Chaos and Creation in the Back Yard

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SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS

Indeed, new experiences rarely pan out the way you expect them to. Building this house has been no exception. The budget is non-existent. The timeline is a big question mark. And I am beginning to dread checking my mail, fearing that I will get yet another invoice or statement for charges/materials I was not expecting. But I know that this experience is ultimately going to serve me well in my future endeavors. However, I feel incredibly vulnerable. I have come to realize that there are no safety nets for me- that even with a building consultant on retainer, I am the only one who has any stake in the outcome. As such, despite my working full time and being 100 miles away, willingly or not, I have become much more hands on with every aspect of this project.

One thing I have noticed is that I have managed to utilize a new set of vocabulary that I never had any use for before: "rough opening," "jamb," "soffit," "LVL," "parapet," "fascia," "moment connection," etc. Working in biotech, I really have no use for these things! Another thing I have learned is that I am a lot more perceptive about structural issues than I thought I could be. In essence, if my intuition told me that something was an issue, invariably, it really was an issue. And finally I am starting to get some mileage out of taking high school trig!

Some other things I have learned:

1. Take nothing for granted. Just because something is stated on the floorplan/elevation, or something is stated verbally, one can never assume that it will be done correctly. And you cannot assume that any of the contractors have an eye for aesthetics, sight lines and balance. Even if you have a very specific vision of what the structure should be, this does not mean that anybody else shares this vision. What your builder/GC/construction manager perceives as being correct may not be correct in your own perception. Therefore, you must check EVERY little detail carefully. Be prepared to spend hours with a tape measure, a pen and a note pad. And follow-up, follow-up, follow-up. The old adage about "let it be spoken, let it be done," does not apply here.
2. Make sure you have every specific detail documented BEFORE you start the project in earnest. There has been a lot of guesswork, a lot of "fudging," and a lot of revisiting things that were not explicitly clear on the drawings. Make sure there is no room for interpretation- the framing of a house should not be unlike assembling a model airplane.
3. It's true what they say about being on-site as much as possible. This is redundant, but again, you can not assume that things will be done per the plans. My biggest regret about this whole process is that I could not devote my time to this at all. Instead of being able to catch errors before/as they happen, things have to be corrected after the fact, which invariable affects other things that have been framed around it. I get the feeling that I instill a sense of dread in the framing crew whenever I pop by. If I ever build another house, I will try to figure out a way to take a sabbatical from work during the crucial phases of construction.
4. No plans are perfect. Plans may appear to be correct on paper, but may be contradictory out in the field. But the framing contractors may not be aware of this and may go ahead and frame a wall in front of a window opening per the plan dimensions (this actually happened!). Also, plans drawn by an architect located in another municipality, e.g., Ralph Rapson, may not meet the code requirements for your local building inspector, thereby necessitating deviations from the plans. And once you deviate from the original plans, this begats other deviations upon more deviations, and so on and so on. After a certain point, there is only so much the original architect can do to help guide you through a specific issue.

WINDOWS

Although the house was framed for using conventional windows for punch openings, even in the two-story "greenbelt" atrium area, I am starting to wonder if this is a good idea. For one thing, I think the look will be very bulky with thick sashes/profiles. Secondly, it's not exactly inexpensive doing it this way. Thirdly, this present a problem regarding how to properly trim the exterior of this "wall of windows." I am now beginning to think about putting up storefront windows, as opposed to a curtain wall of glass. I considered using curtain walls originally, but the cost was extremely prohibitive. However, the price point for storefronts appears to be comparable to using high-end residential windows, if not a tad higher. I have finally realized that curtain walls and storefronts look essentially the same. However, curtain walls are structural, thus costing much more money. I don't need curtain walls since the openings are relatively small and I have structural wood beams to support them on the second floor. Another thing I realized is that there are A BUNCH of storefront fabricators in the NYC area. Even moreso than residential window installers. Granted, every storefront fabricator I spoke with thought I was crazy for wanting this look on a single residence, but after some explaining, some of them seemed receptive to actually working on a house, especially the fabricators that specialized in small businesses. I guess I will have to chalk this up to experience!

Anyway, the jury is still out on this issue; I have to get some estimates before I make a final decision on this.

ROOFING

Although I was hesitant at first, now I am fairly certain that I will do the flat roofing myself using rubber coatings. In theory, it appears to be only a little more complicated than applying asphalt to a driveway. Sani-tred appears to be the coating of choice, but despite the high cost of this material, I think I can still save thousands by doing this myself.

TRIG FUNCTIONS

Figuring the roof pitch over the greenbelt section of the house was more challenging than I could have possibly imagined. Ralph Rapson's original plans called for a pitch that was approximately 19-20 degrees from the horizontal. While this may be acceptable for a solar roof panel installation in Florida or California, it would have been less than ideal for Sag Harbor's latitude, which should have the solar panels pitched at 25-55 degrees (I understand the rule of thumb is that the pitch should be plus or minus 15 degrees of latitude). We tried looking at 30 degrees, but this created an outrageously tall peak. Ultimately, we ended up with a roof pitched at approximately 23 degrees, which was good for absorbing the summer rays, but less than ideal for winter rays. However, this pitch provided sufficient surface area for the solar panels and looked appropriate relative to the rest of the house. In the end it was a compromise between efficiency, capacity and appearance.

PROGRESS

Despite the repetition, the house is essentially framed up. Here is a chronology of the progress since the last entry:

September 4, 2005

September 9, 2005

September 24, 2005

Sheathing has just begun.

Hurricane clips are being nailed on:

October 1, 2005

Sheathing is mostly complete and the greenbelt roof is being reframed (after being improperly framed the first time). This time it looks good.

Some interior shots:

I can't wait to have the roof windows installed. In fact, I think this is my favorite part of the house.

Now I know where I'm going to plant a big, fat tree: