Myers' Home

It’s ZIP To Be Square

June 13, 2021

The summer sun has inspired the Myers’ Home team to get that roof on quickly! They’ll be rising with the sun and reporting to Newbern at 6 o’clock sharp to beat the heat until that roof is high and dry.

Before corrugated metal can wrap this house, it has to be layered with sheathing, waterproofing, and a vapor barrier. Myers’ Home Team is using ZIP System structural sheathing for this endeavor, which combines OSB exterior sheathing and weather protection into one tidily engineered sheet.

On the Up and Up

The team is squaring and stabilizing the framing as they install sheathing. It acts as shear bracing for the trusses and keeps the house in line. At 4′ x 8′ feet, the ZIP System sheets are near identical dimensions as typical OSB sheathing. And they’re applied just the same too!

The install process goes as follows; Madeline holds the sheet from the top, Riley ensures it’s flush to its neighboring sheet, and Judith checks that it’s level. Riley tacks the board at the bottom and Madeline moves outside so it can be secured on all edges.

Next, the crew installs the sheets over window and door openings and cuts out openings with a reciprocating saw. Quite of few of the scraps from this process can be used on the second row of wall sheathing, as well as angled gable ends. These guys also site measure to check that they are aligning with studs and have adequate support.

This keeps on going all the way up to the beginning of the roof pitch. Let the scaffolding saga begin!

Theories of Roof

Hey, remember back when Myers’ team was discussing that attic and those trusses? They picked a 10/12 roof pitch. This incline certainly makes for a trickier time getting those big ZIP sheets up and secured. In addition, due to high prices of lumber right now, purlins proved to be budget-prohibitive and didn’t play well with the existing roof flashing detail. All things considered, these folks had to make a special plan for the ascent.

What do all the members of this group have in common? Rock climbing–and they’ve got the gear to prove it. They’ve all gone through safety training and designed a system of secure anchors at the roof peak. It sure doesn’t hurt having a retired rock climbing wall manager hanging around either, top-notch rigging Riley! This rope setup allows for relatively quick and easy movement up, around, across, and down that big, wide roof. Want to see it in action?

And nailed into place, high in the sky…by The Marionette League

Stick Around, Why Don’t You?

After the sheathing is installed, the seams between panels must be sealed to complete the weatherproofing. The team uses ZIP System tape and special rollers to apply this across the whole field of sheets.

The previously introduced “shell method” for Myers’ Home relies on this sealed up ZIP System box that provides a dry and durable layer for the house.

Riley, Mad, and Jude are dodging pesky summer showers to square away this task. Next up? Look out for roof metal, quite a few cross-state order pickups, and soon-to-be-introduced pre-fab window units! Until next time…

Tags: attichome, generationalhome, Myers' Home, roofclimbing, rs5thyears, zipsheathing

They’ve Been Framed!

May 26, 2021

They’re out of the mud and into the air! Since graduation Myers’ Home team has made quite the stride in construction. With diplomas in hand Saturday and a zip back to Hale County Sunday, the three students prepped for framing Monday!

Put that on your plate!

Riley, Madeline, and Judith installed sill plates as one of their last moves before Pig Roast. This involves placing a bead of silicone caulk around the perimeter of the slab. They lay thin strip of foam the width of the wall framing, a sill gasket, atop the caulk before it cures to create a seal. This makes an air barrier between framing and slab on the finished stud wall.

Then, the team places 2″ x 6″ boards on the foam with seams staggered from those on the stud wall above. Myers’ Home will have a double bottom plate. This means two 2″ x 6″ pieces will be sandwiched between the sill plate and the one making up the bottom of the full stud wall. When installing on a slab, one must attach the sill plate directly to the concrete. There are several options for this connection–anchor bolts, TapCon screws, or a powder-actuated nail gun.

Riley finishing up the TapCon side of the sill plates

Myers’ Home team opted for the nail gun for efficiency. After speaking with their favorite engineer, Joe Farruggia, they determined a nail size and pattern for the home’s lateral load capacity. Shooting all (roughly) 150 nails into place and sprinkling in a few TapCons after a nail malfunction, this team was ready to get framing!

Walls up, dude

A quick note — Madeline has been keeping up documentation of the project on 35mm film! The majority of the photos of those couple days framing are her wonderful doing. Kudos and love!

Andrew Freear and Steve Long joined these folks on site as extra and enthusiastic hands with plenty of tips and tricks! Without delay the gang got to it, and moved fast! Riley cut studs and the rest laid walls in place based on framing elevation drawings.

Nail guns at the ready, they had the front (west) wall of the house and half the southern wall up within the first afternoon.

Starting the first half of the southern wall

Jumping to it again the following morning, the shape of the interior, windows, and doors began to appear. The team braced new walls to the ground and each other throughout the process. A smaller crew has an easier time raising a 40′ when built in segments. In this case, the front and rear home walls were in three pieces each.

The team leveled and plumbed, then attached walls as they went up. Complete stud walls stay in this measured position with aformentioned bracing until sheathing is installed and the walls are rigid.

By lunchtime, all walls were up and braced awaiting the second top plate. The whole perimeter is stitched by this 2″ x 6″ piece before trusses are hoisted atop. In (record? who’s to say…) 10 hours the five had finished exterior framing and dodged a few showers in between!

Truss them when they say they can’t wait for what’s next!

The whole framing gang, through rain or shine!

Attic ho, matey!

They arrived, those revolutionary attic trusses that have been in progress since the holiday season! A small hitch in production meant the top six inches of the trusses were delivered separately. But Judith and Madeline attached these to industry standard with a simple toenail.

After moving them from the delivery zone in the driveway to a crane optimized position, these folks were ready to hoist.

Trusses make their way across site with the BobCrane

Sure it took a couple tries and mud sliding, but on a heck of a Friday Myers’ Home finally took shape as the trusses made their way through the air! Thanks to Shane Jackson and his wonderful crane, Judith, Riley, Madeline, Andrew, and extra help, Addie, from Rev. Walker’s Home, began a truss-raising that went off nearly without a hitch.

In preparation, Judith and Madeline had marked each truss location on the top plates. The team also raised scaffolding inside the walls for easy access to placed trusses.

Picture this: the cable descends, Andrew secures a single attic truss to the crane hook. Shane moves the truss into place across the stud walls. Judith and Madeline man the nail guns and ensure the truss is lined up and flush to the walls before tacking them in securely. Addie cuts the blocking to site-measured size between the two foot truss space. Riley scampers to the attic area braces the truss near to plumb. They do it 21 more times.

Party room, bowling alley, it could be anything! Except a pool.

They wrapped it up just in time for a lunch on site and took a first look at what that big ol’ attic is going to really be! 40′ long and 12’6 wide, who’s to say what it could hold?

Nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night

With the shape of Myers’ Home finally visible on site, trusses plumbed and strapped down, the team looked to the next step in building to make this house a full volume.

Nailing on hurricane straps to secure the trusses in extreme wind loads

Temperatures rising here in Hale, so these folks are in a race against the heat of the day to get their roof on and a shaded interior to work. Check back to see where they’re headed, to sheathing, roofing, taping, and flashing!

Judith, Madeline, and Riley after a truss-hustlin’ day

Tags: attichome, generationalhome, Myers' Home, rs5thyears, studframing

Another Stud in the Wall

February 21, 2021

As promised, the big reveal.

Following the holiday season, Myers’ Home team returned to Newbern. After the annual Spring semester Neckdown week, the students took a look back at the projects’ goals and methods. What is Myers’ Home Project achieving through design and how can it be brought to life?

Weedin’ and chin waggin’ at the Lions Park Shade Project

Generational Flexibility

Above all, Myers’ Home design aims to serve a family over generations by providing means of expansion within a protected shell. The team is also prioritizing material efficiency, buildability, and affordability as they evaluate how to build.

Originally, Myers’ Home implemented a post-frame structural system to create the protective shell essential to generational flexibility. The post-frame method is a simple structure – poles embedded in the ground or a footing with trusses and a simple roof system spanning between. However, the team needed to change aspects of the structural system for it to become sturdy enough for a longlasting, enclosed home.

Personalized Post-Frame

To achieve the desired decade-spanning design, the team customized the poles, trusses, and roofing. The poles were set in above-ground brackets rather than driven into the soil, bolstering longevity. The trusses had become inherently more complex with the addition of an attic. And, the roof system was designed in layers for thermal comfort and durability.

Roof assembly for longevity and efficiency

post-frame vs. stud wall construction sequencing

Subsequently, the team diagramed the whole process of construction to understand efficiency and method. As seen above, the team mapped out each step and considered the building timeline implications. As the team reflected on the more complex system and the steps to build, they reached a new conclusion. Post-frame is a fabulous typology, however, it isn’t what Myers’ Home needs.

A New Structure Ahead

But it’s not all over, in fact, it’s just begun! The four students made a quick turn, forget whiplash, and are on their way to Stud Framing City.

A rousing weekend pinup at the Fabrication Pavilion

Most importantly, the new method is, for the enclosed attic home, quicker than the original post-frame system to build. Scrapping the footings and columns, the home sits on a simple turndown slab allowing the stud walls to be quickly erected on top. Furthermore, and in line with the previous concept of the flexible model home, the only interior walls are for the home’s core.

Only outer and core walls are framed initially

Also, a quick maneuver with the trusses is underway! The new truss has the same pitch but the entire porch segment is sliced off, creating a heal. A heel? That’s right, and they aren’t talking about feet.

Free Porch

Without the rafters or posts to dictate its volume, the porch can boldly go where no porch has gone before. In short, the porch is now free from the overall structure of the home. Now, there is no part of the integral structure which breaks the enclosed protective shell. The porch is no longer a weak point for the generational home. This is more in line with the intentions and goals of the design.

The Zip System shell wraps and shelters the home’s interior

The team is certainly enthusiastic about the new porch design challenge. The porch could touch the house lightly, tie in with a separate system, or stand entirely independent of the home structure. With all these options, the team is narrowing their infinity to perhaps a universe or two.

One of Hale County’s windiest pin-ups on record!

To inform the porch, the house must begin to speak a language. But what part speaks? Some might say it’s the details that do all the talking. The team dove into drawing details to determine which voice should be heard loudest and followed.

Beginning to define the porch’s language

Checking out eave details in Downtown Newbern

And that’s where they are now, up in Red Barn drawing details, details, details. 1:1, markers-on-the-floor, shred-‘em-‘til-they’re-right details. They’ve run all around Newbern looking at past projects and local precedents for inspiration. Research in your own backyard!

So keep an eye out, these four can’t wait to show you their corners.

Tags: ClientHome, design, Myers' Home, post frame home, postframe, rs5thyears, Structure, studwall, trusse