Temporary Radio Silence

[9zero1790]

A quick update….

I managed to take care of the structural elements of the balcony. Replaced one support column and was able to use the other. I put in a 3-ply drop beam that runs the span of the entire deck, rather than rely on just the two attachment points in the original design. The inside joists support the porch ceiling with the outdoor lamp, so they had to stay. They were about 10-20% deteriorated along their top sides near the outer edge, so I sistered new joists to them. The outer rim joists are all glued and screwed. I was surprised at how thin the old hangers were and by the small gauge nails that fastened them in place. I used pressure treated lumber for anything I replaced, even though it will be completely covered and “water proof”.

I’m waiting for the city inspector to approve the structure then I can put on the floor, build a curb wall up top, and start boxing in the bottom with PT plywood. Then, I can install the flat roof, flashing, Tyvek, outer cement fibre siding and trim, and install the railings.

Surgically disassembling something so you can understand how it’s built, salvage what you can or need to, and make sure it can all go back together again is a slooooow process. The weather has been incredible and is expected to continue so I’m happy about that.

looking nice! i was just wondering how this was going.

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[Fordup]

Looking good. Boy did you luck out with the weather. February's supposed to be frigid . Grilling weather instead this year.

 

[Radioman]

Good progress Duke.

 

[LaBalbe]

Looking good. Boy did you luck out with the weather. February's supposed to be frigid . Grilling weather instead this year.

He really did luck out with the weather; for most of the past week, it's been double-digits above freezing (think somewhere in the 50's), but from this weekend, we go back to double-digits below freezing (think low-10's).

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

I think you need a few more bits of hardware to keep that thing together. . .

It has more steel than some bridges.

 

[LaBalbe]

Yep, I see this all the time. All those typical two-storey brick house we see in the big cities (think All in the Family or King of Queens). The roof section above those front verandas are usually just resting on those wooden columns. Good thing you got it done when you did.

On this project, every single joist is attached to the drop beam with a Simpson Strong-Tie hurricane tie - each tie has five #10 Simpson structural screws in the joist and five in the beam. Overkill? Not according to Simpson, not according to Code, and not according to Duke.

It's bad enough when it's just a veranda roof that's propped up like that; this was actual living quarters that were being held up like that! God knows what they were thinking, but I'm guessing that when the house was first built they weren't real sticklers for building code in the area.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

It has more steel than some bridges.

"fire proof"

 

[NotBudule]

Good looking work sir ! Sucks you have to wait on inspection , reputation and a photo should suffice, I'm outside the reach of those guys , thankfully...

 

[Jhbryaniv]

Good looking work sir ! Sucks you have to wait on inspection , reputation and a photo should suffice, I'm outside the reach of those guys , thankfully...

So are my parents. That's how they got a contractor to build a porch, and they got to pay a second contractor to test it down 6 months later and rebuild it when it started to fall away from the house... Turned out he never tied the new roof into the existing roof... They now get permits for all work... ?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

It's bad enough when it's just a veranda roof that's propped up like that; this was actual living quarters that were being held up like that! God knows what they were thinking, but I'm guessing that when the house was first built they weren't real sticklers for building code in the area.

Unfortunately, some jurisdictions don’t have their own Code or Inspectors. ?

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

Good looking work sir ! Sucks you have to wait on inspection , reputation and a photo should suffice, I'm outside the reach of those guys , thankfully...

Thanks very much! Photo and a good rep. I sure like that idea!

 

[DukeCanBuildit]

So are my parents. That's how they got a contractor to build a porch, and they got to pay a second contractor to test it down 6 months later and rebuild it when it started to fall away from the house... Turned out he never tied the new roof into the existing roof... They now get permits for all work... ?

Smart move. I get them when required. I did a house where I removed a load bearing wall to open it up. The owner didn’t want to bother with the permit process and had the engineer come in and provide drawings. I still wasn’t cool with that - it was a duplex (semi-detached). I applied online for the permit anyway. In the end, if I build it to Engineer’s drawings and the work is inspected and approved by the city inspector, it’s their asses, not mine.

 

[Jhbryaniv]

Smart move. I get them when required. I did a house where I removed a load bearing wall to open it up. The owner didn’t want to bother with the permit process and had the engineer come in and provide drawings. I still wasn’t cool with that - it was a duplex (semi-detached). I applied online for the permit anyway. In the end, if I build it to Engineer’s drawings and the work is inspected and approved by the city inspector, it’s their asses, not mine.

dear lord. Smart on your part.

We redid our master suite in Florida - took the entire bathroom, tub, toilet, single sink etc. Hired a retired general contractor friend to do the work. It turned out amazing. We went from a barely usable bathroom, to a zero entry shower with dual rain shower heads, a normal shower head and a shower wand. Custom wood framed mirrors over a dual sink vanity, cut down from kitchen counter height to halfway between that and bathroom vanity height. Gorgeous tile laid over Schulter system... And new barn doors the matched the closet so when closed they looked like one big door...
No permits, because we didn't change anything structural. And he was so methodical... He laid all the floor tiles out and sorted them so when you looked in the lines on the tiles matched, but weren't perfect so it looked purposeful, but not cover done... ?

OH and all the shower controls are hidden behind that half wall so you can't see them from outside the shower. It was so sexy.

 

[NotBudule]

So are my parents. That's how they got a contractor to build a porch, and they got to pay a second contractor to test it down 6 months later and rebuild it when it started to fall away from the house... Turned out he never tied the new roof into the existing roof... They now get permits for all work... ?

And now this "contractor " would have a reputation and be under much more scrutiny than someone who's proven time again and again to do it right , they see Duke's name on a permit , his word and a few photos of this and that should be good enough to not tie him up for days waiting on "inspection" from some dude that couldn't build a birdhouse from a kit ... I'm a little bitter on the subject , I know...

 

[Jhbryaniv]

And now this "contractor " would have a reputation and be under much more scrutiny than someone who's proven time again and again to do it right , they see Duke's name on a permit , his word and a few photos of this and that should be good enough to not tie him up for days waiting on "inspection" from some dude that couldn't build a birdhouse from a kit ... I'm a little bitter on the subject , I know...

I get it, in Florida I had to get a permit to install a fence. They came out and the inspector said Ohh, I know this work you're good. And he left.

The roofer we were going to pick (we ended up selling the house with a roof that needed to be replaced) was another contractor that would have done the job in a single day, tear off, replaces decking and shingle taking photos for the inspector. Meanwhile we had other homes in the neighborhood that we're stuck in a waiting for the inspector to approve it phase because they kept having to reinspect because of problems... ?

I dislike contractors and permits. ?

Our electrical work when we told the electricians we wanted a permit they all added a couple grand to the price... But they swore either way was done to the same code specs... ? Fuckers.

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