I’ve been working with a HO builder doing a big addition & full gut remodel….he was at it for a year & a half before I hooked up with him…nice guy, eager to learn, smart & works like a dog…
So, his neighbor starts a porch & garge addition + kitchen remodel last year, comes over a couple of times to boast about the custom cabs he’s getting, & how he’ll be done long before we are…we, indeed he is…( I did hear that the inspector almost stopped him for not checking his existing front stoop foundation before he added the portico onto it…don’t know how he dodgwd that)…..I’m eagerly awaiting the first blizzard to see just how bad the snow piles up between the window & the fake widows walk railing LOL
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jr....do you really think an architect designed those ?
It was one of local design build firms, not Joe blow in a pickup truck....
That file's too dang big for me... got a smaller one?
Ohh yeah....that's attractive....lol. I hope that window being blocked by the oversized railing post isn't the egress out of a bedroom.
The downspout spilling onto the driveway from 2' above should be a nice water feature- especially when the temps dip below freezing and create an iceskating rink. Of course, that's assuming that the lady of the house doesn't tear it off the house the first time she backs her SUV out of the garage.....
Bob
"The downspout spilling onto the driveway from 2' above should be a nice water feature"LOL!!That's the "automatic" wheel washer feature!Here is the resized pic.Rich BeckmanAnother day, another tool.
If you look closely, that downspout appears to have been disconnected halfway up the side of the house, and it flopped over above the driveway. If they hook it back up again, it will dump out in the shrubs next to the house.
If they hook it up again, and dump it in the bushes, they have a nice flow of water down the overdig there and, sooner or later, some nice puddles in the basement at that corner.(Of course, that's what they have now, but at least they wash the bricks AND know if they're too close to the right side of the garage when coming home Friday night from the Men's Grill.)
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Sojourners: Christians for Justice and Peace
downspout spilling onto the driveway from 2' above should be a nice water feature
Particularly the neat way the distinct lack of slope seems to make flooding the garage seem as likely as an ice rink.
That "wing" off the driveway is neat, too. Not fairing a curve back into the driveway will mean some luverly ruts--and busted concrete--the next time the in-law's motorhome gets parked there.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Don't do dat! I catch a lot of sh*t for taking pics of other peoples' jobs.
Gene Davis, Davis Housewrights, Inc., Lake Placid, NY
Very um, interesting... I don't think we'll see this one on the cover of FHB or Archtectural Digest.
We live in a guilded age of form over substance.
Edited 7/31/2005 5:34 pm ET by TJK
Here's another that was posted here recently:
Again, they don't seem to care what they put in front of a window. Is it a new style?
-- J.S.
Edited 8/1/2005 7:49 pm ET by JOHN_SPRUNG
They should have pulled there head out before theythought of that one.Probably said..."looks good from my house"
If I had to guess, that was a sub who was too stupid to stop and restart the gutter at the windows, and a GC and owner who didn'y notice. I'd be shocked if the architect had actually drawn it that way, but even if they did, it's a complete failure on the builder's part not to have corrected the error in the drawings and installed it correctly.
Shame on all those involved.
Bob
laughing my a$$ off at the gutter picture. Thats great! Made my day
KInd of makes sense, tho. Doesn't bissle up the exterior with several downpipes. They are, after all sash windows and the gutter is at the midpoint - no-one will see or bash their head. Standard practise in some of the 200-600 y/o houses I grew up around.ciao for niao
To those who know - this may be obvious. To those who don't - I hope I've helped.
Sweet merciful crap....these are some of the worst blunders I've ever seen....
and nobody with a garage addition like that should be bragging about anything!Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
How would you handle this otherwise? I don't think it looks bad, at least from that angle.Function over form.
which picture? the widows on the garage or the gutters?
Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
I was referring to the gutters.. If you were referring to the garage then I agree.. then again it could be a lot worse!
You know, I'm not sure what I would have done to terminate those gutters...but it sures seems like there is a better option than blocking the window. Maybe other people have ideas?
Justin Fink - FHB Editorial
While I agree that the normal practice of using short section in between windows with individual downspouts may be a bit unsightly, they could have gotten around the problem here with a different choice of gutter/downspout color. The white is garish against the stone work. Would have been better to use a more earth-toned color. Ever see an old stone dwelling with those substantial lead or copper gutters? instead of a necessary evil, the gutters become an architectural benefit.6milessouth
> You know, I'm not sure what I would have done to terminate those gutters...but it sures seems like there is a better option than blocking the window.
I think the right idea for that building would be to step back to a higher level in the design process and reconsider having windows that extend from the dormer down into the main wall.
Even without the practical question of how you gutter it, huge windows crammed up into dinky dormers and stretching down well below the eaves just don't look right. In a traditional structure, there'd be top plates and a ceiling in the way of doing that. It would be like having windows that extend vertically from one story to another. It's just plain wrong. Finding a nice way to put gutters on it is just a turd polishing exercise.
-- J.S.
One word: SEAMLESS!
they don't seem to care what they put in front of a window
It wouldn't be a "seamless" gutter if it didn't go across <g,d,r>
No place (good) for the d/s between those windos, either, come to cases.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Stuff like that happens because it is easy to draw something flat on a paper & list requirements.
Edited 8/2/2005 3:47 pm ET by Johnny
it is easy to draw something flat on a paper & list requirements
hey, careful, that's what I do for a living . . . <g>
Mind you, I try to be smarter than the average bear, too.
This can be tough, with HO on one side and contractors on the other <g>, all of whom assume my job is too easy to even warrant DIY "care" . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Besides the beautiful siding job on the side of the garage and the magnificient gutter work that's one poor widow's walk railing install. Besides the obvious running it into a window (hope their kid never has to bail out due to a fire) it should run into pilasters against the wall, it's what they were invented for... I'm guessing the roof slopes back against the house too right?
Man I'm getting on everyone's good side ;)
I was being a bit facetious, I know architecture takes much learning.
What I really meant is that it would be easy to make a mistake when it's on paper & miss something like that. When our school building plans were drawn up, the architect specified a truss design. The plans were approved by the township, but when we sent the design to the manufacturer, we were told that it was physically impossible.
The architect has done tons of work for us over the years & is very good, but stuff like that can happen to the best.
Man I'm getting on everyone's good side ;)
I know, just a light case of ribbing on my part. I've been on the design side of things long enough to tolerate much abuse. Which occasionally will be funny to hear while GCing the project you designed. But I know as many jarhead as squid jokes, and for similar reasons <g>
the architect specified a truss design
And, that's where I would say the archy made a mistake, or error, or uh-oh--whatever. If the job will require a specific designed truss (for cost/quality/speed reasons), the truss is designed & spec-ed, first, then drawn in. Otherwise, best practice is to leave that up to the truss designer. Or, at least that would represent my personal opinion to the best of my knowledge, information, and/or belief (sheesh, I hate legalese . . . )Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
He didn't actually specify the webbing etc. He just had a specific pitch & span. When the plans were sent to the manufacturer, we were told it was impossible to span that distance (don't remeber what it was) at that low of a pitch. Since we couldn't increase the pitch of the roof (zoning reasons I think - this was many years ago), we had to put in a bearing wall down the middle.
it was impossible to span that distance ... at that low of a pitch
In the days of old, when I learned such things, we were taught that was precisely the sort of information we were/are supposed to know.
Oh well. Glad it was not me. But, I also havemore than a bit of experience at disappointing people: Sorry, your project is [whatever] for what you want--you'll have to take that up with your AHJ . . .
Something about not wanting to be on the wrong side of the price-speed-quality triangle, and better to have lost bad business, I suppose.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I'd venture that the dormers are those fake ones with the windows painted black inside, but I think I see interior space.......
That crete pad looks new. I think i would have tried to take advantage of having the concrete up to run the gutter drain under it and away.
OK, so maybe this is just 'phase 1' of his remodel?
If you had to come up with 'phase 2', what would y'all do to give the house more 'curb appeal'? (short of using a trackhoe/dozer).
jt8
The reason so many people never get anywhere in life is because when opportunity knocks, they are out in the backyard looking for four-leaf clovers.
-- Walter Percy Chrysler
Yup. the pad's new....guess he spent too much on his custom handmade cabs to sink some schedule 40 before the pour....
Where are the shutters? It's missing the cheesy vinyl shutters.
Ya know, you're absolutely right....did I mention that the flat roof of the portico doen't have gutters?
did I mention that the flat roof of the portico doen't have gutters?
No, you didn't.
I did not see any scuppers on the two sides shown, so I was a bit loathe to zoom in to see if there's any evidence of slope at all on the roof.
Hmm, is that a DIY flat roof, I'm wondering? Little details that are easy to miss, like having the right u/l, cant strips, flashing, that sort of thing.
Just the sort of detail that a couple feet of winter snow will take advatange of . . .
Cinci, right? Get one of those wierd snow then rain then freeze events. Snow finds (or lifts) a bad/poor spot on the roof membrane. The rain then washes the snow into the garage through the roof, and then runs out the bad d/s to then freeze. Might look like that "bad winter" picture of the cars iced into the garage.Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Buffalo....not a DIY job, but sometimes I think the majority of "pros" around here might as well be DIYers...they side, wrap & caulk anything & everything up here & think it's fine homebuilding...
Buffalo....
Yeow, even worse, that's lake-effect snow & blizzards & the like.
Will be bad if the newel-blocked window is the only one they can dig out through . . . Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
I wonder what sort of support would be required for a flat roof in Buffalo (or anywhere with significant snow loads). I'm suprised that a flat roof meets code there...
I wonder what sort of support would be required for a flat roof in Buffalo
I'm guessing you dont get to pick from the 20# load tables . . . <g>
Might be tricky, getting the drip holes in the roof just right to make icicle "lally columns" to support a snow load . . .
Wait, maybe we're just 'assuming' it's a garage from the door--what if it's actually a pool/ice rink combo? That would explain the flat roof and d/s . . .
Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)