No Freakin Clue
Looking at the finished structure above, one would never imagine how this thing could suck the life out you. This is part 2 of my greenhouse construction adventure. Thought it was fun in part 1? Here the real fun begins! Yep! I decided to build this structure myself.
Some of you may be asking why in the hell would I do this myself? A good and fair question. I quite often asked myself that very same question many times starting from day one to the present. One reason was cost. Sunshine Rooms wanted around $17K to build this structure. That’s a lot of money. Looking back? It may have been worth it.
Look at me go up there! Sure “looks” like I know what I’m doing doesn’t it? There is a lot of work to be done before I even really start on the structure itself. Above, I’m cutting pieces of the house away so I can build a “box” that extends out about 2’. My greenhouse is wider than this second story projection so I need to build something to attach the header board to.
There it is! Or at least a start of it. Keep this in mind because several years down the road, we will revisit this area. Yeah…even got me a scaffold! What an amazing piece of equipment this turned out to be! I believe everyone should have one of these laying around ready for use.
Notice my redwood sill plate going down? There had to be something between the concrete and the aluminum structure. If not, some type of chemical reaction would take place and deteriorate the aluminum. So I chose redwood. Rot and insect resistant. Good choice eh? Weeeellll, we’ll revisit this again later as well. But it sure does look like a professional jobsite doesn’t it? Say yeah.
There’s my buddy Harold on the ladder on the left. He was stupid...I mean kind enough to volunteer his services. When you sum up zero knowledge/experience from both of us, you still come up with zero. But I had an idea of what needed to be done. Here we are cutting away the siding and OSB from the house. This is where the header board will be lag bolted into the frame of the home. Sure looks like we know what we’re doing though eh? Harold was the perfect work partner. Took direction whether it was right or wrong. He was the extra pair of hands needed. He was the perfect sounding board for my wild assed theories on how to proceed. Never questioned a thing. On second thought…maybe he wasn’t such a good partner! He damn well should have been second guessing me!
He really doesn't have any idea what his volunteering as gotten him into. But bless his heart...I can say now that I sure as hell would not have been able to do many of the tasks without him.
It’s all fun and games until some asshole falls off the scaffolding right? That’s probably the last time I smiled the entire day…maybe the entire project. Right after this pic, I made a discovery that just effed up my whole day.
When I gave Randy the dimensions for laying the foundation block, I failed to take into consideration the 2” wide header board we would be lag bolting to the home up there. This was going to push the structure 2” out past the edge of the front knee wall. No good. Panic! I mean we really haven't even gotten started and I find a screw up like this?! You can't just pick up and move the foundation and knee wall.
I called Randy…my go-to guy. He didn’t even have to come look. He just said, well cut out part of the 2x4 frame on the house and inset the header board! Construction guys. Think they know it all. He said this would be a simple task! He must have had a hangover and was forgetting who he was addressing. No projects of mine are simple tasks.
When I gave Randy the dimensions for laying the foundation block, I failed to take into consideration the 2” wide header board we would be lag bolting to the home up there. This was going to push the structure 2” out past the edge of the front knee wall. No good. Panic! I mean we really haven't even gotten started and I find a screw up like this?! You can't just pick up and move the foundation and knee wall.
I called Randy…my go-to guy. He didn’t even have to come look. He just said, well cut out part of the 2x4 frame on the house and inset the header board! Construction guys. Think they know it all. He said this would be a simple task! He must have had a hangover and was forgetting who he was addressing. No projects of mine are simple tasks.
Randy did end up stopping by to demonstrate what I failed to understand over the phone. This was a bitch! Had to cut the notches out with a circular saw and then use the blade of that saw to continue notching out the wood. Sort of using the blade to chip and grind out the notches. Not the safest method I’m sure but it got the job done and I still have all of my fingers. By the time I was finished, so was my shoulders. Jesus…that wore me out. That was a bunch of 2x4’s to notch out. So…in the time it took to do this, we could have had the header board mounted and bolted in. Just the first of many screw ups.
Funny thing is...lagging that big header board inside there probably made the house a hell of a lot stronger!
Funny thing is...lagging that big header board inside there probably made the house a hell of a lot stronger!
"Ya see Jay, if ya just would have spent the money, there would be people here building this that KNEW what the hell they were doing!" Nawww...he didn't say that. I'm sure he thought about it more than once.
But this was one of the few moments where we might actually have talked over the plan before trying to execute it…or Harold agreeing with me that he also had no effing clue what do to next! Believe me. There were many such moments! But we were driven. Driven I tell you!
But this was most likely just one of many times where I sat back and thought: "Damn! There is a lot of shit to do and I don't have a clue for any of it." Like being deep in a cave and your only flashlight goes out.
But this was one of the few moments where we might actually have talked over the plan before trying to execute it…or Harold agreeing with me that he also had no effing clue what do to next! Believe me. There were many such moments! But we were driven. Driven I tell you!
But this was most likely just one of many times where I sat back and thought: "Damn! There is a lot of shit to do and I don't have a clue for any of it." Like being deep in a cave and your only flashlight goes out.
The header is in place. We still have to drill and get the lag bolts in. They have to be sunk in flush to the board and that took extra time. A shit load of lag bolts too! My feet and legs are starting to register the number of times I’ve been up and down that damn scaffold and/or ladder.
Now…while my header board placement may have started out a fiasco, it actually worked out to be the better solution. Everything is now flush and later made putting down flashing and the siding much easier and professional looking. So some mistakes happen to work out. I wasn’t always this lucky though.
Now…while my header board placement may have started out a fiasco, it actually worked out to be the better solution. Everything is now flush and later made putting down flashing and the siding much easier and professional looking. So some mistakes happen to work out. I wasn’t always this lucky though.
One Piece At A Time
Really…ignorance is bliss. Each time I pulled a part out of one of the boxes, it amazed me at just how many more pieces were left to go. Here I’m cutting lengths of drip edge that fits on the outside of the sill. The greenhouse structure will lay down on top of this…supposedly creating a water proof barrier. We are into July of 2006 now. Slow going. $17K would have this structure up and done in about two weeks. Hind sight.
I didn’t realize this at the time, but messing with this drip edge should have sent up some red flags. Obviously this is not all one continuous piece laid out. They had to be cut and fitted. These pieces were to overlap each other by several inches. This is not a perfect seam and it creates a gap where the structure will sit on this. Silicone sealant does not last forever and it can shrink. Water/moisture will take advantage of any weakness you provide. If I knew then what I know now, I would never have purchased the redwood. I would have used 100% recycled plastic lumber. I am now a huge fan of this.
I didn’t realize this at the time, but messing with this drip edge should have sent up some red flags. Obviously this is not all one continuous piece laid out. They had to be cut and fitted. These pieces were to overlap each other by several inches. This is not a perfect seam and it creates a gap where the structure will sit on this. Silicone sealant does not last forever and it can shrink. Water/moisture will take advantage of any weakness you provide. If I knew then what I know now, I would never have purchased the redwood. I would have used 100% recycled plastic lumber. I am now a huge fan of this.
See what I mean? Strategic packing for sure. I’m taking shit out of these boxes not having a clue as to what they are. Truly a “learn as you go” project. This was my first time ever exposed to blue prints too. Matching these up with the vague instruction booklet was challenging to say the least. Once I identified a few pieces, I was able to better understand the blueprints.
Here are the greenhouse sill plates that are fastened to the redwood sill beneath. The drip edge is below these. Manufacturers of silicon would love us to believe that their product’s seal lasts forever. These corners and other places where there are more than one piece come together due to length, are the weak link in the chain of this structure. Of course, I was blissfully unaware of this at the time. But down the road a few years…
I had no references for this at all. The company claims that many people use their 3/4 seasons rooms as greenhouses. But I doubt that they understand what this really entails. A sunroom is meant to be dry and cozy…not a high moisture environment. People utilizing a sunroom don’t go around spraying garden hoses inside them either…or any number of other things that cause moisture. I was liberally applying the silicone where needed too. But water and moisture is persistent and most often will win any battle.
I had no references for this at all. The company claims that many people use their 3/4 seasons rooms as greenhouses. But I doubt that they understand what this really entails. A sunroom is meant to be dry and cozy…not a high moisture environment. People utilizing a sunroom don’t go around spraying garden hoses inside them either…or any number of other things that cause moisture. I was liberally applying the silicone where needed too. But water and moisture is persistent and most often will win any battle.
Even my wife was in on the action...or most likely up there looking to see if I screwed up something with the house cause I'm not seeing any tools hanging off her hips or in her hands!
Here’s my dad laughing at his deranged son. He was also probably laughing with relief that we got that support beam up without anyone needing a trip to the hospital. But there are still eight more to go!
Remember those large assed support beams I mentioned when unloading the truck? I’ve got my dad and younger, but much larger, brother over helping me out. We’d lift the one end up onto the scaffold. They would lift the bottom up into the sill tray and I would lift the other end and fasten to the bracket on the header board. Heavy man…heavy!
Steady…steady now! Don’t let it drift dammit! That was pretty much the conversation for each of these things. Thankfully, one never got away from us. See the bracket up on the header board. There will be a total of nine across there. Each one has to be spaced just right in order for the glass panels to fit on top of the structure properly. Want to know how many times I measured before drilling and lagging them into the header? I would rather not divulge that number if you don’t mind.
I get chills thinking back to the number of times I nearly walked off the end of the scaffold. Tired, out of patience, and hurrying every move, your attention span starts to wan. Normally there were things below to break my fall…such as the grill, saw horses, ladders, various power tools. You know…things to help cushion the fall. Luckily I never did. Can’t count the number of times I raised up and connected with one of those damn beams either…probably can’t count because of the number of times I connected!
Steady…steady now! Don’t let it drift dammit! That was pretty much the conversation for each of these things. Thankfully, one never got away from us. See the bracket up on the header board. There will be a total of nine across there. Each one has to be spaced just right in order for the glass panels to fit on top of the structure properly. Want to know how many times I measured before drilling and lagging them into the header? I would rather not divulge that number if you don’t mind.
I get chills thinking back to the number of times I nearly walked off the end of the scaffold. Tired, out of patience, and hurrying every move, your attention span starts to wan. Normally there were things below to break my fall…such as the grill, saw horses, ladders, various power tools. You know…things to help cushion the fall. Luckily I never did. Can’t count the number of times I raised up and connected with one of those damn beams either…probably can’t count because of the number of times I connected!
Time for a breather. We just got one of the largest beams in place…butting up against the side of the knee wall. This one really needed some grunting to get slipped into that bottom tray. My brother’s face was turning all sorts of shades of red. But we’re making decent time here.
This was not only time for a breather, but a pow-wow on how to get that center beam in place. I wanted the sliding door in front and this caused a major restructure of the plans. There was nothing in the instruction book that covered this and we could not figure out exactly what the blueprints wanted us to do here. So the job was pretty much finished for the day...minus that middle beam.
This was not only time for a breather, but a pow-wow on how to get that center beam in place. I wanted the sliding door in front and this caused a major restructure of the plans. There was nothing in the instruction book that covered this and we could not figure out exactly what the blueprints wanted us to do here. So the job was pretty much finished for the day...minus that middle beam.
Later in the week, I had an old boy that builds these for Sunshine Rooms drop by the house to help me with the center section you see above. I could not for the life of me, figure out the blueprints so I was very unsure how to proceed. I was however, smart enough to admit defeat and call for help. And help arrived at around $80/hour with the time starting when he walked out his front door nearly two hours away…and ended when he got back home. Once he got going, it was obvious what needed doing. There were some crucial measurements and drilling to be done and I’ve very glad I had the expert come do all this.
I mean...you watch what he began doing and you're like "shit"! I see what they wanted now. Oh well. I might still be sitting out there scratching my head.
I mean...you watch what he began doing and you're like "shit"! I see what they wanted now. Oh well. I might still be sitting out there scratching my head.
I haven’t forgotten about my plants. In fact, just to the right of my golden retriever, Mandi, is a recently arrived sapodilla and to the left is a miracle fruit. They are all out in the yard anxiously awaiting their new home. Poor Mandi…ball in mouth. Couldn’t be more obvious than if she just came right out and said “take a break and play with me”! I'm sorry girl...I really regret not doing that more often...really do.
Well, back to work. You know…no amount of staring at those blueprints was going to bring about clarity. I knew I was outmatched, yet I plodded along. There was just so much to this damn thing.
Didn't matter that I was making progress. The boxes never seemed to empty and there was always more pages to turn in the instruction manual. This was my world all summer. All weekend long. After work. No breaks.
Didn't matter that I was making progress. The boxes never seemed to empty and there was always more pages to turn in the instruction manual. This was my world all summer. All weekend long. After work. No breaks.
Couldn't begin to telling you what I'm doing in this picture. I do look like I'm working with a purpose though.
But progress is being made. I’ve got most of the side posts up and have started on the cross members in front. This was the “busy” work. Lots of measuring, cutting, drilling, and screwing…of screws. Stand back to admire my work…then wonder how the hell one of the braces wasn’t level after measuring half a dozen times!
Nothing like putting up aluminum flashing in the heat of the day! Man it was hot out there. Notice my house siding? I’ve pretty much cut the shit out of that stuff everywhere. I’ve long come to the conclusion that all of this would be replaced so what the hell?!
Keep in mind that my wife was out there helping me for much of this project. Extra hands, fetching tools, measuring, reading the instruction booklet and yelling advice...sometimes curses. And speaking of fetching tools.
I mentioned earlier that I was pretty tired of climbing up and down the ladder and/or the scaffold. There was an afternoon where both of us were out there working. I was atop the scaffold and needed a tool. I hollered down to Bee to ask her to grab it for me. She hustled right up and I keep working. Damn if I didn’t need something else ten minutes later. This went on for a few more times. Now in all fairness, I’m not a professional and I was sometimes a little lax at thinking the entire process thru and what all I might need. Well…it started to dawn on me that my wife’s fetching was getting slower and slower. This last time I needed a tool, I noticed that the retrieval time of said tool had slowed down by quite a bit. I mean slowed down to the point where it was painfully obvious that the tool fetching had come to an end. Sort of pissed me off at the moment but when I watched her mosey her way to the tools, it became pretty damn funny. And we still have a good laugh about it today. I’m just a little more hesitant to ask her to go get me a tool!
Keep in mind that my wife was out there helping me for much of this project. Extra hands, fetching tools, measuring, reading the instruction booklet and yelling advice...sometimes curses. And speaking of fetching tools.
I mentioned earlier that I was pretty tired of climbing up and down the ladder and/or the scaffold. There was an afternoon where both of us were out there working. I was atop the scaffold and needed a tool. I hollered down to Bee to ask her to grab it for me. She hustled right up and I keep working. Damn if I didn’t need something else ten minutes later. This went on for a few more times. Now in all fairness, I’m not a professional and I was sometimes a little lax at thinking the entire process thru and what all I might need. Well…it started to dawn on me that my wife’s fetching was getting slower and slower. This last time I needed a tool, I noticed that the retrieval time of said tool had slowed down by quite a bit. I mean slowed down to the point where it was painfully obvious that the tool fetching had come to an end. Sort of pissed me off at the moment but when I watched her mosey her way to the tools, it became pretty damn funny. And we still have a good laugh about it today. I’m just a little more hesitant to ask her to go get me a tool!
Shaping Up
Harold’s back over to help me put in all the cross pieces that the glass panels will rest on. Yes…he can stand there and smile knowing that at the end of the day, this nightmare was not his. Again, lots and lots of measuring…and we still managed to screw up the placement! We’d be motoring along and step back to admire our work only to notice that there weren’t many straight lines where we’d been working! There’s nothing like redoing tedious work. These cross pieces ranked high with the most tedious.
Remember the guy who saved my ass when the FedEx semi arrived with the structure? Well, this is Dave folks. He’s actually out to put in a new window in the side of the house…since I’m pretty much covering up all the other ones out back!
He knew what he had to do and Harold and I knew...yeah, right! You all know better than that by now! All was fine until Dave started attacking the side of the house with the reciprocating saw. We could feel the throbbing and vibrations outside up on the structure. Thought we had done something and the house was coming down!
He knew what he had to do and Harold and I knew...yeah, right! You all know better than that by now! All was fine until Dave started attacking the side of the house with the reciprocating saw. We could feel the throbbing and vibrations outside up on the structure. Thought we had done something and the house was coming down!
I know. I’m not right in the head. But we stayed out of his way and he never bothered Harold and I at our work. He's not stupid. We were all busting our asses. Dave knows how to do a lot of shit I’m telling you. He’s replaced quite a few windows in the past. But this would be his first “raw” install.
You need to understand that we all work together and give each other shit constantly. Bee would keep asking him if he knew what he was doing. Dave would just respond “yeah, pretty much…but it’s not my house”! His job went faster and smoother than ours and the only one who seemed stressed out was my wife!
You need to understand that we all work together and give each other shit constantly. Bee would keep asking him if he knew what he was doing. Dave would just respond “yeah, pretty much…but it’s not my house”! His job went faster and smoother than ours and the only one who seemed stressed out was my wife!
There were also times when I needed Harold’s feet too! Not sure what he was actually doing but we made a good team. We laughed a lot though. Better than crying. I was just tickled he came back to help.
And what about my inspections from the city? So far, we’ve been passing them with flying colors. The only ones left are the final for the structure and the electrical inspection. How could they not be impressed?
And what about my inspections from the city? So far, we’ve been passing them with flying colors. The only ones left are the final for the structure and the electrical inspection. How could they not be impressed?
The new window is in. A very productive day for all. Bee and I took Dave and Harold out for a nice steak dinner that evening. I’m sure all of us don’t even remember our heads hitting the pillows. I know I didn’t. But this picture seemed to represent the inside of our home for the first several months of the project…projects.
Fast forward a bit. All of the braces and cross pieces are in. Basically, the structure portion is complete. Now it’s time for the really crazy, pain-in-the-ass portions. My brother came over to help install the glass panels onto the roof. We were clowning around a little here for my wife. This was actually a huge effort. Those glass panels were heavy and just wide enough to be a real pain in the ass to carry and lug around. Also, the double sided tape that is used to secure these to the structure is incredibly strong. There is no moving them around if you get it wrong. You sort of have to put it on with the paper covering still on the tape with just the corners peeled back. The glass goes in place then you carefully try and pull and peel the paper covering out from between the glass and structure. Tedious.
Pulling the cover off the tape in between the window. The sun was just beating down too. The glare from the glass was a killer. The lower down the structure we got, the more we had to bend over to work. No...I did not take out a section of the scaffold...didn't feel like doing this cause I knew I would need to put it back. So we just bent over. It's just a spine.
But we were really cruising thru these panels. No way in hell could I have made such progress without my brother there that day. It was most definitely a two person job.
But we were really cruising thru these panels. No way in hell could I have made such progress without my brother there that day. It was most definitely a two person job.
Did I say 2 person job? I meant 3! My wife is up there laying down the double sided tape onto the structure. She did a great job and it sure helped out. She always under stated her contributions throughout the project. Yeah...lots of it was busy work, tedious, pain in the ass chores. But each one she did freed me up to do a task requiring heavy lifting or power tools.
There's Mandi in the shade bored out of her mind. Poor girl. But, when Bee wasn't running around helping me, she was out in the yard with Mandi or taking her for walks.
There's Mandi in the shade bored out of her mind. Poor girl. But, when Bee wasn't running around helping me, she was out in the yard with Mandi or taking her for walks.
Hammering down the bar caps that secure the glass panels in from the top. I was told these panels would support my weight with no problem. But…that’s still a nasty drop if they were wrong!
Finishing Touches
All the glass in except for the windows…and I’m waiting on replacements since the other ones really sucked as far as quality went.
Would I do it again? Hell no! I’m into September before we got the actual structure completed. I now have to get an electrical permit. This is another nightmarish process and actually separate from the structure itself. I had to write up all the plans and draw pictures of everything we were doing for the electric out there. And there was to be plenty!
A greenhouse controller would monitor temperature and humidity. It would open and close one window and two vent fans in the ceiling. The top would open up and the fans would then kick on to draw out hot air. This worked in coordination with the automatic window…which would open first to allow the ceiling vents to draw in fresh air.
There was to be a ceiling fan with light in the middle as well as outlets and spot lights. Two large circulating fans were mounted in opposing corners and would run 24/7 forever. Then there were outlets in the knee wall. One outlet was dedicated for the misting motor. All of this electric ran behind the header board up on the house, down to the knee wall, and then all of the wires would run under the structures aluminum tray into the basement…on both sides.
Would I do it again? Hell no! I’m into September before we got the actual structure completed. I now have to get an electrical permit. This is another nightmarish process and actually separate from the structure itself. I had to write up all the plans and draw pictures of everything we were doing for the electric out there. And there was to be plenty!
A greenhouse controller would monitor temperature and humidity. It would open and close one window and two vent fans in the ceiling. The top would open up and the fans would then kick on to draw out hot air. This worked in coordination with the automatic window…which would open first to allow the ceiling vents to draw in fresh air.
There was to be a ceiling fan with light in the middle as well as outlets and spot lights. Two large circulating fans were mounted in opposing corners and would run 24/7 forever. Then there were outlets in the knee wall. One outlet was dedicated for the misting motor. All of this electric ran behind the header board up on the house, down to the knee wall, and then all of the wires would run under the structures aluminum tray into the basement…on both sides.
Final Inspections
My cousin is an electrician and he spent a lot of time out here helping me out. He was also working with a severe ruptured disc in his back. We spent a lot of evenings out there until ten or eleven o’clock at night working under spot lights.
Breaker box. Had a 100 amp cable running from here to the main house breaker. That cost a few pennies!
These are the relays that work with the greenhouse controller. These are hooked to the vent fans in the ceiling, the mister, and automatic window. When a temperature or humidity set point is reached, then the relays kick power on or off to them.
And here is the greenhouse controller by Bartlett. If asked to describe the company with a single word, I would use awesome. The brothers that own the company are top notch as well as all the techs they have working with them. There was never a time when I called where someone was too busy to talk me thru a problem. They actually reworked their mother board to operate my mister how I wanted it done. Great product…and I’m not even close to using the thing to its fullest potential.
The electrical inspection? The dude came out, looked at the professional and clean job that my cousin did just out in the greenhouse, and said he didn’t even have to look at what we did in the basement! Sweet!
Well, it’s now time for the final inspection. We are in the process of having the house completely resided and any wood trim covered up with aluminum…tired of painting anything. When I got home from work one afternoon. I saw a completely different type of paper taped to our sliding glass door. Instead of a white slip stating that the inspection was approved, there was a pink one with a number of things listed on it.
To say I was pissed would be a big understatement. Here are some of the items listed:
So I pretty much made the replies above onto that little pink slip the guy left…minus all the cuss words of course, and called for another inspection. The next guy that came out was a little more sympathetic and understanding. He explained about the steps. While not a part of the greenhouse itself, we still needed a more permanent solution in order to get past the final inspection.
He waved off the extension piece knowing the siding company would take care of that. As for the engineer sign offs? He agreed with me that if there was a problem with this structure being attached to the home, then those questions would have been raised in the beginning. But getting the snow and wind loads were necessary. Shit.
I went back and forth with Sunshine Rooms and in the end got them to provide engineering specs to cover the city’s concerns. This was a booklet made up of about a million calculations and all sorts of incomprehensible jargon. But it stroked the city planners like they wanted and that’s all that mattered to me.
I brought my buddy Randy back to put me in some awesome steps too.
The electrical inspection? The dude came out, looked at the professional and clean job that my cousin did just out in the greenhouse, and said he didn’t even have to look at what we did in the basement! Sweet!
Well, it’s now time for the final inspection. We are in the process of having the house completely resided and any wood trim covered up with aluminum…tired of painting anything. When I got home from work one afternoon. I saw a completely different type of paper taped to our sliding glass door. Instead of a white slip stating that the inspection was approved, there was a pink one with a number of things listed on it.
To say I was pissed would be a big understatement. Here are some of the items listed:
- The extension piece I had put in for the header board had to be covered up. Could not be bare wood. Well no shit Sherlock! I guess the blind SOB failed to see a team of effing people putting new siding on the house and had just not gotten to that part yet.
- The stairs leading into our home could not be temporary ones. Didn’t know what this had to do with the “greenhouse” structure, but okay.
- Here’s the kicker. I needed an engineer to sign off that the structure would support a certain snow and wind load and that it was okay to tie it into the home. Now this one really got my nuts in a vice! If they fucking needed this, why the hell didn’t they ask for this before they ever approved of my design??!!!! They knew damn well that the structure was attached to the home. You don’t ask whether the structure is secure after the damn thing is completed!
So I pretty much made the replies above onto that little pink slip the guy left…minus all the cuss words of course, and called for another inspection. The next guy that came out was a little more sympathetic and understanding. He explained about the steps. While not a part of the greenhouse itself, we still needed a more permanent solution in order to get past the final inspection.
He waved off the extension piece knowing the siding company would take care of that. As for the engineer sign offs? He agreed with me that if there was a problem with this structure being attached to the home, then those questions would have been raised in the beginning. But getting the snow and wind loads were necessary. Shit.
I went back and forth with Sunshine Rooms and in the end got them to provide engineering specs to cover the city’s concerns. This was a booklet made up of about a million calculations and all sorts of incomprehensible jargon. But it stroked the city planners like they wanted and that’s all that mattered to me.
I brought my buddy Randy back to put me in some awesome steps too.
We built the base with left over block from the knee wall and put a nice limestone cap on them. Pretty nice eh? After Randy was finished, I put in some wooden railings along the right side to satisfy the next inspector. As far as I was concerned, they were temporary. I am now wishing I put something more permanent in for a railing when I think of the number of times I’ve busted my ass or shins going up those stairs and not paying attention!
Judgment day arrives and I must have scored the same inspector who came out the last time because we got the approval this time around! Yeah!! Knowing I was done with the city was an incredible feeling.
Judgment day arrives and I must have scored the same inspector who came out the last time because we got the approval this time around! Yeah!! Knowing I was done with the city was an incredible feeling.
House look any different? It should! That’s brand new siding man. And notice my little extension piece there at the end? Looking good eh?! Lots of gasket material to place and more silicone sealant to apply yet, but I’m pretty damned proud and even happier that it is pretty much all over and done with.
Hell, I even have plants in there! About the only thing left is to run my natural gas line from the basement into the greenhouse for the heaters. Hey…it’s not a living space for humans!! You all knew damn good and well I was going to heat this thing! LOL!
Final Thoughts
Well, it was fun to look back thru the pics and put down in words what was going on in those pics. It wasn't all miserable. Well, it was, but there were times when we made the best of the situation and found the time to laugh...mostly at myself. I hope you enjoyed it.
Yes, I completed it. There were a number of issues, lots of stress, loss of sleep, loss of sanity, and loss of time. Time I won't get back. Time spent working when I could have been out there playing with my girl Mandi. We lost her before the next summer and knowing I completely wasted this summer still haunts me today. I would gladly spent that $17K or more to have had that summer to do over again.
I am proud of the accomplishment though. It certainly challenged my meager skills. Would I do it again? I answered this already and again the answer is "hell no"! If I learned anything from this project, it is that time spent with friends, loved ones, or just oneself is much more important than money.
So my advice to anyone wanting to build such a structure on their own:
Yes, I completed it. There were a number of issues, lots of stress, loss of sleep, loss of sanity, and loss of time. Time I won't get back. Time spent working when I could have been out there playing with my girl Mandi. We lost her before the next summer and knowing I completely wasted this summer still haunts me today. I would gladly spent that $17K or more to have had that summer to do over again.
I am proud of the accomplishment though. It certainly challenged my meager skills. Would I do it again? I answered this already and again the answer is "hell no"! If I learned anything from this project, it is that time spent with friends, loved ones, or just oneself is much more important than money.
So my advice to anyone wanting to build such a structure on their own:
- Make sure you have the ability...and the time to waste. If not, hire it out.
- Take the time and research every exact thing you want.
- Don't attach it to your home unless you make some major commitments to keeping moisture out of your home.
- And think about moisture when you design and build. It will not forget you.
- Hire it out. Oh yeah...I said that already.
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