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I started framing my house about 4 weeks ago. It started raining about 2 weeks ago and has only stopped to tease me. I have the trusses on but no roof sheathing. Any words of wisdom from you pros would be greatly appreciated on this subject. Should I worry? Should I do something besides wait it out? Can one go to a mental hospital from stressing about their house getting rained on?
Any comfort or advice would be great.
Thanks, Jeff
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forgeddaboutit.....
nothing outside the desert would ever get built if we had to depend on clear weather...
at the same time, you can already see the advantage to getting your house weathered in......keep that goal in front of you..
so, sooner or later ... you can work wether it rains or not..
b what's wrong with a little rain?..Kermit
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We used to get the same thing in Houston...when it used to rain here. Only problems were occasional warped decking on second floors.
Although this may be obvious, if you used T&G sheet subfloor and water's pooling on the deck, drill small drain holes.
When things start to dry (or you get a roof), ensure the crawlspace/basement is ventilated to provide even drying of the top and underside of the deck.
If it's a slab, don't drill drain holes! Just a joke.
Dave
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If the deck plywood warps, get it replaced by the lumber company that supplied it.
Make sure you space your roof ply. Get the roof ply covered fast!
blue
*In reality there should be some concern by the new occupants.Things like mold, mildew and fungus cannot come alive unless they receive an initial dose of moisture - say like 80% for a brief period. After that they need only see 50% to continue.I admittedly don't have all the numbers straight - I can find them if anyone cared. But I spoke to several doctors working in the field of indoor air quality/respiratory illness while at Affrodable Comfort. They gave me the real numbers which I wrote down, but the laymen's lesson was that rain soaked wood construction provides the initial moisture load to wake all these sleeping devils. Even after the wood dries out they simply lie dormant for years waiting for moisture levels to get high enough for a brief period of time to come back alive. The initial soaking is excaserbated by the use of OSB products. Because the OSB has so much more exposed end grain and absorbs water much more readily.I remember very clearly that the relative humidity need only be above 50% for reactivation of some of these molds and mildew. 70% relative humidity allows nearly all to be reactivated. That is why they have a blanket recommendation to people with severe allergies or respiratory problems that they keep the indoor RH below 50% year round.So - it may not affect the durability of the house, but it definetly affects the health of a house. This was yet another reason for me to wonder why we insist on building during unsuitable seasons. I have a good little case study to monitor this. A new house on some land we considered. Started building in the late fall - house was wet from the word go. I stopped in one day to find both OSB sheathed floors with an inche of standing water on them. To my amazement the roofers were doing the 10/12 pitches in the driving snow one day. Maybe roofers have to start dying before we'll stop building in the winter. Of course there's the issue of backfilling with partially frozen soil, but it won't really show for a year or two after the owner takes occupancy. Then - here's the clincher - due to settling bacfill, local grade drains toward the house!! There's that reactivation moisture source.Sorry for the rambling. It's late.-Rob
*Hey Dave,You from Houston?Just curious...James DuHamel
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Rob,
Formsetters, Framers, and Roofers have to put in at least 50 hrs/wk in the field to support their families, year 'round. Reason enough?
Sincerely,
Cam Swanson
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I liked snow better than rain -- doesn't mess up tools, and you can pick it up and throw it away. The rain gets into everything, and we were occupying the floor below, so....
Interesting about the mold. Any point in trying to sterilize it with bleach solution? Or is this another good reason for airtight building envelopes? (Do the partitions after the roof is on.)
I used 1/2" ply as a temporary roof ... and was interested that 3-ply version warped and delaminated into junk instantly, while the 4-ply survived pretty much normal after repeated soakings. 7/16" OSB wall sheathing did almost as well, some curling and chips popping up. 3/4" T&G ply subfloor did fine, too. Glad I spent the extra $3 on 90% of the sheets. Why the difference? I believe both 1/2" plys were same brand, LP.
Better let that wet house dry in well before drywalling and trimming!
*I see your point, but I also realize that they don't have a gun to their heads either. I also know of several very succesful GC'c and remodeling types that stop all outdoor work in October and start again in May. Some actually don't work for two or three months every winter. The key ingredient in all of them is thatthey stopped focusing on being the lowest bidder and instead provide the best value.Translation: They charge appropriately for their work so they don't have to risk their lives in bad weather to work every possible hour of every day.-Rob
*A good friend of mine runs a tower company. Last night, he was showing me some pictures he took while inspecting a television transmission tower. Most of the pictures were of rusted connections, loose bolts, etc. But, in all the pictures you could see the curvature of the earth. The tower was 1200' high with another 110' of antenna on top. What a job. He said you have to take hours to climb it or you'll get worn out at 400' and not be able to climb down.Some jobs have risk. Everybody gets to choose the work they do. If you prefer low risk, that's fine...for you. I used to rock climb on the weekends (before I got too fat). I'll be as safe as I can on the work site but life's full of risks.
*I had the same fears when my house got rain, snow and sleat before there was a roof on. Looking back on it, I should have relaxed a little more.I think it's a little easier on the framing lumber in winter. Gives it a chance to dry slower. Plywood will take at least 6 soakings before showing any delamination. OSB will swell and leave your nails proud when it shrinks back down.David
*Rob,Are you implying that roofers are not dead already? Well, that blows that theory.Pete
*So, why don't we all just put the roofs up first then build the rest of the house after the shingles are on. Of course we may need to put the foundation in first just to have something to line the roof up with.Pete
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I'd worry about wet wood and firm footing too. A fellow I know slipped on a wet perlin or section of truss, fell and broke his ankle. Pays to hang on.
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I asked something like this -- just build the roof and jack it up. Build it standing on the ground. Someone somewhere does this, using a crane to lift it....
*Jeff,Your framing is going to get rained on. No doubt. The house you are living in now was also rained on. Do you see any problems with the house you're in that you can blame on rain during construction?Ed. Williams
*Rob Susz,I pretty much stop roofing around Thanksgiving and don't start again untill March.The only reason I can do that is because I really don't involve myself in new construction.It is much easier to know your numbers and charge professionally when working on older homes.I do have pity for my peers who specialize in roofing new construction jobs. Around here,they are at the mercy of the GC's who will pay whatever dirtball who shows up first with a hammer and a ladder to shingle the house.The pricing system inherent in the new construction roofing market drives the pay down so low that those involved in it do have "a gun to their heads"I was recently asked to bid a new construction roof.12/12 roof,about 76 feet wide,built into the side of a hill so that one section was over 3 stories high,roof unbelievably cut up,chimney intersecting a valley.A retired fireman I know had turned the job down and referred me.I looked at the plans and politely returned them.(un-bid)We could have roofed the house ,but we would have lost money doing it.Although both the retired fireman,and my company were smart enough to turn down the job you can be sure someone will take it on.
*The house I am in now was built 130 years ago with methods that are never used today.Yes, my house has moisture problems.I have worked on projects where it was tarped and the house never saw rain until after the roof and drainage plane were installed.-Rob
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Many years ago (10 plus) in an edition of Fine Homebuilding I found a photo-feature of decorative wood shingle designs (some geometric, some realistic, some abstract) that were installed on walls of houses. We are using cedar shingles on a new home and have a large blank space above a two-car garage that is a perfect "canvas" for some creative shingle artwork. I tried looking in the archives but was unable to locate the issue that had this featured. Does anyone remember what it was? Does anyone have other references we might consult? We are doing the work ourselves and are experienced in standard cedar shingle siding. Any tips/inspiration would be much appreciated! Thanks!!!
*What does Dumbas's question have to do with rain?
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Beats me.
Ed. Williams
*Rob,My response was directed at the original poster "Jeff". However, if your house is 130 years old, you should feel lucky just to have a few moisture problems. I don't think there were too many building codes or inspectors around in 1870 to insure the quality of construction.Again for "Jeff",If you're really worried about it, mop on some Ducks Back or a similar water proofing on the plywood deck. The houses we work on are sometimes in excess of 15,000 square feet. It's impossible to get them into the dry between Texas rain storms. It has become a common practice to mop on a good coat of liquid water proofing on the plywood decks. It's not that expensive (considering the overall cost of a house that size), and it seems to work. The architects around here all seem to spec 1 1/8" sturdy floor glued to the joist with exterior panel adhesive and screwed down. There does'nt seem to be any problems with the floors delaminating. Even after several heavy rains. Ed. Williams
*I think the discussion program gets its wires crossed every now and then. Just like the regulars here.
*Sue,What our not so diplomatic friends are trying to say without just saying it is... You will probably get better reception of your question, and more replies, if you go back outside this thread and post your question in your own thread on the main page.It's easy, just look for the 'add discussion' button at both the top and the bottom of the main page. Hit that button, and you will be given an edit box just like what you find at the bottom of this thread, only wider. When you do so, remember to fill out the edit box, and the title field before you choose to post. Also, just in case, don't use the 'spell wanker' it will mess up your post beyond belief.Good luck. : )
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I started framing my house about 4 weeks ago. It started raining about 2 weeks ago and has only stopped to tease me. I have the trusses on but no roof sheathing. Any words of wisdom from you pros would be greatly appreciated on this subject. Should I worry? Should I do something besides wait it out? Can one go to a mental hospital from stressing about their house getting rained on?
Any comfort or advice would be great.
Thanks, Jeff