Porch Restoration

The owners of this classic bungalow love relaxing on the front porch that overlooks their treed lot. Relaxing became a little difficult however when the porch began to rot and crumble, making it an unsafe place to be. This "before" photo shows the surface problems: a railing that's nowhere near code (railing too low and pickets too far spaced), a rotting and unattractive skirting, posts too small for the style of the house, and several rotting floor boards. Beneath the surface there were more problems: several rotting posts, beams and joists. Rather than tear it all off and start from scratch, we decided to salvage what we could and replace what we couldn't. It's sometimes a tough call in these cases, but it's always nice when you can avoid using more materials than you need to.

Fixing the Future

Bellingham is featured first in this PBS documentary about sustainable cities across the U.S.

Watch the full episode. See more NOW on PBS.

Finished Product

Here's our little shed all dressed up in its new paint and finishing touches. It's quite a nice addition to an already nice property, and the design fits well with the existing architecture and landscape. Everyone's happy with it, and that makes us happy!

Siding and Roofing

The siding is up now and our client has opted for HardiPlank, a fiber-cement siding that is supposed to last 50 years.....we'll see. I'm always suspicious of such claims for products that haven't been around for 50 years. That said, despite its high embodied energy (see definition below), it's often touted as an environmentally sound choice for its longevity. The cost runs about half that of wood, but wood is renewable and has low embodied energy. Nothing is free.....

The roof is corrugated metal, another high embodied energy choice with a long projected life. Metal roofs are, however, proven to be long lasting, and the can be recycled essentially forever without any product degradation. Again, wood has the least amount of embodied energy associated with it, but it probably won't last 50 years.

Embodied energy (sometimes referred to as “embedded energy”) can be defined as a measure of the total energy consumed by a product during its life or complete life cycle.  It includes all the energy used during mining or milling the raw materials, manufacturing the raw materials into a product, transporting the product, and installing the product, as well as finally removing or recycling the product.

Source: 50to50Wiki

Sheathing/Windows

At this stage of construction there was a great opportunity to include a lot of re-used material in the shed. As with many used material "scores", it was a matter of being at the right place at the right time when I stumbled upon the sheathing for our project  (it had just been unloaded at the REstore). These 2' X 8' sheets of 5/8" AC plywood were once part of a bleacher assembly at a local school. Finished with years of lacquer on the smooth side, these panels give a semi- finished look to the interior (wad after wad of gum had to be scraped off before it could be used!).

The lower windows were another REstore find. These old leaded single pane beauties give a dignified look to the structure. I was relieved we didn't have to use white vinyl sliders; they just have no soul. The small clerestory windows were made in the shop from new Douglas fir and used glass from the REstore. They let in a beautiful light during the morning hours.

It's always a great pleasure to re-use materials that may have otherwise been destined for the landfill. The re-use ethic is thankfully growing in popularity, but it still seems to be the rule that entire buildings be bulldozed and hauled to the dump rather than disassembled and re-purposed. Someday......

Framing and FSC certification

Framing for this structure is fairly simple, and here you can see the mock up of the rafter system that forms both the shed and awning roofs. The studs are all FSC * certified, and much of the wood from the concrete footing forms was incorporated as well. I learned a little something about FSC certified  lumber this time around in that it does not necessarily have to be stamped with the FSC logo (or any other mark suggesting certification) in order to be actual FSC certified wood. All FSC wood I've bought in the past has been marked, and I had always thought it was just part of the chain of custody protocol, but the folks at Builder's Alliance informed me that chain of custody proof was required only in the paperwork from the mill. That said, I think it should all be stamped with the official logo for a variety of reasons, not the least of which are because it's further proof of certification (what's to keep a bunk of standard 2 X 4s from being passed off as FSC?), and because customers who are into the ethic and are spending the extra $ like to see the stamp of approval. Anyway, I've used FSC certified wood many times in the past and this was the first time I had to sort through an entire stack to find good straight stuff. Finding quality lumber of any type is always a crap shoot.....

 *  FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) is an independent, non-governmental, not-for-profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the world’s forests.
Check out their site at: www.fsc.org   





             


                                                                                                                Kai helping out his "Daddo"


                                                                                                                  

Surface Bonded Blocks

With the footing set it's time to stack some blocks and bond them with a Quikrete product called Quikwall. The blocks are dry stacked and surface bonded with this stucco-like mixture, which in turn creates a foundation several times stronger than the traditional mortar method; it's also a lot easier. The finish is actually kind of attractive in an adobe/stucco sort of way, but here it will largely be covered by sheathing and siding. Many of the block openings had vertical pieces of rebar installed that were attached to the footing. They were then filled with concrete to add extra strength. The steps in the foundation reflect the grade of the slope and deck edge. The are several electrical inputs to power lights, outlets, and a breaker for a nearby spa (as per code). There's also a water line (the red hose) so an exterior hose bib can attached at the lower end of the shed.