Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Building a garage-apartment with a pond view

It has been an incredibly difficult summer for both of us. We latch onto whatever bit of inspiration we can find.
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Color me inspired...and I needed a shot of that beautiful view. Jeezo Bski, I can't believe the scope of your projects...truly top notch. You're lucky you don't live closer to me or I'd be begging for you to lend your vision every weekend at my place....

I hope all is well!

That beauty is taking shape.

For inspiration we used to sit on the front porch or the back deck at the end of the day with a good cigar and a glass of brandy, pretending we wondered what the poor people were doing.

We didn't smoke so I think the brandy and cigars were symbols of our success.

That, Sir, is a great view.

You saved the spot with a better one for the big house, right?

THAT LOOKS GREAT--KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK--DO NOT GET DOWN ON YOURSELF OR YOUR WIFE-

Keep in mind IT IS ALWAYS HARD UNTIL IT GETS EASY.

The good news is that you will have years to enjoy LNP. A couple of years from now you and Donnaski will be having your morning coffee looking out over your pond and realize that this is entire property was transformed by your vision and hard work. Pretty amazing when you stop and think about it.

I agree and point out you will also realize that both you guys and LNP were transformed by a higher vision.

It always darkest just before dawn , but when that first clear and transforming light arrives you know all is right in the world. See it in your pic!

I think the Three Stooges said that.

The darkest hour is just before the dawn

Meaning
There is hope, even in the worst of circumstances.

Origin
This is one of those improving proverbs that are the stock in trade of the contemporary glut of self-help manuals and talking therapies. The darkest hour has long been used figuratively to mean 'the lowest ebb' and there are many such examples of it in print dating from the late 1700s.

The English theologian and historian Thomas Fuller appears to be the first person to commit the notion that 'the darkest hour is just before the dawn' to print. His religious travelogue A Pisgah-Sight Of Palestine And The Confines Thereof, 1650, contains this view:
It is always darkest just before the Day dawneth.
The source of the proverb isn't known. It may be Fuller himself, or he may have been recording a piece of folk wisdom.

In 1858, much later than Fuller of course, Samuel Lover attributed the notion to the Irish, in Songs and Ballads:
There is a beautiful saying amongst the Irish peasantry to inspire hope under adverse circumstances:- "Remember," they say, "that the darkest hour of all. is the hour before day.”

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/darkest-hour.html

Okay.

What Curly said was "It's always darkest, just before you turn on the lights."

Brettski:

I saw a close-up of the building on the Asial Ladybug thread and noticed that you haven't taped the overlapping seams on the housewrap. I was under the impression that all seams were supposed to be taped for a good vapor barrier. What am I missing?

You're not missin' a thing...and neither are we.
I have worked with Tyvek, Typar, Owens Corning housewrap, and now Gorilla wrap. After a couple of jobs, I have found that the tape is not only WAY over-priced, but largely not much assistance in the big picture. IMO, it is a money-making add-on for the building products manufacturers and distributors. If you examine a tape job after a couple of years of freeze/thaw, you will find that the perfect seal that occurred when you applied it is now not so perfect. If housewrap is applied correctly, the overlaps will shed the water without any further assistance. If one believes that applying tape will help to seal out air infiltration, have them explain what's going on along the bottom edge at the foundation and where the siding stops.

True. I got a great deal on the tape, so it was used. I wonder what it's shelf life is, because I still have some rolls left over and it'll bbe a few years before the pole barn gets started.

Sample #1 for colors/finishes

White downspouts? Reds and blues fade the quickest........

I like it tho!

I am terrible with color selection. There, I said it.
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Like all things in selection, we have to narrow the field. We know that the garage doors are going to be white (already installed anyway). All the windows are white vinyl, so I plan on using white PVC trim around all the windows to make them "pop"...and...the PVC will be maint-free. The soffits will follow suit: white.
We know that we will be using the LP Smartside prefinished siding. They offer standard and premium colors. They can also mix any custom color (only in a solid color), but there is a significant upcharge. We don't see the need for straying beyond their standard and premium colors:


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I am still uncertain as to who I am going to go to for the standing seam metal roofing. Menards is my only experience from some smaller projects, but they are not necessarily the best choice. They do, tho, offer one of the best varieties of color...so we will use them to consider roofing colors:

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Narrowing the field further on the siding, we like:
Seal (solid standard color)
French gray (solid standard color)
Mahogany (premium color)
(we don't have an actual color sample for Maple or Redwood, but it's on the way from the mfgr. I am actually counting on Maple to be "the one"...we'll see)

We have pretty much nix'd cedar as being too "orangey", but could be convinced otherwise given the correct corresponding color combo. Their use of names is unfair. When I hear mahogany, I think of dark brown and get turned off. When I see the sample, I like it.
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We want to remember a couple of key factors:

• it should blend with the surroundings and compliment; not stand out
• it will someday be the secondary building to a much nicer house structure; it should not dominate the 2
• but...since the "much nicer house" is many years down the road, we want to be able to enjoy it right now for what it is by itself

Regarding the roof...
I really want to avoid having the standard "emerald green roof" that is plastered all over the countryside on the majority of buildings. I suppose, tho, that there is a reason. It works well with alot of the siding options. Actually, we really wanted to try and work the burgundy, but it is awkward with the siding colors we like. The sample house I provided in a couple of posts above is my best creation with a design program to duplicate: Mahogany color siding with the Emerald green roof.
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(also, and this creates havoc with color assistance, different monitors create a myriad of differing shades. For instance, the house color model I created was done on a different PC. I used the actual 6" square color sample I picked up from a vendor and matched it to the PC screen custom color creator. Now, it looks different/darker on this PC)

Simple and basic. Grays , and darker greens go well with white trim. I would want to see the material in the outside light first. I like the " blend with the surroundings " idea best of all.

well bski, since you were so helpful helping us select our colors , this is what i will recommend for you:





did i mention we had a blue roof?

at first, i dont know, i wanted green....., now i actually kind a like it....

those pics really dont show the house color well i need to take some new ones for that, but suffice it to say they bright happy colors that surprisingly blend well w/ our landscape.

that may be your biggest decision....blend or standout?

edit post......this pic actually shows how a blue roof can blend in......at least i think so,

u r the man!

Brettski,

I know you do allot of research and from what I've ready, you've researched everything that you have in this house pretty thouroghly. Why are you using Smartside Siding? Is it a budget consideration?

Eddie

Are 4 ibuprofens the same as 1 Motrin 800...?
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Truss day was a killer. (this pic was taken the following day)

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We used folding truss spacers. The best $40 I have spent so far.

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Tuesday was rain day, but we donned the rain gear and pushed forward. We spent the day making sure all the trusses installed yesterday were plumb, square, and perfectly aligned. This was helped by a couple more rows of truss spacers and adjusting the strongbacks used at both gable ends. Then, to wind down a lousy day, we installed the diagonal bracing at the tops of the trusses to lock down the work.
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A couple of parting shots; time to go back home.
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My original plan was cementitious siding; Hardy board or similar. During research, I bumped into the LP Smartside product and was sold. It carries the same 50 year warranty. It is produced similarly to the advantech subfloor by use of a controlled OSB substrate mixed with a polymer resin type bonding glue. It is considerably lighter to handle. It cuts and works with all the basic carpentry tools (no cement dust or special blades). It has the same surface texture as the cement board. It comes in 16' lengths (as opposed to the 12' cement board; less seams). It can take much more impact than cement board.

It's a tough decision cuz I haven't worked with either one of them, but unless somebody can tell me differently from experience, the LP product seems to be superior to cement board.

Here, Hardi and Certanteed sided homes will appraise just below brick. Smartside will appraise the same as T1-11, and other wood siding type products.

You are correct about it being lighter and that you can work it with regular wood tools. It's OSB, so it cuts and works exactly like OSB. The finish looks nice at first. Might even say that it's very hard to tell from Hardi or Certanteed. The problems are in wear. Being OSB, it is susuptable to the same issues that happen to OSB. The edges expand and come apart.

I've only seen it used a few times and thought it looked nice. The guys who installed it, liked how easy it was, but joked about how they would never use it in their homes. One guy told me that he used it because Hardi causes cancer. He's a nut, and while he can frame a house, he's smoked too much ganja in his life and I tend to nod my head when I talk to him and ignore what he has to say.

Hardi cuts real easy with a proper blade. It nails on real easy with a coil nail gun, and it paint real good. I've done a 2,2000 sq ft homes by myself, so it's easy to install.

Before buying it, I'd go talk to some builders in your area and see who has used both. Get some first hand opinions and then decide if you want to stick with Smartsiding.

Eddie

we did our house in certainteed lap, and like eddie says, it takes paint unbelievably well. it does not shrink or swell so any pre-paint caulking stays tight also. the guys who i had install it said it was the only product they'd use on their houses. the one issue i observed is you have to take care in nailing, get too close to edges and it does crack. our house is ~2500 ft, and i dont think they used more than half a dozen or so blades.

Yep. Single physically hardest thing I've ever done was placing a truss.

But, hey, they're up.