Michael Kline and Company has extensive exterior carpentry experience too. It’s important to have an experienced crew work on exterior projects for several reasons. The number one reason is water. Water is trump, especially when it freezes and turns to ice. Special flashing techniques are one of the secrets to keeping water out.
There are also polymer materials, concrete siding materials, high tech caulks and adhesives that all have special installation procedures that must be followed.
Decks are one of the most important projects to have an experienced crew work on. Especially how and where it attaches to the house. Special hardware, rubber flashing, aluminum flashing and some other procedures must be followed to ensure the deck stays on the house. Especially when its loaded with people or snow and to keep the water from damaging the structural integrity of the house.
When the homeowner was looking for the final finishing touch for their beautiful estate overlooking Lake Erie in Bay village, Michael Kline and Company was able to work with them to create the Cupola pictured.
Mike consulted with the homeowners to design the cupola and then provided full scale mock ups and drawings.
The plan was to prefabricate it at our shop and boom it up on their roof with a crane. Instead of spending more labor building in place on the roof itself.
Details: With the location of the cupola being a couple of stories up and on the cliff of Lake Erie, high winds and strong storms were a concern for Mike. We needed the cupola to vent/breathe but we weren’t excited about wind driven rain entering the vents, nor did we want this thing to be a huge nest for bugs. So we came up with soffit vents incorporated within the trim and created a baffle system to allow air in and out but no water in. Mike was also concerned about keeping this thing on the roof and not in the lake after a strong storm. We ended up bolting a saddle to the roof with 4” lag bolts into the rafters. This saddle system allowed the roofers to flash the shingles, before the cupola was even onsite! We also used Lexan glass instead of plate glass so debris or birds wouldn’t break the glass (or kids with rocks)
Install: The crane boomed the cupola (w/o its roof installed) up to the roof, we had a carpenter jump inside the cupola once it was set into place. We fastened it down with 4” lag bolts from the outside (which were covered with trim at a later time) while the carpenter on the inside secured a safety cable that tethered the cupola to the ridge board of the roof. Once it was fastened down, the copper roof structure was boomed up and set in place. We secured the roof with 4” lag bolts which we covered with trim pieces.
There were other carpenters working on the exterior of this house, who quite frankly, did not feel comfortable working on the cupola. This is where Michael Kline & Company shine, we look forward to challenges and making custom projects work and work right for many years to come.
Exteriors|
Comments Off on Cupola Installation
Facebook
