Floating Out the Storm
The devastation and aftermath of Hurricane Katrina set Bill and Bryan Spatz in motion rethinking what type of foundation makes sense in flood-prone areas. The Noah's Ark Project is a steel-framed modular home built on a barge. The home looks like a typical 2,700-square-foot home with an asking price of about $525,000, belying the fact of its unique design. For residential builders, it's a study in what a coastal home can become in the hands of a commercial developer, and for the industry as a whole, it's a concept that pushes the boundaries of how to build to protect against hurricane damage. Read more
High and Dry
In the flood-prone Gulf region, an elevated home is a no-brainer. The classic poured-concrete slab-on-grade — a simple monolithic pour with nothing more than a thickened edge at the perimeter — is not enough where floodwaters from a storm surge or rising water levels pose a threat. Using a raised perimeter stem wall can elevate the slab above flood levels. In colder coastal climates, where the risk of flood is not as great as the risk of frost heave, stem walls that extend below frost depth protect the slab. As Ted Cushman explains, in either case, the construction is similar. Read more
Products
Green Toilet ~ Cool Roof ~ Cool Attic ~ Steel Driving Gun ~ Have a Blast ~ Starter Strip Marries Skirtboard ~ Precision Dry Stack ~ Self-Sealing Furring Nail ~ Termite Treatment Read more
Safe and Durable Decks
A casual inspection of just about any wooden boardwalk or ocean-side deck provides ample evidence of what a harsh coastal environment can do. Fortunately, there is help at hand to guide builders toward code-conforming deck design and good construction practice. Design for Code Acceptance 6: Prescriptive Residential Deck Construction Guide, or the DCA6, is a 20-page document branded by the AF&PA, the International Code Council, and Fairfax County, Va. Frank Woeste highlights sections of the DCA6 that may be of special interest to the coastal deck contractor. Read more
