In Malibu. Well it was after a rainstorm as I started up the PCH – the sun broke through and it was blue sky heading up the highway. Construction is booming in Malibu after the Woolsey Fire sweep through the hills and down to the shoreline back at the end of 2018, so last month I had the good fortune to visit a few homes under construction by Stillwater Dwellings in the area.
Michael, the Project Manager invited me to visit a site on PCH that is being managed by Stillwater. Although the home is a full custom design, so while I wasn’t able to see any of the design details or structures that would be part of my home, the process and many of the ways the systems come together will be – so it was great to see up close. Also, any visit to a construction site is just fun for me, so that added to the excitement.
Mike, the contractor site manager, walked me through the home – that is fully framed and sheathed – as workers assembled the framing that will hold the massive walls of windows and doors on the ocean facing side of the home. Most fascinating was how the house came together. As previously covered, Stillwater uses a factory built panel construction technique – where the framed and sheathed panels that make up the home are constructed in a controlled environment and delivered to site. The panels are constructed to exacting standards and to exactly what is needed to construct the walls of the home based on the plan.
Once put up, the panels look like a traditional stick-built site wall, but with a greater degree of precision. The panels are delivered as the walls go up, so less of a chance of the elements causing shrinking or swelling of the materials from siting around the construction site and very little waste. For me the coolest part was laminated map of how everything goes together – reminded me of my Lego days. From there, electrical and plumbing is added. These are not preinstalled or even cutout for – that would be done on site – giving greater flexibility for changes or modification as things come together.
While I was able to be on site for the PCH home and see the construction technique up close. The other build site further up in the foothills of Malibu is not being managed by the Stillwater team, so I only viewed from the road. This site was really a compound of Stillwater buildings at various stages of construction. Here it was just exciting to see buildings similar to my design, with the spine and wing layouts and butterfly roofs.
Overall a very cool experience and a glimpse into what’s to come on my project. The ocean views were pretty awesome too.