Archive for the ‘Projects’ Category
The Park Project Nears Completion
Monday, July 5th, 2010
Well, after having the size and scope of the project tripled earlier this year, the Park Project is in finally in in the home stretch! CEQA has been restarted. All the public agencies are doing their reporting thing. The electrical engineer is finishing up the electrical panel design and doing the lumins calculations. I’m working on the plumbing. The NGO is putting together his grants for the restoration work. By fall we’ll be ready to sit down with the supervising engineer and scour the construction documentation one more time before handing the package over to the client. Everything will be ready to go to the State for final approval whenever he’s ready.
One of the things we’re most proud of on this job: We’ve been able to save our client a little over $100,000; about 10% of the estimated $1 million cost to build out the entire project — not including another estimated $750,000 in grant funded restoration work. And along the way we were able to divide construction into two halves so that the owner (who is considering building the project himself, rather than hiring us to do it) can build out in two separate phases. This will allow him to build the most lucrative section of the park first, then use the revenue it generates to fund the other half.
This project has been one of the most enjoyable we’ve ever done and I hope we’ll be able to do more “Special Occupancy Parks” in the future. Most enjoyable was blending environmental restoration and recovery with a design for the park that has minimal environmental impact on either the park area or the very sensitive natural surrounding areas.
And now, some pictures and models of the project in process:
The picture at right shows what will be the main area of pull-throughs, with a row of right-side back-ins behind it. The road in the bottom left hand corner is dirt and was originally constructed by the local community services district when they laid a new sewer main. It will be retained and paved with a permeable material rather than hard surface asphalt. The native evergreen trees will be retained and the native plants will be moved to other areas of the park to create a natural barriers in sensitive areas.
Here’s a beautiful view of the creek we’re trying to restore. Despite it being classed as an ‘urban stream’ it’s still in very good condition and has both trout and steel head in it. Unfortunately, younger steel head cannot make it back into the creek because of the huge jumps shown in the second photo. (The individual looking at the culvert is an expert in stream restoration.) To add insult to injury, the young fish must then make a very long swim with no rest through that culvert that goes beneath a major highway. Adult fish can swim the gauntlet, which is why there are very young fish still in the stream. Though not on Park property, there are plans to use State funds available for the purpose to correct this fish ladder system and rip-rap the culvert. Another insult to the fish is the surfactants you see floating on the water in the top picture. It’s coming from upstream, and The California Department of Fish and Game has been trying to catch the individual pouring soap into the creek for a couple of years now.
Invasive plant species are another issue that will be addressed. On the tree leaning out over the creek (top photo, above) you can see English Ivy attached to the trunk. At right the same stream expert is discussing the removal of the English Ivy and the eucalyptus with the Fish and Game restoration expert. Eucalyptus oil is very toxic. Some studies have suggested that they sterilize fish eggs laid in the river gravel. Behind the Fish and Game guy is a streams and trails expert. To his left and right representatives from the Park.
To facilitate all this restoration work, I ended up having to do a topographical survey of over three acres of stream area, then translated that into mapping data for CAD use. Outsourcing that work alone would have cost the client some $30,000, according to bids I received (and rejected) to address the FEMA flood zone issue several months earlier. (Yeah, that’s me in the photo.)
Finally, here’s a quick little model of the bathroom the supervising engineer and I designed for the new park area. 
The original bathroom is a wood structure built on top of a two foot masonry stem wall. The shower stalls were also built of wood powder nailed into the concrete floor. The results were predictable. Because bathrooms and laundry facilities are unheated, and always damp, the building is now laden with rot. The men’s shower stalls had to be completely rebuilt this last winter. So this building is built entirely out of CMU block — including the interior walls and shower stalls. We also designed a plumbing maintenance corridor into the building. Access is through the wrought iron door you see in the center of the wall. It also provides access to the attic above. The mens and womens bathrooms and showers are the doors (ThermaTru Fiberglass Entry Door Systems) to the left and right. Not visible is the laundry facility and mechanical room at the rear of the building. The gable end siding is Hardy Select Cedarmill. The roofing is ‘Chestnut’ from CertainTeed’s ‘lifetime warranty’ Presidential TL line.
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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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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