-
Recent Posts
Archives
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- February 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- June 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- August 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- July 2013
- June 2013
- May 2013
- April 2013
- March 2013
- January 2013
- December 2012
- November 2012
- April 2012
- March 2012
Categories
- -Chronological Recent Posts
- Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope
- Appliances
- Bathrooms
- Central Vacuum
- Condensing Modulating Gas Boiler
- Construction
- Deconstruction
- Design Style
- Distractions
- Electrical
- Energy Efficiency
- Family Room
- Finishes
- Fireplace Boiler
- Floating Walls
- Furniture
- Green Building Interests
- Green Roof
- House Systems
- Inspections
- Kitchen
- Landscape
- LEED Project
- Living Room
- Local Products
- Maintenance and Repair
- Master Bedroom
- Mini Split Air Conditioner
- Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil
- Monitoring
- Moving
- Organization
- Planning
- Plumbing
- Pool
- Project Team
- Radiant Cooling
- Radiant Heat
- Radon Mitigation
- Reduce Reuse Recycle
- Roofing
- Sideline at son’s house
- Solar
- Spa
- Spencer House
- Tile
- Tools
- Trim
- Trombe Wall
- Ventilation
- Xeriscape
Cloud
-Chronological Recent Posts Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope Appliances Bathrooms Central Vacuum Condensing Modulating Gas Boiler Construction Deconstruction Design Style Distractions Electrical Energy Efficiency Finishes Fireplace Boiler Floating Walls Furniture Green Building Interests House Systems Inspections Kitchen Landscape LEED Project Living Room Local Products Maintenance and Repair Master Bedroom Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil Monitoring Moving Planning Plumbing Pool Project Team Radiant Cooling Radiant Heat Radon Mitigation Reduce Reuse Recycle Sideline at son’s house Solar Spa Tile Tools Trim Trombe Wall VentilationBy Date
January 2021 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Category Archives: Construction
Deconstruction–Step One
Colorado has rules. There are more rules there than we are used to. We knew remodeling in a city would require lots of drawings and permits and inspections and stuff we don’t generally like to do. So the first step … Continue reading
Posted in Deconstruction, Inspections
Comments Off on Deconstruction–Step One
An Engineered Solution
The slab was the major issue that made this house virtually unsellable. Like most foreclosures, the house suffered from years of delayed maintenance, like peeling paint on the windowsills, and broken glass in some of the windows. Once it was … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning, Project Team
Comments Off on An Engineered Solution
Waffle Mat!
While researching issues with slabs on grade and expansive soils, I found this very interesting solution to building a mat (raft) slab. Originally invented by Matt Gonsalves, the boxes are still manufactured by the family’s Conco Corporation. There are a … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning
Comments Off on Waffle Mat!
Mountain Brawny
Just after Labor Day I realized we were getting close to needing the brawn to remove the concrete and excavate for the new slab. I contacted four listings that advertised concrete services and two responded. The first one was Mile … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Project Team
Comments Off on Mountain Brawny
Crown Jade Design and Engineering
At Greg’s strong recommendation, I decided to seek out a structural engineer who would be willing to take care of the specific design using WaffleMat for our installation. The person I chose had presented at a USGBC event as a … Continue reading
Posted in Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning, Project Team
Comments Off on Crown Jade Design and Engineering
Waffle Mat Slab
The Waffle Mat system uses 19 1/2″ X 19 1/2″ X 8 1/2″ recycled plastic boxes. The boxes have a rim on two sides and can be used in sets of 4 or individually depending on the design. I decided … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning, Project Team
Comments Off on Waffle Mat Slab
HP Geotech
I asked the Asbestos test engineer, Rick Luce, for a recommendation for a soils engineer, as he had mentioned that he worked with several and would give me a recommendation when the time came. He recommended Alan Lisowy at HP … Continue reading
Posted in Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning, Project Team
Comments Off on HP Geotech
Permit Possibilities
I went to the city To buy a fat pig (permit) Home again, home again, jiggidy jig. I have been very pleased by how helpful the permit office in Arvada has been to me. I have visited a few times … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Inspections
Comments Off on Permit Possibilities
Sewer Simulations
What? Now we have to replace the sewer to “code”? Yep, that is a permit’s requirements. These fussy cities, what do you do? Umm, figure out the code? I was able to download the codes after feverish searching on the … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, House Systems, Plumbing
Comments Off on Sewer Simulations
More Sewer Fun
The previous post accounts for the biggest open question about the plumbing in the master bathroom–do we need the dry vent for the toilet? Well, what would it hurt anything right? In the family room bath the toilet is at … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, House Systems, Plumbing
Comments Off on More Sewer Fun
Courtesy Inspection
Laying the drains and vents for the house took several days. We had hoped to have an inspection after only 3 days of layout and gluing but after 3 days we ended up asking for a courtesy inspection instead of … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, House Systems, Inspections, Plumbing
Comments Off on Courtesy Inspection
HP Geotech Geotechnical Engineering Study
We wanted this house even though it was not in great shape. We knew we had to figure out why the slab had cracked so badly and repour a slab that would not have the same damage in the future. … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning, Project Team
Comments Off on HP Geotech Geotechnical Engineering Study
Plumbing Disaster!
Construction is exhausting work. Sometimes being tired at the end of a work day will lead to an error of judgement that causes a “disaster”. Unfortunately this happened while pressure testing the new drains for the first time. It was … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, House Systems, Plumbing
Comments Off on Plumbing Disaster!
Passing the Underground Rough In
Signed Sealed Delivered. 12/10/12 It was not easy to pass the plumbing inspection. Not because the inspector was difficult or picky, quite the opposite. Our inspector was VERY helpful and wanted to see us pass and recommended wet venting the … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, House Systems, Inspections, Plumbing
Comments Off on Passing the Underground Rough In
Structured Plumbing
We are interested in wasting as little water as possible and to that end, we designed a structured plumbing system that allows for the hot water to circulate within a loop system of pipes to deliver hot water at the … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, House Systems, LEED Project, Planning, Plumbing
Comments Off on Structured Plumbing
Crown Jade Engineering Drawings
Mark Benjamin of Crown Jade Engineering delivered the final plan for the Waffle Mat system just was the plastic vapor barrier was being installed. The plan is engineered with the PSI concrete standards using a PSI computer program that took … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil, Planning, Project Team
Comments Off on Crown Jade Engineering Drawings
Insulstar!
Quite a bit of time went into researching the insulation for under the slab. The engineers were concerned about the insulation holding up to the stresses that the wafflemat would be mitigating. Apparently no other customers of Wafflemat had required … Continue reading
Posted in Air Intrusion/Thermal Envelope, Construction, Energy Efficiency, House Systems
Comments Off on Insulstar!
Really Rebar
The engineering plan from Crown Jade uses rebar instead of post tensioning cable to reinforce the concrete in the floor. The computer program that the engineers used to design the floor system was a Post Tensioning Insitute product. Post Tensioning … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil
Comments Off on Really Rebar
De Floor, de floor!
The concrete was poured on March 18th after six months of work by Alberto’s crew to remove the old concrete and dig out for the waffle boxes. Then the installation of the vapor barrier and the boxes, the insulation, the … Continue reading
Posted in Construction, Moisture Intrusion/Expansive Soil
Comments Off on De Floor, de floor!
Radon Mitigation
Zone 1 has the highest concentration of Radon in the ground. Radon has been found to be a naturally occurring cancer causing element that is concentrated in homes that have direct contact with the earth especially in Level 1 (Red) … Continue reading
Posted in House Systems, LEED Project, Planning, Radon Mitigation
Comments Off on Radon Mitigation
