Week 10: roof particulars and cladding beginnings

It's flat. It's sloped. It's both!

If you’ve been following week 9’s roof posts, you may have noticed an angle… or more specifically, one main angle decidedly un-90-degree in nature… or many of them, sitting side-by-side.

And if you’ve tooled around our Plans + Elevations page, you also may have noticed a certain flatness to most of the elevations. Indeed, most of the renderings (bar the kitchen cross-section) give the impression of a flat roof. And when all is said and done, that is what we’ll have… or appear to have… from the front, back and east elevations that is.

Will from Green Bottle Workshop explains:

“The roof style is a typical shed roof (meaning it slopes to one side). The original concept called for a flat roof, but the materials for a flat roof were too costly. By sloping the roof and using parapet walls to square off the house, we were able to achieve the look of a flat roof while staying within budget.”

Front parapet wall.

“The roof slope is a 3 on 12. meaning it rises 3-inches per foot across. Most roofing materials have a minimum slope requirement and 3/12 is a typical slope preference for most materials. It will provide slope that’s steep enough for water to fall faster, keeping it from draining slowly and finding its way into the house.”

Which brings us to the rafter tails (the part of the rafters which overhang the wall). Again, Will from Green Bottle:

“We lengthened the rafter tails by 4-feet to allow water to fall further away from the house. And, because the cut-out of these uses the same language as the steel rafter tails we’ll be using for the master bathroom overhang and the eyebrow above the living room glass walls, we thought that leaving them exposed would provide a nice additional design detail.”

Rafter tails.

And the roofing material?

M E T A L ! ! !

We’ll be using a galvanized aluminum… called galv-alum (and why wouldn’t it be called that?).

Galv-alum is better than typical galvanized metal because it contains a coating that makes it impervious to rust.

Galv-alum… looking unassuming.

We really like the metal roof and its shed-dy vernacular (see Pops, we will have a shed)… so much so, in fact, that we’ll be using it to clad the exterior of the dining room extension on the west side of the house as well.

Actually, Will and Matthew had originally planned to use steel for the dining room exterior (partially oxidized and then sealed). But, steel is at a premium these days (even in this former steel town), and the weight and thickness required would have us exceeding our budget.

Still, we’re no less excited by the prospect of a galv-alum cladded extension… and can’t wait to see it in action.

Dining room extension.

After extending the tails and finishing up the roof for next week’s galv-alum installation, the final hours of week 10 saw a start on the cladding.

We’re using standard sheets of Hardie Board—a type of fiber cement siding—cut into varying lengths and widths. After it’s painted, it will, very nearly, have the appearance of wood, but at a price well within our budget. Hardie Board is also more durable than most wood siding and it takes and holds paint much better, meaning less maintenance going forward.

A start on the end.

Cladding corner.

Week 9.4: roofer’s delight

…well it’s on-n-on-n-on-on-n-on
the roof don’t stop until the break of dawn…

West-side shout-out.

…then ya throw your hands high in the air
ya rockin’ to the roof, shake your derriere…

Exterior balcony... say yeaaahh!

Stoppin' on the east-side.

…I dont mean to brag I dont mean to boast
but this roof is hot butter on our breakfast toast…

Why you frontin'?

Week 9.3: all trussed up

Roof's up.

One big skylight… for now.

Over our heads.

Rafters at dusk.

Week 9.2: crafters in the rafters

The crane (!) arrived bright and early, and the gang wasted no time in taking the massive bundle of wooden triangles left in the back of the lot only hours before and then raising and arranging it into a shed roof-type situation. In our absence, Will and Matthew were kind enough to document.

Raising the roof. ©2008 Green Bottle Workshop LLC

Roof! Photo ©2008 Green Bottle Workshop LLC

Week 9.1: we’re no architects, but…

…we’re pretty sure that this is not where the roof is supposed to go.

A bundle of trusses.

…or here…

The roof (not yet realizing its full potential).

Maybe, by tomorrow, we’ll have this all sorted out.

Pretty Persuasion

The Kohler Persuade Two-piece Comfort Height Toilet with Dual Flush.

If you ever told us that we’d be excited about buying a toilet… I mean, who gets excited about buying a toilet?

But we did!

Kohler’s new Persuade toilet not only looks quite nice, its dual flush mechanism will enable us to save water (up to 6,000 gallons annually!) and money.

From Kohler: “The Persuade toilet with Dual Flush technology provides significant water conservation while maintaining exceptional flushing performance. A two-button actuator offers .8- or 1.6-gallon flush options for light or bulk waste, saving as much as 6,000–25,000 gallons of water over traditional 1.6- or 3.5-gallon toilets. The concealed trapway and flush-to-wall installation enhance ease of cleaning. With its clean, simple lines, the elongated compact design offers an ideal solution for the contemporary bath or powder room.”

And because of its high-efficiency, the Persuade carries the WaterSense label. WaterSense is a program sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which ensures consumers receive a product that reduces water usage, while still meeting strict performance guidelines. In some states, buying the Persuade qualifies customers for a tax rebate (paying up to a third of the total purchase price), because it reduces demand for municipal water, and preserves precious groundwater supplies. But alas, not here in the Yellowhammer state. And as much as we love Alabama, we really think the powers that be ought to start doing a bit more for water conservation on the home front than they have been.

Week 8: waiting for the roof

With Labor Day on Monday, the short week at 1133 is spent finishing up the dining room and deck, extending the footings for the front entryway, prepping the cinderblock for the cement board cladding, and shoring up the joint in anticipation of the arrival of the roof trusses on the 9th (better known in Burns circles as Lauren Elizabeth’s 6th birthday!).

The front door (with growing footings).

Northwest side: dining room and deck.

Wee (dining room) window.

West side: dining room and deck.

Getting ready for the Hardie Board.

A view from the backyard.

Mr. Green Jeans

Who wears the pants? The house wears the pants.

A fully green house. That’s what our aspirations were from the get-go. Along the way, however, we’ve sadly realized that to go fully green demands a much greener budget.

So, we’ve been greening where we can afford to green… especially, when it comes to things that would be nearly impossible to add later. Retrofitting 1133 with solar panels or a tankless water heater shouldn’t prove too cost-prohibitive (or life-disruptive) if we decide to back-burner those. Insulation though, that’s a toughy… unless ripping walls out is you’re thing.

We’ve researched insulate alternatives like Cellulose (comprised of 80% shredded newspaper, treated with borate compounds to resist fire, insects, and mold), Spray Polyurethane Foam or SPF (water-blown and able to create its own air barrier by expanding in even the tiniest nooks and crannies) and SPF’s hippy cousin, the all organic Soybean Polyurethane. We were especially taken with the SPF, which can cut yearly energy costs by as much as 35%! Unfortunately, the overall cost, which would require installation by certified experts, greatly exceeded our allowance. After all, we’re budgeted for the pink stuff (fiberglass).

Which was why we were so happy when we stumbled upon the blue stuff: Bonded-Logic’s UltraTouch Recycled Cotton Insulation.

Ultratouch is made from 85% post-consumer recycled denim, diverting an average of 200 tons (!) of landfill material per month (finally, a justification for the existence of acid-washed jeans). Like Cellulose Insulation, it’s also treated with borate to resist fire, mold/mildew, and critters (borate is less toxic than table salt), giving it a Class A fire rating and superior mold resistance. Another added benefit, impressive acoustical dampening—up to 30% higher than the pink stuff (meaning, we can rock out without disturbing the neighbors).

It comes in bats and is installed much like fiberglass… except that no eye or lung protection is needed and it doesn’t irritate the skin (UltraTouch also has no VOC outgassing concerns and contains no formaldehyde unlike fiberglass insulation).

But, can we afford it?

Well, we’re pretty sure we can. A quick crunching of the numbers has the cost at not quite twice our allotment for insulation (including installation). And, while not having as much energy-saving potential as the SPF, the UltraTouch still outperforms the pink stuff… which means we’ll likely recoup the extra cost within a year or two through lower energy bills.

So, the jury’s still out. We’ll have to find the money elsewhere in our already skin-tight budget. But hopefully, nothing will go between our walls, except our Calvins…

…and Levis, Lees, Wranglers and Jordaches.

18 inches

"It's not your job to be confused as Nigel."

In the classic 1984 “Rockumentary by Marti DeBergi” This Is Spinal Tap, 18 inches was a total disaster, albeit one with hilarious consequences.

But we’re not talking woefully inadequate Stonehenge replicas here. Because, in our case, a measurement of 18 inches is monumental… it ends up translating into an additional 300 square feet!

Matthew from Green Bottle Workshop explains:

“The addition of 18 inches to the back of the house brought us to the minimum square footage required for a new house in Bluff Park (2,500 square feet). This ‘minor’ detail hadn’t come up in any of our three prior meetings with the City of Hoover’s building officials; and, it was two full weeks after they’d received the final plans before we first learned of it. Since we’d already waited so long, we were willing to do whatever was necessary to obtain the permit that day. Being almost 300 square feet under code meant it would have been difficult to add anywhere else but the back of the house without having to return to the drawing board (had we tried to add it to the middle of the floor plan, it would have drastically affected the elevations). This is one of the great advantages to design/build. We were able to make the adjustments, and get things back on track.”

Last week, during a walkthrough at the site with Will, Liane and I were able to actually see the gained space in the closet/laundry area near the master bedroom. During our discussions with Will, he proposed the idea of a recessed shelf/headboard situation that would go above the bed, eliminating the need for a headboard and side tables. In order to do this without robbing the master bedroom of precious space, he suggested that we consider repositioning the dividing wall between the two spaces (i.e. moving it back a bit and taking space from the closet area). However, this might also mean having to adjust the window in the closet/laundry area. We asked Will if he wouldn’t mind drawing this up so we could have a better idea of how much/little the new placement would affect the design before making our decision. And he kindly obliged.

Revised west elevation: before (above) and after (below).

If you look closely at the bottom elevation, you may also notice that the vertical trim piece has been moved back slightly in order to divide the windows evenly and help preserve the rhythm established by the previous window placement.

Satisfied by the results—the reposition is barely noticeable and will, more importantly, make for a better interior space—we make the decision to move the window and the wall. Will lets us know that this will be done after the roof trusses are up… next week.

Week 7: filling in and filling out

I think we may have a few leaks in the roof.

Monday and Tuesday are a wash-out as the rainy remnants of Fay kept us all at bay.

The framers return Wednesday morning and leave at the end of the day with things back on track.

And now that a sizable portion of the structure is up, it’s time to start correcting some of the abrupt downward sloping of the lot. Along with a very substantial bit of red at the far end of the lot, new dirt arrives and the graders, with their trusty Bobcat, get to leveling.

Let's move some dirt.

Hey! What happened to our moat?

Having a bit more ground around the house allows the framers to start on the floating dining room and east side deck area. To this, Liane says: “Yippeeee!” [Ed. note: I think it’s pretty cool too.]

The west side deck (and part of the dining room).

Looking down into the dining room.

We’re also noticing just how nice the view will be from the exterior balcony just outside the master bathroom.

The master bathroom and adjoining exterior balcony.

Much, much accomplished, despite the shortened week. The roof trusses have been specified and ordered; and, what little framing that’s left before those arrive in 2 weeks, will be finished up next week (follow that?).

Grounded.