Home 2.0 Blog Archive

Friday, July 31, 2015

GAS DAY

Gas Line & Gas Meter Installed

Duke Energy was on site Thursday morning and installed both the gas meter and gas line running from the street to the meter. With the main gas line located under the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road, Duke needed to bore horizontally all the way underneath the street and both sidewalks to tap the line. Fortunately, with the drilling technology Duke possess, the whole process is pretty non-invasive. Once the line reached the Starter Home 2.0 property line, the pipe was sleeved through the conduit provided by the plumbers when they set the storm and sanitary pipes a couple weeks ago, exiting at the base of the meter. I regret not being able to get some pictures and video of the equipment being used to perform this work, but here are some images of the completed work. 



Thursday, July 30, 2015

TRIM WORK

Baseboard & Window Trim

The trim carpenters were busy on site Wednesday at the Starter Home 2.0 project installing the baseboard trim throughout the second floor and window casing trim throughout the first floor. Below are some images of that work, and here is a breakdown of the various trim selections utilized.
  • Interior Window Casing: Empire Moulding 432 E2E 9/16" x 3-1/2" Primed Pine 
  • Interior Door Casing: Empire Moulding 473 E2E 9/16" x 2-1/4" Primed Pine 
  • Interior Base Trim: Empire Moulding L 414 E1E 9/16" x 4-1/4" Primed Pine 
I expect the first floor baseboard trim and second floor window casing trim to be installed later today and will post images of that work to the Starter Home 2.0 photo albums linked on the blog. 



Wednesday, July 29, 2015

WHERE THERE'S SMOKE...

Smoke Detectors Installed

On Tuesday electrical work resumed with the installation of smoke detectors throughout the interior of the house. Detectors were placed.in every bedroom on the second floor, in the kitchen/living area on the first floor, and towards the bottom of the stair in the basement. Next steps for the electrician now include exterior lighting and power, basement lighting and power, and main panel installation. Once those tasks are executed, the electrical work will be substantially complete aside from final punch list items.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

DOORS, DECKING & DECOR LIGHTS

Interior Doors, Trex & Vanity Light Installation

Monday was a highly productive day on the Starter Home 2.0 site with multiple trades working on multiple areas of the house. Here is a breakdown of some of the tasks completed. 
  • Interior doors were installed throughout the second floor along with the door casing trim, which will be painted white to match the doors. One detail to point out is the gap left between the floor sheathing and bottom of the door to allow for the finish flooring to run under the door

  • The Trex Transcend Series - Gravel Path (color) decking was installed on the front porch and rear stair landing.

  • The vanity lights, which are Elk Lighting, Elysburg Collection 2-light & 3-light fixtures, were installed in all of the bathrooms. The curvilinear form was selected to compliment the faucets, cabinet hardware, and pedestal sink, which all feature a curvilinear design.

Monday, July 27, 2015

STARTER HOME 2.0 FOR SALE?

Prospective Buyer Inquiries

Last week during a meeting with my builder, I was told that several people had called the number on the Mike Brown Construction yard sign, asking if the home was for sale. I joked that for the right price, everything is for sale. But realistically, I would need to be pretty overwhelmed with an offer for me to sell the project (at least right away), and here's why:
  • Post-Occupancy Evaluation Opportunities: One of the objectives of living in the home after I build it is to be able to evaluate all aspects of the home from a homeowner perspective, everything from energy bills to maintenance issues, to pleasant and unpleasant surprises associated with the design. All of this feedback will be extremely valuable when it comes to designing, financing, and constructing future projects, so I don't want to miss out on the chance to gather this information when it becomes available.  
  • Tax Implications: By owning and occupying the home for 2+ years as a primary residence, I can avoid paying capital gains tax on the first $250,000 of the sales price. I'll also be able to take advantage of the new construction tax abatement for the City of Cincinnati.
  • The Home Base Factor: I believe that by establishing a 'home base' at a single location for a set period of time, I will be better positioned to plan and execute goals and systems I have in mind pertaining to business and other aspects of my life.
That said, I definitely plan on building more Starter Home 2.0 projects around the city (think Starter Home 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, etc.), so there should be some additional ownership opportunities for the general public in the not-so-distant future.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

BLOG RE-DESIGN

A More User Friendly Experience

In an effort to give readers a clearer understanding of what the Starter Home 2.0 Project is all about, I updated the blog layout yesterday to include a series of navigation bars along the left-hand side of the page. Here is a breakdown of the new additions: 
  • Starter Home 2.0 Links: Navigation bar with direct links to a Project Intro, Plans and Renderings, Photo Albums, and YouTube channel
  • Blog Archive: Navigation bar with direct links to all previous Starter Home 2.0 Project blog posts
  • About Me: Background information about my personal experience and interests relating to the Starter Home 2.0 project.

Saturday, July 25, 2015

SECONDARY ROOFS

Porch & Garage Roofing

On Friday the roofing crew was back on site for the installation of rolled rubber roofing over the low slope roof covering the front porch and asphalt shingles covering the garage roof. Trimming of the excess roofing material and the installation of drip edges, gutters & downspouts will take place at a later date.

 

Friday, July 24, 2015

PATIO STAIR

Rear Landing Framing

On Thursday the framers were back on site setting the rear posts and building out the landing at the back entry door leading down to the patio. The first and most labor intensive step for the two man crew was digging down the 30"+ required to get below the frost line with nothing more than a hand spade, which was a pretty impressive feat to see in person. Here are some pictures of the rear patio stair progress after a day's work.




Thursday, July 23, 2015

PORCH PROGRESS

Front Porch Framing

With the exterior water and sewer hookups complete last week and a string of good weather days this week, the carpentry crew was able to get back to work on the Starter Home 2.0 project the past few days and substantially complete the front porch framing, while wrapping the 2x10 fascia board in white aluminum, to match other areas of the house. Decking, roofing, railings, soffits, trim, lattice work, a gutter and downspout still need to be installed before the porch is finished, but it's nice to have the basic elements in place to build upon. 

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

OUTLETS, LIGHTS & SWITCHES

Electrical Rough-In, Round 2

With the walls and ceilings finished, the electrician was back on site yesterday for a second round of electrical rough-in work, installing duplex outlets, casings and bulbs to fit the recessed can light housings, and light switches throughout the home. Based on the progress made after day one of this Round 2 rough-in work, the remainder of the outlets and switches should be in place by the end of the week.

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

CONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION

Value of an Architect On-Site

I'm a huge believer in learning by doing, so while I am very much looking forward to having a new home to live in and call my own next month, the process of seeing how what I draw as an Architect actually gets built in the field (which is often a little different than what I expect, and sometimes for good reason) has been the most interesting part of the process for me. Being on site everyday has given me the ability to ask questions about why things are built the way they are, develop timely solutions to unforeseen problems, and make design changes in the field to improve the overall quality and cost effectiveness of the project, all of which have been huge contributors to the success of the Starter Home 2.0 job to date. Unfortunately, for the vast majority of Architect designed projects, the Architect is rarely contracted to be on site more than once or twice a week and oftentimes never visits a project he or she designs while it is being built.
Yesterday was another great example of why Construction Administration is a critical component of good architecture. While stopping by the house after work I observed some differences between the drawings and front porch roof framing, I called and met the builder on site, asked some questions about why things were different between the two, and developed a solution (after a quick discussion and sketch) that is aesthetically pleasing and more cost effective to build than what was originally drawn in the first place. Below are a couple of sketches from that conversation that I drew up on my tablet to better communicate to the builder how we agreed to proceed.

Monday, July 20, 2015

APPLIANCE SELECTIONS

GE & Whirlpool Appliances

Over the weekend I drove out to Batavia and visited Lee & Jack's to pick out appliances for the Starter Home 2.0 project. I ended up with all GE appliances in the Kitchen and with a Whirlpool washer and dryer in the basement. Below are links to the final selections on the manufacturer's website.
  • GE 30" Free-Standing Gas Convection Range (JGB697SEHSS)
  • GE 1.9 Cu. Ft. Over-the-Range Sensor Microwave Oven (JVM7195SFSS)
  • GE ENERGY STAR 25.4 Cu. Ft. Side-By-Side Refrigerator (GSE25HSHSS)
  • GE Stainless Steel Interior Dishwasher with Hidden Controls (GDT580SSFSS)
  • GE 1/2 HP Continuous Feed Garbage Disposer w/ Sound Reduction (GFC535V
  • Whirlpool 4.2 Cu. Ft Duet HE Front Load Washing Machine with Cold Wash Cycle (WFW72HEDW) + 15" Pedestal 
  • Whirlpool 7.3 Cu. Ft. Duet High Efficiency Front Load Electric Dryer with ENERGY STAR Qualification (WED72HEDW) + 15" Pedestal 

Sunday, July 19, 2015

KITCHEN CABINETRY

Base & Wall Cabinets In Place

While the utility hookup work was taking place around the exterior of the Starter Home 2.0 project this past week, the installation of kitchen cabinetry began on the interior of the home with the base and wall cabinets getting set in place. I posted previously about the cabinetry layouts and selections, but it was nice to see the initial arrangement as a collective whole. The countertop, sink, hardware and appliances (which I selected yesterday) will be added to the set in the upcoming days and weeks to complete the assembly.



Saturday, July 18, 2015

WATER & GAS

Water Supply Line & Gas Hookup Prep

In addition to the exterior sewer pipe and downspout work performed the last few days on the Starter Home 2.0 project, excavation and plumbing work associated with the main water and gas supply hookups for the house also took place. The main water line was already tapped at the street several weeks ago, so for the excavation and plumbing crew it was just a matter of running supply pipe from the main line at the sidewalk into the house where they proceeded to install the primary water shutoff valve for the property. 
The process of running the main gas line from the street to the home is considerably different than what it is for the sewer and water piping as it is the responsibility of Duke Energy (the local utility company) to install, and the contractor is just tasked with providing a conduit for them to run their pipe to. With this conduit now in place, it is now simply a matter of waiting on Duke to provide the gas service

Friday, July 17, 2015

GOING DOWN FOR REAL

Underground Downspout Drainage

On Thursday the excavating and plumbing crew was back at work on the Starter Home 2.0 project and ran all the underground drainage lines for the downspout and sump pump connections from the house and garage to where the system 'daylights' out onto the street. The bottom image shows the location of where the downspout drainage pipe discharges out into the street as well as how the site was re-graded after Wednesday's sewer hookup.



Thursday, July 16, 2015

SEWER HOOKUP

House Drain To Street Connection

With the weather forecast looking sunny and dry the next few days, the excavating and plumbing crew tasked with connecting the house drain to the sewer tap was finally able to get to work on the hookup and below are some initial progress images of that work. I'll continue to post updates in the upcoming days as they complete the drainage pipe installation and move on to running the water and gas lines to the house.


Wednesday, July 15, 2015

DOOR HARDWARE

Exterior, Interior & Cabinet Door Hardware Selections

Last week I made a final series of selections for the Starter Home 2.0 project, and one of the categories covered was Door Hardware. Below is a breakdown of the exterior handlesets, interior handlesets, and cabinet door pulls selected, all of which I feel do an effective job of reinforcing the clean, contemporary style of the home with quality product lines widely available at an affordable price point.

  • Front and Rear Entry Door Handlesets
    • Schlage: Greenwich Style Handleset with Merano Lever
    • Satin Nickel Finish

  • Interior Door Handlesets
    • Schlage: Merano Series (Standard Style)
    • Satin Nickel Finish

  • Kitchen & Bathroom Cabinet & Drawer Door Pulls
    • Brainerd: Carolina Arch Pull
    • Satin Nickel Finish