Finally, they are working on the shop

[electra225]

The trusses made it to the back yard yesterday. This morning a guy came out and is installing the trusses by himself. I'll have to say that I'm impressed. They hung the trusses upside down on the framing. All he has to do is to flip them upright and nail them to the guide stud he has installed. They guy doesn't look very professional. He is the only guy there, yet still drops the F-bomb every other breath. Seems like he knows what he's doing. He does drive a recent Dodge pickup. He found an outside outlet I didn't know we had. Behind the air conditioner. If he can put the OSB sheething on by himself, then I'll REALLY be impressed. All the material got good and soaked with all the rain we've had lately. I asked about mold growing on wet material. "What mold?" was his reply. "This is Arizona. It will be dry long before we get it closed in". Okay.

[William]

That's good news, Greg. Is the OSB sheeting on site so he can keep going?

Bill

[electra225]

Yessir, it is. Nice and wet from recent rain, so it's clean. The trusses are up. He is doing the "roughing in" for the facia boards and that right now. I'm guessing he'll come back next time with help to put the OSB on. The guy has obviously done this before. I took some pictures with my phone. If I ever get my honey-do list done, I'll try to get some posted.

[electra225]

I got some pictures. I'm really looking forward to seeing this project completed. It's been ten months in the making. The guy working on it says he is going to make a ramp out of 2X4's, then pull the sheeting up by himself. Says he does it all the time on small jobs.

[William]

It's looking good. How long will the tile need to sit on the roof before they can install?

Bill

[electra225]

I don't really know. My understanding is they will completely finish the outside, sheeting, stucco, paint, doors, windows all that before the roofing per se is installed. They will do the tar paper and stripping, then set the tiles on the roof for a span of time. The inspector checks it when the set the tiles, then after the proper time, he will come again and make sure the structure is still standing. If he approves, they will install the flat concrete roof tiles. Our house has 2X4 trusses, the shop has 2x6 trusses except for the end ones, which are 2X4.

[TC Chris]

Our house has 2X4 trusses, the shop has 2x6 trusses except for the end ones, which are 2X4.

But your shop has "attic trusses," the ones with storage space, right?

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

Yes. That's why they are using 2X6 trusses. A couple sheets of the plywood for the "loft" got damaged by water. They are going to replace those. The loft will only be about 4' tall, but I can store lots of stuff up there that is not heat sensitive, like tubes.

[TC Chris]

Are you going to ventilate the roof? Here in Michigan, we just replaced a "25 year" 3-tab asphalt shingle roof after 23 years. The southwest side had failed quite dramatically (curled shingles, missing tabs, missing granules). The northeast side was still like new. Te difference was sun exposure and, I guess, heat buildup. The garage is uninsulated and old and fairly leaky, in terms of air infiltration. I would have expected much less heat-related damage than in a typical house with an enclosed attic (even if ventilated).

You won't have to worry about sun damage with cement tiles but heat buildup must be a much larger issue for you, especially if the attic area is above an insulated space. I've read that much of the nighttime heat discomfort in the summer is from radiant heat from attics, even when the ceiling contains adequate insulation. A reflective barrier zaps the radiated heat that isn't stopped by the usual air-trapping forms of insulation. They used to make some stuff called Reflectix; I've been meaning to look it up to see if it's still made.

Chris Campbell

[electra225]

The lower part, the frame, will have batt insulation, R30, I think, which is code. The upper part will have sprayed-in insulation on the bottom of the roof, R40, I think. Whatever code is. I'm told by the construction company that the upper storage area, although not climate controlled, should stay 20 degrees cooler than ambient temp in the summer. That won't be much warmer than the upper story of my garage in Missouri got, and it was okay in the summer if I had a fan running to stir the air a bit. I don't know if there will be ventilation in the upper area or not.

[TC Chris]

Here's some info on Reflectix:
https://images.thdstatic.com/catalog/pd ... c9f53b.pdf

Chris Campbell

[19&41]

Lookin' good so far.

[electra225]

Thanks, Rex. Let's keep a good thought that progress will continue.

I was in contact online with a family from the West Valley who had been building a casita at their place for the last 14 months, about the same size as the shop will be. Construction around here is crazy. Supply shortages, labor shortages. All the building materials are going to the big builders. We have frineds who suffered a broken pipe and had to have their kitchen rebuilt. That relatively small project has been ongoing for 8 months and they still don't have cabinets or countertops.

[danrclem]

It's looking good and should make a good shop. If they keep working on it, it wouldn't be long before it's finished but we all know how that goes.

[electra225]

Thanks, Danny. There must have been a raindrop that fell somewhere around here today. He didn't show up. Or there could be dog poop in the back yard. Or his printer may have broken. Or.........

[Firedome]

Hang in there! Seems bizarre to me that code would require that kind of insulation, roof tile, and finishes on a shop, as many are used as essentially glorified storage sheds for mowers, tools and such... crazy! Even in (at least sometimes) oppressive NY we have no real codes on storage buildings other than location and basic structural safety, and in Vermont there was little code for insulating a strictly seasonal dwelling. I'd think a silver galvanized or galvalume roof that's highly reflective would be a durable and practical roofing material in the desert, with no rust worries there!

[electra225]

About half the regulations are county building codes, the rest are HOA requirements. You can't put up a Tuff Shed or something you get at Home Depot unless it can't be seen over the fence, or it can't be seen from the front of the house, the street. If you put up a structure in the back yard, you can't use up more than 70% of the square footage of the rear yard. You can pour concrete over the whole thing, or you can have a swimming pool that covers it wall to wall with a 5' offset. If the area is under roof, it can't take up more than the 70% due to fire fighting/spreading issues. The shop has to "look like" the house with the same stucco siding, painted the same color, with the same type of roofing. And it can't be taller than the house. It has to be at least 5' away from the house. The doors and windows have to match, fairly closely, those in the house. We are going to have the same size windows with French doors leading into the shop. I can open both doors to haul big consoles into the shop!

There are two ways to look at this. One way is the extra cost, about half the entire project, that regulations and codes add. The way I look at it is that, without codes and regulations, somebody down the street might build something really ugly and i'd have to look at it. That was one of the reasons we left Missouri. Junk cars, old boats with no wheels on the trailer, lawnmowers left where they quit and a neighbor who painted their house titty pink. We don't have to look at all that junk out here. We aren't technically supposed to park cars on the street. Technically, the HOA can start fining people for not parking their cars in the garage. We are the only ones on our entire block that park our cars in the garage. Most people have their garages full of junk, with no room for their cars. Of course, we are spending obscene money on a shop in the back yard for our junk. Spending money each month for a storage locker is a monthly expense for most families like the light bill and water bill. There is NO storage in these newer homes. Installing storage in the garage is a going business out here. But, the wife and I believe this area is the most beautiful place on earth and we are thrilled to be able to spend our golden years here, regulations and all.

[Firedome]

Hey I like titty pink! it's popular in Florida lol Actually, yes, there are pluses and minuses to zoning and regulations, rural places like in MO &c can be too loose for sure. One jumped-up place we had in VT wouldn't allow clotheslines or boats anywhere in the yard (had to be in the garage or offsite) which was intolerable to me as i like to work on the boat and it wouldn't fit in the garage so we moved. Actually it could be worse... my folks place in FL had really draconian HOA regs,
like you had to power wash and bleach your required white concrete driveway at least once a year to keep it bright white enough! And worse. I tend to chafe at those degrees of regulation, but also wouldn't want to live next to a junkheap!

[electra225]

The house on one side of ours is owned by the best neighbors we ever had. The other side there is a rental. A single guy lives there. He pays a lawn service to do at least his front yard. The back yard is bare dirt. He doesn't have any kids or pets, and is quiet. He never speaks to us. He waves once in awhile. There is not room here to even change the oil in the lawnmower. Never mind working on the car. If the HOA snitches even SUSPECT you have a jack under a car not in your garage, you will get a phone call from the lady at the HOA. Not a good thing. You will also get a fine with your next HOA fees statement. Same thing with a trailer. You need permission for it to be there unless it is connected to a vehicle. RV's and off-road vehicles, boats that kind of thing sitting outside is likewise stricly "verbotten". There are no street lights in this neighborhood. Everybody has coach lights on their garage that lights the night. God help you if one of those lights burns out. The grass in the front yard has to be green year around. About half the homes, including ours when we get the shop done, has astro-turf in the front yard. We have nice common areas, a park with a pool, tennis courts, basketball court and lots of room for soccer and baseball activities. We ride down to the park on the golf cart and watch them play baseball. There are three colors you can paint your house in this community. My wife says that there is a Circle K, a Mormon church and a storage facility on every block out here. The storage facility I have the Buick in has 1200 lockers and all of them are full. The big ones have cars, boats and that kind of thing. The inside lockers are climate-controlled. The facility I have my electronics stored in has 1600 lockers and they have a waiting list.

[William]

One of the places I stay when I'm out there is Scottsdale. The friends that I stay with live in a gated community in the McDowell mountain range. They are in the second tier up from the gate. The higher the tier the more your house is worth. There are three tiers above theirs. There are four house styles that the houses can be. There only slight differences, but it makes just enough difference. Every other roof is either flat tiles or the mission look. What really gets me it you can't fly an American flag in the front of your house. No flag poles, no flags of any kind. If you want to fly the American flag, or any flag, you have to have it in your back yard and it cannot be higher than your house. I really have trouble with that rule.

Bill