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Outdoor living is not a new idea, but it's an idea whose time has come.
Craftsman, colonial, even traditional porches — they're nothing without their columns. But mitering trim pieces to cover treated wood posts can be a bear, and leaving wood exposed to the elements (gasp!) is just asking for trouble.
Using deck drainage systems, remodelers can create outdoor living spaces beneath elevated decks.
Buffeted by brisk ocean winds and reached only by boat or plane, tiny Block Island slows to a crawl in winter, most of its homes and inns shuttered until summer. Not this home.
For the last seven years, professor Frank Woeste has been studying deck failures at Virginia Tech. He and his colleagues, Joe Loferski and Cheryl Anderson, point to two critical points of failure for decks and balconies — ledger board attachments and railing systems. Both these connections are...
In addition to the ability to self-extinguish when exposed to fire, the CRRC-listed FireShield Roof Restoration System reduces energy costs by creating a surface that reflects sunlight.
It is common building practice to use flashing to keep moisture from getting between the house and the ledger. The Uniform Building Code requires flashing, and many contractors meet the requirement by installing an L-shaped piece of metal. The horizontal leg covers the top of the ledger and the...
Production builders don't always want to bother with decks — at least not elaborate ones,” says Mike French, owner of Virginia Decking & Remodeling of Fredericksburg, Va. “If they offer them at all, it's a plain-Jane rectangle, and it's not cheap. It's rarely what the homeowners had in mind.”
Michael Cavanaugh's client wanted access to the garage from her house via a covered walkway. This seems simple on the surface, except zoning requirements stipulate the garage is a non-conforming structure that can't be enlarged, altered, or have anything attached to it.
Today's re-siding industry has improved from the bad old days when vinyl- or aluminum-siding contractors hacked off window sills and brought J-bead right to the edge of the sash. Now, best practice typically calls for stripping the wall down to the sheathing. This not only allows siding to butt the...