Masonry Magazine October 1995 Page. 16
The kitchen is another family haven designed with enough room to cook together. The family can also gather for meals here. A beautiful breakfast nook looks out through custom-made doors onto a concrete paver veranda.
The kitchen has the look of a European kitchen that fits the Italian styling of the house. The cherry cabinets were specially-designed to work with the concrete floors and European-style fixtures. An extra-large kitchen island-topped off with sturdy and lovely International granite and marble granite countertop matching the BACK to Basics first floor plan.
Home's Primary Material is Concrete Block
ONE OF THE REASONS the Back to Basics Home lives up to its name can be und in its primary material-concrete block. This versatile building product is the mainstay of a home that has literally been built to last a lifetime and designed to adapt to a variety of changing family needs along the way.
The contractor and architect worked together to make sure the Basics Home was designed to take maximum advantage of the material that is at its heart-standard concrete block, with its modular dimensions of 8 x 8 x 16 inches. "We wanted to minimize the cutting of block," says Bumpass. "Working with 8-inch increments, we planned the footprint of the home to give the masons optimum efficiency in their work."
Plumbing was deliberately kept away from exterior walls. When it came to planning for window and door openings. Bumpass and Gainey worked closely with Pella Corporation, a co-sponsor of the home and supplier of the windows. Prefabricated wood door and window bucks were used during construction. The bucks were put in place before the masons began laying block to preset and pre-square window and door openings and speed construction. Masons could lay block right up to the bucks and be assured that rough window and door openings would be the correct size.
After the first floor block was in place, 2" x 8" ledger beams were attached using anchor bolts put in place when the block was laid. These ledgers support open-web wood floor trusses for the second floor. Once the plywood decking was installed, it acted as a platform from which masons laid the block for the second floor.
Four inches of rigid foam insulation was applied to the exterior of the block walls, followed by two layers of fiberglass mesh and a stucco-like finish. Keeping the insulation on the outside helps take advantage of the natural thermal mass of the block walls their ability to store and gradually release thermal energy, evening out temperature fluctuations. On the interior of the home, walls were furred out and finished in drywall. Shallow electrical boxes were used on the exterior walls to help simplify wiring of the home.
Bumpass says that building with block has already piqued the interest of area architects, builders and home buyers. "People understand concrete block and its strength and durability. It's a stronger house than you'd have with wood. Its air-tight, and it has good R-values. To build a comparable home with wood or steel would have cost much more."
Concrete pavers, which interlock without mortar, are another product that helps add a feeling of understated elegance to the home. Concrete pavers were installed over a compacted base of gravel in a layer of bedding sand. Once the base is down and the units were in place, additional sand was swept over the joints and vibrated in-causing the machine-made, high-strength pavers to lock together. The result is a pavement that's strong, versatile, and beautiful. In the Back to Basics Home, concrete lend their strength and beauty to both the driveway, sidewalk, court yard and kitchen veranda.
richness and warmth of the concrete floors is a special feature in the room.
Basics bring family home
To build a house that would see a family through all its growth, Bumpass built the home to become handicapped accessible. He built extra wide doors for several rooms and wired an area to later house an elevator. The downstairs powder room and upstairs guest quarters can be adapted to the needs of aging or infirm family members.
Energy efficiency and saving homeonwers in future energy costs-was an important consideration in the design. The home has private spaces for all family members, and parts of the house can be closed off when not in use. Three heating and cooling units work independently in three sections of the home each with its own thermostat.
One section of the home with its own system is the "kids quarters." Containing a media/play room, study area, and two bedrooms-each with its own bath. "I built this thinking about how my own kids will be going to college someday," says Bumpass. "It can be shut off from the rest of the home if it's not being used."
But as long as the family is around, a Philips Home Theater in the media room guarantees that this part of the house will get plenty of use. The WallVision 2 has a 52-inch, rear projection screen and features Dolby Pro Logic surround sound. To help the family's viewing pleasure, Bumpass installed a special low-glare light perfect for a home theater.
Bumpass is a construction management graduate of Trinity College in San Antonio. He has operated his own company since 1977 and has built Continued on Page 42
16 MASONRY-SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER, 1995