Since my last post we have made good progress including the installation of the exterior windows and doors at openings. To prep for the stucco, we’ve put up a 1″ foam board, tyvek wrapped and lathed over the sheathing. (The above images are from just before we lathed.) The solar panels are on the roof and wired. At the interior we’ve insulated with an open cell blown insulation and prepped for the 12′-0″ pocket door. The white oak t&g is on the underside of the overhang at the poolside patio and looks great.

While there has been progress, we have been waiting for the interior doors for almost a month now and they should arrive on site this week. They are custom, slab doors in rift cut white oak. They’ll be beautiful and match the cabinetry but I did not anticipate the long wait or schedule impact. The drywall and stucco must wait until after the interior doors are installed. Lesson, if you are going to go with an custom interior door, order early.

It has been a busy summer, with a few new projects added to the workload. Consequently I have neglected the blog. This my effort to catch up. Above is a photo taken at the end of June while they were finishing up the framing and sheathing. Since then, we’ve done the plumbing, HVAC, electrical, roofing, tyvek wrap and are currently installing the windows and doors, as well as the low voltage. Making some great progress. I will post some photos of the windows and the doors sometime in the next few days.

I am finally getting around to catching up on the blog. We’ve moved temporarily to LA and things have been hectic. The masonry is now complete and they are almost a week into framing. It is amazing how quickly the framing is progressing. Here are some photos showing the progress:

The first lift of masonry was completed in mid February. This image captures the winter sunset between masonry columns from the master bedroom.  There will be a large plate glass window starting at 24″ above finish floor to the ceiling here.  The 16″ masonry column in the foreground was rebuilt, as there were to be no vertical joints at the interior of the columns since they are all exposed.  Luckily we caught this before the second lift and before they grouted the interior, making for easy demo.

The image above shows the completed slab/subfloor with the plumbing and electrical stubs. In the background you can see the completed first lift of masonry for the east wall and fireplace. This photo is taken from the Master Bedroom looking in the opposite direction of the previous image.

This image shows the east radius wall, fireplace and entry and fireplace, which form the east edge of the house. This photo is taken from the northwest corner of the house in what will be the dining room at sunrise.

Framing started on Monday and has been moving along rapidly. This image is just to the west of the dining room, the glulams in the foreground create the corner of a covered patio that opens up onto the pool.

Here we are looking from the hallway into the ‘great room’. The office is immediately to our right and the kitchen is through the door to the left. The roof structure shifts at this point from wood trusses to BCI’s, demarcating the original structure from the addition, even though the original ended up getting demo’d in the end. The ceiling will transition at this doorway from 9′-6″ sheetrock to 10′-10″, at the lowest point, tongue and groove clear western red cedar.

Prepping to get slabbed

Having just returned from a trip to Cave Creek, I’m happy to report that the slab has been poured and looks great!  I met with the contractor and mason. We reviewed next steps and I have some details drawings to produce for the mason for his work on Saturday. The masonry will be the first of the walls to go up on the residence. I’ll be going back the around the first of March when framing begins. Have to say it’s much easier commuting from LA these days. The trip from Seattle was a little rough.

Plumber's mapping of HVAC return air duct locations on site

I was in AZ last week, visiting the site. The plumber was starting his work, marking out the HVAC return locations and starting the dig. This work is now complete and we are having our soils inspection today.  This will allow us to move on to the electrical work that has to happen under the slab and then, bam, pour the slab! This will be an exciting moment, hopefully I can be on site for this.

Next Tuesday the plumber will come to dig air returns for the hvac system and then we’ll have the inspections the next day. On Thursday, after the inspection, we will dig for the soils and plumbing. Our goal is to have the slab poured by the end of the month and the framers on site by the first of February.

The concrete contractor arrived today and string lined the form work for the slab. They will return tomorrow to build the forms. Spent a good portion of the morning verifying dimensions and going over details with them.

After they finish up, hopefully by Wednesday, the plumber and electrician will begin their work beneath the slab. Once they have all the work in place it will be time to pour.

More pictures to come soon.

Now that the first phase of masonry is complete and has had time to cure, it’s time for waterproofing and backfill. Yesterday they sprayed a polyeurethane foam on the back of the walls up to grade height and then backed it with expansion board. This waterproofing method will prevent effervescence which is the white veining and eventual cracking you can get on masonry walls.

Today and tomorrow they are backfilling the soil behind both retaining walls and compacting the earth behind the south radius retaining wall. French drains and weep holes have gone into the east radius retaining wall to help with drainage.

Tomorrow they will bring the earth in the garage area down to grade and dig the ditch for an 18″ diameter corrugated abs area drain that will run under the driveway at a depth of 3-5′.

The concrete contractor should be arriving as soon as Saturday to do the form work for the slab.  We are making some good progress this week. Managing the project remotely has been challenging but I can’t wait to see the progress on my next visit on January 11th.

East radius retaining wall in foreground

The masonry for the east radius retaining wall is pretty well completed.  This wall retains the hillside to the east and north of the property, allowing for the driveway and parking area. In the center of the image it jogs further into the hill, allowing for a garbage and storage area behind the garage. The stepped wall on the left of the image is the stem/retaining wall for the back of the garage.