#buildinggreen

Having completed the interior of The Villa at Beaver Grade and getting the exterior concrete poured, we eagerly await spring so we can do the landscaping.

Many people have asked us about “that big milk carton” in our yard. Let me explain. That big white thing is called a cistern, which we will install in the ground before we landscape. We will drain all our rain leaders from our roof downspouts into that tank. We will then use that to water our garden, shrubbery and yard.

Cisterns were very popular in centuries past, before the time of public water. People, animals and plants need water the most during dry times, so people used cisterns to save water during rainy seasons in order to use that water during dry seasons.

While Moon Township has excellent water, it does cost money. We will be able to use rain water for watering, and in times of emergency, we will have water for drinking if need be.

Waiting For Spring! Stay tuned.

I have heard this phrase said since I was a kid. As an adult, business owner and builder, it translates essentially as, “it’s one thing to say you believe in a product and another thing to actually spend your money on it.”

For years I have extolled the virtues of EIFS, (Exterior Insulated Finish’s System) or in other word, synthetic stucco. EIFS became popular in Germany in the post WWII period. The half ruined buildings were rebuilt with chipped bricks from neighboring buildings. 

Since the bricks did not match, they needed to be covered. Masonry stucco was not new to Europe, but the drawback to masonry buildings are that they provide very little insulation. This is where the foam insulation proves so very helpful.

A layer of foam is applied over a used brick structure and then synthetic stucco is troweled on top of the foam, creating a water-tight insulated covering that can be used to create a myriad of different architectural styles. 

Stucco can be used to create a Tudor manor house, a quoined formal French château, an arched Spanish villa, and yes, a Tuscan ranch. EIFS got into a lot of trouble in the US because it was applied over wood structures. While the EIFS seldom failed, windows, doors, and wood trim often did. Once the moisture got into houses, it could not get out.  A ton of homes rotted from the inside out. Most of the damage was caused in the Carolinas, where boom times in the 1990’s created a perfect storm; a product requiring great care and knowledge when applying, being applied by untrained crews working in a frantic pace to keep up with an unrealistic schedule.

For years I told clients that the product was not the problem, the application was, especially since EIFS industry developed a new waterproofing system membrane as an added precaution. Some building inspectors allow the EIFS foam to be mechanically attached over Tyvek Stucco Wrap but I have always believed, as does Moon Township’s building inspector, that two layers of paper are required. 

I tell the framer to install the Tyvek paper as if he is providing the only waterproofing and I tell the EIFS installer (or synthetic stone installer, which Is a similar products with similar dangers) that they need to apply their Tyvek paper as if they are applying the only waterproofing system. 

 After the paper, foam sheets are screwed onto the wall.

The screws are set into the foam so the foam can be scraped smooth and level. Then the dimpled holes are filled. 

 and the entire wall is brown coated.

I know the coating is actually grey, but we call it brown coating because the type of tradesmen that applies stucco used to apply plaster, which has a first coat that is actually brown. (I just wanted to clarify because, having grandchildren, when you call grey brown, you get corrected.)

The key to avoiding failures in an EIFS application is that the seams between the stucco and the windows and doors need to also be waterproofed. The most important thing is that the gap be as wide as a finger,

 which allows a wide caulk joint. This is the biggest challenge with all the EIFS contractors I have worked with over the years. They left small gaps and the smeared the caulk over the crack, not into it.

Once the brown coat is on and the gaps created, the finish is troweled on.

 I initially selected a color that was tan, matching some of the stone but Deby and a couple of friends told me that it would look better if the stucco was darker and stood out from the stone.  So we selected a darker color……………………..and had a moment of panic when the first finish coat was applied.

 Deby said our house looked like a pumpkin. 

I was concerned at first as well, but then we decided to give it the chance it deserved. Once the plastic was removed from the stone, we loved it! 

It is certainly not dull, and in fact I say that it is a happy house. I love it, Deby loves it and we have gone ahead with the rest of the exterior painting.

It truly is becoming a Tuscan country villa.

We love it!! That is what Deby and I said as we walked around our home this past Sunday before we had our first back yard fire.

Here's the thing. This home was a very simple home and as discussed in a previous blog, could have easily turned out looking like a giant double wide.  The master suite addition on the left side of the home and the garage addition on the right side of the home required us to spend a lot of time and let's be honest, a fair amount of money, adding architectural details. But details and decor are only surface deep if they're not also functional. 

While Deby and I do not say that this is the best home ever conceived, we are very happy and believe it will fulfill our desires for a compact, efficient, one level home that will serve us well into our retirement years. We can't wait to move in.

As appearance combined with functionality is a huge passion of mine, Deby and I walked room to room this past week and made sure everything was the best it could be for how we want to live. As we are finalizing all the demolition, framing and mechanical work, we mentally placed furniture, looked at the different views of the interior of the home from different perspectives and just walked like we will be walking in our home when it is done. More than once we would say something to the effect of this room is not exceptionally big but it really lives well.

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This experience reminded me of something that I have often wondered in my 30 years in the homebuilding industry; Why do Americans buy most products based on function and style but they buy their homes based on square footage?

I never heard a Boomer say, Forget the BMW with all the features, I want the big white Chevy box van because it has more square feet!

Likewise, I never heard a Yuppie walk into a TV store and say, Don't show me those flat screens, I want the real deep ones that fit into a massive oak cabinet.

 Finally, I have never heard a Millennial (side note: I'm still slightly unclear about what Millennial even MEANS - does anyone really know?!) ask for a big wall hanging phone with the oversized handle instead of a new slim down iPhone.

So why the fascination with big barrack style homes with brick and windows on the front only and vinyl siding without windows on the side?

Only when buying a home do they ask to take as much quality out of a home as they possibly can, to barely meet code in order to make it as big as it can be.

In 100 years will our great grandchildren walk through our newly built neighborhoods like we walk through Sewickley, Shadyside and the parts of Allegheny City (the North Side) and marvel at the architectural beauty of the homes?

Likely not. And that's a shame.

End rant.

Tune in to your regularly scheduled sweet renovation update blog next week. I just couldn't help myself.