Lumber Mold

House with siding and shingles

Hello and welcome to Local Fruit. It has been a few weeks since I last posted an update on the construction of our home. Although framing and trim have taken longer than we expected, the project is moving along quickly now!

The siding shingles and trim are almost completed, as are rough plumbing and rough electrical. This week’s short blog is about an incredible process to protect and preserve the wooden members of a construction project using a corn product that also cleans the wood beautifully.

 

Mold stain on framing



Lumber Yard Molds



When framing in the winter, like we did, lumber comes to the job site from the lumber yard in a variety of conditions ranging from damp to slightly discolored (lumber yard mold). Depending on how much exposure the wood has had to rain and the sugar content of the wood, the lumber yard mold may range in color from green/blue to grey to black. In our case, the house and apartment were framed during a very long rainy season. Here is a photo of the lumber yard mold in the apartment structure. After questioning the builder about the growth in the wood, we decided to get an independent test of the wood just in case there were spores that were dangerous. After all, only a tape test analyzed by a qualified (certified) mold specialist can determine what species are present and make recommendations as to the removal of the growth.

 

Corn cleaning product


The tape test confirmed the presence of lumber yard mold in the apartment and in several areas in the main house. After speaking with our builder, we decided to remediate the condition using a company that follows a two-step process to treat all exposed wood: remove the growths using high pressure blast of corn fractions (like corn meal) and then apply a weak borate solution. Both steps are completely natural and chemical free, contain zero VOC’s and improve air quality after use. But this is why we chose to proceed: the end product is a clean structure at a reasonable cost.



Corn fractions after cleaning



  

Corn fractions up close

 



Borate Solution - 100% natural



After power blasting the wood, the team used air pressure to blow out all dust and debris from the house. Then they applied the borate solution which is claimed to prevent mold, mildew, moss, fungi, termites, etc. The remediation company, MoldGaurd USA, Inc. backs up their marketing claims with a guarantee against future growth.

The very green process is used in commercial multi-family construction projects to reduce both cleaning costs and liability of future mold growth. The before and after photos on their web site are very convincing and in our case the house was spotless when the team left. Unfortunately the electrician and HVAC guys came in the next day and made fresh sawdust… more for us to sweep each day.

 

Our builder, Gai Kirkegaard Construction, is calling for the framing inspection this week, and insulation installation next week. The heart of this house is the envelope, with efficient windows, clean walls and great insulation. The next posting should be about out insulation and our application to the California Advanced Homes Partnership for energy incentives.

The New White House in Old Town

White House

 Hello and welcome to Local Fruit. The entry this week is just for fun!  The house is taking shape and is wrapped in white moisture barriers – Tyvek on the exterior walls and a roofing under layer on the roof surfaces.  It is all white right now, and very visible from across the river.

View from the parking garage toward Sutter St.

This photo shows site work at the old rail yard which is being redeveloped in Historic Folsom.  Combined with the City of Folsom’s renovations on Sutter Street and the facades being rebuilt, the old merchant district is beginning to sparkle again.  The City is celebrating with a grand party on May 7^th, 2011.  For news, go to http://www.folsom.ca.us/depts/redevelopment_and_housing/redevelopment/sutter_street_revitalization_2010/default.asp .

View of Lake Natoma

Negro Bar at Lake Natoma (Folsom Lake State Park)

Rainbow Bridge & the old truss bridge (American River)

These photos were taken from across the American River and provide a glimpse of why we enjoy Old Folsom so much.  The area has character: history, wildlife, and plenty to see and do. Within the Historic District are charming neighborhoods, a state recreation area with river access and bike paths, restaurants and funky retail shops.  There is plenty to see and do, with street festivals and events throughout the year.

Skin on the house

Hello and welcome back to Local Fruit!



Wrapping the moisture membrane



The house project has really picked up pace the past week now that the sun has come out. Framing in the winter means weather delays but our builder’s guys worked through most of the weather. Once the felt was on the roof the guys worked rain or shine.

This short update is mainly to show the skin – outer areas – of the building being applied and installed. The term “water-tight” means that the roof materials are installed to a point of protecting the interior area from rain, the building is wrapped and the windows are installed.

 

Roofing underlayer



The felt product on the roof is pretty cool. It is attached with staples and plastic discs to make a secure water-tight connection. The material is textured and not slick even when wet so it is not slippery to walk on. The roof was covered for a few days, then the vent holes were cut in… in time for the rains of March!



The wrapping of the exterior is standard procedure to create a moisture barrier before the siding is applied. The siding is on site and will take about two weeks to apply.

 

Men installing windows



Windows were delivered yesterday. They are Milgard Tuscany windows, very efficient. Being in the Historic District, we needed to use single hung windows. However, several windows in single hung style do not meet the code requirements for egress. Our window man recommended casement windows that look like single hung- a great idea when trying to meet the conflicting requirements of the City Building Department and the City Historic Commission.

 

Door jams were ordered and temporary doors will be installed to make the house secure. Of course we will need to leave windows open to continue drying the lumber that was exposed to rain for weeks.

 

So now that the building’s skin is being installed, we are taking measures to allow air circulation and increased ventilation so that everything is dry enough in a few weeks to install the spray foam insulation. Even lumber that feels dry to the touch - including some types of lumber yard materials - can actually have a moisture content of up to 16% in California.

 

Now that the rainy season is about over, we are excited that the project is moving forward again. It is fun to drop by the lot and visit the contractors and to watch the neighbors pointing at the house as they walk past. This week windows and gutters were installed. Next week the siding starts to go up.

We are eager to have construction finished and to be able to move in. Even Zoe the dog is happy to go hang out at the house and be stimulated by all the sites, sounds and smells of the project. 

Front of the house



 



 



Advanced Framing in Folsom

Hello and welcome to Local Fruit. The entry this week explains why we chose to invest in the envelope of our home, and specifically highlight the advanced framing techniques that are at the heart of our green construction.

When we started planning for our future home, we spoke with several contractors, architects and designers who all were very competent and professional. However, the top priority on the house is energy efficiency and we wanted to build a home that was designed to minimize electricity and gas usage, and thus cost less to operate in the years ahead. Two phrases were used commonly by the builders with green building experience: “invest in the envelope” and “advanced framing”. The logic is sound – design a solid and well insulated envelope around the living areas; the cost to heat and cool the occupied spaces will be greatly reduced, resulting in a lighter impact on the environment.

The envelope consists of the exterior walls, windows, under the first floor and the attic, in short the entire area that separates inside conditioned air from outside air. Most buildings have leaks caused by spaces that were too small to insulate when built, like electrical outlets and wall corners. By using advanced framing techniques the objective is to allow each and every inch of the envelope to be designed to minimize energy waste. Even the windows were chosen to be as efficient as the budget would allow.

 

Advanced Framing Walls and Floor



 Advanced framing is very cool to watch. The joists and trusses are ordered to the specs of the home and are delivered on site. The lumber is built to the specs of the actual framing requirements per the structural engineer, so very little waste is created at the job site. The floor joists pictured here and wall framing are 2x6 installed 24” on center to both maximize strength and allow for insulation. That means the walls are 6” deep and the studs are 24” apart to maximize capacity for insulation. The location and size of windows is factored into the overall rating for the envelope as well. The result is an integrated system with a higher R-value for walls and attic, which help to significantly lower future utility expenses. Simply using advanced framing techniques can result in a 5% reduction in heating/cooling costs, lower materials costs and a labor savings of 3-5%.



So far, our home is still in the framing stage and the walls are being built at this time. Our builder, Gai Kirkegaard, and Anthony Juarez-Lessing's framing team are doing a great job. They are wonderful guys and we enjoy watching them work. The roof trusses were delivered last week and should be put up this coming week.    

 

Wall and Window Framing



Two of the next tasks are all about energy: insulation and rebates, both are at the heart of the project and are worthy of future blog posts. After all, this is a cool project in a cool area, but our focus is energy and expense reduction. It is exciting to see the house come together!

Roof Truss Delivery



New House Rising in Old Folsom

Advance framing floor joists

Hello and welcome to Local Fruit Folsom!   

Our construction project has benefited from three weeks of dry weather after the foundation was poured.  We continue to enjoy watching the house rise from the foundation, and to see the walls take shape.  This photo shows the advanced framing floor joists.  The advanced framing method allows for lumber orders to be delivered very close to the correct size needed in order to minimize wasted wood and maximize strength. 

Old Zoe watching the neighborhood

The garage apartment is being framed, but without stairs it is difficult to get to the top.  But the main house is easy to enter and we are pleased to walk the spaces.  Even Zoe the dog seems quite content to go to the job site and just hang around, watching squirrels and birds.  What is it about dogs and construction? 

Main house, fig tree, garage

We are measuring the rough walls in each room to verify that the dimensions are right, and found that a bathroom is a few inches too narrow according to the plan.  I may be reading the plans incorrectly because being short by five inches could eliminate the possibility of installing a future shower in the downstairs bath.  One more question to ask our builder, Gai Kirkegaard Construction  and framer…  we are grateful that these guys are patient with us as we are constantly thinking of questions. 

We bought the claw foot bathtub on Friday. Although I feel guilty about buying an iron tub made in China, the fact that it has been sitting in inventory in Sacramento since before the recession eases my conscience.  The builder has asked for the tub delivery to occur the same day and time the lumber crane is lifting roofing trusses.  Of course the scheduling gets complicated as the crane date for delivering roof trusses is a moving target, and the tub delivery can only occur on certain days.  If we can get both events to coincide it will be much easier for the crew. It is not every day that a heavy tub is lifted over trees to be placed in a closet!

Garage - SE Corner

Garage - SW corner

We also ordered the art glass inserts for the small fixed glass windows in the parlor and family room.  Othon Art has a stained glass showroom in nearby Orangevale with a very impressive workshop.  When the glass is ready, we will pick it up and take it to the window company to be incorporated into the frames.  This was actually more fun than any product we’ve had to choose so far. 

Worker coming through the crawl space access

In the past two weeks the first floor subfloor was built, the first floor exterior walls were framed and some of the first floor interior walls were framed.  This week the stairs will be built, the second floor framing will begin and possibly the roofing trusses (and tub!) will arrive.  However, the ten-day forecast calls for rain showers on six of the next ten days; we should expect a weather delay.  After all, we are framing in January and that simply can not be accomplished in most of the country. 

Check in soon as the photos will show significant progress over the next 2-3 weeks.  In addition, the energy calculations should be finalized in the next week or so. We are building this home to be as efficient as possible and it is exciting to see the energy engineers’ reports that quantify the results of our efforts in kilowatt hours and therms.  This means we can estimate the energy spent heating and cooling our home, and also estimate the energy savings (which translates directly to $ savings) and the rebate incentives from the local utility companies.   The energy nerd in me is excited to finalize the utility reports and the frugalista in me is eager to equate the projected energy usage to lower operating expenses.  We are very eager to apply to PG&E and SMUD for rebates.

A New Foundation in Old Folsom

Hello and welcome back to Local Fruit!

The foundation was poured this week which is a huge milestone for our construction project. The foundation was framed over the course of a few days, the inspection was on Wednesday and on Thursday the pumper truck arrived to pour endless amounts of concrete into the extra deep framing trenches. The first cement mixer truck-the whole load-went into one garage foundation wall that was about six feet tall! Today, Friday, the garage floor was poured and trowled until smooth. It has been fascinating to watch the progress.

Yesterday started with the big burly concrete contractors greeting us with smiles. Dan, the man controlling the pumper truck, thanked us for building a house that put his crew to work. Umberto, the supervisor, also thanked us for creating work for his men. It was clear that the ten men working on our site during the pour were professional, friendly, and serious about their work. The youngest-looking guy told me he had fourteen years of experience. I was glad to be able to watch them work, and to see the pride they take in their work.

 

Although we planned to build this energy efficient home in the Historic District of Folsom before the recession, we felt committed enough to the project to continue even in times of economic uncertainty. The sincerity of the gratitude expressed by the work crew was both deeply touching and rewarding. With our wonderful contractor, Gai Kirkegaard, this home is off to a solid start!

Deep Foundations

Hello and welcome back to Local Fruit!

After waiting for what seemed like eons for building permits and weeks for the rain to break, construction has finally begun on the house. If you are following our project you will want to check back often as the house will take shape quickly. Our super-builder, Gai Kirkegaard, has lined up the subcontractors and is chomping at the bit to get this house built and to get us out of his hair. I am the first to admit that I am very detail oriented which is good for a builder; clients like me are time consuming. It is kind of like the saying to be careful what you ask for… you might get a strong minded client who is still a challenge to please.

We are thrilled with the initial feedback from the energy consultant who is performing the Title 24 calculations on the house. All buildings in California must meet or exceed the building code’s energy efficiency standards, known as Title 24. One of the main reasons we are building this home is to build as efficient a home as the budget allows. Our energy engineer uses a program called “Savings by Design” which generates reports on the efficiency of the building compared to Title 24. The initial rating for our home was 53.7% more efficient than Title 24 and the preliminary number doesn’t even consider the solar photovoltaic system or tankless hot water heater. Wow! 53.7% is far above where we thought we would come in and should allow us to achieve our goals to significantly reduce energy use over the next 20 years. It felt good to get good news after such a long wait to start construction.

 

Today we received the not-so-good news that the soil is too soft for the foundation as designed. The soils engineer recommended the foundation trench be twice as deep as was originally designed (think twice as much concrete, twice as much cost). By following his recommendations we will end up with a foundation that is taller than planned, by about 18”. This is significant because of the slope of the lot. From the front of the house it will sit a little higher than we wanted, and the front porch may end up about 4 ½-5’ high. This is not what we planned from a design perspective, and is a hard increase to add to the budget. Yikes.

So as pleased as we are about the energy profile of the home, we did not expect to have such a tall home in the quaint historic district. Landscaping will be critical to create a warm and inviting home, but that is still months away. In the mean time, we are happy to be under construction at last. I hope you come back soon for updates.

http://www.energy.ca.gov/title24/
http://gaikirkegaardconstruction.com/