metal siding

Transitioning: A successful summer into a fruitful fall

A perspective of the north and west elevation.

As summer rolls into fall, we are continuing to work toward completing our project!

In our last blog post, we had recently gotten “dried in” and were beginning to work on flashing, as well as mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. Since then, we have made lots of progress and are thrilled with how things are coming together.

A photo of the north elevation of the core house.

Our resident electrician, Sarah, has been hard at work running wires and installing everything in our mechanical / laundry space!

After putting insulation on the roof and flashing on the exterior, we made a big pish, putting up our corrugated metal siding. The details all required careful thought and planning: aligning screw spacing, cutting out for openings, and considering how to apply the metal panels to the roof and walls. It was rewarding to see our layers of effort enclosed and finally finished.

At the end of August, we officially completed putting up our metal siding!

The view of the core house from the neighbor's driveway.
HIP HIP HOORAY!

After metal was complete, it was time for “Neckdown Week,” the time when we focus on upkeep and cleanup. We had many amazing helpers! We safely put away all of our scaffolding. We moved our insulation into the house in preparation for insulating in the coming weeks. And we dug trenches, every helper’s favorite task!

We got our main water line trenched and connected, so we now have water on site!

We also dug trenches and spread gravel to prepare for pouring the concrete for our porches.

Students dig the turndown for the front porch.

The team worked on formwork, vapor barrier, and rebar to prepare for the pour as well. Then, we poured our concrete and finished it, exposing the aggregate. We are so excited to have the porch concrete done. The porches have proven to be lovely spaces, and the front porch is even one team member’s favorite room in the house.

Now we are working on installing our exterior and interior doors, as well as final plumbing and electrical connections. We also grouted the tile in the bathroom recently and are thrilled with the finished look.

Next up… insulation, then shiplap! Until next time!

The Start of the Home Stretch

Welcome back to the 18×18 House blog, summer edition!

Meagan and Julie with Detyrick

Temperatures have officially risen in Hale County, and the 18×18 House team has had several milestones in the past month. Drywall was installed, trees were planted, siding is going up, paint is on the walls…

First, at the start of the summer, the team had to say “See you later” to Naomi, who traveled back home to South Africa. But this isn’t goodbye! We hope to see her back before the project opening.

18x18 Team

Digging the Groundwork

Then Jake, Julie, and Meagan got going on planting trees around the house, which was more work than you might think! They needed holes much larger and deeper than their containers, and plenty of water to protect them from the summer heat. Thanks for the beautiful trees goes to Plantation Tree Company near Selma, who donated all four!

And some shenanigans were involved, as usual.

Jake watering tree

We also had a visitor this month! Thanks to Jake’s sister Ella, we were able to set and cover the French drains on site, to help control water flow around the house. French drain systems include perforated pipes that are buried with gravel, to keep water from pooling around the property. Ours will funnel water away from the eaves of the house and from the porch. And after we put her to work shoveling gravel in the summer heat, Ella will never come to see us again.

Siding! And a porch!

We also wrapped all four sides in battens and purlins, to which the siding will be attached. The strips of wood are going to hold the upper portions of our siding a couple inches out from the house, to make a shadow line and hide refrigerant lines from the air conditioning system. The eastern façade is the first one completed, and isn’t it satisfying?

Soon, the steel porch roof will be installed, which was fabricated for the team by Superior Metal Works in Newbern, and delivered to site. It’s a big part of the exterior of the house, so we were eagerly awaiting its delivery!

DRYWALL!!!!

Amongst all the work outside, the most exciting part of the month was the drywall installation! There’s a huge difference inside the house now, and we’re so happy to see how light fills the spaces. Painting started right away so that interior finish work can begin soon. That means taping a LOT of corners and using very long extension rollers to get to that double-height ceiling.

The light in the house with drywall installed is better and brighter than we could have hoped. How ’bout them windows?

The summer is passing in a whirlwind at the 18×18 House, and the opening is in sight! We’re going full speed ahead with finishes, inside and outside. Stay tuned to see the end of our story!