THE LAST STAGES OF THE STAGING ARE REMOVED

Once again the cantilevers of the house can be seen.

As the days get longer, and the sun travels northerly,

its rays now reach the north fins at sunset.

Meanwhile, the first occupants moved in: winter wrens built this

nest between two 1st Level joists, and hatched a brood...

...which one day all decamped for a branch up behind the house,

and then deeper into the woods for their first summer.

HERE COME THE SUB-CONTRACTORS!


With siding done, the carpenters "wood-shops" were cleared out and room was made for the PME sub-contractors to work.

First step was to sort out who was going to do what where and what order.

The mechanical space is limited. Black tape (blocking out large items, such as the refrigerator), cut sheets (describing items such as fans, washer/dryer) and paper cut-outs (locating items such as ducts and stove pipe) helped bring some order to the sandbox so the subs could play nice.


First on the scene was Steve, the ace plumber.

Running lines and leaving us to ponder what to do with exposed drains below the 2nd Level's metal deck.

Then David and Cory, the ace electricians, started runnng wires...

,,,and setting the many panels need for typical electrical uses, as well as photovoltaic and the elevator.

The last to have a turn was the HVAC team, who, on a day I was not there, came in, placed one of the heater-fan combos, and retreated waiting for instructions.

CLOUD HOUSE SIDING IS FINALLY DONE


Siding resumed after receipt of additional special order boards. Tho this day was nice, it was still winter and rains were in the forecast.


So the east end was tented.


Under the tent, 4" horizontal and multi-inch horizontal siding was installed on each side of where steps to the first level will be located.


Things got tricky where siding hits walls, beams, doors, etc..


With the east end done, the tent came down...


revealing places such as the low Cubby at the 2nd Level stair landing.


The last decision was how to terminate the bottom of the Core Wall siding. On left, the simple "siding ended" detail; on the right, the more formal "belly board" or "house skirt" solution.


The choice, "belly skirt" was made, and the siding project, ten months after starting, was completed.

PHOTOS FROM CHINA 2009

HANGZHOU:

Water taxi at south end of the Grand Canal

Dance class along the canal.

Restored merchant's mansion: the main entry courtyard.

Setting up for the solar eclipse.

Waiting for the clouds to go away.

Totality.

SICHUAN:

One VIP ("very important panda")

Sanxingdui museum of bronze era masks.

Remnent of old town near Leshan.

The Great Buddha of Leshan, keeping rivers from flooding.

Start of trail up Emei-shan, one of the major Buddhist mountains of China.

End of the trail, rain and fog limit customers for "have your photo taken here" photographers.

Lunch is served at a temple.

Shaanxi Guild Hall in Zigong.

Market in Zigong: selling hair.

The Sleeping Buddha at Dazu.

The Buddha's eye and a mourner.

Apprentice at Liu's workshop.

BEIJING:

Zhufeng's sister Zhuchun and her Buick.

Welcome to Beijing family dinner.

Panjiayuan Market

Palace Museum

National Theater for the Performing Arts.

Fondly known as "The Egg"

TONGZHOU:

The northern end of the Grand Canal.

Zhuchun, Zhuwen, Zhufeng, Zhuxian and friend.

GUBEIKOU:

A section of the Great Wall.

CLOUD HOUSE SOLDERS ON THRU THE RAIN

Return after New Year was just in time to see the

Groth-Gates crew install the last screw of the metal roof.

Nice Job!

Ryan, from Western States Electrical, reviews

how to attach the future PV panels to it.

Meanwhile the crew finished up the vertical siding.

With metal roof in place, siding can go on the solar rack,

so a brown tarp is up to protect the work zone.

A view of the top of the vertical siding:

the fins are notched so the metal parapet

cap flashing can slip down behind them.

Under the tarp, Wayne installs the 4" horizontal siding on the solar rack.

The opening awaits a very custom hatch, the only access to the roofs.

Siding is a bit tricky in the close quarters between the fly-rafters

above and the low roof below, with the glu-lam beams

zooming out in between the two.

Abe and Wayne measure the last piece of clearstory siding.

Note the grooves in the siding on top. That is to give a different look

to the siding on the beams from the siding on the clearstory.

And note the cute windows cut into the clearstory.

They will daylight the south hall below.

The wide cap flashing is on top of the vent for the roof they are sitting on.

Out on their ends, the glu-lams, which carry the fly-rafters,

get a careful detail to allow air to vent the "rain-wall" cavity on each side.

Then a finish piece trims it all out so nicely.

Another view of the glu-lam siding continuing over the top of the clearstory siding.

The glu-lam cap flashing ends abrupty at the clearstory. The flashing gets painted,

so continuing the paint on the siding across to the flashing

on the other end may deal with that discontinuance.

AND FINALLY

Three days predicted for sunny weather brought the four BIG WINDOWS out.

The pane is resting on temporary forks on the front of the man-lift, which

Dustin and Dan raise and swing....

into position, while Clinton and Tom wait.

Once close enough, all four attach suction cups and

push/pull it into position in the frame.

A tug here, a tweek there, and she's set.

Dustin rolls the vinyl glazing strip on the outside, and...

the Tom applies backer-rod and caulking on the inside.

That's all there is to it folks!

After the four BIG ones, the skylight was a snap.

First the frame was brought up, and then...

...three glazing panels were installed and capped.

MEANWHILE, MOCK-UPS CONTINUE:

Charlie is mulling over how to get the rain water from the roof

scupper down to the ground. Black paper outlines what

a six-foot wide "waterfall" might look like.

Here Charlie, with a piece of mirrored acrylic,

considers how to do the mirrored wall

planned for the end of the halls.

The crew set a length of "Plug-mold" in a mock-up of the interior siding

to see if that may be a way to install electrical outlets.

A single fluorescent tube , set in a simple cove, suggests

how well it would illuminate the upper floor below the sky-light.

And Steve the Pipe Magician started running plumbing lines.

Things are happening on many fronts!

A walk up the hill gave this prospect down on to the roofs.

And, with much of the work-platform no longer needed,

its removal revealed what the final form of the house will look like.

Tho the clouds and rain have been with us this winter,

it has not meant there have been no sunrises or sunsets to enjoy!