DIY Network

Lake Tahoe Timberframe: Location and Environmental Considerations From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-110

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In this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes, viewers meet homeowners Paul and Lori Bergeron who acted as their own contractors on the construction of their family vacation home on Fallen Leaf Lake in California's Sierra-Nevada Mountains.

In this second segment, the homeowners discuss the location the chose for their vacation home and some of the environmental considerations that played into their building project.

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South Lake Tahoe

The Bergerons viewed their vacation home as more than a house. They were building a family legacy. Lori had been coming to this area with her family since she was a child, and has memories of those earlier vacations as "magical moments." She wanted that for her children as well.

The house the Bergerons built is on the southern tip of Fallen Leaf Lake, a remote and pristine lake located in the El Dorado National Forest. It's about a 30-minute drive from the Lake Tahoe resorts, and about three and a half hours, by car, from their home in Sausalito, California.

The remote location, however, can present some challenges. There is only one narrow and winding road for accessing the property, and it is closed to traffic for up to four months per year. During building, even bringing in construction materials and equipment could be difficult.

It's a beautiful and scenic location. where the climate, like the water in the pristine mountain lake, is nearly always clear. On average, the weather is sunny about 300 days out of the year. For outdoor enthusiasts and nature lovers, this area is ideal for activities year-round. The home is in close proximity to a wilderness area containing more than 40 lakes, and there is some of the nation's best skiing nearby.

Environmental Considerations

Building in this kind of location also comes with some stewardship of the land and pristine surroundings. Constructing a new home near a natural resource like Fallen Leaf Lake required some wisdom and education. "First of all, [the lake] is 'the jewel'," says Paul. "That's the reason why we want to be here. Honoring and respecting our environment, especially the lake, is critical."

The Bergerons had to learn about the land requirements when excavating this close to a lake. For this, they relied on the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency -- an organization that helps homeowners and general contractors implement best-management practices. Specifically, in this case, they had to make sure that the land they were disturbing would not impact the lake in terms of runoff, erosion, etc. Additionally they were limited to digging during only certain months of the year -- between May 15 and October 15.

As events happened, their approval to excavate came through on October 14 -- just one day shy of the close of the working season. Fearing that waiting through the winter might put them too far behind, and worried that their permits might not be renewed the following spring, they attempted to complete the excavation in a single day and beat the deadline. Ultimately, they were unable to finish the work in time, and a stop-work order was issued. Aside from the delay and dealing with some red tape, the result was additional costs in fines and legal fees. In hindsight, Paul acknowledges that better communication in a timely manner would have made it clear that the permits could have been renewed the following spring without difficulty.

The Challenge of New Technologies

For the home's foundation, Paul chose insulated concrete forms -- or ICF's -- a relatively new building technology. The problem came in locating a builder in the area familiar with using this type of material. "Sometimes when you want to use a specialty product," says Paul, "you need to find a contractor who has worked with those products and had the most amount experience with that. There was no one locally that had used this product before, and I wanted to use someone who had experience with it."

Paul ended up having to bring in a crew from Utah that the ICF manufacturer recommended. Though he had to be flexible and patient in scheduling the out-of-state crew, he feels that the end result was worth the extra time and effort.

In the segment that follows, Paul discusses some of the construction work he did himself as well as some of the decisions made with respect to the home's kitchen.

RESOURCES :

Timberframe : The Art and Craft of the Post-and-Beam Home
Author: Ted Benson and Jamie Salomon
Publisher: Taunton (September 15, 1999)
ISBN: 1561582816
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.

The Timber-Frame Home
Author: Ted Benson
Publisher: Taunton; 2nd edition (March 20, 1997)
ISBN: 1561581291
To order this book from Amazon.com, click here.