Vintage building materials have become quite popular, inspiring online catalog stores producing new “old” materials on a large scale. We have a plethora of catalogs coming through with companies specializing in this area. Restoration Hardware is probably the best known. Other companies such as Pottery Barn are providing products in this line as well, though they are not making this niche their sole product. The advantages to these reproductions are that they are made from modern materials reducing concerns about possible lead paint and about improper wiring in older electrical fixtures.
If you truly want vintage architectural items, there are firms that specialize in that as well. Firms such as Doc’s Architectural Salvage & Reclamation Services and Architectural Antiques, both in the Indianapolis area have warehouses full of reclaimed architectural treasures. These are both large scale salvage operations where you can spend hours browsing through thousands of items. On a local level, check out the Habitat for Humanity’s Restores. Locally, there is a Restore in Plymouth in the old Plymouth Lumber building on Walnut Street just southwest of downtown. In South Bend, the Restore is on South Main Street and is set up much like an old department store. You can also find the occasional architectural focal point at local antique shops mixed in with furniture and other historic items.
Tomorrow is Veterans Day. Thank you to all our veterans that have served our country over the years. Your service is appreciated.
Here is a list from Christian Carlson and the Friday Five that includes some businesses that are doing a little extra to show their support. He suggests bringing your military ID or wearing your uniform to take advantage of these. Some offers may vary by location.
Image © 2011 Frank Glick, used with permission, all rights reserved. www.liketophoto.com
I visited a client last week who was asking about a portion of his home that had a sagging ridge line. The roof is also the style that has two different roof slopes along the rafters. It is an older home so my first thought was that it was not built using trusses and the rafters and or ridge beam was undersized. I asked to go inside to see what internal effect this was having and was somewhat surprised to find a room with a vaulted ceiling which did not follow the roof line at all! While this is not unusual and is often accomplished in current designs using a scissor truss, the age of the structure and the lack of a transfer of the exterior failure to the interior ceiling indicated this was not the case.
One of the advantages of a truss roof is that the roof load is transferred directly down on the perimeter walls. When properly designed, the loads in a rafter roof design transfer the loads down as well, but when the ridge beam is undersized, it will sag causing the rafters to exert lateral pressure on the perimeter walls. There weren’t any particular indications of this occurring. And then there is the puzzle of the vaulted ceiling. According the the owner, it was a later addition, so was a new ridge beam and rafter system put in below the roof to support the ceiling? Is the ceiling hanging from the roof beam and rafters? (Which would add to the stress on the roof.) Unfortunately I had to admit that my X-ray vision was not up to the task of determining the internal workings of the roof and ceiling situation.
In recent years, particularly with the installation of some of the new residential metal roofs, I’ve seen sagging roofs being hidden under new roofs. Sometimes this is accomplished using “sleeper” purlins that are shimmed to level the roof. In some extreme cases new rafters are cut to lay on the roof at the proper slopes to correct the problem. All too often I see this entire new system going on over the existing roofing. Some of the concerns here are:
But back to my client’s problem. I had to tell him that there wasn’t a quick fix. Due to the hidden problems, some selective demolition would be needed to determine a solution. That’s not generally something a client likes to hear, but it is the right thing to do.
Source: Sagging Ridge image borrowed from Prugar Consulting,Inc.
Source: Truss Load image borrowed from Next.cc