progress report: concrete

last week björn and i kept ourselves busy, just organizing all of the work to be done was a full time job.  luckily we had some great help, jack baer joined us again thursday and friday to work on the foundation.  on thursday björn and jack squared the entire foundation and tied all of the rebar.  i also tied a ton of rebar and my legs and knees are still paying for it.  it wasn't until we were finished setting up and tying all of that #5 rebar that we realized our foundation could probably hold a skyscraper, thats how beefy the slab foundation was going to be.  thursday night björn and jack worked late into the evening to make sure the forms were square- my grandfather warned us against having a trapezoid for a foundation.


thursday night i couldn't sleep- neither could björn, i felt like the next day was christmas, the thought of pouring the concrete on friday was making us both really nervous, and excited too.  so much could go wrong, did we have the right crew, would it be too cold to pour, would everything go as planned, did we plan enough?  well, friday came and thank goodness everything went well.

the schwing truck- this pumps the concrete

nichols concrete was awesome to work with and their trucks were impressively clean

the arm on the schwing truck is huge (and this is the small one)

look how beautiful our rebar looks- in order to have the rebar sit in the middle of the
8" slab we set the rebar on "chairs"  this brings the grid up 4"

here comes the concrete truck - sandco inc concrete (now im really nervous)

rob our concrete pumper was great- here the boys are getting ready for the first pump

there it goes- no turning back now

the guys worked in quadrants starting in the "main" house.  jack and petey work
at leveling the pour

rob is bull floating- which makes a very smooth surface, jack and petey are screeting
and björn is helping to move the concrete around

things are going well, the main house is poured- now working on the great
room side of the house

my job- while the concrete is wet i am sticking in the pre-bent #4 rebar you saw here

these vertical pieces of rebar will be what ties the stem wall and the slab together
eventually- don't you love my sparkly headband and concrete attire

my finished vertical rebar- these had to be placed 24" on center around the
entire perimeter, we also roughed up the area around the uprights so that
the stem wall blocks can get a good grip on the slab

björn using a specialty float to create a beautiful smooth finish

the concrete is poured and setting up- we covered this with plastic and concrete blankets
to keep it nice and warm so that the curing process continues

good thing we poured on friday because this is what happened saturday

our winter wonderland

we couldn't have asked for a better crew- jack was instrumental in making sure the pour went smoothly, and his expertise was invaluable.  petey was also a great person to have on site- he has a ton of concrete experience and worked well with the team.  we were all amazed at how well the pour went, it was a very chill job site and at the end of the day everyone was eating bbq and drinking beer.   i was so proud of how we handled the whole job, everyone worked so well together and i think we all had fun too!  we are looking forward to pouring the stem walls this week!

progress report: bending rebar

when we started thinking about this project and about the process of designing and building a house i knew that i would be working hard.  i was looking forward to the hard work, i was excited to learn everything i could, what i didn't realize i would be doing is cutting and bending rebar.  i didn't really understand how one little person could bend steel without the use of a machine, but now i get it.  björn had to cut all of the #5 rebar because it was a little to hard for me but i used a rebar cutter / bender to cut #4 rebar and then add an 8" bend.  björn and i cut and bent all of the rebar needed for the 8" slab to length and prepared it for installation.  for those of you who don't know much about rebar here is a little tutorial:

all rebar is numbered 3, 4, 5 etc.  #4 and #5 are pretty standard sizes and is what we are using for our slab and the stem walls.  these numbers tell you how thick the rebar is a #4 rebar is 4/8" and #5 is 5/8, etc, etc. which is why the #5 was much harder to cut.

me bending the #4 rebar

putting some muscle into it

forming up the slab and laying rebar 18" on center

all of my bent rebar

its starting to really look like a foundation, looking into the main house

looking into the great room

we are super excited to have jack baer working with us forming up the foundation and helping with the concrete pour.  he is a professional stone mason and has done a ton of concrete finishing.  björn grew up with him here in durango and we are so lucky to have him, now we just have to assemble the rest of our concrete crew!

progress report: excavation

we have been busy bees the last week or so working on the excavation and foundation.  björn dug a very big hole with the back hoe in the approximate size of house.  we actually made the area slightly bigger to accomodate the concrete slab and still leave us room to walk around the perimeter.  after digging the hole it was time for compaction.  again our guys from carll construction worked with us to compact the entire area.  

the wacker compactor and mario using the remote to drive it around the excavation site

"3" minus" rock for compaction- all of these rocks are less than 3"
this makes up the first layer of compaction

watching the compactor

doesn't it look like some kind of star wars machine!

halloween candy for the guys

a good view of the excavation site

we also went to the lumber yard to buy some of the items we are going to need for the foundation.  björn and i were surprised to find our trailer decorated in all of falls glory!  we are using Alpine Lumber in durango for a lot of building supply needs.  they had everything we needed, rebar, 2 x 6's for the pony walls and 2 x 8's to make the concrete forms.

our beautiful trailer

the lumber yard

after each layer of compaction trautner geo tech came to do a compaction test

we were required to have at least a 90% compaction rate across the foundation area.
this machine goes into the ground and two radio active materials in the tip of the wand can
sense the density of the soils.

up next:

wednesday:  setting all the rebar and forming up the edge of the foundation

thursday: our first inspection by the city of all of the rebar, hopefully we can pour the slab as well

friday: taking care of the concrete- keeping it warm :)

happy halloween

Have a very scary halloween!

Come back later for an update on all of our progress this weekend- its so amazing its spooky!

Tablescape via Martha Stewart

guest post: innovative kitchen lighting

today I am excited to share with you our first guest post.  today's post comes from Jenn at Arcadian Lighting and I happy to say she is writing about innovative kitchen lighting.  this is an area that i have yet to think too seriously about.  however, i am stoked to see such interesting lighting choices and i can't wait until the time comes that we are picking out the lighting for our house! enjoy!

Hi there! I'm Jenn and I write for Arcadian Lighting, an e-commerce website that specializes in top lighting trends from across the globe. I've been writing about home decor, antiques, lighting fixtures, and more for years, and I love blogs like W Design Studios, where they share expert knowledge and inspiring ideas with the masses. I was so excited to find out I'd be writing here today and I hope everyone enjoys my guest post on innovative kitchen lighting. Almost every type of light fixture can be used in a kitchen, from inset spotlights to grandiose chandeliers. As long as it's in keeping with the theme of the space, whether that be modern or traditional, innovative lighting for a kitchen is always a hit. Here are eight great spaces with creative lighting.
 
Utility lighting

  While it may be an unconventional choice for a kitchen, this utility desk lamp looks industrial and stylish over a sink and open shelving.

  Pot lights everywhere

The incredible thing about pot ceiling lights is that they're subtle in their installation however their effects are always dramatic.

  Unique tracks

These track lights are particularly unique in that they are suspended with different type of track lights, giving this kitchen a visually-appealing feature.

  Cabinetry under-lighting

In a kitchen with clear cabinet doors it's important to take advantage of this showmanship quality and light the accoutrements from the inside-out.

  An eclectic chandelier

Sometimes innovative lighting for the kitchen can be the entire focus of the space, as seen here in this classic kitchen with a very modish chandelier fashioned out of candles and crystals.

  Coloured domes

Pendant lights in a solid color are the perfect kitchen lighting to pack a powerful punch in a monochromatic kitchen like this. They appear raw and organically strung from thick chains.

  A spider of spots

Like a modern arachnid spreading its creepy legs, this black fixture is strange and yet stylish all at once - the individual lights can be pointed at various points of the room for optimal lighting.

  A cluster of glass

Coloured glassware may be the focal point of the space however it's the unique pendant light†of clear and frosted glass pendants that really glam up this kitchen.

 Images: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 |

 Did you get inspired by these lighting ideas for the kitchen? Comments are welcome! Don't forget to check out Arcadian Lighting's blog for more innovative light fixtures and inspiration!

big plans: the house reveal

i have been waiting to reveal the elevations of our house until a very special package arrived in the mail.  well it came on monday afternoon and now i am so excited to share it with you!  my grandfather , elwood cooke is an architectural renderer.  for many years he made a living creating paintings of structures for builders, developers and individuals.  he has painted countless buildings and homes for people in the dc area and he was kind enough to paint our house.  he did a fantastic job, and we couldn't be happier.

a rendering does wonders for a project.  it is something that people can understand.  plans and line drawings are informative but they don't give life to a project.  i sent elwood the plans and a front elevation of the house a few weeks ago, along with a package of material samples.  after several phone conversations regarding the material placements, landscape ideas and a few tweaks in the exterior detailing this is what he came up with:

elwood cooke- dunkirk, maryland

if our house turns out as beautiful as elwood's rendering then björn and i will be so super stoked!  we are so pleased with the proportions of the two structures and the addition of the garage creates a nice balance of materiality.

the main house which contains the bedrooms, bathrooms and utilities will be clad in old barn wood while the small house, which is the great room and dining wing, will be clad in painted siding- probably pine in a blue-grey color.  we decided on vertical siding for each of these two wings to emphasize the height.  the white trim will provide some nice contrast and emphasize the geometry of the houses.  the kitchen "connecter" in the center of the house will have horizontal painted siding to keep that area as light as possible, since it will be in shade most of the day.  other materials include the raised seam metal roof in a beautiful oil rubbed bronze color and the window mullions are harvest red.

from the rendering you can get an idea of the landscape plans.  because durango is a dry climate we are interested in xeriscaping.  i can't wait to plant aspen trees and some other beautiful shrubs around the property and we have some beautiful rocks that we have saved from the rock wall for landscaping the front.

now that we have this rendering the reality of this project seems closer than ever.  i can't wait until the foundation is finished! i hope you like it and i would love to hear your comments!

LEED For HOMES: LL Location & Linkages

this is the second post on our LEED goals and it concerns location and linkages.  the intent of this particular group of goals is to reduce the impact of land development practices.  this means simply developing in areas where infrastructure is already existing, and developing on lands that are not environmentally sensitive.

the first requirement concerns the 100-year flood plane.  our site is next to the animas river so consequentially the 100-year flood plane is a real concern for us.  as you may remember i thought i was getting a giant basement for storage, and a wine cellar here.  however, do to the FEMA 100-year flood plane levels we are no longer having a full basement.  rather we are having a crawl space which sits one foot above the flood plane.

durango GIS map with FEMA flood plane levels

the second requirement is that we are not building on any endangered wildlife habitat.  i don't believe we are and considering the city hasn't given us any grief about cute little animals i think we are safe on this one.  we do have some resident deer that like to hang out near the property.

this land wasn't public parkland prior to our ownership- check and we don't have any unique soils of any geologic significance- check.   we are within 100 feet of water and LEED recommend that no development occur within 100 feet of any water source- so i guess we aren't getting those points.

we will get points for developing on a piece of property in which 25% of the adjacent perimeter is previously developed.  the house to the south has been around for over 50 years so point for us!

the fourth point concerns the projects location within an existing community.  it is advisable to develop on a property which already has close by city services such as water, sewer and power.  our site is within 200 feet of all of these services so we are well within these limits.

LEED also commends projects that are within close distances to services such as a grocery store, banks, restaurants, and schools as well as transit services.  our site can qualify for the maximum points as we are within 1/2 mile from at least 14 basic community services.  we are also within 1/4 mile of two city transit routes which services most of durango.  three points for us!

the durango public library and bike path along the river- just minutes from our house!

and finally my favorite, open space.  LEED commends development that has close access to open space.  durango has done a pretty good job of creating open space for its residents. we are within 1/2 mile of several public spaces that are over 3/4 acre in size including access to a superb bike path through town and some very cute little parks.  we also have a river put in just up the street from our lot which is a nice spot for rafters and kayakers- another point for us.

overall out of a maximum of 10 points we should easily get 6 points, not to shabby considering we are building next to a water source. but you know what- i will sacrifice a couple of points for the river view and the awesome spot we have!

our river the animas