FOUND IT

Foundation Drain Tile Outlet

One of the differences between the Oakley Home 2.0 and Starter Home 2.0 project is the way foundation drainage is handled. Whereas the Starter Home 2.0 is reliant on a sump pump to discharge any water collecting in the drain tile around the foundation footer, the Oakley Home 2.0 takes advantage of the fall in grade from the front of the site to the back, discharging the water collecting in the drain tile around the foundation to 'daylight' in the rear yard. After a quick search of the area outside the walkout basement, I was able to find the drain tile outlet, which is pictured below.

LUMBER DELIVERY

Sill Plates, I-Joists & Sheathing Arrive

On Wednesday the floor framing lumber package arrived on site. Here are some pictures.

TEMPORARY POWER

Temporary Power Pole Constructed

Tuesday was a relatively quiet day on the Oakley Home 2.0 project site as the concrete slabs poured on Monday continued to cure. That said, the temporary power pole for the property was constructed and is now awaiting Duke to hook up the service to the meter, which will be needed when the lumber package and framing crew arrive on site in the next day or two.

SLABS IN

Basement & Garage Slabs Poured

The workweek got started at the Oakley Home 2.0 site on Monday with the basement and garage concrete floor slabs being poured and jointed. The joints in the floor are called 'control joints' because they are designed to control cracking to occur within the joint line instead of random places throughout the remainder of the slab (concrete will crack, so controlling where that will happen is the key). Other details of note include sloping the garage slab to shed water out the garage door opening and recessing the slab at the garage opening as an additional safeguard against water backing up into the garage. Below are images and panoramas showing results from the day's events.

ARCHITECT VS ARCHITECT-DEVELOPER

Diagramming the Architect-Developer Roles

One piece of advice I give to architecture students who are required to do a capstone thesis project like I was in 2010, is to do something they can leverage in their career after they graduate. For me, exploring the model of Architect as Developer for my thesis and going through the process of proposing a development that featured both a building design and pro-forma has proven to be an incredibly valuable resource 7+ years later with the relationships, mindset and reference materials that came out of that exercise.

Revisiting my 'Architect as Developer: A model for Triple Top Line Development' document recently to see how my academic assumptions translated to professional realities, I was pleasantly surprised to see how accurate several of my diagrams were in illustrating the differences I observed between a traditional architect and architect-developer in the building process. Below are three of these diagrams along with some additional context and commentary that have proven true from my experience working in both worlds.
Development Process and Architect Involvement Diagram: The diagram below illustrates the fact that many of the major design decisions for buildings take place before the architect even joins the project. Traditional architects are seldom consulted about building location, size, or use, and the assumptions that developers make about the budgets tend to determine the structural systems and materials used. As a result, the scope of responsibility for architects is often limited to the translation of other people's decisions into technical drawings. This is not the case for architect-developers however, as the ownership of capital entitles them to authority over all design decisions from the beginning of the concept phase, all the way through the end of construction.

Architect and Architect-Developer Role Diagram: The lower left-hand diagram shows the traditional relationship between architect, contractor and client, whereas the lower right-hand diagram shows the architect-developer relationship where the architect plays the central role in all decision making. The architect-developer still relies on different trades to help finance, build, and manage projects, but everything is coordinated through the designer from the start of design to the final certificate of occupancy. The buck stops with the architect-developer, and as a result, he or she is accountable for all aspects of every job.

Traditional and Architect-Developer Team Organizational Charts: The following charts created as supplements to the role diagrams provide more in-depth looks at the different players involved in the development process and where traditional architects and architect-developers find themselves within these constructs. I found these charts to be especially effective in illustrating the importance (or lack there of) that traditional architects tend to have in developer driven projects.

OAKLEY HOME 2.0 VIDEO BLOG UPDATE 15

Construction Progress & Construction Loan Update

This is episode 15 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: Construction Progress Update and Explanation of Construction Loan Process

GOING GRAY

Refining the Exterior Color Scheme

Unlike the Starter Home 2.0 project that utilized the Colorplus Hardie Board Siding that came pre-colored in the the 'Monterey Taupe' finish, the Hardie Board Siding on Oakley Home 2.0 project will be factory primed and field painted to allow for a more customized color palette. After initially conceptualizing and rendering the project with a bronze/brown color scheme, a closer look at the window, railing, and decking finishes combined with a trip to Sherwin Williams paint store made me realize that a gray/black exterior color scheme is more desirable for this house. Below is a mark-up of various samples and paint chips that are currently being proposed, though the decking is likely to change to a darker tone.

DRAIN, VENT & GRADE

Shower Drain, Radon Vent & Rough Grading

On Thursday the plumbers were back on the Oakley Home 2.0 site adding in the drain for the basement shower, the radon vent pipe, and setting up the air pressure test required to ensure that no leaks are present in the underground lines. At the same time, the excavator was at the property leveling out the piles of dirt that had accumulated at the front and rear of the lot to complete the rough grading around the home. Below are images showing the results of these activities along with a quick video walkthrough that highlights the completed under slab plumbing install and backyard grading work. 

UNDER SLAB PLUMBING UNDERWAY

Drain-Waste-Vent (DWV) Piping Installation

Wednesday the plumbing crew was on site at the Oakley Home 2.0 installing the under slab drain-waste-vent piping for the various plumbing fixtures that will be tied together and exit out the front of the house to the sewer lateral at the street. Below are some images of the progress made throughout the day showing that as well as the front yard backfilled and graded to provide easier access to the garage area as construction progresses.

WHY NOTCHES?

A Lesson in Garage Door Detailing

One of the foundation details at the Oakley Home 2.0 that went from confusing to making perfect sense after looking more closely at my own Starter Home 2.0 garage door installation yesterday, was the notching in the concrete at the garage door opening. The reason for doing the notching is that it provides a continuous plane for the garage door track to mount against going up the inside face of the front wall. If not for the notch, the 8" wide concrete at the base of the door would be out of plane with the 3-1/2" (or 5-1/2") wide studs making up the remainder of the wall above, leaving a big ugly gap along the inside face of the garage door wall. Below are images of the garage door notches at the Oakley Home 2.0 as well as the one at the Starter Home 2.0 project in Pleasant Ridge, which has a block CMU foundation (with it being a detached garage) and shows the track mounted to the inside face of the wall that is flush with the notch below. Now you know why there are notches.

THE LITTER BOX

Garage Fill & Downspout Piping

Growing up in a house with cats, I couldn't help but be reminded of scooping out the litter box when I saw the fill that had been added between the garage walls of the Oakley Home 2.0 on Monday. The fine 'grits sands' fill material is good for compaction and economical in cost. I just hope there are no stray cats in the area looking for a place to do their business the next few days prior to the slabs being poured.

In addition to the garage fill, the below grade downspout piping was also installed, which will collect all of the water from the main roof and roof deck above the garage and front porch, and discharge into the sewer system per Metropolitan Sewer District guidelines. Below is a 3D image showing the downspouts above grade that will connect into the piping installed in the construction photo.

OAKLEY HOME 2.0 VIDEO BLOG UPDATE 14

Construction Progress & Preview

This is episode 14 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: Construction Progress Update, LEED for Homes, and new www.Home2Blog.com website

THE BLACK STICKY STUFF

Foundation Waterproofing Membrane Applied

Saturday I stopped by the Oakley Home 2.0 lot to find that the foundation had been sprayed with the black sticky stuff known locally as the J-Cote waterproofing membrane supplied by Jaco, which is the same product and installer that was used for the Starter Home 2.0 project in Pleasant Ridge. 

So what, exactly, is J-Cote? J-Cote is a premium polymer-modified asphalt foundation waterproofing product formulated by Applied Technologies that is a protective membrane applied to the exterior side of a foundation wall. According to the testing and approval criteria for foundation waterproofing, it must do three things: Span a crack in a foundation, withstand water under hydrostatic pressure, and stop water vapor from entering a basement. The extent of application relates to the finished grading around the perimeter of the house where the basement is on the side, which is why the exterior foundation walls around the garage are not waterproofed, but the wall separating garage from the basement is. Below are some pictures of the waterproofing with more posted to the Google Photo Album. 

I also recorded a quick walkthrough video of the basement area entering through what will be the walkout basement patio and have posted that below.

STONE SLINGING

Gravel Basement Base In Place

On Friday the Stone Slinger Truck was in action at the Oakley Home 2.0 project slinging gravel from its parking space on the street, over the foundation walls, and into the basement below (Here is a video of a similar style truck in action). This gravel base will ensure proper drainage around the footers and slabs, along with the drain tile, which was extended on Friday to allow it to run to daylight near the back of the property. Below are images of the new gravel, drain tile, and a view of how the project is shaping up from across the street.

EXPOSED

Concrete Forms Removed

A day after pouring the foundation walls, the concrete crew was back on site removing the formwork and exposing the concrete for the first time. Below are some pictures of the aftermath showing the openings for the garage door, walkout basement sliding door, and basement slider window. More images can be viewed on the Google Photo Album for the project by clicking on this link.

POURING DAY

Concrete Foundation Walls Poured

Wednesday was an action packed day at the Oakley Home 2.0 property with several concrete mixer trucks, a concrete pumper truck, and the labor crew working together to pour the concrete into the wall forms that were set in place on Tuesday. They also poured the trench footer for the front porch column. Below are some images and a video taken from a couple different trips to the site that can also be viewed on the Oakley Home 2.0 Photo Album and my YouTube Channel.

FORMS UP

Foundation Wall Formwork Assembly

Tuesday was a busy day at Oakley Home 2.0 project site with the foundation wall crew assembling forms and placing rebar in advance of this afternoon's concrete pour. Below are a few progress images from the day and many more can be found in the Google Photo Album for this project.

FORM ARRIVAL

Foundation Wall Formwork Delivered

On Monday the formwork for the concrete foundation walls was delivered to the Oakley Home 2.0 project site. The forms are a combination of 8' forms and 9' forms that are being used at the dropped trench footing along the rear of the walkout basement. More updates to come later in the week as these forms get placed and the concrete gets poured into them.

ON INSTAGRAM

Home 2.0 Instagram Profile

A fantastic and underutilized visual medium for architects, developers and builders to showcase their work with the general public is through Instagram. I experimented with starting a profile a few months ago, but finally got around to adding images, captions and tags to my page this past weekend. My plan is to continue to grow the page with my favorite construction photos from the Oakley Home 2.0 @ 3874 Isabella project in upcoming weeks and months, so feel free to browse the gallery and follow me at instagram.com/mike_benkert_aia/. I also added a 'Home 2.0 Instagram' link on the under the Home 2.0 Blog Links column.

2017 AIA HOME DESIGN TRENDS

AIA Home Design Trends Survey Results

As a card carrying member of the American Institute of Architects, I get invited each year to participate in surveys along with other AIA members across the country to generate data on the latest home design trends for custom designed residences. Yesterday, results of the survey were published in the Q1 report covering "Home and Property Design," which highlights Home Size, Home Layout/Design, and Home Exteriors. More details on each of these below along with some of my personal commentary.

Home size: Home sizes may be peaking for this cycle. I see this as a by-product of many new homes moving back to urban walkable neighborhoods in recent years where the lots are smaller and so are the houses built on them.

Home layout/design: Accessibility remains central, while adding extra units popular option for home layout/design. Each of these metrics, with the exception of micro-homes, has to do with flexibility and adaptability. One of the core principles of the Oakley Home 2.0 project that I wrote about in my recent LinkedIn Article.

Home exteriors: Providing outdoor living options continues to be popular use of property. I am glad outdoor living space is such a popular design feature because between the front porch, roof deck, rear deck, and walkout basement patio, the Oakley Home 2.0 @ 3874 Isabella has four of them.