Lot #1 Alpine View....Sold!

SOLD!

2011 NW Natural Street of Dreams on Bull Mountain.

Arbor Custom Homes is proud to announce it is building a home in the 36th annual Street of Dreams put on by the Homebuilders Association of Metro Portland. This year the event will be held at Brentwood Estates on Bull Mountain. The site is located on SW 155th Terrace at the corner of Bull Mountain Road & Roshak.

The 2011 NW Natural Street of Dreams will take place between August 6th-August 28th. Builders participating in this years show includes Arbor Custom Homes, Brentwood Homes, Dreambuilder Custom Homes, Pahlisch Homes and Steel Creek Homes. The site offers a private setting with dense forest, coastal range views and is located next to a nature park. The homes this year will range in price from $800,000-$979,900 and be 3,300-5,100 square feet. Arbor will build their luxury home on Lot #12.

Lot #12 Arbor Custom Homes, 2011 Street of Dreams.

This picture is of Arbor Custom Homes entry and was taken on 3-17-2011. 

August Update



Chateau Marseille by Arbor Custom Homes. $979,900.



For more information contact Scott Paskill, Arbor Real Estate Group. 503-997-6188.

Following Alpine View Lot #8. Wilshire American

The home we are continuing to follow is starting to take shape. We are now seeing the first floor framing. You can get a real good idea of how the home sits on the lot, how the first floor view will be and the beginnings of the floor plans layout.

Here I'd like to point out more of the safety features in a newly constructed Arbor Home. This long picture shows a structural Sheer Panel. It comes pre-engineered for load. You can see the two black hold downs that connect it to the foundation. There are few penetrations or holes that allow access for electrical or plumbing needs. 

This illustration is of a corner hold down. You can see the bolt that is mounted in the foundation, now goes through the sill plate and connects to the the framing. Notice all the nails that hold that support wall to the bracket. This holds the home on the foundation in case of a wind sheer or earthquake.

Following Plumbing Post & Beam

 Here we see the initial stages of the plumbing going in. The picture to the right shows round bundles which is the type of fresh water lines installed Arbor Custom Homes. This style of tubing is called PEX which is a high density polyethylene. This water system has many advantages over the old CPVC or even copper and galvanized. These materials are flexible and require fewer connection. Connections are typically where water lines will leak. Connections also weaken the lines and can create drops in pressure. The PEX connections do not require glues, so there is less toxicity in the water. The PEX material can also withstand freezing weather. I've been told the lines can freeze and expand without breaking. When it thaws out, it will contract back to its original condition without damaging its structural integrity.


Wolcott Plumbing is our Awesome Contractor!




You can see the different sizes of the supply lines weaving through the floor joists. The size depends on the source location.

Notice how the PEX bends nicely, eliminating 90 degree angles, un-needed connections and creating a smoother water flow. The freshwater lines are held up high against the floor trusses so that they will be kept tucked into the floor insulation that goes in later. The black pipes are for waste water.

Lot 8 at Post & Beam

Today brings much rain, which makes it difficult to shoot pictures. However, as you will see, I found a break in the weather to take these.

I would like to start by updating what I wrote yesterday. This particular home will have a sump pump under the house. This is located at the lowest point. It will collect water and then pump it back up to the sewer located at the street level. Water collects in the basin and once it reaches a certain level, the pump kicks on and removes the water.
The point of construction seen in the first picture is called post & beam. You can now see the black visqueen vapor barrier, the engineered "I" joists and the details of how the sill plate connects to the foundation.

You can see in the picture to the left that the floor joists fit nicely into a pre-determined cavity that was created when the foundation was formed. Before the pressure treated 2x6 sill plate goes down, there is a cellulose membrane that goes in between the two materials. This creates a tighter seal and protects against rot. Those straps that look like fingers are inserted into the concrete when the foundation is poured. They then get connected to the sill to help keep the house attached to foundation. You may have heard of horror stories of old houses sliding off their foundation in an earthquake or wind sheer? When you invest in a new Arbor Home, you can be assured you have a home that is structurally engineered to protect your family in the event of a such occurrences. New homes are substantially safer then older, used homes.

Wondering what those two long "rods" are? These are located at the rear corner of the houses and are additional structural hold downs. They run from the foundation, up through the rear "pony" wall and will ultimately connect the foundation to the first floor beams as well as the second floor framing. You will see more details on this in blogs to come.

Following a Home Under Construction.

I thought it might be neat & educational to follow a home at Alpine View as it progresses through construction. I love watching homes being built, crawling through them to find out how & why things are being done the way they are and marveling at the completed product.

The home I will share with you is Lot # 8 of Alpine View Estates. The floor plan is a Wilshire American. You can find the floor plan on the Arbor Homes site under,  you guessed it...Floor plans!




This first picture shows what is called a Low Point Drain. This is the lowest point under the house and allows any water that gets into what will be the crawlspace...a way to leave. This particular lot slopes away towards the rear of the home. This home also has two locations where there are low point drains. This is because of a foundation wall that abuts this rear portion of the house. Water that did get under the house will follow the path of least resistance downhill towards one of these drains. This foundation area has a gravel base that will then receive a heavy duty, black visqueen that keeps the ground moisture from rising up into the insulation and floor cavities. The visqueen will eventually come all the way up the foundation walls creating a vapor barrier. So how would water get under your house? A very common cause is mis-aligned sprinklers that shoot into peoples foundation vents. Also sometimes people regrade their lot, which can also cause water to enter the same vents.