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Curved portico rebuild

jonblakemore | Posted in Photo Gallery on September 29, 2009 01:16am

Got a call a few weeks ago about some “rot” in some wood columns.

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The columns weren’t that bad (as far as exterior wood columns go)…

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but the rest looked like mulch that had been in a flower bed for 18 months.

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The drip edge detail didn’t do too much good,

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And the EPDM was “sluffing” on the job.

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I had seen enough. I bid for a full replacement to closely approximate the existing, which is what the client wanted. I was not intersted in considering a repair job- too many unknowns and the potential for big change orders.

 

Jon Blakemore

RappahannockINC.com

Fredericksburg, VA

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Replies

  1. User avater
    ToolFreakBlue | Sep 29, 2009 01:20am | #1

    Good call

    TFB (Bill)
  2. User avater
    jonblakemore | Sep 29, 2009 01:21am | #2

    Sure enough, when demo started, my fears were confirmed.

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    I'm glad we planned for complete R&R job.

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    Demo done.

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    We set up a trammel and cut the pieces of Advantech at the appropriate radius. On these 4 pieces, we laid (layed?) out the joists and took our measurements from there.

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    Once the framing was installed (working in a "top down" fashion) we started fabricating the rest of the parts. Here's a template used to cut pieces of 1/2" CDX and 3/8" MDO for the various curved pieces.

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    Jon Blakemore

    RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

    1. User avater
      jonblakemore | Sep 29, 2009 01:26am | #3

      I planned on cedar to wrap the joists and the beam at the curved sections, and MDO to make the roof soffit area (~9" overhang) and the underside of the beam.Our grizzly planer complained a little, but not too much. A lot of cedar shavings (anyone with a giant hamster?)

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      Here's the pre-cedar shot of the framing.

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      3/4" Advantech T&G roof sheathing with two plies of 1/2" CDX making up the rim joists. The Advantech has not been nailed of yet, we tacked it until we had better support to get on the roof and finish fastening with the nail gun.

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      *Edit- Mispelling of "CDX" Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VAEdited 9/28/2009 6:37 pm ET by JonBlakemore <!-- JONBLAKEMORE -->

      Edited 9/28/2009 6:38 pm ET by JonBlakemore

      Edited 9/28/2009 6:42 pm ET by JonBlakemore

      1. User avater
        jonblakemore | Sep 29, 2009 01:35am | #4

        Here's the cedar applied. We doubled up the strip where the cedar meets the MDO to hide the gap. This was somewhat of a pain getting the boards to bond together solidly. I almost wish we would have done 1/4" laminations, and just had a three ply section under the soffit to give a 3/4" appearance.

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        We screwed some blocks on the ends of the recalcitrant pieces to give the PL premium a chance to grab. The next day we saw that it worked. The joints are not furniture quality, but it looks pretty good. Definitely better than the segmented circle that the original builder called "round".

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        We pressure washed the concrete stoop to remove some of the shadow from where the 10" column bases were for 16 years. This worked quite well, but the clean concrete also revealed some spots that were hidden pre-cleaning.

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        3/8" beadboard applied on the underside. I would have liked to do the whole thing in Permacast and Azek, but the client wanted natural wood. MDO was a compromise as I could not think of a passable way to make the curved horizontal pieces with 1x12 cedar or something like that. I think we would have had about 4x as many joints.

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        The columns are in my basement now awaiting paint. They were back ordered so we just used 2x4 temp supports. We will install the columns when we go back to install the Owner-refinished iron railing.

        Thanks to Grant and Duane for the tips on working with the drip edge. It was pretty slick bending the "L" metal with a pair of downspout crimpers.

         

        Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

        Edited 9/28/2009 6:44 pm ET by JonBlakemore

        1. mikeroop | Sep 29, 2009 01:51am | #5

          cool! everything looks good

          don't ya wonder how some people can call themselves carpenters and still make a living?

        2. User avater
          Sphere | Sep 29, 2009 02:17am | #6

          Great job!

          And kudos for going with a total rebuild. I can just imagine how ugly that could get on a quick fix plan.

          I too have been doing all curved work of late, must be a shortage of straight and square work (G)Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks

          Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations

          View Image

          1. User avater
            jonblakemore | Sep 29, 2009 02:34am | #7

            It's been a while for us to do some "craftsman" type work. It's definitely enjoyable and challenging. 

            Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

        3. danno7x | Sep 29, 2009 11:41pm | #17

          Thanks to Grant and Duane for the tips on working with the drip edge. It was pretty slick bending the "L" metal with a pair of downspout crimpers.

          I've missed this somewhere along the way tell me all about it please.  Haven;t done anything rounded that was too complicated really but I will jump at the chance so I guess I should know this stuff. 

          I take it you make the drip yourself?

          1. User avater
            jonblakemore | Sep 30, 2009 12:18am | #18

            We purchased standard aluminum drip edge.

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            Take your crimpers and crimp the edge that will stay flat (not the edge to be bent).

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            When complete, you will have a bent drip edge. This was a 7' radius- I think you could do less, but not too much less with the crimpers I have. If you had longer crimpers I would expect you could get more aggressive.

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            There were still some humps when I installed the drip edge, but I was able to flatten most of them. Maybe deeper throat crimpers would allow the metal to remain more flat?

             

            Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

          2. danno7x | Sep 30, 2009 04:38am | #21

            Thanks, I appreciate that.   I was thinking there would be some serious wrinkles or humps, I guess some properly placed nails and some hammering it flat, would get it flat enough that it wouldn't affect the roofing.

        4. dug | Sep 30, 2009 03:05am | #20

           jon,

             Excellent job!

            I love to do jobs like that ..... jobs that challenge you to think outside the box.

            Sadly, around here on alot of those jobs the H.O. just dont have or more likely won't turn loose of the appropriate budget for a complete rework.

            How many manhours would you say you are gonna have in this when done.

            Again, great job.

             dug

          1. User avater
            jonblakemore | Sep 30, 2009 05:28am | #22

            We will probably be at about 60 hours. 

            Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

          2. User avater
            jonblakemore | Nov 12, 2009 07:09pm | #23

            I forgot to post the finished pics. Here are some:

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            View Image

             

            Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

          3. StanFoster | Nov 13, 2009 04:48am | #24

            Jon-   I just checked into this thread.  That is real nice work.  Something about curves always catch my eye...and not just the woman kind!

             

             

            Stan

  3. User avater
    McDesign | Sep 29, 2009 04:27am | #8

    Darned fine. 

    I love these kind of threads - thanks for posting it.

     

    Forrest - usedta' build stuff

    1. User avater
      jonblakemore | Sep 29, 2009 04:51am | #9

      I should have added this link before.

      If anyone wants to see more of the same, check out our set on Flickr. 

      Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

      1. theslateman | Sep 29, 2009 02:06pm | #10

        Jon,

        I'm thrilled to see your  great project fully illustrated with pictures .

        Thanks for taking time to put all those in for us .

        Best ,  Walter

        1. User avater
          jonblakemore | Sep 29, 2009 06:42pm | #11

          Walter, you've kept me sated with copper and slate pictures for some time now, I should be the one thanking you! 

          Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

          1. Bing187 | Sep 29, 2009 07:00pm | #12

            Nice looking work there.

            Wondering if you used exterior MDF....Medex or the like, typically used for sign making, etc. Regular MDO in that application would be a no-no imho. If it's damp, it'll swell like my gut in winter, and eventually fall apart. Just curious.

            Fun doin something that takes some talent, huh? Jobs like that make it fun for me again, as opposed to drudgery.

            Cool.

            Bing

          2. User avater
            jonblakemore | Sep 29, 2009 07:41pm | #14

            Bing,I hope we used the right stuff. No MDF was used- all of the MDO was bonded to a plywood substrate.I've used MDO on ply like this in the past to good effect, but I hope I'm not missing something. 

            Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA

          3. seeyou | Sep 29, 2009 07:05pm | #13

            Jon - just spotted this thread. Nice work.copper p0rn

      2. stevent1 | Sep 29, 2009 08:08pm | #15

        Jon,Really nice work. Thanks for sharing.Chuck Slive, work, build, ...better with wood

      3. florida | Sep 29, 2009 11:37pm | #16

        Beautiful work on a great house. When I first looked at he photos I thought it looked like Virginia. I want some of those jobs.

  4. runnerguy | Sep 30, 2009 01:22am | #19

    Great job Jon. Went to Flckr and saw all the photos.

    I enjoy these threads the most. Been photographing a little fireplace mantle project of my own and it's threads like this one that might make me get up the gumption to post it.

    Again, nice!

    Runnerguy

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