Archive for the ‘Projects’ Category
The Park Project: Streams & Species & Trails, Oh My!
Monday, February 15th, 2010| Click on the photos to enlarge |
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| A shot of the expansion area. Some of the trees will stay, some will be removed to make space for the RV stalls. The other plants will be replanted along the edge of the creek. |
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| A lovely view of Widow White Creek. That white stuff way down there is soap, unfortunately. |
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| Here’s a better view of the soap—though the picture is a bit out of focus (especially if you enlarge it). |
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| An old “structure” that was put in decades ago to keep the stream from cutting away the bank behind. |
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| This picture is one frame to the right of the one above (that shows the log structure). This kind of pipe and wire setup is no longer used as fish resting in the pools can get cut up on the wire. |
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| The fish ladders installed by CalTrans in the early ’50s. They’re too high for young fish to jump. |
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| A view through the culvert. A very long swim in swift moving fast water for young fish. Weirs need to be installed to create resting pools and the water depth increased. |
One of the most interesting things about projects like The Park Project—or any other project where the use of the land has not been previously defined—is the opportunity it presents to demonstrate how we can blend the project into the land on which it is situated and, in some cases, undo the environmental damage done by previous generations.
It is somewhat ironic that, with this project, the limited amount of damage that’s been done is not in the expansion area itself, but rather in the stream areas adjacent to the project, and North and South of the Park property. As the pictures at right show, someone up-stream is pumping a lot of soap into the creek from time to time; there are lots of invasive species (Eucalyptus and English ivy being the two big ones) in the area that date back to the turn of the last century; and the old weir structures were very poorly designed and prevent young steel head and salmon from making it upstream. (There are still a few about, but not as many as there should be.)
Now-a-days the various agencies that manage our land resources are becoming more pro-active in their desire to at least minimize further environmental damage to sensitive areas, if they don’t outright mandate that steps be taken to reverse it. And most land developers and folks in the construction industry see that stance being an intrusive roadblock to their plans for the property.
Indeed, it seems to me that there is a valid argument to be made against forcing current property owners to foot the bill for cleaning up the mess of prior generations. And in the hands of a different project designer and manager, this project certainly might have quickly gone down a confrontational (and therefore very expensive) road. Fortunately, I didn’t fall off the political turnip truck yesterday. Everything you see here is being funded by, and the work done by, NGOs in collaboration with the California Department of Fish and Game. The Park and its personnel are also volunteering some time to various aspects. The work will benefit the public; it will also benefit the project as a whole.
From the beginning my goal for the expansion was zero environmental impact. That meant no runoff into the creeks; that meant controlling public access to the stream areas, either by blocking it off completely or managing the traffic flow by installing trails. I designed and laid out the expansion accordingly.
The goal paid off in spades with the willingness of State and County agencies and NGOs to eagerly come on board to save the much abused Widow White Creek. As the plan stands now:
- The invasive species will be removed.
- Replanting with local species will take place where needed—mostly to replace removed Eucalyptus.
- The stream will be restored as needed. Old structures will be removed and where needed will be replaced. The culverts on both ends of The Park will have proper fish weirs installed so that young steel head and salmon can make it up stream.
- Fish & Game is eager to improve the upstream area beyond The Park. Something as simple as removing the pollution (especially the surfactants) will help the fish population enormously.
- Interpretive trails will be built, with bridges across the creeks and signs identifying the structural work, plant species, and so forth for Park guests and controlled public tours. (I understand the local high school botany class makes field trips to the creek every year.)
By the time the project is finished it should look as nice as any State or Federal Park, and maybe nicer than some.
Do you have a project like this planned? Let me know!
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A Custom Designed Vintage Wine Cellar
Monday, January 11th, 2010Maybe you’re a real wine enthusiast and have a large wine collection, or maybe you’re a budding collector whose been considering your very own custom wine cellar. The great thing about a custom built wine cellar is that it can be tailored it to your wine collection and your personal style. It’s also an excellent way to utilize the extra or odd space in your house.
But, where do you begin?
The purpose of a wine cellar is to properly store your wines so that they can age correctly, knowing that, it is important to properly construct your cellar. Check out the pictures below of how the Vintage Cellars custom wine cellar design team transformed an unfinished tool storage room into a cellar that fit over 2500 bottles.
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How did we get from barren walls and a cement floor to a functioning cellar? First, we analyzed the available space. We had to keep a few practical issues in mind, such as plumbing pipes that needed access, a drain located in the cement floor that required a raised floor in case of a flood and a second door leading under the house that needed a custom manufactured exterior grade door to keep the cellar properly insulated. Additionally, we inquired about the amount of wine storage desired, and considered our client’s current wine collection, as well as wine trends, bottle sizes and varietals. This is the basic information needed to design any wine cellar. Once we had our information we were able to create a design.
With our design in hand, the next step was to prepare the room and install the cooling system. This took 7 days and required the following steps:
• Stud walls and soffit around all plumbing
• Run a cooling line or frame system
• Set cooling system evaporator coils inside wine cellar
• Set condensing unit in acceptable location
• Creating a vapor barrier
• Insulate the walls and ceiling
• Prepare the electrical and lighting
After studding the walls to frame out the wine cellar, we built a soffit to cover all the piping. Then we installed the cooling unit. We recommend using a ductless split system because it is very quiet, you control where the hot air runs and it is easily serviced. To install this system we ran a line set which runs from the ductless split location to the condenser location. We set the evaporator coils inside the wine cellar and set the condensing unit outside the house for aesthetic reasons.
Next we installed the vapor barrier. To do this, plastic sheeting was applied to the warm wall side of the cellar but was left loose around each stud cavity so they could be insulated. After the plastic sheeting you need to apply insulation to the walls and ceiling. We used rigid insulation, a hard foam with foil on the front and back. It comes in 8 x 8 foot sheets and is cut to the size of each stud cavity. We prefer rigid insulation because it has a greater insulation value per inch. Remember, the better you insulate your wine cellar, the better your cooling system runs. Since this room had a concrete floor, the floor itself did not need to be insulated and only needed an application of water based concrete sealant with low VOC. Finally, during this stage of construction we determined where the electrical outlets and ceiling lights would be placed.
The next phase of our project was focused more on design and aesthetics. Our client wanted the cellar to be constructed mostly for storage and desired minimal display with a little room for walking and a small counter to open a bottle of wine. This was all preplanned and the materials had arrived during phase one of construction. The walls, floor, racking and lighting were a simple 4-day process. Our clients choose redwood paneling for the interior walls, which we placed over the insulation. Redwood paneling is a moisture resistant product that is both practical and visually appealing.We installed the raised floor and wine racks, which were made of heart redwood to match the wall panels. We completed the wine cellar with a few display lights and the project was complete. Remember, you can transform any room or space into a wine cellar. The best part is that you get to customize it. You can keep it simple and build for volume or make it a more inviting space with personal details specific to your taste.
The possibilities are endless.
—by Jake Austad
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Editor’s Note: Different jurisdictions will have different permitting requirements and require different amounts of paperwork to be completed before a project such as this can be completed. In some areas a permit for construction can be received in a matter of hours with plans hand drawn on grid paper. In other jursdictions (such as here in Humboldt County California) it is not uncommon for a complete plot plan and very detailed, professionally prepared plans to be required before a permit to begin construction will be issued. —Michael
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The Park Project
Friday, November 27th, 2009 |
| Model of the bathroom: The walls are CMU block, sealed and painted; the siding is Hardy prepainted “Select Cedarmill”; the roof is Certainteed “prchestnut”; the doors into the mens and women’s restrooms are Thermatru Smooth-Star Fiberglass entry doors; the central gate is custom made wrought iron and leads into a maintenance space that contains all the main plumbing and drain lines, as well as access to the attic space above. |
If it seems like I haven’t made very many posts about projects this year, it’s because I haven’t. But that’s not because I haven’t been busy. It’s been because most of my time has been taken up by this project: The expansion of a local RV park, complete with new a new restroom/laundry facility (shown in the model at right).
I haven’t written about it before because—well, there really hasn’t been much to write about. It’s been all about design, regulatory compliance, and so on. All of which has required a design team comprised of three engineers and three additional consulting scientists, including a Ph.d geologist. Welcome to development in California!
Overall the project has been great fun. (I’m looking forward to being able to do another project like this!) There have been a few hitches along the way (in fact, there was one big hitch), but it always seems to go that way. We got them resolved and continued trucking along. We should come out of planning by the middle of December and be filed with the State and its silly two track process by January. Ground breaking is scheduled for Spring, after the rains stop. In the mean time, the Conversion Exemption has already been approved and tree removal has begun.
Rock on!
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A Tiled Bathroom
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
Finally getting around to writing about this job. After a slowdown over the winter (after the crash), things picked up again in the spring and we’ve been going ever since.
The tile is Spanish. The primary color is a dark, cobalt blue. The accent color adobe.
The job came out rather well given that tile is very unforgiving when it comes to irregularly shaped rooms. And nothing about this room was square! The floor fell 1-1/4″ from one corner to the opposite corner. Both walls headed in different directions, the opposite wall went in a third direction, and none of the walls save the exterior wall was plumb. Even given all that we managed to get it to come out decently. The owners were pleased.
Here are some more before and after pictures (some are a little out of focus, sorry!):
The rat infested insulation behind the old fiberglass shower surround.
The old floor and remains of the old shower, surround removed. Work in progress.
The old plumbing and framing for the linen closet. Entrance was in the hall.
Other end of the “slipper” claw foot and tile backsplash.
The new cabinet. That’s natural birch.
Finally, a new low-E double insulated, double hung window with natural birch trim
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