Bathroom Finishes

We've already discussed some features of the bathrooms. The materials and colors were covered when we originally chose them. The master bath design was detailed when we finalized that. So the question is, how did everything turn out?

Radiant Heat (230)

• Problem: This pattern is a biologically precise formulation of the intuition that sunlight and a hot blazing fire are the best kinds of heat.
• Therefore: Choose a way of heating your space—especially those rooms where people are going to gather when it is cold—that is essentially a radiative process, where the heat comes more from radiation than convection.
• In our home: Both bathrooms have radiant heat in the floor. This gives extra warmth and comfort to these rooms. This type of heat works best with hard surfaces, especially tiles. It would not work for the carpeted rooms at all, and special care would need to be taken under wood flooring. Additionally, radiant floor heat has a fairly slow temperature adjustment for heating a space. A warm floor feels great on bare feet, but isn't as practical for full space heating.

The master bath turned out pretty much exactly as we imagined it. The sinks and counter spans less than the full width, but still gives us plenty of room. Next to that, we have a nice bench made out of a piece of live-edge maple. This provides a perfect space on the wall to hang towels above.

Built-In Seats (202)

• Problem: Built-in seats are great. Everybody loves them. They make a building feel comfortable and luxurious. But most often they do not actually work. They are placed wrong, or too narrow, or the back does not slope, or the view is wrong, or the seat is too hard. This pattern tells you what to do to make a built-in seat that really works.
• Therefore: Before you build a seat, get hold of an old arm chair or a sofa, and put it into the position where you intend to build a seat. Move it until you really like it. Leave it there for a few days. See if you enjoy sitting in it. Move it if you don't. When you have got it into a position which you like, and where you often find yourself sitting, you know it is a good position. Now build a seat that is just as wide, and just as well padded—and your built-in seat will work.
• In our home: The idea of built-in seats was used for the benches in the bathroom; however, the details of the solution were completely at odds with the seats in the bathroom (padding isn't as good an idea in moist space). We plan to eventually add ones elsewhere that fit this pattern a bit more closely, such as in the office or stair landings.

The mirrors were custom-built to fit the space just right. The boxes were made out of white oak to match wood elsewhere in the house. Two mirrors were put in, separated by a gap in the middle. This was given a piece of frosted glass, backlit by LEDs, and then some small shelves were put in front of it. It is a very elegant detail, and really helps to define the space.

Bathing Room (144)

• Problem: "The motions we call bathing are mere ablutions which formerly preceded the bath. The place where they are performed, though adequate for the routine, does not deserve to be called a bathroom." --Bernard Rudosfsky
• Therefore: Concentrate the bathing room, toilets, showers, and basins of the house in a single tiled area. Locate this bathing room beside the couple's realm—with private access—in a position half-way between the private secluded parts of the house and the common areas; if possible, give it access to the outdoors; perhaps a tiny balcony or walled garden. Put in a large bath—large enough for at least two people to get completely immersed in water; an efficiency shower and basins for the actual business of cleaning; and two or three racks for huge towels—one by the door, one by the shower, one by the sink.
• In our home: This pattern was definitely not used in our home. However, it is a very interesting pattern, and worth a bit of discussion. The detailed discussion in A Pattern Language provides more context around the social experience of bathing, and the bathing room. In many cultures outside the United States, communal bathing is much more common, even with mixed genders. The pattern makes a lot of sense, and could result in a nice result. In the end, though, we are not familiar or comfortable enough with the use of communal bathing to integrate it into our house. It would also be a fairly large deviation from social norms in this country, which would've presented difficulties during design, construction, and permitting; and probably beyond.

Our countertop material ended up being another challenge. When we chose the materials, Deep Ocean CaesarStone was the preferred material — a nice dark blue. When it came time to order the countertops for cutting and installation, we were informed that the color had been discontinued, and there was no more stock available in the US! We looked at some alternative brands, and also considered a color in a new line from CaesarStone: Ocean Palace. This had some similar blues in it, but a very different look. It is made to look more like a natural stone, with cells of different color abutting each other. However, this material was significantly more expensive than their basic line. Since we had gotten no warning at all about this switch of materials, Yuval was able to negotiate a nice discount on the new material, and we ended up with Ocean Palace for our bathroom countertops. The end result may not be better than our original choice, but we are pleased with it.



This same countertop material was used to make a floating bench at the back of the shower. It works well with the other materials in the shower, and handles lots of water without problem. For the shower glass, we ended up choosing just a clear finish. We added a water repellent finish to make cleaning easier. We also had a pair of hooks embedded in the glass for hanging towels and robes. Finally, the shower got a built-in nook in the wall for bathing products. It gives a nice tiled space for storing shampoo, soap, and other items.



The second bathroom upstairs uses many of the same materials and finishes. It only has a single sink, which is offset to one side of the counter to make room for the door. It has a bathtub instead of a shower, and no benches for sitting. The mirror design is much simpler. It does have a large built-in set of shelves for storing towels and linens. One of the big changes to the design of that room was around the bathtub. Originally we had chosen a full bath/shower set with integrated walls. We decided we weren't really happy with the style of it, though. We decided to switch to just a tub, and tile the walls to match the master shower. This also worked better by allowing us to have a half-height partition (pony
wall) at the end of the tub. This separates it from the toilet without fully dividing up the space; and gives a nice shelf topped with the counter top material.

Overall, we're quite happy with the bathrooms. We really like the colors and materials. The unique pieces show off the custom nature of it, and provide better functionality for us. The only problem with the bathrooms so far is a temporary one: the floor heat in the master bath does not work. There is probably a short circuit between the controller on the wall and the connection to the floor. We're hoping to have it fixed soon; until then, we've suffered through the cold of winter with cold tiles in our bathroom.

Lighting Fixtures

Once we finished the lighting design, it was time to pick fixtures. Light fixtures come in all styles and at all price points. They range from your everyday light bulb to pendants which cost thousands. They range from traditional to ultra modern. The choices are overwhelming and, since fixtures are largely a matter of taste, our builder was able to provide less guidance than for other choices.

Fortunately, we didn't have to pick out each of the approximately 100 built-in lights in our home. The majority of the lights fit into categories, and the category requires only a single choice.

Yuval recommended LEDs for our basic can lights. LEDs are expensive compared to other bulb types, but Home Depot offers a reasonably-priced LED can light that uses Cree LEDs. These are some of the best currently available. They provide light at 2700K (a warm white, similar to incandescent bulbs), they are instant on, dimmable, low power, and have a long lifespan (listed at around 50,000 hours).

CFLs, the other obvious low power light option, have similar light quality, but they take a while to warm up, are not dimmable, and have a lifespan closer to 10,000 hours. Despite the higher price, LEDs won out due to instant-on and a long lifespan (not having to change lights in our 10' ceilings will be nice).

Yuval made a number of suggestions for wall scones to go in the stair tower, upstairs landing, and media room. We settled on the third of the linked options because it was a nice balance of style and affordability.

After evaluating the specific recommendations from Yuval and browsing online, we visited a few lighting stores to see fixtures in person. At Home Depot, we spotted a nice brushed steel and glass track light kit that we liked. Since we had quite a few of these in bedrooms and other rooms, we didn't want something too expensive; this kit was perfect.

At one of the store, we found an adjustable arm lamp to use by our bed. We ended up using these same lamps in the master bath over the mirror. We have a fairly thick mirror box built out which would have mostly blocked a standard wall-mount vanity light. The long arms of these lamps allow them to be positioned however we like relative to the mirror. These lamps introduced us to other lights by George Kovacs. We loved a powder vanity light from this brand, and another offering inspired the vanity light in the second bathroom.

Because we are aiming for an energy efficient house, our exterior lights had to be surface mount. Normally the electrical box is set into the house, and the light mounts to that, but any penetration in the wall hurts efficiency. Because of this, we went mostly with the recommendations made by our builder and electrician, including these lights that mount on the exterior of the wall.

We wanted lights on the upper deck to provide soft illumination near the floor. We originally chose a small deck light, but this didn't work! Similar to other outdoor lighting, it uses a 12V electrical current. But these lights would be hardwired into our main 120V circuit. So instead we went with an inset step light in brushed nickel.

We have one light whose only purpose is aesthetic. We have a distinctive stair tower and our home is visible from a main boulevard down the hill. This inspired us to highlight the stair tower with light. After looking at a variety of options from Elemental LED, we chose this wall washer, which will be mounted in the backyard, pointed at the stair tower. It's very bright.

We have three pendants, each of which provides a major focus of it's location. Before construction started, Yuval found a stock clearance of some LZF lamps. We decided the Gea S looked nice, and purchased a large one in cherry. We originally planned it for the dining room. As work progressed, we realized we wanted a long dining table which would overwhelm the circular lamp. We also realized the lamp would compete visually with the stove hood on the kitchen island. We decided to move the Super Gea pendant to the living room.

After much searching, we stumbled upon this linear suspension pendant. We liked the minimal look and thought it would fit well with the linear table and kitchen. However, when we placed an order, it had been discontinued! There was one online store that still seemed to have stock, so we ordered it from them. It was not actually available, but could be specially produced in 9-14 weeks. This was longer than we were comfortable waiting for, so we switched to an alternative linear suspension lamp that was available sooner.



The remaining pendant is for the top of the stair tower. We were having a hard time finding something we liked that would look good above the stairs. But then Erika stumbled upon some inspiration. She decided to crochet a spherical lampshade to cover a simple pendant. First she acquired a rice paper lantern-style shade (made of nylon) to provide the shape for the yarn. Then we chose some bulky yarn in a burgundy similar to our bordeaux paint color. Finally I found a simple and cheap pendant that would provide the socket, cord, and ceiling mount. It has a simple attachment mechanism that will allow us to attach the shade to the pendant.

With those and a few other miscellaneous lights, our lighting is complete. We have good general illumination throughout, along with some distinctive lights to define spaces and add our style to the interior.

Insulation and Drywall

Insulation

Insulation completes the rough-in stage of the house. It and drywall mark the transition between focusing on the structure of the home to focusing on the details.

Spray foam in the ceiling

To ensure a tightly sealed home, we had foam sprayed into the places where ceiling joists could expose a gap to the exterior, e.g., the ends of ceiling joists that extrude outside and the center beam of the roof. Foam was also sprayed onto some of the foundation walls that protrude into the interior.

Insulation batts

Next the insulation batts went in. All of the batts are formaldehyde-free fiberglass. We insulated all of the interior walls with R-11 and R-13 for sound deadening (more on our soundproofing). This is enough insulation to stop some sound, but not enough for heat insulation. The external walls use R-21 insulation for better thermal control. Insulation was installed throughout the house, including under the floor in the crawlspace and the garage.

Drywall

Drywall starts the interior finishing stage. It covers up the bones of the house, and provides a blank canvas for the interior.

The drywall process is complex. The goal is to achieve flat, seamless surfaces for the walls and ceiling. The quality level of the drywall, from 0-5, specifies how flat and level it is. Level 3 is about the minimum you'd want inside a house, and level 4 is probably more normal for quality construction. Our house is getting level 5 drywall throughout, which allows us to avoid any texture on the wall. Instead, we have a smooth surface that will just be covered with paint. This increases light reflection, especially in windows up against the ceiling where the light may be coming in nearly parallel to the drywall surface. Wikipedia has more details about all the levels.

Getting this level of smoothness takes many steps:

1. 

   Floor markings indicating what's in the walls and ceilings

   Level the studs: The studs need to be level enough to avoid creating bows or bends in the drywall. In our case, at least one stud had to be removed and replaced because it was warped.

2. 

   Drywall, just hung.
   Notice the roughness of the corners and seams.

   Hang the sheetrock: Boards are cut and screwed in to the studs such that all of the walls and ceilings are covered by the sheetrock. Holes for lights, outlets, vents, and any other openings in the wall are cut at this stage. Since it is easy to lose items behind drywall, the installers marked everything out on the floor before any sheetrock went up.
   The sheetrock at this stage is pretty rough. Edges, especially corners, can be uneven. Screws are sunk a bit into the drywall, making small depressions. There are gaps between sheets and around cut-outs. It looks like a bunch of panels stuck on the walls. This makes the rooms feel a lot smaller than before.

3. 

   Tape and mud

   Seal the gaps: The next step is to seal up all the gaps and start evening the surface. This is done using mud, tape, and corner strips. Mud is put in-between the gaps in the sheetrock, and tape is embedded to provide some structural support. Particularly for inset corners, the tape helps to make a sharp right-angle. Mud is spread lightly over the screw holes to bring them up to level with the sheetrock. Corner strips are used for outset corners. These are a thin piece of metal at a right angle, with some tape over that. Putting these over outset corners and applying mud covers up the rough edges of the drywall, and provides a sharp, clean corner. At this point, the walls start to look more coherent, and the space opens up a bit.

4. 

   Corners and more mud

   More mud: Two more layers of mud are applied as-needed to level everything out, especially the corner strips and tape, which may have slight raised edges otherwise. The edges of openings, such as can lights, are covered and leveled with mud. Each layer of mud needs to dry, so the house is warmed up and let sit for a day or two.

5. 

   The smoothing layers

   Smoothing coats: The final step is to add two full coats of material to smooth and level the dry wall. This was done using Smooth-Wall, a spray-on self-leveling coating that brings the drywall up to level 5. It serves as a polyvinyl acetate (PVA), which provides a basic primer coat, and makes everything a uniform material. These coats are just a primer and leveler, so the walls aren't meant to look perfect. There is a slight variation in color due to the drywall, and a slight texture on the walls. Both of these will be cleaned up with a couple layers of paint.

At this point, the walls and ceilings become a single smooth, level piece. The rooms are well-defined, and the surface looks very close to its final state. The perspective of the rooms change a bit; the ceiling height on the main level is more apparent, as is the shape of the soffits, columns, and doorways. The walls are now ready for paint.

Soundproofing

Not every home has a media room. This room is dedicated to enjoying video games, shows, movies, and music. It can handle an intimate group — just the two of us — or a larger group — a Rock Band party. One way a media room differs from a family room with a TV is the extra effort put into isolating it from the rest of the house. As much as possible, activity in the media room shouldn't disturb the rest of the house.

Basics of Soundproofing

Let's start with a quick review of sound. Sound travels via vibrations in air and solids (and liquids, but houses generally aren't built from liquids). When a sound wave hits a wall the wall will vibrate, which will cause the air within the wall to vibrate, and transfer sound to the other side of the wall. The sound wave vibrates the studs in the wall, providing a second path to the other side. There are many ways to decrease the amount of sound transferred:

• Decoupling elements: If the drywall on the inside of the room is not directly connected to the outside of the room, then there will be no solid pathways to transfer sound.
• Absorption: Loose material in the empty spaces of the wall help absorb and deaden the sound attempting to travel through the air cavities in the wall.
• Adding mass: Heavier materials require more energy to make them vibrate. By adding mass to the walls, more of the energy from the sound will be absorbed by the walls, and less energy will be available to transfer through the wall.
• Damping: If it is more difficult for the wall to vibrate in the first place (i.e., it doesn't respond as much to the sound waves), then less sound will be transmitted.

This information was summarized from a more in-depth article from the Soundproofing Company.

The Walls

The most important element of a soundproof room is the walls. In the world of soundproofing, there are many wall options and many trade-offs. We chose a solution that is simple and cheap.

The lower part of the walls are formed by the concrete foundation; the added mass of these walls help to reduce sound transmission.

We added soundproofing insulation to the interior walls. The materials and labor for the R-13 insulation was cheap, so we insulated all the interior walls in the house. This will help absorb sound traveling through the air cavities in the walls.


We looked at several wall damping solutions for the media room. A popular solution is Green Glue, a compound put between two layers of drywall to dampen sound. The material is cheap, but it does require a second layer of drywall and extra installation time. Because is is inexpensive and not difficult to install correctly, it is popular in do-it-yourself solutions.

A second option is QuietRock. This is an all-in-one damped panel that is installed in place of drywall. Installation is exactly the same as drywall, but the material costs are more expensive.

Another option was Resilient Channels. These are attached perpendicular to the studs, and drywall is attached only to the channels. This allows the drywall to flex a bit and dampen more of the sound. It also provides decoupling from the studs. The channels are cheap, and installation is not too much more complex than just drywall. Care needs to be taken to prevent the screws connecting the drywall to the channel from touching the studs (this would prevent the flexing and decoupling of the drywall).

We chose channels because of the price and because the installer is familiar with them. Sound isolation clips can be used with some kinds of channel and provide extra isolation, but they add material and labor expenses. We decided channels should be good enough for the level of soundproofing we want. If we want something more, adding Green Glue plus a second layer of drywall is a relatively straightforward addition that we could do later. It wouldn't require removal or remounting of the existing drywall; it is simply a second layer added on top of the existing drywall and channels.

The Details

Walls are the most important part of soundproofing the room, but the details are also important. The mass of a solid core door prevents sound from easily travelling through it. A gasket around the edge of the door provides a strong seal against the frame when closed, and less sound is able to travel through the gaps around the edge of the door.

We avoided can lights because those allow sound to travel through the ceiling. Surface-mount lights allow a solid layer of insulation in the ceiling and nearly unbroken drywall on channels.

The attachment points of the projector mount and screen can negate the advantage of the channels, if screwed into the studs through the drywall. The projector mount is mounted directly to blocks in the ceiling. The drywall will be installed around the mount and a bit of sealant will provide a flexible interface between the drywall and the mount. The screen should be able to attach directly to the drywall without going through to the studs. It is heavier than the projector but spread over a larger area.

Carpet is an easy flooring choice. It provides extra soundproofing, is comfortable, and provides better acoustics. A hard floor would reflect more sound.

Sound travels well through the reflective walls of vents, but fresh air is critical in a tightly-sealed room. We are using a supply and return to the HRV system to provide fresh air into the room and evacuate the stale air. The supply will be tucked into an open portion of the closet, while the return will be in an enclosed portion of the closet. The closet should help muffle the sound that makes it to the vents. They both go to the HRV, which we assume will not transfer too much sound into the other ducts attached to it. Bends in the ducts will also help absorb sound.

Overall, not a lot of changes were needed to provide extra sound isolation in the media room; we mainly had to spend time considering details. From that, we should get a reasonable level of soundproofing without too much extra cost.

Review of Q1 2012

The first quarter of 2012 is over, and it was a quarter of great progress. It was the quarter of rough-in work.

Framing was completed:


Plumbing was added:


Then HVAC:


Fireplace:


And electrical:


Windows were installed:


And then siding:


The timelapse for the quarter shows all the exterior pieces coming together.


We spent a lot of time on design this quarter. Some of it was just-in-time design, such as the electrical and lighting. Framing changes were made based on 3D models of the interior. The master bath won't be installed for awhile, but the tiles need to be ordered now. There was a steady stream of small decisions, such as the fascia color for the roof trim. Many design discussions are ongoing as we take our high level design ideas and then refine the details as we gather samples, compare colors, and work through every individual piece.

The rough-in work is nearly done, and we are anxiously awaiting insulation and drywall. These will mark the beginning of the finish phase of the project. Each successive stage will appear to move at a slower pace, as more care is taken to perfect the details. Several areas may be in-progress at the same time, though. To accommodate this change, we will replace our weekly summaries with weekly overviews focusing on a single area. We'll go into details on individual elements, providing more background and design information, plus in-progress and final pictures of the installation. Our photo gallery and timelapse gallery will still be updated regularly with each weeks' progress.

Dirt-moving and Inspections

Not a lot of interior work was done last week. Rough-in is nearly finished, so time on site was filled by inspections and corrections. Outside, more siding was added, the decks are closer to being finished, and dirt moving for landscaping was started.

More electrical work was done — in theory, but not in practice, the last of it. The electrical panel was labeled, and the connection to the main service is nearly ready to go. We asked for a small correction in the media room, and a larger circuit put in for the kitchen for an electric-powered stove. Temporary circuits need to be added for space heaters to dry out the interior before drywall. This will all happen this week. However, the electrical inspection was approved, along with most other rough-in inspections. Mechanical required a small correction around the fireplace, but everything else that was ready has been approved. The only remaining inspection is for framing, which requires some work from the insulation installer this week.



More siding was installed on last week, including the lower south side, the north side of the garage, paneling around the stair tower door, and some paneling around the living room windows.



Nicer weather provided an opportunity for more progress on the deck. The living room deck was evened out, sanded, and is now ready for the finishing stain. The upper deck was completely finished, including staining. The wood has darkened and is a richer color now. The finish looks uneven in the picture because it was still drying.



The most important work last week was dirt-moving. The entry-way was filled in with dirt and can now serve it's stated purpose of letting people enter. The driveway was smoothed out, so it can now support a concrete truck pouring the slab for the garage floor. The front yard in general has been leveled, and prepped for hardscape and landscape. The area between our house and the neighbor's is being prepped for landscaping (which has been designed). Finally, our backyard has been smoothed.



The camera wasn't pointed quite low enough to capture the dirt being moved, but you can see the movement of the excavator. The end of the week shows the finishing work being done on the rooftop deck.



Poplar has been delivered for the windowsills, which will go in soon (before the drywall). Fire breaks (to keep fire from spreading in the walls) need to be put in this week, then the framing inspection can happen. Now that the entry has been filled in with dirt, the entrance through the garage can be sealed up, and a blower can be put on the front door to find and seal any leaks in the envelope of the house.

Siding and Wiring Conduits

Last week mostly saw work on the exterior siding for the house. The electrician came by for just a bit to work on some of the last details. However, a few more questions came up, so the electrical work wasn't quite finished last week.

Quite a bit of the lap siding was installed, including the north side, upper level on the east side, the north-west side, the upper south-west side, and the upper south side.



We acquired the exterior wall washer light we're going to use on the west side of the house at night. We tested it out one evening after dark, and it should do a good job highlighting our house.



The last major piece of wiring (I believe) was getting conduit for future cabling run. The endpoints are in the living room, kitchen, office, master dressing, and second bedrooms. These run down into the crawlspace, except for the office, which runs directly into the server closet. The server closet then has a single conduit that runs into the crawlspace. The media room has a conduit that runs from the closet up to the projector mount to send video up there.



I spent some time exploring the crawlspaces under our house. The crawlspace is quite generous, and there are plenty of pipes, ducts, and wires running under there. The space is large enough that we added some stub points for lights. Under the garage you can follow the electrical wiring back to the central electrical panel.



The timelapse shows the siding installation (the work later in the week was covered by a blue tarp to protect from the rain). You can catch a brief glimpse of snow falling Tuesday morning.



Next should see more work on the siding. We are hoping to have the inspections finished up soon; maybe this week if we are lucky.

Electrical Wiring, Exterior Finishing

This week saw more good progress on both the interior and exterior. The electrical wiring is nearly complete. Some exterior finishes, including siding, exterior soffits, and the rear deck all saw work done on them.

For electrical wiring, the interior line voltage work (lights, switches, electrical outlets, and a big, beefy cable for an electric car charger in the garage) is nearly completed. There might still be a few details left, but not much at all. The majority of the data wiring was completed, with Ethernet, cable, phone, and low-voltage for security or home automation run throughout the house, and speaker wire plus a bit of subwoofer coax cable run in the media room. There is still some wire that needs to be run for exterior lighting and electrical outlets, and then a few conduits for future data wiring and media room wiring need to be run. Those should be complete within a few days, and then the electrical inspection can be done.



The fireplace and gas connection on the back deck were installed this last week. The fireplace has been mostly covered up to protect it, but since part of the cardboard was detached, we took the opportunity to get a picture of it.



Some ductwork for the HRV unit was added.

Some of the exterior finish work was started last week, too. The HardiePlank and HardiePanel siding was delivered Monday morning. The panels were put up on the stair tower during the week.



It is not painted, and there may be some other details in the channels between the boards to do, but it is starting to give a feel for what the finished house will look like. The HardiePanel is being used for the lower exterior soffit, and the bit of that was installed. The upper exterior soffit was installed using a knotty cedar.



The flooring of the back deck was laid down on Friday. It isn't fully finished, but looks quite nice already, especially when it gets wet.



We finally moved the camera to a position right in front of the house. It should be able to capture all the upcoming work on the entryway, siding installation, along with all the general activity of people moving around during the day.



Next week should see electrical finished, and some inspections done. Once all the rough-in inspections are done, insulation can go in; but we don't expect that to happen this coming week. Siding and/or deck work will probably continue on the exterior. The next big piece outside will be getting the entry foundation backfilled and the driveway filled in for better support. Once you can actually walk in through the front door, the missing panel in the garage will be filled in, and the house can be sealed up and tested for leaks. Then the garage can be cleared out, and the cement slab poured in there, which will allow installation of the hot water heater. We're not quite sure on the timing of all that, though, because a bit of landscape design needs to be done on the north side of our house (south side of the neighbor's), so that all the dirt-moving can be done at once.