House of straw...

[Daniel Meyer]

Somehow I don't think standing in the maelstrom with my middle finger raised high to the skies counts as good preparation…

The rest here.

[..]

Straw, sticks or brick. When that BIG bad wolf comes calling everything gets blow down.

[bigguy]

Daniel. Good read.
I bought an old house about 5 years ago. I had to replace the kitchen floor and discovered that it sits on 4x8 cedar joists. full gallery here

It's framed with rough cut cedar 2x4s and has 1 inch pine planking on both sides of the walls. Built in 1898. I'm sure a direct hit form an EF5 would take it out, but it's been sitting there for 113 years, I figure on any given night, the odds are on my side.

[bigguy]

Daniel. Hang in there. It sound's like you're probably doing a much more thorough job on your place. Here's a few pics of me working on my place though to help you share the misery.
Sewer project.

Carport and side door.

Foyer doors.

Soffit and paint.

Stairs to balcony.

There have been more projects, but I didn't get photos of all of them.
Most of these projects aren't finished. I get far enough along to live with it, but never seem to get around to the final polishing.
It's hard to work on a house and own a motorcycle.  

[hubcapsc]

People call stuff by different names in different parts of the country... you should see the funny little
things they call poplar trees in Colorado  ...

The stuff we call Cedar (some kind of Juniper really) in most parts of the South has real rot-resistant heartwood,
but the lumber is not much for structural building parts - like joists and stuff... Now heart Cypress
on the other hand, now that's the best stuff in the Universe for practically anything... the old-growth awesome Cypress
is no longer commercially available unless you get re-milled stuff from some old building they tore down.

Anywho... I wonder if those floor joists are Cypress? Or maybe Western Red Cedar (don't know much about that)... Heart Pine
maybe?



It's hard to work on a house and own a motorcycle.

It's not hard, you just don't get much done



-Mike

[Daniel Meyer]

Most of these projects aren't finished. I get far enough along to live with it, but never seem to get around to the final polishing.

Heh heh...that's called the 80% rule!