GUIDE TO A PERFECT MULLET: STEP ONE FLAT TOP: Winter 2008

We planned; we trudged through the murky world of banking and finance and battled through City Hall for more than a year. Finally we're ready to begin the big project! With some help from friends and family we're chopping off the top. The delicate surgical tools are big saws, sledge hammers, crowbars and lots of elbow grease. We deconstructed the roof and with help from Herschbach Construction put down the FSC Plywood that will be our new subfloor on the second level in just one weekend. The following Monday the SIP panels shipped from Extreme Panel in Cotton Wood, Minnesota and our FSC timber system built by Structural Wood.

The Mullet House shell is a prefab system made from locally sourced, environmentally friendly products and materials. The idea was to create a building system from regional products that would offer maximum energy efficiency, limit material waste and allow us to close the envelope really fast - important because there is no room for typical construction when you're living in the home under construction. This kit of parts allowed us just that. The second story shell was erected in just one day. We built the second floor starting at 8AM and placed the last roof panel the same day at 10PM. The whole neighborhood was out to see the circus as the giant roof panels swung through the night sky via crane. With weather predictions of nasty weather looming this was a necessity and also really cool.

All the columns and trusses are built from reused or FSC dimensional lumber that I'm calling the poor man's timber frame. The SIP panels are cut to slide into each column creating an incredibly tight joint that looks cool and keeps air leaks to a minimum. The overall wall should have an R-Value of somewhere around R-22, versus the R-10 of typical construction. This will mean major savings over the lifespan of the house. At the same time the timber frame is exposed on the inside and creates some really cool vaulted ceilings and exposed structure. The entire system is screwed together and in theory could be deconstructed one day. The outside will be wrapped in a European rain screen system and covered with whitewashed Cedar. We'll show you the details of the siding in a future installment. But finally we've got something looking like a house.