Certifiably Occupiable

The wait is over. Our house is now officially occupiable. I can't say enough good things about the wonderful, dedicated, people at the City, who worked incredibly hard to pull our certificate of occupancy together - and stayed in the office to get this done even when everybody else was already leaving because of this weekend's snow storm. "Thank you" doesn't begin to describe our gratitude, and our exhilaration that we are now officially part of this wonderful community - our "Little City."

Here is what the Certificate looks like (apologies for redacting in a few appropriate places):

Holding Pattern

No, we haven't dropped off the edge of the earth - right now we're just waiting, for the Certificate of Occupancy. In addition to the building official (passing the final inspection, see Mike's earlier post), a few other departments at the City have to sign off on the "C of O" application: Zoning (is the house where it is supposed to be), Engineering (is the grading appropriate, is exposed soil stabilized, are erosion and sediment control measures - rainwater cisterns, etc. - in place), and the Arborist (did we kill any trees).

Speaking of arborist: the City has a fantastic program where they deliver wood chips to your driveway for free. They're a great way to stabilize soil; they look good; they're an environmental choice (they come from the City's tree operations); and ... they're free. We've already spread two truckloads full, and we're getting two more. Thank you, Falls Church!

While we're waiting, Stella came to clean the house and it sparkles! Now that the construction dust is over, we've been able to turn on the TRV (Total Recovery Ventilator) - it works (!) and it does what Earthcraft guidelines ask us to do: flush the house with fresh air for a week continuously before moving in.

Something else that I got excited about is the rainwater system: that, too, works: with the flip of a few valves, we can switch the water supply that runs to our outside hosebibs and to the toilets, from City water to the water from our rainwater cisterns. Our plumber had plumbed toilet tanks and outside hosebibs on a separate water line; and through the position of two valves we can choose which water (City or rainwater) gets fed to that line. Rainwater gets pumped into the house by a small (Grundfos) suction pump. And a one-way valve prevents backflow of the rainwater into the line that carries City water. It's a simple system, but it works - and it makes me feel good to flush rainwater down the toilet, instead of precious drinking water.

In other news: the port-a-potty that has for so long been a landmark on our construction site ("you'll find it by the green port-a-potty") is now gone; and so is much of the silt, super-silt, and tree-protection fencing (some of that still has to stay up through the spring). Inside the house, we're saving the leftover wood from the interior carpentry for Mike's future woodworking projects; for firewood; and the sawdust as an environmental alternative to sand for icy sidewalks.

OK, too many words already without pictures! The next post, hopefully, will have a picture of our Certificate of Occupancy.

Thankful for Fantastic Friends

This post is overdue, but very important. Several friends helped out at critical points along the way. I mentioned several projects where friends helped immensely, but I didn't highlight two key projects within the past few weeks that some friends helped with.

First, shortly after Christmas, I called our friend Chris Zebrowski asking if he wouldn't mind helping me lift a few sheets of the wheatboard so I could make the cuts for the countertop. Chris knew we didn't have heat yet, so when he came over, he brought a couple of kerosene heaters with him. He not only helped to cut the wheatboard, but ensured the cuts were smooth and square, and stayed to help with the joining of the two boards. He also lent his expertise and we worked together to build out the finish boards surrounding the back of the kitchen island. What was to be a couple hours of work turned into several hours on New Years Eve and a marathon session the day after New Years. We arrived around 8am that day, and stopped around 11:30pm. Chris was an incredible help, and I am very grateful for that! Here's a picture of the finished kitchen.

Another friend who was immensely helpful was Jeff Hopp, who volunteered to help install the railing into the basement. As it turns out, he did the whole project for us while we were at work. Didn't he do an amazing job with it!?!?!? Many, many thanks, Jeff!

Crossing the Finish Line

We passed our final inspection on Friday!!!!! The City now has our application for the Certificate of Occupancy. In a week or two, we should be able to move in to our new house! 11 months, two and one half weeks to build this house - I'm glad this is almost over.

After we move in, there still will be projects on the house, but they'll be easier to manage while living there.

Whew!

Great Job Terra Landscape!

Our neighbor Mandy suggested we hire Maryann Ogle/Terra Landscape to do some landscaping work for us. We already were working with someone for the landscape design, but we needed someone to do hardscape work for us. So we met with Maryann, admired her ideas and energy, and got a quote that seemed fair for the huge amount of work required to install permeable pavers and a gravel driveway. We shared some pictures earlier of the walkway being installed, and now that the work is done on that, as well as on the driveway, here's a complete look at the process and finished product. We're thrilled with the results, and it's a joy to walk to the house without having to step through a mile of mud!

Getting Close...Inside and Outside

Jeff Gunther with Grove Construction did an outstanding job installing the cedar on the west side of the house.

The crew from Terra Landscape & Design, laying the permeable pavers.

Upstairs guest bathroom tub/shower. The fixtures are from Ferguson; the tile from Amicus.

Master bathroom's Duravit sink.

Master bathroom's Duravit wall-mounted toilet, with dual flush.

More Good News

Each day seems to bring some more good news. Bernie from Clarke County Plumbing and Tom from Creager Electrical both were on-site this week and have worked on the final details. For Bernie's part, he's been attaching the bathroom fixtures (hanging the toilets on the wall, attaching the bath and shower faucets, etc.). Tom's been completing the circuits for a host of indoor and outdoor lighting and electrical connections. If all goes well, Bernie will finish the plumbing on Thursday, and have a final inspection on Friday. Tom will finish early next week and have a final inspection then. Jeff Gunther from Grove Construction was back on-site today to finish installing the beautiful cedar siding on the West side of the house, and the final trim piece on the East side of the house. Andreas snapped this picture of Jeff before the sun went down, just before Jeff installed the last few pieces.

Jeff installing cedar on the West side of the house.

Meanwhile, Andreas and I have been busy with some tasks of our own. I joined the two pieces of the kitchen counter by the range, using a new Dewalt plate joiner toy (er, I mean tool), and Andreas sanded it and put two coats of Safecoat sealant on it, which we purchased from Amicus Green Building Center. Faceplates have been installed on most of the remaining outlets. The pipes around the hot water heater and the radiant floor system have been insulated. I still have to grout the master shower floor, and seal all of the grout in each of the bathrooms.

North side LED step lights and front door light.

South side LED step lights.

LED step lights into the basement.

Fuzzy picture (low light) of insulated water heater pipes.

Fuzzy picture (low light) of insulated radiant system pipes.

More ELFA in the master closet.

It's Starting to Feel Like a Real House

I've had this warm feeling while working on the house the last few days/evenings. Oh, that would be the radiant floor heating that's fully functional, at last! Tom, the electrician, slipped on some ice and wasn't able to come to work this past week. Given the DC area weather forecast, and temperatures projected in the teens, we felt it was mandatory that we hire another electrician to connect power to the hot water heater and connect the radiant system. Our contractor friend, Jeff Hopp, suggested we call a sub he has used with great success. Andreas called him (I'll get his name from Andreas and update this posting with that info) and he came the next day. Not only is he a licensed electrician, but he's a plumber and an HVAC guy too. So he was the right man for the radiant floor job. After the electrical connections were complete, and it was confirmed that the water heater was properly functioning, Andreas filled the radiant tubes with water and the system went live. Within a few hours, the temps went from the 40s into the 50s. By the next morning, it was very warm inside, in the low 60s. By Friday night, each room was at least 65 degrees. We thought it would take two full days to heat up all of the concrete thermal mass, but it took about a day. Working at the house today, with the sun out, I observed air temperatures in the 70s in all rooms that have southern exposure, and the living room thermostat showed a temperature of 78.3 degrees. What amazingly warm feeling to have radiant heat - at long last! Combined with the passive solar attributes, our house was toasty today.

The heat's not the only thing that's been accomplished in the last 10 days. Craig Smith has been working diligently and skillfully on the finish carpentry. The current project is to install Ipe thresholds. If you're not familiar with Ipe, it's an extremely hard wood that's exceptionally durable, suitable for wet and hot and dry locations, and is often used for decks. It was on sale at TW Perry, and we thought it would be ideal for the door thresholds, since that can be a harsh environment for wood.

TW Perry delivered the interior doors on Friday, so we'll work on sealing those with the Safecoat product we bought at Amicus Green Building Center. Andreas and I will install those ourselves, which should be a fun project. Craig Smith will install the three "normal" (hinged) doors early next week. Two of those go in the basement and the third is for the entry to the stairs into the basement. We're using pocket doors in as many places as possible, to save space and ensure a clean/modern look.

The Container Store is holding their annual ELFA shelving system sale this month, so we had an ELFA design for our master closet prepared, and I picked up the ELFA system for that closet last week. Today, I spent a couple of hours in the closet installing the system. I think it looks great, and it's a wonderfully functional closet organizing system. We have it in the condo, and really like it. Act soon to get 30% off ELFA at the Container Store.

Also today, I unpacked the Bosch dryer and the Samsung refrigerator from their crates. The Bosch dryer goes with the Bosch washing machine. Since it's a stackable system, I had to install an attachment to the washer, that the dryer is then affixed to. The end result looks really good.

The final work item today was to use my new toy...er, I mean tool...to join the two sections of the wheatboard countertop behind the range. I used my shiny new Dewalt plate joiner (sometimes called a biscuit joiner), inserted the biscuit and glue, then clamped the two pieces together. Tomorrow I'll take the clamp off, sand the seam, lightly sand the rest of the wheatboard, clean it with a barely damp cloth to get the dust off, and then apply the first coat of Safecoat no VOC sealant to it. I will do a light sanding and second coat tomorrow night, after we meet with our landscape architect, Erika, who will be reviewing our final draft landscape plan with us.

Countertop seam

It's always fun when friends stop by to visit while we're there working. Today, our friends Mike, Helen, Jeff, John, Helen, and Jeff stopped by. The first Helen brought delicious sandwiches from the Italian Store in Arlington. Yummy! It was great to have a lunch break and good conversation. But then it was back to work!

Where Has The Time Gone????

I spent over 24 hours during the last two days working on the house, but I don't seem to have much to show for it. A lot of time was spent running to different stores (and stuck in traffic between stores). A lot of little items were needed, like wood filler to cover the nail holes on the baseboard and casing, and some big items too, like the double bowl granite/composite kitchen sink.

We're still waiting for the plumber and the electrician to show up. The electrician said he'd call when he's back from visiting family. I'm guessing that'll be some time in 2010. The plumber was scheduled to come yesterday to connect the gas line to the hot water heater, install the heat trap, the temperature control valve, and the expansion tank. He didn't show up, but he sent his father. He puttered around for an hour or so, installed the heat trap, and then left for the day, saying they'd be back Tuesday or Wednesday.

It seems like we're so close to finishing, yet so far away. Hoping to get closer and closer to the "finishing" idea, we are moving forward with Access National Bank to get our ducks lined up for the conversion from construction loan to mortgage. The appraiser came today to measure and look around. He seems to be familiar with the neighborhood and with green construction. We're keeping our fingers crossed that the appraisal comes in the same, or higher, than it did last year at this time when we were working to obtain our construction loan. I'm taking it as a good sign that today's Washington Business Journal email news summary led off with a story about real estate prices climbing in the DC area. Hopefully our appraiser read that story!

The highlight of today was when Jason and Matt, two City of Falls Church officials, came to inspect the final grading. We passed that inspection! Thanks to Bob DeMarr and his crew for fixing the job Bartley didn't get right but still wanted to charge a premium for. Immediately after passing the inspection, I called Maryann Ogle from Terra Landscaping to schedule the gravel driveway/parking area and the permeable paver walkway installation. The weather forecast isn't great for the next few days, but Maryann will monitor the weather and send the crew as soon as there's good news in the forecast. Maryann pointed us in the right direction to schedule wood chip mulch delivery from the City, so we'll soon (hopefully) receive a truck load of mulch to scatter along the lot.

I spent some time today working on the master shower. Another challenge I dealt with was that the master bathroom shower pan wasn't poured properly. There should have been a slope to the drain, but it ended us more like small hills and valleys. That left lots of places for water to settle, instead of drain. I rented a grinder from Ace Tool Rental in Falls Church and spent a good bit of the afternoon grinding down the high spots, checking with the level, and ensuring the water now heads towards the drain. I poured water into the shower pan and it all went in the right direction. Yay!

After that task was successfully completed, I laid out the 1" x 1" tiles for the shower floor to find the best fit using the least number of tiles. When we ordered the tiles at Amicus, we thought it would take 21 of the 12" x 12" tile mats, but I was able to configure it using only 17. Since we had to buy a box, which contains 24, that leaves me with an extra 7 sq.ft. of beautiful carbon floor tile. Hmmmm, what can I tile with that?

Tomorrow I'll mix up some Thinset and install the floor tiles. The wall tiles will follow. Another one of my shopping stops today was to order a threshold/sill for the shower curb. Actually, on my way back from IKEA yesterday, I stopped at Community Forklift (kind of like Habitat for Humanity's ReStore) but they were closed. I was looking for a remnant of granite, Silestone or marble for the threshold. Since I couldn't get it at Community Forklift, I bought a remnant retail. The advantage of buying the remnant retail is that they will polish both edges for me. The likelihood of finding that at a second hand shop was pretty slim.

Here are some miscellaneous pics, as well as the long-overdue photos of the completed deck (well construction has been completed - we'll stain it and seal it in the Spring time).

Interior Glass

I forgot to mention in my last posting that Tony Sommer from Sommer Glass came by yesterday with the five interior glass panels. He installed those over the three doors in the hallways, the door into the guest bathroom, and the door into the master closet. Andreas and I were working on installing the kitchen cabinets in their exact location and leveling the cabinets. We also had to build a bulkhead off the back of the island since Aaron told Tom (from Creager Electrical) where to bring electrical wire through the floor - but Aaron apparently had the location wrong by several inches. So we are adjusting in the field again. Another Cornerstone mistake we encountered, was that the fan control for the fireplace was installed incorrectly, so the automatic shut-off feature couldn't activate. We quickly found out it was installed wrong after we started a fire and turned the fan on. Andreas diagnosed the problem and fixed that this morning so our fireplace fan control will work properly from now on.

Back to the interior glass -- Tony did a nice job with the glass, and he even used an environmentally-friendly glass cleaner to clean the salt spray from the roads off the glass before installing it. I'll take some pictures and post those with the deck photos next week. Tony will be back in a couple of weeks (after we install the master bathroom shower tile) to measure and then install the white laminated frameless shower glass wall for us.

One Step Closer to Toasty Warm

For several days I had intended to take a picture of the radiant system in the basement. We previously posted pics of the pex tubing that's in the floor, which are the veins of the system. but the heart of the system is quite impressive. And it's mostly installed. We purchased the system from Radiantec and they did a fantastic job answering any and all of our questions as we worked with Bernie from Clarke County Plumbing to connect the system. Speaking of Bernie, he claims he's still snowed in, so he didn't show up at all this week to work on our house. Andreas pleaded with him yesterday to come next week - and plan to spend the whole week there.

While the system itself is connected and pressure tested, Bernie hasn't fully installed/connected the Polaris gas water heater. He was supposed to connect the gas line on a previous day, but he deferred that to a future day, and hasn't been back. He also needs to install the expansion tank, a heat trap (as required by Earthcraft for certification) and connect the overflow to the drain pan or sump pump. Today, Washington Gas came to install the meter outside, so as soon as Bernie shows up again, we'll be ready to fire it up and test it out.

Then the other piece that needs to be connected for the radiant system to be operational, is the thermostat controls. Andreas installed all of the thermostats on the walls and now we need Tom the electrician from Creager Electrical to show up to connect the temperature control system (the brain) to the heart so we can control the temperature in each of the five zones.

It will be really wonderful to have heat in the house, since we still have some work to do inside. But I suspect most of our inside work will be complete before Bernie and Tom are able to finish their work.

The outside of the house has been a better situation. Jeff Gunther from Grove Construction and his sidekick Andrew did a wonderful job on the deck, which they finished yesterday afternoon. I'll take some pictures of the final product and post those early next week. Jeff and Andrew need to come back to clean up their work site (which has been in the neighbor's back yard) and Jeff will finish installing the cedar siding that Aaron Holmes's crew never completed. That's scheduled for Saturday, January 2nd since Jeff is taking some well-deserved time off around the holidays. I think the house will look much better from the street once the cedar siding is visible on the Western side of the house.

Delicious!

Yesterday, our neighbors (Mandy, Jamie, Jack and Abby) dropped off a Christmas card and some cookies for both Andreas and me. We had some cookies as dessert tonight - they were a delicious, moist gingerbread. Yummy! It was a great dessert and tasty treat, especially after a long day at work. Thank you and Merry Christmas to our wonderful neighbors!

Winter's Here

To celebrate Winter, Andreas installed the dampers in the fireplace, I replaced the broken stones with the replacements Wittus shipped to us, and I built a fire in our new Bodart & Gonay Optiplex Fireplace. It's a serious fireplace and it worked great!

Also, a special thanks to our neighbor, Jeff, who volunteered to help our neighbor/contractor Jeff Gunther with the deck railing construction. I came back from my shopping spree at IKEA (I bought a temporary vanity/sink for the basement bathroom) and Amicus Green Building Center (I picked up the floor tile for the master bath shower, the wheat board for the kitchen countertops, and a sealant for the wheat board) and found Jeff helping Jeff with our house construction. Wow!

As I was putting together the IKEA vanity, Jeff's wife Helen stopped by to visit. I proudly showed her the radiant floor system in the basement (which I still haven't photographed), the step lights, the new master bath tile, etc. It's fun to show off our accomplishments!

Snowy Sunday

We started the morning with a bit of a shopping spree at Home Depot, picking up some miscellaneous plumbing and electrical supplies so Tom and Bernie can be extremely productive tomorrow. We proceeded to the house, following behind people who clearly had no business driving in the snow. They didn't know how to do so safely, and for the public's sake, they should have stayed off the roads. It was good we went to the house last night to shovel a path to the house and clear the decks. That allowed us to start working productively as soon as we got to the house.

Since I hadn't been in the house for almost two weeks, I had to go around and inspect the work that had been done. I smiled all the way through. First, Jeff Gunther and his helper Andrew are doing an amazing job with the deck. I'm impressed with their work. Season's Services did a nice job touching up the EIFS they cut away in order for the ledger board to be attached to the house. Craig Smith's doing an excellent job with the interior trim carpentry, Marcelino's crew did a nice job finishing the basement bath tile and tiling the upstairs guest bath for me while I was in Pennsylvania with my family. And Andreas and Bernie did an amazing job installing the radiant floor system. It's really quite impressive -- I was in such awe that I forgot to snap some pictures of that. Tom clearly was productive installing lighting fixtures, plugs, etc. and Andreas attached all the face plates right behind Tom as he installed the plugs.

In addition to a number of small tasks, today we attached the two Duravit sinks on the walls - one in the guest bath and one in the master bath. The sinks look great to us - clean lines and minimalist design. The designer of this sink was Phillippe Starck. Before tiling the master shower, we wanted to ensure the Durock was sealed as much as possible, so we used a product called Kerdi, which is made by Schluter Systems. It's an orange colored waterproof membrane that is attached to the Durock using Thinset. Then Thinset's applied to the top of the Kerdi and the tiles are embedded in that Thinset. It's a great system and one that will ensure our shower stays dry for the long term. If you're installing a shower like ours, you might look into using the Schluter Kerdi System which includes a basin as well. Had we known about that product before Bartley poured our shower basin from concrete, we would have used the Schluter System instead. Schluter's a German company, so there's an umlaut over the u, but I don't know how to type that in blogspot.

I hope you enjoy these photos.

Photo Update

A crazy amount of snow is falling in the DC area today! We're heading out to buy a shovel to clear the sidewalks. For now, here are some photos Andreas snapped yesterday with his iPhone showing the progress on the final grading, deck construction, and range hood installation. I'll get some pictures tomorrow of the trim carpentry (baseboards, casings, etc.) progress and the bath tile.