Home For The Holidays

Well, we made it into the house for the holidays...but just barely. In the whirlwind last days before Christmas, we were able to get the house's final inspection, Certificate of Occupancy, and gas turned on. I also installed 400 kW of solar systems in New Orleans in the last month and a half, and that's mostly the reason I haven't found the time to write! The one thing we lack is electricity from the utility, which they were unable to furnish before Christmas. Some might ask why the solar could not provide our juice---it's a grid-interactive system without batteries, so it offsets the electric bill when the grid is running, rather than store it for usage later. So for Christmas we got the best cabin in the city.

The electric will be hooked up this week, just before the New Year. There is still some baseboard to put in, some finishes to apply, some stories to tell; but it's a home now, a home for the holidays.

Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

Pictures of You

In retrospect, I should've done a time lapse of the changes the house has experienced, and with all the pictures I've taken, that can probably still happen, but that would be a project in and of itself.

The work that has taken place lately has been very tedious---planing old pieces of wood, touching up paint, hanging doors, making doors out of found material, calling in favors from people who have better tools than I do.

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. So, I give you something close to a novel:

Come Together

Things are starting to come together... It's taken a considerable amount of time to do this, because some of the materials that we are using (i.e. recycled and repurposed stuff) take a long time to prepare. Remember all the way back when I was talking about flooring for the upstairs? Preparing the material for that has taken forever, pictures below of what it looks like.

Finishing a house is always tedious and time-consuming, and now that my grad program has started back up, my mind and body are running on...Well, what am I running on?

--Coffee

--Water

--Juice

--WWOZ (New Orleans radio station)

--Little sleep

--Food

--The hope that things will turn out awesome.

That last one is tough to grasp right now, a lot of things are happening in the world and in life that tend to get us down. Quote from a song from my jam-band obsession days:

"Gonna pick myself up off the ground, that old feeling comes around again

I've had enough of feeling down, something I lost that must be found again

Sometimes seems like such a hard life, but there's good times around the bend

Roller coaster's got to roll to the bottom if you want to climb to the top again."

Yes, that was the String Cheese Incident. Yes, I just did that, what of it?

Anyway, the walls and exterior have a good coat of paint, the cabinets have been mounted, the old windows have been repaired, the floors have been put down, the A/C unit (HUGE) has been set...Crap, it's been awhile since I wrote one of these updates...

So, instead of making this post huge and unending, I'll get to the sexy flooring part and explain the minutiae of the A/C, windows, and cabinets later.

What I am proud to say is that, save for the bathrooms, all of the flooring for the house was salvaged from wood original to the house. The downstairs looks like this now (Unsanded and unfinished just yet):

And for the upstairs, we took the old cypress and pine siding from the exterior, planed and milled it, and made it into flooring slats:

Before:

After:

And the upstairs hallway:

As I said, a lot more has been happening with other aspects of the house, it's just been a long process to get this one part to come together.

More to come...

With a Little Help from My Friends

While the drywall was going in, I had Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" playing over and over in my head. Something about the walls going up pushed that song to fore.

Hanging was very quick, taking roughly 2-3 days. Also, one of the more entertaining parts of the building took place--stilt walking. For high ceilings, drywall finishers don stilts to do some of the finish work, and in the process, look very whimsical and precarious. That's what this guy was doing in the pictures above. In my haste, I had contracted with this crew with the idea of finishing and priming the walls quickly in the hopes of providing a nice shelter for my parents to stay in/inspect on the 4th of July Weekend. Because of that haste, I forgot about a couple essential amenities:

--Bathroom fans

--Dryer exhaust

Oops. And big "Oops" at that. So with that, I had to go back and take down some pieces of drywall and install these fixtures. I would have been lost and frustrated, but I had "A Little Help from My Friends."

For one, I had my oldest (in length of time that I've known him) friend, Patrick, helping me out. That picture is of Patrick crafting a balloon animal at a bar. Don't ask me why, but there was a pile of balloons with instructions on how to make balloon animals at a bar where we went to see one of my friends play some music. If Patrick doesn't want to stay in construction, he might have a future as a clown.

I've known Patrick since I was a baby, our parents were friends when we were born, so we started to hang out and play G.I. Joes and Ninja Turtles together as kids. We lost touch for awhile in high school and college, but last summer, we reconnected to renovate the house in which I grew up in Illinois. That project still has some finishing touches to be completed, but Patrick was instrumental in advancing and leading that renovation.

Since I needed all the help I could get, I naturally turned to him again to help with this house. Needless to say, he has been instrumental and awesome again. His knowledge of energy efficiency/weatherization, construction, and attention to detail has been a godsend to my scatter-brained approach to building this house. At times, I've been fatigued and stressed, not knowing what to do next--but Patrick has provided the much needed push to keep the project on track.

On one night in particular, I came back to the house after going to a coffee shop to unwind. It was close to midnight, and there was a worklight on in the house. I walked in to find Patrick priming the walls and ceiling with a giant paint roller.

Me: "Dude, what are you doing?"

Patrick: "Painting, what's it look like?"

Me: "It's almost midnight--"

Patrick: "Well, it's better than painting in the middle of the afternoon."

He had a point. I grabbed a roller and started priming. We finished up around 1:30am and I was thankful that Patrick was so dedicated. He gave me the swift kick to the ass that I needed.

In the time that Patrick has been here, Colin had to return to real life back West for awhile and attend a wedding. However, with those pilgrimages completed, he has come back for a few weeks to further accelerate some of the building and finishing.

Wait, I've seen this movie before...This is totally that scene from "Desperado" when El Mariachi's friends come back to town to help him defeat the evil crime baron. I'm trying to figure out who has the rocket launcher guitar case and who has the machine gun guitar case, but I guess that makes me Antonio Banderas. That's not vanity, it's just a logical analogy, I swear.

Here Comes the Sun

This is my favorite part of building the house. I have done solar installation for the last two and a half years, and I'm probably going to make a career in renewable energy. To me, it seems like something which can be embraced by all walks of life. Especially with the harnessing of the sun as a direct energy source, it evokes something which is universal and essential. Indeed, I have embraced such existential delusions of grandeur that I made a Latin phrase from the Satyricon the motto of my company: "Sol Omnibus Lucet"--"The Sun Shines Upon Us All." Yep, I'm a pompous snob :).

So, on to the roof porn:

This is a 3.22 kW (nameplate value) system, comprised of 14 solar panels/modules, each with their own micro-inverter. The micro-inverters are the shiny silver boxes pictured above. More commonplace systems use a single, centralized inverter, but this newer technology makes each panel its own mini-system. In this the way, the system is highly modular, more efficient, safer, and uses fewer components. Additionally, monitoring for the system's performance can be easily monitored both from the system's display or through a wi-fi connection and computer. My parents or I could monitor the system's daily performance via computer, which is pretty neat.

Although we did not do solar water heating on the house, I planned for enough roof space to incorporate solar hot water in the future. One day, this house might run completely off of solar energy, but for now, it is going to have net zero electrical bills.

Foam

It had now come time to insulate the house, and due to the small wall cavities of the place, I chose to insulate the entire house in spray-foam insulation. Any other insulation material would not provide an R-value which would be desired to effectively meet code and the energy efficiency requirements we wanted to hit. This, in combination with the reflective housewrap, should provide an R-25 in the walls, and about an R-40 roof. The R-value is a measure of thermal transfer resistance, and the higher the number, the better for the energy efficiency of the building.

Spray foam is known for its ability to effectively seal air gaps, as well as provide superior insulation against the elements. As with many products, there is a debate as to the environmental footprint and health effects of such a product. However, these products have been widely tested and utilized. To mitigate any potential offgasing of any chemicals, we will rely on the introduction of fresh air from the high efficiency A/C system and the inclusion of houseplants which are highly effective air cleaners. A list of plants which are wonderful for improving indoor air quality are listed here:

Air-Filtering Plants

We decided to do closed-cell throughout the house, as it would provide an effective moisture barrier from the elements. The floor was sprayed first, the roof second, and the walls last. After a few days, some of the wall insulation started peeling away from the wall studs and shrinking, indicating that the wall batch might have been mixed improperly. The contractor was gracious enough to come back in, tear out the bad parts, and respray the foam in the parts where it was peeling away. After the second spray, it held up and we were ready to close in the walls. However, before the drywall, we decided to start on one of my favorite parts of the house: Solar!

I'm In Love With A Stripper

I'm in love with a stripper. A paint stripper, that is.

While the interior rough-ins are being inspected, and while the insulation and drywall gets prepped, I decided it was time to strip down...the front of the house. The front of the house has about 12 inch planks of cypress which were in need of some sanding, repair, and repainting. So to begin this process, I had to use a tool which has made my life a little more bearable: The Paint Shaver Pro.

In more brutish times, all a person might have to strip paint were some nasty chemicals, a heat gun, a 5-in-1, and/or a putty knife to agonizingly and painstakingly strip paint from boards. Last year, when I first used the Paint Shaver, a friend's dad looked longingly at the work the tool had done, saying, "I watched a guy spend two years with a heat gun and a putty knife scraping his house down to bare wood. And you just did about ten square feet in five minutes." Technology is fun.

The other thing to add to this story is that the sanding and scraping now have to be done in compliance with a recent EPA law which mandates certain precautions and methods for sanding or working on structures built before 1978. The issue is the risk of leaded paint in these older structures, and the concern that if proper measures are not taken, the chips and dust from renovating these structures could contaminate the area, or another area, with lead dust.

Last summer, I took a short course and received an EPA Lead Renovator certification in order to comply with these rules. Essentially, what it boils down to is making sure to properly lay down plastic sheeting, and when sanding or scraping, using a tool like the Paint Shaver in conjunction with a HEPA vacuum cleaner, so as to clean up any dust and paint shavings so that they may be properly disposed of. I tested the paint on the house that I was to sand, and although it did not indicate leaded paint was present, I wanted to take as many precautions as possible just to be sure. So I tented off the front of the house and laid poly sheeting down on the ground, put on my sanding space suit, and went to work. Be advised, if you wish to do this, try to wait until the fall or a particularly cool day. Doing this work in the beginning of the hot, humid New Orleans Summer is kind of insane and brutal.

Lead paint, and the effects of ingesting its dust and debris, is a huge problem in New Orleans. In recent months, testing of many parks and play areas has yielded high concentrations of lead, prompting park closures and remediation efforts to remove this substance from the soil. Many parents of small children, and many pet owners, have also found that their children, or pets, have high levels of lead in their bloodstream. Any concerned citizen, policymaker, or for that matter, any resident, is going to have to take this into consideration we wish to continue as a prominent and prosperous community. Removing the lead from our homes, businesses, and public areas must be a priority.

This brings me to a crazy idea I had: If lead is particularly good at protecting against radiation, why not sand down as many lead paint covered houses in New Orleans--and all over the country--collect this dust, and send it to Japan so as to help mitigate further spread of radiation from the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown? That way, they might be able to mix it into concrete or other building materials and prevent the already contaminate areas from leaking more radiation into surrounding communities or bodies of water.

Like I said, I'm not a scientist, and I also realize that it might sound horribly callous, but what else is there to do to solve both the problems of too much lead in our community and the radioactive areas near the Fukushima plant's meltdown?

Anyway, if anyone thinks it's a great idea or a stupid idea, or not even worth calling it an "idea," let me know.

As for the house, this is what the result of some Paint Shaver Pro action looks like:

Deadlines

Well, today is May 7, 2011, and guess what? We are in the middle of Jazzfest, and the house is not done yet. Not to worry, it will get finished very soon, it's just that the little work stoppage put a giant roadblock in front of our progress.

Right now, the exterior siding has been finished, the plumbing, electrical, and HVAC is all roughed in, we're getting ready to install insulation, put up the solar electric system, and put up drywall. So yes, there has been a lot of progress, but it's not done by Jazzfest. And though I'm a little frustrated at not being able to meet the deadline, I was conscious of the merit in not trying to force the issue.

My parents came into town about 10 days ago, along with my sister and aunt, to enjoy Jazzfest and inspect the house. The big worry about the deadline of completing by Jazzfest was that my folks wouldn't have a place to stay when they came down here, but Albert, ever-resourceful and generous, opened up a house that he was selling so that they could have a brand new, beautiful house to stay in---even though it wasn't theirs :).

But even though they couldn't stay in their house, my parents decided to have a little fun on the first day of Jazzfest, which was also the day of the latest British royal wedding.

My sister, who married a Brit, brought these masks back from England, and my folks literally entertained themselves for hours doing this from their front porch (and inside the festival), greeting Fest-ers as they approached the entrance to Jazzfest. Seriously, who are these people? My parents aren't supposed to be that fun.

With that, the current state of the house is pictured below.

More Than One Way to Skin a House

The main framing had been completed (not the interior build-out), so we then turned to sheathing and roof-decking for the house.

Originally, as pictured in the previous post, behind the vinyl siding, which covered the old wood siding, was tar-felt roofing paper nailed against the studs. If we were going to make this house energy efficient and structurally robust, we needed to put up new plywood/OSB sheathing, housewrap, and new siding. I was attempting to save and put the old wood siding back up, but too many of the weatherboards were too far gone to piece in new boards and refinish the old ones on a reasonable budget. However, we did find another use for them, which will be detailed in later posts.

So, the new wall assembly had to reflect the new energy-efficient and renewable energy powered future of the house---without compromising historical sensibilities, and without increasing the width of the house.

The shiny material is a double-faced foil, radiant/vapor barrier house wrap which reflects the radiant heat from the structure and protects the wood from moisture. This feature will reduce the heat permeating into the structure, allowing the building to stay relatively cool on a hot, sunny day. This will also reduce the cooling load of the HVAC system because it will have to work less to cool the house down when it is running.

This material was also put down on top of the roof decking (with ice and water shield) to further reflect heat from the sun. This, in conjunction with a white metal roof, will not only markedly increase the energy efficiency of the structure, but also assure longevity and comfort within the house. Normally, since the second floor is just below the roof, it might become incredibly hot with just an asphalt roof and no reflective protection. However, since we decided to pursue this building strategy, the house will allow comfortable habitation on the second floor on some of the hottest days.

On Solid Ground and Razing the Roof

All right e'erbody, back to the building part. So, I'm just going to rewind a little and go back to a little before we got the stop work order.

We built up the sub floor and got a solid surface off of which to work. After that, we needed to fix the side of the house's framing and also shore up the central load bearing wall. The house's three major walls' framing needed to be carefully taken out (if they were bad) and replaced or repaired in place. To accomplish this, we had to jack up the roof rafters near the wall, cut the framing out from the floor, and put new boards in, setting the roof rafters back on the new wall. And that's exactly what we did.

We began on the South Side, working from the back to the front.

We did the same thing on the North Side, then beefed up the central wall, as it needed to support the 2nd floor. Once this was completed, we could then start making the attic the second floor.

We built up the joists for second floor, and as soon as we had a sturdy surface, we were able to cut a hole for the staircase. Stairbuilding is difficult, but with the proper math and accounting for landing placement, it can come out wonderfully. I have Albert and George to thank for their experience and intelligence, they made it so that the stairs landed perfectly on the second floor. We were initially worried that the stairs would land too far into the hallway of the second floor, making it so that you would basically run right into the wall on the other side. But with precise calculation and work, it came out exactly where it needed to be.

It was the next project that we pursued which got us the stop work order: The dormer. From these pictures, you can see that we removed the roof in this section, built up a wall and attached rafters. We didn't just tear these out, we built bracing so that the roof would not collapse. It was shortly after we finished most of the framing for the dormer when we received the "STOP WORK" order. Now that we're caught up to speed, look for further progress in the next post.

...And We're Back: Part V(ictory)

After Mardi Gras, I was emotionally, financially, spiritually, liver-ly, and utterly spent. Ash Wednesday is there as the day when you assess yourself and say, "Yeah, let's try to work on that a little." or "Let's finally get around to doing that." For Lent, or for life, people give up things as a way to better themselves or turn a corner on something. But I gave up something that I wasn't sure would better myself, or which I wasn't sure would have a good outcome. It was something I thought was essential to my being, and maybe it is, but at this point, I felt I had to stop it. What is it? Figure it out.

On Ash Wednesday, I called the survey company and asked them what the status of the survey was. I was very understanding of them, even though they said the survey would be done on Monday.

Me: "So, when is this survey going to be done?"

Surveyor: "Well, it's already done. You can come pick it up."

Me: "Wait, I asked you guys to call me when you were going out there. I wanted to make sure that things were going right. How did the survey come out?"

Surveyor: "Oh, well, you had 3 ft. on that left side...

Me: "Wait, so you're telling me that the left side--North Side--of the house has a 3 ft. setback?"

Surveyor: "Yessir."

Me: "Sir, I can't thank you enough."

Surveyor: "Not a problem, buddy."

The surveyor had confirmed my assertion, and we could have our windows back in the plans. I was giddy again. I had Colin and Tony re-organize and put the windows back in the plans. On Friday, late in the day, we were able to get a final set together. I raced down to City Hall at 3:30pm, hoping to put the plans in the reviewer's hands.

When I got there, the plan reviewer had left for the day. I left them in his mailbox, and I would have to wait until next week to hear back about them.

It was after this that I then had to go meet up with the clients: My parents. They had planned this trip down to NOLA to check on the progress of the house way before the permitting problems, and they had hoped that the house would be further along by this time. Over the last 6 weeks, they had listened to me gripe about the city, the inanity of absolutely everything, and taken everything with a grain of salt. On a side note, the day I turned the last draft of the plans in, an article detailing the absolute dysfunction within City Hall was published in the Times-Picayune, our local paper. It was remarkably timely and I felt like they should have interviewed me for it.

New Orleans' City Hall Dysfunction Leaves Specialist "Shocked" by Michelle Krupa

However, with my parents in town, it was also the weekend for St. Patrick's Day celebration in New Orleans. What does that mean? As if Mardi Gras didn't tire everyone out enough, more parades and more booze. And, it means you get to show your dad what a little slice of life in New Orleans is all about.

After a rather tumultuous weekend, Monday arrived and my parents had gone back up to Illinois, confident that progress had been, and could be, made. I started my day doing schoolwork (I go to grad school too), and at around 10am I got a call.

Me: "Hello?"

Plan Reviewer: "Hey...Listen, we've got your plans and your permit ready, you just need to come pick them up."

(Angels and Choir Sing)

Me: "Thank you so much for your help!"

Plan Reviewer: "Hey, I spoke with the inspector and everything's fine, and if you have any problems, I'm on your side now."

I picked up the plans a half-hour later. It was March 14, six weeks after the work stoppage had started. This day also had other significance and tumult in its own right, but it was time to get geared up and start (re)building again.