as well as the bathtub picked out sometime in the next week or two. This is normally the kind of thing we would obsessively research for months before coming to a tortured decision. Can anyone help accelerate this for us? Erwins, I'm looking squarely at you!

James, does the company that makes the knock-offs of highend faucets have a website?

Update:
This shower is nice looking, however I'm sure it's a bit on the pricey side.

Site cleaning

The trash is gone. Hauled away by a guy named Mario who had a chainsaw, a wheelbarrow, and a gigantic truck. He did a great job and it looks much more sane back there now.

The drama came in when, big surprise, the framer got involved. He was the one who hired Mario. He was also the one who never showed up to pay Mario. As usual, the general contractor, J.D. took care of things and saved the day. Mario got his money and a place to dump the wood (feel the eco-guilt along with me, please). The framer is no longer on the job.

I'm not gonna ask J.D. what he did with him.

Framers have finished

They got the stairs and everything else done yesterday, after working a very long day. I'll post some photos or panoramas soon.

Next up are the plumber to cut and move one pipe, and the electricians will start getting high voltage wiring in.

On a related note, we're going to be meeting with the low voltage guy sometime to talk about all the cool wiring: ethernet CAT5, coaxial, speakers, phone, and others. I'm thinking we'll try to terminate everything in the closet of the studio. I'm envisioning a huge patch bay and scads of blinking lights. James was telling us about having IR remote receivers in a few rooms that send their signals over wire to the media closet. That's where TiVo and pals will live. Does anyone have any other recommendations on serving audio and video up from a central location?

Where'd the stairs go?

My son and I have a tradition of going outside when I get home from work to see what the workers have done. Yesterday as we were heading out I heard him say, "Where'd the stairs go, Dadda?". Huh?! Where indeed? They were simply gone.

I immediately assumed that it was collateral damage from the ongoing battle between the framer and the plumber, but there were not enough blood stains evident to support that theory.

So I called J.D. He said they were just doing it for fun. Actually, it turns out there was some confusion about the structural engineer's drawings of the landing height, so to correct it he's gonna rebuild it all today.

Design meeting at Leanarch

Erin writes:

We visited the LeanArch offices for a design meeting last week. Cool office space, but no air conditioning! It was hot.

But now on to more relevant points. I guess I was kind of expecting one of those HGTV design boards with all the sample colors and tiles neatly arrayed. But it's never quite that easy, is it? James had tons of cool samples, and told us we have to decide if we're going with natural colors, or synthetic.

Hmmm. My kitchen (orange, lime green and blue) is definitely synthetic. JP and I have decided that the exterior of the stair tower will be orange. And that will be carried over into either the front door or trim. We want the master bath to be calm and spa-like. So, do orange exterior and spa interior equal a natural theme? I guess there are things in nature that are orange, right? Like leaves changing color! Oranges, of course. And... sea anemones or something.

We're 99% decided on going with the solar panels. There was a great article in the LA Times this weekend about how solar power adds to resale value in Southern California. Getting our energy bill yesterday helped, too. Plus, according to the BP Solar website, it's the equivalent of planting an acre of trees and will eliminate the production of thousands of pounds of CO2.

It's just the right thing to do.

Oh, and lastly I just want to give a shout out to our contractor, JD. Nothing rattles him. Thank god. As you've read, there's enough drama from all the subs, so it's nice to have the guy in charge be unflappable. Plus there's nothing he doesn't know. I'm glad he's on the job, even if I'm worried about his cellphone earpiece becoming permanently attached to his head.

Framing update

Things are humming along pretty well with the framing. They've been putting up ceiling boards on the second floor, so it looks like actual, closed-in rooms up there now. I think the only change that's coming is that the lowest of three windows on the stairwell needs to be moved or resized, since a few inches of staircase intersect it right now.

We're having a design meeting with James in a week or so to see what he's been cooking up for some interior ideas. Here's an approximate exchange from our last meeting:

"So, do you have any ideas on exterior paint colors, James?" I asked.

"Yes," replied James.

I love the mystery! Is it that he can't reveal the colors until he thinks we're emotionally prepared for it? Is there a method of presentation that transcends simply blurting out "Sea Foam!"?

Wood drop two

The framers are starting to run out of wood, so a second wood drop has arrived.

I talked with the plumber this morning. He recommends that we use two small flash water heaters. This way neither one is positioned too far from a faucet. He wants to do an exterior mount on the "hidden" side of the house. Our architect, James, refers to this as "scabbing" things onto the outside, and would prefer to have them mounted in the attic or under the stairs. I side with James for aesthetic reasons, but the plumber alleges that there will be considerable money saved by going with the barnacular approach. Not sure which way we'll go in the end.

Floor two

phc_030
Originally uploaded by japunto.

There's sort of a floor up on floor two now. James (the architect) and I went up there and looked around; we have a cool view of the San Gabriel mountains, and surprisingly little view of our neighbors' yards. The rooftops and trees do a nice job of it.

In our meeting with James and J.D. yesterday we talked about the following:
Windows and doors. They've gotten a quote on Fleetwood clear anodized aluminum ones that are very stylish and have high quality hardware. We think that's going to be most important on the sliding doors and pocket doors. They're going to look into Milgard for the windows (they also offer modern looking aluminum ones) to see if that'll drop the price.

Wood flooring. They've got a good supplier who deals in reclaimed wood. I envision a guy traveling the country, buying old barns, and then sending the wood back here to L.A. The wood is old growth and ecologically friendly at the same time.

Fence. We're going to redo the fence in front to match the one I designed for the side. It is a kind of modernist take on the picket fence. I'll post some renders soon.

Heat shield

After the stucco was removed (along with the back porch) the sun really started heating up the back rooms. To combat this, Kevin (the site foreman along with J.D.) put up some foam panels. It works like a charm.

Rebar

Day 5
More reinforcing today. They started adding rebar in the trenches as well. There should be a plumber in the next day or two to put the pipes in there before the cement gets poured.

We met with James (the architect) yesterday, which was fun. I think we'll have to pick out the color of our concrete floor soon. This will run down the hallway to the stairs, in the studio, the little downstairs bathroom, and the back bedroom. They mix color into the concrete, so you can't change it later. Oh, the pressure!

I was nervous about the concrete floor until I happened to see it in my friend's kitchen. It was a very warm yellow, and she loves it.