July 11, 2008 Progress Report
Items Accomplished
GT Builders
Installed exterior trim around the south windows of Madison and Big Horn, as well as the pre-finished siding of Big Horn. The siding was finished in an antiqued style, with a layering process to make it look like the wood has been painted, stained, sanded, repainted and repainted again over several generations. The final look is beautiful, and people keep coming in and gaping at it. Credit Smith Painting for achieving this look.
Our latest chimney – in progress – a decorative and very unique eye-catcher on the south-facing roof of the five-plex. It’s one of the first things people will see when driving into Bear Dance Village.
Provided necessary support for roofers, masons, plumbers, fireplace installers, drywallers…if anyone needed something done, these guys were quick to take care of it and quick to carry on the good attitude seen on this jobsite everywhere we turn.
Flathead Masonry & Tile
Finished the remainder of stone work on The Flathead. Also worked with Ron Incoronato & Co and Marilyn Olson (project owner) to develop an idea for adjusting the final look ever so slightly to achieve an approved product. Marilyn was concerned that the stones on the corners and around the windows didn’t have quite enough color to complement the stones with the moss and lichen that were mixed in. We explained that that was the result of the tumbling process that the stones went through in order to give them a softer edge and make them less ‘blocky’, but a side effect is that the natural color in the rock is sometimes slightly dulled and ‘grey-ed out’. Jeremy Boyes (president of Flathead Masonry & Tile) at that point provided a quick experiment. He lightly sprayed some water on the square blocks, and the color immediately deepened, providing a fantastic combination with the moss and lichen-covered rocks. We all loved the result (which, in addition, provided a better overall blend with the Bear Dance Brown and the slate roofing color), so Jeremy will come up with a color enhancer to apply to these stones – without making them glossy – to make that enhanced color more permanent.
We’re thrilled with how the green siding
turned out on the south face of Big
Horn, around the upper garage.
Everyone else who sees it loves it, too.
Rainmaster
Continued to work on installing the slate roofing on The Swan.
Provided step flashing wherever needed around the five-plex chimneys and in areas that will receive stone. This flashing is essentially a roof-to-wall flashing, but it “steps” up over several 2×4’s layered against the wall or chimney. This allows the flashing to keep the house dry, while at the same time keeping it in plane with the face of the stone or brick. It’s an illusion to create the perception that the stone or brick has been continuous all the way up from ground level – just the way it would have been built hundreds of years ago.
Fontecilla Custom Interiors
A small crew has been here working on the scratch coat and prep work for the dormers of the Boulder upstairs guest suite, as well as taking care of a few remaining areas on The Swan that needed to be finished before the roofing went in place.
In addition, Hank has been working feverishly with the Camel Committee to provide samples of surfaces, colors, textures, Arcus- stone (a product that has the appearance of cut limestone or sandstone, but is actually very lightweight, just as durable, and feels like the real thing to the touch) and whatever other creative surface we want to see here. Hank has been a fantastic addition to the Camel Committee in its design process, and he’s nearly ready to let loose and add a significant element to add to our Old World Theme.
High Ridge Steel
On site to weld all-thread and angle iron to the south face of Gallatin’s upper floor. This hardware will help to support the 41- foot-long 8×20 timber that will be one of the first things people see when they drive into Bear Dance Village.
Ordered and began assembly on a radius piece of railing that will adorn the top of the curved wall on Yellowstone’s west side. When the wrought-iron railing was installed between the columns of Yellowstone (see last month’s photos), we loved the look so much we couldn’t understand how we enjoyed the building’s look beforehand. The problem was (if you want to call it a problem – we tend to look at it as an opportunity), the round wall to the north of Yellowstone’s entry – with the brick soldier-course fascia – now looked too flat and lacked character in comparison. We originally had only thought of putting the iron railing between the columns, but now it was clear that we needed to continue the railing on top of this curved wall and have it terminate into the roof on the north end.
Arctic Heat
Due to the sudden rise in temperatures during the first week of July, the crews from Arctic Heat were all running around the Flathead Valley firing up air conditioners and furnaces, so we missed a week. They made up for it the following week by sending two crews to finish up the rough-in for Missouri, and are now on schedule to be moving over to The Madison ahead of the electricians and getting out of their way.
Touris Plumbing
Working on rough-in of plumbing for Madison.
Finishing all the gas piping and thermostats for radiant heat in Missouri.
JK Electric
Started pulling wire in Missouri, but they were a bit too quick. The crew from Arctic Heat was still too early on in their HVAC rough- in, so they pulled off, planning on coming back late next week.
Anderson Masonry
On site to install a gas fireplace insert over the master tub in The Swan. After several delays and reschedules were holding up the overall process (roofing and drywall – and thanks to a…how shall we say it…encouraging phone call from Ron), Anderson’s worked with us to reschedule some of their other installations to get us taken care of before it became a problem.
United Drywall
Finished texturing the drywall in the Yellowstone (guest bedrooms and bathrooms only – master suite and common areas all get a plaster finish by Fontecilla)
Began hanging drywall in The Swan. This one has gone really quick, and we expect the installation to be completed by next week.
Ganz Soda Blasting
Finished all the work needed on site for soda blasting (yay!!!). The finished product looks fantastic, but everyone (including the neighbors and the workers) was glad this portion was finished. Never before would we have thought a construction site could sound so quiet.
Smith Painting
The Bear Dance Brown on the massive timber
truss of Ruby and Big Horn takes us to a whole
other level of character.
Zavala Landscaping
We brought in a few guys for a day just prior to July 4th to do some cleanup down by the water. The grass was getting tall outside the fence, there were limbs down from spring storms, and in general the view from out on the water wasn’t too pretty. We wanted to take advantage of the Fourth of July crowds out in the bay, so Zavala’s guys came in and really cleaned things up and got it looking good.
Ron Incoronato & Co
On July 2nd, we gave the tour we had been advertising to our neighbors and a few additional interested parties. There had not been an RSVP, so we didn’t know how many people to expect, if any. We knew there had been curiosity about the project, but we didn’t know if anyone really cared enough to go through an open house. It was scheduled for 5 p.m. that afternoon, and at 4:57, a few people trickled up to the gate. Within ten minutes, we had 30- 40 people standing in front of us! For the next hour, we answered questions, gave a brief history of the project, talked about our overall objective, and in general tried to contain people wanting to explore the whole project in their enthusiasm. The verbal response was one of excitement and support, and the non-verbal body language was just as telling. Watching people’s faces, whispering to each other and pointing wide-eyed at different areas, sneaking away from the group to peek around some corner and see what’s next; it was certainly entertaining for us. We had been worried that our neighbors were getting sick of hearing our work and dealing with a construction site next door, but they actually seem just as excited about the project as we are!
Walked through each unit of the five-plex and, taking themes and design details into consideration, worked to come up with locations for electric fireplaces in certain areas of each residence. Normally we would hesitate to put an electric fireplace in a project like this one, but we’ve found a product that is much more realistic than any others on the market. They also have the option of adding cast iron surrounds and mantels, which helps tremendously in adhering to our old world theme.
We keep using the term “walk-through” in regard to our Camel Committee meetings or between Ron, Keith and John Mark, but there are so many other times we conduct a “walk-through”. We won’t itemize this point in every report, but it might be worth mentioning, just once, the kind of time we spend on this task:
Walk-through with plumbers in Missouri to determine thermostat locations
Walk-through with drywall hangers in The Swan to show them where we’re doing plaster, where there’s stone, and where there’s regular drywall.
Walk-through Missouri and Madison with Arctic Heat to determine location of air conditioning vents, cold air returns, and heat recovery ventilator (HRV) vents. A separate walk-through for thermostat locations.
Walk-around the whole five-plex with the masons to show them which walls and surfaces get which types of stone, so they can measure the square-footage and get things ordered; also to discuss certain areas that might create a problem and how to address them (this is actually true with every subcontractor).
Walk-through the five-plex with Hank Fontecilla to discuss options for plaster and stucco, and how it will coordinate with wood, brick, stone and other surfaces.
Just another day at the office. This one was taken on July 10th, and you can see the work happening: new chimneys getting brick, Big Horn getting siding, and Bear Dance Brown on some timbers. What you can’t see is Rainmaster, Touris Plumbing, Arctic Heat, Fontecilla Custom Interiors, United Drywall and JK Electric, all doing their thing as well. Somewhere in there, we’re doing a walk-through.
Walk-through the Missouri with the crew from Home Technologies in preparation for their visit to rough-in sound and security wiring next week.
Walk-around the whole Bear Dance Village with the crew of Smith Painting to point out certain areas that need special attention, which areas get Bear Dance Brown, and where we’ll be installing our siding.
Walk-around the five-plex with the masons to talk about which brick detail we’ll be doing on which chimney, which then leads us to discuss what type of flashing we’ll need at the bottom, which then leads us to another walk-around with the framers to tell them what kind of support they need to build for the flashing, which then leads us to a walk-around with the roofers to tell them which type of flashing goes where.
And these “walk-throughs” are only at the beginning of each subcontractor’s phase of work. Once they’ve started, each one comes to us at least once per day (usually twice or more) to ask us to either clarify certain points, or to address a challenge we didn’t foresee (which often turns into an opportunity), or to give them the go-ahead and make a certain executive decision. It’s nonstop. But in a weird sort of way, we absolutely love it.
Selections/Decisions Needed
New: Need to continue to work with Keith Beck to come up with hand sketches of certain areas in the five-plex that are critical to coming up with the correct design and theme. Examples are the Missouri TV-and-fireplace combo, the Swan dining chandelier, the Gallatin foyer, and the Madison master bedroom fireplace (a corner design with a lot of flexibility to be creative).
New: Received tile selections from Carol Nelson on the Boulder Unit, and Yellowstone is nearly finished, but we need a final list and details, as well as the beginnings of this process on the five-plex.
New: Waiting for answers from two of the main distributors of stone in the Flathead Valley – Montana Rockworks and Glacier Stone Supply – in a bidding process to supply the stone for the five-plex. Our decision will be based not only on financial, but also on who can provide the best overall product.
Old: Need to begin looking at samples of wrought iron inserts and designs for the railing of all the decks on the five-plex. Since there are so many of them, these railings will be an absolutely critical design element, and we fully intend to make the most of that opportunity.
Old: Need to finalize the style, species and size of the wood flooring for Boulder upstairs, as well as getting bids from several wood floor installers to ensure we get the best product at the best price.
Old: Colors and finishes for units in the five-plex have been discussed, and we have a good start and direction now. Our meetings in the coming weeks will focus on ironing out all those details. Also will go through the five-plex and, using these decisions, pick out trim styles and sizes, flooring styles, and any final design details.