CLT Core House

“So, when are you gonna finish up?” An age-old question. It is truly the most consistent inquiry made to us “leftovers”—students who have stayed past the 5th year. And why not? What a fantastic question. Of course our friends, family, and colleagues would be curious to know the answer as to when our project will reach its fruition.

So are we!

If someone knows the answer, please feel free to email our team. In the meantime, we can try to answer another question. What is the meaning of our blog title?

I. Building Fulfillment –

The act of completing, or fulfilling, one’s architectural project to the best of their ability.

In effect, this is everything we do as leftovers. When we last wrote a blog post, we had just moved the cores into their final positions and craned our trusses into place. Since then, we have kept very busy. Our priority was to get the house dried in (sufficiently sealed) with ZIP System® sheathing to protect our beautiful cores. We had to install the blocking, place the sheathing, and tape and roll every seam and hole.

Once we had a dry space to work under, we were able to unwrap and resume working on the cores. We accomplished a lot off site, but there is still plenty left to do. We have been connecting all the water, electrical, and PVC systems to their respective outlets in our utility room. We are taking immense care to ensure that these systems perform as designed while looking as pleasing as they can. Having them exposed is an idea central to the cores themselves. The homeowner will easily be able to see when and where something breaks. That ease of maintenance will contribute to the longevity of the home, while also encouraging the homeowner to develop higher level of familiarity with such systems.

In addition, we have been working on the exterior of the house. We were able to install our windows recently. It’s a great feeling to use the windows as we intended, taking advantage of cross-ventilation on these hot days since we don’t have the A/C installed. We have also been busy layering on the insulation, battens, and flashing. All of this work is in preparation for, at last, putting on the final layer—the corrugated metal—which we hope to complete by the next blog post!

II. Building Fulfillment –

The act of building and the fulfillment it provides or the attempt to learn how to build a sense of fulfillment within ourselves.

In a blog post, we can only offer a snapshot into our daily routine of working and building. It’s difficult to convey in writing every decision made or every step of the process taken. To fully understand, you simply need to be there to see it for yourself. What we can convey is that being present and fully committed to learning how to build for the first time, and then actually doing it, is an incredibly rewarding experience. Plenty of stress and frustration balance the good times. No cup of coffee in the world will wake you up faster than the landing of a hammer when it hits your thumb instead of the nail. And coffee rarely results in expletives.

Every member of our team remembers moments on this project that were challenging to manage at the time. Many we tackled as a team. Others we entrusted to each other. But we managed them all. Once said and done, these moments and their solutions left us replete with personal satisfaction.

Personal fulfillment is a lofty goal, and difficult, especially when the finishing touches for our project are still a bit down the road a ways. One thing we hear almost as often as “So, when are you gonna finish up?” is the shared sentiment of past leftovers as they reminisce about their time at Rural Studio.

“Take your time to do things well, and enjoy it while it lasts.”

Thank you!

Before we leave, we want to give a huge thank you to those who have recently donated to us!

Thank you, Pella, for the windows and doors!

Thank you, Interface, for our LVT flooring (luxury vinyl tile!)

Thank you, ROCKWOOL, for the rigid insulation!

Thank you, FAKRO, for our skylight and drop-down ladder!

Thank you, XVentBox Ventilation Systems, for the ventilation outlets!

Thank you, Broan-NuTone, for the range hood, bathroom exhaust fan, humidity controller, fire damper, and inline fan!

A huge Thank You to all of you. And readers, check back with us soon!

Welcome once again to the CLT Core House blog. When we last left you, we had just finished pouring our slab, and were preparing the cores for their final moves! We have had some exhausting weeks, but finally seeing the pieces come together makes it all worth it.

The Pieces

Early in our design, we envisioned the day where all of our careful planning in pre-fabrication would pay off. Our prefabricated pieces were the walls, the cores, and the trusses. We wanted to see how having these pieces would change a typical construction process. How would it potentially help or hinder a small team of four?

The Walls

Since our project was about exploring prefabrication in a rural context, we wanted to apply that logic to our walls. The core is the star of the show, but if we had to frame an entire house after they were placed, they wouldn’t shine for very long.

We built 16-foot sections of the wall on our slab, sheathed them, and put on as many battens as we could. We then tilted them up onto a pressure treated 2×6 that had been nailed into the concrete, and we nailed them into place once plumb.

Then we framed the only interior walls for our house: the bedroom and closet walls that, together, form the bedrooms. The only walls we didn’t place were along the length of the front porch. We needed that space open to place the cores. But, we still built them and had them ready to be craned into place by the same crane that would move the cores.

The Cores

The heart of the home. With our slab ready, all we needed to do to complete the cores was to finish tiling. As we prepared the site, whenever it would rain we would go and tile. It was a nice change of pace from hauling wood around! The cores were then prepped to be picked up by our good friend Shane and his crane.

The cores were then prepped to be picked up by our good friend Shane and his crane.

Finally moving the cores was so exciting. If there was any big moment for the project, it was this. Things went as smoothly as they could. The cores are resting perfectly level, and they are aligned with each other. With those components in place, we placed the final walls.

After the kitchen core was placed into the slab depression, the green room walls quickly went up, just in time for the arrival of the bathroom core.

With those cores in place, we placed the final walls, enclosing our finally assembled house.

The Trusses

Most of the trusses were not altered. However, a question was raised. Could we finish the gable end truss with the proper sheathing and framing before it was craned up? So that’s what we did, making the assembly much easier and helping minimize time spent working on scaffolding which is always a good thing.

We learned a lot from this process. Many elements went to plan, and some didn’t, but everything was very informative. If anything, it was amazing to see these pieces assemble over three days and immediately have them present such clear image of the house. You can feel the spaces now as you walk through the house. Of course, now that we can see them, we are already altering the designs. That’s the beauty of design-build.

Welcome back to the CLT Core House Blog updates, in which we share how our team is finally beginning to see some of the physical results from many months of preparation. 

Our last blog left off with the underground utilities in place and the digging moving at full force. Now that the trenches had been dug and the pipes had been placed, it was finally time for the formwork to join the fun. 

What’s Better Than One Concrete Pour? Two! 

The project is separated into two foundations, so two pours, the first of which is for the bathroom and the kitchen cores that we have worked tirelessly to complete while off-site. Thankfully, after only a few weather delays, our team was able to put down the vapor barrier and place rebar, ending the prep work for our first concrete pour. 

We are now ready to pour the bases for the cores’ final resting place. The truck arrived early in the morning, and with the help of our instructors and fellow students, the concrete pour went smoothly, echoing how smooth the end result looks. 

Job Isn’t Finished 

But what’s there to be happy about? The job isn’t finished. We now have the hard work ahead of us, prepping for the second, and much larger, concrete pour for the whole house. We started by laying, spreading, and tamping all the gravel. 

Then we placed the formwork, vapor barrier, and rebar. At this point, we have both checked and double checked our lines to make sure everything is perfectly square.  

We’re now ready for the big pour! 

The Big Pour

At the crack of dawn, the concrete pump truck arrived, filling us all with excitement as we eagerly anticipated Judd Johnson from JM Concrete in Uniontown, AL, pouring the slab. Shout out to Cosby-Carmichael Inc in Selma, AL, for their support!

The finished slab looks amazing. We could not be happier with the result. Now it was time to unwrap it, removing all the formwork.

The permanent formwork we placed on the first slab created the ring we needed for the cores to fit once they’re placed on site. The depressed slab is tied to the house slab with the help of threaded rods in the formwork and with rebar in the first slab. We removed the box out, keeping clean access to the main waste line.

Last but not least, our team added the control joints to the slab with the help of a concrete saw.

But Don’t Forget About the Cores Off-Site!

Meanwhile, throughout all the work and chaos of the concrete pours, we still found time to complete the plumbing and electrical for the bathroom and kitchen cores, passing our pressure test with flying colors.

With the systems exposed and mounted on the exterior wall, we finished wiring up the interior and closed up the bathroom walls with backerboard, thin-set concrete, and waterproofing. It is now ready to be tiled, the last step before the big move to site.

Practice Makes Perfect

To perfect our craft, we have been honing our skills with cutting and installing exterior battens and flashing on the mock-up. Now that our flashing is finished, all we need to do is install the corrugated metal siding, protect our hard work from the elements.

Our team is energized and excited by all the visible progress we’ve been making. It all goes to show that careful preparation and hard work pay off.