Form Work for Footing in Place at 1620 S Fillmore in Denver

Beth Freeman and I went out to visit the project at 1620 S Fillmore St in Denver. The form work and rebar was in place for the foundation pours and I did that inspection. With the typical Denver inspection schedule we’ll go out two more times to inspect the vertical foundation walls, the foundation drain and the basement wall waterproofing.

I’m quite impressed by the vertical cut that the excavator was able to put in place and the turret forming is interesting.

Don’t Make Your Solid Blocking Too Solid – Attic Ventilation Requirements

I was at a job site today and noticed that the contractor had used blocking between trusses where the blocking was large enough that it actually blocked off the ventilation from the soffits.  They’re going to have to go back and put holes in the blocking to meet the ventilation requirements.

Therefore it seems like a good time to review the ventilation requirements in the International Building Code.

First off, you need at least 1″ of airspace between the insulation and the roof sheathing. The venting must have a total area of at least 1/150 of the ventilated area and at least half that area must be in the upper portion located at least 3′ above the cornice or eave vents. So where you have a 3,000 sf attic you’d need 20 sf of venting with at least 10 sf of that in the upper portion of the roof.

The International Residential Code states that no more than 80% of your venting can be in the upper portion of the roof, the IBC does not have this requirement.

Where you have a vapor retarder with a transmission rate less than 1 perm on the warm side of the insulation you can reduce the venting area requirements by 50% to 1/300.

Finally remember that openings for ventilation need to be covered with material that has a minimum 1/8″ openings and a maximum 1/4″ openings.

EVstudio Selected to Design a Pediatric Dentist Office in the Teepees Building

EVstudio has been selected to design a new pediatric dentist office. It will take over the top floor of the Teepees office building which we also designed.

ARCHONNECT blog

I have decided to start another daily architecture blog called ARCHONNECT.

The evstudio.info blog is primarily targeted for our clients, prospective clients, contractors and staff. It has been a great success and I have more to say but this time to a slightly different group.

There is room for a blog dedicated to the daily questions of architects, interns, students and educators. Through ARCHONNECT I plan to create a sounding board that will improve architects and further strengthen EVstudio.

Please support ARCHONNECT and let me know any topics for discussion on either site.

Great AutoCAD Hatch Pattern T-Shirts at Archinect

I think that any architect or other frustrated AutoCAD user will appreciate the new Hatch Pattern Shirts for sale at Archinect. They’ve given me a few ideas and Archinect is well worth checking out.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year From EVstudio

Happy Holidays and thanks for making 2008 a great year.We really appreciate all of our clients and their wonderful projects and we’re looking forward to working with you in 2009.

Evstudio’s offices will be closed December 24-26 and January 1.

If you need help on those days please email or leave a message and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Blog posts will keep coming but they may be a little less frequent. Try using the search tool and the categories to read up on some of the 2008 posts that you might have missed.

Sean O’Hara and EVstudio Featured in New Issue of Architect Colorado Magazine

I interviewed for this many months ago and the interview and a couple EVstudio images were finally printed. I’ve included the relevant pages, there are a total of 4 pages in the article.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors Should Not Be Overlooked – Go Out and Get One

Carbon Monoxide is a colorless, oderless and tasteless gas that it also extremely toxic. It is product of combustion and is present in buildings with fireplaces and gas fired appliances like furnaces and water heaters. Typically it is vented from the building and is not a danger to the occupants. However in cases where a vent gets blocked or the appliance fails the fumes may be vented into the building.

Mild cases of carbon monoxide poisoning may manifest themselves with headaches, vertigo and flu like effects. Severe poisoning can can cause damage to the nervous system and even death.

Thankfully there are detectors that can be installed in buildings to monitor the CO levels and warn if they become dangerous. I’ve seen them in two varieties, one that can be plugged into an outlet and one that can replace a hard wired smoke detector and function as a combination unit.

I would recommend in new construction that you make the minor upgrade to a hard wired detector that monitors smoke and carbon monoxide. It is only a $15-20 upgrade on each unit. If it is existing construction then it is smart to replace or supplement your smoke detectors outside the sleeping areas and near gas fired appliances. The hard wired smoke/CO detectors run about $60.

This post has a particularly personal message to it. Last Thursday on of my best friends nearly lost his family to carbon monoxide poisoning in their home. Had it not been for an extremely fortunate set of events things might have turned out very differently. Thankfully after a night in the hospital they are making a full recovery.

In the end they discovered that the roofer who had just finished replacing the roof covered the vent which pushed the fumes into the house.

Holly Park Community Center with Roof Installed

We had a construction meeting for Holly Park earlier this week. They just put the roof on and it is really taking shape. I’m sure they’ll appreciate no longer needing to shovel the snow out of the building.

Holly Park is a new community center and office building for the Holly Park Apartment Complex owned by Mercy Housing. Our contract for the project include full construction administration services. The project is being built by Casson Duncan.

Drinking Fountains – The Plumbing Fixture That May Be Overlooked

The 2006 International Building Code requires drinking fountains in all occupancies except dwelling units and and sleeping units. This section of the code has frequently been overlooked. However building departments have begun enforcing the requirement with some regularity.

Generally you are allowed to tie your drinking fountain into a kitchen sink but it cannot be part of a service sink. I have seen kitchen sinks without drinking fountains pass but this isn’t spelled out in the IBC. In fact, even restaurants are required to have drinking fountains.

In occupancies where drinking fountains are required the required number is generally 1 per 100 occupants. There are a few exceptions. Visitors in institutional settings need 1 per 500. Mercantile and storage occupancies require 1 per 1,000. Factories require 1 per 400.

The image is from the ADA guidelines and shows required dimensions for accessible water fountains.