New House Truckee, CA Historic District

[Danfish]

You're in the ballpark...actually 6 3/4 x 22 1/2!

[Danfish]

Interior walls now complete...interior designer gives blessing...



Porch beam in place to hold up front loft area...on to the roof structure!!!

[Danfish]

Big day, truss load arrives...



After some head scratching, can do it, can't do it...finally position truck and trailer (more pictures and discussion later) and get crane into operation...








About getting in a position to even do this job...trailer squeezed into place...




Then the challenge of working with all the overhead utilities...

[Sassy]

Nothing seems to be simple there...  you're making great progress tho.

[Danfish]

Final site clean up and drainage install...driveway at end of August...

[Danfish]

Topping out Trusses...then on to the garage truss work...real fun comes on cathedral rafters over living room and loft.  Trying to schedule crane to lift 3 large glue lams that support this last roof section.

[nathan.principe]

do you mind posting a close up pic of how the 2 trusses connect?  in the pic they look like they are floating!

[Danfish]

Nathan, flying in the trusses is just eye candy, the real detail work always follows.  First the top sections are sitting on and nailed to 2x4 web stiffners spaced 24" O.C. (that's why they appear to be floating up there).



Next comes 7/16" 8x10 plywood gussets 4' O.C. to connect upper and lower sections.



You can imagine the fun nailing these babies in place...




Finally, a 8 foot 2x4 is sistered to each top and bottom truss rafter...



All this for an engineered roof system designed to take 140 mph winds.

[MountainDon]

Very  ... and I hope you never have to test those connections with 140 mph winds.  I think your structure would do better than many others though.

[nathan.principe]

Ok, I see now, didnt notice the 2x4s laying perpendicular between the trusses.  Man, I dont envy you for having to install all those gussets, or cutting them out for that matter!  looks to be a very solid constructed roof tho, is that typical in your area? or are you just going above and beyond for piece of mind

[Danfish]

Fortunately the plywood gussets came supplied by the truss manufacture along with all the eave blocking (predrilled for venting).  All structures in the town of Truckee require engineered plans, thereby eliminating building code references to conventional construction.  Basic wind speed design criteria is 95 mph (three second gust); however, exposure and topographical features are site specific and actual design criteria is determined by the engineer of record.  The town indicates there is no historical record of wind related strucural failures...I have personally witnessed 100 mph gusts in the area.  The downtown Truckee ground snow load factor is 175 pounds per sq. ft. and even with a 10/12 pitch you will note this roof has a large amount of surface area.  This past record winter resulted in a significant number of structural failures due to snow loading...mostly structures built in the 60's and 70's before strict codes and during the days of anything will work craftsmanship.  I own a house in town built in 1892 with pioneer craftsmanship and old growth lumber that is still standing tall...even though it might be leaning a bit!!!

[MountainDon]

Wow!  175 psf ground snow. That's a lot od snow! Of course that area is famous for snow. Is it wet or dry snow mostly, or depends?   How mana feet on the ground, depthwise?

[Danfish]

Often wet snow, that's why they call it "Sierra Cement"; however. this past winter it was occasionally dryer than normal and made for a lot of happy powder hound skiers.  In town gets a lot of sunshine so ground build up usually a few feet between storms.  Roof sheding, drifts, etc. can build up to 8 feet or more.  At one point the ski area on top of nearby Donner Summit had a base of 30 feet this past season.  Keep in mind that the camp of the infamous "Donner Party" was just a short distance out of town.

[davidj]

Finally had chance to stop by and check out your project on Saturday - looks great!  And what a fantastic location - views and seconds to downtown (probably about 2 seconds with enough sierra cement on the ground - the vertical and horizontal distances seem about the same).  Interesting to hear you get the vented blocking from the truss vendor - I was gonna ask how they looked so perfect.  I guess you're not covered by wildland-urban-interface fire rules otherwise you'd be spending a lot on fire-resistant vents...

[Danfish]

David sorry I missed you, Saturday was a day off...thanks for the comments.  Wildland-Urban requirements do apply and yes will be installing those very expensive vents in the soffit.  Current plan is to go with the continuous strip vent by Bandguard.  Foundation vents also have to be approved type. 

[Danfish]

Driveway goes down and errosion control work complete...

[Danfish]

Barge rafters going up on rear gable...




Time to stain the fascia...



And finally, installing the faux beam outlookers, real supporting beams on front gable/cathedral ceiling structure go up this week with crane scheduled for Wednesday.

[Sassy]

You're place is really coming along nicely!

[Danfish]

Thanks Sassy...still a lot to do before old man winter rears his head!

[davidj]

Out in the trees, Fall unofficially starts the weekend after Labor Day - with the Sun lower in the sky there's a lot less light and it really changes the feel of everything.  We've already started splitting wood and thinking about where to store everything over the Winter - only 8 weeks until things have to be mostly put away.

But with your fantastic Southern exposure you can pretend it's Summer for a few more weeks...

[Danfish]

Big lift day...



Staging for action and pre-lift meeting of the minds...




Crane arrives...



First thing get out instructions...just a joke, actually varifying boom extension Vs. load, it's a long way out there!  Next comes set up... all you female builders out there, note the crane crew.




Change tires anyone?



Rig up first beam, then up and away...






Next comes the ridge beam...




Finally beam #3...



View from the top, total setting time , start to finish...20 minutes...now on to the rafters...

[pmichelsen]

View from the top, total setting time , start to finish...20 minutes...now on to the rafters...

Nothing like a good crew and good operator!

Your place looks amazing and has been a big inspiration for me.

[nathan.principe]

is there a specific name for the type beams you are using?  they look kinda like a bunch of white pine 2x6 laminated together! ( Im sure theres more to it than that)

[rdzone]

I believe they are called glulams around here.

[pmichelsen]

Yeah they look like glulams to me, if you are unfamiliar here is what wikipedia has to say about them:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glued_laminated_timber