My Account of Daybreak Cohousing Construction

Daybreak's 'Official' Construction Blog

2009-08-17T09:10:00.000-07:00

As I have not kept up this blog and have even more limited time now (with the arrival of our son Xander), Terri has started an 'official' blog that is representing the community rather than just my personal account of things. I still may add things here from time to time, but check out Terri's for more up-to-date information ... at least coming soon!
Thanks Terri!

At long last...

2009-05-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it's been a couple months. So much has happened. The buildings are almost all sided, the painting is well underway, and some of the units are getting their finishes put in. I keep thinking "I'll update my blog tonight" and then it doesn't happen. So thank you to all you who have hung on and waited for this update... and are still checking periodically. Remember, you can now become a follower and then you'll get a message when I do update it so you don't have to keep checking back.
In going through my pictures now though, I'm realizing I need to take some more overall shots. These are a couple weeks old and so they don't show the rest of the siding and I don't seem to have any good overalls of the interiors of the units, but here's some more detailed shots.

The colors are finally going up and they look spectacular!

Here's the mockup they did of the colors on the interior.

Kitchen cabinets and countertop (I need to get a view of the unit overall so you can get a sense of the kitchen. Stay tuned... I'll try to get this on my next site visit)

Our three-sided fireplace in the common house...going in!

View out the east townhouse unit - on a clear day standing in one place, you can see Mount Hood to the east and Mount Adams to the north... it's truly amazing!

Closing in the Walls and Going Up More

2009-03-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

The insulation is finished in the Southwest building and started in the northwest building.

In the southwest building, the gyp-board (aka wall board) is going in and it's starting to look like real rooms!

On the northeast building, the third floor is up and they are starting to build the 4th floor.

And on the southeast, the second floor is up. Only one more floor to go on each of the east buildings and the full layout of our home will be complete!

Community Site Tour

2009-02-22T16:20:00.000-08:00

On Sunday the 22nd, we had another Community Site Tour. This tour we have community members, friends, our architects (Grace, Mike, & Peggy from Schemata Workshop), and our contractor (Gabe from B&G Builders). It was a successful tour with some members documenting the insides of their walls and measuring off space for future closet organizers, furniture, etc. Overall there was lots of excitement in the air. We walked through the 1st floor and Basement of the common house and got to imagine our lives hanging out there. Take a look at our Facebook page for accounts from people of the tour!

First we gathered in the Cafe and Great Room to introduce everyone and start the tour.

View from the Courtyard:

After touring the 1st floor of the common house, we headed down the future entrance to the site:

And then down into the basement:

Everyone braved the construction stairs to see the upper units and the view from our rooftop terrace.

Going Up on the East

2009-02-16T16:17:00.000-08:00

This week things really started taking shape. The north building on the east side is up two stories, and the common house first floor is about complete!

Siding's on it's Way and Common House Starts!

2009-02-02T16:06:00.000-08:00

Floors are in, Roof is on, and Windows are going in!

2009-01-12T19:30:00.000-08:00

FLOORS ARE IN!
After what felt like a long delay waiting for the weather to turn our way, they were at last able to pour the basement slab today! By this afternoon they were just finishing it off. Soon they'll be starting the steel work and framing up the Common House!

ROOF IS ON!
The roof on the southwest building was just finishing out this afternoon. You can even see the pad for the hot tub that will go up there! This is a big step towards closing in the building and moving into dry work!

And the WINDOWS ARE GOING IN!
The southwest building was almost completely enclosed with the roof almost complete and the windows almost complete. Now they are just waiting for the doors to arrive. They'll be starting the windows on the northwest building shortly!

It's so great to see the project moving forward again at nearly full speed. The pace will be picking up as we dry the buildings in and get much less weather dependent!

Daybreak In The Snow

2009-01-12T19:24:00.000-08:00

As you probably know (or experienced yourself), we had quite a winter blast in December. Unfortunately, it did slow us down a bit, but it sure was pretty. Here's a picture of Daybreak in the Snow!

Community Site Visit!

2008-11-23T20:09:00.001-08:00

Today everyone got to tour the site! There were lots of questions, lots of awwwweeee, and I think it was helpful for many of us. Those that wanted to, got to go up on the second floor of both west buildings and climb up to the third floor of the northwest building. From up there people said there were amazing views of Mt. Hood (unfortunately, I didn't make it up there). Richard was able to catch a couple shots before our camera died.

Raising the Wall - Nov. 17th

2008-11-23T19:51:00.000-08:00

While at our meeting on the 17th, they raised an 85-foot section of wall all at once. It was quite a site to see!

During the site walk, we saw them framing the second floor walls and the floor. The exterior sheathing was already attached. Then they used wall jacks and a number of people to raise the wall. There was one guy running between everyone I'm guessing telling them to speed up/slow down so that the wall would be raised equally along the entire length so as to avoid the entire wall snapping in two.

It was a successful raising and by the end of the meeting I got to snap a completed shot.

November 10th

2008-11-23T19:29:00.000-08:00

Within a week, the framing for the first floor was nearly complete. The southwest building was receiving the second floor joists. The northwest building had the plywood sheathing on the first floor, the joist above completed, and the plywood for the 2nd floor flooring was being put in place. Also, they were installing the required railings for the workers to be able to work up there.
I got to go up onto the second floor and look out. Even from just the second story, the view was amazing! I can't wait to see what the 4th floor of the townhouses will see!
Meanwhile, the footings for the walkways were dug out, the footings for the upper portion of the east building were ready to start, and they were working on the dig-out of the rest of the basement.

November beginnings - Nov. 3rd

2008-11-23T19:14:00.000-08:00

We led out the start of November on a good foot - just starting the framing on the first two buildings. There was a slightly slower start than originally predicted, but once they got going, it went quite quickly. They had all the lumber for the first two building delivered to the site at the start of the framing.
While the guys (yet to see any girls on the crew) where framing the first floor on the west, the excavator started work in the middle of the site. They finished the infiltration area that will be located under out grassy play area. This will be the destination place of all our stormwater for the site and is sized to handle up to the 100-year-floods. Once this was completed, they began digging the footings for the upper part of the east building.

October Work

2008-11-23T18:46:00.000-08:00

During the month of October, work was focused primarily on getting the slabs for the two west building put in place. They started with pouring the stem walls. Then the radon system was put into place. After the radon system was laid, they backfilled, and prepared the soil for the toppings. First the vapor barrier was installed along with the under slab insulation. Then the rebar for the slabs and the radiant tubing for the hydronic radiant slab system was put into place. Finally, they were able to pour. We were blessed with a relatively dry and nice day to get some smooth slabs put into place that will be the finish floors on the ground level! It was a pretty impressive pour and made such a difference.
Meanwhile, on the east side of the site, the basement got fully dug out, and the footings for the basement began being formed.

It's been awhile...

2008-11-23T18:41:00.000-08:00

So it's been awhile since my last post. So many exciting things have been happening, but I haven't made the time to post. Many of you have commented on my lack of blogging. I am finally getting back to it. In the last month I've been just swamped. The community is going through our unit polling process, I took another licensing exam, and there's been all the normal construction type stuff to manage. On top of that, Terri was out of town for a couple weeks in there, and I've been completely slammed at work.

So not to make all these excuses, but the blogging has taken a back burner for awhile. I'm finally going to spend some time tonight posting some beautiful pictures of our soon-to-be new home!

Hope you enjoy!

Footings, Stem walls, and a Basement

2008-10-01T23:16:00.000-07:00

A lot can happen in a week. The footings for the two west buildings have been poured. The photos below are from Monday when they were forming up the stem walls. They planned to pour those today and when I went by today, it sure smelled like they had, though I couldn't quite see.
The basement was about 80% dug out on Monday and today, it looked like they were working on the detailed cuts for the footings.

Tuesday, Sept 23 - Tree Falling

2008-10-01T23:11:00.000-07:00

So I may have gotten a little carried away with the photos, but the falling of the tree was just such an amazing experience. They dug around the entire base and then tipped it and it went down quick.

Take a look at the curly branches ... we're hoping to build a really cool sculpture / kid's play structure for the playground!

Tuesday, Sept 23 - Tree Falling Cont.

2008-10-01T23:08:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, Sept 23 - Tree Falling Cont.

2008-10-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

Monday, Sept. 22 The Cedar Tree - Prep

2008-10-01T22:48:00.000-07:00

I met a wonderful neighbor, Kurt, that I'd exchanged a few emails with to discuss what we might be able to do with the cedar tree. Thank you to Sarah for passing on Kurt's info! We took a close look at the tree to scope out the possibilities. Kurt has very graciously given us his time, advice, and offered to help us. His help has already been invaluable and we look forward to working with you further.
Thank you Kurt!

Here are a few pictures from scoping it out.

Wednesday, September 17th

2008-10-01T22:34:00.000-07:00

We had our first site meeting with the architect's present. We all walked the site and talked about where we were at.
The formwork on the southwest building was just getting started.
The earthwork on the northwest building was just about ready to go.
And they were infilling the old basement on the old north building.

It's about time ...

2008-10-01T22:31:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know it's been awhile. It's been a crazy couple of weeks. On top of all the work related things going on, I was gone the last two weekends. We had our annual community retreat a week and a half ago and it was fabulous! I've been trying just to catch up and stay on top of all the construction work. I have taken lots of photos though, so I'll add them by date so you can see the progress. Enjoy!

It's almost all down!

2008-09-11T17:00:00.000-07:00

The substrate on the west building is ready for the formwork and just awaiting test results.
They began tearing into the existing parking lot to start the earthwork for the north building.
And the third existing building is almost down!
Take one last look at our beautiful cedar tree. It will be turned into benches, artwork, and more for our future community!

Also, Deconstruction Services held an on-site tour to explain the deconstruction process and a little about Daybreak.

A lot happens in just a week...

2008-09-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

Look at it now! There's a giant hole in the ground. We've removed lots of dirt, and are bringing back structural fill for the first building! You can see the outline/edge of the first building now!

The second existing building is down, and the third building is about half way there!

Here are a few photos from this week!

Things are movin...

2008-08-29T22:36:00.000-07:00

This was from Wednesday this week:
The retaining wall is gone, the lava rock salvaging was a success! It's all piled under the tree where it will be protected and remain until we're ready to use it for some landscaping.

The guys are continuing to tear down the buildings. The second building is well under way. The siding is coming off of both buildings. The roof is off the first buildings and it's just the walls left to go.

It's going away...

2008-08-29T22:25:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, the roofing came off, the interior walls were missing, and things were piling up outside. The air was definitely blowing through the first building.

Windows are out!

2008-08-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

They are working on the west building first. It's amazing how quickly they work. Signs up, cabinets are out, windows are out, and there's a bunch of wood piling up in the yard!

WE'RE CLOSED!!!

2008-08-19T16:12:00.000-07:00

We will officially start construction (or deconstruction as it may be) on Thursday morning.

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you EVERYONE for all your hard work to get us here! Yeah Community, Family, and Friends!!!!

Trailer's Up!

2008-08-15T15:43:00.000-07:00

I'm having mixed feelings of excitement and a little disappointment.

My mouth has been watering all day today with expectations of going over to the site to pick the plums that were almost ripe two days ago.

I rode by earlier, and saw that the contractors had been out to the site again. This time, the job trailer was put into place! Things are really looking like they're getting started!

With that, they also decided to lock the fence which until today, had two places which were not yet secured where I could easily sneak in. This means no plums for me today.

Though I think the excitement of seeing it progress thoroughly outweighs the loss of plums. Hopefully they'll still be rip early next week when I get access again!

The flags are waving, the trailer is in place, it's almost ready to go!!!!

Getting Started

2008-08-13T16:27:00.000-07:00

Fences are up, temporary power poles are in place, and paperwork is being signed!

We are almost ready to start!

We've waiting a long time for this to happen (it's been three years to the month since Richard and I attended our first meeting!). As soon as all be paperwork is signed, we'll start deconstructing the buildings.

Here's a look at our site as it stands today!