Chris Reinhart Log - Revision history

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, August 14, 2014 */

2014-08-14T14:17:19Z

Thursday, August 14, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:17, 14 August 2014
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	I wonder what the plan is now for finishing the MH 3. It looks like only half of the bricks have been stacked, and the half that remains always goes slower than the first half, because you have to lift the bricks up higher. Will OSE be running another workshop? This would be a viable way to do it, if you could get people out there that quickly. Perhaps, with the interns that are already on-site, progress can be made quickly enough if everyone is pulled off of their other jobs and assigned to brick stacking. There were no pictures of the carpentry progress in the shop, so I wonder if the roof components and other wall components are ready to go.		I wonder what the plan is now for finishing the MH 3. It looks like only half of the bricks have been stacked, and the half that remains always goes slower than the first half, because you have to lift the bricks up higher. Will OSE be running another workshop? This would be a viable way to do it, if you could get people out there that quickly. Perhaps, with the interns that are already on-site, progress can be made quickly enough if everyone is pulled off of their other jobs and assigned to brick stacking. There were no pictures of the carpentry progress in the shop, so I wonder if the roof components and other wall components are ready to go.

	All in all, I think the MH 3 looks like it is better constructed than the first two. If it had been kept a true "micro" house, you probably could have built it in closer to 5 days. 500+ square feet is not at all tiny, and to call it a microhouse is another example of OSE-news-speak. A "fully code-compliant" MH could have been made at half the size of MH 3, and ~~it would have~~ the roof would be going on it right now.		All in all, I think the MH 3 looks like it is better constructed than the first two. If it had been kept a true "micro" house, you probably could have built it in closer to 5 days. 500+ square feet is not at all tiny, and to call it a microhouse is another example of OSE-news-speak. A "fully code-compliant" MH could have been made at half the size of MH 3, and the roof would be going on it right now.

	Good luck to those working on it. I hope that you are able to get the lid on it soon!		Good luck to those working on it. I hope that you are able to get the lid on it soon!

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, August 14, 2014 */

2014-08-14T14:15:53Z

Thursday, August 14, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:15, 14 August 2014
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	*Window/Door Frames		*Window/Door Frames
	**~~This~~ look like they have been improved upon over the MH 1 and 2 builds. They look more robust, and it looks like it will be easier to trim them out, if that is the choice of how to finish them. I'm guessing they are made of 2x4 laid flat with 3/8 or 1/2" plywood on both sides. I wonder if the cavity space is filled with insulation. I ~~hope so~~.		**These look like they have been improved upon over the MH 1 and 2 builds. They look more robust, and it looks like it will be easier to trim them out, too, if that is the choice of how to finish them. I'm guessing they are made of 2x4 laid flat with 3/8 or 1/2" plywood on both sides. I wonder if the cavity space is filled with insulation. I think this would be a wise decision.

	I wonder what the plan is now for finishing the MH 3. It looks like only half of the bricks have been stacked, and the half that remains always goes slower than the first half, because you have to lift the bricks up higher. Will OSE be running another workshop? This would be a viable way to do it, if you could get people out there that quickly. Perhaps, with the interns that are already on-site, progress can be made quickly enough if everyone is pulled off of their other jobs and assigned to brick stacking. There were no pictures of the carpentry progress in the shop, so I wonder if the roof components and other wall components are ready to go.		I wonder what the plan is now for finishing the MH 3. It looks like only half of the bricks have been stacked, and the half that remains always goes slower than the first half, because you have to lift the bricks up higher. Will OSE be running another workshop? This would be a viable way to do it, if you could get people out there that quickly. Perhaps, with the interns that are already on-site, progress can be made quickly enough if everyone is pulled off of their other jobs and assigned to brick stacking. There were no pictures of the carpentry progress in the shop, so I wonder if the roof components and other wall components are ready to go.

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, August 14, 2014 */

2014-08-14T14:12:19Z

Thursday, August 14, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:12, 14 August 2014
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	*Wall System:		*Wall System:
	**The double-wythe cavity wall system is a huge improvement over MH 1 and MH 2, and so is laying the bricks flat instead of on edge. The wall looks more robust, and I'm guessing it feels that way, too. It will obviously perform better thermally than the walls we did for MH 1 and MH 2. I think the way the two walls are tied together is innovative, and it ~~look~~ like it will resist the walls pulling apart from one another. It doesn't look so good in compression, though, if the walls were pushed towards each other. I am curious about the long-term viability of the blown cellulose insulation, too. I think perlite would have been a better choice for moisture resistance, but maybe this was cost-prohibitive.		**The double-wythe cavity wall system is a huge improvement over MH 1 and MH 2, and so is laying the bricks flat instead of on edge. The wall looks more robust, and I'm guessing it feels that way, too. It will obviously perform better thermally than the walls we did for MH 1 and MH 2. I think the way the two walls are tied together is innovative, and it looks like it will resist the walls pulling apart from one another. It doesn't look so good in compression, though, if the walls were pushed towards each other. I am curious about the long-term viability of the blown cellulose insulation, too. I think perlite would have been a better choice for moisture resistance, but maybe this was cost-prohibitive.

	*Passive Solar:		*Passive Solar:

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, August 14, 2014 */

2014-08-14T14:11:25Z

Thursday, August 14, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:11, 14 August 2014
Line 28:		Line 28:

	=Thursday, August 14, 2014=		=Thursday, August 14, 2014=
	While MH 3 is not finished yet, and the sharing of design assets has been sparse, a preliminary review can be made at this point, now that photos of the construction have been posted. Sometimes I ask myself why I keep doing this~~, especially when all direct efforts at maintaining open communication with those at OSE have been rebuffed~~. I do it for anyone out there that might actually be looking to build a MicroHouse, and the hope that they might read this and find some honest information in it. In architecture school, one learns the importance of critique and peer review on the design process. It is key to remove the ego from this conversation. The building (or the design) is not you. You are not the building. Remain open to feedback from others, and you will make better buildings in the future. Enough preamble, here's my review:		While MH 3 is not finished yet, and the sharing of design assets has been sparse, a preliminary review can be made at this point, now that photos of the construction have been posted. Sometimes I ask myself why I keep doing this... I do it for anyone out there that might actually be looking to build a MicroHouse, and the hope that they might read this and find some honest information in it. In architecture school, one learns the importance of critique and peer review on the design process. It is key to remove the ego from this conversation. The building (or the design) is not you. You are not the building. Remain open to feedback from others, and you will make better buildings in the future. Enough preamble, here's my review:

	*Wall System:		*Wall System:

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, August 14, 2014 */

2014-08-14T14:10:38Z

Thursday, August 14, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:10, 14 August 2014
Line 28:		Line 28:

	=Thursday, August 14, 2014=		=Thursday, August 14, 2014=
	While MH 3 is not finished yet, and the sharing of design assets has been sparse, a preliminary review can be made at this point, now that photos of the construction have been posted. Sometimes I ask myself why I keep doing this, especially when all direct efforts at maintaining open communication with those at OSE have been rebuffed. I do it for anyone out there that might actually be looking to build a MicroHouse, and the hope that they might read this and find some honest information in it. Unfortunately, OSE is very poor at sharing the challenges of their projects and machines, but they are great at advertising their projects. We hear all the time about building a brick press in a day or building a house, foundation-through-roof, in five days, but I have never actually seen any of this to be true, either in my time there or as an outside observer watching Trovebox and Facebook. And while Curtis and Marcin may take the following comments personally, they are not intended as such. In architecture school, one learns the importance of critique and peer review on the design process. It is key to remove the ego from this conversation. The building (or the design) is not you. You are not the building. Remain open to feedback from others, and you will make better buildings in the future. Enough preamble, here's my review:		While MH 3 is not finished yet, and the sharing of design assets has been sparse, a preliminary review can be made at this point, now that photos of the construction have been posted. Sometimes I ask myself why I keep doing this, especially when all direct efforts at maintaining open communication with those at OSE have been rebuffed. I do it for anyone out there that might actually be looking to build a MicroHouse, and the hope that they might read this and find some honest information in it. In architecture school, one learns the importance of critique and peer review on the design process. It is key to remove the ego from this conversation. The building (or the design) is not you. You are not the building. Remain open to feedback from others, and you will make better buildings in the future. Enough preamble, here's my review:

	*Wall System:		*Wall System:

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, August 14, 2014 */

2014-08-14T13:54:13Z

Thursday, August 14, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:54, 14 August 2014
Line 39:		Line 39:
	**While I noticed that Marcin's data gathering lead him to the conclusion that all 6000 bricks could be stacked in a day, I don't think that's realistic. As the information coming from OSE is not very open, it is hard to say why the brick stacking was so slow compared to the calculations. I imagine it is because there are practical limits to how fast volunteers can do good work, and taking a best-case-scenario number of how quickly bricks can be stacked and then extrapolating how quickly the building can be made will never work. OSE's estimates always feel like they are made to prove how quickly work can be accomplished. They would be more useful to the owner/builder if they were based on the reality of how long it has taken to stack bricks in the past. There is enough data to do this now, between the 3 MH builds. But instead of making projections for how fast it could be done, the numbers should be crunched to reflect what really happened.		**While I noticed that Marcin's data gathering lead him to the conclusion that all 6000 bricks could be stacked in a day, I don't think that's realistic. As the information coming from OSE is not very open, it is hard to say why the brick stacking was so slow compared to the calculations. I imagine it is because there are practical limits to how fast volunteers can do good work, and taking a best-case-scenario number of how quickly bricks can be stacked and then extrapolating how quickly the building can be made will never work. OSE's estimates always feel like they are made to prove how quickly work can be accomplished. They would be more useful to the owner/builder if they were based on the reality of how long it has taken to stack bricks in the past. There is enough data to do this now, between the 3 MH builds. But instead of making projections for how fast it could be done, the numbers should be crunched to reflect what really happened.

	*Looks to me from the pictures that you had several experienced builders there to help with the construction. This is great. With the large number of workers you had there, having that extra experience made it possible to get more done. I think one experienced builder for every 10-12 volunteers is a good number, and it looks like you may have had this. (I think I saw Sam McAnti-Saladshake in the photos. This is awesome!)		**Looks to me from the pictures that you had several experienced builders there to help with the construction. This is great. With the large number of workers you had there, having that extra experience made it possible to get more done. I think one experienced builder for every 10-12 volunteers is a good number, and it looks like you may have had this. (I think I saw Sam McAnti-Saladshake in the photos. This is awesome!)

	*Window/Door Frames		*Window/Door Frames

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, August 14, 2014 */

2014-08-14T13:53:37Z

Thursday, August 14, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 13:53, 14 August 2014
Line 39:		Line 39:
	**While I noticed that Marcin's data gathering lead him to the conclusion that all 6000 bricks could be stacked in a day, I don't think that's realistic. As the information coming from OSE is not very open, it is hard to say why the brick stacking was so slow compared to the calculations. I imagine it is because there are practical limits to how fast volunteers can do good work, and taking a best-case-scenario number of how quickly bricks can be stacked and then extrapolating how quickly the building can be made will never work. OSE's estimates always feel like they are made to prove how quickly work can be accomplished. They would be more useful to the owner/builder if they were based on the reality of how long it has taken to stack bricks in the past. There is enough data to do this now, between the 3 MH builds. But instead of making projections for how fast it could be done, the numbers should be crunched to reflect what really happened.		**While I noticed that Marcin's data gathering lead him to the conclusion that all 6000 bricks could be stacked in a day, I don't think that's realistic. As the information coming from OSE is not very open, it is hard to say why the brick stacking was so slow compared to the calculations. I imagine it is because there are practical limits to how fast volunteers can do good work, and taking a best-case-scenario number of how quickly bricks can be stacked and then extrapolating how quickly the building can be made will never work. OSE's estimates always feel like they are made to prove how quickly work can be accomplished. They would be more useful to the owner/builder if they were based on the reality of how long it has taken to stack bricks in the past. There is enough data to do this now, between the 3 MH builds. But instead of making projections for how fast it could be done, the numbers should be crunched to reflect what really happened.

	Looks to me from the pictures that you had several experienced builders there to help with the construction. This is great. With the large number of workers you had there, having that extra experience made it possible to get more done. I think one experienced builder for every 10-12 volunteers is a good number, and it looks like you may have had this. (I think I saw Sam McAnti-Saladshake in the photos. This is awesome!)		*Looks to me from the pictures that you had several experienced builders there to help with the construction. This is great. With the large number of workers you had there, having that extra experience made it possible to get more done. I think one experienced builder for every 10-12 volunteers is a good number, and it looks like you may have had this. (I think I saw Sam McAnti-Saladshake in the photos. This is awesome!)

	*Window/Door Frames		*Window/Door Frames

Christopher Reinhart: /* Monday, Aug 11, 2014 */

2014-08-14T13:50:15Z

Monday, Aug 11, 2014

@@ Line 26: / Line 26: @@
 * Converting Cement weight to volume
 ** [http://www.traditionaloven.com/building/masonry/cement/convert-pound-lb-of-cement-to-cubic-foot-cu-ft-cement.html Cement conversion calculator]
 =Monday, Aug 11, 2014=

Christopher Reinhart: /* Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 */

2014-08-11T11:47:45Z

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 11:47, 11 August 2014
Line 26:		Line 26:
	* Converting Cement weight to volume		* Converting Cement weight to volume
	** [http://www.traditionaloven.com/building/masonry/cement/convert-pound-lb-of-cement-to-cubic-foot-cu-ft-cement.html Cement conversion calculator]		** [http://www.traditionaloven.com/building/masonry/cement/convert-pound-lb-of-cement-to-cubic-foot-cu-ft-cement.html Cement conversion calculator]

			=Monday, Aug 11, 2014=
			Great to see some pictures show up in Trovebox for the MH3 build. It looks like a large and diverse group, and it appears that they are enjoying themselves and working hard. I am very excited that the decision was made to finally lay the bricks on their flat side, like bricks are supposed to be laid! I wonder if the tolerances on the brick dimensions were tightened up somehow by tweaking the machine or how it is operated. Or perhaps, because there are mortar joints between the bricks, the subtle variations in thickness are being taken up in the mortar joint. I assume it's the latter, based on a photo where one could see some up-and-down along a course of bricks. This is a huge upgrade over the previous MHs. It always drove me crazy (and the other people working on the buildings, too) that we had to stack the bricks on edge - it just feels wrongs - so it's great to see OSE learning from this and moving forward.

			Keep the photos coming! It's looking good :)

	=Thursday, Aug 7, 2014=		=Thursday, Aug 7, 2014=

Christopher Reinhart: /* Sun, July 20, 2014 */

2014-08-08T03:39:29Z

Sun, July 20, 2014

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:39, 8 August 2014
Line 26:		Line 26:
	* Converting Cement weight to volume		* Converting Cement weight to volume
	** [http://www.traditionaloven.com/building/masonry/cement/convert-pound-lb-of-cement-to-cubic-foot-cu-ft-cement.html Cement conversion calculator]		** [http://www.traditionaloven.com/building/masonry/cement/convert-pound-lb-of-cement-to-cubic-foot-cu-ft-cement.html Cement conversion calculator]

			=Thursday, Aug 7, 2014=
			I have an intense curiosity about the outcome of the MicroHouse 3 workshop, having led the builds of the first two MHs. I looked through the schedule listed on the workshop page. Friday is the only day listed for CEB wall building, which seems unrealistic to the point of absurdity. I think three or four days for stacking the bricks sounds more appropriate, based on some rough extrapolation from the times we achieved in the first two MH builds. We were stacking about 50' or wall perimeter, with an average of 25 or 30 minutes per course. This project has double the perimeter, and double the thickness. Keeping the data from the build is very helpful to others, and if someone records these times diligently, there might actually be enough data between the three MH workshops to form some solid build-time estimates going forward.

			I wish everyone there the best of luck... building at FeF can be exciting and stressful and rewarding, too. Take the time estimates listed on the workshop website with a grain of salt. Have fun, learn as much as you can, and don't stress yourself out trying to meet another one of OSE's silly timelines. Above all, remember the proper hierarchy of a good job site: safety first, quality second, speed third. I hope people post lots of pictures and that some of the Dozuki work gets filled out, too. Can't wait to see it come to life :)

	=Sun, July 20, 2014=		=Sun, July 20, 2014=