beausoleil

A Beach House Restoration – did the Victorians drink margaritas?

Construction has started on a Beausoleil Architects designed project to rehabilitate an historic ocean side bungalow in Capitola. The property, newly purchased by a Los Altos family for weekend getaways, overlooks picturesque downtown Capitola and Monterey Bay from the bluff known as Depot Hill. The existing house, a Victorian built in the 1890’s, has long been a local landmark but had fallen on hard times, including a major fire which caused the roof to be rebuilt.

 

The purchasers’ recognized the property’s worth, including the fact that its situation will never allow its view of the ocean and the town to be blocked, and it’s large yard, crying out for landscaping, a hammock and a pitcher of margaritas. As it turns out, the family’s business is commercial landscaping, so the owner envisions a happy few years doing as a hobby what his firm does professionally. The house’s generous living spaces, three bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus the option of adding a loft in the attic, would accommodate their family as well as numerous friends for summer parties.

The house’s exterior has suffered a bit over the years but is generally very close to its original form.  As such, and as part of the Depot Hill Historic District, significant changes to its exterior have to be done in accordance with the Secretary of the Interiors Standards for Historic Renovation, a set of Federal guidelines that govern work on historic properties.  Beausoleil Architects carefully documented the existing construction, and then worked closely with the local planning department to assess the owner’s plans for a new deck, rehabilitation of the windows and restoration of the original front steps.  With the help of the Capitola Historical Museum the owner was able to track down historic photos of the house, including one showing the local gang of kids sitting on the front steps, circa 1925. As it turned out, the proposed changes were considered appropriate and minor and the project sailed through the review process.

 

The interior of the house was a different problem.  The kitchen, as was typical in Victorian times, was cut off from the living spaces and arranged with a maximum of doors and a minimum of counter space. The owners wanted a more informal, free flowing space, so Beausoleil suggested taking out the wall between the kitchen and dining room, including a large non-functioning chimney. Besides opening up the spaces, the seismic hazard that the un-reinforced chimney represented was eliminated.  Beausoleil’s design also moved one of the doors – into a bedroom of all things – which freed up one wall for a large bank of storage cabinets. 

A rear extension of the house, including a bedroom and bathroom, was apparently remodeled at some point in the distant past, probably by enclosing what had been an outdoor laundry porch. The bathroom space in particular was substandard, and the new design created extra usable space by eliminating a rear stair and hallway.  A larger bathroom with a stacking laundry was the result – no more tramping down to the basement to do laundry.

The interior design is now being worked out by the owner and Anne Munemitsu Interior Design. The owner’s intention is to keep the basic Victorian detailing while updating the finishes and colors. The kitchen and baths will get all new fixtures and finishes.  Besides this eye candy, the underlying structure and systems are also be updated.  The crawlspace is being ‘voluntarily’ upgraded for seismic strength, and a new central forced air heating system and new wiring is being installed.

The result, when construction is completed in a few months, will be a beautiful ‘old’ Victorian, complete with all the modern conveniences, ready for its next hundred years of lounging at the beach.

Rags to Riches

This is hopefully the first installment of a rags to riches story: how discarded water from your laundry (that’s the rags part) can turn into edible riches.

The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission is launching a new Laundry to Landscape pilot program, the object of which is to install greywater systems that utilize laundry wastewater for irrigating landscaping, thus reducing water and sewer use. The program is aimed at single and duplex home owners, and includes a short training class and subsidised sale of the necessary piping equipment.

For those not familiar with Greywater systems, they involve the use of wastewater from bathroom sinks, showers, bathtubs and laundries to irrigate landscaping (and in some cases for toilet flushing).  Wastewater from toilets, utility sinks and kitchen sinks are not included, as they contain much more bacterial and chemical components and need more sophisticated treatment.  Bathroom sinks, laundries, showers and tubs, given the use of appropriate cleansers, are considered safe for use in landscaping, as long as some basic precautions are taken with how the water is distributed.  The state has even legalized ‘simple’ systems, involving water from a laundry, without needing a permit. More complex systems are also possible, however.  Check out the Greywater Alliance or Greywater Action for general information.

The program is being run by the Urban Farmer Store of San Francisco, and they are looking for 150 volunteers for the pilot.  The benefits include a $95.00 subsidy on parts and training by experts. This will cover most of the costs for many people.

We intend to irrigate edible plants -- a small fruit orchard and blueberry bushes – with our system. It may take a few years for things to mature (growing edible plants in San Francisco’s climate is always a challenge!) but we have hopes for a cornucopia. 

A new code for the new decade - the California Residential Code (CRC)

As if we didn’t have enough code books taking up valuable space on our bookshelves, the powers that be have adopted a new residential building code for California, to take effect on January 1, 2011.  I just went to an all day class on this new code, the California Residential Code, 2010 edition (henceforth known as the CRC), and thought I would share some of the information while my head is still spinning. The revisions to current standards promise to be variously useful and annoying. Along with the new 'CalGreen' code, also to take effect in January, we are in for a bit of a learning curve (more about CalGreen in the next blog).  

The new CRC does not supercede the current California Building Code (2007 edition), but rather supplements it, sandwiching a new Part 2.5 into the existing structure of the CBC.  The CRC will govern most residential construction, including single and duplex residential structures, live work units (when built as houses), semi-attached townhouses, and certain kinds of group care facilities.  It does not cover other residential projects such as apartments, condos, hotels, and so forth, which will still be covered by the larger CBC. Incidentally, the CRC is based on the International Residential Code (as the CBC is now based on the International Building Code). Most of the U.S. is using some version of these codes now, so we are gradually creeping towards a national standard. San Francisco, wouldn’t you know, seems to be the one locality that has not adopted the new CRC, so none of these changes are pertinent here.

The new CRC is a sort of one-stop-shop, containing most of the pertinent code information for the most typical kinds of residential construction – up to two story wood frame structures, plus basements and habitable attics, on concrete foundations. In general, if there are conflicts between the overall code and the new CRC provisions, the more detailed CRC rules apply.  On the other hand, the CRC only covers very basic, standard kinds of structural designs, so one can defer back to the CBC for more more specific structural engineering problems.

Some of the more significant changes are as follows:

- Accessory structures up to 120 square feet are exempt from needing a permit (though they are expected to meet code requirements) and don’t need to meet fire separations for windows to property lines and other buildings.

- Requirements for fire resistance of walls and size of windows based on separation from property lines have been somewhat relaxed. Likewise, requirements for fire resistance inside structures and from garages to houses have been reduced.

- Requirements for fire blocking – construction elements that stop the spread of fire within structures – have generally been made stronger.

- Habitable attics are no longer considered a ‘story’ for code purposes. Converting an attic to habitable space does not therefore constitute adding a floor to a building – so one doesn’t necessarily need to upgrade the seismic strength of the entire building.  This will make it easier to build, and retrofit, attics as useable spaces.

- Minimum ceiling height for habitable rooms has been reduced to 7’-0”. This is quite important for those who have existing basements and attics with low head clearance.  Suddenly, thousands of dollars in structural remodeling may not be necessary to get that rec room or home gym that you wanted.

- Fire sprinklers are now required on all new residential projects; remodels and additions may need sprinklers depending on local ordinances.  This is a huge change, very controversial apparently because of its cost. On the other hand, most municipalities in the Bay Area already require this, so possibly not a big deal locally.

- Carbon monoxide alarms will be required in most dwellings, and the rules for smoke detectors are more stringent. Systems in new construction need to be interconnected, powered by building electricity (with battery back-up).

- Handrails on stairs may have the traditional wider shape, not just the cylindrical type required by the CBC.

- Guardrails are required not just when the adjacent ground surface directly below an edge is more than 30” lower, but if the ground surface within 3 feet of the edge horizontally is more than 30” lower. 

- Un-vented roofs and (minimally) un-vented crawlspaces are allowed if certain measures are taken regarding vapor transmission.

There are literally hundreds of very detailed changes, so contractors and design professionals will need to carefully review the pertinent sections of the new code.  So call us up! (or take a class). The particular class I took was taught by the incredibly knowledgeable Douglas Hanson, who is responsible for the “Code Check” series of books which makes all this information easily accessible. Copies of the new codes are available locally from the sponsor of the class, the wonderful Builder’s Booksource in Berkeley .  A visit there is more than likely to fill up any spare bookshelf space with even more interesting tomes.

Check the California Building Standards Commission website for other information. 

New French chateau in the Bay Area? Oui, s.v.p.!

Here is our newest custom home going in for permit review tomorrow! The developer loves French Chateaus (he used to own one) and wanted to bring that feel to the Bay Area.  A true estate size project, this house has six bedrooms, a study, six and one half baths, home theater, exercise room, game room, and formal and family living spaces.  Ooh la la!

 

1040 Hermosa Way, Menlo Park

 

Check out the recenty completed home we designed for Quinta Properties, now on sale in Menlo Park.  The inspiration for the design was the classical, and classy, homes in St. Francis Wood in San Francisco.  The home features both formal living spaces and a modern open kitchen and family room. The site is within walking distance of downtown Menlo Park and close to Stanford.

Open house this Sunday November 14 from 1:30 - 4pm.

 

See the Real Estate Listing for more images and detailed information.

 

 

Permit approved!

 

A building permit has just been granted by the City of Los Altos for our first home under Build It Green's Green Point Rated standards.  Congratulations Carol!  Construction should be starting next month with Millenium Enterprises as the chosen general contractor.  We are shooting for 86 points in the categories of Energy Conservation, Indoor Air Quality, Efficient Use of Resources, and Water Conservation.  We plan to keep you posted over the next year to evaluate the associated costs  of our chosen points and the ease of adapting them to the constrution and verification process.

  We are also currently in the construction documentation phase on three other new Green homes in Los Altos and hope to contiue to share our experiences with you.  Feel free to use this format to ask questions, discuss your favorite ponts withing the system, and the greening of residential construction in general.

V is for Victory (and Ventilation)

I recently attended another of PG&E’s great series of classes at their Energy Center, this one about ventilation in houses.  The Title 24 building codes regulating energy use in buildings changed this year (see previous blog “2010 title 24 energy updates”).  This class was about the ventilation component of these upgrades, which now require whole house ventilation as a matter of course.

The interesting thing is, although we all think of the forced air heating and cooling systems in our houses as ‘ventilation’ systems, most don’t actually do any ventilation. The instructor, Judy Roberson,  characterized this as “Where’s the V in HVAC”, HVAC being the industry acronym for Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning.  She even has a collection of photos of  HVAC contractor advertising, all of which mentions heating and cooling, none of which mentions ventilation.

Ventilation is, specifically, the replacement of stale, odorous, humid air from inside a house with fresh air from outside, and most heating and cooling systems in houses specifically don’t do this – they instead recycle the air, heating and cooling it, but never replacing it.  Fresh air is generally left to the occupants opening windows, or whatever infiltration happens when the wind blows or when someone turns on an exhaust fan.

While these ventilation methods have worked historically, as we have tried to make our houses more energy efficient by sealing up gaps in the building envelope, houses are now having more problems with indoor air quality.  There is relatively little of the small drafts that used to keep houses fresh, so air is left in place, and lack of oxygen, humidity, chemical odors from construction materials, and even mold are becoming a problem. This is the situation which the new code changes are meant to address.

The code allows for several compliance methods: stale air can be either exhausted from the house (fresh air is made up via infiltration through the gaps in the building envelope), or supplied into the house, or some combination of the two.  The ventilation can be continuous at a low level, or, intermittent with higher amounts of ventilation.  So, as of last January, all new and most remodeled houses will need to have these ventilation systems, on a twenty four/seven/365 basis. The older, more conventional exhaust fans are also now mandatory, not optional, in kitchens, laundries and bathrooms.

The main points of the PG&E class included Judy’s bedrock opinion that continuous – not intermittent – ventilation was far better for achieving the desired effect.  It is both more effective (intermittent ventilation can only be worse, never better than continuous), more cost efficient (smaller fans, ducts, simpler controls) and less likely to be annoying to the residents (less noise, no on/off disturbance, less obtrusive air movement).

Incidentally, we are talking about small amounts of air.  The typical bathroom exhaust fan, exhausting 50 to 100 cubic feet per minute (CFM) provides enough ventilation capacity to meet the code for the average house. And in fact, that is what some builders are doing – simply providing a better quality, quieter fan in one bathroom that gets left on all the time.  While this can comply with the minimum standards of the code, and is cheap, there are better options.  Judy’s favorite system was a supply fan which served multiple rooms, particularly bedrooms, where we spend most of our time. 

The supply-type system gives you filtered air from a selected source (not just infiltrated air from anywhere), and positively pressurizes the house so that there is less chance of infiltration from 'dirtier' spaces like attics, crawlspaces and garages.   The electrical usage would generally cost twenty to thirty dollars per year – not too bad considering the positive indoor air quality advantages.  This is the other main point: the energy savings of having a ventilated but ‘tight’ home, which doesn’t leak the much larger quantities of energy that a leaky house does, are much more than the energy used in ventilation.  Thus the title of the class: Ventilate Right, Build Tight.

Our first negative PG&E bill!

Yippee!  Our current monthly electric charges from PG&E are at a record low -$0.34!  Keep in mind that we only designed our solar system to offset about 55% of our typical usage.  Hooray for that "beau" soleil, and hoorah for the long summer days of June. 

Yesterday was our record day so far with 20.41 kilowatts generated by our 2.7kwh system.

Can green = cash? Hold that thought...

Well, citing the unsure economy and the necessity of quick decisions for a speculative development home, our design project in Menlo Park will not be seeking a Green Point Rating at this time.

We are however currently working on four homes in Los Altos, one a major remodel, considered a new home by Build It Green, and three new homes for a developer on Orange Avenue, also in Los Altos.  All four of these projects will necessitate achieving a green point rating of 50 points or more.  We applaud the town of Los Altos for their commitment to the environment and to quality construction through the adoption of this ordinance in December 2007.  To date over 14 bay area municipalities have adopted a rating requirement for new homes or additions, and several more are in the pipeline. An updated list can be found here on the Build It Green website. 

To dispel the myth that green homes look different, you can see our current rending of the Orange Avenue homes above.  Green is not necessarily about new untried technology or modern design (which is what you see predominantly featured in publications), but about good design, considering the site, orientation, materials, durability and indoor air quality, and it is about quality construction. We will keep you posted as our projects go through the city review processes, meetings with the independent green point raters, through the construction process, and eventually to market for three lucky home buyers.  Is it really any more difficult to build a "green" home?  Can a developer actually make a profit?  Let's wait and see!

Design for All

I’ve lately been getting an unsolicited education in a hot architectural topic – Universal Design.  This is the design philosophy that we should design all spaces to be both accessible and fully useable for everyone as a matter of course.  It seems obvious, but it’s actually in contradiction to common practice of the last twenty years – since basic accessibility became a requirement – where we pretty much ignore accessibility in housing, treat accessibility for paraplegic wheelchair users as the sole de facto goal in commercial spaces, and mostly do the bare legal minimum in general.

My education springs from a torn Achilles tendon, requiring that I keep weight off of one foot for several months.  It’s not particularly painful, but recently my modes of ambulation have been either on crutches, or, more delightfully, on wheeled office chairs.  Remember when you were a kid visiting dad’s office and got to swoosh around the room on his desk chair? That’s me, rolling about on our hardwood floors, sling-shotting around corners. The family motorized wheelchair, i.e., car, is also very handy, although it’s a bit large to drive down the grocery store aisles.

So, not too bad, except for the fact that we live in a two story house, some of which is carpeted, and that there are a number of thresholds that block easy rolling.  All of a sudden, the ¼” high thresholds at some doors are an annoying, noisy inconveniences, and the one inch threshold at our old bathroom makes it impossible to visit without crutches, and the three inch curb at our shower made use almost impossible (no, I didn’t want to hop on one foot onto a wet and soapy tiled surface), until I thought of putting a plastic cooler box inside the shower compartment, which I could slide onto from my chair. Even floor textures make me crazy.  The rough antique stone tiles in our bathroom are wheel catchers and noise makers. Don’t even get me started on throw rugs.

There are many large and small things that would help. Smoother thresholds (or completely level thresholds) and smooth floors.  A bit more space to maneuver. An elevator (ha!). Our stair is narrow (actually good) and has two handrails on one flight, so I can hop down supporting my weight on both arms.  The lower flight, however, just has a handrail on one side, so (more childhood memories here) I get to scoot down on my bottom. Also, I’ve noticed something on sidewalks that I’ve had to deal with professionally without really thinking it was important – side slope. This is the slope from side to side (as opposed to down the length of the sidewalk). It’s very tricky to deal with the imbalance this creates, whether in a wheelchair or on crutches.

The point of all this is that most people, at some point in their lives, will have a temporary or permanent disability – it isn’t a subject that just affects a small minority with major injuries.  Of course, there are a million different ways to be disabled, and design which accommodates one person’s difficulty may vary from (or even be in conflict with) the solution for someone else.  Universal Design also recognizes that non-disabled folks have needs too – for clear, consistent signage and a clear, well lit field of vision, for instance.  So, it’s tricky, but as our country ages, we will be seeing more efforts made to create spaces – in both homes and in public places – that are universally useable.  Expect to see more level walkways, smoother transitions, non-skid surfaces, grab bars, elevators, wider doorways with automatic doors, and signage in a variety of sizes and types.  For good general discussions of the subject, check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design
or
http://www.adaptiveenvironments.org/index.php?option=Content&Itemid=3