On Wednesday, we had the opportunity to host Chancellor Javier Reyes on site, along with other members of university leadership:
Michael Fox (Dean, College of Natural Sciences), Lupe Davidson (Dean, College of Humanities & Fine Arts), Paige Warren (Department Head, Environmental Conservation), Alex Schreyer (Program Director, Building and Construction Technology), Stephen Schreiber (Chair, Department of Architecture).
Their visit was a meaningful recognition of the hard work, collaboration, and interdisciplinary nature of this project. Students had the opportunity to speak with them and share insights about the construction process, the design-build experience, and how this work connects to our academic and professional goals.
This week marked the start of insulation work. Cozy Home Performance joined us to dense-pack wood fiber installation. We were also joined by Matt Damon from TimberHP, the Maine-based company that produces and donated the TimberFill wood fiber insulation for the project. Matt provided on-site training, walked us through installation practices, and answered our questions about the product. TimberFill, a carbon-storing, bio-based material, supports the building’s sustainability goals, and it was a valuable opportunity to learn directly from leaders in the industry.
I HUGE thank you to the Cozy Home crew for donating their time and expertise to install thousands of pounds of insulation over the course of three days!
The second session of the build has officially begun! To get everyone familiar with the site and all the tools, we split into teams of two to build modules of the porch and deck. Nailing the joist hangers of the porch and deck so that the top of the joists would align with the top of the ledger board took a few tries.
After lunch, it started to rain, which we believed to be a sign of good luck for our project. Since the rain showed no signs of stopping and we wanted to keep working, we opted to do some work on the inside of the house. Some of us placed nail plates to protect the electrical wires, for when we begin to install the drywall. While others taped around the electrical wires to cover the holes they run through in order to create an air barrier.
Tuesday
Before we could begin to install the siding, we first had to attach the porch, deck, and porch roof to the house. This is only temporary, though, because they will all be detached when Casita de Vida is transported to its permanent location in Holyoke. For the moment, we staked provisional footers to support the porch and deck. Krish, David, and Brody (picture on the left) attached the posts that support the porch roof to the temporary footers.
Thank you to Ed, Kyle, and Noah from John Thomas Plumbing and Heating! Not only did they install our plumbing, but they also took time to teach us. We all got to shadow one of them and learn how to do some of the work they were doing.
Yukiho and I got to shadow Noah, who was installing the bathroom shower plumbing. He taught us about a shower valve. For example, we learned about the four connection points of a shower valve. The connection points on the sides are for hot and cold water supply, there is one for each. The top connection point is to bring water to the shower head. The bottom connection is to bring water to the tub filler. In the case of Casita de Vida, there is only a shower, so the connection point for the tub filler has a cap on it. We crimped the crimp rings to connect the PEX pipes to the fittings. After we finished that, we insulated the PEX pipes.
Wednesday
Jacob and I ran a 6-gauge 3-conductor electrical wire underneath the house for the range. One side went through the bottom plate in the kitchen, and the other through the bottom plate below the electrical panel. We also installed the bathroom fan and its ductwork. We screwed the joints together and wrapped foil tape around them to ensure a proper connection. The two of us cut a 4-inch hole for where the bathroom fan would vent outside the house. This required precise measurements so that the hole would not interfere with the strapping on the outside.
Thursday
Yukiho and Eren (left picture) began assembling a door for the front gable end of the house, which will give access to the attic when the house is finished. Anna (right picture) continued nailing the strapping up to prepare for the installation of our siding.
After Brody, Anna, and David finished putting up the strapping all around the house, they started installing pieces of Cor-A-Vent at the front of the house. Then they started placing the boards of our board and batten siding around the window at the front of the house.
Friday
David (pictured on the left) painted the edges of the frieze boards while Jacob (pictured on the right) painted the drip caps to prepare them for installation.
Jacob and I used a Multimeter to conduct a continuity test on all the electrical wires of the house. Our results showed that all wires had continuity and that none of them had breaks.
After that, we joined Krish and David to help staple Insulweb netting to the studs ahead of our insulation, which will be installed next week.
On Monday, we set out to begin the interior wall framing, starting with the staircase, then moving on to the bathroom, bedroom closet, and finally the kitchen and entry wall. While six of us tackled the framing, a few others went up onto the roof to install Advantech ceiling planks. We did this so that when it came time to install the roof trusses, we’d have a safe surface to walk on.
Tuesday brought rain, but we pushed through and finished the interior wall framing. While some of us completed the final wall sections, others began working on the window bucks to frame out the rough openings for the windows.
On Wednesday, the weather cleared up and we started the taping process for the weather barrier. Last week, a SIGA representative visited the job site to demonstrate best practices for installing their weather barrier and tape products. Using these new skills, we attached the weather barrier to the exterior wall sheathing. The installation followed a lapping technique, starting from the bottom of the wall and working upward to ensure the tape layers shed water properly. The barrier is water resistant from the outside but vapor open, allowing the walls to dry. We wrapped the entire exterior envelope, then carefully cut the openings for the windows and doors.
Thursday was a day to remember as we installed the roof trusses. Ben had thoughtfully mapped out a safe process for the install. We formed an assembly line: two people on the ground moved the trusses to the base of the scaffolding, two on the scaffolding lifted each truss up to the platform, then three people raised them to the roof. Ben, Caroline, and Ivy guided each truss into position and secured it temporarily with a 2×4 brace on either side. This process continued until all trusses were in place. We then began blocking between the trusses to ensure consistent spacing and removal of the temporary braces. While some of us worked on blocking, others installed the 40-foot LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) planks along both long sides of the house. These LVLs were lifted to the roof and fastened to the base of the trusses, tying the trusses together and providing critical support for the eventual crane lift of the roof envelope.
Friday was dedicated to tying up loose ends. We patched up punctures in the weather barrier caused by temporary roof supports, finished installing Advantech on top of the interior walls to provide backing for future drywall, wrapped up truss blocking, and completed taping around the window openings.
This week marked a major milestone: the installation of the roof trusses. It felt monumental, transforming the structure from a box into a gable-roofed home seemingly overnight. It was incredibly fulfilling to be part of this effort with such a skilled and dedicated group. I couldn’t be prouder of what we accomplished together.
On Friday, the College of Natural Sciences Advisory Board came to the site and were able to ask questions about the project and speak to us about the UMass DesignBuild Program. We presented renders from the design stage of the project, showed our scale model of what the house will look like when complete and brought out the full construction document set for them to leaf through (35+ pages). During the board visit, we spoke with the members of the board about our experiences in the program during the construction and design process. It was an enthusiastic group of knowledgeable, inquisitive people and they showed genuine interest in what we were building.
The CNS advisory board (yes, with matching sunglasses)
Later on Friday, we finished sheathing the house and installed the second half of the ceiling trusses, tying all the exterior double stud walls together. We were also able to begin building our interior walls and the bucks for our window rough openings.
