Two Headers Are Better Than One

The basement walls reach their full height: next stop concrete

And slowly, brick by white brick, the basement walls rise to their full height, and the lower level structure nears completion. Happy days.

Around the perimeter there's a boatload of gravel, to provide much needed drainage and move water away from the house and down the hill.

One day this will be a beautiful walk-out patio with a view

The framing for the header of the basement sliding doors is almost complete, and it's braced to provide extra support for the weight of the concrete that will soon be poured. The bottom of the header has a plank of pressure treated lumber, which will stay in place after the concrete cures.

Similarly, at the front of the house the garage door header is now also in place, although it's not yet braced.

Looking down the driveway towards the garage

Now it gradually gets more and more exciting. Tomorrow the steel for the lower retaining wall is due to arrive - again. It was actually delivered on Monday, but they mysteriously delivered the wrong sized I-beams and we had to send them back, which was a major blow as everyone was ready on site: excavator, welder, framer and assistants. Ken the Excavator will place the I-beams in the piers, and Hector the Framer will level them off before the piers are filled with concrete at the weekend. At the same time, the basement walls will be poured right up to the top, and then we'll finally be ready to remove all of the bracing and begin setting the sills. Once that's done, it's TGI Monday! The TGIs are the big beams that will form the sub floor structure, and when they are all in place and the blocking is complete we can finally think about starting work on the second floor.

Newsflash: Building a House Takes Time

Looking up at the back of the basement, from the down slope

Yes, I'm learning that the hard way. Trying to be patient, as it will all happen in due time. The ICF basement walls are now nearly complete, but the headers for the basement sliding doors and the garage door still have to be built, and I don't think that will happen in time to inspect and pour concrete on Tuesday, so I'll have just have to take a deep breath and see what happens.

The north-east corner of the basement

The steel I-beams should also finally arrive this week, and those have to be set into the remaining eight piers and leveled before the concrete is poured. Then there's lots of dirt to be backfilled, sills to set and the entire sub-floor system to be laid before the LV Home kit arrives on the truck from Missouri in just eight days' time! Yikes!!!

Soon the sliding patio doors will occupy this space...

And I nearly forgot that, while all that's going on, we're still in the process of digging trenches around the perimeter of the foundations and laying pipe and gravel for the French drain which, when all is said and done, should keep water away from the house. Busy busy busy!

Piping + gravel+ muslin = French drain

The Magical Mystery Tour

For your entertainment, I present this updated virtual tour of the interior of The Minnie House, created in Live Interior 3D Pro on the Mac Book Pro. The movie was assembled using iMovie, and an HD version can be found here. The soundtrack music is Staralfur by the wonderful Icelandic band Sigur Ros.

I was able to import much of my own furniture thanks to Google Sketch-Up - for example, all of the Eames pieces, the George Nelson bench and table, the Blue Dot coffee table, and the Case Study bed. The art work features several of my photos, a copper and wood piece by the artist San Francisco Amanda Lyn (in the bedroom), a colorful abstract by Pacifica artist Emily Dysinger (in the living room), and my big bright colorful poster of Joan Miro's big bright colorful L'oiseau au plumage deploye vole vers l'arbre argente.

The finishes are fairly accurate, and the views from each window are pretty good representations of the real thing, so I'm confident that the finished house will be a thing of beauty.

Half Way Up The Wall

This week saw the fourth concrete pour, which was probably the least exciting to date. We just poured into the first four feet of the basement ICFs, so there wasn't much to see.

Before and after the pour the framers continued building 2x4 braces and supports for the walls, to ensure that they are straight, true and vertical. Then this morning the drain rock and tubing arrived for the french drain around the perimeter of the basement, which should ensure that the basement remains dry and cosy long into the future.

Hector the Framing Guy, the man who makes the magic happen

The next steps are pretty exciting. The basement walls will be built up to their full height with ICFs, and then the forms and supports for the garage and basement window headers will be constructed. These will then all be poured at the end of next week, and that will be worth seeing.

Next week the eight huge steel I-beams are scheduled to be delivered for the very long lower retaining wall, and presumably those 15' deep piers will be poured at the same time at the basement walls and headers.

At the end of that pour the foundations and basement of The Minnie House will basically be finished, and it will be time to set the sills and start building the floor. Once that's done the LV Home kit will arrive and we can start building the house!

The Magic Numbers

I've lived in the 415 - San Francisco, California - for the last 18 years. When I bought the 7,650 sq ft lot that I will soon call home, its address was listed as 0 Talbot Avenue, because it had never been developed. Since my next door neighbors are at number 437 and number 463, I had to choose an address somewhere in-between. Originally I chose 445, but those numbers didn't sing to me. Then it hit me - my house would be number 451, because those are The Magic Numbers.

The stainless steel numbers above match those that famed modernist architect Richard Neutra specified for his houses in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. They're designed to float slightly off the surface and cast subtle shadows, and I picked them up while they were on sale at DWR (still hideously expensive, but at least they were on sale).

A Thoroughly Modern Garage Door

The Minnie House, now sporting an aluminum garage door from CHI

This is a new 3D render I just completed in Home Design Studio Pro, featuring my choice of garage door, the very modern and imaginatively-named Model 3295 from C.H.I., in clear anodized aluminum with etched tempered glass. Coming soon, from Sousa Garage Doors in Santa Clara.

Slab, Beautiful Slab

On a spectacular and steaming hot day, the Giants' concrete truck returned to the hill, and Hector and co. poured the basement slab. It is truly a thing of beauty. Since a picture's worth a thousand words, I'll let the photos do the talking.

And here's a bonus video of the basement floor receiving the hand trowel treatment:

Ready to Pour Concrete

Pex tubing laid over the tied steel in the basement

Last Friday Irwin the Radiant Heat Guy came over and laid the pex tubing over the top of the rebar in the basement, and now we're ready to pour the concrete for the slab. That's going to happen tomorrow - Tuesday - morning. Can't wait! After the pour, the next step will be to build up the rest of the basement wall ICFs, and then pour those prior to starting work on the main floor.

Glorious weather again in Pacifica

 Just as I was getting a little concerned at the slow progress, I got a new construction schedule from Rich the Contractor and we are now magically back on track for completion just before Christmas - which would be brilliant.

The Minnie House is in the News (actually, the Trib)

This week saw the publication of the first article about The Minnie House, in the Pacifica Tribune.

The Minnie House shapes up on Talbot Drive
By Jane Northrop
Staff Writer

Futuristic and sleek, a new home on Talbot Drive is sure to turn heads.

Steve Rapport, a master in martial arts who owns and teaches in Hwa Rang Kwan Martial Arts Center in San Francisco, is building his dream house in Pacifica.

Rapport fell in love with the designs of the prefabricated LV series by architect Rocio Romero.

"If I was designing a house for myself, it would look like this. I love modern and mid-century design, and this house has the open design and clean lines that define both styles. The architect, Rocio Romero, also designed the 1200 sq. ft. living space so that all of the living space is on one side, with huge sliding doors, while all of the utilities are on the other side. Because you have to be energy efficient and Title 24 compliant, you can only use so much glass, and my house will make the maximum use of the available glass and of the magnificent Pacifica view," Rapport said.

The house is highly energy efficient and green.

"A prefab house is inherently green with regards to the construction process as it eliminates much of the associated waste," Rapport said.

Low-E glass will be used, which is expected to block harmful UV rays, protect furniture from fading and lower energy costs by 35 percent. In addition, Rapport plans to install solar panels on a reflective roof. The house will exceed recommended insulation levels for the walls, the basement and the roof. Rapport is using insulated concrete forms for the foundation and basement walls. Kitchen counters will be made of Paperstone, which is made of 100 percent post-consumer recycled paper. The paint will be a No-VOC product. The floors will be bamboo, which is renewable and an inherently green product. The deck, ramp and front porch will be LockDry aluminum decking, a completely maintenance free product that is also regarded as green, since it lasts a lifetime and thus doesn't require repair or replacement.

The heating system will be of the radiant floor variety, which is again highly energy efficient. The radiant system Rapport will be using is called UltraFin, another aluminum product with green credentials.

Rapport's home will have two bedrooms, a full basement with a two car garage and another living space.

After breaking ground on June 24, Rapport expects the construction to be finished the first week of 2011.

He fell in love with Pacifica as much as he fell in love with the design of his home.

"I thought about buying a house in Pacifica many years ago, because I love the place and as a displaced Englishman, the name itself sounds so romantic and wonderful. It's so close to the city, with no bridges, and I can be at work in San Francisco in less than 20 minutes. Plus, it's next to the ocean, and my lot on Talbot has magnificent ocean views -- something that, as a Londoner, is also quite exotic," he said. "Talbot is also quiet and warm and sunny, and the neighbors are all amazingly friendly. It's a true community, and again that's not really something I've experienced in the big cities I've lived in."

The project has been on the back burner for two years while Rapport finally secured a construction loan by loan arranger Donald Henry.

But now that construction is underway, Rapport is enjoying the warm welcome he received from Talbot neighbors.

They have voluntarily taken his yard waste to the dump and lent him tools whenever he needs them. He's been enjoying the neighborhood cafes -- Salada Beach and Cafe D Capo. He took his kickboxing class for runs along Sharp Park Beach and the golf course and plans many more such adventures. He enjoys hiking the hills of Pacifica, as well.

He's also a professional photographer who loved shooting music celebrities in the 80s and 90s, but he has now turned his attention to travel, landscapes and flower photography, and likes that just as well.

After researching all the prefab homes on the market he settled on a design by Rocio Romero.

"Rocio's first design was a house for her mother back home in Laguna Verde, Chile -- hence the LV home. She later turned this design into a green, modern prefab house, of which she has now probably sold somewhere between 70-80, many right here in California," he said.

The home, called The Minnie House, is named for Rapport's mom, Mina "Minnie" Rapport.

"My mum grew up in the Lodz Ghetto in Poland and was an Auschwitz survivor who passed away just more than two years ago back home in England. After she passed I sold her house in Manor Park in East London. I gave some money to my sister to buy an apartment in Bow, very close to the new Olympic Stadium, and put the rest towards buying the 7650 sq. ft. lot on Talbot Avenue. The Minnie House will be a living monument to my mum, who was a true survivor in every sense of the word," Rapport said.

Anyone can follow the progress of the build at Rapport's blog -- http://theminniehouse.blogspot.com/ -- and on Twitter @MasterSteveR.

Get Back in the Kitchen and Make Me Some Pie

IKEA Nutid Glass Ceramic Cooktop

Just picked up the brand new Nutid Glass Ceramic Cooktop for $599.00 from IKEA. It's going to look amazing when it's installed in the slate black Paperstone counter top.

Paperstone Counter Tops

These are on order from EcoHome Improvement in Emeryville, who will also install them. So what is Paperstone?

"PaperStone® is a sustainable composite material made from 100% post-
consumer recycled paper, PetroFree™ phenolic resins and natural pigments.

As PaperStone® ages it will assume a pleasing, lustrous, seasoned appearance that is an inherent characteristic of the material. This is a natural progression of a natural product, resulting in a beautifully soft, rich patina. The aging process takes time and, much like fine hardwood, a deep luster will develop in areas of heavier use."

Lovely. And they really do feel organic and quite sexy to the touch.