day ninety nine // twenty five.

today i felt very productive & in charge. shannon, marianne & i went around the whole building and figured out EXACTLY what all needs to be finished, and we made a list. and it sounded really scary at first, because there are a LOT of things on the list. but we started delegating, and things were getting done fairly quickly! there are a lot of little tasks on the list, like missing wired from circuits, but then there are also a lot of larger tasks, like wiring ciruits to the electrical panels. but at least now we know what all needs to be done. and everything needs to be done by thursday! electrical work is now apparently holding up progress, because we need to get it inspected before we can get the framing inspected. and once that's done, then we can start drywalling!

anyway, we got our list done by about 11.00, which is when we started delegating tasks. shannon, marianne & i also worked around the house taking care of various things while also keeping track of everyone else. this is clearly what we should have been doing the whole time, because it was super easy for us to just say, ok here's a few things that need to be done. do it, then come back and we'll give you something else to do. oh well, i suppose now i know how to do it the next time i wire a house.

since the wiring needs to be done by thursday, and i'm not going to be on site tomorrow because i'm visiting Clemsons' architecture school, i stayed until 4.30 today to get things done. by the end of the day, we had COMPLETELY finished the 5 suites + bathrooms, and were almost finished with that whole wing of the house. now we just have a few things in the right wing, along with the 3 mechanical rooms and the exterior wiring. shannon & marianne are taking charge tomorrow, and hopefully a whole bunch of stuff gets done! as long as people work hard, i think we'll be able to do it...

orange = done!
green = not done :(

day ninety eight // twenty four.

today was odd, because there were hardly any people on site. anna, cody, josh & lauren were on the roof as usual, but then there were only like 6 of us working on wiring. most of the wiring that needs to be done is going to be the super pain in the ass stuff: wiring each circuit back to the electrical panels. this often requires the wire to be like 50+ feet long. i worked cori & a few others this morning to get some wires done. it was SUPER annoying, because it literally took us 2 HOURS to do one wire. first of all, it takes a long as time to thread the wire through all the holes & stuff, and THEN after ruby and i tacked about half of the wire down, we discovered a knot in the wire. we didn't want to untack everything we had just done, so we had to pull the wire through 3 or 4 holes on the other end to get the knot out. it sucked, but at least it's right. the fact that we have to walk around on the ceiling joists also makes this task difficult, but also more exciting/daring/potentially treacherous. so we eventually got a system figured out, and even though it's still a long process, it seems easier.

when everyone else was taking lunch, cori & i started on other wires that go to the panel. there were two in close proximity to each other, so we decided it would be a great idea to do both at one time, therefore cutting our work in half. now this was an AMAZING idea in theory, but after like an hour of this [and after i had to leave] cori discovered that one of the wires was too short. so she had to take it all out and redo it all. boo!

day ninety seven // twenty three.

today we wired. megan and i worked in the larger suite areas to add some of the '3-way' wire for the switches that are connected. during this process, the big drill died. or i suppose was injured, actually. he had some issues previously with the plug, as one prong was barely hanging on. and today when i was going to plug it in, it finally just broke off. anyway, gabe is a master at repairing this tool issue, which he proved when he repaired the reciprocating saw. so marianna, megan & i took a break to lowes, where we got a new plug, plus some nails & a few other things. gabe fixed our drill, and we were good to go.

also today, i did some more delegating, and got a team started on wiring the fans in the community area, and lowering some electrical boxes to the new height. we seriously must have a crazy electrical engineer looking over our plans. because the wall sconces were at crazy heights, and we had to lower them 6", which often meant we had to rewire things because sometimes the wire sticking out the ends weren't long enough. now, we find out that the switch and receptacle boxes that are going underneath cabinets are 2" too high, and so they all need to be lowered. so anyway, i got a team working on those and other wiring, and hopefully they will make lots of progress!

day ninety six // twenty two.

today, we of course continued wiring. i must have been on crack yesterday when i thought everything was going to be finished by today. because it clearly isn't. i worked with shannon & marianne to finish up the atrium area, or at least what we could get done. gabe has to drill us some holes in the concrete so we can get to the electrical panels and finish up that room & the matron suite. he started on them today, but he wasn't finished by the time we had to leave.

also, our grading friends are back! they are leveling the site & preparing to mark the sidewalks & the driveway. therefore, the dirt mountain is disappearing. however, now that it's half gone, i am realizing that there is actually a yard! before, it didn't seem like there was going to be.

and yesterday after i left, some people did some experimenting with drywall and plaster. we are apparently not going to be painting, but using some cool plaster stuff that 'breathes' and cleans the air. it sounds super expensive, and so i think i heard robert say we are just using that in the public areas? i don't know if we've decided. but either, way it's cool. and it will probably be more fun to apply plaster than to paint.

the backyard + tiny dirt mountain.

plaster experiment.

day ninety five // twenty one.

i am so over wiring. i hate it even more than i hated icfing, way back in february and march. but THANKFULLY we are nearing the end.

today, shannon, marianne & i worked in the atrium, which people have been conveniently ignoring. it really isn't too bad, it's just somewhat of a pain in the ass to climb around on the scaffolding. we got about half of it done today, and will finish tomorrow. also, the wiring around the rest of the house should be done by tomorrow! then robert and a few people will double check EVERYTHING, then fix everything that is wrong/missing, then call up the inspector for our inspection! and hopefully we pass!

also, the gtcc boys finished installing the windows! it quite nice right now because we have daylight everywhere, but they will soon be covered with plywood again, so the windows don't get damaged :(

up in the atrium.

doing work.

windows!

day ninety four // twenty.

so yesterday, i didn't feel well and didn't go on site. i think it's because i am ALWAYS working, either on site or at fleming's. which super sucks, because its summertime :/

anyway, yesterday megan called me after she left site to tell me about what was going on. robert decided that ceiling lights are really strange and look like boobs, and he wants there to be wall sconces in the rooms, along with some track lighting. while this is a good idea, it would have been a much better idea had he come up with it last week, before we had most everything wired. oh well. such is the nature of design-build, i suppose. so anyway, i arrived on site today, and got started with more wiring. i wasn't exactly liking the idea of working in the larger suite area where i spent the entirety of last week, so allison & i worked in the hallway to hot knife & wire the sconces in there.

also today, the gtcc boys started installing the windows! they are pretty :)

windows!

day ninety three // nineteen.

today, megan and i FINALLY finished all the wires in that damn suite area, where we have been working all week. we put 4 additional wires in, that connect the switches that are on the same circuits, so that everything works properly. at this point, we had all run out of the wire tacks, so megan & i went to lowe's to pick up some more, along with a few other things on robert's list.

also today, the roofing group got some roof installed! i think they did some yesterday too, but it was on the atruim area, which we can't see from the ground. anyway, it looks super awesome.

josh.

roof trimmings.

roof!

wires.

day ninety two // eighteen.

today, i met debbie, janel & allison at the studio for a LEED meeting. we met with Lee, who is the commissioning authority on our project, and chuck [the owner] and chad [the hvac guy] to do some brainstorming to come up with the Owner's Project Requirements. this is a document that is part of the fundamental commissioning, which we have to do for LEED. ideally, this would have been done FOREVER ago before we even had a building design, but oh well. it was good to at least see how this process goes.

after the meeting, i went to site to continue working on electrical. when i got there, megan informed me that we had to fix MORE wiring.... apparently the wires we put in so far weren't close enough to 90 degrees...whatever. we fixed most of them, while other people began wiring in other areas. however, after today, we finally have the proper instructions for wiring, so HOPEFULLY we won't have too many more issues. megan had to leave me shortly after i arrived, so i worked with elise, amy & kim to fix the remaining wires. i also taught a few more people how to wire, so they can begin elsewhere in the house. by the end of the day, we had all the wires fixed [i think] and we can start in a new area tomorrow! woohoo

day ninety one // seventeen.

today, we wired some more. a few more people joined our team so that we can teach them and expedite the whole process. we also got some u-shaped tacks to tack all the wires in place. having these makes the process SO much easier. we had to go back to the wires we've run over the past two days to get those tacked in and situated, and we had to replace a few of them that were wrong. it was kind of annoying to have to go BACK to all these wires to tack them, when we could have just been tacking as we went. but we got everything situated and started on new wires. by the end of the afternoon, we had gotten most of our suite we've been working on wired, and we left a few people in there to finish it up. megan & i also taught elise, kim & amy how to wire, so that they can get started in the back of the house.

also today, some people from different local non-profit agencies came by to get a tour of the house. megan & i toured one group around for a bit, then we all went down the street to the community center for a luncheon + presentation about the project and different groups that have been involved. it was pretty cool to see some of the people who are involved behind-the-scenes. plus they had delicious brownies :)

day ninety // sixteen.

today was again, a crazy day. when i woke up this morning, it was POURING. and my brain was of course still asleep, and decided this meant i could keep sleeping. i eventually managed to wake up at make it out to site by 9, but only adrian was there. he apparently sent everyone home until 9 because of the rain. adrian happened to still be there because we were robbed last night... some dudes apparently decided they needed our chop saw, robert's little table saw, and a chain, and our shed was a good place to find such items. jackasses.

anyway, when we arrived back on site at 12, the first order of business was to write down the serial numbers of all our remaining tools in case we get robbed again, we can track them down more easily. but adrian has been fabricating a HARDCORE locking system, and i doubt anyone will be able to break in again.

for the rest of the day, we continued wiring. megan & i explained to allison & shannon how to do it so that they can start wiring in other areas of the house. because at our current rate, we will be wiring for the next month. shannon & al are awesome and caught on very quickly, which will make the wiring process much easier. the wiring isn't hard really, it's just kind of a pain in the ass for multiple reasons: 1. the wire sort of has a mind of its own and doesn't always cooperate 2. there is ALL KINDS of shit up in the ceiling that makes it difficult to maneuver around up there 3. there is an extreme shortage of ladders, which are obviously quite necessary to get all the wires looking nice and pretty up there on top of the ceiling joists.

anyway, we got a few more circuits finished today. also, jamie & some other people installed the rest of the ceiling boxes, so that we can focus on wiring!

day eighty nine // fifteen.

mondays suck. first of all, it's monday, and i don't want to work. second, i work for 5ish hours on site, then rush to fleming's to work some more. and today i ended up opening AND closing, so i was there for like 8 hours. oh well, at least i'm getting paid. 

ANYWAY, today megan, cori & i started wiring! i thought this was going to be super exciting, but it really wasn't. first, we drilled holes through studs & hot knifed channels between each receptacle box for the wire. then we cut pieces of wire and stuffed them in there. it wasn't too bad, but we only got one little room done today. and robert would like us to finish by friday! eek. i don't forsee this happening. if we had all the ceiling boxes & such installed, then maybe. but we don't. so maybe other people can start doing that as we proceed with wiring? i don't know. but we'll make it work. 

scary.

day eighty eight // fourteen.

first of all, here is a link to the news story that ran last night! woohoo!!

http://www.myfox8.com/wghp-story-sisters-house-090611,0,880580.story

today, ruby & i began installing boxes for the ceiling lights. we started in the large suite areas, and got everything marked, installed blocking, and got the boxes installed. then we took a break for lunch. but after lunch, robert took everyone off their jobs so that we could move the roof pieces up to the roof. it SUCKED. it was super hot on the roof, and we had to lift each piece up one by one, then reassemble them into their proper bundles. we got about halfway done before i had to leave to go to work, and hopefully everyone got the rest of the bundles up there without too much trouble!

breaker box that electricians installed yesterday

day eighty seven // thirteen.

once again, today was an odd day, and i feel like i didn't do much ACTUAL work. i got to site promptly at 8, and finished installing the last electrical boxes, since the gtcc boys finished framing the last room yesterday. then robert gave me the task of marking on the ceiling where all the overhead lights/fans/etc are going to go. megan & i got started on this, but soon realized we needed a bit more explanation, as most of the lights were in between joists, so i didn't know if we had to put blocking in or how to handle the situation. however, robert had left for a meeting or something, and denise wasn't quite sure what we should do, so we had to wait for him to return before we could ask him & proceed. however, he wasn't due to get back until 11.30, so megan & i helped do some small tasks around site in the meantime: we cleaned out & organized the shed a bit, put some plywood over a window because the size of it changed, and other random things like that. also, the roofing materials arrived today! and the roofing guy gave josh, cody & anna a lesson on how to install the roof, and it looks like that's what they'll be working on for the next few weeks!

also today, fox news came! yesterday, i sent some emails out to local news stations, and fox promptly responded and said they wanted to cover the story! then today around 11.30, i got a voicemail from stewart pittman at fox 8, saying he wanted to cover our story today! so he came by at about 1 to do some interviews & filming, and he got some good shots of us doing work. it was pretty cool. it aired this evening right before the 6.00 news started, so HOPEFULLY we got more people interested in the project!

anyway, after stewart did his thing, megan, allison, janel, debbie, robert & i had a quick LEED meeting, to figure out some more things we can take care of on site, and how to get started documenting ALL the materials we've purchased so far. by the time we finished, it was about 2.30, and i had to leave for work! 

the roof.

more painting.

day eighty six // twelve.

today, megan & i elected to do some research on faucets and investigate how to get them donated to us. so we went to the computer lab and did a bit of research on Delta Faucets, then called them up. however, they said they need all requests in writing, so megan wrote a lovely letter to them explaining our situation and asked if they would be willing to donate anything. we also wrote one to American Standard, to try and get some toilets & sinks. we also looked up some local media contacts, and drafted an email for them, so that ideally we can get some media exposure & encourage more community involvement in [us]. we then went to site to have robert look over the letters before we sent them off. he thought they were very well written, which was obvious because megan kicks ass at writing. anyway, we then went back to the studio to get them printed on uncg letterhead, then went to the post office & mailed them! and HOPEFULLY we'll hear back soon and get some stuff donated!

also, when we arrived on site today, the clubhouse was getting painted! it's grayish-blue, green, & white, and it looks so pretty! 

day eighty five // eleven.

today was once again an interesting day. megan was working in the dean's office, and anna/cody/josh got to site super early to do some roofing stuff, so i was by myself/working with random people today. i started out the day doing some minor things by myself, until somebody arrived who didn't have a job/partner. first, i put up some furring strips. not exciting. then i put in some top plates on 2 walls in the kitchen, so that later i could plumb & straighten those walls. it was challenging, mostly because all the sprinkler pipes & metal furring strips for the drywall are quite in the way, and i had limited room to maneuver around up there. but i made it work. also, it was a THOUSAND degrees in the kitchen area, because both fans were in other areas. which sucked.  but anyway, once i got that done, elise had arrived on site, and i recruited her to help me. we made the wall as plumb as we could, but it was built kind of crazily, so it's not exactly perfect. but it will work. then we set a string up there to make sure the 2 walls were in line. they were slightly off, but if we made them straight, they would no longer be plumb. so we consulted adrian about this situation, and he was leaning towards keeping them plumb but slightly off, but we waited to talk to robert about what he wanted to do before we made anything permanent. 

after this, elise & i joined allison & shannon with installing blocking between the rafters of the green roof. it was a SUPER pain in the ass because there was barely any room to reach up in there to get the blocking in. literally, i had 11 inches between the rafters, plus once again the sprinklers & furring strips were in the way. apparently, this ideally should have been done MONTHS ago, before we even put sheathing on the roof. oh well. we worked on this for a bit until lunch. also at this point, robert arrived from teaching his class, & megan too. megan & i had many questions for him about specifying faucets & things, so we asked him those. then we were sent on a mission to get low-VOC primer & cement for the plumbers. so we ventured all around greensboro for 2 hours in search of this. when we got back, and it was 3.30 and time to go!

anna & cody on the roof.

we have lights!

up in the rafters.

sprinkler + rafters

11 inches wide & i had to work in there... wtf mate

day eighty four // ten.

today kind of sucked, mainly because i wished i was still at gabe's lakehouse. it was AMAZING. mainly because there was a boat, a lake, and the sun. anyway, i was a bit discombobulated this morning, which was made apparent by the fact that i locked my keys in my trunk. so i called my wonderful mother, who drove halfway from raleigh to bring a spare to me. so i worked on site for about an hour & a half before she could leave, and i helped megan & sierra put in some blocking in the bathrooms for ADA purposes. we put some 2x6's and 2x8's where towel bars, grab bars, and toilet paper holders are going to go. at about 9.30, i took a small break to drive to mebane to retrieve my key. and when i got back, i continued helping megan & sierra. by 1.00 when i had to leave for work, we had gotten one full bathroom done, made some adjustments to 2 others, and began on one more. then we passed off the job to a few others, and we'll see tomorrow how much progress they made!

day eighty three // nine.

today was gross & rainy :( consequently, it was very dark inside the building. anyway, megan, megan mcclune & i worked to finish installing all of the electrical boxes, with the exception of a few that are going on walls that don't yet exist. after this, we double checked all the boxes, making sure they were straight and that we got all the ones we missed on the plan. also today, everyone on site went to a luncheon at lowes, so that we can talk to real construction people/contractors/vendors etc. but before this, megan & i were in the computer lab attempting to spec some bathroom fixtures. so we showed up to lowe's a bit late. and we missed the food and any talking to people that may or may not have occured. but while we were there, megan & i attempted to locate some tub faucets that meet LEED & ADA requirements. but it seems lowe's doesn't keep any in stock. also, the little man we talked to didn't seem to know what he was talking about, despite the fact he was the head plumbing guy there. but that's beside the point. anyway, robert eventually decided that we really only need the rough in valves right now, so he sent megan & i to Guilford Plumbing Supply to see what they have in stock. luckily, they have just what we need, so they're on hold until robert/denise/someone goes by on Monday to pick them up. after this, megan & i helped denise for a bit, hanging extension cords above the framed walls, so that we can hang some lights so that we can actually see what we're doing inside, the next time it's dark & cloudy out.

also, this weekend, a few of us are taking a small [us] vacation to gabe's lakehouse. I CAN'T WAIT!

day eighty two // eight.

today, megan, allison & i met with debbie & janel in the afternoon about LEED stuff. basically, they just caught us up with what they're doing and how we can help them. we're going to start by helping them spec bathroom & kitchen fixtures, and eventually with paints & other materials. it's exciting to get doing some real LEED stuff! after this, megan, megan mcclune & i worked on installing more electrical boxes. we mostly worked in the kitchen, and we had to actually do some thinking and adjusting of the plans. i used robert's code book to figure out the placement of some of the boxes, in relation to sinks & windows & counters and things. it hurt my head to think. which is slightly ridiculous, but whatever. anyway, 4.30 rolled around, and megan & i had to leave to go get my car out of the shop!

day eighty one // seven.

today went by super quickly! i was prepared to help put the other ledger strip up in the atrium, but robert wanted megan & i to continue putting the electrical boxes in. first, we used the plan to figure out how many more we needed to buy. then while we waited for denise to get back with the lowe's card, we fixed the waterproofing on the front of the building. it's the east side, and so the sun has melted the adhesive and it has slid wayyyy down the icf. so we pulled it up as much as we could, then screwed some 1x3's in to keep everything in place. by the time we finished that, denise was back from the store, so megan and i went shopping at lowe's. we got all of the single boxes that lowe's had, which was only about half of what we needed. so we went back to site and got started putting them in. then it turned out that the boxes that go in the icfs are different from the ones on the framed walls. so we had to go BACK to lowe's to return some of them, then get boxes with nails in them. while we were there, we also picked up a few 2x4's and somehow managed to fit them in megan's car. once we were back on site, we continued installing electrical boxes. we got about halfway done, i'm guessing. it's tricky, because the inside of the building is somewhat like a sauna, and people fight over the 2 fans we have. but at least we have them, because otherwise it would ACTUALLY be a sauna. anyway, we're working on LEED stuff tomorrow, but hopefully not the whole time so that we can finish up with the boxes. because once we get that done, we can start wiring! YAY

also today, i realized my hammer is MIA. it wasn't in my toolbelt this morning, so i thought i left it in my trunk. however it's not there either, so HOPEFULLY its somewhere on site :(

gross waterproofing.

toolbelts!

day eighty // six.

today was loooong. well, the morning was. megan & i joined cody & anna to get going on the ceiling joists up in the atrium. however, anna & cody had to finish a tiny parrot wall for the kitchen area. this ended up taking much longer than expected, and megan & i ended up sitting a lot/helping when needed. after this, we ventured to the atrium to try and figure out how to get the face boards/ledger boards etc up there. we didn't really come up with a plan until adrian came along and gave us some suggestions. it was slowwww work because a) it's quite scary standing on a ladder up there in the first place and b) it's difficult to get leverage to drill/nail without pushing yourself off the ladder. thankfully, this didn't happen to anyone. anna, lauren, cody & i took turns climbing up there to get the ledgers up. we got one side finished, and i assume we'll finish the other side tomorrow. woo! and now that we've got a system in place, it should be easier. 

up on a ladder...

clearly not working.

more airbanding! we didn't even have a radio...

day seventy nine // five.

today, megan & i got to use the hot knife! it is a super intense tool we use to melt/cut through the styrofoam of the icfs for the wiring and such. today, megan & i got started by cutting out the holes for the switch & outlet receptacles, which we had marked the other day. it was really cool. however melting through styrofoam releases a lot of chemicals, which are most likely toxic, along with an awful smell. we did a few of the holes before we decided we weren't interested in developing cancer today, so we ventured to lowe's to get some face masks. i'm not sure they really helped all that much, but i'm pretty positive i at least saved a few brain cells & maybe minimized the amount of carcinogens i inhaled. despite the insane smells/toxic fumes, this was a fun job. i thoroughly enjoyed melting through stuff, and i can't wait to do some more! megan & i finished hot-knifing the outlet & switch holes, and got about half of the boxes put in before we ran out. next we can cut the channels for the actual wiring! woo! i'm not sure if this has to be done as we wire or if it can be done before hand, but we'll see...

hot knife!

hotknifing like a pro.

it's unfortunate you can't see the extreme amounts of smoke/toxic fumes being emitted right there....