SIGN DESIGN

For Sale Yard Signage

With construction and interest from passers-by at the Oakley Home 2.0 site picking up in recent days, I've started to explore my options for a 'For Sale' sign to place on the property to draw attention to my website where pricing and contact information can be found for potential buyers. From a design perspective, the generic 'For Sale by Owner' signs available at Lowe's or Home Depot with a blank space for writing a phone number are quite ugly and unprofessional looking, and certainly not consistent with the effort and care I've put into branding the home with my OakleyHome2.com website and other posts on social media. That said, I viewed this as a design opportunity to create my own yard sign and below is a draft of the concept I will be taking to Fast Signs and other local signage companies for a quote and feedback on production. I will follow-up with another blog post on the topic once the signs are made and placed on the property.

WHAT'S WITH THE KIDDIE POOL?

A Concrete Explanation

One of the most common questions I've received from friends, family and neighbors following along with the Oakley Home 2.0 progress is 'What's with the Kiddie Pool?' This was also the case on the first Home 2.0 project in Pleasant Ridge, but thought with all the pools opening this Memorial Day weekend, I would go ahead and dive into this.

I was aware from my first home project that the Kiddie Pools were associated with concrete work, but it wasn't until doing some additional research this weekend that the specific purpose of the plastic pools became clear to me. It turns out these pools are commonly used on construction sites throughout the country as a way of containing concrete truck washout. Government regulations prohibit concrete wash or rinse water from concrete trucks, chutes, mixing equipment, tools and related items from being discharged or allowed to run into any water body or portion of the stormwater system including streets and storm inlets. That said, the kiddie pool, which is inexpensive and readily available at stores is perfectly sized for containing this wash until it hardens and can be disposed of properly. The following images show the pools at the Oakley Home 2.0 site and my current home in Pleasant Ridge when it was under construction in 2015.

DETAIL MARK-UP SERIES: POST #1

Foundation Drain Pipe & Keyway

In my opinion, the single best way for architects and the general public to learn about how buildings go together is to literally see buildings go together (or at least pictures of how buildings go together) and how that compares to what is being drawn in the construction documents architects produce and contractors build from.

That said, I thought it would be a helpful educational tool to start a 'Detail Mark-Up' series of blog posts to highlight specifics of details as they are installed in the field on the Oakley Home 2.0 project, to translate drawings into reality.

Below I have focused on a detail showing the concrete footer (or footing as architects and engineers call it) that will support the concrete foundation wall, highlighting the drainage pipe and keyway elements. The perforated drainage pipe (which is shown rolled up by the sidewalk in the second photo) will be laid on either side of the footer per the detail drawing and connected at intermittent locations through the footing (as shown in the first photo) to collect and disperse any water that builds up around the footer. Meanwhile, the keyway, which is a depression at the top of the footing, aides in resisting the lateral pressure exerted on the base of the foundation wall at the cold joint between the footer and foundation wall (that is structurally viewed as a weak point) by locking the footer and foundation wall together like a key would lock a door.

FOOTERS POURED

Concrete Work Underway

In an effort to beat the rains expected this weekend in Cincinnati, the excavation and concrete contractors were hard at work all day Friday trenching, forming and pouring the footers for the Oakley Home 2.0 house and attached garage. The varying soil conditions across the site resulting from topography changes and the old construction debris left from the previous home and demolition required additional trenching and concrete beyond what was originally anticipated in spots, but thanks to effective construction management and collaboration with the city inspector and geotech engineer on the project, everything was able to get completed as hoped for. Below are some images of the freshly poured concrete footings and many more photos can be found by clicking here.

HOW IT'S MADE

Allan Block Production

One of the cool perks about my job as an architect is having the opportunity to visit different manufacturing plants to see how the various construction materials and assemblies that I specify on my residential and commercial projects get produced. On Wednesday I was invited along with my co-workers at SHP Leading Design to a lunchtime plant tour of Reading Rock, who makes (among many other things) the Allan Block units I used for the site wall in front of my Pleasant Ridge home and will be using for the site wall around the walkout basement patio at the Oakley Home 2.0 project. Below are images of Allan Block product in drawn form, on the assembly line, and installed.

MINI-SERIES

Mini-Excavator and Mini-Flags

On Wednesday with the large hole in the ground at the Isabella lot substantially dug out, the full-size excavator that had been on site for the past few days was swapped out for a mini-excavator that will be used to trench out the frost footings around the walkout basement and perform other miscellaneous earth moving tasks. Miniature flags were also inserted at the bottom of the excavation pit to once again locate the building corners for the next iteration of foundation work.

OAKLEY HOME 2.0 DUGOUT

Excavation Wrapping Up

Yesterday the majority of the digging wrapped up at the Oakley Home 2.0 project as the remaining debris was hauled off site and the excavation reached the final footing depth for the basement foundation. The next step is having the soil inspected and once that is approved, the concrete footers can be formed and poured. Today's forecast is supposed to be a wet one, so whether or not the soil inspection happens today or tomorrow remains to be seen.

GROUNDBREAKING DAY

Excavation Underway

Today the digging got underway at the Oakley Home 2.0 lot with the excavation crew removing the remnants of the buried foundation left from the previous home and digging down to the level of the new footers to be poured later in the week. The old demolition debris was loaded into a dump truck and taken off site, while the remaining excess dirt will be spread around the back of the property and used as backfill. Below are some images and a video taken from today's site visit that can also be viewed on the Oakley Home 2.0 Photo Album and my YouTube Channel.

GREEN BUILDING CHECK-IN

Monthly LEED for Homes Conference Call #1

In advance of construction getting into full-swing next week, Friday marked the first of a series of monthly check-ins between myself, Mike Brown Construction and Green Building Consulting to review the execution and documentation of the various LEED for Homes pre-requisites and credits identified as those we plan to pursue to achieve the LEED Silver Certification. Below are a few of the takeaways from this first conference call.

• LEED requires documentation of construction waste to track amounts diverted from landfills, however it does not require the documentation of demolition waste, which would apply to any hauling required relating to the excavation for the Oakley Home 2.0 project
• When it comes to documenting construction waste, the project team needs to notify the dumpster company that it is a LEED project so that they can produce tracking slips that serve as verification for the amount of waste being diverted.
• One of the early items prior to framing that needs to be documented is the installation of the radon pipe, which ties into the foundation drain tile around the concrete footer.
• Once framing is completed, a pre-drywall inspection will not only need to be performed by the building inspector, but by the LEED Green Rater on the project as well.

DIG LAYOUT

Marked for Excavation

Today the stage was set for construction to begin at the Oakley Home 2.0 project site with the arrival of the excavating equipment and marking of the property for excavation with orange spray paint and flags at the corners of the home's foundation, attached garage, and front porch. Below are some images of the home layout, which can be accessed on the Oakley Home 2.0 Photo Album along with a video that can be accessed on my YouTube Channel.

TEARDOWN TIPPING POINT

Oakley Neighborhood Demolition Trend

Cincinnati's Oakley neighborhood, much like Hyde Park, Madeira and Montgomery in recent years, appears to have reached a tipping point where the 'highest and best use' for many of the area's original homes is to demolish them and rebuild new. In fact, within just a few blocks of the Oakley Home 2.0 at 3874 Isabella, there are at least three such teardown projects underway (with locations shown in the satellite image below). Considering Oakley's relatively weak housing stock in comparison to the area's other highly desirable neighborhoods, this is likely just the start of a wave of demos and rebuilds to come. Now whether that is a good or bad thing I think depends largely on what gets built, and like to think the Oakley Home 2.0 project will set a good precedent for the rest of the neighborhood to follow.

TOURING CINCINNATI

2017 Neighborhood Business District Bus Tour

Yesterday I had the chance to participate for a second straight year in the bus tour portion of the annual City of Cincinnati Neighborhood Business District Improvement Program (NDIP) grant competition on behalf of my neighborhood of Pleasant Ridge. The structure of the tour is that from 8am-2pm, a charter bus full of City Employees and Neighborhood Representatives of all 20+ Neighborhood Business Districts competing for grant money are driven from neighborhood-to-neighborhood (stopping only for bathroom breaks and beer) where a spokesperson for each community gives an overview of what is happening in their neighborhood and description of what they are proposing to use the funds they are requesting on, whether that is property acquisition, streetscape, signage, or in the case of Pleasant Ridge this year, parking improvements. The coolest thing for me being on the tour for the second year in a row is noticing how much all the different business districts have grown in the past year with new retail, restaurants and offices opening throughout the city. It also helped validate a lot of my preferences for future Home 2.0 project sites (which I wrote about in a blog post this time last year). Below is a Map Highlighting all the Neighborhoods visited on the tour in Yellow, with my favorites for future development projects highlighted in Orange.

The most memorable moment from the tour for me was when an elderly man in a motorized scooter stopped the bus to ask the driver and people on board what we were doing. The conversation that followed went something like this:

• (Man) 'What are you all doing?'
• (Bus) 'We're taking a tour of the City of Cincinnati.'
• (Man) 'Oh OK, Where are you all from?'
• (Bus) 'The City of Cincinnati.'

This made me think, why don't we take time to explore our own city like we do as tourists of other cities? If I've learned anything from these bus tours the past couple years, it is that the city and its many neighborhoods have a ton of hidden gems to uncover, it's just a matter of taking the time and making the effort to discover them.

OAKLEY HOME 2.0 VIDEO BLOG UPDATE 12

Construction Kick-Off

This is episode 12 in a series of updates on the Oakley Home 2.0 @ 3874 Isabella project that will serve as a supplement to my other Home 2.0 Project Blog Posts.

• Topics Discussed: Permit Approval, Construction Start Date, and LEED

T-MINUS 1 WEEK

Groundbreaking Scheduled

Yesterday I met out on site with Richard Brown of Mike Brown Construction for a pre-construction kick-off meeting to go over some of the logistics of the project with regards to schedule, LEED for Homes tasks, and site/grading coordination. Weather permitting, excavation is set to start a week from today on 5/17 (or possibly 5/18) with the footers scheduled to go in the following week. Below is a picture I took of the site yesterday for reference as a 'Before' shot.

INSURING DEVELOPMENT

Policies for Construction Projects

Similar to the way commercial construction financing differs from residential (owner-occupied) construction financing, the way the insurance coverage works is also quite different when it comes to building a house for commercial vs. owner-occupant purposes. Whereas traditional renters and homeowners insurance policies will cover the land acquired and being built on by an owner-occupant under the policy holders' name, the same insurance will not cover the land when owned by a business entity for business purposes. For that reason I had to take out a Commercial Insurance policy on behalf of Oakley Home 2 LLC as the property owner and developer of the home to be built. This covers all things not directly associated with the building of the structure itself, which in both commercial and residential scenarios, is covered by the builder's risk insurance policy carried by the General Contractor throughout the duration of construction. Overall, the commercial insurance coverage policy is quite a bargain when considering the protection it provides, so it should be a must have for anyone venturing into real estate development and have been told as much by other developers who have helped educate me in the past.

WE HAVE A PERMIT

Time to Build!

Yesterday afternoon I finally got word that all the drawings and revisions have been approved by the city and the permit is ready for pick-up. With the permit, construction financing and all contracts for the project in place, it is officially time to build! There will be much more to come on this next week, so stay tuned to the Home 2.0 Blog as everything starts to ramp up.

TOILET TIPS

Selecting, Installing and Repairing Toilets

A few days ago I noticed a small amount of water leaking out from under the base of the toilet in the Master Bath of my home in Pleasant Ridge, which prompted me on Tuesday to have it serviced by one of the neighborhood plumbers to determine what was wrong and how to fix it. It turns out the cause of the leak had to do with the bolts that tie into the toilet mounting flange being improperly aligned and undersized, which made for a vulnerable connection. Fortunately, after about an hour of the plumber removing the toilet, reinstalling larger bolts and a new wax seal, and resetting the toilet in a new bed of grout, everything turned out better than ever.

I am always fascinated to see skilled trades people performing their craft, so it was a neat learning experience to see the plumber in action. Afterwords, he pointed out to me that the location of the bolts in the Mansfield brand of toilets (which I have in my house) is not centered within the base, which makes it easier for the toilet to become dislodged from the mounting flange when compared to a brand like Kohler that has and extended base to better center the bolts, providing a more secure connection. Below is an image of the different brands (Kohler on the left and Mansield on the right), highlighting the location of the bolts relative to the base. Something for me to consider when purchasing selecting toilets for the Oakley Home 2.0 project.

EXCAVATION & FILL INFO

Cubic Yards & Disposal Site

Unlike the Stater Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge project, which was a clean site (with no previous structures having been built on the property) where the excavated dirt could be redistributed on site, the Oakley Home 2.0 project will require hauling of the old foundations from the previously demolished house off site. For projects located within the City of Cincinnati, this means filling out an additional line item in the permit application form for an Excavation/Fill permit, which requires documentation of how much dirt is going to be removed from the site, and where it will be disposed of. Using information from the Geotech report about the depth of excavation required to get below the construction debris and an area of the previous home based on satellite imagery from 2011 on CAGIS, I was able to determine the quantity of excavation to be approximately 150 cubic yards. The site where the debris will be hauled to is the Rumpke Landfill on the west side of town, which is commonly known as 'Mount Rumpke' and is the largest landfill in Ohio and the sixth largest in the United States according to the internet.