12/03/04: Winter is upon us and chill is in the air. Not just the 20 degree weather in Paso these past few days but with the construction of the home as well. After being over 3 months behind schedule and at least 4-5 months from completion we made the decision to change contractors late in the game. This is due to the contractor making changes to the design, construction, and living conditions of the house without prior notification. Poor quality workmanship, abusive and derisive communications. This includes:
Not installing heating or cooling in the theater room, Master bdr/bath and Guest bdr/bath and not informing owner. The county inspector is requiring heat and air to be installed in that portion of the house.
Changing the material on the clerestory from Stucco to T-111 wood siding on the most exposed part of the house and not informing owner. This is a link I found about caring for that type of wood siding. T-111.In short, this siding is perhaps the worst thing you could put in the location the contractor chose. It is the most exposed part of the home and takes the brunt of the wind, rain, and sun. It would need to be resealed every 2-3 years and given what the plywood on the roof did in 106 degree heat , I am surprised he went with it.
Sub-par installation of the windows and doors that require them to be removed and re- installed. This entails removing the lath and expanded metal, taking the windows/doors out and re-flashing and sealing the windows. I have included links to the latest County Inspection Correction Card as well as the recommendation from Obispo Pacific Windows.
Overall, the quality of the lath work is poor, the installation of the windows terrible, the waterproof job under the lath is laughable as evidenced by these pictures 1, 2, 3, take a look at the stapling job in #3. The stucco sub contractor and the Inspector both remarked that it looked as if a kid got his first staple gun and went wild. This picture tho fuzzy, says it all. Unfortunately, they are very close to being right as the crew working who installed the windows was young, inexperienced and sloppy.
10/31/2004: Happy Halloween! The windows and doors turned out great. Here are the before and after pictures. The house has 20 windows, two single glass doors and two french door systems. The six clearstory windows above the porch have yet to be done. Anyone want want to volunteer? I hope this does not have to done again anytime soon. It took two of us, 4 days to complete the job.
10/29/2004: Roof work is still ongoing. We ran into HVAC issues and the house will need 2 separate heating and cooling units. Windows are in the process of being stained. I put some before and after pictures on the Oct section. More updates later.
10/21/2004: Roof work is still in process, HVAC is being installed this week. Plumbers are scheduled to finish by the weekend. Remainder of windows should have been installed today. When the windows, plumbing, and HVAC are complete the rough framing inspection should happen and if approved, stucco and drywall can begin. The contractor is targeting next week for inspection. We are making progress, Oct has been very busy. I am on site 2-3 days per week these days so it makes it easier to track the progress.
10/14/2004: Roof is almost complete, plumbing has started, windows are 90% installed, lathing has started. We are still several months behind schedule and should be pulling out all of the stops to catch up. Dave Exline's crew added another person, hopefully this will help. There are some interior pictures that have been added. Here is the Kitchen, Theater Room, and Master Bathtub. Updates will be few and far between as I will be onsite 3-5 days per week for the remainder of construction. We have FINALLY found someone who should be able do the concrete counter tops. Here is his website. It is also Tarantula month on the central coast. Those little critters are running all over the place these days. I saw at least 5 crossing the road on my way to the house last week.
10/04/2004: Appliances have been ordered and will be shipped out as soon as the contractor gives the go ahead. We got a great deal on appliances from Carlson's Appliance in Santa Monica. They have $59.00 shipping in the SoCal area all the way to Santa Barbara. Ask for Jack! Special thanks to Nena, Suzi and Janet at European Bath in Solana Beach. They got some much needed parts out to the job site overnight. I owe them both lunch. If you are still trying to figure out why I would choose Paso Robles, check our these articles in USA Today or the L.A Times
9/28/2004: We live in earthquake country as evidenced by the 6.0 on 9/28 and the 700 aftershocks, several being 5.0 or greater. There are some additional cracks in the flooring but overall, the house withstood the shaking and baking very well. In other news, the windows are 70% complete and roof is 55% complete. I started the structural wiring for the stereo system and should be complete no later than 10/6/04. Lathing and Plastering/Stucco not yet started. Days like this I wish I had a project schedule.
9/7/2004: Lathing and Plastering should be happening this month. If all goes according to plan, we plan to have a small gathering to do the plastering. Could be a good time for a mud party if it is still hot. Speaking of, it was over 105 degrees when these last pictures were taken. 105!!!! Thanks to Pedraum for giving me some space on his blog. He is one righteous dude
8/15/2004: Work party is over. We did not get as much done as we would have liked but it was a great experience. We are considering having a plaster party. If you would like to join us, please email me here . Special thanks to J.R., Scott, and Sharon for putting in some back breaking labor in 100 degree heat. They are good folks and are always welcome in my house.
8/5/2004: The first course of straw has been stacked. As you can tell from this picture, there is still a lot of straw waiting to be stacked. Dave Exline does several bale raising per year, contact him directly at Three Little Pigs Construction in Paso Robles if you want to join in.
Aug - 2004: I added some pictures of the engineering that is going into the house. Rumor is that the house had been engineered to withstand an 8.0 earthquake. Ya gotta love straw bale construction. Check out the straps from the foundation to the post, and the extensive use of steel. I hope I never find out HOW well it is engineered.
Aug - 2004: Window bucks are in. We can now REALLY see what a Straw Bale Building will look like. Updated pictures have been posted. Go take a look HERE.
Aug - 2004: Straw has been delivered. If you have wondered how the straw bale homes stay in place, check THIS out. Looks like the set of a B Horror film to me. Speaking of B Movies, someone said there was a giant KING SNAKE in the straw. I guess he will take care of the Rattlesnakes. JOY!
July - 2004: Trusses complete and installed, Plywood for roof installed, facia board in place. Interior framing 80% complete
June - 2004: Bathrooms are designed and ready to be ordered. Many thanks to Nena at European Bath, Kitchen, Tile and Stone for the lunches and design advice. She gets to take the first bath! :-)
June - 2004: All trusses delivered.
May - 2004: Roof trusses measured and ordered. Three Little Pigs/Dave Exline informs me that trusses were not built to spec and have to be re-ordered. Interior framing continues
Mar - 2004: Straw Bale Building Exterior Framing begins.
Jan - 2004: Foundation poured.
Dec 22, 2003: Paso Robles struck with 6.5 earthquake. 2 People killed, several historic building in downtown Paso Robles are destroyed. Straw Bale buildings perform well and no damage reported
Nov - 2003: Foundation forms laid, rough plumbing installed
Sept - 2003 Sign contract with Three Little Pigs/Dave Exline to complete house by 7/28/04
Mar-Apr 2003: House site constructed and approved
Jan-Mar 2003: Building Permit and plans approved for Straw Bale Construction
2001-2002: Conducted 2 well pressure tests, 2 potability tests, 4 soil samples, and countless plan reviews.
2001: Preliminary Straw Bale design work complete.
Sept - 2000: Applied for Building Permit from San Luis Obispo County
2000: Choose Three Little Pigs/Dave Exline to build Straw Bale home.
2000: Purchase 13 acres in Paso Robles wine country.
05/10/2006: I will be updating the site with all of the pictures of construction. Over 300 photos from ground breaking to interior painting. For those of you who make it here, thanks for reading and check out the Straw bale blog at http://pasostrawbale.blogspot.com.
01/31/2006: This website has seen over 20,000 visitors since launch. I want to thank all of you for being a part of something special. Not always nice, not always easy, but special. Straw Bale is a wonderful material to construct your home out of. I would highly recommend it. Thanks again for being here. Visit the Paso Straw Bale Blog for updated info
Dave Exline and the Three Little Pigs Construction Company are still trying to build homes, inspect houses, and do business in their own special way. I wish them as much happiness as they have brought to other people.
10/25/2005: I have come to the conclusion that this 'house' will never be completed the way I envisioned. So much was done against my wishes, so much was done without my input that this is not the house I wanted. It will never be complete, it will never be the home I dreamed. Thanks Dave Exline, Janice Exline and Tim Exline I only wish you built this house as well as you destroyed my dream. This is my last posting on this site. Please go to http://pasostrawbale.blogspot.com for future updates.
7/25/2005: Stucco is waiting for final color coat, plaster and texture has been applied. Cabinets have finally been ordered. Still have counter tops, appliances, and lighting to finalize. Semmes and Company Builders are getting this done. Special thanks to Walt and Jessica for all the hard work.
7/2/2005: After a much delayed update, here are the latest pics. It took several months to bring the house to code. We have finally passed rough framing, roof framing, insulation and rough electrical. It took several months of hard labor to get the structure to pass inspection. Great to see true professionals at work. Much work was done by Semmes and Co Builders. Thanks for the hard work guys. Stucco and drywall are in currently in progress and the house is starting to take shape.
7/1/2005: I have moved the archived project history HERE. Updates to the house will continue to be made on this website. Please visit the blog for detailed info on the construction prior to 12/04
6/28/2005: This project continues to progress albeit slowly. Semmes & Company have brought this project to a point where a finished house is coming together
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Paso Robles Straw Bale Construction 2005
April 2004
July 2004
September 2004
May-June 2005
Who Links Here 3/10/05: We have a few references for Dave Exline/Three Little Pigs Construction. Steve and Judy used Three Little Pigs construction as the General Contractor of record as they acted as owner builders. Judy and Roger had Dave Exline/Three Little Pigs Construction start building their dream home in Paso Robles. Their experiences in some ways are very similar to ours. You can contact Judy and Steve HERE, and Roger and Jeannie HERE.
3/7/05: Dave Exline of Three Little Pigs Construction was served with our complaint, case # CV050195 for "Breach of Contract, Fraud, General Negligence, Damages for Negligent Work, Damages for Delay in Performance, Rescission Based Upon Fraud," filed in San Luis Obispo County. Here is a picture of that moment. (Dave Exline is the smaller one )Interestingly enough Dave Exline was going into the courtroom for a readiness and settlement conference for case number 1052735 Three Little Pigs Construction vs Dulce Shepherd etc et al.
2/12/05: No work is being done on the Paso Straw Bale house pending resolution of legal issues concerning the construction performed by Three Little Pigs/Dave Exline. :-( Please feel free to email me at Lesliehm@pasostrawbale.com for additional(off the record) information. I will keep updates to a minimum during this time. To say this is very disappointing would be an understatement. Caveat Emp-tor
1/21/05: The structural engineer who originally engineered the house prepared this report after his review of the construction by Dave Exline/Three Little Pigs Construction: Engineering Memo . Thanks to Patrick Marr for coming up on short notice to conduct the review.
12/25/04: Merry New Year. The new contractor, Semmes & Company Builders (and myself) have spent the last 3 weeks removing lath, staples, nails, etc, so we can remove the windows and install them per the manufactures recommendations. We are down to the large picture windows and should have them re-installed before the end of the year. This is the epitome of taking 2 steps backward to go forward. Upon removing the windows we discovered that the framing was not nailed in properly, in some cases only 1 nail used in the window framing, none of the windows were level, and they did not remove the wood pieces that are shipped with the windows prior to installation. Things are not all that bad. The winters in Paso Robles are mild with temps normally rising to the 60s' in the middle of the day. There are also more Wineries being built which is never a bad thing. I have included a map of the Paso Robles Wine Country. Please feel free to visit, the red X marks the spot.
12/07/04: Winter is upon us and the chill is in the air. Not just the 20 degree weather in Paso Robles last week, but with the construction of the home as well. After being over 3 months behind schedule and at least 4-5 months from completion we made the decision to change contractors late in the game. Semmes & Company Builders is taking over the project. Stay tuned...
We have arrived at this juncture in my opinion, due to the contractor making changes to the design, construction, and living conditions of the house without prior notification. Poor quality workmanship, abusive and derisive communications, changing rational for various costs, and arguing needlessly over items that are clearly done poorly.
Overall, it is my opinion that the quality of the lath work is poor, the installation of the windows terrible, the waterproof job under the lath is laughable as evidenced by these pictures 1, 2, 3, Take a look at the stapling job in #3. The stucco sub contractor and the County Inspector both remarked that it looked as if a kid got his first staple gun and went wild. This picture tho fuzzy, says it all. Unfortunately, they are very close to being right as the crew who installed the windows was by my observation, young, inexperienced and not versed in how to install the windows per the manufactures instructions.
This includes:
Not installing heating or cooling in the theater room, Master bdr/bath and Guest
bdr/bath and not informing owner. The county inspector is requiring heat and air to be installed in that portion of the house.
Changing the material on the clerestory from Stucco to T-111 wood siding on the
most exposed part of the house and not informing owner. This is a link I found about caring for that type of wood siding. T-111. In short, this siding is perhaps the worst thing you could put in the location the contractor chose. It is the most exposed part of the home and takes the brunt of the wind, rain, and sun. It would need to be resealed every 2-3 years and given what the plywood on the roof did in 106 degree heat , I am surprised he went with it.
Sub-par installation of the windows and doors that require them to be removed
and re-installed. This entails removing the lath and expanded metal, taking the windows/doors out and re-flashing and sealing the windows. I have included links to the latest County Inspection Correction Card as well as the recommendation from Obispo Pacific Windows. In regards to the window installation, this a quote from the contractor " Just because YOU.. believe it to be incorrect..does not make it so...even if you got the inspector and Obispo Pacific to side with your one sided argument. I was never allowed to put my 2+cents in, and my explanation of the proper way to install in "Straw Bale" walls..with 10' of overhang, might have a different out come."
In regards to the installation job on the windows, here is another exchange.
Contractor comments are in italics, Owner does not have an obligation to pay until the work that you say you completed(i.e. window installation) is done to my satisfaction. Lets see...where in the contract does it say this...hmmmm...seems to me that I am obligated to the Uniform Building Code, and the San Luis Obispo County Building requirements, and..State of California...but no where do I see Leslie Millie.., or ...Marvin windows, ...or...Obispo Pacific...hmmmmm..It seems to me that a f t e r I talk with the inspector, go over my plans and specificiation, the UBC, & my Details from the plans with said inspector, that at that time it would be determined what action, if any, might be required.
Unfortunately, the situation has have deteriorated the point that the parties are
