This blog is solely about the start-to-finish construction of a house.
It is recommended to start at the earliest post and proceed chronologically.


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August 28, 2015

Off the Shoulder of Orion

" I've... seen things... you people wouldn't believe."

It has been quite the journey. 

You may notice that posts are arriving less and less frequently.  Now that major work is complete, current work is minor, sporadic and largely mundane.  Plenty of it still, but not so worthy of documentation.

I assume that no one really wants to hear about hanging pictures on the wall, or touch-up painting.

I'll continue to post a few more when developments happen.
For example - A nice professional photo set of the interior and exterior will happen in the future; but probably not until the landscaping is at least partially established.

Thank you for following the progress!  It has been interesting to us to share.  If you have any questions or suggestions for things you'd like to know more about, please comment below.

If you are just finding this blog - here is a link to the very beginning if you want to see things happen in order (start at bottom of page).

Chandelier



Installed the re-wired vintage chandelier. Not exactly what we envisioned for this location, but it will do for now.



August 17, 2015

Roof Deck Pavers

The finished roof deck.  Now for some furnishings.
Finished the installation of the roof deck pavers this weekend.

The pavers are 24" square concrete planks, that sit level above the roof membrane on adjustable pedestals.  The roof membrane below is protected from damage, and slopes to the roof drain.

Installation photos below.

August 07, 2015

Blower Door Test Results

Did our final blower door test yesterday (measures building air-tightness), and the results were excellent.

0.6 Ach50 (Air changes per hour at a pressure of 50 pascals)

We achieved "Passive House" levels of air tightness in our envelope.


As a reference point,
The building code requires a score less than 7.0
Energy Star Homes for Portland and Earth Advantage is less than 4.0.
Lower the better.

It was incredibly useful to do the preliminary blower door test months ago; without it, we would not have been able to identify and rectify a few key leaks in the envelope.  Our results improved dramatically.

I would wholeheartedly recommend the preliminary test to anyone who wants to ensure best air-tightness results.


July 31, 2015

Big Pink Lantern

Many evenings, the setting sun catches the side of "Big Pink" (a tall building downtown) and it glows like it is on fire.

July 22, 2015

First Plantings


Lisa is hard at work, changing a construction site into something beautiful. 


July 16, 2015

Driveway & Sidewalk

Behold the new sidewalk and drive apron
And suddenly the dumpster is gone, safety barriers have come down, and we have completed paving. 
We parked in the driveway last night - it has been a long time coming.

July 10, 2015

Steel Planter Boxes

Welded some steel together today to make some planters for the front approach.

July 08, 2015

Heat Wave Report

Didn't take long before our non-air-conditioned house was put to the test.

Broke Something

Oops.  Look what I did.

July 06, 2015

The Longest Yard

Despite all my efforts, I can't seem to get these last few major items finished.

July 02, 2015

New (Partial) Driveway

The larger part of the driveway is poured. 

Now we just have to wait another week or more to get the remainder - the curb cut and approach.

Concrete work looks very nice, but of course, no progress can be made on this project without some destruction.

In this case it was the concrete truck driving over the neighbor's water meter vault and crushing it, with possible damage to the piping.

Sigh.