every picture tells a story or (how not to detail a building's exterior)

Sometimes a simple construction detail - done well- can save you a huge headache later on. Proper flashing and use of building paper such as Tyvek or good old fashion tar paper, with taped seams are essential to avoid the kind of water caused damage I got into yesterday.
This client, in a 12 year old co-housing development with 30 similar units called me after he noticed a small problem. Two short pieces of cedar siding located at the top of and between 2 large south facing windows had fallen off the house at the exact spot where an arbor had been attached. (see photo) Upon closer inspection it was noticed that the reason the 7" long pieces had gone missing was that the sheathing and framing behind them was well...gone!
I agreed to do the repair and after getting my tools, i peeled back the neighboring siding boards to get a closer look inside the wall. I was careful not to remove more of the expensive cedar siding than necessary, but each piece I took off revealed more and worse damage. At about 4 feet below the leak there was hardly any lumber left in the wall. I was shocked to see the extent of the rot- both in how far it had traveled and how much wood had been destroyed. I'd seen this in 100 year old houses a few times, but never in a newer home. The problem on this relatively young building was caused by poor exterior detailing especially where the arbor mounting block penetrated the siding and was attached to the house. The carpenter who put this all together obviously needed a solid and flat surface to mount his arbor to, but he had not taken the necessary measures to prevent rain water that drips from an overhead roof and splashes on the arbor and around the arbor mounting block, from getting behind the cedar siding, against the osb and wrecking havoc. For 12 years the water that made its way behind the siding was able to soak into the OSB sheathing that had not received it's required layer of Tyvec or equivalent building paper. To make matters worse. Once behind the siding the water was able to move down the framing to the bottom plate where instead of running out of the wall it was caught by a section of plastic that came up 5 inches from the sill plate and ran 24 ' along the front of the house! This plastic appeared to have been added as a bottom plate moisture/air seal of some sort but was in fact working much better as a holding pond for the unwanted rain water. There's more...this plastic membrane encouraged the water to move horizontally and in both directions along the bottom of the wall where it also sat soaking day after day year after year into the OSB sheathing, the cellulose insulation and the 2x6 framing material. Talk about your perfect storm of poor weather detailing! Fortunately the inside of the house was protected by a well installed plastic vapor barrier so the interior drywall was unaffected. Also, the majority of the roof and floor load above this point was being successfully transferred away from this "post" by a huge 24" band joist running to the sides of the house. I imagine if this was not the case, this rot issue would have also become a serious sagging and cracking issue long ago.
As I tore out the damage yesterday, the occasional passing neighbor noticing the extent of the damage, stopped, gawked and gasped, and then wondered out loud whether their house (which had the same arbor and siding) might have the same ugly issue lurking behind it's lovely cedar siding.. My answer to them? "...we'll have a look and let you know." And I'll let you know too!
The moral(s) of the story? Don't skimp on the building paper, the seam tape, the flashing, and the caulk- and when in doubt double up, oh and, gutters aren't a bad idea either--
A picture's worth a thousand words--

eco friendly concrete floor staining and sealing

Recently in the process of staining a new concrete floor for clients in the trumansburg area, we had the opportunity to use a great new- new to us - green product, part of a line of eco friendly staining and sealing products that are sold under the brand name Eco-procote.   Soycrete "espresso" is the name of the stain we used on this new 1,000 square foot floor, the sealer was labled Acri-soy.  Both were completely benign to use with basically zero V.O.C.s and no acids. That's a big switch from what we have been using. Typically when staining a floor we are forced to protect ourselves from the acid meant to react with a the lime in the concrete chemically changing it's color as well as the volatile solvents in the wax and poly finishes.

Eco-Procote products get the job done with out these harmful ingredients, you can read about how on their website. As well, we found the Soycrete stain more forgiving to use than acid stains-- If you feel the color is to dark, you can actually wipe off the stain with a wet rag up to 6 hours after your initial application --or you can add more stain as you like once you have had some time to let the surface dry and consider the depth of color you have applied.

The Soy-crete stain, Acri-soy sealer, and Eco-Tuff -high traffic top coats were all very easy to apply and with out the noxious off gassing typical of floor finishes and sealers. The clients loved the finished product, and we loved the lack of exposure to potentially harmful materials. Check em out!

staining a concrete floor

Today we wrapped up the staining and finish work on the concrete floors in the addition built for Denise and Bob in Ithaca.  Although we don't do alot of stained concrete floors, Kerrie and I found ourselves once again appreciating the simple beauty of and relative ease required to create such a lovely floor.  And it's lower cost got our attention too.

The process of staining a floor involves several steps including, but not limited too; thoroughly cleaing the concrete with water and a brush after the drywall guys are finished and gone, (ideally one should cover the floor with paper or cardboard before they start their work for an easier cleanup afterward)  Then, after using a shop vac to get the dirty water back up off the floor, one can lay down the stain/acid solution with a simple garden spayer letting the floor dry between coats (I think 3 coats are better than 2)-- the stain, i am told, chemically reacts with the lime in the uppermost layer of the concrete to physically change the color of the concrete.  This step is followed by another cleaning in order to remove the stain residue, again using just water and brush.  After vaccuming up the water a second time and letting the floor dry again, one can finally apply the floor finish (something like a floor wax) in several thin mopped on coats,  at this point the floor starts to look nice but there is one more step.  That is, buffing out the last lightly sprayed on coat with a heavy, slow to moderate speed floor polisher, this brings out the depth and shine a stained floor is known for.

  Once the finishing work is complete, the base and door trim can go in, followed closely by throw rugs and funriture... allowing the rich, radiantly heated floor to recede into a beautiful warm backround surface requiring little to no maintanence to enjoy, and at a cost that is significantly less than ceramic tile, laminates or hardwood flooring. The stain in these pictures is Malay Tan purchased from Kemiko.  A variety of other colors are also available.  Stained concrete floors are beautiful, easy to care for, are non allergenic and are an affordable choice for a home built on a raidiantly heated concrete slab.

Bob and Denise have been doing their own trim work (among other things) and will be putting in the baseboard and interior door trim this weekend, and moving in soon there after.  We hope they enjoy their new space as much as we enjoyed working with them!