Siding on My Mind

As the last couple of blogs have expressed, progress on the siding has been on many people's minds this week. The site crew was blessed with beautiful weather after Monday's torrential rains, and the excitement pushed the progress. Some of the group that usually stays on campus even postponed their tasks to help us out. Matt Childress and I were scheduled to tile the bathroom walls and ceiling after an extremely informative lesson from tile master Mr. Bob Brown last Saturday. But we decided to take advantage of the good weather to try to finish the siding on the east and west facades.

There was some work on the blocking that needed to be done around the door on the east side of the house before strong progress could be made. Once that was completed, the siding progressed from north to south past the canopy and front door. Also, the place for the vent for the stove range hood needs to be blocked out as well for the siding to be completely finished on the east side.

On Thursday and Friday I helped with the siding on the west side of the house. The first task was to install the box frame around the two windows looking out of the swing space. This was the first box frame I had installed. It was a tedious task of maintaining a continuous spacing around the window frame and keeping the box frame level. We used wood shims to maintain an even space around the window frames. The shims on the sides lined up with the furring strips on the wall, and we drilled through the box frame, through the shims and into the furring strips. After we finished the sides, we repeated the same process along the top and bottom of the frame. Once we cut back the shims to be flushed with the blocking on the wall, we continued putting up siding.

As we are positioning and nailing the siding, we have to think about how the water is going to run off the walls. Around the windows we have the cut a 10 degree angle that follows the angled slope of the box frame to assist in water proofing. We push the siding right up against the bottom of the box frame. On the top we leave a small gap so that water does not get trapped between the top of the frame and the bottom of the siding.

The most effective way to install siding is to have at least 2 people nailing the siding and at least 1 person cutting the siding to length on the chop saw. This process also includes checking and rechecking the spacing between each piece as well as making sure the pieces remain level. As Aaron wrote in the previous blog, checking the blocking as each piece of siding goes up is essential.

The siding on the south facade is complete and the siding on the east and west facades are expected to be finished on Monday or Tuesday. The completion will hopefully come in time for the hardwood floor to be delivered and begin installing, and as well as the tiling to begin in the bathroom.

What about siding?

The New Norris House envisioned facade is becoming more of a reality as warmer weather approaches. Spring is near with the signs of leaves on the trees in Norris TN, hopefully the bitter cold Winter days are behind us. Warmer weather for the New Norris House means lots of work on siding of the home's exterior. With only months left till the end of the semester the deadline to finish the siding and other exterior decks, stairs and ramp is becoming pressing. This week student have been and will continue to work in two group of around three students to help accelerate the siding process. Students will also likely put in some overtime in the next few weeks to take advantage of the nice weather and help finish the home's siding. The siding, a white cedar is being put up in a random pattern. The random pattern is generated using three different board sizes, a 4", 6", and a 8" wide piece of siding.

Like most construction project's not everything goes together quickly and easily and the New Norris House is no different. One problem that has arisen while working on siding of the home is that some of the wood blocking that the siding is drilled into was installed improperly. It is important that all the blocking be level so that when siding is being attached it is straight and plum. This is also important to create a clean uniformed facade which is what has been designed.

Siding, siding, siding

Work has been moving onward and outward since the last post. We finished fixing the drywall on the inside and installed it in the cistern room along with insulation and bug screen behind it. The windows were finished out with the gypsum returns and all the rest of the drywall was taped and mud. The window to the right of the double Anderson doors was lowered 3/4" to allow for the gypsum return on the outside soffit. We also installed the shutter door in the dormer... twice, but for a good reason so that the siding would be even on both sides.

Siding, that has been the focus lately. Whenever there is a break in the weather we are outside measuring, cutting, spacing, and nailing it up. It has been a smooth process, so far, with a good rhythm once started. The east side is about halfway finished, with the help of Mark, as well as the west side. The dormer wall was finished over the weekend so the process should pick up for the rest of the west facade. The front was finished once we installed the final custom piece that had to be primed.

Soon the tiling and hardwood floors installation will begin and will make it easier to have more people on site working, with some inside and some outside, if the weather holds up.

Siding and Interiors Progress

Interior work continues and siding resumes as the weather in Tennessee shifts into spring. Hopefully it will stay this way!

Photo credit: Ken McCown

Siding in-progress...

Classes will recommence Wednesday and there is plenty of siding work left to complete. This photo is a nice example of how the final facade will look, but there is nearly 80% of the work left to do! Let's hope for warmer weather!

Give Thanks

So far things are coming along swiftly at the site despite weather setbacks. The East and South elevations are about 95% done with the furring and the insect screen has completely blanketed the Southern elevation. All that is left is to get the window blocking paired up with the supports for the steel canopies on both of these elevations. Passersby might be curious as to why we are placing screen on the elevations. This is because our siding is somewhat like vertical board and batten siding but without the battens. We hope the screens will prevent insects from nesting between the vertical planks of Atlantic White cedar.

It is exciting to see things showing progress as we attempt to complete the exterior in time before the end of the semester. Let's hope we can manage to find a break in weather this week so that our roofers and other site work can be completed before the week finishes out. Next week is Thanksgiving and of the many topics of discussion on the worksite include our hunger for the feasts that shall occur next week. This has been able to keep us striving along with that final goal of some accomplishment. Also this gives us an opportunity to give thanks for being able to work on such a project. I am thankful for this experience to work in a design/build project. I am also thankful for having such a great team of peers, professors, contractors, as well as other professionals that have contributed to the learning process this semester.

Things are beginning to take shape, and long-awaited moments are being realized.

The house officially has three installed windows! Earlier in the day, a few of the openings underwent some prep work including trimming of the exterior rigid insulation and flashing installments. By the end of the day, three windows were in place.

House Norris is also very close to being able to wear its beautiful siding for the late fall season. Some of our team members have been working very precisely on mounting the furring strips for the siding which has been in the priming process for many hours back at the architecture building.

The site has also been seeing a few new working faces. Some electrical work was done today, and the backyard portion of the site is in the process of being graded.

It is this interaction with the other non-student participants that I feel may be somewhat overlooked. The amount we learn from them is incredible, even if it's just knowing that and why they are there with us. We may not have worked with the plumbers or electricians directly, but seeing them on site for a few days reminds us that this work is also a necessary part of the building (and design) process. Those with whom we DO interact are teaching us more that we might have expected. Albert from our general contractor, Johnson and Gallion, has really surprised us with the amount of effort put into teaching us. We are grateful for his explanations and demonstrations on both the small scale (how to set up a roof angle with the speed square or putting tape on his safety glasses when not in use to protect them from being scratched) and the larger scale (how to install a door or window). Oftentimes we find ourselves in awe of these professionals' skills (like using a circular saw with just one hand!). This more practical learning, I think, is just as important and enjoyable.

Ready, Set, GO!

Well the last few weeks have definitely been a race to get the foundation ready for the big delivery as well as preparing the dormer for attachement. With both those accomplished last week and this week we are now moving on to bigger things.On site, the foundation and piers are now nearing completion with intentions of pouring the bond beam on the rest of the foundation tomorrow morning. This includes finishing up pouring the Perlite as the foundation insulation and getting things ready for the house drop next week!

Back at headquarters, Jimmy has been working on the window frames and tackling the monster of a frame that shall eventually flood northern light into the lofted area. Meanwhile, Katharine and myself have been putting together a temporary door for extra security until we get the final doors built. (You'll just have to wait and see what surprise is in store with this temporary door.) Arya and Michele broke in the new StopSaw working on the furring strips for the gabled ends of the house, though no one seems to want to test out the brakes on the system-I wouldn't blame them either. Plus the four of us have been continually working on priming more and more siding for the house. As Patrick noted, the feat of installing the siding is going to be just as time consuming, but the end results will be worth it.

With fall break encroaching on us tomorrow and Friday we all are assuring ourselves that our efforts will not go unnoticed while we are gone. I am sure we all will be rejuvenated and ready to kick it into high gear for the race to the end of the semester.

143: TEN-FOUR!

October 4th was a busy work day for the Norris House team. The class was split into a few groups in order to accomplish the multitude of tasks that need to be completed in the near future. Jimmy maintained his hard work ethic and powered through more windows and began working on the temporary doors that will keep all the creepsters out of the house while it is still under construction. He also began work on a beast of a window that allows for a clear view from the loft area towards the wooded area behind the house. The reason said window is a beast: it is a crazy trapezoidal shape and must be constructed within an inch of perfection so that it will fit into the already installed dormer. I believe in jimmy’s precision. go jim jim go!

My correspondent at 143 Oak Road, Andy Pittman, informed me of the Masonry group’s progress, and it seems that they are nearing completion on the foundation walls. Today they were able to lay both piers in the center of the house and finish the wall that faces the street. Apparently there was a lot of measuring of the block today in order to make sure everything was fine and level.

The rest of us left back at the architecture building were tasked with playing Dad on Christmas morning. We had the pleasure of putting together the new tools that we will soon be bringing to the site. We also returned to staining the never ending stack of siding. We are looking foreword to the day when instead of sitting there painting the siding for hours, we are actually nailing it to the side of the house.... for hours.

All in all we are working hard to stay on schedule. Thursday and Friday are fall break for us at UT so we are making that extra push now so we can enjoy a couple days off.