1st Design/Construction Issues

In mid-September we had a very productive meeting with our architect Ryan and Joel from Modern Shelter. We were (still are) trying to decide on exterior materials and discussed a number of different options. We are leaning towards materials that require minimal to no maintenance. Cement, metal, and glass are the big winners, but we still need to get more specific on the exact materials and their location on the house.

This is where we ran into the first of our design/construction issues.      

First, the cement wall detailing the entryway may be difficult to construct as it is currently drawn. Right now the cement wall is a shared interior/exterior wall, which means it needs to be insulated. Nice to look at, tricky to pull off. We are tossing around a few ideas, including faking the cement on the interior side, but we may ultimately lose the cement on the interior...bummer.

Second, the roofing system called out in the plans (single ply) is not attractive. At all. It actually resembles duct-tape. This wouldn't be an issue if our roof wasn't very visible, but the roof is going to be extremely visible. The road to access the property is above the building site (i.e., you will see the roof every time you approach the house). We don't want to lose the very cool butterfly roof, so needless to say, we are reviewing other roofing options.

We left the meeting with a few things to think about, but also with a number of nice renderings of the project. The visuals were great--they allowed us to review a number of exterior materials and get a sense of what they would look like on the house. We are really happy with how the cabin looks.