New House Truckee, CA Historic District

[Danfish]

Looks like you had the tar paper on when I passed though Truckee on Saturday...

That is correct, "only" took roofer one week to get underlayment down and start putting down starter strip...



All the final roof materials delivered yesterday...46 squares is one lot of roof...



All windows in and got a coat of primer on the front porch columns...

[Danfish]

Well we're into week number three with the slowest roofer I have ever seen...workmanship appears to be Ok, just can't stay on the job and make progress...at least waeather is cooperating, even with those twenty degree mornings.

For those not acquainted with the new California fire code requirements...here's the most expensive soffit installation you will ever see.  Ordinary vented open eaves are no longer allowed, so we begin with this new vent that includes a honeycombed piece that is treated with a special paint that expands a fills the internal space when exposed to high flame temperature...10 foot strip costs $80.



Then we must use "fire resistant construction", which means we begin with 1/2 inch exterior dry wall...


Then we install the new vent strips and 1 x 6 cedar T & G...



And final result...

[MountainDon]

Intumescent paint, I think. You can get it to paint exterior wood surfaces. When the temp gets high enough it expands as an insulative layer. Easier. less expensive to do cement board or stucco.  But good to use on older existing wood structures.

[davidj]

They're letting you use T&G cedar?  That's good news - last I heard the only stuff that was approved for soffits were a couple of brands of cement board.  And the vents are getting cheaper too - when I priced mine it was gonna cost something like $15/linear foot.  But I managed to sneak in my permit a couple of days before the WUI stuff hit so I went with 1/8" hardware cloth and the whole thing cost me <$50 total!

[Danfish]

The Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) is a big thing now in California and while fire resistant construction with materials like cement board and stucco would pass...not in the Historic District of Truckee!  The Historic Review Commision will not approve the application of these materials.  Western Red Cedar is listed by the State Fire Marshal as passing the requirements for flame spread rates.  The construction of soffits with the layering of dry wall and jointed cedar is an approved method.  Siding becomes the next big issue.  The use of a shingle would require it have a Class B fire rating and you can guess at what that would cost.  I wanted shingles on this structure and an approved material is the shingle panel with cedar permanetly afixed to a plywood backer.  This combination meets the fire resistance test and is on the "approved list".  I have used before and the 8 foot panels are pretty easy to install.  This is what they look like...



First two courses installed...by the way these panels were ordered prestained, last time I stained myself before installing (actually I had the wife and every available friend staining)...will not do that again!!!

[Danfish]

Roof's done!!!  Well almost, still need to get roofer back to finish roof on the gas meter enclosure...

[rick91351]

Did you have to run those soffit strips the whole length, or some engineered formula of inches required? 

[davidj]

Roof's done!!!  Well almost, still need to get roofer back to finish roof on the gas meter enclosure...

Glad to hear the gas meter enclosure gets its own roofing job.

I wonder if there are any countryplans cabins that cost less to build than your gas meter enclosure...

[davidj]

First two courses installed...by the way these panels were ordered prestained, last time I stained myself before installing (actually I had the wife and every available friend staining)...will not do that again!!!

Sssshhhhhhhhh!  Don't mention pre-stained siding!!  My wife might see it and ask for the two Summers back that she spent staining our cabin.

[Danfish]

Did you have to run those soffit strips the whole length, or some engineered formula of inches required?

The Net Free Vent Area (sq. inches) of these new flame resistant vents is significantly less than old conventional vents; therefore, the length of strip venting required to meet the calculated vent values dictates that strips run almost the entire soffit length.  For appearance sake and to reduce the additional detail work to break up the run, it was decided to slightly over do it and make it a continuous run.

[Danfish]

Winter has arrived...



Pretty much shot down exterior work this weekend, did manage to get some trim made up for foundation vents.  Discover a major drawback to my gutterless roof...when the snow starts to melt on the roof I cannot work under the eaves installing the siding...it was like working under a waterfall!  The day before this snow fell I was making some real progress placing siding on the gable, after snow fell it was an ice skating rink on that roof...better left to another day!

[Danfish]

Too busy working on house, hence no posts lately.  As mentioned in early post, had planned to have exterior complete and dry wall up by end of October.  So much for planning!  Electrician has one more day on rough-in and insulation scheduled to begin next week.  Dry wall sub already staging and ready to follow on heals of insulation.  I have about a third of siding on and it looks like at least a week of clear weather in the pipeline.  Garage door scheduled to go on December 16...then it's close up and I am out of here till next spring.

Mason's crew finished rock veneer around porch yesterday...rain, snow or shine this crew was amazing!!!

Have plenty of photos to post when time permits.

[Sassy]

Wow, you did have winter!  Amazed at how fast you've gotten that house so far.  Are you only going to stay there in the summer or will you eventually live there?  Looking forward to seeing more pics 

[Danfish]

Wow, you did have winter!  Amazed at how fast you've gotten that house so far.  Are you only going to stay there in the summer or will you eventually live there?  Looking forward to seeing more pics 

This will become our full-time residence.

A couple of photos to update the shingle siding work...first the south facing gable over porch...



and then got the north gable complete in between snow storms...

[Danfish]

Walking up the hill after breakfast the other morning and noticed this picture presented a bit of Truckee history...



The gazebo looking structure on the left is a replica of the orginal museum that housed McGlashen's famous butterfly collection that is now in the Donner State Park museum.  If you look to the right, my project is now a part of the scene.

[Danfish]

More siding goes up...



And my new shop gets a workout early in the game...



The front stair stringers and post go in...

[Danfish]

First stone in place for rock veneer under porch...





Then it's time to batten down the hatches for the next storm...



And the finished product...

[rick91351]

I really like the rock work, that is a real plus!  It adds a great deal to your home.  We love that area!  Hope you get settled in soon and enjoy the house. 

[pmichelsen]

That siding looks really sharp, I also really like the stone work.

[Sassy]

Have always loved shingle siding & the rockwork looks fantastic!  Your place is really coming along nicely...  all your neighbors are gonna be jealous 

[cbc58]

add another compliment on the shingle siding and stone work... beautiful...

[metolent]

Indeed, that stone work and siding look incredible...  really, really nice....   

[Danfish]

Thanks for all the compliments...really pumps up the spirit when the body is beginning to drag from the current all out pace!!!  The long dry spell in weather has really helped, but it sure has been cold.  Got the ceiling on the porch, the beadboard adds to the "old world" look...first came the sheet rock to meet new fire code...



Then finished ceiling...

[Danfish]

Drywall crew hard at it on interior...







Decided I would take advantage of that  heater and move inside for priming of porch rail posts...

[Danfish]

Porch deck going down...when cleaning up this evening noticed the full moon really looks out of this world from the new porch...