Since there is no snow load to worry about it should be fine...
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Since there is no snow load to worry about it should be fine...
In the pit they're starting to install windows. Also putting down underlayment on the roof, looks pretty thin. The wind is already peeling some up.
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Our new house finally has a point. :)
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I like your new house much more than the pit house.
What type of cladding is the norm for houses in this area? It is clear to see that brick will not be the outer covering as there are no provisions for a brick or stone ledge on the foundation.
I suppose they could use the faux brick or stone and simply glue it to the OSB wall board. or use Hardy planking. Vinyl or steel siding always looks cheap new or old. t1-11 makes a house look like a barn. And then again there are all sorts of vacuum-formed panel sheeting with faux designs, which from a distance can fool many into believing the designs are the real thing but rarely do they hold up to close up scrutiny.
Maybe they will carpet it in green astroturf in hopes that it will blend into the local flora and not be noticed as a house LOL.
I like how your house is progressing even though you may feel it is slow in coming, at least yours's is a real structure
In our California neighborhood stucco has been the norm, no idea what they're going to do.
I know where there is a house here in Tx that the guy took lathing screen and stapled it to the exterior then pulled and shaped it to look like random rock formations then sprayed it with shot-crete and hand painted each stone shape to look like natural rocks. You had to get real close to even tell the wall was not made of natural stone.
All day today they were tarring the flat part of the roof and just on the section of sloped roof I can see from our yard they've added 3 skylights and 6 sewer vents.
They worked until 7pm, don't know if the flat sections are done yet. The tar pot is sitting in front of the house.
Here's the workshop on our new house. The roof timbers will be all treated with fire and bug proofing paint before everything is sealed up. Seems Russians in this area are really really against flammable houses.
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Just like most places that are against flammable schools...
Around here you can have wooden shake roofs and none of the lumber in the attic is treated.
Notice in my House Next Door thread there's not a bit of treated wood there.
We also have a LOT of termites, carpenter bees, and carpenter ants.
In the Pit they've been tarring that roof for 4 days! I've seen roofs on large commercial buildings finished quicker.
What on earth could they need all that tar for?
If I get a spare moment and calm weather I'll send up Mr Drone to have a look.
On our new roof, looks like we'll have a basketball court clear attic, I don't see truss members inside the attic space. The edges are sitting on the top of the wall which was poured solid. There's one layer of bricks inside that for weather seal and I guess it keeps it from leaning end to end.
https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...16_Roof-2.jpeg
Looks pretty sturdy...
That attic is about 12 meters x 7 meters inside the walls. My wife suggested building a small heated room there for exercise gear...part of the workout is climbing up the attic stairs.
Seems opening the attic stairs in winter wouldn't be the best idea unless we built the room OVER the attic stairs and added a door to the unheated part.
Wait, hmmm...., we could do that!
The guys are at lunch so I took a picture as best as I could. I'll see about sending up the drone when they leave.
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Pictures from The Tar Pit (renamed by a neighbor). Looks like 4 days of tarring isn't enough, they left the tar pot and pump ready for tomorrow.
Shouldn't the flashing go up to the top of the parapit, if not wrap over? First leak there?
Lot of glass in this house!
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I've seen a roof done like this before after the first layer of tar is applied they came in and installed a full wrap flashing then a second layer of tar then a vulcanized layer of rubbery fabric of about 1/4" thick and gravel on top of that
We had a heavy rain last night. The contractors got there first thing this morning before I could send up the drone. They had a shop vacuum running for quite a while, I assume sucking up water and now they're back to adding more tar. This is about a week of tarring.
So this is now officially the Tar Pit.
A roofer asked for pictures of the tar they're using and if they have mops or brooms. No mops or brooms seen.
He said a self-leveled roof is good for 3-4 years before it leaks, a bit longer with a seal top. He hasn't done one like this in over 20 years since there's much better ways to cover a roof.
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Back sometime around 1982 I was helping a guy build a floating boat house He and I both owned dock building companies only I mostly drove steel pilings for the boat storage and docks that I built Rod had installed a steel roof on the boat house then his customer decided that he wanted a party deck above it instead of the sloped steel roof. So we ripped the roof and rafters off replaced them with 24 foot long 2 by 12s on 12 inch centers over the 2 slip dock the longest unsupported span the rafters had was 8 feet over the slips with 4 foot walkways on both sides and down the middle then we screwed down 3/4" treated plywood for the sub decking of the roof/ party deck mopped adhesive over this then installed a second layer of 1/2" treated plywood transverse to the sub level we rolled as layer of polyester resin then put the first layer of woven fiberglass on that more resin a second and a 3rd layer of fiberglass each layer being laid transverse to the previous we finished off with a 1/9 to 3/16" thick layer of gel coat then covered that with outdoor stadium quality turf carpet I seriously doubt that that roof has developed a leak to this day unless someone had driven nails in it
There's a guy on the roof in The Tar Pit with a leaf blower. It looks like he may be pushing water towards the drain. Sounds like another day of tar fumes coming.
So, how many weeks does it take to do a little roof like that? Should I be worried that they have 500 pounds of tar still on the pallet next to the tar kettle?
Regarding The Tar Pit,*assuming they actually have a roof drain (but no visible emergency scupper), where is that water going? *They have those sump pits *around the basement but the house doesn't have power for pumps yet. *Also, where would they be pumping it? *There's no outlet into the street and I doubt you're allowed to pump into the sanitary sewer, that would overload it.
For those following our house as opposed to The Tar Pit, I have an unlisted YouTube video of the most recent walk-through. The red stuff is fire and bug proofing for the roof lumber.
I caught the beginnings of an error with the fence in the video and they'll fix that when they get back to work...one week stay at home orders.
https://youtu.be/EmSTWAQvJXo
I must say i have never seen the Door and a half before. I like it...
The Tar Pit next door is sitting idle. Some stops by now and then, walks in, walks out, leaves.
The tar kettle has a flat tire.
On to our new house
Our workers got a hall pass so they can go back to work 2 weeks early. Roof materials arriving, will start putting ON roof over the weekend and should be sending more pictures soon.
https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...7_Front-1.jpeg
We've followed this awhile. It started looking questionable on Day 1. Various crews put materials in place; some get modified, removed or shoddily ignored. We can question the owner, designer and contractor for who has worst comprehension of construction.
In other words, it was born funny looking and same trait endures. Only bigger. Not better... Sitting on untold cubic yards of concrete only makes it worse.
The Tar Pit has activity, I smell tar so I'm guessing we're in for another round of tar smoke. I thought I didn't like tar smoke until the day they turned the kettle up to 11 and filled the neighborhood with a choking cloud of scorched tar smoke. I sure hope that was a one-time, I couldn't go outside without coughing and my eyes burned from it.
Last I looked they only had 200 pounds of tar left out of the original pallet load, maybe they'll stop when they run out? Of course the last thing they did was put down the base roll material after two weeks of daily applications of pure tar. That's got to be a really thick roof by now!
In contrast, here's our new roof.
https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...5_Roof-10.jpeg
Tar Pit News:
Yesterday they took down the delivery pipe for the tar kettle. Today is the second day without tar smoke!
They've been doing banging and sawing inside the house, we noticed the sheeting on the house is starting to warp and flake from exposure. I guess it's not outdoor rated glue. I wonder how much damage there was inside, during the rain before they finished the roof there was water pouring off the edges of the subfloor. I have no idea how deep the water got in the basement or if they've had pumps running. With all the window wells this house better have backup power for the pumps or during a big storm they may have an indoor pool.
Our Russia House:
A big rain storm went through. Since all the windows are in but no ceilings it was easy to do a walk-through, no leaks. Success!
But, the fill dirt hasn't been brought in yet so we had a moat around the house. They said they almost needed a boat to get from the street to the front door. Two things will fix this, all the downspouts will get pipes put in to take the water to the city storm drain. This is "optional" but the city doesn't like you NOT doing it as it puts more water on the street.
Also, our land will be filled to bring it up to street level just like our neighbors have begun doing. The cement fence foundation was built at the height of the fill.
In other news, they are VERY strict on hooking up gas appliances. The house heating system is in process but we had to settle on a kitchen stove. So, we're going with a RICCI (from Italy). Now our builder is trying to find someone that's open that they can get it from. The stove has to be in the house, unpacked, and inspected by a licensed gas plumber with the serial number recorded before the specialist will connect it. Only then does the gas actually get turned on. The home owner and building contractor are not allowed to make repairs or connections on any gas appliance.
Yeow! Good thing the utilities are more trusting hereabouts.
Found a gas leak late at night by odor; almost certain was hit by gardener's mower. But had sufficient tools & supplies to section it out, thread the stub, replace the upper length, dope the connections and close with a union. Did have SoCal gas sniff the premises for any other issues. Cheap insurance with raised floor construction.
I'm tending my rental house in CA. Next tenant cares for a challenged young girl, so there were inconveniently arranged [suitable and common for other instances] appliances in the washroom. Aside from re-positioning water supply and drainage, exhaust for dyer and grounded electrics for both in 1941 construction. The gas line fell way short reaching dryer with shortest compact flex line. Once again, a pipe union saved the day with ~7' nestled in a corner, very easy to reach shut-off, and my gas wand detects zero escape of natural gas. No bill for service, less than $70.00 in parts + couple hundred for tools already on hand.
My little house; the one that receives "Oooh, I like this house" from every single person who enters. Even the painters and floor refinisher...
So I won't let just any body take occupancy. Since 1999, the next will only be 3rd to do so. First was 16 years, until their situation required more room.
So, they're going to stucco The Tar Pit House.
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In other news
The core of the fireplace in our new house is done. Still needs the outer layer of fancy rocks. The magic bits inside the outer layer will remain hidden per the master builder. As you can see that's embedded quite a ways into the wall.
https://durandinterstellar.com/photo...ce_Core-1.jpeg
My house was built by a stone mason in the early 60s. The inside of the fireplace and up the flue is a work of art...
All I know is the guy's name is Hans and he is from Austria...
I talked to the contractor for The Tar Pit, they're having trouble getting things. Stuff that was ordered and a deposit paid is now "somewhere between Spain and here, may not have been shipped yet". He said this year is definitely the best for us to sell, but for him looking ahead next year the moratorium on foreclosures will end and he's not sure he will be able to sell anything then.