The Second Floor Goes Up

Within 5 days most of the second floor went up. Day one, Monday. By Friday, front view.

Rear view. It is exactly two months from the day when the earth was turned on this hillside lot.
By mid-week, based on this view, I decided to make what could be called a major design change. The sharp angle of the roof to the right is supposed to continue to the frame. I think I'm going to let it end where it is and substitute glass in this opening. I like the emphasizing the contrasts between verticals and angles. This design idea is not new here but it is emphasized by keeping the opening. And what looked one way on the drawings looks another way from an actual perspective.
I still have not settled on a color scheme for the exterior. I am partial to having a smooth unpainted stucco finish such as the grey in this neighborhood house but between my aluminum doors and windows, metal roof (color not decided) and facia of the eaves, it still has not crystallized.

How many men does it take to set a 300 pound glue-lam board in place? The board will span a 16 foot sliding glass door. I've got two of these.



It looked good on paper, the 5 foot wide eave that was to also function as a covered walkway to the front door. It was a no brainer to chop it off.

Before the chop
After the chop. The view from the street. The house and garage start to take shape.

The lower left exposed rebar is where an entry courtyard will be created that will house the stairwell leading up to the house level. Mateo held off on extending the retaining wall for this area thinking he could save costs by bringing it closer to the street in line with the different levels of the stairs. The structural engineer said "uh-huh."

The Big Pour and Design Decisions

This Thursday I took vacation time from work not to go somewhere fun but to watch a big cement truck pour concrete (actually it was fun). It took 5 loads to fill this baby, or as Arturo called it, build a freeway. Nothing is going to fall behind this wall.
Arturo is watching his men pour and smooth. I guess if he falls in he won't get glued in place.

Two days after it hardened a waterproof coating painted on, then another waterproofing material, and finally this composite material Nacho said is to protect the wall from the dirt.

Framing is almost ready for it's first inspection. The nails on this roof have to be approved before framing can begin for the second floor.

DESIGN DECISIONS

It's not a wall, it's a canvas. Even though I designed what this surface would look like, I never figured out how the edge of the roof would meet up with the horizontal facia. This detail has to be resolved soon now and it's also opened up a lot of questions that I have been thinking about this week. It's suppose to be a stark, minimalist house, but I've got two sconces, a trellis, and a planter along this wall. Did I over do it? The facia edge issue before me now sets the tone for the rest of the house. Suggestions anyone?

The Week of the 5.4 -- Roofs and the Great Wall

These steel puppies weight almost a thousand pounds, they went up the day of the 5.4 earthquake.
These bars of rebar weigh thousands of pounds and were dropped off this week. They will be used for the single biggest part of this project, construction of the 18 foot tall retaining wall to be located behind the bars in this picture.




Earlier in the week trenches for the retaining wall's footings were dug.

This is the same angle later in the week when half the wood forms for the concrete retaining wall were placed.

By Saturday workers had put much of the rebar into the wall and the footings below. Mateo explained the intricate pattern and sizes of the rebar utilized based upon the structural engineer's plans.

All this steel to be encased by concrete is what makes this a great wall.A roof starts to grow.

Mateo and I ended up the week in a business meeting that started at the site at 6:15 pm but went on till 2am, ending at Los Burritos. Jose and Enrique had joined us. This month's National Geographic says "there is an old Russian tradition that you can't trust or do business with someone unless you have been drunk together." And in this case, until Security asks you to chill out (and put Jose back on the ground).