Daily Communication

We've gotten to the point where we are communicating daily with our team.  Whether it be the architect, engineer, arborist, city, etc.

Architect - Sending info back and forth to get a good design

Engineer - Talking about what a load test entails, and what he can do for us.  A load test, test the load that the tree's can take.  This will help us design structurally.

Arborist - Collecting data to then have the arborist write up a report for the city plans.

City - Figuring out rules and regulations (roof, fireplace, etc)

Climbing the Tree

I'm quite pregnant and should't be climbing tree's, so Bren (my husband) heads to Sport Chalet, buys more climbing gear and heads to the site.  He has a few things he needs to take care of:

- Needs to take video of the site for Dave (architect)
- Needs to map out any neighboring tree's we might be able to use (for Dave, the architect)
- Needs to climb the main tree all the way to the top and take pics and measurements (for the arborist)

Photo's

Footage for Architect

Footage for Arborist

Meeting with Our Architect

Plans are moving along and we are had another meeting with our architect  (David Fall) to express more of our wants as well as measurements and slopes of the land.  Meeting went great, Bren and I are having a ton of fun playing with all the ideas and we should receive a set of architectural plans in the next couple of weeks!  Our current thought is to use the main tree and some of the surrounding tree's as support trees (to minimize the use of man made stilts.)  A couple more things the architect needs from us to finish the design:

- Measurements from main tree to supporting tree's

- Video's for more familiarity (Architect lives in WA, so this should help)

Interior Inspiration Below

Like the sliding bedroom door

Interesting use of space

Storage idea under the stairs

Liked the Compact kitchen on the wall (Without the door)

Liking the style of this Island

Like the cut out storage space, not so much the style of the island

Great Metal framing around the wood

Loving the cement walls in the bathroom

Fun Light Fixtures

The Arborist Meets us at the Site

...

Big day for us; the arborist meets us at the site. The arborist will let us know if the tree's are healthy or NOT…. If tree's are healthly, awesome and we continue on as planned. If tree's are unhealthy, not exactly sure what we're going to do. The city has let us know that as long as we get a specialist to look at the tree's and ok them as healthy, we should be good to tie into the tree. We meet with the arborist and after far too much talking, head up the hillside to the main tree. After a few hours, the verdict is in….Tree's are healthy! Phew, what a load off.  We find out the species of the trees: the main tree is an Incense Cedar and the secondary tree is an Oak. Things are looking good ;)

That same day, we also need to get measurements to produce a topographic map for the architect. This will help the architect get an idea for the steepness of the property. (as he's located in Washington, not CA) We bring the family crew along for the day (my dad, sis and her boyfriend)  The family was a HUGE help as always; really don't think we would have completed the days tasks without them.  My dad has a background as a carpenter as well as  construction and metal; having him there allowed Bren to be with the arborist, while my dad headed the measurements for the topographic map.