Studio Construction: Lots of Action on the Job Site

Our back yard is a very busy place. A small digger is moving backfill soil around according to the landscape plan. The sheet metal workers are working at their benches. The insulation team has arrived with 2 truckloads of materials. Ron and lead carpenter Dave are having a meeting.

Alpine Insulation has the contract to insulate the building. 

We considered spray foam insulation which is considered the best. After Ron did all of the calculations he concluded we couldn't justify the foam. Here on the island we have mild winters and the small savings in the heating bill would not pay for the extra cost of spray foam over the life of the building. The eight-inch thick walls and high-efficiency construction method have already made the building thermally more efficient than conventional buildings. The design of a high-performance building envelope does more than anything else, more than adding any 'green bling' items, to reduce construction and operating costs over the life of the building.

R28 fibreglass insulation batts are pushed into the spaces between the roof rafters.

Batts are pushed into the spaces between the framing. The experienced installers cut the batts to fill the spaces evenly while pushing the batts in only so far to leave an air space next to the wall. All ductwork is surrounded by batts.

The walls are sealed with a heavy gauge plastic, caulking and black sealer along all edges. This air barrier must be in contact with the insulation with no insulation exposed. Sealing prevents convection currents building up fanning heat away from where it is needed.

The plastic is also a vapour barrier to control or stop condensation. High humidity moves to areas of low humidity and cooler areas such as the outer wall. The batts and the rigid foam insulation board over the doorways and window openings slows down the warming of the walls and increases the total insulation value of the walls. Insulation also reduces thermal bridging across materials such as wood which is a good conductor of heat.

The crawlspace walls and ceiling are insulated with batts and sealed. The floor pad had rigid insulation foam sheets and a waterproof barrier in place before the concrete was poured. The crawlspace needs to be sealed and unventilated to stop the flow of moisture and air into the space and up into the studio space. Buildings in the north 'dry' out so the walls need to let water go out which means the vapour barrier needs to be on the inside of the wall assembly.

While all of this activity is going on outside I am sitting inside calming stitching. Well, trying to. I must admit I do get distracted when something new arrives on the site.

Studio Construction: Cladding Choice

The east side now has 3 sheets of metal cladding.

The biggest negative of cladding a building in steel is it has a poor thermal value when compared with almost any other material. But the positives of metal being our cladding of choice more than cancel out the one negative, particularly when it is being applied to a building envelope with high thermal efficiency.

The sheet metal team layout the material according to size and shape.

One of the big positives of sheet metal is its long term durability. It resists weather and pests. By choosing a corrugation and placing it vertically driving rain is channelled down off the walls into the perimeter drains straight away without any detours or pooling. Wayward and pooling water cause buildings to decay rapidly here in the forest. The corrugation channels also allow air movement between the sheet and the sealed building envelope. The movement of air is critical for reducing the buildup of humidity and its related problems.

Dave and Michael take measurements at the wall then come back to their workbenches to cut and shape the steel.

We went with wood framing because it is  a locally grown and harvested material, but the construction method ensured all of the wood is enclosed within the building envelope, except for the cedar that I will explain later. Here in the rainforest exposed wood decays rapidly. It is how the forest ecosystem works. The metal cladding is the first protection layer of the wooden framework.

Another big plus with metal cladding is the finishing paint is baked on in the factory. The finish is without flaws because it was applied in controlled conditions resulting no weak areas susceptible to decay. Factory paint application is done at high speed and with little waste as opposed to painting on site. Another advantage is it eliminates the need to take finishing materials to an environmentally sensitive site with the added task of disposing of the leftover paint and cleaners. It is challenging to do an outside, high-quality paint job in a timely manner where rain is a frequent occurrence.

Cladding progress on the east wall.

While factory painted metal sheets won't break down when exposed to the elements, we also chose to go with a heavier gauge steel for added durability. Metal sheet thickness is measured by the number of sheets that make up a specified weight, giving a gauge number. We went to 26 gauge rather than the 24 or 29 gauge. This added strength fits our design requirement that the building and material finishes have a life expectancy of 25 to 30 years before needing maintenance or replacement. All of the trim, soffit and guttering will be made out of metal and will have a similar life expectancy. The building is located under tall trees and will likely be hit by the natural process of falling branches known as snags. The thicker gauge sheets will resist possible denting better than lighter gauge sheets.

Progress on the north wall is much faster with fewer wall penetrations to work around.

Another plus for metal cladding is that it is infinitely recyclable. It requires a lot less energy to repurpose the metal than to make new metal. The cladding team takes a lot of care to cut efficiently resulting in minimal waste on site. The waste that is created will be taken away to Wilsons Metal Exchange for meltdown and recycling.

Panels are going up on the south wall, working from the bottom up.

Another plus for the metal is it is fire resistant. The building code requires the 2 walls closest to the house be clad in a fire resistant material so we could have gone with another material for the other 2 walls but with the building being located in under trees there is the risk of a fire source on 3 sides. Cladding all walls in steel is the safe option.

These are the reasons why steel ended up being the cladding of choice.

There were design reasons for the choice of metal too (in another post).

Studio Construction: Skilled and Unskilled Labour

Ron and I are at work, in the unskilled category.

I am working with small tools and hands to carefully clear around tree roots that go across the service trench.

Ron uses his strength to wrestle with large rocks he comes across in the trench.

Here is a video of Alex doing skilled work, cutting and shaping metal to clad the studio. He is an architectural sheet metal worker. He works with electrical power tools and a variety of hand tools. He carries the hand tools with him in a tool belt around his waist.

Alex instals a sticky foam strip with the same shape as the metal panel. It is stuck in behind the bottom of the panel. Its purpose is to stop the bug world from inhabiting the spaces between the metal and the Tyvek. No insect condominiums available here.

Then the panel is fixed in place with screws painted to match the colour of the metal sheet.

The headless person is sheet metal worker Michael.

Meanwhile, back in the trenches... I had covered the exposed roots with wet coffee sacks to keep them from drying out. But the coffee sacks must be treated with something because they don't hold any water.

Plan B - I wrapped each root with a strip of wet wool blanket then covered them all with the coffee sacks. This plan appears to be working better.

Back to the studio. The large east wall has its first panel of corrugated sheet metal cut, shaped and attached.  It looks fabulous.

Studio Construction: First Load of Cladding is Delivered

A heavy load of corrugated steel is hoisted off the delivery truck using a remote controller.
See the guy in gloves operating the controller in the bottom right.
It is the first load of cladding for the studio walls.
I am so curious to see what the cladding will look like.

Studio Construction: Cladding

The largest wall is covered and taped.

It is a wrap.

The walls are now air tight and water proof.

Carpenter Dave is attaching cement board, Hardiepanel, to the area of the wall that will be backfilled with soil. It will protect the wall from damage.

Meanwhile, Cladding Dave is measuring, cutting and shaping metal trim to go around all of the penetrations in the walls: windows, doors, lights...

Hardieplank is a fibre cement product known for being durable, strong and versatile.

Dave ordered natural colour panels then painted them to match the colour of the cladding. He used an electric saw to cut the panels then screwed them in place. The one disadvantage I saw is they are very heavy and larger pieces require 2 or more people to get them in place.

There are 2 layers of metal trim around all openings. It takes a lot of time and skill to make this trim look so good.

Alex, the owner of Nortek Exteriors, attaches more protective panels while Dave is on the porch roof adding metal trim to the top of the wall up under the roof overhang.

Studio Construction: Wrapping Continues

 Progress on wrapping the building.

Dave has saved me the Tyvek scraps. It takes paint well and melts into a very textural surface.

Excitement - a delivery

It is the shelving for the storage area.

Each night, after the workers have gone, Ron and I go out to the studio to see what has been done during the day. 

Dave has made these. I wonder what they are for?

Studio Construction: The Site

The building is looking good.

The site is another story.

The combination of trench digging, lifting pavers, uprooting garden beds and rain has resulted in a hazard zone. 

A Destruction Zone

But look - the next step has started.

Cladding Dave can be seen beginning to wrap the building in Tyvek.

Tyvek is a Dupont product designed to keep air and water out while letting water vapour escape. It is just like putting a Gortex jacket on the shed. It is a second line of defence if rain gets behind the exterior cladding.

Cladding must be arriving next.

The cladding team will need to get access to the back of the building while carrying large sheets. There isn't enough room down the sides of the building to do this. Up until now, all work has been restricted by temporary fences to keep people and materials out of the sensitive forest areas. Compaction by foot traffic and the dumping of materials causes major issues with the health of the soil.

Here I am marking out a path where people can walk when they need to carry large loads to the back of the building. Plywood will be laid down between the flags to spread the weight of the load on the soil to reduce compaction.

Ron is reducing the steepness of the bank to give easier access to the temporary forest track.

This is B horizon soil from the site excavation. With all of the site activity, including being driven over by many large, heavy delivery trucks, the soil has become very compacted. Rain no longer penetrates, instead it pools on top. It will be dug up later to backfill around the building and compacted again. The soil piles behind Ron are precious top soil for garden beds.

Studio construction: Plumbing, Strengthening, Finishing - Small but Important Work

The plumber made a first visit. This is the pipe that will connect to the sinks. It vents up to the roof and runs down through the wall to the septic tank, which is just outside the window.

The plumbing was designed to be compact to save on the cost of plumbing materials and labour. The concept planning for the location of my workstations started with locating the washing sinks as close as possible to the septic tank, known as a 'central core plumbing design.' The whole building is located just over the minimum distance from the septic tank according to the building code. The washing area is also close to the property's main water pipe. Making these connections to and from the building as short as possible also minimises the length of trenches that need to be dug along with as little tree root disturbance as possible while using the minimum amount of materials.

That white pipe brings water into the building's crawl space, up to the crawlspace rafters and along to the sink. 

The orange pipe is the communications conduit for future use. Things like cable, internet, phone, security could be placed in there. It is important to design for possible future needs, a feature of a sustainable building. And I say future because currently I am planning to be 'unplugged' while working in my space. It is only a few steps outside to get to my office where I can connect to the outside world. But my wise husband says at this stage I should keep my options open. I always listen to his soothsaying. 

All of the ductwork and mechanical equipment is inside the thermal envelope of the building for higher performance efficiency.

The hot water tank will be placed in the crawl space directly below the sinks to minimise heat loss. There will be hot water as soon as the tap is turned on, cutting down on wasting running water to get the right temperature for dye pots and rinsing.

Careful planning and these efficient operations can save energy and water over time.

Dave has been adding to the strength of the whole building. These metal straps, designed and placed according to engineering drawings, give the building rigidity.

They are needed where the building envelope has openings cut into it.

These brackets are bolted to the rebar in the concrete foundations. They are designed to hold the building to its foundations.

These not very obvious features are important for the earthquake design integrity of the building. Here on the Pacific Northwest coast we are in an active earthquake zone.

Once Dave was finished, engineer, Ritchie Smith, came on site to inspect that all straps and brackets were in the required places and correctly installed. Dave got a pass and that code requirement was signed off.

Ron is up on the porch roof with Mauricio of Proline Roofing and Gutters, discussing the touch-up/clean up along the very visible roof edge. Mauricio fixed it up and now it is perfect.

It is all good.

Studio Construction - A Roof

Ooh, another delivery truck with a load.

And the guys are wearing special equipment.

The load is going up on to the roof.

At the same time, Alex, owner of  Nortek Exteriors arrived on site to measure the exterior walls. He has the contract to clad the building.

Mauricio Reyes, the owner of Proline Roofing and Gutters, got the contract to put on the roof.

We decided on an SBS Torch-on roof. Here is the first layer being nailed in place.

Torch-on is suited to the low angled roof, has a long life and is low to no maintenance. All big pluses.

The 2nd layer is melted on with a gas flame - see the flame in the middle of the above image.

Initially, I had wanted a living roof to make it blend into the forest. We will see a lot of the roof from the upstairs level of the house. From my research on living/green roofs, I noticed most of them were planted in grasses or succulents. Grasses grow in a different ecology than rain forest and succulents require a much warmer climate. Planting either of these types of plants would require getting up on the roof to do maintenance replacing dead plants and lots of weeding. It would be too artificial, expensive, time-consuming and wouldn't fit with the native ecology. So no grass roof.

The top layer of Torch-on has small chips of stone stuck into it. If the roof is left undisturbed over time it will become colonised with mosses and lichens without any planting. The needles continually falling from the evergreens, the stone chips and the winter rains supply the food for these plants. The spores would come from the mosses and lichens growing on the surrounding trees and forest floor. No extra layers of roofing material are needed so the roof is kept lightweight, unlike the many layers required by grass roofs. I will be looking to see if the roof is shaded enough for the western sword fern (Polystichum munitum) to grow up there. We have so many of them in the forest some of their spores must get up onto the roof. 

The plan is to leave it alone and let natural biological processes of succession happen. My kind of roof. And it will look great.

The blue tarps have gone making the building disappear a little bit more into the forest.

In a cool climate, the dark colour has a warming effect on the inside of the building.

We considered solar panels because the roof faces south/ south-west but a bit of research suggested it wouldn't be a wise investment. We have long winter days and many overcast days in spring and fall. The building is in under the tree canopy. The solar panels wouldn't function on enough days to justify them.

Now the building is watertight it is time to start drying it out. 2 de-dehumidifiers and a small heater on low are put to work to take water out of the wood. Ron has a moisture probe and is regularly testing the moisture levels in the wood. The inside has to be dry enough before the next stage - insulation.