Daybreak Cohousing Construction Blog

Glamor Shots

2009-12-09T21:50:00.001-08:00

The quality of the photographs are blurred or lost here, but these are some nice professional shots of our new home. Thank you to Sally Painter for her first set of photographs.

Looking NE. The two-story building, our tree in the courtyard, Common House (in red) with units above and four-story building in the background.

Looking west, the Common House (in red) and units above and behind. A small glimpse of our tree and the two-story building to the west

Within the courtyard, looking NE. The three-story building to the west and the four-story building to the east. Hard to tell but the buildings are dwarfed by our tree. Grassy area to the west and future kids' play area to the east under the tree.

Up on the third floor. Colors. Sunshades. Steel rails with cedar caps. Elevator. Shadows and light.

The model unit kitchen and dining room.

The model unit dining room and living room.

The model unit living room.

The model unit bedroom.

The Common House kids' room in operation. The family room is in the background with piano, games, and music ( more media to come).

The Common House kitchen. Getting ready for a meal.

The Common House great room and cafe with the living room in the background. Our first fire in the fireplace!

Dinner beside the fire. It felt so staged. But it was really a dinner. Particularly once the camera was gone.

Certificate of Occupancy

2009-10-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

We received our official Certificate of Occupancy from the city of Portland, Oregon today, Monday, October 12, 2009. The team has done an incredible job! Construction has been only a little over a year. We still have some work to do, AND WE'RE MOVING IN!

Owner's Punch

2009-10-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Kristin and Terri with Grace and Peggy from Schemata Workshop spent the day Friday, October 9, 2009 with the B&G team scouring the site and generating our last (?) owner's punch list. We covered the exterior, the Common House, the townhouses and the units above the Common House. And reviewed the results from our previous punch list of the first and second floor of the NE building and the entire NW building. I, for one, was punchy after all that wall gazing.

Here are some fun pictures of people. For a change.

Exterior Painting in the Courtyard

2009-09-30T19:23:00.000-07:00

Now that the rails are in, the exterior painting can continue. Here are some shots from late August juxtapositioned with late September shots. Sometimes from the same general angle.

Looking south.

Looking northwest.

Looking west.

Looking east.

Looking north.

Cedar

2009-09-30T18:45:00.000-07:00

Cedar touches. A start on the cedar handrails. Softening the metal railings beautifully. And our cedar roof deck railing system with planter boxes.

Townhouse

2009-09-30T18:30:00.000-07:00

Work is almost done on the townhouses. Here is a little sample.

The L-shaped kitchen with room for an island.

The main level bathroom.

Stairway up to the second level.

Upstairs Bathroom.

Front bedroom in the 'tree house'.

Common House September

2009-09-30T00:05:00.000-07:00

The Common House is close to being complete. Lots of different details and touches now. A random selection.

There are two main sources of great room electrical lighting. The uplighting is not so obvious. The drop-down table lighting (tables and chairs coming soon!) is shown here too. It can and will be raised up when the tables are put away.

The recycling area between the kitchen and the dishwash area. Exciting! Grin.

Cafe and beverage station. And lighting.

Living room. Specifically the carpet tiles.

The mailboxes at the Common House Entry!

The stairway down to the basement. Our construction team loves wood.

The community laundry room in the basement of the Common House. At the base of the stairs from the main floor. Lots of windows looking in. The washers and dryers lined up. The large space for indoor line drying not so obvious.

OOHHH! The elevator. We can't use it until we move in. But it is here and ready to go.

Landscaping

2009-09-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

Pictures don't really do justice to all the work that has been done. By the landscaping sub and by community members at two planting parties so far. Another one is coming up this weekend. The grass seed is also in for our grassy area in the courtyard and, temporarily, at the parking strip on the east and west side, until we switch to garden beds. There is much more. This is just a sample.

Some Courtyard plantings to the north. Grasses encircling the seeded grassy area. Plants and soaker hoses in place in the swales/infiltration areas and edges. Runnel system also visible. Roof rain water drains into rock runnel catchment areas and drain into swales.

"Berry Hill" at the west entrance. Blueberries, raspberries, marionberries. Kiwis in the background. Is that a berry?

Killingsworth entrance below the retaining wall.

Dogwoods in the northern backyards.

Eastern Redbud on the west side.

Dwarf fruit trees on the east side. There are more on the southwest corner too.

Hard to see, but one of the ginkos on the east side. The west side has a six-foot parking strip for future garden beds. The east side has this eight-foot parking strip for our future garden beds.

Sept 14 Progress Shots

2009-09-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

Common House kitchen. The counter tops are set and much of the equipment is now in place. A big focus for me. And for the community too.

Common House great room storage with counter tops.

The roof deck continues to emerge.

More steel rails going up. This time on the retaining walls on the west side.

The East side of the community. Much of this work was done in August and it is still a staging area for construction work, but a chance to see a few images. Particularly the outdoor storage area and garbage/recycling area at the loading/unloading zone (currently the construction garbage/recycling area since the fences got moved inward).

September 11 Progress Shots

2009-09-11T19:26:00.001-07:00

A few pictures from Adam.

It might be hard to tell but the top soil is going in.

The hot tub is up on the roof terrace and the deck is going on.

We've waited a loonngg time for the steel stairs and rails. Maybe that is why we are taking so many pictures to show that we finally have them. The stairs at the Common House.

Early September Progress Shots

2009-09-08T21:38:00.000-07:00

Steel stairs at the Common House coming in by crane and being welded into place.

Roof terrace hot tub is on its platform. Walkmat is being installed.
Deck material is on-site and will be installed next.

Play ground area mapped out. Steel rails are up on the east buildings.
And we can see in through the Common House doors.

Common House cafe doors, from the outside and inside.
The unveiling.

The half wall in the Common House
looking to the great room and the kitchen is trimmed out now.

The Common House kitchen equipment is here.
It is not all installed but look at all that stainless steel. And a fabulous stove and pot rack.

Okay. So it may be boring. The Common House toilets. Just awaiting the plumbing now.
With one of the fire extinguishers mounted near the family room.

Some Late August Courtyard Views

2009-08-29T00:19:00.001-07:00

Late August Walkways and Railings

2009-08-28T23:47:00.000-07:00

The permanent walkways are in on the west side and the third floor of the east side. And work on the railings has resumed.

The railing system is growing.

Late August Common House

2009-08-28T22:51:00.001-07:00

Common House living room built-in bookshelves, community office, and fireplace. Oh, and light fixtures, windows, trim, floors, tile, and vistas.

View from Common House living room into great room, with kitchen, dishwashing, and kids' room in background. Yumm! Peggy and I are loving this room and vista.

And from the Common House great room into the living room.

The Common House Cafe with fab beverage station. Still waiting to unveil those doors.

The Common House great room.

The Common House family room.

Some Late August Site Work

2009-08-28T22:18:00.001-07:00

Entry stairs and retaining wall at the SW on Killingsworth.

Retaining wall (with drain behind it) at the south entrance and the main entrance ramp and stairs at the SE on Killingsworth.

Loading/Unloading zone and garbage/recycling and outdoor storage area.

Retaining walls on the NW side. Re-using our old retaining wall lava rock.

Some work in the north backyards.

Common House terrace as the runnels are being covered.

General Site Views

2009-08-28T21:51:00.000-07:00

What a difference. The construction trailer was removed today and the construction fence was moved from the street to the inside of the sidewalk. A short panorama.

Skateboarders on the sidewalk where the trailer used to be.

August 24 Progress Shots

2009-08-28T21:21:00.000-07:00

Some of Kristin's pictures.

The new retaining wall with parts of the old retaining wall being placed in front.

The ramp down to the bicycle garage in the basement of the Common House.

Common House dishwashing area installation underway.

Common House great room storage.

Common House basement.

Some building views.

Monday, August 24 to Friday, August 28 Transformations

2009-08-28T20:34:00.000-07:00

It was a busy week. Here are a few pictures from Kristin on Monday and shots I took on Friday that juxtapose. You also can see the difference between the site on a working day and the site that has been cleaned up for the weekend social and site tour.

The loading/unloading zone.

The new retaining wall at the Killingsworth entrance with part of the old retaining wall in front.

The Common House dishwashing area.

Accoustical tiles in the Common House great room.

Build it cabinets in the Common House great room.

The Common House fireplace between the living room and the great room.

The book shelves and community office in the Common House living room.

A view of the Common House great room towards the living room.

Mid August Site Pictures

2009-08-24T23:55:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Kristin and Peggy.

Entrance retaining wall and ramp.

Steel Railing starting to go in at the SW building.

Unit in Bldg C above Common House. Floors poured.

Common House basement laundry room.

Common House kitchen cabinets mostly in.

Common House living room fireplace looking into great room. Floors are in on the main floor. Just hard to tell because most of them are covered with paper.

Early August Site Pictures

2009-08-24T23:14:00.000-07:00

From Kristin.

Walkways being prepared for their permanent surface.

Forms set and ready to pour the retaining wall at the entrance to the community.

View of the space that will become the kid's play area and sandbox.

Kids' playroon in the Common House get its floor.

Okay. Hard to tell. The kitchen floor is in.

Common House great room and cafe. Painted. Split ductless heating/cooling system in ceilings. Indirect lights in. Living room and fireplace in the background.

All this beautiful trim waiting to go up.

Late July Site Pictures

2009-08-24T22:55:00.001-07:00

Pictures from Kristin.
From the Common House Terrace looking at the playground and the water infiltration system.

Steel stairs going up between the NW and NE buildings. And more of the infiltration system.

Defining the infiltration system and the grassy area.

Steel stairs going up on the SW building.

The elevator and stair entry at the unloading zone on the east.

The kids' room in the Common House getting painted.

Bldg C - South (Common House and SE units) Progress Shots

2009-08-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

The building that includes most of our Common House. On the main floor, in the basement, and around the terrace. With some units above. (There is a small part of the Common House on the main floor in what we call Common House-North in the NE building.) It may seem we give this building a lot of attention. Partially because the basement took a lot of work. And maybe because it is at the end of the process, but mostly because it is our common space. Kristin and I are enthralled.

A gap between mid-January to early March.

Some interior images in June.

See the post Common House Interior in July later in the blog for more interior shots.
And Some Site Work for the progression of the Common House Terrace.

Bldg C-North (NE 4-story building) Progress Shots

2009-08-19T16:36:00.000-07:00

There's a big gap in the pictures. The concrete pour below was in December and suddenly we're at 3 stories at the beginning of March. Wanted to focus more on the later developments.

Bldg A (NW 3-story building) Progress Shots

2009-08-16T23:34:00.000-07:00

Missing the huge efforts on site work and foundation. But a bit of a history.

The interior of Bldg A is expected to be completed next week.

Bldg B (SW 2-story building) Progress Shots

2009-08-16T21:36:00.000-07:00

A brief, and incomplete chronicle of the SW 2-story building going up. We're doing the "owner's punch" on the building tomorrow. AKA the building interior is complete.

Model Home

2009-08-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

Common House Interior in July

2009-08-16T11:00:00.001-07:00

The Common House has changed greatly from these pictures in July but they still are fun.

The Common House entry. Mail kiosk (with janitor closet behind). Looking over the half wall into the great room.

From the great room looking to the kids' room and the family room.

The great room south windows looking to the neighborhood.

Looking from the great room into the cafe. Once the cardboard is removed from the doors it will be a wall of glass looking out to the terrace and courtyard.

In the living room. Looking at our three-sided fireplace into the great room with the kitchen and the kids' room in the background.

The hood going into the kitchen. (Kitchen cabinets and equipment going in next week!)

Some Random Outdoor Pictures

2009-08-16T10:20:00.000-07:00

No more construction stairs. The steel stairways are going in. The NW stairs are in use now.

The Gardening Team worked with the neighbors to provide them with screening. Here's the bamboo screen. Mature bamboo that varies between 20-25 feet.

The structures for the garbage/recycling area and outdoor storage shed. Plus a little glimpse of the new retaining wall and good neighbor fence.

A view of the sunshade system and the front door and elevator 'shades'.

The stairs and 'waterfall' by the Common House.

Some Site Work

2009-08-14T19:51:00.000-07:00

The recent work (in early July) to create the Common House Terrace. A dear place in my heart.

The work early in the project to create the large infiltration systems in the courtyard to handle rain water.