October 11, 2011

Castaway House Begins Construction

by: Taz Loomans

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I am happy to announce that the Castaway House, a project that I’m working on with The Ranch Mine, Jeremy Stapleton and RC Green Builders, began construction last week! I am also proud to say that it is the very first project to get permitted through the Phoenix Green Construction Code which is a voluntary program recently adopted by the City of Phoenix that aims to take a holistic approach to rating sustainable projects.

I’ll be posting updates on the construction to keep you posted on the progress.

Here’s what’s happening on site right now:

Demo: All the existing interior studs, (remember, this house was stripped to the studs when we got involved with it), have been removed. Those angled vertical members are just temporary bracing until the roof structure is properly reinforced.

Salvage: Not to worry, the interior studs are being salvaged to be reused in the project. They will be used for the fencing and planters in the front and for the gates to the back.

Making Urbanite: The existing concrete slab in the back has been broken up to be used as urbanite, which is landscape-speak for pavers made out of broken up concrete.

Saving some existing plantings: Our amazing landscape designer, Jeremy Stapleton, is great at salvaging existing plantings. He did an inventory of what was on site and determined what was healthy enough to be replanted. Here’s the landscape subcontractor seeing how to best salvage this existing cactus:

New plantings: It’s nice to see these new cacti planted amid the rubble of construction, giving just a hint of the wonderful courtyard space that is to come…

That’s it for this time! Stay tuned for more updates on the Castaway House in the coming weeks!

Photo Credit: All photos by the author.

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