Day 111: Railings

On Thursday, Marty, Georg and I installed the salvaged railing pieces I cut yesterday. It is surprising how well the old railings go with the new staircase. Here is a pic of the loft taken from the kitchen followed by one taken on the loft looking west.


Joshua continued installing tile in the shower. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 110: Spiral staircase and downspouts

On Wednesday, we installed the spiral staircase that was made by Stocklin Iron in Santa Rosa, CA. Here is a pic of the staircase taken from the dining room.

Marty installed copper downspouts between the gutters and drains. Here is a pic of the downspout on the northwest corner of the home.

Other tasks from day 110:

• Erik the electrician continued installing outlets, switches and light fixtures
• Joshua began installing tile in the shower
• I started cutting salvage railing pieces to fit the edge of the loft

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 109: Interior cleanup and electrical

On Tuesday, we cleaned up the interior. We removed all of the masking materials and swept the floors. It is really nice to see the wooden beams exposed again (it has been a while).

Erik the electrician began installing outlets and switches. Below is a pic from the entry door looking at the south wall between the dining room and family room.Can you spot the one completed wall switch? Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading your comments.

Day 108: Ceiling paint and soffits

On Monday, Marty sprayed the ceilings with 2 coats of zero Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint (he sprayed the ceilings on Sunday with zero VOC primer). Here is a pic of the ceiling over the kitchen.

Justin, Marty, Raphael, Georg and I installed corrugated metal soffit material around the perimeter of the home. We are pleased with the results. Here is a pic of the northwest corner soffit.

Green comments for today:

• Consider low or zero VOC primers and paints for improved indoor air quality compared to common products.
• Where appropriate, choose finish materials that are durable and recyclable. For example, my soffit material is galvanized steel. It should require little to no maintenance over the life of the home. The steel can be recycled or salvaged when the home is someday deconstructed (hopefully long after I am gone).

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 107: Kitchen cabinets and site cleanup

Friday was a nice light day after 3 intense days of plastering. Alan Dodd from Live Oak Design installed the bases of the kitchen cabinets.

Trevor and I did a bit of site cleanup while Joshua applied waterproofing to the shower floor. We pulled the masking tape and plastic protecting the soffit area to reveal our plaster work up top. We are pleased with the results. Below is a pic of the northwest corner and porch area (please ignore the temporary downspouts). Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 106: Exterior plastering…and solar panels

On Thursday, we applied the 2nd of 3 coats of lime plaster to the south wall.

The guys from Independent Energy Systems installed 22 Sharp 224 watt solar panels to the tilt racks on Tuesday - I totally forgot to take a picture. Below is a pic of the south wall showing the plaster and solar panels. Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading your comments.

Day 104 an 105: Exterior plastering

Monday we had the day off because of rain. On Tuesday, we applied the 2nd of 3 coats of lime plaster to the exterior of the east and west walls. This is called the straightening coat because the plasterers try to straighten out imperfections in the wall in preparation for the finish coat. I worked until 8:30 PM on this coat, so I didn't post Tuesday.

On Wednesday, we applied the 2nd of 3 coats of lime plaster to the exterior of the north wall. The final step is to scratch the coat to provide a mechanical key for the finish coat to latch onto. Here is a pic of the southwest corner of the home. Notice the difference between the horizontal scratched lines on the west wall (left) and the bumpy texture of the scratch coat on the south wall (right).

I’ll close with a pic of me in front of the west wall near the end of day 105. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 103: Interior plastering and ceiling texture

On Friday Joshua, Trevor and I completed interior gypsum wall plastering. It is great to have all of the APEX blocks finally covered. Here is a pic of the sliding glass patio door on the bedroom south wall.

Marty applied and knocked down ceiling texture while Trevor, Raphael and I shuffled scaffolding around. Between the rain this week and the water evaporating from the plaster, the house is humid like Florida. Below is a pick of Marty up top with Trevor and Raphael below. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Green comment for today:
When selecting finishes, especially those inside the home, consider the simplest materials with the least amount of additives. This will result in the best indoor air quality. For example, my interior wall finish is 99% gypsum plaster (plaster of Paris).

I chose to avoid premix or ready mix materials because they contain vinyl compounds which act as binders. Once applied, the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) portion of the binder will evaporate into your home atmosphere potentially affecting respiration in folks with chemical sensitivities. It is true that the VOC concentration will reduce dramatically over time, but it is best to not allow the material in the home if it is not needed.

To determine what is in a product, look at the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). This can be confusing when a manufacturer decides to include a series of products on one MSDS. You sometimes see the words "may contain one or more of the following" in the Composition/Ingredients section of the MSDS. In this case, you need to call technical support to see if the particular product you are interested contains any offending ingredients.

Day 102: South wall interior plastering

The power was back on Thursday. We applied gypsum plaster to all surfaces of the south wall except in the bedroom. Here is a pic of the south wall in the family room and loft.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 101: Power outage plastering

We had a rain delay on Tuesday as the remains of Super Typhoon Melor hit the California coast. The job site held up to the storm pretty well considering we had bare soil everywhere. Power was out at the site Tuesday and Wednesday. We rented a generator which ran the plaster mixer, work light and radio. The generator did not produce enough current to run the compressor, so we could not use the plaster sprayer. We plastered the east wall of the loft by hand and called it a day. Below is a pic of the wall taken from the southwest corner of the loft. Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading your comments.

Day 100: Interior plastering

On Monday we applied gypsum plaster to the interior north wall. It is nice to see the cold looking APEX blocks covered with a uniform finish. Here is a pic of the great room portion of the wall taken from the loft.

The guys from Independent Energy Systems were back again today to install another rack for the photovoltaic array. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 99: Interior plastering

On Friday we applied gypsum plaster to the interior west wall. Here is a pick of Marty, Raphael, Joshua and Ben in action.

Here is a pic of Cindy in the dining room on Saturday after the wall has partially dried.

Here is a closeup pic of the kitchen window bullnose. This detail gives the house a nice old-world feel. Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading your comments.

Day 98: Solar install, shower and final preparations for interior plastering

The folks from Independent Energy Systems began installing the PV solar panel racks on the roof - pic 1 below. They also installed the inverter (left) in the utility room next to the main distribution panel (right) - pic 2 below.


Joshua poured mortar on the shower floor and created a surface that tapers down slightly from the outside edges to the drain.

We completed applying masking tape and plastic sheet around the perimeter of the building in preparation for interior plastering. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Day 97: Preparation for interior plastering

We spent the day doing the following tasks in preparation for interior plastering.

• Completed cutting and installing diamond mesh metal lath to the interior edge of the top plate and around the entry door
• Completed applying plastic sheet and masking tape to the curved beams and electrical boxes
• Fabricated blocks that simulate the windowsills during plastering. These blocks are needed because the wood that will be used to fabricate windowsills will not be dry and ready to finish until summer, 2010. They will allow the plaster to be molded around where the windowsills will eventually mount.
  
• Swept the walls to remove any loose debris
• Swept the floors to remove a month’s worth of construction debris
• Started applying masking tape and plastic sheet around the perimeter of the building

I'll close with two pics of the redwood casing I mentioned in Tuesday’s post. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 96: West and north wall plastering

Today we applied the first of three lime plaster coats to the exterior of the west and remainder of the north wall. Thanks to Trevor, Raphael, Joshua, Ben, Georg and Justin for helping complete the first coat of exterior plaster in 3 days. Here is a pic of the northwest corner of the home.

Some other tasks from day 96:

• I planed and sanded more of the reclaimed tongue and groove redwood flooring for use as casing molding. I ripped off about one inch from the tongue side of the boards.
• Justin installed the casings around the exterior of the utility room and entry doors. The groove will hold the plaster in place next to the molding.
  
• Installed 2X4 boards in the kitchen wall to support cabinets
• Installed extensions on the bottom of the window bucks inside to: 1) control the thickness of plaster on the wall next to the windowsill (plaster screed), 2) support the windowsill and 3) act as a support for the apron under the windowsill
• Started cutting and installing diamond mesh metal lath to the interior wall top plate

Stella status:
She is still growing, and her bark has gotten deeper. I caught her napping this afternoon. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 95: South wall plastering

Today we applied the first of three lime plaster coats to the exterior of the south wall. This is known as a scratch coat. It has this name because it is usually scratched while still wet to create grooves for the next coat to latch onto. We do not have to scratch the plaster because the sprayer leaves a nice bumpy surface for the next coat. Thanks to Trevor, Raphael, Joshua, Georg and Ben for making the day go smoothly. Here is a pic of the plaster next to a sliding patio door.

We also installed the utility room door today.

I’ll close with a couple pics of Trevor’s daughter Zephyra showing her plastering technique. She visited today with mom and grandma. Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading your comments.

Day 94: Exterior plaster

On Friday we applied the first of three lime plaster coats to the exterior of the east wall and part of the north wall. Here are pics of both walls respectively. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Day 93: Ubiquitous plaster preparation and other tasks

I’m running late tonight after a very busy day. Here is a list of the things that happened Thursday.

• Had a successful interior gypsum plaster test in the closet
• Indirect water heater was delivered
• Shower floor was leveled
• Hung the entry door and 2 interior doors
• Finished applying masking tape and plastic sheet to all exterior windows and sliding patio doors
• Rinsed the exterior of the east and north walls in preparation for plastering Friday

Following is a pic of the entry door. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.