I am currently working on designing a house for a friends father. I am new to general contracting but my goal has always been to someday build a house worthy of the pages of Fine Homebuilding. This will be the first house that I will have the opportunity to design as well as build and here is a little background. This will be a 2000 sq. ft. house located on a river which means that it will be on stilts about 9 feet above grade. The design is based on the Acadian style popular in southern Louisiana. What’s really great about the location is that it is directly across the river from one of our most frequented eating places so everyone within a hundred miles will see it at some time or another. It’s the perfect opportunity to display my skills as both a designer and builder. One of the things my friends father mentioned in our first talks about the design was that he wanted lattice around the framework below the house. My question is does anyone know of any other options than lattice to hide the parking or how do you keep lattice from coming apart after a year or two? I would love to hear advice on design or building techniques.
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Replies
They make lattice out of plastic now in a variety of colors should hold up for a long time.
ANDYSZ2
Make your own lattice. Dont buy the store bought stuff. Use cedar. Make it about 7/16" thick not the puney 1/4" stuff. LAttice can be qattractive if you make it your self. If you want to go nuts you can even mortise it together.
Be well and good luck
Namaste'
Andy
It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
get the vinyl lattice.. either square or diagonal patterns and multiple colors are available.. spend you labor and money on some of the other detailsMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Mike,
No offense intended at all but if he has that large an area to cover that will be seen by potential clients I personally would go with something more hand crafted then that ugly vinyl stuff. After all he's covering a very large area that will be very noticable. Spose its just a personal opinion. I've seen entrances into estates with curved lattice work on each side of the driveway with flowers in front of it and that 7/16th stuff sure looks beautiful. Looks like the builder "cared". That vinyl stuff looks like one does all their shopping at Home Depot. I can see using that crap in an inconspicous area but right on the river?
BE well
Namaste'
andyIt's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
no offense taken.. but there is vinyl & then there is vinyl.. you'd be surprised at what is out there... and the best thing is no rot.... and no painting unless you like painting..
time and money are limited resources... the time and money spent on lattice can be put to better use somewhere else...Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
I think it should be designed with lattice but let the owner decide how much he wants to spend on it before going vinyl or custom. I definitely wouldn't use stapled cheap wood lattice. It falls apart and you can never get it to line up, one panel to another.
The vinyl can look OK but will need a lot of support structure in behind it to hold in place on a wall this big. Vinyl grows a lot in the summer so I would anticipate a lot of wavy looking walls with vinyl.
I build a lot of custom wood lattice out of either PT or red cedar. I rip it just under 1/2" and plane to 3/8". You can stick it together at 3"OC for more privacy or open it up to as much as 5"OC to save bucks or for a more open sighting. I did one with 6" spaces on a vertical/horizontal grid that they grew foliage up, more like a trellis. Most others are on a diagonal. When doing custom in place like this, you can use angles other than 45° for a more pleasing look, for instance, a 52° angle at 4.5"OC makes some very pleasing diamond spaces. These thicker slats need less back support than the vinyl.
Painting can be a big pain though....
Excellence is its own reward!
First of all I could frame up some vertical and horizontal 2x4 or 2x6's. Use those to frame smaller pannels of the latice work. You can even mimic some of the details of the house in the frame work.
Also you might use a lot of detailed landscaping. So that the lower focus is on the landscaping and the latice is only a backdrop and not the focal point.
suggestion 1: would stuff grow there (morning glories, ivy, anything) so that you're using the lattice as a trellis instead of a lattice that you have to look at?
suggestion 2: observe what others have done, take pictures of the good, the bad, and the ugly, and then consult a local architect. you will get your money's worth out of it. that goes for both the lattice and the whole house, especially since it's in a high visibility location. this one could make or break you- it's up to you!
doctors can bury their mistakes, but builders have to plant ivy and pray for rain!
-m