Renovation // Transformation

Eichler’s are cool — literally. And very breezy. Now that the weather has turned cold in Concord, we’re no longer cursing the 110 degree days… well, at least not as much as we were in August.

While it’s known that these houses are poorly insulated, the "outside/in" concept definitely takes center stage when the winter winds gust. And having removed the paneling and trim in the den (which backs up to the garage), we we’re getting a bit chilly. The replacement of the very drafty garage door was top-of-the-list. Additionally, we’re trying to make the house a bit more fire-proof and the previous hollow interior door provided little fire protection.

Surprisingly, Big-Orange had just the door we were looking for: a luan "20-minute" pre-hung door that meets current building codes for a garage-to-living space door. So, $225 and a fortnight later, we had our door — ready to install. This one also came with really neat self-closing hinges (current code) which are powerful enough to swing the heavy door closed.

My dad was visiting from the East Coast, so we decided to tackle the installation while he was here and after a few hours (and a can of spray foam) later, the door was completely installed and air tight. A replacement knob from Defiant finished off the installation (Big Orange’s cheapest lockset is also the best match to the Eichler originals). Since the fire-rated jamb came in a primed white color (rather than the original luan matchsticks), we’ll eventually paint it to match the beams and other exposed non-luan wood in the house. The threshold was a bit weird in that the aluminum extended past the jamb on one side necessitating the creation of a support plate which I covered in my new favorite VCT tile for kick-protection — and once we drywall the garage, we’ll take care of the rest of the trim around the door on that side.

Now that the door is installed, we can re-drywall the wall. We’re not going back to the original paneling here simply for fire protection… and noise — we’re planning on using 1/2in QuietRock again here to help combat some street (and garage) noise. We’ll also be using some GreenGlue between the 5/8in drywall and sheathing on the garage side to help with the noise. Not that it’s overly loud here, but these products are fairly affordable when used strategically and sparingly and very, very effective.

One of the things about the renovation is the monetary hemorrhage we’ve been experiencing. While we’re spending as wisely as we can, putting money where we hope it will pay of sometime (kitchen and bath) and doing much of the work ourselves.

During the process, we’ve been keeping our eyes open for the many rebates available — either from manufacturers or utility companies. For instance, our kitchen appliances carried a pretty hefty rebate from Bosch combined with a number of Energy-Star-esque rebates (plus the credits for hauling off our old, inefficient appliances — which was great: a hauling service and small rebate in one).

The most recent (and one of the most significant) rebates came from PG+E for our foam roof. Since we had the HVAC equipment installed before the roof went on, PG+E offered a rebate for the white foam roof that Abril installed (PG+E calls it "a cool roof")… while less than a half-percent, it offset the cost of the dishwasher. or siding. or flooring. or windows. or…

Thanks PG+E… thanks, too, for the crazy cheap CFLs we found as Sam’s Club for less than 10cents each (an 8-pack for $0.86) — we’ve installed them in all of our globe fixtures. Save the initial flicker, it’s hard to tell the difference.

It’s been hard to get motivated since the weather’s turned colder, but we’re making slow, slow progress — albeit in a bit of a random fashion.

This weekend found us tackling the office and finishing off the closet in that room. We’re not a fan of the textured walls (reminds us of the more modern tract homes in the area) and are smoothing and patching (and replacing where necessary) all of the wallboard and trim… even in the closets. With this closet finished, it leaves us only one more closet to finish off which is good.

We’ve also planned on a wall of shelves in that room. A great system from Rakks is on the way (odd name, great shelving) which will pair well with the modern aesthetic and keep us out of the ebay/vintage shops looking for parts and pieces to older wall units.

We’re planning on bringing a bit of the paneling back into that room by veneering the wall behind the recessed supports and making shelves from matching mahogany. Since the supports will be recessed into the wall, I wanted to reinforce the area (and the studs are not where the supports need to be), so we scrounged the spare wood pile (and headed to Big Orange) for some 3/4in plywood to block out the area to add the necessary strength for the system. Hopefully, there’s plenty of support in there now.

We also took the opportunity to update the electrical in that room (more grounded plugs, woohoo!) and cut in the box for cable/data/phone and while this was not the planned weekend chore (we’ve still a kitchen/garage door to install), it definitely put a dent into the to-do list and gets one more room closer to completion.

The yard is full of trees… likely too many for such a small lot and we’ll have to cut many of them down (especially the ones that had been "topped" by an idiot trimmer). Not to worry, the "signature" trees are staying.

We’ve been able to ID most of them: Silver-dollar eucalyptus, Fig (yummy), Mimosa, Mulberry, Oleander (technically a shrub, but these are as large as trees…)… but there are a few that have stumped us.

There’s a massive, beautiful tree in the back corner of the lot now covered with red berries… and a smaller, almost olive-looking tree now bearing weird fruit.

Any ideas?

In an attempt to avoid more intense projects, I made these pipe covers this weekend from some old 3/4in plywood shelf-boards in the house (good, solid stock) and covered them with some left-over VCT tile (which cuts wonderfully on the table saw).

These pipes confused us at first until Mark LaChance informed me that code required that there were no under-slab sweat joints allowed — so any joinery had to be brought up and out of the slab… this might’ve been just for the potable water as there are no joint clusters for the radiant heat pipes that I can find (or perhaps these pipes are crazy long and twisty). The manifold for the heat (adjustments) is in the hall closet with more potable water joinery.

These covers will be handy when something in the closet decides to fall.

Marty took the opportunity to inspect the work as well.

Lots of folks are curious about replacement windows. The current trend is — of course — vinyl windows… which would look out-of-place on an Eichler home. While the energy lost through the transmission of the aluminum (over vinyl) is an issue, since we live in a mild climate, it was a worthwhile trade-off (efficiency for not cringing each time we look at the windows).

We purchased Milgard's basic clear anodized aluminum replacement windows. Ordering without a nail fin enabled us to slip them in after we slipped the originals out — a very easy process if the measuring is done correctly (some of ours were a bit tight and I had to shave off some wood for a good fit which was no fun… measure twice, cut once).

Anyway, I pulled out the DSLR today and took some up-close/macro shots so folks could see the fit and finish. So far, we've installed three of the six: two bath windows and one bedroom window. The hall-bath and corner bedroom share a sill… it was a task to recreate such a long piece.

Some things to note:
… We have not done the final cleaning. The units come with quite a bit of goo on them (excess caulking) which traps sawdust. Some denatured alcohol will probably help to clean them (see red circle in 3rd image).
… We also replaced all of the redwood trim: Sills (which were both daunting and satisfying to make), trim, etc…. still final sanding and painting to do.
… The windows open easily via the Milgard-branded latch as well as lock (the brass button)
… Unfortunately, Millgard won't/can't make the original 2-pane windows… likely due to safety issues. We had them make 3 individual, but equally sized panes — the 2 sides slide open.
… The windows are held in place by 3/4in square redwood stock and a bit of caulk — simple simon.
… The gray "paint" is primer. We got smart and had them tint the 2nd bucket.
… Still lots of sanding and finish work still to do.
… The windows are double pane + low-e, but not argon filled. The bath windows are frosted and tempered.
… All 6 windows (4 bedroom and 2 bath) were $1500 from Home Depot.
… We'll be installing all of them ourselves as we replace the siding around them.

Edit: As of October 2009, we've not had a problem with condensation save on the inside of the bath window frame after a hot shower (which is to be expected). The plastic trim (it's minimal trim) on one of the most sun-kissed windows is fading a bit (from gray to tan), but not a huge deal overall.

The first proper pictures of the LG Art Cool system… the paint color in the bedroom (Behr’s "Squirrel") tends to let it blend with the surroundings.

Thanks to the Container Store’s sale on Elfa shelving, we were able to outfit the closets in the house with some new hardware. We used this system in our last home and loved it — probably tripling the amount of storage capacity. In the Master Bedroom closet, we opted for drawers, shelves and hangbars… so much storage that we’ll likely not need a dresser (which we don’t have as the rooms in our last home were fairly small). Installation was finally able to take place after the drywall, paint and trim…

This past weekend, Dion and Kirsten (Casie’s cousin and boyfriend) stopped by with Dion’s brother Dominic. They’ve just moved here from New Jersey where Dion was working as a drywall contractor. While good house guests to have, we actually hired them to help with a bit of the drywall while Casie and I tackled the window/siding project before the rains started this week.

We started in the bedroom with the installation of a product called QuietRock — a sound-proofing drywall. The bedroom tends to get a bit noisy with both a rooster and a convalescent home within 100 feet, so the investment will likely prove worth it. The 5/8s ($60/sheet) drywall seemed like gypsum glued to hardi-backer while the 1/2in ($30/sheet) was like two 1/2in sheets with a rubberized membrane in the middle. Both were much heavier than regular drywall and the 5/8 was super-tough to cut… but in the end, it seems worth it. The hum from the roof mounted HVAC compressor is cut to a nearly inaudible din. Some noise still comes through the single-pane sliding door, but that’s to be expected. Sound bouncing around the room is also cut quite a bit and should be even quieter once we have furniture in the room and clothes in the closet.

So, the drywall project is starting (with a little help), which is good on both counts.

Any chance to quote Ralph Wiggum can’t bee ignored, but this weekend, we discovered the house had some unusual past tenants… wasps or bees — I can’t tell.