The Beaten Path

There were a lot of things that had to happen, to make this "new house" a reality.  One of the more logistically challenging issues was to figure out where to put ourselves and all of our belongings.  We had to move!  And we needed a temporary home.  One November day a "For Rent" sign went up at the corner of Carol Street and Ellsworth Avenue.

10208 Carol Street & 725 Ellsworth Avenue

But we were not ready to move.  Our building permit process still needed a few months' review-and-approval time.  So we drove by the "for rent" sign every day, as we left and returned home, hoping it would remain available for a little while longer.

Somehow luck remained on our side, and when we were ready to move the house-next-door was still available.  We signed an 8-month lease and moved ourselves and belongings the last weekend of March.


725 Ellsworth Avenue

The size of the house is deceiving.  There is a large addition at the rear of the home, and a fully finished basement.  We were able to stuff all of our belongings into the house.  The basement is jam-packed in most rooms, but we are more comfortable than I ever imagined we would be.

Side note:  You will notice a large house next to the one we are renting.  Our neighborhood has been going through the phenomenon of redevelopment.  The house we are renting is from the "older generation" of single-story homes that were the first homes to be built on these streets.  Developers seem to buy one or two lots a year with these smaller homes, tear them down and re-build a much bigger home.  Just like what we are now doing on our own lot.

Nicholas, Lauren and Alex were a huge help to us.  We definitely could not have made the move without their help.  And given the adjacency of the properties, we found ourselves hand-carrying many items.  After just one day of back-and-forth movements the beginnings of a serious path could be noticed.  By the end of the weekend you would have thought the path had been there for some time.  It is fully beaten down.



the beaten path



The Necessity of a Good Foundation

1st Week of June

"The beautiful rests on the foundations of the necessary."  Ralph Waldo Emerson

The basic design concept for any house is to provide shelter.  That is the necessity.  If a house is to be more than just shelter then some thought must be given to the shape, size, proportion, materials .  .  . from which something beautiful can take shape.

But it all must start with a strong foundation.  Just as with a good design, good construction starts with a lot of thought and planning.  Every dimension - both vertical and horizontal - will be critical as construction continues.


The forms arrive (view from NW corner of yard)

House foundation walls are typically constructed of either concrete block units or concrete.  The use of certain building materials is often dictated by regional building practices.  In our area concrete seems to be the preferred foundation wall material, and it was the material we wanted; just seems like it would be stronger. 

Arranging the forms around the concrete footings

Once the concrete footings were poured and allowed to set about a day it was time to erect the wall forms.  Pre-fabricated, re-usable metal forms are used to set up the walls.  The crews know what they are doing, and erection of the panels seems to go quickly.

Of course, the stength of concrete walls is actually in the steel reinforcing bars, typically laid in a grid pattern (vertical and horizontal), and tied together wiht metal straps.  As with all the details for the house, Steve and I act with a "trust but verify" strategy.  We check the rebar spacing as it is being laid, and don't hesitate to ask questions.


Formwork, seen from the front corner of the Garage

Things may look a bit rough at this stage, but there are a lot of level planes and dimensions being "cast in stone" (or concrete in this case) that will become critical for every other material installation to follow.



Wall Check!  Is it level?

I must admit to taking a tape measure over to the site, and checking all of the foundation wall measurements against the plans.  Given how rough everything looks, I couldn't help but be surprised and impressed that every dimension was within 1/4 - 1/2-inch of true, and most of them were exact.


Pouring the Basement Slab

By now the crews are probably used to our presence.  We show up a lot.  It certainly helps that we happen to be renting RIGHT NEXT DOOR.  And Nicholas had a bit of time "between jobs"; he was our eyes and ears during the months of May and June.  Thank you, Nicholas! 


Foundation, Basement Walls and Slab - done!

In one week's time we have gone from a large hole in the ground to having a basement.  It may look rough, but it's a great start.  We can finally start to see and feel the overall house size.  While it is bigger than the old house, it is actually small by "Great Falls" standards.  For us, I think it will be just right.

Benchmarks for Picture Posterity

Even before this adventure started I knew I would be taking A LOT of pictures.  I decided to establish "viewpoints" on every side of the property.  About once a week I walk around the yard and take a picture from the same spot, a benchmark of sorts.  I am hoping in the end, I will be able to create a slideshow from these reference points, and the house will appear to grow before your eyes.



Camera View Points

 You might have noticed that a few of the pictures I have included in blogs are from some of these vantage points.  Every viewpoint is from a place I can easily go back to, typically a tree.  I cover all sides of the house: WEST(left side from Carol St standing between 2 small trees), NORTH (rear, standing just in front of the Buddha), EAST (right side from Carol St standing by a very large tree on our neighbor's property) and SOUTH (front, standing in front of a tree in our yard).  

Then there are other views that give a good perspective, or just seem appropriate, like the Mailbox.

Following are one picture taken from each viewpoint.  Each picture shows more development.


View from WEST side of property (after the fire)

 

View from NORTH side of property (back yard, during demolition)



NORTHEAST view with foundation forms in place



EAST view toward Garage foundation and slab



SOUTHEAST view from Driveway, looking toward Garage



SOUTH view of house facade, with first layer of roof felt





The Shape of Things to Come

3rd week of July

Yesterday the trusses were delivered. 


Garage Trusses, ready to be erected

Today they were all erected!  Alex was home and we had hoped he would see them erected. But apparently it happened very quickly, and before he realized it they were all up!


Front Corner of the House

Trusses are factory-fabricated.  Almost every one of them is different, in large part because we have a "hip" roof.  There are also several roof areas - the main house roof, the garage roof, the family room roof extension, and a few small "eyebrow" roofs.


Looking at the front of the house

Now the size and shape of the house is is place!  It's fascinating to sense how much bigger it is than the old house.  We sited the new house almost exactly where the old house was.  It was the best place for the house given the natural grades of the lot.  But the new house is about 10-feet wider, 15-feet deeper, and 3-feet higher.


Looking at the rear of the house

A maze of wood framing

The family room roof framing will be built with rafters.  Right now you can look up from the floor of the family room to see a lot of wood framing.  Standing at the mailbox the house definitely has more of a presence.


2nd Floor Rooms with a View

2nd Week of July


Front yard view

It looks like the framing is going up one floor a week.  Almost every time I turn around there is something more to look at.  (Of course, that's another story, possibly meriting a blog entry of its own.  Since we are renting right next door to our property, we literally get to see the house grow before our eyes.)

View from the rear side yard, looking toward family room

It is interesting to see not only how quickly they are able to erect the walls, but also how some parts of it almost seem random.  You can see from the pictures that some windows are cut out through the plywood sheathing, and some are not.  That is partly due to the framing-in-progress, and maybe partly where they want some light inside.  But their goal is to get to the roof as quickly as possible.  They do not worry about getting all the details right initially; they will go back for that.

Looking west, down the 2nd floor Hallway

We brought a ladder over to the house, so that we could climb up to the second floor.  (The carpenters shove all their ladders up to the 2nd floor at the end of the day, and for safety we totally appreciate that.)  They literally build the wall sections on the floor; then tilt them up into place.  This explains why studs do not necessarily line up structurally, but they go back later and add studs at critical load points.  With all the wood, it's hard to believe the house is going anywhere.



Looking East, toward the Master Bedroom



Master Bedroom

Because the new house is just about right on top of the old house, it is fascinating to recognize the differences.  The 1st floor of the new house is about 2-feet higher than the old house, and the ceiling heights are 9-feet at both the 1st and 2nd floors.  When we look out the windows we know we are higher up.  We see more into the leaves of the trees at the 2nd floor.  The view from the Master Bedroom looks directly toward the Buddha, which as sat between an apple tree and a japanese maple tree for 5 years now.



Looking down (sideways) on the Family Room


Yikes!  Someone's going to have to show me how to rotate photos!  Sorry about this.  The Family Room will be the heart of the house, and where I know we will spend 90% of our time.  I will talk more about it in my next blog, when I can figure out how to rotate my pictures *&^%_)^*.

Walking through the house for the first time . . .

1st week of July

The first floor framing is going up!  July is starting out very hot; not particularly unusual for July in northern Virginia, but we are having more rain than normal and it is making progress for the contractor a little more challenging.


View at the front corner of the garage

It almost feels like a dream to be walking THROUGH our new house.  I have spent so much time daydreaming about the spaces we designed.  To see it and feel it, really happening, is kind of amazing.  And the smell of wood is wonderful.



View toward front door

We met the head carpenter on site a few days ago, and he quickly assured us that there are a lot of framing connections and details that they will go back to, once the roof trusses are up.  Their goal is to frame up to the roof as quickly as possible, get the trusses up, and start enclosing.



Rear view

They are being haphazard with their window openings as they initially frame; some are there but many still have to be cut through the plywood.  As you can see, there are nice big openings in the basement as well.  This house has a lot of windows.

Once the studs started to go up we took out our tape measure; couldn't help ourselves.  Every inch matters to us, and we wanted to know that everything "right".  I'm impressed.  Every dimension we took is within half-an-inch of the dimension on the drawings.



View from Family Room toward Kitchen

In a few months there will be a stone fireplace, separating the family room from the eating space and kitchen.  For now, just lots of bracing (until they can tighten up their connections).

View from Family Room toward Stairs and Front Door