Back to the routine after a much-needed break. Back to waking up in the dark. Back to the motions of loading the percolator while eyeing the clock. The frigid drive into work. And the hand numbing parking lot stroll. Chris Carter of KWWL fame, who is not native to the midwest, made an observation this morning that I thought was rather intriguing. He basically said that if you looked at Winter objectively, the breaking water mains and frozen pipes, the heaving roads, the sliding into the ditch on the way to work, frostbite from venturing outside, ice storms bringing down powerlines and everything else that comes with "winter" here, the negatives really did seem to outweigh any positive aspects of putting up a fight each year. Or something to that effect. He made clear he wasn't slamming living in Iowa, just this winter business. Tough to separate the two, though.
He might have a point. People have always jabbed me with the "flat roofs don't work in Iowa", line, just to get a rise out of me. I think the truth is more like "unconventional structures will have a tough time surviving anywhere but the arid west-southwest." Forget the roof business for a moment. Flatroofs have drains. It really comes down to maintenance. "The Elements" are the key here. A good coat of paint keeps wood happy. Shovel the snow off the roof and things won't sag. Keep drains open and guess what, water drains! The trouble is with water getting into places it shouldn't. Like around chimneys, in and around siding, in cracks where one part of a structure meets another. Not inherent to flat roofs alone. If you've never put a house together you can't fully appreciate all the thought and attention that go into the littlest details of keeping water out of places. And rain can often get horizontal with a good gust. Water'll find its way in around windows, around door casings, around vents and pipes in roofs. It'll zip in over a casing and down behind siding and rot everything out from the back and you'd never know it. Sidewalks or driveways pitch water into a crevice. Next thing you know it freezes and concrete is heaving. Roofing cement isn't enough to seal around chimneys, in a proper job the bricklayer will actually embed step flashing in the masonry. Assuming the two trades even communicate anymore. A decent example- Next time you see a brick wall take a look at the bottom course and you should see a weep hole or wick every so many feet. Somehow water will get back there and it has to drain. The same trick is used on layed-up foundation walls deep underground. There's no stopping this water-stuff. The challenge with unconventional (i.e. non-pitched roof) construction is that the simplistic details need to have the same water-preventative measures taken without heaping a load of flashings and trims on top of everything. The last thing you want to look at is a heavy bead of caulk around all your crisp and lean-looking fixed windows. Or obtrusive flashing and counter-flashing where a material projects from a wall, like barge beams in the post and beam style. The pitched roof traditional ends up being popular because water can roll off the roof, gutters can be attached to carry it away, flashings and trim can be added to all inside and outside corners of the house, and wide mouldings look right at home around windows and doors. It's not that a gabled house is "better" as much as it is easier, faster and cheaper to put together to survive this kind of weather. A flatroof can be watertight, but you won't be getting the amish to show up and shingle it in an afternoon; there's engineering and special equipment involved. One need only look to the majority of commercial structures in town to see functional non-pitched roofs. Mechanical systems within themselves, actually.
Even the most protected materials, if not well integrated, will hold water and fail. The next time you're at a McDonalds drive-through take a look at the top course of bricks that wraps the building. They're both pleasing to the eye and functional- the water rolls off. The alternative is the drip-cap, common on McMansions because no "special" brick laying is necessary.
ANYWAY. This winter is hitting me hard. Got a boatload done at the lodge over Christmas, but I'm fighting a cold, and really rueing these temps. Too cold to: finish drywall, glue formica, paste wall coverings, lay VCT, shellac interior woodwork, have the brick facing installed, etc.. Not that I’m not up to my ears in other stuff, but I'd really like to do these things as they're relatively short-term items and would go a LONG way in putting the final touches on the place.
Why the long-winded weather intro? Dunno. But it does serve to remind me that I have challenge enough to pull off some of the things I'd like to build, without the added complication of trying to get them to survive cold, wet and snowy weather. It starts the mind thinking. And people wonder why I'm not gung-ho to build the house on the plot I already own.
This week? More insulation and sheetrock on the big east wall. Canvas and pegboard on the west, and if new cedar boards show, completion of the gangway façade.
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