Structuring Your Remodel: Exterior, Roof & Deck Remodel
/Interior remodels tend to be more forgiving. Exterior renovations, however, require some additional considerations. Continuing the Structuring Your Remodel blog series, we’ll talk about planning your exterior home renovations, and some things to consider as you make design decisions. Check out last week’s post on interior remodel topics for more information!
Adding & Expanding Windows & Doors
Exterior walls are one of the first lines of defense protecting your home from the elements. They also serve as the shear walls resisting the wind and earthquake loads in your area. Shear walls are often designed as braced wall panels, or segmented walls – in other words, areas of wall without any windows or doors are the areas used to resist the lateral loading. When we add or expand windows and doors, we reduce the amount of solid shear wall area.
As mentioned in the interior remodel post, shear walls are as project specific as it gets. When you’re planning to modify the size of your exterior openings, your engineer will assess the shear walls they think are present, and work to be sure that load can be properly translated to other shear walls and adequately resisted.
There are options to retrofit and upgrade the existing shear walls in other areas without tearing into the exterior siding of the house. This includes adding plywood (or in some areas of the US, gypsum board drywall is acceptable) to the interior face, confirming connections at the ceiling and floor, and anchorage to the foundation. I generally try to avoid opening up the exterior building envelope wherever possible if it’s not directly related to the renovation area.
Roof Modifications
Curb appeal is important for your home value. Sometimes, existing roofs leave some room for improvement. The best time to consider modifying your roof line is when you’re due for a new roof. At that point you’re already breaking through the roofing material to replace it. Additionally, accessing the structure from the top is generally easier than trying to work from inside the attic. This happens to be one of those house projects I can’t wait to do on my own house – just to bring the front of the house into this century.
Decks
Your deck can be a critical part of your outdoor enjoyment in the warmer months. It can also be an item of contention. Historically, deck construction has been lacking and has led to several catastrophic failures. While it’s always a good idea to get an engineer’s eye on your deck, it can be difficult to see the design and hardware requirements and wonder why your deck isn’t just fine the way it is. With exposure to weather, and loading intricacies that other elements don’t see, missing a few critical components here and there could mean the difference between safe and not safe.
Some of the most critical deck connections are listed below. Follow me on [[Facebook]] for some links to deck resources. Check back in May when we dive deeper into deck design and construction for National Deck Safety month.
Deck Connections to the House – Deck connections at your house must resist both gravity and lateral loading. The lateral loading comes from both the people loading as well as minor wind and seismic loading. The gravity loading is the people loading as well as the self-weight of the deck. Care should be taken to be sure the ledger board is connected appropriately to the house, and that flashing is installed properly to direct water away from areas where it could rot the main deck structure.
Deck Joist, Beam, and Post Connections – Connections of the main deck elements must also resist gravity and lateral loading, and wind uplift loads in some cases. These connections can be made with either hardware, or specific nailing and screwing orientations.
Deck Railing Connections – Railings see a bit of a variety of loading – but mostly people loading. The toddlers hanging off the railing, the guest that finds their favorite seat on your railing, or the rowdy high school kids pushing each other into the railing are all realistic loading. Being sure the railing can accommodate that with design and hardware is a critical component to the safety of your deck.
Fortunately, there are many resources on the internet for the DIY deck builder to do it right and do it safe. At the end of the day, safety is the most important. It is always recommended to speak with an engineer should you come across anything that doesn’t make sense or match your deck conditions during the project.
Are you looking ahead to the spring and summer for your own exterior projects? Comment below with your project ideas and questions!
Check out the entire Structuring Your Remodel series!
1 - Structuring Your Remodel - Interior, Kitchen & Bath
2 - Structuring Your Remodel - Exterior, Roof & Decks
3 - Structuring Your Remodel - Basements
Disclaimer: Although I am an engineer by profession, I am not YOUR engineer. All content and information in this post (and on this website) is for informational and educational purposes only, does not constitute professional advice and does not establish any kind of professional-client relationship by your use of this website. Refer to my full disclaimer for more information.
