For me, the most stressful parts of our new home construction have all been related to the concrete. First, we had to find a quarry that was certified not to have pyrrhotite, a mineral of concern for the construction industry, which when exposed to water and air, can break down to form secondary minerals that expand and crack concrete, causing concrete structures, like home foundations, to fail. Second, it was important to schedule around the weather; not too hot, not too cold, and not during or prior to rain. Third, we did not want falling or blowing leaves to wind up on top of the wet concrete. Finally, we had to ensure that all cement trucks after the first, arrived in a timely manner. Happily, today the basement and garage floors were poured representing the last time I will have to concern myself with all the issues above. The basement was poured first using a pump and finished with two concrete trowel (“butterfly”) machines. The garage was poured straight from the truck and finished with a manual float. Tomorrow I will be able to walk on both and assess the quality of the work. Fingers crossed.

The yellow material taped to the ICF walls is Stego’s 15mil vapor barrier that covers the entire basement floor to prevent moisture and gas migration through the concrete. Each pass of the power trowels left the floor progressively more level and smooth. The photo above was taken near the beginning of the process.

With soccer season over, I was able to work with Kyle today as well as yesterday. I completed the electrical wiring and the supply side plumbing while Kyle made great progress on the insulation. We also ordered the tools we will need to level the bathroom floor and expect to tackle that job next weekend. When I returned home, I complete the insulation cover that will be used to protect the temporary water supply at the River House from freezing. Working by headlamp at the end, I installed a thermostatically controlled pipe heater and then the cover. This should be adequate for the immediate future but I will need to run some calculations to see if more insulation or a more powerful heat source will be needed when temperatures get really low.

While swimming at night off the coast of Gloucester, Kyle was attacked by a giant octopus. Fortunately, he was with a group of friends who came to his aid as he pulled himself to the beach with the octopus still on his back. One quick thinker aimed his flashlight at the creature’s eyes which immediately caused it to retreat. Kyle survived the ordeal with no significant injuries other than the distinctive marks on his back. He swears that the encounter left him feeling invigorated and relaxed despite the harrowing experience.

Jeanine hosted an impromptu birthday party this evening for her good friend, Kate Yoder. I was permitted to join the all-female celebration for dinner and cake, both of which were out of this world. It was a wonderful way to end an exceptional day of progress on the River House. Motivated by the need to beat forecasted rain, the site prep crew completed all of the foundation backfill and rough grading before moving on to installing the gravel base for the garage foundation and removal of the last remnants of excavated concrete from the site. Meanwhile, a second crew installed a vapor barrier and steel reinforcement mesh in the basement in preparation for pouring the concrete floor which is scheduled for Monday.

When not working for one of my clients, I spend every spare minute on the River House construction site. I lend assistance to the crew anytime I see an opportunity to help. Most of the time this involves carrying materials or providing an extra set of hands to hold something or keeping the site tidy. When my direct assistance is not needed, I spend time picking concrete remnants, glass, and wood scraps out of the dirt, removing large staples used to attach protection materials to the lumber, caulking and insulating gaps in the framing that will be difficult to reach later. Generally, all the little things that will lead to a better project outcome. Today, my contribution was to build an insulated box to prevent our temporary water supply from freezing when temperatures head south. I was determined to use nothing but scrap lumber. Each side of the box has a sliding window. One to allow access to the spigot and the other to the shut-off valve. The inside is lined with insulation and I will also construct an insulated cover for the exterior. Finally, I will add a thermostatically controlled heating element inside to keep things toasty when the weather gets frosty.

Now that framing is underway, a sign promoting both our architect and builder has been erected at the entrance to our driveway. It puts to shame the simple one that I constructed to display our Department of Natural Resources permit number. Thus far, we are extremely happy with our partners on this project and I can recommend both without hesitation. We feel quite fortunate to be working with them.

Jeanine and I woke up at 4 am to enjoy the lunar eclipse this morning. Weather conditions could not have been more perfect for viewing and our Road House is situated with a perfect view of the setting moon. When time permits, I hope to post a composite image showing the various phases of the eclipse.

Disappointingly, our framing crew had to complete work on another job squandering a perfect day for construction. As cold weather approaches, we are in a race to pour the basement and garage floors in above-freezing temperatures. If the temperature is below 32F during the pour, water in the concrete can freeze causing cracks. Additives can be incorporated to prevent this but they reduce the strength of the concrete which we are hoping to avoid. Before the floors can be completed, we must backfill the foundation walls and that is dependent on finishing the first-floor decking. The decking provides substantial support for the walls to ensure they are not damaged by the substantial forces generated as the backfill is compacted. The idle day did give me an opportunity to take my time photographing the existing structure both from the air and the ground.

After a disappointing string of losses, my soccer team concluded our fall season on a positive note. We traveled to Hopkinton this morning, where we inflicted a 7-2 drubbing on their team. The score was tied at the end of the first half but we racked up 5 unanswered goals in the second. Two of those were mine. The first was a blistering rocket from the 18-yard line that bounced off the post and into the back of the goalie’s legs and then into the net. The second was a very pretty header off a corner kick. Regrettably, I managed to flatten one of my teammates who was also trying to play the ball. I put in a second, even prettier header off a direct kick, but was correctly called offsides and it did not count. The 40-minute drive was not without some very lovely scenes including the one above of the town’s center all decked out for Veteran’s Day.

In the afternoon, the entire family met up at Kyle’s for brunch. He served a delicious egg bake that he prepared while we enjoyed watching Liverpool play Tottenham. Later Kyle and I continued work on his basement renovation project. By my estimate, we now have one more day of wiring and one for plumbing before it is time for insulation.

Working to make up for a delayed start, the framing crew was on site today to install the first-floor joists. Make sure to watch the time-lapse video above to the end where things get very interesting. I spent the entire day with the crew to validate measurements and lend a hand moving lumber. At several points, I thought the crew had installed a framing member in the wrong location. In each instance, however, they had hit the mark perfectly giving me great confidence in how they will perform for the rest of the project. Twice, I did catch when floor joists were about to be installed with the wrong orientation (they have a top side as well as a left/right distinction). I did so before the first nail was fired making the corrections trivial and preventing the propagation of that error across the entire floor span.

At long last, framing work has commenced at the River House. Prior to the crew’s arrival, I excavated 6 beam pockets in the ICF foundation walls realizing that this work would be far easier if completed before the mudsills were attached. It took me about 20 minutes to clear each pocket which will be used to support beams running underneath the first-floor joists. I finished just in time and to my great amusement discovered I was covered in tiny bits of insulation. The photo above was taken after I thought I had dusted most of it off my body. The framers, possessing goat like balance, spent all of their time walking on top of the very tall foundation walls. First they capped the entire top with a thick copper foil that will prevent termites from reaching the wood structure. Next, pressure-treated mudsills where cut to size, drilled to accommodate the concrete anchor bolts, and fastened to the wall tops over a bead of sealant. The video below is a time lapse of the operation.

I installed a pair of meters on the circuit breaker panel in the Road House today. Each meter displays voltage, current, power, power factor, frequency, and temperature as well as total energy consumption over time. With one for each phase of the power line, I can also determine how well the load is balanced. When this photo was taken, I was charging my electric car which consumes roughly 40 amps. Normally, when no major appliance are running, the house consumes less than 2 amps. Clearly, this project screams NERD but I am proud of the label and look forward of tracking our energy usage over time.

The framing crew that was expected to start work on the river House today did not show up. They ran into some issues on their current project and I am told they will not start until Friday morning. We shall see. I spent several hours loading a 10 cubic yard dumpster with all manner of debris, but mostly pallets, from the construction site. I oriented them so that I could fill the open spaces between pallets with more refuse.

Meanwhile, at the Road House, we were visited by a rooster for the second day. Given where our house is located it was not at all obvious where our guest came from. Jeanine, a friend to all animals except snakes, captured the rooster and handed it off to a neighbor who knew the owner and agreed to deliver it to him. I was not present for the roundup and am very sorry I missed it.

Using some wood shelving I saved from the River House demolition, I fashioned a threshold that will sit between the bamboo floor and cork floor in Maya’s tiny house. It will need to be stained an appropriate color before being permanently installed and finished with polyurethane. It has a rather complicated profile which is not apparent from the photo.

While in Istanbul, the US National Amputee Soccer Team had a day off between World Cup matches. Players, staff, and family chipped in for a cruise on the Bosphorus River which separates Europe from Asia. Despite less-than-optimal conditions for swimming, members of the team took advantage of the opportunity to take the plunge. I used my drone to capture videos of the team plunge and a solo by Nicolai.

Using the leftover cork from the Road House entryway project, Maya and I installed it in the bathroom of her tiny house this afternoon. Because it is such a small space, it only took a few hours and the results were quite nice. Maya did virtually all of the work while I simply offered guidance. I love how proficient she has become in all things construction related. Kyle, who joined us here for lunch, is also becoming quite proficient in the trades. If not for the fact that they have full-time jobs, I think the three of us could build the River House ourselves. Speaking of which, framing on the new house is set to commence next week barring further weather, supply chain, or lack of truck driver delays.

I spent 90 minutes on the soccer pitch this morning as my team had only 11 players. We actually started the match with 10. Our opponents had 8 subs and after 30 minutes they had worn us down. It was demoralizing as they scored 5 goals over the next 40 minutes of play. In the last 20 minutes, however, they also became fatigued and we were able to score twice which took the sting out of the loss. Next week will be the season’s last game, and I am hoping we will not be similarly shorthanded.

Jeanine prepared this tribute for her good friend and mentor, Peter Hilton.

Open Table mourns the loss of its former leader Peter Hilton. Thanks to his visionary leadership and compassionate heart, thousands of people in our community were fed and the foundation was formed that allowed us to become an admired regional food relief organization. He died Thursday, October 27th at the age of 78.  Peter served as President of Open Table for twelve years (2002-2013). During that time he made transformative changes resulting in an inclusive, respectful culture that positioned our organization as an innovative leader in the food relief arena. Peter’s vision to expand to a second location in Maynard did not come without numerous hurdles. His empathetic belief that poverty isn’t town-specific led Open Table to grow beyond the boundaries of Concord. He was adamant that people who were already struggling should not have to endure administrative red-tape to get access to food, reinforcing our “open” core value that “all are welcome, no questions asked.” By the end of Peter’s tenure, people were coming from more than 80 zip codes to receive support, which also included financial aid, school supplies and warm winter clothing. Always seeking to improve the nutritional value of the pantry food selection, Peter established partnerships with Gaining Ground, Drumlin Farms, and the Greater Boston Food Bank, often driving the U-haul himself to South Boston for the 5000-lb monthly pick-up. These partnerships brought in fresh produce, meat, and dairy which greatly enhanced Open Table’s grocery and dinner offerings. An early proponent of food sovereignty, Peter understood the importance of allowing guests to choose the groceries they wanted, a service that made OT stand out among our peers.  Peter’s infectious optimism made him a magnet for attracting incredible volunteer talent while his compelling leadership style kept the same volunteers engaged – often for well over a decade. His desire for Open Table‘s community dinners to be people’s best meal of the week inspired cooks to showcase their most delicious recipes for clients. Many volunteers noted they never ate so well at home! Peter knew he needed strategic thinkers on OT’s board who would help establish a long-term plan and locate a permanent home for our organization. With support from Lyn Zubrigg, the Board Chair at the time, they recruited local business people. Peter singlehandedly established a base of loyal donors and his gift for grant writing resulted in donations from many foundations that continue to support Open Table. He was instrumental in helping to build a financial base of support which enabled Open Table to finally make a down payment on the purchase of our own facility. Peter led with heart and action. There are hundreds of people who were touched by his personal kindness. There were no limits to the magnanimity of Peter’s caring. We salute you, Peter, for instilling us with a legacy of caring that still thrives at Open Table.

After taking care of some work things and house things, I decided to do a little fall photography. Peak color has passed but there is still an abundance of subjects to enjoy.

One of my stops was Wilson Farm where I thought I would get an aerial view of their hay bale maze.

At this time of year on a windy day, it is amazing how many leaves can fall over the course of a few hours. This morning, Jeanine and I did a bit of car touring in search of ideas for the exterior color scheme for the River House. We visited Lexington and Belmont but did not find anything that we could agree on. Jeanine suggested we visit one of our Conantum neighbors whose home we admire to find out what paint color they had used. Our inquiry turned into a wonderful conversation and a delightful impromptu lunch. Later, we visited Great Meadows for a nice evening stroll.

Jeanine and I have been trying to squeeze in as many walks as possible before fall gives way to winter. This photo was actually taken at the Great Hill Recreation Area this past weekend but is representative of the trails we like to hike.

When I modeled the heating load for the River House, I was surprised to learn that air infiltration was the largest source of energy loss. I had assumed it would be the walls or windows. For this reason, we are building the tightest envelope possible. Doing so requires that we also incorporate a fresh air ventilation system. We have selected a Zehnder ERV which claims to recover 95% of the heat in the conditioned air which is exhausted from the house and transfer it to the incoming fresh air. The system will run 24/7 and is designed to move 200 CFM of air through the house. This will be distributed through 16 supply tubes and 16 exhaust tubes, each 3 inches in diameter.

Since the system will run continuously, we will be using a set of four silencers to keep fan noise to a minimum. Each silencer has an 8-inch port on one side and eight 3-inch ports on the other side. The system design requires that we connect the 8-inch ports of two silencers to the 8-inch port on the Zehnder (a wye connection). Typically, this would be done with galvanized metal pipes and fittings. This approach, however, results in a significant separation between the Zehnder and the silencers which in turn make for far less efficient routing of the 32 supply and exhaust tubes.

Instead, I opted to construct a plenum out of plywood to interconnect all of the 8-inch ports. It is a far more compact solution and also more cost-effective. The plenum should never be exposed to any significant moisture, but I coated all the inside surfaces with several coats of polyurethane just in case. I will probably paint the outside to match the silencers.

ESPN.com featured an excellent article on US Amputee Soccer. It is the first in depth piece that I am aware of and covers both the World Cup tournament and the back stories of most players and staff.

‘This sport literally saved my life’: Inside the United States’ Amputee Soccer World Cup campaign

My search for the ideal travel tripod is never-ending. Innovative designs and improved materials have led to increasingly compact and lightweight offerings. Over the years I have bought and sold something like twenty tripods. At any given time, I usually own two; an ultra-lightweight one for hiking/travel and a more substantial one that I use for everything else. It has been several years since I last investigated the market for new entrants and I went down that rabbit hole again this weekend. Ultimately, I ordered two new tripods. The Ulanzi & Coman pictured above features an integrated inverted ball head design and very ergonomic controls. It weighs 2.46 pounds and may replace my 3.21 pound Really Right Stuff Ascend. Pictured below, is a very unique tripod that I found on Kickstarter from a new company called Heipi. It features a tripod within a tripod design that offers great versatility and superior center column rigidity. It is expected to begin shipping early next year.

On the soccer pitch this morning, my team lost 2-1 . Our only goal came in the final few minutes of play and was extremely satisfying. With a comfortable 2-0 lead, their goalie was using every opportunity to kill the clock. His teammates would play the ball back to his feet and he would just stand there and wait for one of us to approach and force him to put the ball into play. This is a standard tactic for a team sitting on a lead. In this case, however, each time I would chase the ball down, the keeper would taunt me telling me that I would never get the ball away from him. The taunting only served to amplify my motivation. With the clock almost expired and the goalie killing more time, I began another approach but this time correctly guessed where he was going to play the ball out. I intercepted the pass, beat my defender, and crossed the ball into the box where a teammate tapped it in. I could not resist thanking the goalie for the motivation to make that play. He had nothing to say in response.

I returned home for a belated birthday brunch featuring frittatas and rice pudding. Nico tested positive for Covid yesterday and was not able to join the rest of the family.

Maya joined Kyle and me to work on his basement renovation project this morning. Even though she is nursing a torn rotator cuff, Maya proved very helpful. Of great amusement to me was listening and watching as the two tried to work out the placement of the recessed lighting that will be installed in the kitchen. After nearly an hour of discussion, mathematic calculations, and measurements, they realized the assignment was no more complicated than selecting which joist bays would get the light fixtures and roughing in wiring to those locations. We knocked off earlier than usual so I could catch the last Head of the Charles race of the day. I used my drone for a new photographic perspective of the action. In the evening, Jeanine and I attended the Conantum (name of our neighborhood) Harvest Dinner, a delightful pitch-in hosted in the barn of a nearby benefactor. It was a great opportunity to better get to know some of our neighbors.

I had several work meetings this morning, spent the early afternoon organizing and cleaning up the River House work site, and the late afternoon with Jeanine on a nice 2.2-mile hike at the Great Hill Recreation Area. We finished up back at the River House where we found the garage foundation wall backfill completed and the river aglow with the reflection of sunlit trees on the other side of the water. Below is a photo taken through the future window of our exercise room.

One of the companies that I consult for is Amide Technologies. Yesterday we took our first official company photo. The company has grown substantially since I joined in December of last year. At that time I was the fifth member of the team. The work continues to be really exciting and the team is a joy to work with.

Many followers of this blog know that I have what some might describe as an obsession with high-quality flashlights. My collection includes about two dozen or so high-end lithium-ion battery-powered LED lights. I keep one of these in my car at all times and today it paid for itself 100 times over. Scheduled for 2 pm today was the concrete pour for the garage foundation walls on the River House. A crew arrived earlier to strip the footing forms and set up the wall forms. Everything was ready according to schedule and all that remained was to pour the concrete. I will spare you the insanely frustrating details and skip forward three and a half hours to when the concrete finally arrives at 5:36 pm. The three-man crew had to wait idle the entire time and two of them had just left to grab some food and coffee when the mixer truck pulled up. Fortunately, they passed it on the road and circled back. I was on site from 4 pm and enjoyed watching golden light develop on the trees across the river from us as the sun began to set. If not for the calming effect of this view, my blood would have been boiling since I knew that sunset was at 5:57 pm. So the concrete arrives and we have 21 minutes to pour the walls before we are in darkness. The crew jumps into action. They work feverishly to get the concrete into the forms finishing by the headlights of the mixer truck. When the truck leaves they pull up a car to illuminate the work zone but it is far from sufficient. This is when my 1000 lumen Nitecore SRT6 flashlight saved the day, or rather extended the daylight. Under its illumination, the crew was able to trim the straightness of the walls, complete the trowel work, install the anchor bolts, and embed the hurricane straps in the concrete. After they left, I used it to see while fine tuning all of the above since these critical steps had been done hastily and not to my standard of execution. Unfortunately, this experience has only increased my appreciation for the value of a great flashlight and will only make it that much easier to justify future such purchases.

The next phase of our River House project is the foundation for the attached garage. It will be poured as a separate structure from the house connecting along the west wall. The new walls will be poured directly up to the concrete of the house foundation where rebar was left protruding to anchor this connection. I spent several hours yesterday, much of it in the rain, neatly hogging out two 8-inch wide, 10-foot channels from the exterior ICF insulation to expose the concrete for the interface. I thought this would be an easy job and was amazed by how tenaciously the EPS foam adhered to the concrete and how strong it was. The black material covering the insulation is Tuff-n-Dri waterproofing. The orange material is Warm-n-Dri, an insulating, water drainage, and protection board. It was necessary to complete this work in advance of the garage footing pour which happened today. It took less time, for a crew of three, to build the forms and pour the footings than it did for me to prep the walls.

While we were in Turkey, Matt Risinger and our architect Steve Baczek put together this YouTube video covering our ICF foundation and Glavel insulation.

Followers of this blog are aware that I have a chronic problem with kidney stones and that I have correlated the triggering of their passage with flying. Shortly after returning from Turkey a week ago, I began experiencing pain which has increased every day since. Last night, I decided that I would seek medical intervention on Monday if the pain did not subside. Mercifully, I passed the pictured stone this morning. It measured 5.6 x 4.5 mm, one of the largest for me so far. I apologize for including this topic on my blog but I do so to chronicle my history with stones which is helpful when discussing the topic with my doctors.

I spent the day working with Kyle on his basement renovation project. We managed to complete all the remaining framing work and did a provisional layout of the kitchen counters and appliances. I paused en route to his house to enjoy the fall colors which are approaching peak in our area. After working, I met up with my sister Alissa for dinner. She is passing through Boston on her way to California for a work function.