Month: January 2020

Habitat

Look for What Already Lives on the Land !

When you are purchasing a piece of property to build your home, remember, even though there may not be a house on it, it is probably home to many species of plants and animals. It is easy to dismiss this on a piece of property we want to build our homes on. But reality is that it is home to other things. And should those other plants and animals be a protected species as declared by a jurisdiction, you may find some restrictions placed on you for what you can do.

This is not necessarily as obvious as an eagle’s nest in a tree on the property. It may look more like a moist or wet spot on the property. It may be a stream, pond or lake that serves not only as home to one species, but may be a source of drinking water for others.

Paths on the ground may be how something moves from one location to another maybe only once a year, or maybe daily. Holes in the ground may be evidence of burrowed animals.

The point is that the more the property is located in the wild so that a home can be a secluded place of refuge, the more that property may be home to other things that are protected by a jurisdiction. I have known new land owners who became frustrated because right after they purchased a piece of property, they preceded to remove vegetation or drain swampy pools of water that were stagnate. Then someone in a government agency took notice and suddenly they found themselves defending their actions and incurring fines and orders to undo what they did. And jurisdictions may require replacement of habitat to be done by licensed firms, not by the land owner. Which in turn creates a lot of cost that could have been avoided.

Some properties lie within the boundaries of habitats of animals who are hunters themselves. Bears, mountain lions, bobcats, eagles and hawks are carnivorous hunters. New land owners should understand that once they develop a piece of property, these animals and birds of prey will probably visit and could target pets, other domesticated animals and birds or in some cases the owners themselves. Landowners will have limited means afforded to them for protection. Government agencies tend to side with protecting these animals and their need for food, water and shelter. Land owners are expected to develop a property and use the property in a way that does not invite trouble. If they don’t, government agencies generally will fine or even imprison those that are negligent.

So, when you get ready to purchase a piece of ground in order to build your dream. Get out and walk it from end to end looking for any signs of habitat. Go in and talk with those bureaucrats that may have some say on what you can do with the property. And then review how that impacts the use of the property for your dream home. It is so disappointing when new potential owners have not taken the time to do this. They see the great views the property offers. They see the price as a great deal. And they can envision their own dream on the land. But they forgot that other things were there first and that those things could be protected in some way.

Gary Miller
Principal and Designer,
Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC

Know How the Land Drains

Water Drainage and Your Home Design

I can remember when it would rain and sometimes water would show up on our basement floor and my parents would try their best to mop it up. Water is one of the most intrusive elements we live with in a home. One of the very basic functions of a home is to put a “roof over our head”. What does that mean ? Well, it means that a home provides us a safe hideaway from the elements of weather. And one of those is water. Water can damage a home’s structure and its finishes. Water if allowed to gather inside a home can promote decay and disease even. So keeping water out of a home is one of the most important things an Architect or architectural designer has to design around.

One of the ways water can enter our homes is from the parcel of land we purchased. Designers, engineers, architects and building officials refer this issue to the topic of site drainage. Does the site have a natural way of allowing rain and snow melt to run off and away from the building? Or does it gather the water into pools and slowly removes the water by soaking it into the ground itself? Or is it a combination of the two?

When you want a custom home built, you want that home to be safe from the destructive effects of water. And so one of the crucial pieces of designing a home is how water on the ground is kept from damaging it. I am amazed at how this one item can effect the home’s design. It effects how high the home is built relative to the existing ground. Which if there is a “height restriction” on the home relative to the existing ground, then the design required height of the floors do to site drainage could result in a home with limits on roof pitch and the total area the home takes on the ground. And those in turn can limit design styles that work. And so site drainage is an important part of how the land effects the home.

In order to keep surface water from entering a home, there are three basic areas of design that need to be addressed. First is the basic need to keep surface water from moving up to the home. Good home designs address this through a use of roof gutters and down spouts that route water from the roof of a home and release it on the ground at least five feet or more away from the exterior walls. That water is prevented from flowing back to the home by having the “grade” or the finished surface of the ground shaped in a way that water that gets on it flows away from the home. Planning and Building Safety departments may as they have along the Front Range of Colorado require a perimeter system of surface membrane and rock extending out on the ground for the first five feet from a home. This buffer area is sometimes limited in its use for plants, bushes and trees. Many jurisdictions with this required buffer do not allow plants of any sort in this area in order to prevent owners from needing to irrigate any portion of this buffer.

The second area of design is not so visibly evident. It is what is called waterproofing or dampproofing of the exterior side of the foundation wall that is covered by soil. Water that gets under the surface of the ground by soaking into it can flow back to the foundation. A foundation is by itself not able to keep water out of a home. Concrete and concrete block systems are permeable to an extent. Water can penetrate the surface and it soaks into the concrete or block. Once the foundation is saturated, the water will start to weep out of it into the inside of the home. And any cracks or fissures in a foundation will become pathways for water to get into a home. A preventive measure for this intrusion is a system of dampproofing and or waterproofing. This is basically a membrane coating that is applied to the exterior face of the foundation wall below the ground that is less permeable to water. Water gathers on its surface and can flow down to the third area of design, which is the perimeter foundation drain system.

Once water that gets to the exterior of a foundation is diverted downward, it still needs to be removed before it gets under the foundation wall and flows up the other side into the home. And we call this system a “foundation drain”. It is a system of pipes that is at the level of the bottom of the foundation that has holes in it to allow water to gather inside. The pipe is surrounded by rock which is covered by a water permeable membrane that allows water to get to this drain pipe without allowing the dirt to move in and plug things up. This drain is then usually tied to a plastic pit called a “sump pit” that the water can flow into.

Once the sump pit has water in it, a submersible water pump then activates to send the water back up an ejection pipe that is then routed to a point of discharge safely away from the home.

When these three systems (A system to divert surface and roof water from flowing up to the home, a system of waterproofing or dampproofing a foundation, and the perimeter drain system) are designed well, most water can be prevented from entering a home and causing damage.

Can water still invade by overwhelming these systems or finding other ways to get in? Absolutely. These systems are not a guaranteed cure all. And should never be thought of as such. This is only basic to getting some protection from water. Some sources of water, such as a rising water table in the ground, or an underground stream to name but a couple can be nearly impossible to control. Even with more extensive systems such as concrete “admixtures”, and membranes under foundations and concrete floors, and water stops that are cast into the concrete can be very expensive additional items. They may or may not work. Remember water will flow into an area of least resistance. And the very best beginning point to keep water out is through the three main design areas of water control.

Keeping water from flowing up to a home in the first place is paramount to preventing this intrusive element from doing damage. Note how the land handles water in the first place, and then raise the home up out of the ground and slope the grade so that water does not have a chance to get up to the foundation and you will be more apt to keep water out.

Gary Miller
Principal and Architectural Designer,
Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC

Next Week’s Blog Subject: Your Land and its Natural Habitat Issues

The Code and Drainage

What does the 2012 IRC code state on the subject of drainage of intrusive water from the home?

Know that in my experience here, that departments of Building Safety and their building officials along with Planning Departments sometimes have modified these requirements to requirements that are more stringent. It is very important to review these with your building official to determine what is ultimately needed.

In section R401.3 it requires that the lot be graded away from the building to a point where either water can gather in a safe place from the home or into a drainage system for storm runoff. The ground is not allowed to be closer then 8 inches from untreated wood framing of a home.

(Most builders I know keep the finished line of soil surface to be a minimum of 8 inches below the top of their foundations, instead of the 6 inches that the code states as a minimum. They do this because they don’t want to use treated sheathing along the foundation perimeter line when sheathing edges come within 8 inches of grade.)

From that point, the code requires dirt to have a minimum fall of 6 inches in the first 10 feet away from the home. If that is not totally possible because of another building or a property line, then a sloped swale or drain is then needed to divert water away. Any impervious surfaces such as asphalt or concrete within that ten feet of a home need to slope away a minimum of 2 percent. Or in other words they need the grade to fall in ten feet distance a minimum of two and a half inches.

Unless the ground has a minimum peculation rate of 4 inches per hour, all foundations into the ground that separate habitable or usable space from the earth, must have a perimeter foundation drain system installed. They must discharge their contents by either a gravity method or a mechanical method to a point that is approved by the building official. If the drain is a perforated pipe, it needs to either be wrapped in a water permeable membrane or surrounded by rock or stone larger then the holes in the pipe. That pipe if not wrapped, needs to have at least two inches of gravel underneath it and covered by not less then 6 inches of that same gravel on the other sides and top. A filter membrane is then required on top of the rock. This is to prevent silting of the pipe drain system. 2012 IRC Section R405

Waterproofing and dampproofing concrete or concrete block foundations is covered in the 2012 IRC in Section R406. These are two separate types of systems to keep water from penetrating a foundation. All foundations that surround enclosed or habitable spaces (example would be basements, storage areas and “under-floor spaces” aka crawl spaces must have one of these systems applied to the foundation from its top of footing to the finished grade. Waterproofing is a more severe method of keeping water away. Its required when you have a water table that is high or another source of water that is severe. Dampproofing is for all other light to non existing water issues. There is a list of approved products for each in this code section. All joints in membrane waterproofing must be lapped and sealed with an approved adhesive.

I would say from my experience is that most foundations of homes are dampproofed as opposed to waterproofed. I see a lot of dampproofing using the top item on the list in the code. That is bituminous coatings. The methods listed in waterproofing involve a lot more materials, man hours to install and can be intense in their details. However, if a home is to be built in an area where water is a problem, then waterproofing systems must be used. You need to discuss this issue with the building official since waterproofing is going to be much more expensive system to apply, but certainly worth it to prevent the damaging effects of water.

The other remedy of course is to not have any enclosed spaces or habitable space below the finished outdoor grade in the home. Basically this only happens if you build a home on a slab over grade. This eliminates the code requirements for perimeter drains, dampproofing or waterproofing systems all together.

Gary Miller
Principal and Architectural Designer,
Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC

The Code and Temporary Utilities and Uses

What does the Code state about temporary things like utilities and other temporary uses ?

Long before utility services are connected to a home, “temporary utilities” such as “temp power” are needed. Contractors need electricity to run the tools and lighting needed to build a home. The Code says that permits are issued by the Building Official of the Building Safety Department for any temporary structures or uses. Those can include but not limited to electricity, water, sewage containment, gas, and phone services. I have been a part of projects in Adams County, Colorado where the temporary permit for electricity had to be obtained from the State of Colorado and not the county. So it is important to discuss these permit needs with the Building Official ahead of time, since construction is highly dependent on this.

Sometimes temporary electrical power can only be obtained for a time with the use of gas powered portable generators. The use of these can also be regulated because of their noise. Contractors may be limited to certain hours of the day if these are used. Temporary heat is sometimes provided by portable gas heaters. Care and monitoring should be given when these are in use to prevent accidental fire.

In some construction situations, the building department along with the fire department may require temporary fire suppression systems be installed until the permanent system is put in place and inspected.

Temporary construction buildings and offices may need permits as well. Those buildings must meet all the regulations in the code while on the project.

The timetable for temporary permits to expire is 180 days after they are issued. However the Building Official may extend these for good cause. The Building Official may at their option discontinue any temporary permit at any time they feel it necessary and thereby order the temporary item to not be used further.

Ref section R107 of the 2012 IRC

Gary Miller
Principal and Architectural Designer
Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC

Arts and Crafts Style

What defines the Arts and Crafts style of home ?

The Arts and Crafts movement in architecture began in England in the 1800s. It was brought to America in the early 1900s. The idea was to move away from the Victorian style and go to a simpler style that emphasized simple lines, exposed joinery and natural materials. When the Ranch style came into being just after WW II, the Arts and Crafts movement went into slumber until recently when we see renewed interest. The Arts and Craft style is sometimes closely associated with the Bungalow style.

Arts and Crafts style utilizes natural materials to their fullest. So we see real stone, exposed finished wood, wood shingles and brick both on the outside and inside of the home. In this style, it is not uncommon to see built in furniture and even hand-crafted light fixtures custom made to the home.

Inside, while extending the exterior details into the interior of the home, the fireplace becomes the central feature of the living room. It is usually large and replicates the details on the exterior of the home. The Arts and Crafts movement is the birthplace for the “open floor plan”. Instead of the boxed feeling of individual rooms and long hallways found in Victorian architecture, the common rooms are more open to each other and the hallways are minimized as much as possible. Ceilings may have exposed wood beams.

The porches in this style usually have thick columns and exposed wood beams. These are sometimes tapered smaller at the tops. Most are made of wood, brick or stone, or a combination of those. The roof lines have wide soffits, and are lower in pitch then other styles. Wood corbels may support the wide eaves.

Gary Miller

Principal and Architectural Designer,

Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC

Utilities

What role do utilities have on your property ?

As a youngster, I recall traveling with my parents through the countryside. There were these white colored cylinders that resembled submarines. And in fact as I grew up as a kid, I used to go visit friends and family and play around the tank imagining it to be a submarine. Nowhere in my mind was what this object was really used for.

Utilities transform a blank piece of dirt into something that can be developed. They serve to create opportunity to use the land other then to grow local common vegetation. They add value to what you purchase.

Utilities come in two broad formats. One is those which the owner of the property develops on their own. And the second type are those developed by outside sources and are brought onto the property by easement. Last week, I wrote about easements. They create areas of land that can not be built upon because of something like a utility passes under or over it. Easements create a dedicated space for maintenance of the utility without disturbing the home or building on the parcel. We call those utilities “stubbed in”. Easements are not established from the point on the utility the property owner assumes responsibility for maintenance to a home or building.

Within each of those two broad formats, there are several different utilities that can come that way. Those include electricity, gas, water, sewer, phone, Internet and cable television. Electricity, gas and water services from outside sources usually flow through a metering device before they can be used so that the cost of those utilities becomes proportionate to the amount used.

Electricity which powers almost everything in our homes can come from a local utility company and can either be stubbed into the property by underground cable or overhead wires. Water, sewer and gas services from outside sources are typically brought in by underground means. Cable television, Internet and phone can either be overhead wires, or underground.

People refer to developing their own sources of utilities as “being off the grid”. For a variety of reasons, one or more utility may need to be created by the land owner. Typically when this occurs, permits will need to be taken out from the Department of Building Safety or other agencies to establish those. Electricity can be created from solar panels, windmills, or hydroelectric means. Sources of water usually come from wells dug deep into the earth. Owner provided sewer services come in the form of underground leaching fields and tanks. Gas services can be seen as above ground bottled gas containers like those I played around as a kid. And television, Internet and phone services can come from handheld devices or satellite dishes.

In order for parcels to have their own sources of water and sewer, those lots usually are not located within a city or town and have a sizable area. This is because local governing bodies have rules and regulations on how much distance these two items must be minimally separated by. There can also be rules on how far away they must be from property boundaries since being to close can altar what the neighbor can do on their property. More and more I have seen governments only approve of domestic use water wells if they are fitted with a meter. If the property owner exceeds the amount of water approved, then a fee is assessed. So, if you purchase a piece of ground that does not have utilities on or into it, research what the local governing body has to say about these items. Utilities have a significant cost to put them in place, whether they are stubbed in from outside sources or developed right on the property. But those costs usually add value to the property that exceeds the costs involved. I have known individuals who’s whole motivation to purchasing property was to develop utilities into or on the property and then sell it for a profit.

Purchasing property that already has utilities developed makes that property easier to use. And if your dream is to have a new custom home, then that dream is faster to see happen.

Gary Miller
Principal and Architectural Designer,
Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC

*Next week the subject will be about drainage and its importance.

English Cottage Design

What is English Cottage Design About ?

English Cottage Style

On the exterior of an English Cottage style home the roof is usually steep pitched. Roofs may have cross-gables and may even have clipped gables. The roofs over entries are usually front-facing gables where one side is steep and straight and the other side is curved like a slide. The homes that this style mimics were built mainly in between 1920 and 1940 in England. The roof then would be thatch covered or made to look like thatch by soft rounding shingles over hip and ridge lines.

Exterior wood doors are typically arch or round top in shape. The hardware is decorative to ornate. Windows are usually casement tall and narrow units segregated into small panes, sometimes turned into diamond pattern. Decorative timbers may accent the building lines.

The home overall on the exterior is small, asymmetric and one to two stories in height. Chimneys are usually over sized and use stone, decorative stone, clinker brick and are topped with chimney pots. Exterior wall surfaces can be made of stucco, shingles or lap siding.

Setbacks and Easements

What are Building Setbacks and Easements ?

We all know of homes that feel to close to one another. I have heard individuals joke about how they could possibly touch each home that sit next to each other at the same time. It is interesting how they speak about new homes being to close. But the closest homes I have encountered are the ones built back in the early 1900s in Denver. I have literally had to walk slightly sideways to move between them. Neighbors joked how the cats of the area were able to jump from roof to roof because the older homes were so close to each other in Denver. I have been around properties where buildings were constructed right on the property line, making the side of the building the property line and the roof extended over into the neighbors land. I have met neighbors who disagreed about where their common boundary was and what to do about things built intruding onto the other property. There were instances when I witnessed how not enough room was allowed between buildings to allow a utility to be repaired underground and had to be hand dug out, and filled back in.

The use of setbacks and easements has allowed present day construction to not create these problems.

Most new parcels of land have established setbacks and easements that limit the location where the home and accessory buildings can be built. Easements are areas of land whereby access is given to agencies or companies to maintain what the easement is created for. Easements can be established for drainage or any utility above and below the ground. They are commonly made wide enough to allow repair vehicles access to the entire length of the utility or drainage swale. Easements can also include prohibitions against planting trees and bushes that would need to be destroyed if a repair was to be made.

Setbacks are a set distance from property lines that buildings can not encroach upon. Sometimes roof overhangs can be limited too by easements and setbacks. Overhangs may be allowed in those areas by a short distance. However, even rare, zero lot line construction allows buildings to be built to the property line. Duplex and other townhomes may actually use a zero lot line as a centerline through the common wall between units. When this happens and in homes allowed under 5 feet from a property line, the “Building Code” will limit what materials can be used within a determined distance from that line. This is for the suppression of fire spread from one unit to another property.

The combination of setbacks and easements limit the overall footprint of the home. You can not build onto either setbacks or easements. Materials and number of openings such as doors and windows change depending upon how close the home is built to a property line. You should acquaint yourself with each of these before you commission a design.

Gary Miller

Principal and Architectural Designer,

Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC

Building Permits

What does the Code say about Permits ?

The Code writes about Permits in its first chapter of the 2012 IRC. Basically, a Permit is a set of documents that is signed by both the applicant and a designated Building Official that grants permission by a legal jurisdiction for certain acts of construction on a piece of property. Almost every time I draw something, that item is used in the pursuit of a Permit. What it takes to obtain a Permit is ultimately up to the Department of Building Safety or as I usually refer to them as the “Building Department”. Most towns and cities have this department. And for those towns and cities that do not, the Permit process is handled by either the County government or a State level agency. Projects that are not within a city or town usually have their Permits administered by the County government.

A Permit also establishes a schedule of inspections. Those required inspections are usually carried out by a building official or someone they designate. The Permit is considered fulfilled once all of the required inspections are completed and the Department of Building Safety can issue a Certificate of Occupancy giving the owner the permission to use what was constructed. In order for a Certificate of Occupancy to be issued or a Permit to be considered fulfilled, all of the inspections must show approval of what they cover. Or the construction needs to be corrected until it does.

A Permit also declares a benchmark of value of the work being done. And that value is then subject to taxes and fees to be collected by the jurisdiction at the time the Permit is issued. I have seen projects of similar value done in different jurisdictions have incredibly different fees and taxes. So, be prepared and find out ahead what is expected before you apply.

A Permit, according to the 2012 IRC Code, is at a minimum an application signed by the person seeking the Permit. The application includes a form to describe what is intended to be done. It also is to include at minimum two sets of drawings that establish in a graphic form what is going to be done, and that the construction and demolitions shall conform with all applicable Codes laws and regulations. The application needs to describe the address or a legal description of the property being worked on. It also needs to list the use and occupancy where the work is being done.

The construction documents in the permit application are to consist at a minimum by the Code; two sets of drawings on media approved by the Building Official that show sufficient clarity of what is going to be done under the Permit. The 2012 IRC allows the Building Official to require on the drawings the identification of all braced wall lines. Those details are to show the methods and placement of all braced wall panels and the interaction between foundations and the panels.

The construction documents must include unless waived by the Building Official, a site or plot plan showing the location and size of all existing structures, the limits of any demolition and the size and location of new construction. If the work is being done within a “flood hazard area”, then information describing the location and limits of the hazard, the elevation of the lowest floor level and height of that level as compared with the highest adjacent grade are to be shown.

It is interesting that the Building Official of a Department of Building Safety may determine if work to be done can be accomplished in a manner inconsistent, but in keeping with the intent and purpose with the letter of the Code. They can review and determine what unique construction methods that are not covered by the Code are acceptable. But that person can not modify any provisions that are affected by a flood hazard area. Those provisions in the Code can only be modified by a designated Board of Appeals.

The 2012 IRC requires that all manufacturer’s installation instructions for items, the approved set of construction documents and the Permit itself must remain at the site of the work involved so that the building official and inspectors they designate may review those items at the site for compliance.

Not everything in construction needs a Permit. The 2012 IRC lists those construction activities that do not need a Permit. However, even though a Permit is not required, the activity and end result still must comply with the Code, and any other laws and regulations associated with it. For a complete list of what is not required for a Permit, you need to contact the Building Official for that list. The 2012 IRC lists things such as storage sheds not needing a permit if they are less then 200 square feet in area. Unattached free standing decks less then 30 inches high with no entrance into the residence and with less then 200 square feet of floor area can be built without a Permit. Certain types of playhouses do not need a Permit. Short retaining walls that are less then 4 feet tall from bottom of footing to the top of the wall don’t need a Permit. Sidewalks and driveways, certain types of water tanks, prefabricated swimming tanks under two feet deep and playground equipment usually don’t require a permit. Interior finishes such as painting, tiling, carpeting and installing of cabinets don’t need a permit. And certain minor mechanical, electrical and gas related work may be done without a formal Permit. Again, each jurisdiction can modify the list shown in the Code and so one should always consult with the Building Official to make certain that the work desired is not requiring a Permit.

Permits are required to be secured before work is begun. However, the Code allows emergency repairs, that normally require a permit, can be initiated as long as the application is made on the next business day for the Building Official. A Permit can be issued as described within the 2012 IRC for a foundation only, if the rest of the residence documents are not ready for application. The Code states that the applicant applies for a “Foundation Only Permit” and initiates work at their own risk, since the issuing of that Permit does not imply the acceptance of the rest of the work as approved for a Permit.

A word to the wise here, is that when it comes to permits, communication with the Building Official about their particular requirements will make this process easier then it can sound.

Gary Miller
Principal and Architectural Designer,
Timbertree and Stonecastle Designs, LLC