ROOFING PHASE I

With the monsoon season just around the corner, the metal roofing we ordered in March, just days before the price went up 20%, arrived at the end of June.  The challenges with our winding and narrow driveway arose again as the truck couldn't make it all the way up to the build site.  Instead of off-loading the roofing material up on Marsh Station Road, like we did with the lumber and windows, they were able to get the truck down to the second gate just before the wash crossing.  This made for shorter round trips but it was up to Lucas's ingenuity to figure out how to get the material up the hill.  

The roof is a metal standing seam design.  We have designed it to be penetration free with all the vents being directed out the rake walls or soffits.  In the future when we install the solar panels they will be attached to the standing seams so no need to drill through the roof.  The length of the individual roof panels ranged from about 24' - 26', which provided quite the challenge for Lucas and the crew.

The panels were loaded on Lucas's truck for the trip up the hill. He parked his truck in the wash, thus making it easier to just slide the panels onto the truck.  In addition to the rack attached to the bed, he also built a T-rack that he wedged behind the front bumper thus providing support for the panels along their full length.

Bill, Luis and Lucas embarking the first load of panels and accessories

The dip of the wash made the loading a little easier

Lucas supervising the loading

The first load goes up the hill

The first load made it!

It was important to make sure that the panels didn't get bent or crimped, thus they needed to be carried on-end instead of flat.  

The crew unloading the panels, demonstrating the proper carrying technique and good team work

Everything is on site ready for the roofers

The first step in the installation process is to get the fascia flashing installed.  None of the fascia pieces were cut to order, so they had to be cut and bent on-site before they could be screwed and nailed into place.

Casita fascia install complete

Close up of the fascia corner detail

Once the fascia was installed on all the buildings, Jesus and his crew started installing the panels.  They began on the west end of the house and headed east.  To prevent the transfer of heat between the metal roofing and the actual house, they used brackets to keep the metal panels about a 1/4" off the roof decking.  This will help keep the buildings' temperatures more even.

First panels are installed.  You can see the silver brackets keeping the panels off the roof deck.

Each roof panel needs to cut to length and then the end has to be bent by hand.  This is a very time consuming process.  There is a team on the roof doing the measuring and a team on the ground doing the cutting.  Then they have to lift the panel onto the roof making sure it doesn't get bent/crimped.  Oh and did we mention that the areas where the metal gets cut are very sharp?

Panel end detail ...notice all the different cuts?

Lifting the panels up on the roof

Once the panels were screwed into place it was time for the seamer.  They use this tool to connect one panel to another and make it so no water can get in between the panels.  This is a very tedious and labor intensive process so the guys took turns on the seamer.

Crimping the standing seams with the seamer

Scan of the first day's progress

Jeff figured that while he was up on the roof he might as well give you an idea of what the desert look likes before the monsoons arrive.  This being the first week in July, our fingers are crossed that the rains will arrive shortly.

Scenic scan to the south

The monsoons are trying to make their way north

After a day off to celebrate the 4th of July the crew was back to finish the roofs.  They had to finish the house, do the casita and then complete the "building" portion of the garage.  The RV port structure/frame wasn't built yet so they will save that for when they come back to do the patio roof since it is not built yet either.

Casita roof is half way done

Getting ready to place a roof panel on the casita

And just like that the roofs are covered with metal.  We debated about whether or not to use raw steel for the roofing and just let Mother Nature perform oxidizing magic to get that nice rust color, but in the end we went with the pre-painted metal roof thus reducing our future maintenance requirements and avoiding any unwanted staining.  It was a long involved process, which included a trip to Scottsdale to check out a Chinese restaurant's roof to make sure we liked the color and pattern.  It was well worth the trip though because we love the finished look!

The casita's roof is complete!

An overview of the 80% finished product

The Amtrak train comes right by the property, unfortunately the closest stop is in downtown Tucson (sorry Bruce).

Amtrak headed east

 Drywall Phase I and Ceilings Phase II

With the insulation in and the ceiling planks installed it was time to put up the drywall on the interior walls.  Once they had brought in a pile of the drywall sheets they went to town!  Oscar and Marco made it look easy.  The big walls were covered quite quickly with only minimal cutting required.

Oscar and Marco putting up whole sheets

Long step ladders make the job easier

Marco hanging the drywall over the bench

Once the big areas were covered the real fun started.  There are plenty of areas that require detailed measuring and cutting.  A great example of this is on the soffits in the kitchen.  

Soffit of the refrigerator and stove

Oscar installing the drywall on the soffit on the north wall of the kitchen

The main bath required some extra detail for the medicine cabinet cut-out

Drywall is actually pretty easy to cut.  If you score one side it will break along the score line.  It was amazing to watch Oscar and Marco make quick work of what looked like complex cuts.

Oscar showing off his skills part 1

Oscar showing off his skills part 2

The bench was a unique challenge since it had both an  "internal" wall and a rounded section.  The "internal" wall took a little effort, but with a few simple score lines on the inside of the curve they were able to make the drywall wrap around the bench's curved corner.

Curved bench corner covered

Once all the drywall was hung, the next step was installing the corner beads on the outside corners.  The hallway by the craft room and bench provided a great place for Oscar and Marco to practice their craft.

 

Lots of corner beads here!

The kitchen soffits needed the beads also

Once the house was done it was on to the casita.  Things were a little more challenging here as it was a smaller space, especially in the loft, but they made quick work of the task.

 

Refrigerator bump out in the kitchen

The bathroom got drywalled too

Once the roughed-in installation of the drywall was complete we were able to schedule the walnut blasting of the ceilings.  The farther and son team of Armando and Ivan were our guys and they were super excited to be doing it in the middle of June with the temperatures pushing 100 F / 38 C.  Especially since the dust created by the blasting is not something you want to breath in so they have to wear a special suit that has air pumped into it so they can breath.

Ivan donning the special suit

The machine used to blast the walnut shells is mounted on a trailer and then the shells are blown through a hose to do the blasting.  This all took place before the monsoons started and reduced the temperature, so the excessive heat kept overheating the motor which slowed down the process and made it a two day job instead of just one.

The blasting machine/motor

They had to drag the hoses, air and blasting, wherever they went.  Even with our well insulated buildings, doing all this work in the heat took a toll on them.  They had to switch out who was in the suit doing the blasting several times.  It was hard work holding the heavy blasting hose up over their heads.

Lots of hoses to manage

We were trying to accomplish a couple of things with the walnut blasting.  First we wanted to even out the weathering/fading to give the ceilings a more even colored look and also clean off any chalk lines that were still visible.

A couple of before pictures showing the weathering/fading lines left by the stickers that were used to separate the planks

The weathering/fading lines just disappear!

Getting the ceiling in the "great room"

Lots of nooks and crannies to get

 CEILINGS PHASE I

Back in early December 2020 the wood for our ceilings and soffits was delivered from AP Sawmill in Flagstaff.  Since we were running behind schedule it was stacked in the courtyard between the house and the casita until we were ready to install it. We lucked out and had a La Niña winter, which means it was dry and thus only a little rain.  But we still covered it to keep the rain off the top.  Since it wasn't kiln dried we left the ends exposed to let the air flow through so it would continue to dry.

Boards stacked, covered and drying

When we uncovered the planks to begin installing them we noticed that there were some planks that had faded/weathered more than others and there were a few spots of mold.  We knew we wanted a more rustic look, thus we didn't go with the kiln dried tongue and groove ceiling look, but the planks looked a little too rustic for our vision.  In an attempt to see if we had enough good quality planks for at least the inside of the house and casita all the planks were sorted for size and quality.

Sorting the planks (this is one of three piles)!

Unfortunately we didn't have enough good quality planks for the job so we had to come up with another plan.  Andrew, Lucas and Tom put their heads together and came up with the idea to sand blast the planks.  The hope would be that this would strip away the outer layer of the planks thus "erasing" the fading/weathering marks and the small areas of mold, which would be scrubbed with a mixture of water and borax to kill the mold before the blasting.  They took a couple of samples to the local sand blasting shop, and after a few tests it was decided that using crushed walnut shells for the blasting medium would garner the desired rustic effect we were looking for on our ceilings.  

The other question that needed to be answered was when to do the actual blasting.  Would it be easier to do it before the planks were installed on the ceiling or after they were installed?  It was decided that in an effort to keep the schedule moving forward the planks would be installed on the ceilings of the house and casita first and then they would get blasted by the walnut shells.

The last step to be completed before the plank installation was the hanging of the weed cloth.  We know what you're thinking .... weed cloth?  Have the Cokers finally gone off the deep end? The answer is no, we're stilling staring into the abyss, but weed cloth is an inexpensive and non-toxic way to put a black background behind the planks so if they shrink over time all you will see between the gaps is black and not the white of the vapor barrier.  

Since we anticipate spending the majority of our time in the house's "great room", they started installing the planks there with the first plank going up on the east end.  The planks are oriented north/south for a couple of reasons.  First it will make the room seem bigger as the lines will run to the highest point on the southern wall.  And secondly, when you come in the front door your eye is naturally drawn to the majestic view through the windows to the south.

It was a slow process at first. Since the planks were rough sawn they all had to be run through the table saw to ensure they were somewhat square.  Then the crew had to try and create a random pattern.  We used planks of 6", 8" and 10" widths so they had to ensure planks of the same width weren't installed next to each other.  Then they had to vary the length of the planks to make sure the joints weren't too close together yet met on a furring strip so the ends could be screwed in tight and hopefully avoid any bowing.  They put lines on the weed cloth with chalk string to mark the furring strips.

First ceiling planks are installed.  You can see the red chalk lines on the weed cloth if you look closely.

End of day one

On day two the crew started to figure the system out but it was still a slow process as each plank needed to be selected for width, put through the table saw, then cut to length and then scrubbed with borax if there was any mold on it.

Luis and Jacob running a plank through the table saw

Bill scrubbing the mold spots with borax after cutting the plank to length on the miter saw

End of day two looking east in the "great room"

A close up video of the rustic look we're after

Of course we don't have low ceilings so the crew got quite the workout lifting and holding the planks above their heads all day long.

Jacob and Luis getting a good shoulder workout

End of day three ... and suddenly the world doesn't look so black!

A close up look along the north/south axis toward the front door

As they got closer to the kitchen wall on the west end of the room Luis and Jacob came up with a couple new techniques to keep the planks tight against each other while they were screwing in the boards to the furring strips.

They wedged a 2" x 4" between the stove soffit and the plank

Jacob uses a chisel as a lever to keep the planks tight against each other

The kitchen ceiling is almost done

The view as you come in the front door ... high ceilings and the view

The team is wrapping up the kitchen

After they finished with the "great room" they were only getting started.  They still had the rest of the house and then it was on to the casita.   As it was in the house, the big room in the casita was the first priority.  The planks were again installed on the north/south axis to show off the high ceilings and to draw your eye to the view of the Palo Verde tree and sky out the big upper window.

A video of the casita's finished main room

The loft in the casita brought the opposite challenge as the other ceilings ... it was low!  Instead of standing on ladders, Luis spent all the time on this back while Jacob worked on his yoga poses.

Luis enjoying laying down on the job

It was tight quarters during the loft ceiling install

We never know who is going to stop by for a visit.  Sometimes they don't even come to the front door.

This Greater Roadrunner welcomed us to the neighborhood

 INSULATION PHASE II and BLOWER DOOR TEST

With earthen plaster and the first step of the lime plaster process complete, it was time to get the last of the insulation installed and complete an initial blower door test.  As we have come to see during this build process it is feast or famine regarding the schedule, and this was no different as both these things fell on the same day!

The insulation team arrived first and got right to work.  They brought the same truck with the blower in the back and a bunch of bales of insulation.  Their mission was to insulate the interior walls (which we were doing more as a noise barrier rather than for insulation), the raked walls above the box beams which are on top of the bales, the exterior soffits on the house and casita, and finally the garage walls and ceiling.  

The interior walls of the house needed to have batting hung before the insulation could be blown in.  Even with just the batting installed it started to change the vibe of the project ... it began to feel even more like a house!

Installing the batting in the hallway

Batting on the wall between the main bedroom and bathroom

Next came the fun part ... blowing in the insulation!  The process starts with the big blower motor in the back of the truck.  Big bags of the insulation are dumped in the hopper and then blown through the hose to the spray nozzle.

Feeding the hopper

You would think there would only be a few areas where we needed insulation in the exterior walls but there were plenty of nooks and crannies that needed filling.

Spraying insulation in the southern wall above the bench

Above the windows in the craft room

Above the "wall of windows" 

A pause in the action above the "wall of windows"

Once the insulation had some time to set, they came by with a giant shaver machine that took off the extra insulation and made it even with the studs.  It took a steady hand in confined spaces of the house and casita but they made quick work of it in the garage.

The shaving machine in action

The north wall of the garage after shaving

And of course we always strive for maximum sustainability so vacuuming up the extra insulation went without saying!

Vacuuming above the bench

Vacuuming up the excess

A display of good teamwork and efficiency in the casita

The finished product in the garage

Just in case you think we are only focused on the build, here is a picture of a native Hedgehog cactus letting us know spring is coming!

Hedgehog cactus in bloom

After the insulation was installed we moved right into the blower door testing of the house.  We decided to only do the house as that will be our primary residence and thus we wanted to focus our efforts (time and money) there.  Plus we will use what we learn from the house and apply it to the casita.

The blower door test accomplishes a bunch of things as we strive to meet the Passive House standard:

• - Identifies excess air leakage thus reducing energy consumption and drafts caused by cold or warm air leaking in from outside
• - Controlling outdoor contaminants, pests, and odors from entering your home.
• - Helps in determining proper sizing and airflow requirements of heating and cooling equipment.
• 
  
• The first thing the team did was seal up all the holes in the house, which included the tubes for our air flow transfer units, the door to the utility closet, and any other vents to the outside (stove, bathroom fans, etc.) and then they installed the blower in the front door.

Blower door with the fan installed in the front door

The blower door has a powerful fan that pulls air out of the house lowering the air pressure inside.  The higher outside air pressure then flows in through any unsealed gaps or cracks.  We have worked hard throughout the build process (as discussed on previous posts) to tape and seal as many of the gaps as we could but we wanted to give it one more test before we started applying the lime plaster.

Once the blower was turned on we waited a few minutes for the fan to do it's job and then the fun began.

The fan doing it's job

We used smoke pencils to find the air leaks.  The expected areas to find leaks are anywhere two surfaces join, like around the windows, doors and where the walls meet the floors and ceilings.  As you move the pencils around these areas the smoke will start to waft if there is a leak.  The people moving the pencils mark the location with a small piece of tape and then the "sealers" come behind and seal up the leak with a piece of our special tape.

Smoke pencil

Using the smoke pencil to find leaks

More leak hunting

Looking for leaks

Just because the built-in bench was roughed in doesn't mean the sealing was complete underneath/behind it.  Ray our architect and Passive House advisor took the hunt for leaks very seriously.

Ray getting down and dirty 

A happy sealer!

After the leak sealing was complete, Lucas (the Passive House expert) got out his infrared camera and looked for any under insulated areas that might need a little more attention.  

Camera attached to his phone

You can see the heat signature is different between the earthen plaster (purple - cooler) and wood blocking (orange - warmer).

Team Lucas (foreman and Passive House expert) geeking out on the infrared camera shots

As we were cleaning up we had a small visitor that politely made us aware of its presence.  After taking some pictures we left it alone so it could go back about its business of keeping the mouse population in check.