From The East Scenic Road

to enlarge, clik on image

Roofin', in the Afternnon

This photo was taken before the concrete slab was poured, looking east and a little south, you can see the busy area that is Christiansted town. Remember that these images can be enlarged thus: With your pointer on the photo, left-click the image; presto!

to enlarge, clik on image

The perch view as it looks today, with the roof framing alomst complete. You can see that the fascia board has been installed along the outer edge of the roof rafters. This is the first member of the gutter system we are incorporating into the roof design and water collection system. The downsouts are set in the appropriate places - within the concrete wall cavity - and out of sight.

Edmund, with this back to the camera lens, discusses a point with Arnold Jeffers. The rafter "tails" overhang the plywood forms; Arnold is leaning on one of them. These tails will be trimmed off square, true and plumb, to accept the facia board. For the most part, this roof system has a very shallow pitch and the pitch it will be almost indiscernible from the ground. We are putting our solar hot water collector and the dish for the satellite television system we choose on this roof and we are hoping they disappear, too!

Puttin' on the Roof

to enlarge, clik on image

As evidenced in the photos above and below, we are making progress. Arnold and his merry men continue with the roof framing, the Great Room is in the center, with the Master Bedroom to the left, the Laundry/Guest Bath and Guest Bedroom Wing is to the right. The plywood casting forms are in place along the eave of the roof, with concrete to be poured after all the rafters are in place.

The rafters tails overhang the building for now, to be plumb cut (vertically) when the entire roof is in-place. The gutter detail and facia boards that form it will be illustrated and I will also take photos of the components as they are assembled and installed.

The yellow house with the white roof, in view on the hillside, visible over the Great Room rafters, belongs to our friends, Jim and Liz Richards of JET Development Corporation.

Enlarge these photos up by clicking anywhere on the images.

to enlarge, clik on image

Progressing Westward

to enlarge, clik on image

to enlarge, clik on image

to enlarge, clik on image

Carambola Resort

to enlarge, clik on image

Raisin' the Ridge Pole

to enlarge, clik on image

to enlarge, clik on image

From these two photos you can see the progress being made on the roof, in this case we are building four, what are known as a "hip" roofs.

A hip roof isn't cool - or square for that matter and it doesn't have an attitude, so what is it? As these frame members are set in place and secured, I will demonstrate the function of the roof rafters and the unique relationship it has with the bond, or collar beam, discussed previously.

In the photos of the roof framing, you will notice that the lines of the roof form an oblique triangle, with the long side being the level (horizontal) plane across the tops of the walls of each of the pods.

Bond, or Collar Beam

to enlarge, clik on image

In this photo I am showing you an outside corner of the house, in this case the south bedroom pod, and the laundry / guest bathroom pod. Notice the steel rebars running vertically. At the top of these steel columns the reinforcing bars are allowed to protrude above the wall of the dwelling. These are to be utilized in the bond beam-to-corner column connection. Once the corner is formed it is cast (poured) and stripped of its plywood forms, the bond beam forms are nailed in-place along the top of the walls, where additional steel is fabricated into a steel reinforced concrete "beam", or, in our case, a "bond" beam.

A look at the inside of one of these beams, from insiode our great room:

to enlarge, clik on image

In this shot, taken from our kitchen area across the great room toward the south wall. The concrete block wall, which is the dividing partition between the camera's lens and the master bedroom. There are three six foot wide, double french, outswing doors. These are three double french door openings across that front wall (left to right in this shot) but one of them is off-camera. The other two doors in view are, left to right, the master bedroom door and a small closet door which, incidently, backs up to the linen closet in the master bathroom.

The bond beam, and the required steel reinforcing that will be cast within it, are evidenced in this photo when enlarged. You can also see some grey conduits (electrical) and some white pipes (plumbing) protruding vertically out of the cast corner, as well those vertical steel rebar column assemblies within some of the partition cavities. When completed, this structure, or conglomeration of vertical and horizontal steel rebar, will be bound together, with the vertical members bent over the top of the horizontal members, and serve as a means to fasten the beam between vertical posts and hold the structure in a tightly clenched grip for eternity. Anyway, that's the goal here.

But it doesn't stop there, this eternity thing raises it's head again, before the final concrete is poured into these plywood forms, covering all in a slurry of sloppy grey matter.

The second function of this bond beam is to strengthen the building walls and enhance the connection between the roof rafters, the building reinforcing steel and create a "building collar". The collar beam, or bond beam, are also intended to increase the strength of the wall system and prevent what is known(in most parts)as total building collapse.

I will endeavor to explain the phenomenon which occurs to building roofs, caused by the inclinations of gravity and constant stress, as well as the unexpected. No, I am not talking about any of you old folks and your sagging whatevers, although I do have a certain familiarity with the subject myself.

The top of this beam will serve as the resting place for the roof rafters; in our case, the roof is going to be what is known as a "hip" roof. Each rafter, a 3" X 8" plank of insect and mildew resistant lumber. Once called Wolminized lumber, for the inventor of the process, Mr. Wolmin. [sp?]. Some refer to it as pressure treated lumber, after the process of subjecting the raw lumber to high pressure osmosis if you will, of this poisonous (originally it was laced with arsenic) green-colored fluid. Anyway....

The rafters are placed on top of the forms as they are now layed out, with the proper spacing in between each member of 24". You will see this soon as the builder is coming back to work tomorrow (monday). More later..............

Estate Clairmont Overlook

to enlarge, clik on image

From a friend's house some 140 feet higher in elevation than we are, you can make out our house (walls w/o roof) on the flat knoll top, just above center in the photo. Our new friends have an incredible view of both the North and South shores of St. Croix. They, Jim & Liz, are two of the three partners that comprise JET Development Corporation, a construction company building homes and additions, they also do remodelling work as well.

Further below on the crest of a hill, with the serpentine driveway surrounded by a burned-out lawn, is the visitors center for the Salt River National Historic Park. Somewhere on that beach below; either the far shore of the Salt River, dubbed "The Cape of the Arrows" by Chris Columbus himself when he set foot in the New World for the second time in two years, this second voyage taking place in the year 1493. This is actually the only documented (three separate, written accounts) evidence of his voyage, or his landing spot.

Frangipani Caterpillar

to enlarge, clik on image

This unlikely suspect is the culprit behind the defoliation of the frangipani tree. These caterpillars, which do not morph into butterflys, live to eat the leaves of this one plant, and, once the tree is denuded of leaves, the vermin die and the tree goes into winter mode. In the early summer they begin to refoliate, and, before ya know it - guess who's coming to dinner?

Photo Inhancement

As is always the case with the photos I display on this blog, they are fully enlargable for easier viewing and to optimize detail recognition. To enlarge any image on this site, hover over the photo with your mouse pointer until a hand appears in the place of the pointer. This hand is like a magic wand that will, when clicked, enlarge the photo you are viewing.
Once the photo is enlarged on your PC, you will notice a popup display in the upper right of the photo - ignore it, and, if you hover the pointer over the enlarged photo, an icon appears in the lower right of the photo that resembles a cheesburger with arrows pointing in four different directions. Don't ask me what the icon is supposed to signify, or resemble, just clik on it, and bingo - (presto?) the photo will enlarge to the largest scale, in most cases covering your screen. Use it as a desktop background, or just to get a closer look, whatever. JUST DO IT!

Old View From The Perch

As is always the case with the photos I display on this blog, they are fully enlargable for easier viewing and to optimize detail recognition. To enlarge any image on this site, hover over the photo with your mouse pointer until a hand appears in the place of the pointer. This hand is like a magic wand that will, when clicked, enlarge the photo you are viewing.

Once the photo is enlarged on your PC, you will notice a popup display in the upper right of the photo - ignore it, and, if you hover the pointer over the enlarged photo, an icon appears in the lower right of the photo that resembles a cheesburger with arrows pointing in four different directions. Don't ask me what the icon is supposed to signify, or resemble, just clik on it, and bingo - (presto?) the photo will enlarge to the largest scale, in most cases covering your screen. Use it as a desktop background, or just to get a closer look, whatever. JUST DO IT!

click any images to enlarge

This photo was taken months ago, and shows the footings as they were poured (cast) around the perimeter of our house. Notice the folding chair in the left foreground, we bought this chair, and three others like it, for $4.00 apiece. I call this Debbie's view, from the women's tee (a little golf humor there). Anyway, this view has changed considerably since this photo was taken, as you will see in this next shot, taken yesterday!

To enlarge photo, clik on image.

This is the stage we are at presently at, with the plywood forms, in view around the entire perimeter of the house for casting the "Bond Beam" in concrete! The "bond beam" as the locals call it is actually a multipurpose structural component of the building.

The plywood forms, with 2 X 4's run laterally (side to side) for rigidity, are set up and nailed directly to the cement block wall below. If you blow up the photo above and, by looking over the first rooms in the foreground, you can see the back side of the plywood forms. This is the plywood casting form for the bond beam that surrounds the great room. If you look closely, you can see the steel members of the bond beam exposed inside the laundry-bath pod, this will also be formed and cast.

The purpose of the bond beam is multifold, as I mentioned. To understand this you have to rely on a few "givens" in weight-bearing load situations. Since we have a roof system for each pod (we have four pods) each pod has a bond beam around it's entire perimeter; since the roof will rest on these partitions, they are all weight-bearing walls.

Before being deemed ready to accept the roof rafters, the entire form system will have to be shot with a transit, or a laser tool used for this purpose, to ensure a straight and level resting place for the roof rafters. Ah, the roof rafters! ......but I'm getting a head of myself........