New home in Oakland, CA

Hi all,

Just found these forums -- not sure how I'd missed them before. Thought I'd introduce myself. My wife and I are building a new modern home in Oakland, CA. We purchased a vacant lot in the Oakland hills in May 2004, and hired Leger Wanaselja Architecture in Berkeley about the same time. One of their other projects was recently featured in the Dec/Jan 2006 issue of Dwell.

We really focused on green design and construction. Efficient utilization of space, not building more than we need, minimizing impact to the site, etc. Cate Leger came up with a 1600 sq. ft. design (4BR/2BA + 2 car garage) that we really love. We just broke ground in November, and are hoping to move in around September 1.

The exterior will be part stucco and part HardiPlank. We'll have a slightly sloped roof, with deep eaves and exposed rafter tails. Aluminum windows from Blomberg with a clear finish -- many of them will be large 7' x 7' units. Inside we'll have wool carpet in the bedrooms, hardwood everywhere else. Salvaged Douglas fir baseboards, door trim, and window sills. Exposed Parallam beam in the living/dining/kitchen area. Lots of skylights throughout.

I will try to get the plans online somehow to share with all of you. Right now I have only hard copies. I do have some construction photos up though:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/photo/index.cgi?mode=viewalbum=/00-construction/20060216

I'm sure we'll have tons of questions for all of you, especially as we get into the stretch here where we're selecting finishes and fixtures. I'm also more than happy to answer questions about our process/project for others who are considering building a new modern home.

Jim Meehan
Oakland, CA

Jim, looks like you are going along very well and you will have some outstanding views. I had a question, i am looking at getting a lot here in Los Angeles much like yours. The slope is pretty much identical. How much of a hassle was it to excavate it? And if you dont mind me asking, about how much did you spend on excavation and foundation costs?
Looks good i hope to see some updates :grin:

The house was designed to minimize the amount of excavation necessary, so it was really not that difficult. They parked a scoop with a really long arm up on the street, and it could reach all the way down to the bottom of the lot:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/photo/index.cgi?mode=viewalbum=/00-construction/20051205

To drill the piers, they put an augur on the scoop arm:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/photo/index.cgi?mode=viewalbum=/00-construction/20051209

We're fortunate in being at the top of the ridge, because the soil is very shallow. You don't have to go down very far before you hit bedrock. As a result, the piers only needed to be 12 in diameter and 10-12 feet deep, with the bottom several feet embedded in the rock.

Send me an e-mail, and I'll be happy to tell you about costs and etc.
jcm (AT) meehans.org

Building on slopes like that is probably pretty common in certain areas of CA. Being from MN I find it absolutely amazing! It inspires me to not overlook challenging lots for a profitable building site in the future. Congrats and good luck on your new project!

Some new photos. The second floor is almost completely framed now:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/photo/index.cgi?mode=viewalbum=/00-construction/20060310

They'll start framing the roof next week.

Yes, that's snow you can see coming down in some of the photos, and on my brother's head and shoulders. Freakish winter weather here in the SF bay area the last couple of days.

Oh yeah - these were the designers that used all the salvaged car parts and street signs - what great stuff!

we are also going to build in the bay area. a few questions for you. are you acting as the GC or did you hire someone. also what was your construction budget per sf? thanks!-david

Framing is complete for the most part now. Things have gone slowly this month due to all the rain (24 rainy days in March -- a new record for SF).

We're extremely pleased about how our main living area has turned out. The varying ceiling heights/pitches are very cool, as well as the windows and their orientations. We also really like how the exposed rafter tails are working out. I've posted some new photos, but it's hard to capture it all on camera:

http://tinyurl.com/qpl66

Unfortunately, our contractor has had to stop work for a few weeks while we wait for the windows. The manufacturer's lead time has increased since we first talked to them, and also we placed the order a little late. They should be resuming work about April 15, with the completion date now looking like mid-October.

Well, here's the update on our project in Joshua Tree, CA.

The plans and CA Title 24 Report (energy calculations, something akin to an income tax return) are submitted. We're expecting to hear back from the Building and Safety Dept. in 6 - 8 weeks (!) - at which point we'll know whether we have a permit or if we have to make changes in the design.

We also applied for a Fire Department permit to build. We now know we will have to install a sprinkler system in the house because the nearby fire hydrant doesn't have sufficient pressure.

Since I now have the (not-yet-aproved, preliminary) plans in hand, I can get some other things going. For example, I have a meeting scheduled with a company that may make and install the exterior aluminum rolled shutters we're planning to have over the windows and sliding doors; they wouldn't give me much information until I had drawings in hand (yet, the plans had to take into account the shutter specs, so there's a Catch-22 right there). More on this breaking story as it happens!

But, it is getting pretty exciting. Schedule-wise, it looks to me as though we will be ready to start building just about when it is too hot actually do anything in the desert, so it's pretty likely we won't really start building until Fall.

The exterior has really taken shape now with the roof and eaves in place:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/photo/index.cgi?mode=viewalbum=/00-construction/20060515

Hi JCM55

Although timber-frame homes are relatively scarce in South Africa, I have been following your build with great interest for quite some time.

Purely out of curiosity may I ask the following?

From image 802 it appears as if you have a double garage under what would seem to be the master bedroom.

Earlier during construction image 500 shows half of the floor in this area was cast in concrete and once again from later photos, image 512, it seems as if the other half is made of timber suspended over a void?

If this is indeed the case is this common practice and will this area carry the weight of a vehicle?

Although the question might seem really ignorant please keep in mind you are speaking to a bricks and mortar guy, with three self-builds under my belt.

Kind regards – Dennis – Johannesburg – South Africa

Hi Dennis,

You saw it correctly in the photos. The uphill half of the garage is slab-on-grade, and the downhill half is framed floor over crawlspace. I use quotes because you don't really need to crawl in there -- I could easily stand up in it They will pour a 3-inch concrete slab over the framed floor later on in the construction. Probably when the driveway is built.

Around here, when a site is steeply sloped downhill from the street, it's fairly common to see designs with a garage or parking area at street level, and the rest of the house below.

To be honest, when we first started discussing this design, I also questioned a garage with a framed floor. But the architect and engineer assured us that it would be more than sturdy enough. And they reminded us that a vehicle has its weight distributed over four wheels, and is not a particularly heavy load compared to a kitchen full of cabinets and appliances, or a home library full of books.

The windows are in now. The roof is finished, although we are undecided about whether to leave it with just the semi-reflective alumized paint, or to make it a little more traditional looking with a layer of asphalt and light-colored gravel over that. Leaving the alumized paint exposed is definitely the most energy efficient, but parts of the roof are visible from higher part of the street, and we don't want the reflective surface to stand out too much.

The exterior sections where you can see slate gray sheetrock will be covered with HardiPlank siding. The other sections will be stucco.

Rough plumbing and mechanical are finished for the most part. Rough electric started on Monday.

More pictures:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060606/

Hi Jim

How is the house coming on?

It's such a lovely place that I have missed your regular postings.

Dennis
Johannesburg
South Africa

Things are coming along. Rough electric is finished now, as well as the trim for the eaves. The stucco subcontractor was working this week, installing the stucco lath and first coat (I think they call this the browncoat). Some of the HardiPlank siding has also been installed on the exterior of the master bedroom. The insulation subcontractor will be in next week to do the blown-in cellulose insulation, which will be very interesting to see. Sheetrock should start a few days after that.

Some new photos as well. I added lots of comments this time

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060714/

Hi Jim

A real bricks and mortar man question.

I see that in some areas there seems to be chicken mesh against the walls with a type of polyfiller.

What exactly is this and will this also be covered by cladding?

Must say the house is looking great, and that view!!!!

Regards
Dennis Beech
Johannesburg
South Africa

That's the first layer of the stucco exterior finish. I think in Europe the term render is used instead of stucco. Stucco exteriors are very common in the western US.

They covered the wood OSB you've seen in previous photos with water resistant tar paper. Then the chicken wire was stapled up, and covered with the gray Portland cement that you see in the current photos. They'll wait a few weeks for that to dry completely, and then cover any cracks that have developed with a fine mesh. Then they'll put on the finish coat.

More new photos. Here are some that show the netting stapled up inside, ready for the cellulose insulation to be blown in the walls and ceilings. For the floors, we used cotton batts instead, made mostly from recycled clothing.

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060718/

This next set of photos was taken about halfway through sheetrock installation. You can also see them installing the HardiPlank siding on the exterior:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060727/

Sheetrock complete, but not yet taped or mudded. The front door and door frame arrived. Really pleased how the door turned out!

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060804/

A few more pictures of the main room and front door, now with tape and mud applied:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060811/

And this set I just took yesterday. The exterior is nearing completion. The stucco is finished, and you can see some of the paint colors we're trying out for the HardiPlank sections and trim.

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060818/

Jim

The house is really looking great, what a view.

Interesting ceiling levels in the living, dining, kitchen areas.

Thanks for sharing with us. It will be great to see when the scaffolding comes down.

Building on that site is a massive challange.

Regards
Dennis
Johannesburg

Getting close! Here's the hardwood floor going in:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060901/IMG_0948.JPG.html

Hallway bathroom:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060907/IMG_0967.JPG.html

Master bath:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060916/IMG_1007.JPG.html

The exterior is essentially complete now. The scaffolding will come down this week. Inside they are working on cabinet installation, baseboards, and door trim. For the baseboards, door trim, and window sills, we found a company who was milling trim from some really nice salvaged Douglas Fir that came out of deconstructed buildings at Fort Ord in Monterey, CA.

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20060916/

Just about everything should be finished up by the end of October... with the exception of the utilities and the driveway. Work can't start on the driveway until the utility trench has been dug along the curb. And we've been unable to get an installation date from our local utility company PGE. It's very frustrating, but it looks like we'll have a nearly complete house that we'll be unable to move into until the utilities are installed.

Jim

Many things are built all over the world everyday.

Some good some bad.

But when I think back to that near vertical plot you started on I can only congratulate you on your lovely home.

It couldn't have been easy.

The attention to detail has been excellent.

Thank you for sharing the trip with us and I hope you do so until the end.

Out of interest the folk who keep cropping up in the photos, albeit only a few? Are they your folks, not that it is our business.

Regards
Dennis
Johannesburg

My is in a bunch of the photos I think. My folks are in a few from February, and my wife's folks are in some of the more recent ones.

We are really getting close now. Just a few more weeks and they should have the interior all finished. It's really starting to look like a house that we could move into! The only major things left are countertops, plumbing fixtures, a bit more interior painting, and carpet.

Unfortunately, the driveway bridge is behind schedule. That's the item that will probably hold us up from passing final inspection. Our contractor is estimating they'll have that done by Dec. 1st.

The hardwood floors really came out well. The material is 3 1/4 wide solid Madrone from a local mill. Harder than oak, and really reasonably priced.

Some more new photos:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20061118/

The interior is essentially finished now.  The electricians have a few more light fixtures to install, and there are a few other details here and there, but it's really looking like a place we could move into!  We're very excited.

Only the driveway now is keeping us from passing final inspection.  You can see the forms for the concrete apron in some of the photos.  That's been poured now, but I don't have photos of it yet.  The steel installer will be on site next week to build the supports for the suspended portion, and then the concrete sub will be back after that to pour a slab on top, and also pour the the landing outside the front door.

We're hoping for a move-in date of Dec 15 or so!

Previously Jim Meehan wrote:

Some more new photos:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20061118/

The interior is essentially finished now.  The electricians have a few more light fixtures to install, and there are a few other details here and there, but it's really looking like a place we could move into!  We're very excited.

Only the driveway now is keeping us from passing final inspection.  You can see the forms for the concrete apron in some of the photos.  That's been poured now, but I don't have photos of it yet.  The steel installer will be on site next week to build the supports for the suspended portion, and then the concrete sub will be back after that to pour a slab on top, and also pour the the landing outside the front door.

We're hoping for a move-in date of Dec 15 or so!

Jim

As always thanks for sharing the journey with us.

Dennis

Here's kind of a work in progress on all the green features/materials we used in building our house:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/house/

And a recent set of photos.  Still haven't gotten around to much landscaping yet, but hopefully by the end of the summer we'll have that done too.

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20070327/

Previously Jim Meehan wrote:

I live in the SF/East Bay area and I am planning on buying a lot in the Oakland area. I have ideas about high quality stylish modular homes. Was this ever an idea you considered? Were there/are there any restrictions regarding this type of home construction. Also was hoping by getting the modular home there would be some green materials choices. Thanks and good luck to you!!
Bryant

Here's kind of a work in progress on all the green features/materials we used in building our house:

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/house/

And a recent set of photos.  Still haven't gotten around to much landscaping yet, but hopefully by the end of the summer we'll have that done too.

http://vpizza.org/~jmeehan/gallery2/v/construction/20070327/