Another 2 MAJOR progress days.
Seems like right now if you blink you miss something major. Today the windows were scheduled for delivery. For most people building a house, this is probably a fun moment where you get to see what your windows will actually look like. For me, it meant trying to figure out how to properly flash the window opening both before and after the window was installed. More on that below, but here is the result of a half installed 2x2 archtop Jeldwen Window, on a 3 inch ICF recess. (put all that in there for the Google seach)
Mainly what you see right now is flashing, stickers, and pastic protection strips. The windows have a protective film over them to keep the glass from getting scratched. The actual frame sits about an inch behind the face of the ICF, and with the stucco coming out another inch, I think they will look great both inside and out (I just now realize I don't have a picture of the inside to show)
So, just on the unlikely premise that anyone actually reads this blog to get ideas on how to flash a window... Here is mine... It's not perfect, but it's what I call due diligence. I used a combination of mfm straight 9 inch window wrap in conjunction with their 9 inch FLEX. Here are the steps...
1. 1 foot Flex wrap bottom left and right, install with dogear facing down only in recess
2. Straight flashing across bottom of recess
3. 1 foot flex bottom left and right inside corner, overlaps steps 1 and 2
4. Straight flash across bottom of window opening, overlaps steps 1-3.
5. Straight flash up sides entire cavity from midpoint of buck depth following the contour out.
6. Install window with high quality polyurethane sealant liberally at sides and top only.
At this point, the picture doesn't show the following steps.
7. Side flashing with straight flash nailing fin left and right
8. Corner flash top left and right with 1 foot each flex.
9. Finally, straight flash the top from nailing fin upwards. If you are flashing an arch top, then use Flex
Note: This house doesn't have house wrap on most of it because it is ICF, but if you have house wrap, then you have to integrate that too. From what I researched, you cut an upside down martini glass, then fold in the sides and bottom and staple to the inside. Then basically do what I did here. The top of the house wrap gets pulled up out of the way until the window is installed and flashed, and then it folds down over the flashing and is skip taped. Always work from the bottom up. Even if you don't have a recessed window the flex wrap is good because it allows you to bend an outside corner without any holes. The basic rule is that water should shed down and always out. Never trap the water, and shed it to the outside of the housewrap.
It takes a LOT of time to do this. Took me all day to do about 14 windows, and I was working as fast as I could. I showed the framers what I wanted done... got a couple of flat stares, but by the end of the day they were on board after they had done a few.
Ok, that horse is dead.
From the back. My entire house now looks like a Jeldwen advertisement. These windows are a fixed window over an awning casement. Keeps the view from standing height good, yet still allows you to open the bottom. Kids rooms up front had to have egress requirements, so we had to use double hung windows there and in the guest.
Exterior doors also came. This is the only Alder exterior door that we have, and I am quite frankly a little nervous about it swelling and contracting in our profuse climate. My buddy tells me this gets better after they have the door stained and sealed.
The other doors are fiberglass due to their exposure. They will be stained (except the garage door). This door is bigger than it looks, it is 36 inches wide and 8 feet tall, it is on the back of the house from the powder bath hallway out to the rear porches, and it COMPLETELY protected from rain and sun...otherwise, I would have used a fiberglass door.
The roof guys worked all day again. They already had the vast majority of underlayment down, but today they worked away at all the flashings. This shows a little preview of the Claymex tile (not our colors, but the same shape and size). They are also laying out red lines where the tile will go. Much more prep work than I anticipated. I had not had much chance to chat with these guys, too busy down below, but they are extremely nice and were very proud of their work. The rubber underlayment is much harder than I thought it would be. Doesn't feel soft at all when you walk on it. By the way, I am a complete chicken up there. My roof pitch is only a 5/12, which is pretty flat for around here... Anything more and I wouldn't go up there. Another pet peeve of mine... Too high pitched roofs... They look good for some architecture, and I'll give them a pass if you do a nice tile or shake, but with asphalt shingles they look goofy... You can drive through my existing neighborhood and all you see is roof.
Looking East. Nothing but trees in all directions. This picture shows more of the work the roofers have done. They had to lay out the ridge board, which is where the tile gets "capped" at the top. This board is flashed with what looks like tar paper, but it is something a little more advanced than that.
To contrast the window flashing, same is true up here. Flash for the water starting low and working up. The difference here is that in a hard rain, there are hundreds of rivers up here with serious water coming down. Nothing for an amateur like me to attempt. The valley flashings here are attached, and then mesh and mastic forces any water on the underlayment onto the flashing for a very fast ride down.
Our tile is going to be a blend... Claymex Monterosso Blend, to be exact, which is a vast blend of earth tone colors, everything from almost white to plum, reds, and browns. I am a fan of clay tile over concrete for both performance reasons and even more so for looks. Check out the little channels in this tile that allow the water to escape down and out without getting trapped in the tile. Very cool.
Underneath, the tile is ribbed for strength...and maybe for pleasure (hey, they have to come from somewhere). Clay tile is much stronger than concrete, as it is a fired product. Also holds it's color much better over time. It also has some insulation value to it, although pretty minor. OH, it also doesn't need batten boards to hold in in postion. Concrete tile has an "ear" than hangs over these battens to hold it up. Our tile will sit right on the roofdeck, for better or worse.
Don't get me wrong, though, I'm not a clay tile snob, I'm a tile roof snob. A concrete roof tile is still an awesome roof. Talking to these guys today, it sounds like the key to the whole thing is keeping people off of your roof... Uh, satellite guy, don't even think about going up there.
Ok, it's been 48 hours since my body has seen a real bed, so I am going there now...
Till later.
No comments:
Post a Comment