Update: house chugs along

It's been a while since I posted...    the concrete was poured in the 2nd story without issue, thankfully.  There were a few windows that were off and needed to be edited with the concrete saw (the ICF guys' fault, not mine - they forgot to match up corner windows when they edited one for support purposes downstairs.  I can see how they would make the mistake and forget by the time they did the upstairs). 

Everything went smoothly, and basically the house sat for a while letting the concrete cure.  There is one very large expanse of upper wall in the great room that STILL has braces on

it, 3 weeks later.  They are keeping the braces up for a while to ensure that the concrete is completely cured and a solid support system.  Fine with me!  It's amazing how many braces you end up in the house right before a pour, and the great room still has a ton of them supporting this wall shown:

Up next is picking out the brick and stone, and trying to finalize framing changes/tweaks on the interior.  Lots to do! 

Progress: Second Floor and (Apparently Uncommon) Splayed Windows

The 2nd story ICFs are almost complete:

The great room stair window dilemma has been decided upon - I'm interested to see how it turns out because it is a very large, very splayed window where the "splay" portion at the lowest left corner of the stairs will be very close to the baseboard of the step, but everyone agrees it will look really cool and that it's not a concern.   I'm not sure I'm convinced, but I'm going with the majority on this.

Speaking of splayed windows, apparently this is a new endeavor for both my builder and the ICF guys.   With having such an immensely-high ceiling in the great room, I was worried that the square windows at the top would be "lost" tucked back into the thick ICF wall.   I had asked my architect to splay the window, and she has done so in a fashion that will expose the windows more, and more importantly play on the light coming in with the angles.  Our great room upper ceiling is like this:

and the windows should be splayed in a similar fashion as these upper ones depicted here:

Traditional Living Room design by San Francisco Photographer Bernardo Grijalva Photography

As to doing a splayed window in an ICF wall - apparently that gets to be tricky.  They are going to widen the rough openings to allow for the splayed angle portion, then the angles will be created with wood and then spray-foamed.  My architect's instructions are below, but we'll see how it plays out in the field...   

 

Progress: Upstairs, and Window Drama Yet Again

Ironically, after looking at the great room stairs picture I uploaded in the previous post, it just seemed like the window (or lack thereof) was wrong.  If I compare this mock-up that our architect did for us long ago:

to the picture of the great room stairs now:

...  it's way off.  I'm all for privacy from the street in the great room, but this is a little much!  Thankfully, yesterday my builder had noticed that the ICF guys had not filled this area all the way to the top with concrete during the first pour, in anticipation of placing a window.  Sigh of relief!  We are now working on getting that edited, needless to say.

In other more progressive news, the upstairs has begun.   Once again, I feel the house is too big which would not have been my preference: 

That's the hole to the foyer below, which has a double ceiling.  Another area of contention was that the contractors were freaking out that some of the windows in the back are not the same head height.  My architect and I realized this wasn't the norm, but I've always said "business in the front, party in the back".  It was funny - as much trouble we were having with the language barrier, as soon as I said that, the contractors understood and started laughing.  Carry on!

What You Never Want To See - But It's Fixed, Period.

When building an ICF house, here's what you don't want to see, haha.   In response to the door dilemma mentioned in the earlier post, my builder and I are splitting the cost (very fair in my opinion) and they have sawed through that huge mass of concrete that is our exterior wall.   If you ever want to see what the inside of an ICF wall looks like after they've sawed and drilled away for hours at attempting a new front door to fix an architect mistake, this is what it looks like:

I will say it gives one a very solid feeling about the type of house they are constructing!  After seeing the next pic, I am extremely pleased that my builder encouraged  - well... almost insisted - that the mistake be fixed instead of accepted.  Looking at the change now, my front door would have looked humorously small now that I see the new and much-wider opening:

 

Sigh of relief and kudos to our builder on encouraging that decision.  Yes, we have to pay a change order but in the scheme of things I suppose it is minimal.  Onward and upward.

Yikes: A Big Error at The Front Door, Of All Places

While at the construction site today, my builder said he wanted to talk with me and “Am I sitting down?"  Whereupon he informed me that the architect’s foundation page on the plans did not match the rest of the house (!).   He was extremely stressed because  A) she screwed up and B) he screwed up by not double-checking that it matched the other pages.   So, the short version is that where my front door was supposed to be inset underneath the stairs, it’s now flush with the exterior shell wall.   With poured concrete walls, this is quite a big deal.    Below, the red line depicts where the front door opening is now, while the brown “x” shows where the ICF walls and foundation were supposed to go.   Yikes! 

While it’s not ideal and I’m disappointed that this even happened to begin with, they both couldn't have been any nicer about the mistake.  Apparently I'm supposed to be freaking out, but I'm not whatsoever, because I should be so lucky to even have a home, much less stress about a front door error.

WEIGHING THE OPTIONS: 

I'd love opinions...

1.  They could cut out a 6-foot section of my concrete wall (!), pull the subfloor up, manually dig a trench with a shovel and repour a section of the foundation and patch the error.   My question is, who pays for that?  And does it compromise the concrete wall, how is that done anyway?

2.   I'm wondering what it would be like if we left the door at the red line and then slightly inset it to the interior of the ICF wall for a full swing, and let it open into the cavity under the stairs, which would have to be stick built.   This would "save" the airtightness of the ICF walls but I wonder 1) if I open the door to guests from the inside, does it leave a tight tunnel?   and 2) does it look weird from the inside looking at a door that's inset into a tunnel?  My builder feels we can make the "tunnel" wider with a barrel effect and work this out.  

3.  My builder is also checking with the ICF people to see what effect it would have if we just kept the plan exactly the same, but just inset the door with a stick build instead, and then pump it up with spray foam insulation to hopefully achieve that airtight quality of the ICF walls it will connect with.

4.  I've asked the architect to please come up with some different elevation scenarios around the front door - who knows, maybe it'll be something I like even better now.  

Per item #2 above, I'm also wondering how this affects the symmetry of the staircase landing/window scenario in the foyer.  Not to mention that it dramatically will affect what the outside elevation is around the front door now. 

 

Hmmm.

Mediterranean Entry design by Atlanta Architect Summerour Architects

Progress: Next Up, and a " Hold Off " Decision

Up next:  The braces for the ICF walls come down tomorrow.  Then the foundation. (I'm still confused as to why they do the foundation AFTER there are 15 foot walls up, which seems like added difficulty, but my builder explained the ICF company didn't want to do this because of covering the pilings or something like that??...  )  Then, the interior stick-build framing of the first floor is scheduled for Monday, and the blocks for our front patio and garage should be done by week's end, too. 

THE BACK YARD DILEMMA 
Originally the blocks were also supposed to include our back patio and screened-porch, but we are holding off on that now because of the unexpected elevation as mentioned in the first "Mistakes" post.  Our builder explained this will be a little more costly because of another delivery fee, etc, but that's okay because it's so important to us.   The way our porch & patio is on the plan may not be applicable now given the excessive height, and while I'm sure there is a good solution to this with a subtle terraced approach to the yard, we aren't ready to commit to the existing design now.  We are guessing we can get about 2 feet of fill to decrease that elevation to about 4 feet from the exterior rear doors, which would be fine.  Here's a pic as a point of reference.  To the right where those workers are, is the big great room window (which would be almost feet-level when you are standing inside, as I set the windows as low as local Codes would allow) and to the right of that is the back patio door: 

Right now the foundation is dug out so everything is "lower" around the house.  We want to wait until the backfill is completely done in the rear before making any rash decisions on what will be a heavily-used porch and patio.   The last thing I want is a steep set of stairs down to the yard, so we want to be very thoughtful in the process once we manipulate the grade, and depending on the outcome will likely get a landscape designer involved as well.  The original backyard was supposed to be only a step or two down like so:

Now I'm not sure that makes sense;  it may make better sense to incorporate a smaller patio where the left "???" is, and instead, add a courtyard patio where the red circle is.  This area is naturally much lower to the ground,  and that garage wall provides a perfect backdrop for a courtyard effect anyway.

What do you think?

Foyer (and the front door dilemma)

This will pretty much be the foyer.  I love it for it's unusual shape and arched door. 

Mediterranean Entry design by Atlanta Architect Summerour Architects

ICF: SPLAYED WINDOW DETAIL
One detail I don't want to be overlooked is the splayed cut for the upper window.  I'll be interested to see how it goes on an ICF wall - I guess they just do accurate cuts?  We'll see.  There are a few other splayed windows in our great room, too, that will need to be done in the same way. 

A VINTAGE FRONT DOOR...

TO USE OR NOT TO USE?I fell in love with a vintage door available at a local architectural salvage company.   I would love to use it as our front door after it gets some TLC, but when I was about to purchase it last week, I noticed the grooves went all the way to the top.  This could potentially mean a less-than-great seal, not to mention I'm already risking that the door may be imperfect, though it looks like it's in great condition from all angles that we measured.  I do love it: 

What do you think?   At the very least, I've contemplated using it as our back garage door instead, since that's a stick-build and having an airtight shell is not so much of a concern.  Not to mention it would make a beautiful statement from the back, but I'm just not sure how that would integrate with some of the more "clean lines" feel in the backyard.  Then again, it may add interest in an unexpected way.

FLOORING
Everyone says to do hardwood, but the foyer is definitely a place where I'll do a tile floor since I like more detail in small spaces, period. 

THE LIGHTING DISAGREEMENT
I am flipping over this chandelier for the foyer if the size worked.  Alas, my husband emphatically says n.o. and that it "looks like a fish". 
 

Source: interiordesign.net via abby on Pinterest

This is our compromise, which I found at a local store.  I still haven't committed to purchasing it yet since the lines are a little curvy for my taste, but I do like it more than anything else I've seen.

BANISTER 
I'm undecided on a banister. I should probably go with something that is simple black iron like the top picture.  But I do wonder about a wooden one, as well...

Progress: Concrete pour, first floor ICF walls

The inspector has finally given the go-ahead for the pour.  We have been very nervous about the foam just sitting "empty" given the recent tornadoes and high winds that seem to continue.  Being the non-risk taker that I am, I would still rather they wait until a day that has no signs of freezing temps, but every single person involved in the process is telling me it's a non-issue, and what I read online does concur with that, so I'm leaving it to the experts.  The pour went off without a hitch and our GC will be rechecking it again in a few days, then the braces come down in 5 days, whereupon they will install the gravel for the foundation and then the interior stick-build framing will begin.  Here's a picture of the pour:

Progress: First Floor Foam Walls Are Up

The foam walls are now up and just waiting on the inspector to give the go-ahead on the concrete pour.  Of course we were assigned a newly-hired inspector (who, rumoredly, said on a recent job site "there's a new sheriff in town..."     great.), and he wanted to see all the engineering specs from our ICF provider, so now we are in a holding pattern until all that is done.  This makes us very nervous as we are anticipating very severe weather and we would not be surprised to find all of our foam walls scattered across the state if what they are predicting comes true :-(   The ICF company assures us everything is braced strongly, so we shall see.  Here's what it looks like from the back yard so far.  The garage is not on yet as it will come last and is a stick build:

ICF - Be Aware, Part 1

Entitling this "Part 1" because I'm 100% sure during the process there will be things that have been overlooked.

If you're not familiar with ICFs (short for Insulated Concrete Forms) it's basically a more green way of building that is also a secure structure in severe weather, which The South is famous for.  Not to mention your energy bills are fantastic, and you generally recoup the increased cost over a stick-build within a 5-year period.  We are not excessively knowledgeable about green builds, but after researching the cost vs. benefit of things like geothermal, solar, LED, etc, the cost-effectiveness and quality of an ICF home was a no-brainer in comparison.  Our shell (translation: exterior walls) is being built with ICFs but with that comes a bit of forethought.   So far it's been an interesting process to watch, kind of like foam legos, and if you look at the earlier post of 1/25/13 you'll see things that I have made note of in advance.   Here are things to make note of re: ICFs too:

1.  Noted all HVAC, electrical and plumbing lines so that the holes can be punched into the foam BEFORE the concrete is poured into the walls.  I'm so glad I remembered the hose bibs!  And a chase between the upper & lower floors in case future wiring needs to be done, so that it can be done without much issue. My HVAC guy almost forgot I needed an ERV, too.

2.  Windows in general - where the rough openings are for the windows is where most mistakes will occur.  so, it's extremely important to check! check! check! the rough openings.   In hindsight, I wish my GC would have double-checked the very first window rough opening BEFORE they were all done, because there were a few pages the ICF installers did not double-check on the architectural plans and at the end,  5 windows had to be moved by mere inches and we were almost charged an excessive change order.  Checking the very first window would have set a precedent for all the others and avoided this, as well as even more-detailed architectural specifics on the plan.  You can bet we will be more conscientious of this when the second floor goes up, to make sure everyone is on the same page as to where their measurements are coming from. 

3.  Corner windows - our architect specified several corner windows that didn't have a lot of space in between at the corner.  this presented a challenge for an ICF build, however, unless we wanted to get into a lot of expense/delays figuring out steel posts in between for support, etc.  we resolved this by giving up a little bit of space in between the windows, where an ICF will separate it now, and not have to a complicated support issue  it's barely any space to give up so it thankfully wasn't a big deal - you can see the two black lines drawn near the corner where the windows will be begin on each side:

4.  Look at the work being done!  My builder and I just happened to be out there with the subcontractors going over all the holes for plumbing and I glanced up, only to notice that a 2nd story window had actually been placed on the first floor, which hadn't been noticed yet.  What a disaster that would have been!  This goes back to number 2 above:  make sure to check and re-check your window chart and plan repeatedly.  Your architect cannot be too over-specific.