[us] 02

day one hundred thirty // fifty six.

2009-08-21T13:32:00.000-04:00

today was our last real day of being on site for a while, but it didn't really feel like it since we have SO much left to do, and i know i'll be around a lot over the next few months. sweet.

so this morning, jayson, megan & i finished up all the bricking... we cut a few pieces for the front patch, and redid an area near the back. then we filled everything up with more gravel, because some of it has washed out. after we were done with the brick cutting saw, megan & i took it apart and cleaned it up, so that we can return it.

and that was it for today :)

day one hundred twenty nine // fifty five.

2009-08-20T18:52:00.003-04:00

today, i got a break from [us] for the morning, because i had a doctor's appointment and other random things to do. i got to sleep in like an hour later than usual, and it was amazing. so i got on site at about 1.00, just in time for a HUGE thunderstorm. but we have plenty of painting to do inside, so we did that. josh & lauren finished up the main hallway, while denise, jayson, megan & i primed the entryway, which we finished after a few hours, including the ceiling. and painting ceilings SUCKS. it involves tilting your head up constantly, and it was making me feel dizzy and nauseous after a while. so denise finished up the last part of the ceiling while megan & i primed the cement columns.

also, for the past few days, adrianna has been working on her entry sculpture thing, and it looks really cool. she's painted the metal pieces so that they're no longer the same color as the stucco, and it contrasts nicely with the front of the building. i'm not sure what else is involved in her design, but i'm excited to see it finished.

day one hundred twenty eight // fifty four.

2009-08-19T18:46:00.000-04:00

today kind of sucked. it was hot as HELL outside, and jayson and i were working in the front yard, where there is constant sun. it was not fun. we finished grading our little square connecting the sidewalk and the driveway, then we got started laying the bricks. we got all the whole bricks layed, and tomorrow we'll worry about the ones that need to be cut.

so at 12, we all went to lunch as usual. i wasn't feeling well though, so i decided to go home and have a nap. it was longer than i intended, but i felt much better afterwards. so i got back to site around 2, and we began cleaning up the site. we got most of the wood, roof, trash, and other miscellaneous materials up, and into the dumpster or in the wood pile. then our neighbor friend from across the street [not the crack house] came and picked up the big pieces. he comes and gets some scrap every once in a while to build some dog houses that he sells. it's pretty cool that we can reuse the wood, instead of just throwing it away.

then after we cleaned, i went inside & helped josh & lauren do some priming. they were working in the big hallway, and i thought it was going to take forever to paint. but we have these huge 18" rollers that make it much easier, so we got a lot of it done in the hour or so that we were working :)

day one hundred twenty seven // fifty three.

2009-08-18T20:44:00.002-04:00

today was rather uneventful.... this morning jayson and i did a LOT of pickaxing and shoveling. there is a 5x5ish area between the front sidewalk and the driveway that robert wants us to brick. i'm not sure why, but whatever. however there was a small dirt mountain in the way that we had to remove. so we did that until like 1.00, when we went to lunch.

after lunch, megan & i went to the studio to meet with debbie & janel. they were giving me all their LEED stuff and giving me a tutorial about what all needs to be done. which is a LOT. and i'm quite terrified. but i know megan and can get it done! it'll be great fun.

day one hundred twenty six // fifty two.

2009-08-17T20:38:00.002-04:00

today there was a surprise for us when we got on site: broken glass. some asshole kids broke 2 of the panes of glass on the front curtain wall. obviously, denise & robert were PISSED. denise had actually come by site on saturday morning and saw it then, and she called the police and told them the dealio. but they couldn't really do much, so it pretty much sucks.

anyway, today jayson and i finished our brick pathway! we had to do some more pickaxing to get it level, but we got that done pretty quickly, and we laid the pavers quickly. so by 1.00 when i had to go, we were finished! except for the recycling pad area, but we have to wait for our grading friends to come back and move the dirt hills that are in our way.

day one hundred twenty five // fifty one.

2009-08-14T22:11:00.000-04:00

today jayson and i of course continued working on pavers. we kicked ass during the morning and got a LOT done, and we were well on course to finishing everything by 5.00. but alas, we did not. we had to finish work that people supposedly did WEEKS ago. back when we first started pavers, a group of people worked on grading the site so that when we come along, we just have to throw a little extra gravel on and start laying bricks. however, there was one area which needed to be dug out a LOT because we couldn't slope a lot due to ADA purposes. but they apparently decided they only wanted to grade it halfway, and deal with it later. which meant jayson and i had to deal with it. so our afternoon was spent pick-axing and shoveling out 4 or 5 inches of dirt. but i haven't had to redo someone else's work in quite some time, so i guess i was overdue. anyway, now we should finish bricking on monday :)

day one hundred twenty four // fifty.

2009-08-13T22:03:00.001-04:00

today megan and i elected to venture around greensboro searching for donations. we went to site to see if robert was ok with this plan and also to have him look at our book we created yesterday. he saw us in our normal clothes and couldn't say no, plus he liked our book. first we had to go to the studio to quickly edit the book & update the blog. then we went to kinko's to get it printed, and then we began our adventure. it wasn't very exciting though and we didn't get any free stuff or money, but we made some progress. we'll just have to continue calling & visiting people until we get our stuff :)

so we spent the morning doing this, and then i went back to site to help jayson work on pavers. and fortunately, we got quite a bit done! and ideally, we should be able to finish the rest of the sidewalk tomorrow!

also today, the curtain wall guys installed glass! it looks AWESOME. it's kind of greenish-blue glass which i don't normally like, but it looks really good with the blueish gray of the building. and it obviously lets a LOT of light into the building, so it looks super nice :)

day one hundred twenty three // forty nine.

2009-08-12T22:29:00.002-04:00

today was gross and rainy. but at least it wasn't sweltering hot like yesterday & the day before. i got to site, and jayson, megan & i got started on pavers. while we were working, denise, megan, gabe & i were talking and decided we needed some sort of brochure/booklet to actually take to different places in greensboro to look for donations. calling people up doesn't seem to work, because they can't SEE what's going on and how awesome we are. so around 9.00, megan & i went to the studio to work on this book! we got it done, and we just have to show it to robert for approval, and then hopefully we can get it printed and start getting some free stuff!

day one hundred twenty two // forty eight.

2009-08-11T21:34:00.002-04:00

this morning i met denise & megan at caribou coffee. we were on a mission to get stuff donated. i was in charge of appliances, and i called a whole bunch of distributors in greensboro & winston-salem. most people were not useful, but one guy said he was willing to give us as much of a discount as possible. and one place sounded very interested, i just have to fax over some info to the owner/manager. so i hope something works out! denise did the best job, and essentially got all our landscaping stuff donated. it's not a done deal yet, but one guy said he's VERY interested in doing all the landscaping. which is AWESOME and i'm trying to get paid for (at least) my 200 hours from this summer :)

so after this, i went back to site for a bit and helped with pavers. jayson was at lunch when i got there, and josh & lauren didn't need any help, so i did some random stuff while i waited for jayson, like cut some bricks in half to finish the holes in the herringbone sections, and filled gravel in the sections that were completed yesterday and this morning. then jayson arrived, and we pretty much finished the intersection of the herringbone & running bond pattern by the shed. then we got started leveling & grading the area by the door.

also today, robert told me that i'm going to be in charge of LEED from now on. he had been hinting at this for a while, but i wasn't sure if he was serious or actually going to do it. so i guess he told debbie & janel today that i'm doing it from now on. and as i imagined, it didn't go over well. it'll be interesting though, because i don't exactly know what i'll be doing. but i'll be getting GREAT experience. and i'll be getting paid :)

day one hundred twenty one // forty seven.

2009-08-10T21:35:00.003-04:00

today was once again, rather uneventful. megan, jayson & i began working on the brick pavers once again. we did some calculating with string to figure out the slopes, then shoveled a lot of gravel. we got the path to the mechanical room finished, and started leveling out the curved part. then 1.30 rolled around, and i left for fleming's.

day one hundred twenty // forty six.

2009-08-07T21:50:00.001-04:00

today was rather uneventful. cody, anna, josh, jayson & lauren worked on finishing up the roof, but they didn't need any other help. so i painted. all day long. in the morning, laura & i painted the last few rafter tails on the front of the building. it's on the east side, so its super sunny and HOT. it wasn't exactly fun.

then after lunch, we painted some siding. we finished up the part to the left of the atruim, which needed another coat. then we began on the right side, where they finished installing the hardiplank this week. yay. and more painting will occur next week, i'm sure.

day one hundred nineteen // forty five.

2009-08-06T18:37:00.002-04:00

today was another looong day. however, i found out that i'm getting paid for my labor until we finish, so i'm MORE than willing to put in long hours :)

anyway, today i mostly worked with lauren & josh to finish up the hardiplank. there was just one wall remaining, in the little alcove/corner thing behind the atrium, where megan & i waterproofed wayyyyyyyy back in april. and became clear that our waterproofing skills are stellar, because the whole area was filled with 3-4 inches of water, plus a whole bunch of trash. so the first order of business was to remove said water. so we fetched our dear friend, The Pump. he didn't get all the water out, so we got the shop vac to suck the rest out. and i learned that shop vacs can indeed suck up water, as well as mudish substances. who knew. then we got started on installing the hardiplank, which involved a lot of leveling, a jig to keep the pieces even, my arms hurting from holding the pieces straight, and a crazy sawing contraption. there's this strange attatchment that goes on the end of a drill that chomps through the hardiplank. i'm not sure how it goes from spinning to cutting, but it's cool. so we got the majority of this wall finished by lunch, and finished it up afterwards. then we caulked the holes from our wall and yesterdays wall, and that was about it for today!

we have also begun picking out colors for the interior! robert showed us the 'techtonic' color scheme, which is basically white walls in the majority of the building, with certain walls of accent colors. denise picked out some REALLY nice colors that i loved, but they got vetoed by robert :( basically, we have to keep in the same sort of color scheme as the exterior, which is blue-ish gray. and there's a limeish green that he really likes too. so there's certain areas of color in the public spaces that need to be decided on, and i guess we're going to pick out the accent colors for the bedrooms in teams of 2 or something. so we can each have our own color! it's exciting :)

day one hundred eighteen // forty four.

2009-08-05T19:59:00.004-04:00

well, our mini-vacation ended this morning. we were back on site at 8.00 as usual. and as expected, no one showed up except for megan, josh, denise, anna, cody, lauren, and myself. the interns. and of course robert. mostly everyone else clearly has no interest in seeing the project get finished, and were just here this summer for the credit. [well, except for doug, who has been working in the shop with adrian, and jayson, who will be there tomorrow.] oh well. we'll be the only ones who can have the WHOLE project in our portfolios, from start to finish :)

anyway, today was HOT. i helped cody & anna finish waterproofing the green roof. lately, it has been seriously leaking, because the waterproofing that we put on wayyyy back in april is no longer working. apparently, if you leave it exposed during the summer for extended periods of time, it loses it's effectiveness. so on friday, anna & cody put down a few layers of the EXTREMELY disgusting tar stuff and some sort of strange feltish material to make everything super waterproofed. then today, we had to go over the edges again with some foilskin, a foil-like substance with tar on the back to make it stick. then we havd to cover those edges with some super sticky blue tape. so now there seems to be an extreme amount of waterproofing action going on, and nothing will get through. hopefully.

that's what we did until about 3.00 today, when i had to leave. fortunately, i missed the next step: more tar. so hopefully they got the rest of it done today! also, robert is sending cody & anna to the shop next week, so they have to finish the whole roof by the end of friday. there are still a few more trim pieces that need to be ordered, so i went around with them and helped them measure, so that they can be delivered tommorrow :)

OH and we have drywall! and the stucco is finished! over the past 4 days, our drywall & stucco friends have continued working! the stucco is finished, and the color & texture looks really cool. and the majority of the drywall is finished also! so there are real life rooms. it's crazy. it REALLY looks like a house. and it kind of hit me today that we ACTUALLY built this thing. i still can't get over it.

day one hundred seventeen // forty three.

2009-07-31T15:47:00.000-04:00

today was somewhat awful. robert told us yesterday that all we were doing today was moving drywall and cleaning the site. so i was prepared to be done by 12, maybe 1 at the latest. shortly after we got to site, a lowe's truck arrived with 5 stacks of drywall, plus we had one stack left to move in from the last delivery. fortunately, we were able to put the stacks right by the entrance, so we didn't have far to move the drywall. so it took us maybe 2 hours to relocate all the drywall, so i thought we were in good shape for leaving site by 12. HOWEVER, cleaning the site was WAY more involved that anyone initially thought. we cleaned outside fairly quickly, just picked up all the random wood & trash that was strewn about and threw out the trash / piled the wood very haphazardly by the shed. it was no big deal. however, inside, we had to move EVERYTHING. apparently, drywallers don't like having things in their way when they're working, and will just walk of a job if there are things in their way. i mean, i understand that i guess. it was just really annoying because we don't exactly have room outside of the building to store things, so we had to get very creative. after we cleaned the whole building we had to move all the plywood 'doors' that are cover up the curtain wall openings from the inside of the frame to the outside. that way they can drywall up to the frame. and that took FOREVER. mostly it was just frustrating because we kept thinking we were about done, but then new problems would appear. oh well. by 4.00, we got everything done. and now we have a 4 day break until we get started back up again! woo!

day one hundred sixteen // forty two.

2009-07-30T20:38:00.002-04:00

there was a lot of work to be done today, and i didn't have to work at fleming's, so once again i ended up staying the whole day. i was hoping that we would be able to get the majority of the pavers done, but alas, we didn't make much progress on those. there weren't many people on site today, and the insulation needed to be finished so that the drywallers could proceed. so this morning, all 8 of us worked to finish the insulation instead of working on the sidewalk. cori, laura & i worked in the tall hallway to finish up the upper half of the wall. it wasn't hard, but it was kind of a pain because the insulation is itchy, and i seemed to be breathing a lot of it in despite the mask i was wearing. also, we had to use the super tall / sketchy ladders. anyway, that took us the most of the morning.

after that, cori & i swept gravel into the curved brick area that we finished up yesterday and the day before. then after lunch, jessie & laura worked on putting more bricks down on the curved area, while cori, megan & i attempted to redo the strings that jayson did yesterday. he did a LOVELY job of marking everything out with stakes & strings, and the plan was to make it SUPER easy for us to finish the sidewalk today & tomorrow. however, lowe's came by with a delivery of drywall yesterday afternoon, and they unfortunately had to drive their tractor/forklift thing RIGHT through everything. so that sucked. and jayson wasn't here today to redo everything. i talked to him briefly on the phone & he described everything to me, and i understood the concept perfectly. however, when it came time to actually set all the strings & such in place, it didn't work out so well. i think my brain was having an off day. anyway, our attempt failed, so hopefully jayson will be able to set it back up tomorrow/explain it to me again so that i can do it for real next week. we'll see. but either way, the sidewalk isn't getting done this week. tomorrow is only a half day, and all we're really doing is moving another stack of drywall inside [yay] and cleaning the site. then robert is going to the beach for 4 days, so i think we have monday & tuesday off! YAY!

day one hundred fifteen // forty one.

2009-07-29T20:20:00.003-04:00

today was another productive day! which is nice, because last week was not so productive. this morning, allison & i finished up the edging of the paths we've done so far. and now we're both pros at cutting bricks & putting the puzzle together. while we were working on this, jayson & some other people were putting in MORE gravel to get the other paths prepared for brick. and they have that pretty much good to go. after lunch, we got started on continuing to lay brick on the curved path. and we reached the portion that actually curves, and it looks good! we about doubled the length of the path from yesterday, so at this rate i think we'll be able to get done by friday! jayson & allison won't be around tomorrow though, so i suppose i'll be in charge of getting a lot of bricking accomplished tomorrow. thankfully, i don't have to work at fleming's, so i'll be able to be on site all day! yay.

also, i'm starting to get a bit concerned about how the building is going to be finished.... since class technically ends this week, pretty much everyone is done. yet we still have a LOT of work left to do. plus gtcc had their last day yesterday, and not all the siding is done :/ so i have a feeling that it will basically be the 8 or so of us interns [gabe, megan, denise, anna, cody, josh, lauren, & myself ] that will be doing a lot of the remaining work. i'm sure random people will show up here & there to help out, but i don't think we can count on continuous work from them! oh well, we'll just have to see how it goes i guess....

day one hundred fourteen // forty.

2009-07-28T20:40:00.004-04:00

today was loooonng but very productive. all that was really to be done today was continue bricking. there were three teams working: jayson, allison, et al once again fixing the first past by the atrium [they got it nice and level yesterday, but it wasn't parallel to the house], amy, elise, kim and maybe some more people putting more gravel on the path to get it ready for bricking, and shannon, jessica and i working on our path by the mechanical room. i picked up the art of bricking by observing and helping jessica, and we got our path mostly finished by lunch. also, we got the diamond saw set up, so that we can cut the bricks in half to fill in the holes in our harringbone pattern. it's a crazy saw that spits water on the blade as it cuts to keep it nice and cool & cutting properly. it takes a while to cut through the bricks because you can't push them through fast, but it cuts them nice and smoothly.

lunch today was AMAZING. shannon from gtcc brought his green egg grill and cooked us some hotdogs! plus we had chips and veggies and AMAZING brownies that jessie cooked. it was lovely :)

after lunch, harold from pine hall brick came to help us with the branched off and curved portion of the path. we had NO idea how to go about accomplishing this task in the short period of time we have left. so harold was nice enough to take the afternoon to help us and show us how to do it! we changed the pattern for the curved part from the harringbone pattern to a running bond pattern, which is wayyyyy easier but still looks nice. it doesn't involve complex cutting t0 create the curve, so we all like it. so harold showed us how to make the branch off of the first path area. this does involve a lot of cutting, but it's not horrible. i started cutting the pieces to fill in holes while jayson, allison & harold got started on the running bond. they got a LOT done in the 4 or so hours we were working on it, and i'm confident we can get all the sidewalks done by the end of friday! and it's all thanks to harold :) he was so patient with us, and did a great job of explaining everything and helped out a lot too. he stuck around for over 3 hours this afteroon, and even bought jayson, allison & i popsicles when the ice cream truck came around! basically, he was amazing :)

day one hundred thirteen // thirty nine.

2009-07-27T22:20:00.006-04:00

unlike the past few days, today went by quite quickly! even though the work i was doing pretty much sucked, at least i was doing something. first, robert greeted me today by informing me that i have another wire to run. surprise surprise. at least it wasn't a horrible one to do. robert & i both agreed that we hate our electrical engineer though, because once again this was one that he missed putting on the plans. anyway, jessica & i tackled this one wire. it wasn't too difficult, just a royal pain in the ass because all our previous holes have been caulked/insulated over, none of the drills seemed to work, and the major channels for wire are covered with metal plates. whatever. we got it done in an hour or so i think. after that, i went to help people with the bricks. there is apparently all kinds of drama going on with that, with people doing it wrong/people trying to be perfectionists with it/i don't know. but whatever was done last week got ripped up and started over again today. who knows. i didn't really know what was going on, but i helped out as i could. so, i shoveled gravel. at least it was tiny baby gravel compared to what we leveled out in the whole building before the concrete was poured and such. anyway, i did that for the rest of the day. and when everyone was on lunch, i continued in other areas to get the gravel up to sort of where it needs to be for bricking. hopefully tomorrow, everything will be mostly level, and we can start laying the brick.

and once again, the site was covered with various people doing things. so the driveway was poured! and the drywallers came! they started on the ceiling though, so it's not super exciting yet. but hopefully it will be soon!

also today, i have been going through my blog and somewhat formatting it to turn in a rough copy on thursday. and i cannot believe how many times i said: wiring is almost finished! and it started wayyy back on june 23, a MONTH ago. little did i know i would STILL be dealing with electrical today....

day one hundred twelve // thirty eight.

2009-07-25T21:53:00.005-04:00

today somewhat sucked. there weren't many of us there today, so most people just continued painting and bricking. megan & i volunteered for a 'meticulous job', which turned out to be cutting off strips of the stucco around the front and side of the building. there are apparently going to be metal strips inlayed into the stucco, but they weren't marked when the stucco guys when around with their first coat. and while megan and i were working on this, the drywallers came! however, they officially suck. they saw that the drywall was all outside [because lowe's delivered it all on the wrong day, and we weren't able to put it inside]. so it's been chilling outside, covered in plastic. HOWEVER, they decided they didn't feel like moving it all inside, so they did some complaining then left. so, we were all pulled off our jobs to move all the drywall inside. it was NOT fun. first of all, there were like 150 sheets. and they seem to be extra large sheets of drywall, at least they appeared to be bigger than i remembered drywall looking. so there were like 12-15 of us moving all this drywall inside. needless to say, it sucked. oh well, at least i can skip my arm workout at the gym today. anyway, this took us maybe and hour, and robert decided that we had done enough work, and let us leave early!

day one hundred eleven // thirty seven.

2009-07-24T21:18:00.004-04:00

today was amazing because i didn't have to do ANY wiring. other than that though, it was actually quite boring. we couldn't do much this morning because we hadn't passed all our inspections yet. so there were some people working on the sidewalks, and some people painted. i painted for a while, but we couldn't do much because the sidewalk team was working where we needed to paint. therefore, we couldn't paint. so i spent most of the day wandering around searching for work. i did a few things here and there, like clean up the inside of the building, and picked up some paint from duron.

elsewhere on site, there have been tons of contractors around doing things. the stuccoing & insulation continued today, and some concrete guys came today to start making the forms for the driveway. they hadn't started pouring the concrete by the time i was leaving, but perhaps there will be a driveway there tomorrow!

also, as i was leaving, denise said that the inspector came and we passed ALL our inspections! so the drywallers can start now! yay!

day one hundred ten // thirty six.

2009-07-23T20:30:00.004-04:00

well, my vacation ended and i had to go back to site. for some reason, i was expecting a lot of stuff, including the wiring, to be done. obviously, i should have known better...

when i first got to site, i investigated what was done over the past week: curtain wall frames were completed, a lot of siding was done, the sidewalk pavers had been started, drywall began, and some guys started stuccoing. also, we apparently passed our electrical inspection [thank god], but the inspection for the mechanical rooms [responsibility of the electrician] failed. oh well, at least that doesn't involve me. however, even though we passed our part of the inspection, there was still wiring to be done. we had to do the doorbell and fix a few wires that were in the way of the drywallers.

so today, i didn't really have a set task. no one really needed help on their teams, so i went around doing random things/helping Team Hangout. so i helped megan with the supposedly last of the wiring [it won't be], then moved some furring strips for the insulation guys. which they apparently didn't even REALLY need them removed, they were just making a big deal about it. at least we only did one room before we really realized this. anyway, that's about all i did today.

day one hundred nine // thirty five.

2009-07-14T21:58:00.004-04:00

i think we may actually be done with wiring! today, shannon, allison, marianne, megan & i finished up a few wiring related tasks: adjusting the under-cabinet wires, adjusting 2 emergency lights, screwing in the remaining boxes into the concrete, and fixing the range wire. so now we just have to wait on the electricians to finish putting everything together!

after wiring, we started painting the siding on the front of the house! the color is really cool, and now the house is starting to look super awesome.

also, today was my last day on site before i go on "vacation" to canada! and i am SO excited to have a break! it's going to be weird coming back to site next week though... it's hopefully going to have drywall & such, and look so different!

a hot mess in the mechanical room.

day one hundred eight // thirty four.

2009-07-13T16:57:00.005-04:00

today was kind of gross and rainy, yet most of the work we need to do is outside. but we came to site nonetheless, and worked on some miscellaneous tasks inside. megan, marianne & i repaired the wiring from the hvac holes, which didn't take too long. then we searched around for some jobs for a while, but there was a shortage of work. so we talked about our lives/iarc for a bit while we waited for robert to come back so we could ask him a question. he never arrived though, so i found a new job: painting. mira had painted a few of the rafter tails under the eaves, and i took over while she was taking a break. i got a few sections done, and then i was sent to lowes to pick up a few things. then it was 1.00, so off to fleming's.

day one hundred seven // thirty three.

2009-07-11T16:54:00.001-04:00

despite the fact i had to get up early and work on a saturday, today wasn't horrible. first of all, i didn't have to be on site until 9.00, which is much more manageable than 8. also, i knew i was only going to be around for a few hours before we all were going to gabe's lakehouse! yay! so anyway, today we finished wiring the last intercom guy, which didn't take long. then we assessed the damage caused by the concrete guys. this week they were cutting holes in the wall for the hvac units, and consequently cut through a few wires. i was expecting the repairs to be a huge ordeal, but thankfully they weren't. some people got started on fixing them as i left, and i presume we'll be finishing up on monday!

day one hundred six // thirty two.

2009-07-10T20:57:00.006-04:00

today we continued wiring the intercom system. it was quite the ordeal because we had to wire all the way from the matron suite to the mechanical room in the other half of the house. not only did we have to pull 200+ feet of wire through the walls and ceiling & such, but we had to drill all the holes & things involved too. so it took us like 4 hours to complete this one wire. needless to say, it was awful. however, we got it and 2 other wires done, so tomorrow we just have one more little guy to finish, then install everything in the box. and then i'm pretty positive we will be DONE WIRING. however, who knows for sure, because we've been saying this for about a week now.

also today, the inspectors came to inspect the wiring in the half of the house that is completed. and i never actually heard if we passed or failed, but hopefully we passed. and i'm sure i would have heard if we failed. so i suppose that's good news.

intercom wires.

ugly hole for the hvac units.

day one hundred five // thirty one.

2009-07-09T20:19:00.005-04:00

today we wired the intercom system. we were hoping to have a wireless system, but unfortunately it wouldn't work because we have 2 mechanical rooms. i'm not sure why that makes it an issue, but apparently it does. but at least it only required tiny wires that are super easy to deal with, unlike the regular 12-2 stuff we've been working with. anyway, we got half of them done today, and we'll finish up tomorrow.

also today, the curtain wall guys started installing the frames! and they look pretty :) but unfortunately, they're going to be covered back up with plywood so they don't get messed up.

curtain wall frame.

i have been looking at this for the past FOUR WEEKS. ugh

doing work.

bart simpson?

hah.

day one hundred four // thirty.

2009-07-08T20:31:00.005-04:00

wiring is the task that will never end.

today, we had to add MORE wires, for water heaters, the range, dishwasher, and a few other things. at least they were fairly easy. there were a few other small tasks to be taken care of all well, like more zip tying. also, as our electricians elizabeth & jose were connecting things, they found quite a few extra wires, that we removed. and i suspect that any wiring we do from now on will be fixing mistakes that they discover as they connect things. and i suppose by the end of the week, we will be done!

elsewhere around site: the gtcc boys are installing siding, the roof is done [i think], landscaping is beginning, and the curtain walls are going to be installed soon! yay

day one hundred three // twenty nine.

2009-07-07T16:05:00.004-04:00

so i was really hoping that i wouldn't have to do any wiring today. alas, there was more to do. marianne, megan & i started the day by going through the whole building & checking everything again. and unfortunately, there were a few circuits that needed to be fixed. but we got people working on everything, and by about 1.00 when i had to leave, almost everything was good to go!

also today, the electricians started connecting everything together! i'm pretty sure they were laughing at our wiring work/hating themselves for having to deal with it. hahah but they were super nice about everything. they did point out a few things that are not going to work, like when we have multiple wires running up one stud, they have to be ziptied together so that they are nice and compact, and therefore pass inspection. [and by the by, if we don't pass our inspection this week, i'm probably going to have an anuerism]. she also said that for some of the boxes, where we have like a 10 wires coming out, we're going to have to get bigger boxes. this is mostly related to the pancake boxes for the fans, which technically only have room for one wire. yet we have 6 coming out of some of them. oops. but she said it won't be a huge problem, they'll just get different boxes.

i also realized today that chad, our electrical engineer who did the electrical plans, is officially crazy. i mean he's super nice and quite cute, but NOT exactly the best electrical engineer. i had been starting to realize this, since we had to do many things differently in real life than he specified in the plan, and today the electrician lady confirmed this suspicion. she was saying that in a lot of places around site, there were extra wires that don't really need to be there. aka, there's easier ways to go about doing things. but oh well, it's done now. i also realized today that i could probably be an electrician. if i didn't hate wiring so much, that is. but now that we're pretty much done, i have all the information necessary to wire a house. it kind of sucks that i had to learn it in pieces as we were doing it, but i could now legitimately wire a building. and maybe it wouldn't take 3 weeks. i could also probably make my own electrical plans, and only have to look up a few codes here and there. anyway, i suppose for the past 3 weeks i just got all caught up in hating wiring, and i didn't realize that i was actually learning all this cool shit. so yeah. i realized it today, and it's kind of awesome :)

day one hundred two // twenty eight.

2009-07-06T15:58:00.003-04:00

today was HOPEFULLY the last day of wiring! robert told us this morning that the framing inspection is scheduled for thursday, so all the other inspections have to be done before then. and in order for the electrical to be inspected, the electrician has to have 2 days or so to connect everything to the breaker boxes. therefore, we had to get all our stuff done by today. fortunately, we didn't have much left to do! we had a team working on the exterior lights & outlets, a few on the wiring for the air conditioner units, a few people organinzing the mechanical rooms, and the rest of us doing random things that have been forgotten or missed here and there. i had to leave at 12, but it seemed that everything was being taken care of! so hopefully when i get to site tomorrow, everything will be done! :)

day one hundred one // twenty seven.

2009-07-02T17:40:00.005-04:00

today = more wiring. yesterday, shannon & marianne kicked ass, and got a LOT of stuff from our list done. however, there's still more. megan, cori, allison & i worked on wiring the emergency lights. there are 5 of them, and we got it all done by lunch. also, at 9.00, we had a meeting with ALL [us] people. robert addressed a few things: he told us we were awesome for getting stuff done & that this program is awesome in general, don't drive around the neighborhood in a convertible/with windows down, told us the remaining schedule, and told people not to be going on unnessecary vacations, etc. he told us about this meeting the other day, and i thought it was going to be a scary, come-to-jesus meeting. fortunately, it wasn't. it was more of a pep talk, which was a nice surprise :)

the schedule for the remaining month of class is going to be as follows: finish electrical, get everything inspected, install drywall, install siding, intall cabinets, paint, and some landscaping. he said by august, all that he expects to have left is hanging doors, put up trim, etc. he also said that we are going to be doing all the drywall on the walls, but we are contracting out people to do the ceiling and to mud + tape it all. this is GREAT news, because i was starting to have nightmares about drywalling the ceilings, especially in the atrium and stuff. i was having flashbacks to when we finished our basement up in canada, and i had to hold that heavy-ass drywall so that dad could screw it in. needless to say, it was not fun.

also today, we had a lovely surprise: we got done early! megan and i were prepared to stay until 5.00 to make up our hours from yesterday, but when we got back from lunch, everyone was packed up! it was lovely :)

cody's fish.

i just love finding drawings like this around site :)

day one hundred // twenty six.

2009-07-01T16:13:00.002-04:00

today was my 100th day of urban studio! CRAZY. i feel as if we all should have brought one hundred of something to celebrate, like we did in elementary school. i remember vividly bringing paper clips in second grade, and getting mad because everyone else had candy, which they ate. ANYWAY, this is hardly the point.

megan, allison & i actually went to clemson today instead of being on site, because we have been trying to figure out some grad school stuff. allison is also looking at architecture school, so she had been giving me some awesome information and kicking my butt into gear to get my plan figured out. so clemson has an architecture program that is ranked in the top 20 in the country, plus it's only 4ish hours away, so we decided to go check it out and see what it's about! thankfully we did, because looking at everything online, clemson looks like a great school. which it is. it's just NOT the school for me. they have ENTIRELY too much school spirit, with purple and orange and pawprints and tigers EVERYWHERE. and not just on campus. the city of clemson=the school of clemson, and there's not much else. and i don't particularly like that. and because of this, the school spirit-ness extends beyond campus, into the 'downtown' and places off of campus. it's just too much for me. and although the campus is pretty and has lots of trees, it's huge, and everything is spread out. and there are a LOT of ugly buildings. there are some pretty and old buildings, but a lot of crazy 70s/80s buildings, including the architecture building. and in it, i feel like i'm channeling a 1970's version of my dad in engineering school or something. plus the chair of the architecture department, jose cabana, reminds me of my grandpa, because he's old and funny and has an accent, and wears the same button up shirts with pens and i think a calculator and random things in the front pocket. he was cool, but he didn't seem to understand allison's questions, and answered some of them with these crazy off the wall answers that had nothing to do with her real question. and i feel like he'd be the same way in a studio, which would drive me crazy.

anyway, jose talked to us for a bit, and we asked some questions, then we toured around the building. there were no regular architecture grad students around, but there were some who are doing the architecture + health program. it's apparently only one of 2 programs in the country like this, and is way better than the other one, so people who graduate from it make tons of money. it's unfortunate that i HATE healthcare design, because jose made it sound like a great idea to apply to it. we talked to a few of the people in that studio, and they were really awesome. this one girl talked to us for a long while, and gave us some suggestions & told us about the program, what tools they have [a 3d printer, laser cutter, a library specifically for art & architecture, and some other things that aren't as cool that i can't remember]. then after this, we walked around by ourselves in the graduate studios upstairs. here, it was made very clear that we are SPOILED in our studios at gatewood. the studios at clemson were small and cramped, but allison said that they are actually quite nice compared to some other schools she had visited, and definitely better her studio space in france. so i guess from here on out i can't compare studio spaces to the ones at uncg, because they're just awesome and apparently not normal. also, we checked out some of the final grad school projects that were posted downstairs, and they just didn't blow me away. they were really well put together and great technically, but not super unique or awesome or innovative, like one would expect from a final project. so that was another thing about the program that i wasn't crazy about. i mean, i'll still probably apply to clemson just in case, especially since they do have a really good study abroad program set up, but it's definitely not my first choice school.

soooo, after all this, we went 'downtown' for lunch, explored clemson for a bit, then went to talk to a girl about megan's program in historic preservation. it's based out of charelston though, so it was a super quick meeting where the girl gave megan some info about who to contact in charleston. after this, we went and got some delicious handmade ice cream from the clemson cows, then we headed home!

on the way home, shannon sent allsion a text message, saying 'you'll never guess what happened on site today' or something like that. we all knew immediately that this wasn't good, and we had a feeling it didn't really have anything to do with wiring or tasks that people were working on. we called shannon and found out that robert was held up at gunpoint! he was in his convertible going to get something to drink, and he was stuck at the light up at the corner, where some 14-year old kid came up and put a gun to his head and asked for his wallet. he apparently called denise & got everyone to shut down the site & head home, while he chased down this kid/called the cops. shan said that 2 of the 3 guys were caught, and that the police will be increasing their presence or something around site & neighborhood. thankfully, robert is ok; he was just "insulted" that someone stuck a gun in his face. so from now on, no more riding around the neighborhood with my windows down... robert assured us though that we're safe on site, because no one in their right mind would try to rob a construction site, as there are all kinds of dangerous power tools around. so that's good i suppose....

studio project.

balcony off of the studios :)

studios.

high five!

day ninety nine // twenty five.

2009-06-30T22:18:00.003-04:00

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.

2009-06-29T22:05:00.001-04:00

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.

2009-06-26T21:57:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-25T21:42:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-06-24T21:43:00.005-04:00

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.

2009-06-23T21:30:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-19T21:30:00.005-04:00

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.

2009-06-18T21:22:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-17T21:29:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-16T21:17:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-06-15T11:26:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-06-12T11:36:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-11T19:55:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-06-10T16:16:00.004-04:00

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.

2009-06-09T12:50:00.003-04:00

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.

2009-06-08T19:06:00.003-04:00

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.

2009-06-05T17:39:00.000-04:00

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.

2009-06-04T17:35:00.001-04:00

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.

2009-06-03T19:21:00.008-04:00

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.

2009-06-02T20:04:00.007-04:00

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.

2009-06-01T22:43:00.010-04:00

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....

day seventy eight // four.

2009-05-29T19:14:00.005-04:00

today was AMAZING. because today, i PASSED the LEED exam! it was a little crazy, because last night i got sick. and i don't ever get sick. but of course i would the night before the the LEED exam. so i was still feeling nauseous when i drove to the testing place, but i stopped and got some ginger ale to calm my stomach so that i wouldn't throw up in the middle of my exam. THANKFULLY, i made it through without any major incidents. also, the test was WAY harder than any of the practice tests i took. it seemed like i guessed on 70% of the questions, and i was quite certain i was going to fail. however, i got a 184! 14 points above passing! when i went to sign out, the little testing guy told me i was amazing, because not only did i pass, i finished in an hour. so yay! anyway, i was out of the testing place by 10.30, and i was SUPER excited and needed to do something with my energy, so i figured i'd go on site, even though i was prepared to take the whole day off. so when i arrived, i joined the megans to frame a wall. they were mostly done, so i just helped finish it up. then everyone when went on lunch, megan & i put the wall in place & put a top plate on, so now it's good to go! by that point, it was 1.00 and i had to leave to go to work.

day seventy seven // three.

2009-05-28T19:02:00.005-04:00

today we started framing! well technically, framing started yesterday afternoon, but i wasn't around for that. cody, megan, kara, cori, megan m, and i framed three walls for an office and bathroom. most of the pieces were already cut for us from yesterday, so we really just had to assemble it. before today, i wasn't particularly excited about framing, because my experiences so far have been quite frustrating. but framing a full size wall on concrete rather than a tiny knee wall in the grass is completely different. so by 1.oo, we had gotten our three walls up, plumb, square, and attached with top plates & braced. meanwhile, other groups were framing out the matron suite and the large suites. so now the majority of the building is framed out, with the exception of the 3 suites & their bathrooms. it's kind of weird actually, because as ridiculous as it sounds, for the past 4 months i never really thought about the actual rooms... just big open spaces that are supposedly going to be bedrooms & such. anyway, now that framing is almost done, hopefully megan & i can start doing the wiring!

day seventy six // two.

2009-05-27T17:00:00.007-04:00

today was a bit rough. i was SUPER tired & had a headache all day. anyway, it took everyone quite some time to get started today, as there were once again new people on site who needed to get situated, plus the rest of us didn't know what needed to be done. we started out the day unloading a truck of lumber. megan & i helped with this for a little while, but there were SO many people and everyone was kind of getting in everyone's way, so we left to join shannon & allison drawing the locations for the interior walls. they did most of this yesterday, but had to finish in the suite area. apparently, the much of the plumbing is a bit off, so the walls needed to be moved & adjusted a bit in places. but it should work.

after this, anna, megan, cody & i, along with a few other 3rd years went to the kitchen area to begin framing! but first, we had to get ready for the ceiling joists. we measured around the perimeter to put the rim joists on, then megan & i cut a few of the ceiling joists before it was time to leave. also today, i seemed to have some issues thinking, and i made a few mistakes. nothing major, but it was still quite frustrating. HOPEFULLY i got it all out of my system today, and things will run smoothly from here on out. we'll see. but around 1:00, megan & i handed off our job to amy & ruby, and hopefully they got everything cut and ready to go for tomorrow! but ideally, the hot knife/knives will arrive tomorrow so that megan & i can get going on the electrical stuff. because framing isn't necessarily my favorite job. but i am REALLY looking forward to wiring the house!

also, my LEED exam is friday. i am freaking out about it / really ready for it to be over! ughhhh

day seventy five // one.

2009-05-26T18:43:00.010-04:00

today was the beginning of summer session / our internship. for some unknown reason, megan & i joined anna and everyone else to work during the mornings at 8.00. i suppose it will be good for me to get up early every day, but this morning was pretty rough. oh well, i suppose i'll get used to it. anyway, we met on site at 8, along with maybe 15 or so of the studio/thesis/whatever people. we gave them a little tour, and then robert talked for a bit about how the summer is going to work. it's a bit strange because people made their own schedules, so some people show up at 9, 10, 12, etc. i'm not sure how this is all going to work in reality, but we shall see. so once we toured everyone around, they went to GURP to check that out. meanwhile, us 'seniors', as robert called us, stuck around to get to work. anna, cody, lauren & josh set up some scaffolding while megan and i got started on electrical stuff! we marked where all the receptacles & switches go, and sometime this week i guess we're going to start wiring it! i'm quite excited about this, because even though i have NO idea how this stuff works, it will be cool to learn and be able to do it. during the last urban studio, 2 girls wired the whole house and passed the inspection on the first try, so megan & i have a lot to live up to i guess! but i'm quite sure we can do it :)

sprinkler system.

marking receptacles with our very sophisticated template.

day seventy four.

2009-05-05T22:18:00.002-04:00

today was our last day of real work! the concrete guys finished up the slab while we finished cleaning up the site. also, it was quite miserable for the first hour or so, because it was raining. first we cleaned up the trees/brush/random bushes and stuff that the people on sunday cut down for us. and it basically filled up the entire dumpster. but anna & i got in there and smashed the stuff down a bit, so we could fit more in. we then finished cleaning up wood & miscellaneous things around the site. then for the last half hour or so, we had a group meeting to come up with a plan for our review on friday. so by about 4.30, we were finished!

megan is so excited to be out in the rain.

day seventy three.

2009-05-04T02:46:00.002-04:00

today they poured the concrete slab! well, half of it. and it looks really cool. it's kind of crazy that we have a floor now. and these guys are obviously professional slab pourers, so we stayed out of the building and let them handle it. outside, there was a TON of cleaning up in preparation for our review on friday. right about 1, a huge dumpster came for us to load the trash & wood scraps in. we very quickly filled it up, and the guy came again a bit later to take it and replace it with a new one. we had so much fun rummaging through trash and wood piles, except not at all because there were extreme quantities of earwigs. and i saw this EXTREMELY gross centipede. it was like an inch and a half long, and it was bright red. needless to say, it was creepy & disgusting. and apparently later, once megan & i had left for LEED, a baby mole was discovered in the same pile. he was apparently cute, but i'm not sure i believe that. anyway, we also used some scrap wood to make cornhole! so this summer when we're bored & have nothing to do, we can play [which i'm sure will be never]. but its still pretty cool :)

lauren, josh & wood scraps.

cornhole!

day seventy two.

2009-05-02T11:05:00.006-04:00

today was the last saturday on site! yay! today we got everything ready to pour concrete on monday... anna, megan, denise & i hung the doors that we built yesterday. according to robert, hanging doors is the 3rd hardest task in construction, after stairs & counter-sloped roofs. however, anna & i don't believe him. i suppose these maybe weren't so hard because they're temporary doors, but we still put them up pretty easily. after we got all the doors hung, anna & i drilled holes through the doors & the jambs so that we can put rebar in to lock them. we didn't get finished though, because all the drill batteries suck and all died. so i suppose we can finish that on monday.

elsewhere on site, people finished the rafter tails and decking on the front of the building and putting plywood over the curtain wall openings. so we are ready to pour the slab on monday & tuesday! we will apparently be working to clean up the site while the loflin guys do the slab. and hopefully we can get everything looking nice by the end of tuesday, so that we can have reading day off to play kickball!

the rafter tails are lovely

also, we saw bag-head boy today! we seriously see some crazy stuff going on in the neighborhood, and one such example is this guy who walks around with a bag on his head. today, i decided we needed a picture:

day seventy one.

2009-05-01T22:46:00.003-04:00

today was a weird day. first of all, it started POURING outside at like 12.50, just as megan & i were leaving for site. so we didn't really know what to do, so we just went to site to see what the deal was. halfway there, denise called us and said that robert was postponing everything until 2.30, and that if it stopped raining we would go to site then. however, megan had just spoken to renee, who said that half the class was there already, so we figured we'd just go down there and wait the rain out. and of course, by the time we got there the rain had stopped and it was sunny. north carolina is crazy.

anyway, an [us] o1 alum, adam gregory, was there to help us out today. we're getting everything ready to pour concrete on monday, and today the mission was to cover the curtain wall opening with plywood. gabe & some people started this yesterday, and we finished it today. first, we framed the openings and put them in there, then we got started on building the doors for them while another group put some sheathing on. so ashley, megan, cody, anna, adam & i built 6 door, i think. and that was it for today!

also, a few people volunteered to go to site early today to figure out the foam/plastic situation from yesterday. apparently, in some areas by the doors/curtain walls the gravel was too high, so once the foam was on, there wasn't 4 inches left for the concrete. so they had to take the foam & plastic off of those areas and rake the gravel so everything was level. and apparently, it was VERY good that everyone did this, because we wouldn't have passed inspection otherwise. so yay, thanks guys :)

day seventy.

2009-04-30T19:27:00.006-04:00

today we had to get all the vapor barrier plastic down, as well as the insulating foam around the perimeter of the building. the inspector is coming tomorrow, and we're pouring the slab on monday, so we had to get EVERYTHING done today. at first it was just cody, anna & myself working in one area, and denise & megan in another, so i was quite concerned that it wasn't going to get done. but then more people joined, and we were able to get it all done. however robert came by at the end of the day and said some of the areas were wrong because the gravel didn't get raked level before the foam was put down, so it should be interesting to see how that gets fixed...

also, today was super annoying because it seemed that EVERYONE was in a bad mood, including myself. i had a killer headache and was tired, which is not good. i suppose everyone stayed up late finishing our programming documents which were due today, so maybe that's why everyone was in a bad mood. whatever, hopefully tomorrow is better!

megan is having a nap.

plastic + foam + cody

bahahaha!

day sixty nine.

2009-04-29T19:18:00.006-04:00

today i worked with candice & ashley to prepare the south side of the big roof for decking. for the past few days, josh & lauren g have been putting up the rafter tails, and we had to do a bit more work before we could put the decking on. first, we cut some plywood to sheath some small areas that aren't going to be exposed from underneath. then adrian & robert did some designing/problem solving on the fly, as we had some issues with the corners and also the tree that required there to be a notch in the decking. so at the corners, instead of mitering the decking so that it creates one smooth corner, we cut it flush with each rafter so that there is a notch at the corners as well. to do this, we had to build another rafter for the corner to support the last pieces of decking. it was a bit annoying, because this whole process took us ALL day, because we had to add a whole bunch of blocking so that everything is supported properly. then at about 5.30, we were able to get the decking started, so tomorrow everything should go pretty smoothly!

completed rafter tails

day sixty eight.

2009-04-28T21:50:00.005-04:00

today was another rather boring day. i began by helping cody & anna level out the ditch on the north side, then put the pipe pieces together & putting string through it. then i joined megan, candice, and ashley to cut plywood into soffit pieces and also installing some of them. and that was really about it for today.....

pipe + string + anna

ditch

day sixty seven.

2009-04-27T22:04:00.003-04:00

today was a rather boring day. i began by moving wood up to the roof with megan, candice & ashley. we then put a bit more gravel where the wood was, to get it to the right level. next, we moved all the wood out of the interior of the building, because we are apparently pouring the slab on thursday! after this we took an extended water break, as there was nothing really for us to do. megan & i then ventured to the BP for some snacks, and when we got back we cut some blocking for between the rafter tails, then i helped candice & ashley nail them in. surprisingly, today went by very quickly even though i didn't do much. so that was nice :)

day sixty six.

2009-04-25T13:24:00.001-04:00

today we got on site at 8.00 as usual, which was actually good because being on the roof in the morning wasn't nearly as bad as yesterday afternoon. cody, anna & i got the rest of the sheathing on the roof, so it is good to go for the green roof guys who are coming on monday. we got done by about 11.00, then anna & i assembled rafter tails for josh & lauren g, who were installing them. then at 12.00, everyone took a lunch break at skippys. and since they take soooo long, we didn't finish our lunch until 1.00, and by then it was time for me to leave to go to work!

parapet wall

rafter tails!

das uber ladder

day sixty five.

2009-04-24T13:21:00.002-04:00

today i was expecting to be shoveling gravel once again, but robert sent me to the roof with anna & cody to help get the knee wall finished. at first i was quite excited about this, but i quickly realized shoveling gravel in the shade of the building is so much better than being on the roof when it's 90 out. because it's like 110 on the roof. and because of the extreme heat, we were not very productive today. oh well. we got all the top plates on, and the majority of the sheathing. robert wanted us to get it ALL done today, but oh well. we'll finish tomorrow.

day sixty four.

2009-04-23T20:14:00.005-04:00

so we were ALL on site on time today, as we were prepared for the "event", which we knew involved food. however, it was apparently not occurring until 2, so we got to work shoveling gravel for a bit. robert also informed us that he and everyone are impressed with our gravel work, particularly how quickly we have been getting it done. hooray.

eventually, 2:00 rolled around, and it was food time! rick boedicker [a construction guy somehow involved with helping us] apparently moonlights as a chef/griller, and he cooked us some barbeque! it was delicious :) as everyone was finishing up lunch, gabe brought out his football and threw it around with cody, and eventually half the class joined in and played a football game in the field beside us. i was super tired, and decided to sit & watch, while semi-napping on a blanket in the grass. it was LOVELY. however, robert ruined our fun and made us get back to work at like 3. so we proceeded shoveling gravel, of course. it's getting tricky too, because we have to get to the small rooms in the back, which involves using wheelbarrows in addition to the sharks. we also have to avoid some plumbing, because the plumbers STILL aren't finished. oh well...we're pouring the slab next week! yayy.

day sixty three.

2009-04-22T20:29:00.010-04:00

megan & i began our day today by going to lowes... last week, she & denise went and did some flirting/charming of lowe's people & the building community at a luncheon [aka: hot dogs] they were having. they apparently entered some contest, and megan won a prize! so we went today before site to pick it up. i was SUPER excited to see what she won, and it turned out to be a turf builder seed spreader. it was not at all what we were expecting, but hilarious nontheless.

anyway, we got to site, and finished building the knee walls from yesterday. then we joined the gravel-shoveling group, as there was nothing else to do. we got all the gravel done in the small suite area, and about half of the huge suite area/hallway done. it looks lovely! and shoveling gravel is deceptively painful. and very annoying. sarah & kaytee used the little shark guys to dump the gravel in the room, and we spread it out so it was level. we also had to use the transit A LOT to make sure that each spot is 2" above the footings. it's quite a pain to get it all level, but at the end of the day, robert said he was very impressed with our gravel-filled rooms. yay!

so after we shoveled gravel for 4 hours, we joined the rest of the group to clean up the clubhouse area around it. it has gotten QUITE crazy, and the clubhouse is a mess. this is all in preparation for an "event" tomorrow, that robert has decided to keep a secret. we know that there is food invovled, but megan & i also suspect that important people will be showing up, since we cleaned everything up. so that will be interesting.

megan & her seeding device!

gravel mountains

transit + shark

day sixty two.

2009-04-22T00:45:00.008-04:00

today i once again worked with cody & anna in our lovely green roof area. the mission for today: put up the knee walls we built yesterday on all four sides, to contain the green roof materials: aka more waterproofing, dirt, water, and some sort of vegetation. cody, anna & michael worked on installing the first pieces, while megan, johanna & i cut a lot of plywood for the sheathing. we finished that, and since everyone else was shoveling gravel and i clearly don't want to do that, i went back up to the roof to help install knee walls. they had gotten most of them layed out in the proper locations, so anna & i nailed them in while cody & michael went to build the side ones. anna & i finished that, then took over for cody & michael so that they could put up the edgeband on the front of the ijoists. meanwhile, some ominous clouds were approaching, and it was only a matter of time before we got hit by rain. around 4, it started pouring, so we packed up and had an early afternoon! woohoo!

megan is on the roof!

roof + knee wall + drain

day sixty one.

2009-04-20T18:48:00.004-04:00

i began the day today working with cody, anna & renee w in the large suite area to level out the last high spots of dirt. we got part of the way through, then robert sent anna & cody to build a knee wall. so it was just renee and i. a few others joined a while later, but they soon left for some unknown reason. then renee had to go to class. so i finished it by myself. it sucked, but i had the radio so i survived. once i finished, i went and helped cody & anna build the knee walls, which took the rest of the day.

day sixty.

2009-04-18T00:32:00.007-04:00

today i once again went to site at 8am. and once again, it was wayyy to early. we all started out the day by digging the ditch on the north side of the building. this is where we initially used the trencher, but it didn't dig quite deep enough, plus all this rain we have been having eroded the sides and more dirt fell in. so we have about a foot and half to dig so that the duke power guys can lay the electrical conduit. however, since this is on the north side of the building, it is still all wet and muddy and gross. and a pain in the ass to dig. so after 20 mins or so of us attempting to dig, robert admitted defeat and we proceeded with our other tasks for the day. cody, anna & i finished up the plywood on our portion of the roof, then cleared it all off and started putting the waterproofing on there. we got 2 strips on there before it was 12.00 and therefore time to leave! another group of people were coming in the afternoon, so hopefully they got all the waterproofing done. that was robert's goal for the day, because its supposed to rain tomorrow night. so HOPEFULLY it all got done and we wont have to pump water inside anymore! yayyyy

also, we have decided to form an [us] air band. the miscellanous plywood scraps/waterproofing tubes make very good guitars/basses/drumsticks, and we had a good time jamming out on the roof. cody especially:

air guitar

day fifty nine.

2009-04-17T00:29:00.005-04:00

today I continued working on the roof with anna & cody. this is the green roof area, and since robert has never done one, he wants to make sure that it is super strong. so we put an additional layer of plywood on top of everything we did yesterday. anna & cody cut and measured, while i followed behind them and screwed everything in. robert wanted us to get it done in about 2 hours, yet we spent all day working, and didn't even finish entirely. it was much more time consuming that one would think. anyway, i probably screwed in a THOUSAND screws, and now my back/knees hurt. plus i got more sunburned today, even though i put on sunscreen like 4 times today. i look forward to having crazy tan lines....

day fifty eight.

2009-04-16T22:36:00.004-04:00

today anna, cody, renee w and i finished putting sheathing on the green roof area! once again, we had to wait until 2:00ish to get started, because the gtcc boys were all up in our way. and once they were finished, they didn't even clean up the area; they left all their plywood scraps and shit in our way, and we had to clear it all off before we could begin. i was very annoyed. and quite close to telling them off for not picking their shit up. anyway, it was super hot today, and i wasn't prepared for it. so i got sunburned, because i only put sunscreen on my face. tomorrow we will be fixing up the front edge because it's a bit crooked, then we'll begin putting the 2nd layer of plywood on!

meanwhile, this is what's been occurring elsewhere around the site over the past few days: putting waterproofing membrane on the roof areas that are done being sheathed, putting up rafter tails, some hardcore grading by professional grading guys & their machines, and putting gravel inside to get ready for the concrete slab!

day fifty seven.

2009-04-15T19:48:00.006-04:00

today i helped cody & anna put plywood on the roof area we've been working on for the past few days. at first, it was quite annoying because the gtcc boys were working very near us, and they are very loud, annoying & get in the way. so we didn't make much progress for the first hour or so on site due. once they left, we were good to go, and we got about half the roof done. and it looks lovely!

day fifty six.

2009-04-14T22:20:00.006-04:00

i was really hoping it would rain today so that we wouldn't be on site. alas, it stayed cloudy most of the day. there was also a slight shortage of work to be done today, because it was too wet everywhere to do waterproofing. so i spent quite some time in between each task just searching for things to do. this was very annoying, and made the day draggggg on. oh well. so i started out the day fetching things for cody & anna while they were on the roof. i also helped pump water in between fetching things, because being their assistant didn't require very much work. after this, i got to go up on the roof! gabe & i finished leveling some of the rafters and put blocking in. after this, i went up to another portion of the roof to see if they needed any help. they didn't really, but towards the end of the day, gabe & i began adjusting some of the rafter tails by screwing a 2x4 to the top of each of them so that the spacing in between the 2 tails is even.

on the roof.

day fifty five.

2009-04-13T22:18:00.002-04:00

today, megan and i finished our [us] picture display in the lobby. first, we went to addams to pick up all necessary supplies. then we delivered the glossy paper to shawn so he could print the last image. while he was doing that, we cut the photos he printed earlier. then we picked up the last image from shawn, mounted & cut it, then pinned everything up in the lobby. it looks lovely. except for the 2nd years' bus shelter is a bit in the way. hopefully it will be moved soon

day fifty four.

2009-04-09T20:51:00.008-04:00

today megan & i met robert at his office to work on the pictures some more. we finalized the image we worked on the other day, then put it onto the server for shawn to print off. he started printing the first few pictures, and they look awesome. so then we went to addams trying to find epson enhanced matte paper, but they had none. we also checked at southern photo, and they didn't have any either. nor did anyone know where we could possibly find some. so we went back to site to inform robert of the paper situation, and he said that we can just put that one on glossy paper, to make it special. also, the things currently on display in the lobby aren't going to be taken down until monday, so we'll just wait until then to get the paper, finish printing, and FINALLY display our lovely pictures. yay!

so once we were back on site, megan & i started some waterproofing. this involved using the waterproofing membrane, which is some sort of plastic with SUPER sticky stuff on one side, which we wrap around the footing and up onto the icfs. and it is seriously sticky. i worked with it a bit last week, but only did a few sheets of it and it was in the shade, so it wasn't too bad to deal with. today, however, was quite hot and sunny, which makes the sticky side uber sticky and a pain in the ass to work with because it sticks to itself as well as to people. the good news is that most of the building is done, and i won't have to deal with it much longer!

also, this weekend is easter, which means we have a 3-day weekend! yayyyyy

our final image!

megan & our waterproofing masterpiece.

this is what waterproofing does to skin.

day fifty three.

2009-04-08T22:01:00.008-04:00

today, i started the afternoon helping cody, anna & denise fly the last 8 or so rafters. we measured the heights of them and did some shimming so that everything is sloping at the proper angles. then cody & anna worked on putting blocking between each joist, while denise & i made a knee wall to go at the end of the joists. it was a pain, and took the rest of the afternoon.

also, robert really liked the image we created yesterday. he's going to make some minor adjustments to the text, then i'll create a final image for shawn to print!

our knee walls that took entirely too long to build.

day fifty two.

2009-04-07T19:12:00.007-04:00

today we all met on site as usual, and i was prepared to work on flying joists up in the entrance/common area. however, robert sent megan, renee w. and myself to the studio to finish formatting the pictures that are to be enlarged. today was the PERFECT day to do this, because it was quite cold & windy out. so we headed back to the studio to get everything situated, as well as get 3 of john's pictures that we are going to use. robert also had a neat picture of the [us] stencil we use to tag everything that he wanted to incorporate with a little blurb about urban studio as well as all our names. however, this picture was quite dark and we couldn't photoshop it so that it looked normal, so we ventured back to the site to take a new picture. robert hasn't seen this yet, but we emailed it to him to get his opinion. so we'll see. john also sent anna a few of the group pictures, and we decided on one to enlarge. i'm not sure how i feel about it, but oh well.

our proposed image

group picture!

day fifty one.

2009-04-06T18:12:00.007-04:00

today, cody, anna, denise & i continued working on the front beam to get ready for the I-joists. we finished nailing all the 2x6's we cut on saturday, then put 2 layers of plywood on top of that. then denise & i tacked a few 2x4's onto the other wall, so that the I-joists stay in the proper spot. the joists were shorter than robert expected, but he somehow figured out a way to make them work. i'm not sure, we just followed his directions.

day fifty.

2009-04-04T11:15:00.004-04:00

today we met on site at 8am. it was wayyyyy too early. anna and i worked to help robert figure out the roof situation above the entrance/common area. because of the design of the area, each rafter needs to be sloped a bit differently or something in order for it to work properly. i don't really know how to explain it. but anyway, anna and i used the transit to measure the height of the wall at each of the four corners, to determine if anything needed to be shimmed or adjusted. we found out that the beam wasn't quite level, so we took out some of the shims that they put in earlier, which fixed that problem. next, we had to cut some 2x6's in order to build the top of the beam up 4.5", so that the I-joists sit at the right level. we measured and cut all the pieces we needed, but there were no more ladders tall enough so that we could reach up there, and the boys were using both the walk boards up in the atrium. so robert had us build some walk boards that we could put between 2 ladders. we spent probably and hour or so doing that, then we were able to start putting the 2x6's up on the beam. we only got a few up there though, because 1:00 rolled around and it was time to go! it was lovely to do some carpentry work today though, because anna and i have been digging dirt for the past week :/

the beam.

day forty nine.

2009-04-03T11:02:00.004-04:00

today, we got to site at 11, because we are way behind and need to catch up. i worked with cody and anna to finish the trench. cody operated the trencher while anna and i assisted as needed. i stood in front and directed cody, so that he wouldn't fall off the boards and into the trench, but also so that he was close enough to the edge so that the blade didn't rip into the boards. we did this until 3:00, when we ran out of gas, and also when john came by to take our group picture. this process took like an hour, but it was highly entertaining. we took pictures in a few spots: up on the rafters, sitting in the windows on the front of the house, and in a doorway. after this, anna, cody and i went to lowes to get more gas, then to finish using the trencher. however, the trench itself is not finished. so much of the loose dirt and soil fell into the trench, and now we have to go back in and dig it all out, so that it's 40" deep. yayyyyy

day forty eight.

2009-04-02T19:52:00.005-04:00

it seems as if greensboro is having an identity crisis and thinks it is actually seattle, as we experienced more rain today. and rain is in the forecast for the next day or so. anyway, just a few of us met in the studio today to work on some admin stuff. megan, johanna and i did a bit of paperwork for robert, while candice and denise typed up a schedule of sorts for things remaining to be done. then all of us plus anna, went through the hundreds of pictures that have been taken so far, in order to find 6 really great ones to print out at 24x30" for display in the lobby. there are over a thousand pictures, so it took quite a while. but we found some really good ones that are going to be awesome once they're blown up :)

here are 5 of the 6, 3 of which were taken by kaytee or robert, and 2 by john read, our photographer buddy. the 6th is going to be a group picture of everyone, which hopefully we'll be able to take soon!

photo: john read

day forty seven.

2009-04-01T17:14:00.011-04:00

today was pretty gross and drizzly out, but at least it was warm. i helped anna, cody & adrian get started on digging the ditch for the power line. it is on the far side of the building, and the trench needed to be 40" deep. it was pretty tricky because there was a ditch about 3 feet wide and a foot or so deep that the trencher needed to get over. so we took 8 or 9 pieces of 2x10s to create some decking for the trencher. and then we moved them around as appropriate so that the trencher could get to the back and start digging. the trencher was really intense, and cody & adrian both said that it was really weird and awkward to drive, so i was quite content just helping move wood, shovel, and fetch things as needed. but it was fun to watch.

day forty six.

2009-03-31T18:40:00.005-04:00

today, myself, anna, megan, renee w, and sometimes josh finished shoveling dirt out of the matron suite area. my back still hurt, but it wasn't super sunny & hot out today, so it wasn't as bad. we used the transit to make sure that everything was 2" below the footings. after 2ish hours, it was finished! hoorayy

after this, i helped gabe and some other people lift walkboards up on the rafters, so that tomorrow we can put plywood on the exterior portion of the knee wall. after that, i helped candice, sarah, ashley, denise & johanna put the waterproofing on the foundation. robert helped us for the first piece of it, showing us how to do it properly. then we did one more before we had to leave for the day. the waterproofing is this thick plastic material with sticky stuff on one side, which we attach to the bottom part of the icfs and then the concrete footing. it takes a while to get each one on there so that it's wrinkle-free, and it's quite annoying actually. and now that we know how to do it, i'm sure we'll be doing a lot more, considering we have to do the whole perimeter of the building :)

day forty five.

2009-03-30T19:14:00.005-04:00

today, anna, cody, renee w and i worked in the matron suite area to level out the dirt. our little bulldozer didn't fit in there, so we had to do it by hand. the dirt needs to be 2" below the footings, and then there is going to be 2ish" of gravel, 2" of foam, then 4" of concrete. the dirt was much higher than the footings in most places, so we did a LOT of dirt shoveling today. and now my back really hurts. it hurt a bit earlier from carrying all the braces & scaffolding, but today it REALLY hurts. i mean, i need to see a chiropractor now. hopefully we won't have to shovel tomorrow.

also today, anna, ashley & i learned how to assemble a wheelbarrow. the one we started out the day with was on the verge of dying. so josh & robert brought us a new fancy one. it apparently cost $200. who knew wheelbarrows could be that expensive. it did make the process much easier though.

digging.

[photo courtesy of john read]

day forty four.

2009-03-27T16:26:00.003-04:00

today = more rain = more shop work. we continued cutting & sanding the 175 rafter tails. some people who stayed longer yesterday left a bit early today. but we were all out of the shop by 3:00 anyway. yayyyy early friday!

day forty three.

2009-03-26T16:21:00.002-04:00

once again, it was rainy and gross out today, so we met up at the shop. the first task of the day was to cut the 175 2x6's we picked up the other day for the rafter tails so that they have tapered ends. we were going to use the table saw, but it was making some intensely scary sounds, and adrian decided we need an electrician to look at it. so we made a jig that each piece of lumber can fit into, to be cut with a circular saw. however, we didn't have a circular saw at the shop, so adrian drove down to the site to get it. we also didn't need everyone at the shop because there just wasn't enough work for everyone, so a few of us left early, including myself & megan.

day forty two.

2009-03-25T17:07:00.010-04:00

today was cold and drizzly out. ickkk. however, the scaffolding people were coming today, so we had to quickly remove all the scaffolding out of the atrium area. we were expecting to go to GURP afterward, but robert said we were doing such an awesome job that he was giving us the afternoon off. so we were able to leave site by 3.00. it was LOVELY. also lovely: the fact that i will never have to assemble/disassemble/carry/load scaffolding again!

we also had a surprise upon arriving on site today: the gttc boys got all the trusses up! who knew they could work so fast. now with all the scaffolding gone and roof trusses up, it ACTUALLY looks like a house.

merely a fraction of the scaffolding pieces

day forty one.

2009-03-24T19:50:00.007-04:00

as expected, megan, johanna and i finished removing the bracing and such from the matron suite area. the part remaining from yesterday consisted of many 2x12's screwed into each other, forming the walkboards. however, almost EVERY screw was stripped, so it was a super bitch to get down. we had to circular saw through some of the pieces, use the reciprocating saw to cut through some of the screws, and beat the hell out of it with some hammers & the crow bar. i got very frustrated and a lot of swearing ensued. but we eventually got it down, without injuring anyone. this was an impressive feat in itself, because our original plan of getting it down didn't work out whatsoever, so we ended up with a very treacherous situation with heavy lumber sitting precariously on only one or two braces. but amazingly, we all survived. i just can't believe it took two days to get everything down. we also of course, had to carry everything to the trailer at the front of the site. then we had to reload many of the pieces that were already on there, in order for everything to fit. and while we were working on the back room, people were getting the scaffolding down from everywhere else on site, except for in the atrium area. so now the site is ALMOST scaffolding free. hoorayyyyy!

a brace-free wall!

day forty.

2009-03-23T23:23:00.005-04:00

today, megan and i spent the whole day removing scaffolding & such from the back matron suite area. we got most of it down, except for some areas that didn't have walkboards, but were made out of 2x12s. these were screwed together, but the screws were stripped, and we need a reciprocating saw to saw through the screws. it should be pretty interesting. the reciprocating saw was at GURP, so megan and i drove over there to get it, plus some other things for robert: rakes, shovels, and a water jug. we also got quite an arm workout today, because carrying those braces from the back corner of the site to the front, as well as trying to avoid all obstacles, was quite difficult.

day thirty nine.

2009-03-21T17:27:00.006-04:00

today we met on site at 8:00, which is entirely too early. plus it was cold! first, josh & i measured some 2x12's to create a beam up in the atrium area, then we hauled them up on the scaffolding to assemble later (well, josh & cody did...i attempted, but it didn't work out so well) after that, we helped make some more beams to go at the front of the building. we finished up one that cody was working on yesterday, then put it in place. then we nailed 2 more beams together for the rest of it. each beam consists of 4 2x12's that are 8ish feet long, and it required a LOT of nailing. i'm going to have a beastly right arm because of it! so while josh/adrian/robert/whoever were putting those in place, anna, megan, ashley m and i worked on removing all the scaffolding from the living area, so that adrian can get in there with the mini-bulldozer to level everything out. it was nice to continuously have something to do today, which made the 4 hours go by quickly!

day thirty eight.

2009-03-20T20:23:00.003-04:00

today we finished up the rafters from yesterday. i sanded a few more that needed to be done from yesterday, then found a new job as the other group had the nailing & such taken care of. so next, i did random things here and there: took down some scaffolding, took some measurements, had a meeting with robert & megan about our progress thus far and a possible summer internship. then, megan, johanna, anna and i helped adrian make a bridge for our mini-bulldozer to get inside the building. there is a small knee wall of about 8 inches at the front, and we helped adrian pack some dirt up there then lay boards over top, creating a nice little bridge. it's a lovely little creation. so tomorrow, we're going to work on leveling out the site some, and/or do some carpentry work!

day thirty seven.

2009-03-19T23:21:00.006-04:00

today, anna, gabe and i had an adventure around greensboro, buying and delivering lumber and things. first we went to lowe's to pick up the 175 2x6's robert ordered for the rafter tails. i was the one who calculated how much lumber we needed for this, so i really hope it's right. robert also decided to point this fact out to me by saying 'hey caroline, i hope you calculated right!' ahhh pressure! but i suppose what's done is done, so we'll see how it works out. anyway, we went to lowe's and picked up half the load with gabe's truck, as well as a belt sander, rafter joists and some nails. then we delivered the lumber to GURP, because this is where we are going to cut them. then we headed back to lowe's to get the rest of the lumber. around this time, the people on site were needing the belt sander, nails and joists, so robert met us at lowe's to pick all that up. this is when he looked at the amount of lumber, and remind me how it will be my fault if we need more/bought too much. ahh. we also had quite an experience loading the lumber, as the lowe's people decided it would be better to load the lumber with the forklift. it probably took three times as long to do this as it would have been to do by hand, plus it was almost really bad news for gabe's truck, as they came mighty close to hitting it with the forklift. it was an entertaining experience to say the least. except really, it was really more frustrating than entertaining. but whatever. once the lumber was all situated, we ventured back to GURP to unload it.

also at GURP, we decided to explore the building more thoroughly than we had previously. at first it was cool, because we decided we should make this the next urban studio project and turn this into an awesome iarc shop + housing or something sweet like that. but then gabe made an extremely creepy discovery. first of all, some background info: this building is the former School for the Deaf, but it got shut down a few year ago i guess. so during our exploration, gabe discovered a torture chamber of sorts. seriously. it was a tiny closet, with a peep-hole looking INSIDE, a lock and lightswitch on the OUTSIDE, and no handle or ANYTHING on the inside. plus the interior was carpeted all over. it was seriously horrifying because we suspect they put kids in here to punish them. i want to report the school of the deaf people or something, because this was clearly a very bad situation, and i hope the appropriate people get in all kinds of trouble. or perhaps they already have, and that's why it got shut down. i don't know. but it was crazy :/

so after this, we went back to the site. i helped megan and johanna sand rafters so that the exposed end nice and smooth, and then adrian and some people got started putting them up. they went up VERY quickly, so hopefully we can get them all up before the gtcc boys come back on tuesday, proving to them how awesome we are :)

we're actually starting the roof! finally.

day thirty six.

2009-03-18T18:59:00.008-04:00

so today it was BEAUTIFUL out! and even though we were basically doing the same stuff as yesterday, it as seemed much less boring. for pretty much the whole day, megan, anna, cody and i sorted & bundled wood. we also organized the wood that had been randomly strewn about. megan, anna and i also ripped up our ICF creation that was poured with concrete the week before spring break. robert is thinking about exposing the concrete on a wall that will eventually be a hallway, so we were testing out how ripping off the styrofoam would go. it's a bit of a pain in the ass to get it all off, but it would look REALLY cool. the studs stick out, but they could possibly be sawn off, or used to hang up piece of backlit 3-form or something, which i think would be really cool. so we'll see what he decides to do about that.

we also had a little pow-wow today about what's going to happen over the next few weeks. the gtcc boys are [supposedly] putting up sill plates and knee walls so that the roof can be put on. they're going really slowly though, so robert said we may be helping them/taking over kind of. because we need the roof on so that we can pour the concrete slab. so while the boys are working on the roof, we're going to be grading the site, laying the perimeter drain, taking down the rest of the scaffolding, and things like that. and robert has given the boys a deadline for the roof, and i think it's next friday. it'll be exciting to get everything dried in! i feel like the site has looked pretty much the same for the past month, so it'll be nice to have something different and exciting to do!

our lovely wood piles

wood!

exposed concrete

day thirty five.

2009-03-17T20:38:00.003-04:00

today was quite boring, but at least it wasn't cold and miserable outside, like it has been for the past few days. we started out the day by taking down the bracing that we borrowed from jason loflin, because he was supposedly picking it up today, but it turned out that he didn't. but that only took a few hours, then after that, people took down more bracing, and i helped remove screws and sort it. then megan, johanna and i helped gabe take down 3 bays of scaffolding from the outside of the building, then relocate it to the other side of a wall so that later we can cut down a tree limb that is in the way of the roof. then we helped move more wood. and most likely, this will all be occuring again tomorrow, because there is still a ton of bracing & scaffolding around the site. how neat.

day thirty four.

2009-03-16T18:05:00.005-04:00

once again, it was very rainy today. we all met up in the conference room, and robert talked for a little bit. then we split up into groups to take care of various tasks. one group went to pump water, and thankfully i avoided being in that group. another group went with adrian to finish up some stuff at GURP. and the rest of us, denise, megan, johanna, candice and i, stayed with robert to do some admin type stuff. this involved doing some math, such as calculating plywood needed for the roof, hardiplank for the exterior, and random things like that. i haven't done this much math in YEARS, so it was interesting at first. but it was nice to be able to use that side of my brain once again :)

the conference room + lots and lots of files

day thirty two.

2009-03-05T20:22:00.002-05:00

so as expected, we spent today pouring the remainder of the concrete and removing braces & such. we finished getting all the braces and scabs off of the areas that were poured last week, and tomorrow we will take off everything else. hopefully this won't take very long, and we will be able to have an early start to our spring break! we can only hope...

day thirty one.

2009-03-04T22:17:00.003-05:00

so we had FOUR entire days of not being on site. it was quite lovely. we obviously anticipated having the weekend off, plus monday because the concrete needed to set. we also got tuesday off though, because the site was covered in snow & ice from the blizzard we received sunday night. so obviously it wasn't a blizzard, but it's the most snow i've seen in quite some time, so it was quite exciting nontheless. it was great to have four days off, however now my brain is in spring break mode, yet we still have a few days left until it actually starts. lame.

anyway, since the majority of the concrete is now poured, we spent the day removing many of the braces and scabs that we spent the last few weeks putting up. it was kind of depressing, because we were taking things down when it seemed that we had JUST put them up like the day bfore. there are TONS of braces & scabs around the site, and we only got about halfway done today. it sucked because the site is super muddy from all the snow & ice, and it was rather difficult and also quite tiring to just walk back and forth on the site. i spent a few hours undrilling things, then a few hours collecting wood and bringing it over to the driveway where we are keeping the lumber. we then removed all the screws and nails from the wood, and sorted everything into lovely piles. it was less than thrilling, to say the least.

megan and i also created a contraption of sorts for robert to test out an idea of his: he apparently wants to somehow remove the styrofoam off one of the walls so that it's reveals the concrete, but we obviously need to test this theory out before hacking into a wall. so with a scrap ICF, megan and i created a little container that he can pour with concrete tomorrow, then see how difficult/ugly/whatever it is to remove the styrofoam. it would be cool to have this concrete wall, but i'm quite sure it's not going to work out very well because of the studs in the ICF. but we shall see.

tomorrow, we are going to finish pouring the concrete and most likely keep removing braces and such. the roof trusses are also supposed to be getting delivered tomorrow, but i doubt we'll start installing those until after spring break. robert also broke the news to us that after spring break, we'll be working a lot of saturdays in order to get everything done. yay.

day thirty.

2009-02-27T17:10:00.005-05:00

today we poured concrete! it was very exciting, and was super awesome to have something different to do today. megan and i got to the site around 11:00, and the pouring was already underway. the weather was nice and cooperative in the morning, however around 12 it started raining. it sucked. the novelty of the cement trucks and the snout, as robert called it, wore off very quickly, and since it continued drizzling ALL afternoon, i was soaked and quite miserable. it also didn't help that i spent the majority of the day standing around, waiting for something to do. there wasn't much to be done, unless concrete spilled over, in which case we cleaned that up. i did spend a while 'floating' the windows, aka making the concrete smooth and pretty. but other than that, i just fetched things for people up on the scaffolding, or stood around. but at least we've got the concrete FINALLY poured! and now we have monday off!!!

oh, so my hands are a bit better today... i scrubbed them a lot last night and got the worst of it off, so now i just have to wait until the rest of it comes off by itself. adrian guessed it would take a week or so. we'll see.

cement trucks! there was a line of like 5 of them. it was neat.

denise & jason tackling a door buck

robert & the snout!

robert once again

cleaning up