Sky_Deck
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Re: Sky Deck Renovation
Bill.Satellite wrote: Are you doing anything to re-enforce areas where walls were removed and have you looked at the expected overall weight vs. the axle capacity? Bill, everything I removed is replaced with something as strong, with the exception of some built-in shelves that were up against the bathroom wall (in front of the area where you can see the shower plumbing). But I don't think they were much of a corner brace. I left some built-in corner shelves in the front bedroom, because they are really stout and must have some structural benefit. As far as weight goes, I have not taken it to the scales, which I need to do. My bathroom is probably 300 hundred pounds heavier and my staircase 50 pounds heavier. The fiberglass on the roof would be heavier than the rubber membrane. And we added some weight underneath, by building a frame to hold a belly pan. I did get rid of some weight by replacing a really heavy sofa bed with a lightweight Walmart sofa and losing that cabinet. I also don't intend to load it up with much stuff. I am living the anti-pack rat life. It seemed to tow fine (40 miles, highway, mountain and gravel roads), but I've just been on that one trip. And I'm new to this. So the real answer is: I have not been very scientific about it, and it's a little bit of a concern.807Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
The staircase. I can't find a photo of the original "fireplace" under the stairs (electric heater), but this is a photo from another SkyDeck showing what it looked like: And here's mine, after I took out the fireplace heater and started to open up the wall: Well, this can of worms just kept getting bigger. The fireplace was cool, but I couldn't abide having all that space closed up, with only a tiny storage door to access it from outside. A little further along: Okay, now we'd come to the moment of truth. First, yeah, I want that space to be usable from the inside. But two big questions: is that staircase really worth keeping? And come to think of it, do I really even like that banister? To ask the questions was to answer them: While the staircase was out, I wallpapered that wall with marine vinyl, since I like that hatch open whenever possible. They make some really nice patterns, and this one looked just like some I'd had in my last house: Fortunately, my son is a master stairmaker... he builds custom and curved staircases. This was not much of a challenge, but he built it with nothing but measurements called in, and when we moved it into place, it was so perfect we gasped. That's all the posting I can do tonight. Thanks for your interest.806Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
Getting the bathroom plumbed and the shower and toilet in were the next priority. I bought these expensive acrylic panels for the shower. The manufacturer sent this silly two-sided tape and two tubes of adhesive per panel. Mark Washburn and his guys were beside themselves at the thought. They use trowels, not caulk guns, for things like that, and there was no way they were going to tack it up and go home. So, instead, they braced it with a vengeance overnight: Marine vinyl on the bathroom ceiling: This next photo jumps ahead a bit, but you can see the shower plumbing in the wall. Lines go up to meet copper (they were out of lead), and then the shower head is above the ceiling you see here: Shower installed: I'll put more interior photos later. I love this sink, but I have to admit, I could have gotten a smaller one and had countertop space.454Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
With the roof cleared off... (hatch) (seat back-railings) I decided I didn't really like that rubber membrane roof, and we decided to replace it with hard (more expensive) fiberglass in the lower deck area, going back with rubber on the front area. The upside was that it was much nicer to walk on and would be more durable and long-lasting. The downside was that you couldn't roll it over the top edge so that water would run off easily. Water doesn't run off as easily, but I'm VERY happy I did it. I am up on that roof every day it's not raining. Ice on the new rubber membrane roof:413Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
Okay, I'm back. Thanks for the poke, Satellite Bill. So, back in the summer, we took the Sky Deck down to Washburn Engineering in Lattimore, NC, just outside Shelby: I can't say enough good about Mark Washburn and his guys. If you ever need work done and you're on the east coast, I can't imagine another shop like theirs. So, the first thing we did was take it inside... And open up the roof, where there was a leak at the corner of the hatch (rubber membrane roof): So they took off all the seating and rubber membrane, and this is what they found: ...and the area around the skylights was not too dry either:413Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
Hey Bill, just got out on parole! Glad you inquired, I've been meaning to keep the story going. I'd say I'm over halfway there, with the most important work done. Got great help from Washburn Engineering in Lattimore, NC. More on them soon. Did major work to roof, adding hard fiberglass to sky deck area and fixing water damage. Functional bathroom, new stairs. Some cool modifications underneath to winterize. New staircase. Now parked on my lot while I do everything but resume work on interior. I will get my photos together and start updating some evening this week.413Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
I left a gap between the mitered corners on the wall tiles, but I forgot to do that on the baseboard tiles. They could easily bump and grind. Just another way I'm going to live and learn. Also had to abandon the idea of running tile around the bottom of the vanity. When I laid out the floor tiles, I didn't account for that at the corner of the vanity. That's okay, I'll use some nice wood.413Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
Sky deck's brother wrote: Now where are we going to meet for Thanksgiving? Jerk! See that little crawl space back up behind in there? That's your guest room! And you can set up your fryer in the side yard (it's HUGE) and we'll eat on the roof! Is this a great country, or what?413Views0likes0CommentsRe: Sky Deck Renovation
Well, my house of 15+ years is under contract. With any luck, I'll be houseless in 40 days or so. I'm going to need to stop screwing around now and get moving. Except... (awww man) I'll be traveling for work about 4 of the next 6 weeks. Guess I'll be living in the rig while working on it. That will cut out distractions. Anyway, my next big milestone is getting the bathroom to the point where the plumber can return and plumb the toilet and vanity and rough in the shower. That mainly means getting the wall tile up and the vanity done. Here I'm getting the vanity framed up enough to put the tile backer board up, so I can run the baseboard trim tile around it. Plan to cut the tile (have to mitre the trim pieces) this weekend. It would be great if I could lay it before Monday too. I'm thinking shelves for towels on the left and a trash receptacle on the right.413Views0likes0Comments
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