Week 5 – “And then there’s Copper”

There are three kinds of pipe. There’s what you have, which is garbage – and you can see where that’s gotten you. There’s bronze, which is pretty good, unless something goes wrong. And something always goes wrong. Then, there’s copper, which is the only pipe I use. It costs money. It costs money because it saves money.

– Cosmo Castorini, Moonstruck

Vincent Gardenia’s Oscar-nominated performance as Moonstruck’s patriarch and plumber came to mind as Larry and Tyler from Clearwater Plumbing ditched the Pex tubing that shipped with the Aquasana Filter System they were installing in the garage. “We don’t use that plastic crap”. While Larry worked on tidy drains and venting upstairs, Tyler mocked up a trick copper loop to filter the main feed, complete with beautifully aligned bypass valves and disconnects to service the filters. And check out the integrated Yarna capacitive de-scaler device and perfect windings. The result speaks for itself. I only wish I’d finished the drywall behind the system to give it a more fitting backdrop.

Aquasana Filter System

I’ll admit to being a little ‘precious’ about the LVL framing. It’s tough to see vent lines plough through that work, but all the services have to find their respective locations in the approved formula that is CODE. Clearwater installed the new Rheem Performance Platinum Water Heater but we’re waiting for electrical to give us the closet receptacle for the integrated power damper and the recirculation pump. The latter will finally solve the 45 second delay we’ve endured waiting for hot water for sixteen years. The recirculation loop has its own dedicated line.

A few words about our belt and suspenders water conditioning strategy. We decided we didn’t want the ecological complexities of salt or the soapy excess some complain of. The Aquasana system would filter out sediment, rust, heavy metals and 97% of chlorine if it lives up to its billing. After our water leaves the Aquasana’s final post filter it passes through the field generated by the Yarna capacitive descaler. From their brochure… “As the water passes through the treated area underneath the two impulse coils, the powerful electric waves break the crystals and transform the minerals into ions. This process results in a significant reduction of limescale deposits that will protect your appliances. And even if limescale eventually builds up, it will be easier to clean.” We’ll do a post install hard water test when it’s powered up and compare the number with our old system’s baseline.

Shower Valves
Vanity Wall Detail
Close up detail

There’s still quite a bit of plumbing yet to do, and we hope to use Clearwater for the second upstairs bathroom that Juli and I have demo’d. I cut off and capped (with sharkbites) the shower pipes in that room, ready to rough in a new Kohler pressure-balanced valve with diverter. I’m going to attempt that bathroom myself except for the plumbing. It will feature Schluter waterproofing, Porcelanosa tile, a Badeloft cast sink, wall-mounted Kallista Taper fixtures, a James Martin floating vanity and a Miseno LED Mirror. It will be a challenge to complete before we have to return from the rental. We’ll see if I can pull it off.

2020-09-12T04:45:31+00:00September 10, 2020|Categories: Renovation|Tags: , , , |

Isometric Adventures

To get a handle on the complexity of the medicine cabinet installation I wanted to take a stab at a framing diagram. Figma didn’t have an isometric mode, and though I’m proficient in Illustrator I didn’t see a simple path forward in that application. I went looking and found the impressive Affinity Designer. It has a dedicated isometric mode and well-thought out alignment tools. It doesn’t have dimensioning like Sketch-up but it produced complex layered documents where I could play with framing, and skin the framing with simulated drywall and Kerdiboard etc. The renderings gave context to design discussions with Alex… the wall needed to be 2 x 6 to achieve the semi-recessed install, and we could imagine how plumbing and electrical might route into position.

Initially the shower included a niche running the full width of its back wall. The resulting framing diagram defined the niche construction and waterproofing but ultimately we dropped the concept as we began the approval process with San Jose’s planning dept. Essentially all we ended up doing was replacing the original framing with LVL studs (we found a little mold behind the WC), and added our hefty blocking. We’ll add more Safe and Sound Rockwool to the cavities then recover with two layers of 5/8″ drywall matching the original specs when we close it in after inspection.

With only a superficial understanding of framing principles I’m pretty pleased with how close I came to what the team actually built. They substituted the huge parallam and simplified some of my LVL overkill. It’s one thing to construct a wall in software it’s another thing when you pick up the nail gun.

Shower Wall Isometric
Waterproofing
Vanity Material alignment
2020-08-27T06:22:46+00:00August 27, 2020|Categories: Renovation|Tags: , |

Measurements and Mockups

After a week of demo and two weeks of framing, Larry from Clearwater Plumbing has arrived for his rough in. Meanwhile Spencer and I continue to refine critical measurements for shower glass and he’s nailed small mockups for the shower walls to the bottom plates of their respective walls. There are two panels of shower glass. A fixed panel sits on top of our curb and rests in a pocket routed into the header beam that spans the shower and WC. A sliding glass panel tracks between shower and WC doorways. The fixed panel calculation is the easier of the two. We know the height of the curb and can estimate the sandwich of thinset and cement backerboard (3/8″ total). The pocket we routed into the header for the glass gives us plenty of latitude. Call it 48″ x 88″.

Glass Fabrication

The sliding glass panel is another matter. We had to estimate the sandwich of thinset + Ditra uncoupling membrane + thinset + tile + clearance for the floor guide and subtract that from the finished height of the header above the subfloor. This gives us a sliding panel that aligns vertically where the fixed panel disappears into the finished header. Call it 46.375″ x 87.75″.

The back wall of the shower has two layers of 5/8″ drywall. This is fire rated and designed to keep adjacent unit walls relatively soundproof. We’re replacing the fiberglass insulation behind this drywall with Safe and Sound Rockwool. Behind that is sheathing and an air gap before my neighbors unit repeats all the layers from sheathing to drywall. We’re going to waterproof the drywall with Schluter’s Kerdi membrane. The left and right walls will be waterproofed with Schluter’s 5/8″ KerdiBoard screwed right to the studs (and penetrations covered with thinset and Kerdi Band patches). While KerdiBoard walls can be wet shimmed to true them up, our crew’s attention to framing flatness eliminates any concerns there.

Given the size of the Porcelanosa Bottega Topo wall tiles (47″ x 47″) I had been trying to avoid vertically trimming the first course of tile. The whole shower is tiled with just 10 pieces, however I wanted to establish a center height for the accent tile strip and shower controls. After making the calculations and working with Spencer I made a story pole from cardboard furring strips and attached it to a stud as a guide. Fifty-six inches off the floor is considerably higher than most shower controls but having experienced the excentricities of french plumbing it’s nothing. We do have two other showers one of which will have ADA compliant controls.

Wall Mockup
Story Pole
Parallam Pocket Sketch

I use Figma for interface prototyping at work. I’ve been amazed at it’s rendering capabilities on this project. More on Figma and other software employed on the project later.

2020-08-29T07:13:39+00:00August 25, 2020|Categories: Alex Cordrey Construction, Renovation|Tags: , , |

Special Framing: Keuco Medicine Cabinets

We’re installing Keuco Edition 11 Medicine cabinets in the vanity wall. Designed to be surface mounted we’re actually semi-recessing them. To make this possible we’re removing the external switch and outlet on the bottom then wrapping them in a .25″ cabinet-grade-plywood sleeve. It will make for a much sleeker presentation. The Edition 11 cabinets are massive, measuring 43.3″ wide including the lighted side panels and weighing 85 lbs empty. They will only sit 2.3″ proud of the finished vanity wall (not the full 6″ depth). To avoid having to make the framing windows vertically larger to allow room to drop them onto a fixed cleat, we opted to remove the drywall and hall cabinetry behind the wall. In this way we’ll have complete access to the wall for final fitment, ensuring tight tolerances around the cabinets and making adjacent plumbing and electrical easier.

It’s this preplanning and sequencing that takes the most time.

With 11′ of cantilevered cabinetry and countertop in addition to the Keuco monsters you can understand why I wanted that wall overbuilt… level, plumb, straight and true. All that’s in place so I’m confident we’ll pull off the semi-recessed presentation.

Of course there are other details related to the wall. The plywood sleeves will sit proud of the framing so that the .625″ drywall and skim coat will be flush with them. The waterproof wallpaper mural will wrap inside the sleeves. More on that in another post.

Vanity Wall Straight On
Keuco Medicine Cabinet lift mechanism

2020-08-20T05:44:48+00:00August 19, 2020|Categories: Renovation|Tags: |

Week 2 – We’re being Framed

With the debris removed, Alex Cordrey’s crew could begin the process of reframing the space. Summerhill did a decent job with the original framing. The very beefy subfloor and iJoists were solid and though we’ve not done deflection testing, our engineer has done deflection calculations during an earlier phase when the entire bedroom and bath were going to be tiled. We’re solid under foot and that’s obvious when you walk around. The subfloor doesn’t talk back.

Most, scratch that… all, Robertson projects, regardless of media, involve overbuilding of some kind, and this reno is no exception. I’ve spent far too many hours watching amazing builds by NsBuilders out of Boston, and Matt Risinger’s Build Show not to be influenced by their framing and materials approach. I consider both reno porn though Nick Schiffer’s NsBuilders takes things to the nth level (and budget often).

Alex uses engineered lumber in headers and load bearing situations but doesn’t typically get asked to build exclusively with LVL product. LVL, or Laminated Veneer Lumber, is like plywood, composed of layers of glued together wood which results in a stronger, straighter product less prone to warping or twisting. LVLs are as much as two times stronger under compression and tensile loads. Most importantly when making walls that have to be very flat for super-sized porcelain tiles (47″ x 47″), their uniformity is a big plus. So the bathroom framing spec’d LVL. Note: LVLs cost 2-3 times more than conventional lumber. Don’t worry in the excesses to follow, this is just table stakes.


The vanity wall which would hold wall-mounted cabinetry, Cambrian countertop, and two giant Keuco medicine cabinets was framed with 2×6 LVLs. If the wall was taller you could open a climbing gym, it’s that solid. On the shower/WC side of the room we’d install a massive 4×12 Parallam header supported by 2×6 LVLs to accommodate another wow feature of the bathroom. Alex’s project manager Spencer joked that we might finish the bathroom by putting .5″ glass over the framing and leave it that way. If you geek out on framing, it’s that pretty. I loved seeing the taught string lines on the vanity wall confirming the wall was bang on plane. If the “big one” hits CA I expect the bathroom framing will stand intact atop the rubble pile.

With generous blocking we’ll have super-solid fixtures and future flexbility.

Summing up, stud to stud we have an 84″ x 49″ Shower, 41″ x 49″ WC alcove, and a 132″ Vanity Wall. The long wall behind the Shower and WC saw the original 2x4s replaced by LVL 2x4s, including special framing for the in-wall Toto toilet. Now the project has good bones. A big thanks to Alex, (L to R: Ramon, Fernando, Spencer – masks down for ten seconds for the photo).

Framing Gallery

Vanity Wall with Framing for Keuco Medicine Cabinets
String Line
2 x 6 LVL Vanity Wall from Hallway
Shower/WC Wall with Parallam header
4 x 12 Parallam
Ramon, Fernando and Spencer
2020-08-17T06:28:49+00:00August 17, 2020|Categories: Alex Cordrey Construction, Renovation|

Week 1 – Demo

Renovations are stressful. Even the most mundane aspects require effort and planning. We had a dumpster being delivered Monday morning and to ensure it could be placed immediately in front of our townhome, we had to run interference Sunday, parking our two cars and getting a neighbor to take a third spot, so the delivery would go without a hitch. Three weeks of advance notice still hadn’t generated the parking pass for the dumpster from our management company, but our HOA President eventually lit a fire under them to get it done. Good luck towing a dumpster away.

As it turned out the delivery driver was a magician and possibly was moonlighting from his real job landing SpaceX first stages on barges.

As the week progressed, carpet, vanity, sinks, shower, mirrors, medicine cabinet, bathtub, sheetrock and studs found their way to the dumpster with a little room to spare. Though the original construction photos I’d kept since 2003 gave me general confidence about what was behind the walls, there was a mystery soffit over the shower and we couldn’t figure out what was going on behind the shower in the hallway. The soffit turned out to be empty and the expanded wall contained a large HVAC duct. Alex’s team removed two, non-load-bearing walls and deconstructed the rather spindly vanity wall we planned to overbuild with LVL… more on that later.

The 1.25″ OSB subfloor was in great shape with only the essential, but annoying, seismic nailing strap running perpendicular to the floor iJoists spoiling the flatness. The new shower and toilet will involve rerouting waste lines, drains and vent pipes but we’ll be doing that from below (demo 10′ x 4′ of dining room ceiling). We’ll even be sistering a couple of the iJoists to ensure the load from the large fixed-glass panel, mud deck and large-format tile (LFT) in the shower is well supported. Georgetown neighbors: under the main bedroom/over the living room every second iJoist is doubled up. Under the en suite bathroom the iJoists pattern is just singles on 16″ centers.

Demo Gallery

Existing shower and vanity wall demo
Another angle of the vanity and shower enclosure
Demo shower and vanity
Tub and WC

By the end of the week the dumpster was nearly full, happily without any midnight mattress drive-bys but it appeared it wouldn’t be picked up till Monday. While that created a little drama around extending the parking permit, Juli and I were prepared to rip out carpet and fill whatever room was left. To our dismay we walked over around 5pm to find the dumpster had been picked up afterall… that meant we’d be using quite a few $6 extra garbage stickers.

2020-08-10T07:07:35+00:00August 10, 2020|Categories: Renovation|Tags: |

Creative Madness

Juli sees it coming. After sixteen years together she can look up into a clear blue sky and know cyclones are imminent. What began as a simple decision to focus more energy on our home was bound to spawn tornadoes. While we considered options for a limited bathroom remodel I set about replacing sections of drywall compromised by Roubaix’s destructive territorial habits. As the patches proliferated, the mud and tape routine triggered an audacious decision to rid our walls of the texture I hated from day one. So off I went in pursuit of Level 5 perfection, teaching myself to skim coat walls, not fully aware of how much work I was taking on, or how out-of-plane many of our walls were.

Remembering the dangerous ladder gymnastics of 2004 (and being older and decidely less flexible) we bought 12′ high movable scaffolding to safely get on with it. Bright yellow scaffolding in the living room provides a constant reminder that while you may know what you are doing, you’re doing it too slowly to ever make any money at it.

The Creative Brief

We decided to replace all the existing flooring with new hardwood. We considered going tankless but gas line limitations ultimately specified a conventional, but high-efficiency water heater. To address the hard water we’d install a two-pronged conditioning strategy. An upstream cathodic device and a filtering setup. No Salt.

We’d tear out the small shower and build an expansive new one where the bathtub used to be. That’s where Anna Jacoby set the stage with some key layout ideas that put us on the right track. With the small shower gone, we’d remove a non-load-bearing stub wall and extend a new double vanity the full length of the room. The walled-in WC would be replaced by an alcove, rotated toilet and sliding privacy panel adjacent to the shower. Those were the broad strokes but the devil’s in the details. The sky overhead darkened as a creative wall cloud appeared and began to roll over the project. Juli modified her internal Michael budget multiplier upwards to 3X.

2020-08-06T05:43:13+00:00August 5, 2020|Categories: Renovation|

The Best Laid Plans

The plan layout makes it all look so simple. We’d had it with the phone-booth sized shower in a main bathroom dominated by the bathtub we never used and an interminable wait for hot water from a sixteen-year-old water heater that stubbornly refuses to die. Most of the original contractor-grade plumbing fixtures were gone but San Jose’s hard water was taking a toll on everything it touched. And then there was the cultureless ‘marble’.

It was time for a change.

Our friend Nicole introduced us to Alex Cordrey Construction and Anna Jacoby Interiors and that began a protracted design process as we waited for time on Alex’s schedule only to have Covid rear its ugly head a week before kickoff in March 2020. Looking back, we weren’t ready.

After a five-month pause and a move to a rental that’s only a six iron from our front door work finally got underway. I’ll be blogging about the project through to its completion in November. We’ve chosen some great materials and products, stretched our minds and budget, run the planning gauntlet (all work is permitted) and communicated with neighbors who’ll have to endure some noise during a challenging time.

Hope you will follow along.

2020-08-05T18:46:28+00:00July 30, 2020|Categories: Renovation|Tags: |

KUNA ‘Maximus Coach’ Security Light/Camera

Maximus SPL11 07A1W4 BKT K1
  • HOA Approved
  • Wi-Fi Enabled
  • Timely Notifications
  • iOS/Android Mobile App
  • Motion Activated
  • Light/Video/Intercom/Alarm
  • Share with Family

Earlier this year home owners in Georgetown’s Building 4 (5 units) collectively applied to the HOA Board to replace our existing porch lights with a wi-fi enabled camera light to address a series of security issues.

Georgetown remains a fundamentally safe community to live in but we’ve seen an increase in the incidence of package theft, mailbox tampering and loitering in the past couple of years. Our building wanted to do something proactive about the problem.

In consultation with our Board we were approved to install the architecturally-compatible Maximus fixture for a one-month pilot in May and following that exercise all homes in Building 4 were approved to install the fixtures. Based on additional issues and the substantial investment we’ve just made in centralized mail boxes our Board has extended the option to all Georgetown homeowners to install the Maximus fixture.

(more…)

2017-08-07T03:43:44+00:00April 6, 2016|Categories: Homeowner Responsibility|Tags: |

Air Conditioning Compressor Replacement

Lennox XC-14 Compressor
  • Lennox XC-14 (3-ton)
  • Up to 16 SEER efficiency
  • Multi-Stage Compressor
  • Quiet Operation, 70db
  • R-410A (Puron), new environmental standard for refrigerant

Summary

In 2014 my wife Juli and I had to replace our outside condenser and wanted to select a higher-efficiency unit, compliant with the new R-410A refrigerant standard mandated for 2020. Most importantly we wanted to install a unit that was significantly quieter for our immediate neighbors and community. The new technology involved a marginal increase in the size of the condensers to achieve the higher performance and noise standards. We presented the following request and information to our board, and they adjusted our community AC guidelines accordingly. Eventually all Georgetown homeowners will face this decision. We hope this information helps you make a good decision.

Our Options

We chose Valley Heating, Cooling, and Electrical as our HVAC service. They’ve been in business for 52 years and are close by in San Jose on 4th Street. They have excellent ratings from the BBB and Angie’s List and maintain current NATE certification for all technicians. The estimator spent an hour evaluating the system, measuring the line set, the outside condenser unit and the inside furnace/air handler configuration of lines and ducts. They recommend and install Lennox equipment which we independently verified is highly rated by industry and consumer agencies.

Our air conditioning had not worked efficiently at any time during our ten years of ownership between 2004-2014. We came to accept the system tripping the electrical panel breaker each afternoon during the summer (2-3pm) and not being able to reset the system until 7pm as just another sub-standard feature of Summerhill construction and sub contracting. Undoubtedly this thermal load inefficiency increased our electrical bills and lowered the comfort level in our home for a decade. Over the years two HVAC service calls and an electrician were unable to remedy the shut-off condition. Accepting we had to purchase new equipment, we were intent on making the best decision for ourselves and the community.

Valley Heating, Cooling, and Electrical recommended the following options.

Option 1 – Replace our outside condenser with a compatible R-22 (Freon) “Dry Charge” 13-SEER unit using the existing line set and wiring. Cost $2600 + $330 San Jose permit.

Option 2 – Replace the outside condenser with an R-410A (Puron), 14-SEER unit (in our application) again using the existing line set and wiring. The unit dimensions were 39 x 30-½ x 35 in. In addition the case coil in the furnace/air handler would be upgraded to be R-410A compatible. Cost $4520 + $330 San Jose permit.

Evaluating the Options

In 2013-2014 we had to replace our refrigerator, our garage door opener and call for service on our stove and washer/dryer. It’s almost as if manufacturers got together and scheduled ten-year obsolescence. So it came as no surprise in 2014 that our AC condenser reached the end of its usable life. We had no issues with our furnace but that’s likely because mild California weather means we seldom use it.

Juli and I get along well with our neighbors and we’ve embraced and espouse a live-and-let-live philosophy in the community. This was the first decision we had to make that would substantively impact the quality of life of our neighbors. And we’re not talking about aesthetics here; the color of the condenser or the logo it wears. There were numerous solutions to our problem that would improve our HVAC, lower our power bills and make us feel good about our environmental footprint that were clearly not viable (for example relocating our condenser). We accepted those limitations as part of shared-community living in Georgetown.

Option two above had several important advantages that the community needs to consider particularly as these replacements will happen with increasing frequency. Georgetown homeowners are going to have to weigh a number of factors including technology, efficiency, cost and the environment. Since homeowners are paying for these replacement systems not everyone will make the same choices or value neighbors highly in their decision making. It was critical that the Georgetown HOA adopt (or adapt) HVAC guidelines to allow homeowners to make the best choice for the community, as well as themselves. Happily they did.

Moving to an R-410A system was better for the environment. Puron released into the atmosphere is still damaging but less so than Freon. In 2020, the “dry-charge loophole” which permits the continued sale of R-22 components, will close and option 1 will no longer be viable for residential HVAC systems. We believed it made more sense to upgrade our AC to R-410A. When our furnace eventually needs to be replaced, the AC sub-system will be still viable. Second, newer technology offered higher SEER efficiency and that’s been born out with lower PG&E bills in the four years since the system was installed.

In the Georgetown context the most important advantage of the newer system was the quiet operation. Option two was rated at 70 db which is 6 db quieter than option one at 76 db. There’s a scientific/human factors difference of opinion about whether 6 db or 10 db represent “twice as loud” but the six db difference between our options meant option two was significantly quieter. We made that choice for the sake of our neighbors.

Georgetown AC guidelines acknowledge that corner units equipped with 4-ton condensers will be larger. It’s also true that newer technology condensers achieve higher efficiency and quieter operation by increasing the surface area available for exchanging heat and utilizing multi-speed, slower spinning fans to attenuate sound. In other words high-efficiency, quieter condensers are larger.

Size comparison of high-efficiency 3-ton AC condenser units (h x w x d)

  • Lennox XC-14, up to 16 SEER | dimensions 39 x 30-½ x 35 in
  • Trane XL15i, up to 16.5 SEER | dimensions 50 x 37 x 34 in
  • Carrier Infinity up to 16 SEER | dimensions 36 x 31 x 31
  • York Affinity CZHO36 up to 18 SEER | dimensions 40 x 42 x 34

Other Concerns

For Georgetown homeowners whose units are located in the middle of their “blocks” the distance between the two halves of our split systems is a factor in its performance, particularly when combined with the sub optimal placement of some condensers in full sun. The industry calculates the effective distance between the components as “equivalent line length” (ELL) this measurement takes into account the nominal length of line set piping and adds additional length values for fittings and bends.

According to a detailed Puron system document from Carrier*, any system that exceeds 80 ft in equivalent line length must be treated as a “long line application” with compensating requirements and accessories. Our installation is a “long-line” application. Properly charging the system with refrigerant depends heavily on an accurate calculation of ELL. Along with improperly sized line sets, overcharging and undercharging are common issues with AC installations. See Refrigerant Lines Sets Can Cause Compressor Failures link The longer the EEL the trickier it is to balance all of these elements if you read HVAC literature. Which unfortunately I’ve had to.

2017-08-07T03:17:30+00:00May 6, 2014|Categories: Homeowner Responsibility|Tags: |
Copyright 2020 | Robertson | VeloDramatic Design
Go to Top