element Blog

From the air…

scottb — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 22:40:23 +0000

Last weekend designer and photographer, Joshua Colt Fisher, came to visit the project that he had a hand in designing. He had the opportunity to take a helicopter ride for an aerial view of the house and garage, and luckily for us he had his camera with him! Many thanks to Josh for sharing his photos with us – they are beautiful! Be sure to check out Josh’s website for more of his photography and design work: JoCoFi Design + Photography

The crew.

Joshua Colt Fisher, JoCoFi.com

Skin for a skeleton

scottb — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 21:03:53 +0000

Happy new year!

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Ours was great, but we were ready to get back to work so that we could start putting up some walls (and photos)!

The SIP walls sit in sill track that is anchored to the concrete slab with wedge bolts at 18" on center.

View of the northeast corner.

View of the southern facade.

View of the southwestern corner.

A panoramic with some panel walls constructed.

Interior 360 panoramic of the first floor - Panel wall progress.

Interior 360 panoramic of the first floor - Completion of all panel walls.

Interior panoramic of completed wall panels on the second floor.

Another interior panoramic of completed wall panels on the second floor.

With the panel walls completed, we begin to put up the fascia.

View from the drive way.

Just a quick hello from the garage.

scottb — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 19:34:15 +0000

The holidays are quickly approaching and we are tying up the loose ends here before heading home to spend time with our families. Before we sign off though, we thought we’d take a quick look at the garage with some exterior and interior photos.

Door open, awaiting RVs and cars.

Garage interior view.

Garage interior view of clerestory windows.

Happy holidays everyone!

Pizza for everyone!

scottb — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:53:12 +0000

Forget about building, we can finally start making some pizza pies!

Flying Steel Part 2: Level 2

scottb — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:03:02 +0000

The next level of steel has been completed, and we have started laying down the floor and roof panels.

Check out the progress below of our complex steel structure.

Flying in the big beams with the Boom Truck.

The guys secure the beam.

Fine tuning the steel.

Floor panels awaiting installation on the second level.

View from the drive way at dawn.

Second level floor panels installed. Next up, roof deck panels.

The floor and roof panels are secured with 10" self-drilling screws. Here they are layed out at 8" on center, staggered.

Flying Steel Part 1: Level 1

scottb — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 17:38:04 +0000

After pouring the concrete for the house, we allowed a week for curing and then we were able to begin putting up the steel framework. Documented below is the two weeks of hard work it took to put up a good portion of the steel!

(“Flying Steel Part 2: Level 2″ to follow shortly, of course!)

Team Poland setting the first post.

Putting up the porch parapet trusses.

Steel connection detail.

The Stucco Process

scottb — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 23:54:53 +0000

A little more than three months and we are already nearing the end of our work on the garage. It is looking a lot less bare these days as it has undergone the process of stucco-ing!

We try to take the green/sustainable/eco-friendly route in all aspects of our construction, especially when it comes to using products that are on par with the LEED standards. R-GUARD FastFlash, PermaLath 1000 and Acrocrete are some of our favorite products when it comes to adeptly finishing the exterior of a building successfully.

Check out the process in all it’s detailed glory!

First the garage gets a smooth Peel 'N Seal layer - a self healing underlayment.

We use R-GUARD FastFlash as a sealant for an air- and water-tight installation of doors and windows. Best of all, it's eco-friendly!

A detail photo of an expansion joint - a necessary layer to prevent the stucco from cracking.

The PermaLath 1000, a fiberglass mesh that is a non-rusting heavy duty light weight alternative to metal-lath, between expansion joints.

Corner bead and sofit lath before stucco.

The stucco-ing begins!

Acrocrete and Titan's Stucco Concrete are key to make a lasting finish.

Drying stucco.

One last wall to go!

The final look and a view from the garage clerestory windows.

A wonderful day for a smooth concrete pour.

scottb — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 00:14:53 +0000

We mean that literally and figuratively because today we poured the concrete for the super-mega-ginormous house that will sit perfectly beside the super-mega-ginormous garage we’ve been working on.

It was once again an early start for everyone, but it was great to able to watch such a big pour. Our crew, Bella Construction, did a beautiful job.

Be sure to view all the beautiful concrete fun!

Rebar details.

Deadmen supporting the form from below.

Formwork panoramic.

Formwork and rebar panoramic.

Rebar panoramic.

Concrete being pumped.

Prepping.

Pouring panoramic.

The Bella Construction crew working hard.

Concrete pouring panoramic.

Surface finishing panoramic.

Final wash down panoramic.

Clean up panoramic.

Completed panoramic.

The super-mega-ginormous garage gets a door.

scottb — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:33:38 +0000

What does one use as a door when your garage is larger than life? …Oh, just a typical airplane hanger door.

It wasn’t an easy couple of days but we are definitely happy with the results. Be sure to check out the photos!

The garage door hanging and construction process.

The completed garage door with windows installed.

The completed garage door open.

The super-mega-ginormous garage.

scottb — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 19:26:34 +0000

We have begun construction on a new project located in the Florida Keys.

Over the course of the last few weeks we’ve constructed one of our largest garages yet! At 30′ x 42′ the garage can store two 40′ RVs, or if need be, up to 6 cars. Above the garage is a loft space with enough room to be used as storage space, an office, or even an apartment.

Have a peek at some photos!

The steel arrives.

Putting up steel with the help of the Boom Truck.

Loft Interior - Beginning to put panels up.

Putting up panel.

Loft Interior Panoramic.

Flying in roof panels.

Panels completed.

View of the loft clerestory windows.