Some people may not think that sounds very exciting, but sometimes you just need Dependability from your house.  Sometimes good old fashioned peace and quiet and reliability is what you want.  Many people take for granted that architect will make their house design look good.  And that is true.  You should expect that.  No architect worth his salt should talk too much about that, because it is expected.

What is meant by RELIABILITY in a residential design?  That it works.  That it will be there after high winds blow or after modest ground tremors, or heavy rains.  That the electrical system provides dependable, constant power.  That things stay put and wear minimally.  That the home’s joints stay tight and keep out the wind, rain and cold.  That the insulation functions properly, keeping your house comfortable during all seasons.  That your roof keeps the inside of your house dry.  That your sealants and other coatings and materials keep wind borne water from entering your house.  That your windows and doors frame outstanding views, have minimal infiltration and are positioned to resist uncontrolled sunlight, heat and cold and water.  That your foundation and other aspects of your structural system stay put on solid ground.  That the very earth around your house conducts rainwater down and away from the structure.  That your sewage system conducts all your waste safely away from your house and deal with it so that you don’t have to think about it.  That your well or water source is clean, flowing, unfrozen and tastes wonderful.

Okay, now how about ENERGY EFFICIENCY?  What exactly does that mean?  Some pie in the sky “Green” thingamajig?  No.  Special sealant and/or insulation first, that seals the majority of the cracks and crevices from the inside out, which is how Rand Soellner Architect specifies it.  Second, special rigid insulation sheeting around the inside of your floor joist bands, preventing condensation that is sure to occur here if you don’t (per Building Sciences Corp.)  Third, mass insulation that fills the wall spaces, floors, ceiling/attics that gives you the most “R” value for the least dollar.   In other words, a lot of bang for your buck.  Fourth, interior vapor barrier that is “smart” that lets moisture through (from inside to outside in summer, and reverses this in winter).  In other words, a tightly construction house that properly controls and treats the air in your house so that it sips energy rather than guzzles it.

And LOW MAINTENANCE?  What does that mean?  It means using materials that last a long time, hopefully forever (as far as your lifetime is concerned), and coatings that last a long time, and hopefully have integral color and finishes as much as possible.  Fasteners also enter into this equation, for instance, Soellner specifies galvanized ring shank nails for just about everything.  If you have never tried to remove a ring shank nail, try it.  You will pull the head off the nail before you will be able to budge the shaft.  It is like a screw.  The added cost?  Pennies.  The effect on your maintenance?  Things stay put because nails on Soellner projects do Not back out.  And those are just for starters.

GOOD LOOKS: take a look at Soellner’s website, and books and magazines featuring his house designs.  Even on Amazon.com, along with some of the leading architects on the planet.  He is one of the top architects in the world under the category of Rustic Elegance.

LOGIC, PRACTICALITY, EFFICIENT USE OF SPACE: Soellner’s designs typically have little to no hallways or corridors.  Every square inch is effectively utilized.  Open Space Planning is prominently featured in public areas.  What is supposed to be close to other spaces are.  For instance, garages are located near to kitchens.  dining and living areas look out the back at your views.  Closets, foyers, stairs and other non-view spaces are located along the front of the houses, buffering the view spaces.  Master suites are located in split plan arrangements, away from guest rooms for privacy and peace and quiet.

For more, please see Rand Soellner’s website: www.HomeArchitects.com

tags: custom residential architecture, atlanta, chicago, las vegas, reno, orlando, new york, aspen, tellride, rocky mountains, blue ridge

This is not an idle phrase; it is the truth.  For instance, quite often Soellner will pick up his phone and hear a new client say: “I’ve been looking on the Internet for months (sometimes years), and I can’t find what I want…Until I came to your website.  I’m very interested in the look of your house designs and in particular in how the ________ design of yours functions.”  These people are referring to Soellner’s numerous project examples on his website: HomeArchitects.com

Soellner has been at this a long time, since he was 15 years old, starting by taking a drafting course at John Adams High School in South Bend, Indiana, where not only did he draft, he designed, creating several residential projects from his sophomore year through his senior year, that caught the attention of his teachers, who put them on display in the corridor showcases, and encouraged him to graduate and attend a major accredited architectural university, which he did.  Since then, Soellner has become a licensed architect in multiple states, has received multiple awards from prestigious sources such as the American Institute of Architects, a major power utility company, a State Government, a major city, and been featured in books and magazines worldwide.  See House With a View (available from Amazon.com) in which he is one of several famous architects from around the World who designed outstanding residential projects in scenic locations.

Decades later, he now enjoys scenarios like last weekend.  A prominent professional, based in downtown Chicago, made an appointment and came to visit Rand Soellner at his home office.  The professional, let’s call him “Bob,” said that he had already been through two previous architects in past months and years, who either didn’t understand what he wanted or didn’t have the design skills to accomplish his requested house size and still have the imagery he wanted for his unique acreage in the woods on a cliff in the backcountry of a northern state.

Bob wanted a “Fairytale Cottage” of about 2,000 HSF (Heated Square Feet) on the main level, and had an ambitious list of requirements.  The most recent previous design firm had created a design of about 3,500 HSF on the main level, which exceeded Bob’s requested size substantially.  He really didn’t want that much house.  So, he verified with Soellner that Rand could, would, and was interested in designing projects for anyone, regardless of the size and budget, or the location of the land.  Having established that, Bob met with Rand.  Soellner allocated an entire day (at no charge for the first meeting); picked Bob up from his hotel, and met with him in Soellner’s conference room for several hours during the morning, reviewing Bob’s program requirements, “flying” around Bob’s wonderful acreage on a large flatscreen monitor in virtual reality, exploring the view angles, and reviewing several of Rand’s previous designs.

Soellner had only offered to show several previous examples to illustrate what a 2,000 HSF house looked like in several configurations, some of them built.  One of the schemes captured Bob’s imagination: “That’s it!  This is great!  This could work!”  Bob really liked one of Rand’s projects, Rand’s Fairytale Stone Cottage, which had won a design competition for Soellner a while ago.  That happened to be about 2,500 HSF on the main level.  Rand let that issue rest for a while and offered to take Bob around to several of Rand’s built houses in the local community.  Bob consented, so Rand drove them around to see 3 houses in the area: the Falcon Cliff Lodge, the Creekside Cottage, and the Eagle Mountain Aerie.  Bob liked them all and enjoyed seeing what the actual, built projects felt like and looked like in person, and appreciated the interesting materials and details.

Soellner drove back to his home office, where Rand served lunch; an assortment of sandwiches, fruit, diet soft drinks, bottled spring water, fresh cookies and about the tastiest potato chips in the world.  After that, Bob and Rand resumed their design review in the conference room.  They “flew” around Bob’s acreage again, documenting Bob’s favorite view directions.  Then Bob wanted to look at the compact, yet functional Fairytale Cottage design that he had found so interesting during the morning session.  It incorporated Soellner’s Open Plan Home Design concepts, so it felt spacious.  So, Rand and Bob studied that for a while.  Bob said that he would like to have a Loft Level, so Rand sketched in a stairway, and a Loft Level above.  Bob said that Rand could remove the 2nd Bedroom on the main level and press the loft into service in that capacity, which could also serve as his studio when guests where not there.  Now, the main level would be around Bob’s requested 2,000 HSF size.

Soellner noted the walkout basement request from Bob’s program notes and found a way to have the stairway simply go down another level to access that space, which would carve a view right out of the cliffside, overlooking a bend in a major river in that location.  Bob beamed, delighted with the results of their cooperative work session.  Rand Soellner had accomplished, in just a few minutes, what the other design firms had not been able to do during the last several months and years:  The Size.  The Features.  The Functional Plan.  The Look.

“Clients come to us because they can’t find the residential design they want anywhere else.”  All of the above is a completely true reporting of what happened and what continues to happen at Rand Soellner Architect: The HOME ARCHITECTS ^TM.  Except, of course, the names have been changed to preserve the privacy of Soellner’s clients.  If you are thinking that you want to consider the design of a custom house that meets your family’s objectives, tailored to your lifestyle, your dreams and your land, perhaps you might think it’s about time that you gave Rand Soellner a call, e-mail on online chat:  Contact Us .

tags: Custom residential design, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, New York, Perth, Las Vegas, Toronto, Shenzhen, Moscow, Lake Tahoe

Why? There is a lot going on between the walls.  More, than in an office building, grocery store, restaurant and even a hospital.  Rand Soellner should know, he has designed ICUs (Intensive Care Units), and ICNs (Intensive Care Nurseries), optical laboratories for NASA, Air Force projects, and a host of other extremely technical projects, and hundreds of housing units.  And yet he has chosen the design of houses as his main interest.

Let’s get back to the main premise of this post: that you are Not likely to find your perfect set of existing floor plans (especially for free!) just posted out there on some design website catalog that you spend dozens of hours pouring over.  Why?  Because no 2 houses are exactly alike.  The land is different; the people’s needs are different; the colors are different, the materials are different, the kitchens are different, the bathrooms are different, the outdoor living spaces are different, the garages are different, the exterior and interior materials and styles are different!  And that’s not all!

So much goes into a house.  Thousands of things can vary from one to another.  Yes, we know.  You really want to save, so you are determined to find your plans online for free, print them out on an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper, give them to a builder and tell him to build from that.  When your contractor finishes laughing, he will explain that he can’t build from that.  He needs detailed dimensions, R-values, a host of selections of insulation values and types, cabinetry, building sections, wall sections, roof plans, door schedules, finish schedules, specifications for hundreds of things, a Site Plan, structural layouts for foundations, framing for floors and roofs and much more to just obtain a Building Permit and actually construct your house.

So, your time spent trying to find “free plans” is really pretty much a waste of your time.  Especially since you aren’t going to find exactly what you want that way anyway.  For gosh sakes, break down and talk with and visit and hire an architect to design your house!  They won’t bite!  They are pretty nice guys (and gals).  They can actually help you save money, from all those really expensive scraps of articles you have torn out of expensive residential magazines (houses in most of those magazines can be very expensive to build, so do yourself a favor and talk to your architect before you fall in love with features of a house that are way over your price point).

For instance, give Rand Soellner Architect a call: 1 . 269 . 9046.  Let a professional help you get the house you want.  That’s why they are there.  www.HomeArchitects.com

Look at the websites of architects whose design imagery you admire.  Stop worrying about the floor plans.  The architect you hire will create that for you.  Stop thinking you are going to save anything by trying to second guess the architect and try to do his job.  You will probably take up more time having your architect explain simpler, better, more attractive and more cost effective ways to do things that what you come up with, anyway.  Why?  Because architects do it for a living!  Do you?  What do you do for a living?  Accountant?  Doctor?  Lawyer?  How would you like it if your clients came in the door with operating tools and their surgery all mapped out?  Or had researched some legal online source and “figured out” how you need to try their case?  You’d have to explain to them that they really need to let you do your job…

Same thing with architects.  Relax!  Explain to your architect what you are after and what things that architect has done that attracted you to his work in the first place.  Talk about the number of bedrooms and bathrooms you want, number of cars in the garage, the orientation of your main views looking over your wonderful view property, that wonderful kitchen you have in mind: things that really mean something.  Let your architect work out the details and the floor plans!

Try it! You are bound to enjoy the process much more than wasting your time studying “free plans” in the Internet.  Instead focus on the Style and Qualities of architect’s houses that “speak” to you.  That will be much more fruitful than bargain shopping for “plans.”

Some of the examples pointed to by  detractors of zinc strips, illustrate galvanized steel strips, which can rust after a few years.  And the roof cleaning companies appear to be correct about those.  However, the difference appears to be: there is zinc-plated (as in galvanized steel with a thin zinc coating: it’s the zinc that makes it “galvanized”) and there is nearly All zinc.  There is a difference.  Some zinc materials are made to be used on roofs for the specific purpose of keeping the roofs clean of mold, bacteria and other organic, growing things, that could otherwise darken and streak an asphaltic fiberglass shingle roof.  Pure zinc seems to be very good at doing this.

There are superior zinc strips that can be approximately 99.5% pure zinc.  These are not the same thing as a zinc-plated piece of steel.  In the nearly pure zinc strips, some of the trace materials might be copper or even titanium.  The zinc-plated (as in galvanizing) steel sheets are Not nearly pure zinc and these strips will likely begin to rust after the thin zinc coating wears in several years.  Although, many galvanized coatings on rooftop equipment can and do last for decades sometimes, even with such mundane pieces of equipment as rooftop fans, vents through roofs (for plumbing), flashing around penetrations like chimneys and other apparatus.

This photo courtesy of Massachusetts Home Inspections (David Valley). It illustrates how galvanized roof equipment (even old equipment on old roofs) can effectively keep shingles downhill of them cleaner than not.

To the left you can see old, boarded up houses, obviously older than 20 or 30 years, perhaps even 40 or 50 years or more older, and they have what appears to be original galvanized steel equipment on the roof.  Here’s the interesting thing: the old roof has nasty, black, dirty streaks all over it (mold and other organic growth): Except exactly downslope of each of the rooftop galvanized (zinc-coated) pieces of equipment!  This means that there is something in the residue of the zinc that washes off in rain water and condensation on it, that is toxic to organic growing material downstream of it on the roofing.  This is interesting, in that zinc is used in foods and even vitamins for humans.  This is because the free zinc ion in solution is highly toxic to plants, invertebrates and even vertebrate fish.  Only 6 micromolars of the zinc ion will kill 93% of Daphnia in water.  The free zinc ion is a powerful Lewis acid including up to a corrosive level.

Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Home Inspections. This is the other side of the roof of that same old house, further illustrating how galvanized (zinc-coated) materials on the roof can keep areas of the roof cleaner downhill from them.

Zinc is a metallic chemical element, with the symbol Zn, with the atomic number of 30.  It is the first element in the 12th group on the Periodic Table.  It has some similarities to magnesium, as it has an ion of similar size and its common oxidation state is +2.  Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and has 5 stable isotopes.

The important thing to know is that using nearly pure zinc strips located very close to the ridge line of a residential roof, can keep the fiberglass and asphalt roof shingles below them essentially clean of mold and other organically growing “plants” & bacteria/algae.  Some people have indicated that the effectiveness might be 20′, but we have not seen any precision in such estimates.  As you will see on the posted photos, even galvanized coated (zinc coated) sheet steel in cheap roof components appears to continue to effectively keep the roof shingles clean for decades.

We are now indicating nearly pure zinc strips to be located just under our co-polymer ridge vents, with perhaps an inch or so exposed over the lower roof shingle below the ridge vent.  This should successfully allow for free zinc ions to be washed in solution downslope and keep the majority of the fiberglass-asphalt roof shingle look clean, hopefully for a long time.  Nearly pure zinc strips are relatively inexpensive: about $36 for a 50′ long strip about 2-1/2″ wide (per Zinc Shield literature 11/2011), check on today’s costs in your area.  That’s 72 cents a linear foot, and if installed at the same time along with your continuous ridge vent, the added cost should be negligible.  If you had 75′ of roof ridges, multiply x 2 (both sides of the ridge) = 150 x $0.72 = $108 for the material.  Some of the detractors of zinc strips indicated that installing zinc strips was expensive; I am not sure where they got their information.  Do Not use ordinary nails, which could cause electrolysis.  Use the zinc nails you can obtain from the zinc strip manufacturer, although you may not need many, as if you are clamping the zinc strips under the lower edge of the ridge vents, the ridge vent will likely secure the top edge of the zinc strips.

One manufacturer claims that their 99%+ pure zinc strips will continue to function for 20+ years.  That doesn’t sound like much of a gamble, and there is much to be gained for such a small investment.  Some people have their roofs pressure washed to clean them and they should know that this seriously reduces the life of their asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles.  Why? Because little stone granules are imbedded in the thin top layer of asphalt over the center fiberglass core.  That is how fiberglass roof shingles are made.  The reason for the stone granules: to protect the asphalt from degrading in the raw sunlight.  When you wash away the protective layer of stone granules, the thin layer of asphalt is exposed and degrades all the faster.  So: no pressure washing!  Something with near magical properties like these zinc strips is by far a better solution.

Be careful with copper gutters, however, the zinc solution can be corrosive to these, we have heard.  We would suggest you monitor your gutter systems perhaps once a year, to see if they are performing cooperatively with the zinc.  Installing these zinc strips BEFORE you have algae growth is preferred.  The manufacturers of the zinc strips are not claiming to be a Mold Removal device, but rather, a preventative measure.  Even so, We have seem compelling photos from some people testing this theory, and the zinc strips did in fact have a toxic effect on existing huge actual moss growth!  The zinc also seems to work well on wood shingle roofs, like cedar.

Note: do Not install zinc strips with exposed nails on top of exposed roof shingles!  You will be asking rain to leak through those exposed nail heads.  That is why we specify the zinc strips to be tucked under the edge of the co-polymer ridge vents, which are nailed or screwed down to the roof deck, then have ridge shingles installed and overlapped over the ridge vents, giving a fairly watertight installation.

This is just one of the constantly increasing knowledge base systems of the custom residential architects at Rand Soellner Architect: 1 . 269 . 9046.  www.HomeArchitects.com . We are always looking for and finding ways to make you house look better and last longer.

Links: Massachusetts Home Inspections , Contact Rand Soellner

Some people are only concerned about the cost of roofing.  Other people are just interested in the appearance.  Most people may not know what the typical kind of roof shingles are made of these days.

WHAT ARE ROOF SHINGLES MADE OF: The answer: first there is a fiberglass sheet, which is then coated with asphalt on the rear and top, then mineral granules are impregnated into the top surface.  Then asphaltic adhesive stripes are applied to the nailing zone, about halfway up the 12″+/- shingle height.  There are typically at least 2 of these layers adhered together to result in an architectural laminated roof shingle today.  Laminated roof shingles result in heavier weight, more durable construction, more water resistant capabilities and deeper shadow lines for improved aesthetics.

HOW LONG DO ROOF SHINGLES LAST: How long do they last?  Perhaps 10 years to 50 years, according to manufacturer’s warranties.  Or even your “lifetime.” From this architect’s experience, perhaps 15 years is normal, and maybe 25 years is nearing the upper end or so, for the thicker, heavier products.

WARRANTIES:  Rand Soellner, AIA, just reviewed the product data sheets from some of the major residential roofing manufacturers and also talked with major material suppliers in the SE USA.  For their middle-upper end fiberglass asphaltic roof shingles, it appears that you can obtain a warranty that completely covers labor & material to replace a roof that has manufacturing defects for the first 10 years of the installation.  Then the warranties typically become prorated coverages after that.  So when you get down to the last few years of a 50 year warranty, there might not be very much economic value associated with those last few years.  Also, the likelihood of anyone keeping asphaltic fiberglass shingles on their roof for half a century without developing some serious problems is unlikely, despite what any warranty might indicate.  Also, the main answer to how long fiberglass-asphaltic roof shingles last mainly depends on how thick and heavy the materials are in the manufacturing of the shingle, along with the quality of those materials, in particular the flexibility and durability of the asphaltic coating, the composition of the fiberglass sheet, and the mineral granules and any added materials to provide additional positive characteristics.

ALGAE RESISTANCE AVAILABLE:  For instance, zinc and/or copper granules can be added to the limestone granules to provide some resistance to algae growth on your roof shingles.  The calcium carbonate in the mineral granules is sure to propagate algae growth without something to curb that effect, so having an algae-resistant shingle is a wise investment.

WEIGHT & THICKNESS:  Also, it is smart to obtain a heavier, thicker shingle as well, if you can obtain this information from the manufacturer.  It is becoming more difficult to get answers to questions about the weight of roof shingles these days, as it once was one of the main determinants as to the quality and durability of an asphaltic fiberglass roof shingle.  However, some companies, like GAF will not provide this information, as they feel that their latest improvements in the quality of the asphalt they use in the manufacture of their shingles should be the most important factor, and there is some logic behind that theory.  CertainTeed still posts their roof shingle weights and that is helpful.  Their “Landmark” series offers 240#, 260# and 300# weight roof shingles.  These weights are per “Square”.  A roofing “Square” = 100 square feet.  So, the installed weight of the “best” Landmark roof shingle = about 3 psf (pounds per square foot).  CertainTeed offers a “Lifetime” warranty on their “Premium” (300#) Landmark shingle, 40 years on their Landmark Plus (260#) shingle, and 30 years on their Landmark shingle.  GAF’s comparable to this is likely going to be their “Timberline” series, which is the outgrowth of the previous Elk Prestique II family.  Elk was bought out by GAF within the last several years and their product re-formulated within GAF’s latest technology to reinvent and hopefully improve asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles.

COSTS: being largely a petrol-chemical product, asphaltic fiberglass roof shingle prices will be varying widely from week to week and month to month, as the oil that went into their manufacture varies in price.  One of the major material providers for residential construction in the western North Carolina area, Jennings Building Supply, told Rand Soellner that their pricing was “good for today”, whenever they quoted numbers to contractors these days.  All of these products discussed in this post are architectural grade, not the low end and not the upper end.  They are mid to upper-middle products.  For a 240# architectural grade asphaltic fiberglass laminated roof shingle, the price (for today) might in around $94/square (that’s $0.94/sf of installed area) and that’s just for the material, no tax, no delivery and no installation.  For the thicker, heavier grade (300#) today’s price might be somewhere around $130/square (that’s $1.30/sf of installed area), once again not including tax, delivery or installation.

So, if your roof happens to be 40′ x 60′ of actual surface area = 2,400 sf.  Then, for the upper mid-grade roof shingle cost of $1.30/sf, your new roof  material might cost about $3,120.

We have heard that perhaps for a new roof, the labor cost might be in the $0.80/sf range, not including other factors, like high-performance waterproof underlayments.  So, excluding the underlayment, a new roof of the sort described herein, upper-mid range might cost about $2.10/sf to install.  Multiply that times a 2,400 sf roof = $5,040.  If you are replacing an existing roof, that will be an additional cost.  We have seen numbers for the tear off and clean up for a medium pitch roof in the $1/sf range.

So, labor being not something that should vary significantly based on the shingles involved, it is actually a better buy to use a heavier, higher quality roof shingle, because it just might end up lasting a very long time, much longer that the cheapest, lightest roof shingles.

INSTALLATION: Nails.  NO staples.  The nails, if galvanized or aluminum should last as long as your shingles.  Staples are thin pieces of bent wire and will probably rust clean through or pull out in high winds.  You will void manufacturer’s warranties if you use staples.  Wind resistance is a combination of the weight of the shingles, plus the number of proper nails installed along the nailing strip, plus the quality of adhesive along the nailing strip.  On most asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles, there are adhesive strips of asphalt along the approximate mid-point of the shingles, which is where the nails are to be installed.  When the sun heats the shingles, this adhesive melts, and secures the top shingle over the bottom shingle, providing greater water penetration resistance and wind tear-off resistance.

FIRE RATINGS:  you might as well select a roof shingle with a Class A fire resistance rating.  This comes with most asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles these days.

WIND RESISTANCE: you can obtain 130MPH wind resistance and even more, depending on the weight, type and thickness of roof shingle and the number and type of nail used to install them.  For instance, according to at least one shingle manufacturer, the difference to get a roof shingle from a normal lower rating up to 130 MPH is instead of using 4 nails, use 6.  Big deal.  It is worth another couple of nails per shingle to obtain a higher wind resistance that could occur if your house greets a tornado or hurricane, or simply gusty storms in your area.

See Rand Soellner Architect for guidance on your next roof and your next house design:  1. 828. 269. 9046

It used to be that a decent architecturally designed residence could not be had for under about $300/HSF (Heated Square Feet).  However, this latest effort illustrates what quality design with handsome, durable, yet economical materials can do.  Soellner’s latest project came in at an unbelievable $104/GSF (Gross Square Feet).  When looked at strictly as interior Heated Square Feet, the project was bid at $184/HSF.  That is still a remarkable achievement for an architecturally designed project with numerous features and durability as one of the highest-ranking elements of the project.

This project, in the Pennsylvania area, just shows how economical truly well designed projects can be these days.

Features included:
- Timeless architectural design style
- Front timber frame porch with native stone pedestals.
- Attached “Bridge” enclosed connector to the garage.
- 2 car Garage (0versize) with independent vehicular bay doors and 2 human passage doors, and windows, and factory wood grain metal insulated doors, finished and insulated interior.
-  Foyer
- Powder room
- Coat closet
- Large Gourmet Kitchen with oversize appliances (like a 4′ wide range-oven, stainless steel, of course), and custom-look cabinets, huge island, granite counters.
- Open space planning
- Hearth Room/ Dining Room
- Timber framing post and beams
- Higher than normal insulation levels
- 8′ tall rear framed glass doors with clearstories
- 8′ tall custom-look wood front entry door
- Rear screened & roofed oversized timber framed porch
- Timber frame rear exterior stair
- interior stair
- Walkout basement level, in addition to the main level at grade
- Master Bedroom with 8′ tall rear glass doors
- All glass is double-pane insulated with Low-E coating for energy efficiency.
- 4 fireplaces (2 inside, 2 outside)
- Huge master Bathroom with giant 2-person slate shower, his and hers granite vanities, lots of glass, separate toilet room, walk-in closet/dressing area
-Family Room downstairs with fireplace
- 2 guest bedrooms and a guest bathroom
- Mud Room with interior and exterior access
- Kitchenette downstairs
-Large Utility room downstairs
- Site work, including excavation and site utilities and driveway
- 40 year roof
- Non-combustible, non-rot siding
-  Copper-look metal on accent roofs.
-  Copper look kynar metal flashings all around.
-  Special historic/rustic foot-tall, 3″ thick timber trim band running around the front and side elevations of the siding.
-  Interesting variations in the siding material and direction.
-  Dormer-Lantern (2-sided) that admits natural light into the interior of the house.
-  Pantry/Laundry/Office area between garage and main house with views out toward the countryside.
-  All-wood floors (except for slate tile in bathrooms and the Mud room)
- All wood ceilings.
-  High-end architectural waterproofing treatment on solid cast in place concrete foundation walls.
-  Closed cell foam thick insulation around foundation upper walls and basement slab edge.
-  Advance compliance with 2012 IRC codes and in fact, R-values in excess of this, for high efficiency.
- Advanced tight construction methods to seal the house tightly against unwanted infiltration.
- All materials selected for durability, even the nails!

Amazing!  Take advantage of today’s economy with a custom Soellner design:  1 . 828 . 269 . 9046

tags: bidding residential projects, house design, cashiers, atlanta, timber frame, post and beam, hendersonville, chicago, aspen, telluride, los angeles, hollywood, canada

If you don’t particularly enjoy cleaning your gutters yourself, usually about twice a year, and taking your life in your hands, every time you set foot on a tall ladder, then perhaps this post Is for you.

about 30' of Gutter Filter installed by Rand Soellner Architect

We are talking about installing economical gutter guards for the most standard seamless gutters that many homes in America have installed.  I measured my gutters and they appeared to be about 6″ wide.  The sales guy at Lowes thought I probably had 5″ wide seamless gutters and that I just got a false reading due to the installation brackets for the gutters possibly spreading the gutters a little wider.  I think my gutters are really 6″.  Doesn’t matter.  This product we are looking at today seemed to work just fine, and had adequate width, even though it appeared that my gutters might be about an inch wider than the “standard” 5″ width.

The product I ended up using is called: “Sheerflow Gutter Filter” by LB Plastics, Inc. of Mooresville, NC.  As it turns out, this is a well thought-out simple gutter filter, designed to be easy and quick to install into standard residential seamless gutters in just about 2 minutes per 3′ long section.  No tools required.  Sounding better all the time, huh?  Except for getting yourself up there.  Be careful on your ladder.

Here you can see the Gutter Filter nearest to you, with the last section or two still remaining to be installed. The left side of the Gutter Filter has a slot that slides over the reverse bend of the metal gutter, and the right side of the Gutter Filter tapers to a thin edge that allows you to slide that side (right in this photo) under the roof shingles. It really went in easily. Even for an all-thumbs handyman like me!

I should have saved one piece before I installed all the sections I purchased (from a Lowes) and taken a photo of the end section, so I could better explain how the gutter filter clips onto the gutter.  I’ll do my best to with words and the couple of shots of the installed sections.  The Gutter Filter is mainly a flat piece of vinyl (it might be PVC), however there are subtle changes in its section that really make it functional.  For instance, one edge is beveled, to make it easy to slide under the outboard inch or two of your roof shingles.  Do this slowly and easily so you don’t crack your roof shingles.

The outside edge of the Gutter Filter has a slot that slides on to the reverse bend of your seamless gutter.  It engages very easily and took me only a couple of minutes per section.  I installed about 36′ of it (12 sections) in about a half-hour, working off a 6′ tall step ladder.  I started each section by overlapping each next piece of gutter filter section about 2″ over the end of the previous one, to allow me to tuck the starting inboard edge up under the roof shingles.  Then I gradually angled the rest of the 3′ long gutter filter section under the outboard inch or so of roof shingles, then I angled the far end of the gutter filter outboard slot to engage in the reverse bent edge of the gutter top edge.  Then I slid the gutter filter sideways, angled, carefully engaging the remainder of the outboard slot onto the metal gutter edge, pulled it off the last couple of inches of the previous section, then slid the new piece to abut the previous one.

The Gutter Filter has holes in the face of the panels, perhaps 1/4″ in diameter, through which rainwater can flow down and into the gutter below.  On top of the Gutter Filter is a layer of some kind of plastic screening that has been glued to the top face.  Fortunately this gets tucked under the shingles, along with the top edge of the Gutter Filter.  However, I am a little concerned if this screening will remain adhered to the face of the gutter filter when subjected to wind, rain, snow, ice and time.  If it doesn’t, then I guess I will still have 1/4″ holes blocking leaves and other debris that is larger than 1/4″.  Hopefully anything smaller will get washed away down through the downspouts.  We’ll see if the top screening lasts.  It appears kind of delicate.  This entire Gutter Filter appears to be well conceived, with the possible exception of the delicateness of the top screen layer, which could probably be improved with some more thought by the fine folks at L.B. Plastics.  The product is downright cheap in terms of cost, and it looks sturdy enough to last a good long while.  Only time will tell.  Also, hopefully water will find its way through the screening and holes and down into the gutter.  The whole purpose is to allow for the rainwater running off the roof to get into the gutters, without all the other junk, like leaves, so that I never have to clean another gutter.

Take my word for it:  Even though I am an architect, licensed in multiple states throughout the USA, and a Licensed Home Inspector, I am not very good at personally building things.  That’s why God made Contractors.  I just wanted to see how hard this would be.  And it turned out that it can be fairly easy and economical.  I think I paid about 2 bucks per gutter filter section x 12 = $24.  Not bad, for the front side of the house.  I got just enough to see if it would work.  It does.  Now I need to go back to Lowes and buy some more to finish off the rest of the house.  Probably another $50 should do it.  Not bad.  I can’t imagine what I would have had to pay a handyman to do that.  I may, however, need to purchase another extension ladder to get to the higher gutters around the back side of the house.

I previously had expanded wire metal mesh on gutters on another house, that arched up and back down.  Each piece had a couple of hinged attachment clips.  They were scraped off each year by sliding ice and snow from the roof during winter.  They don’t work very well.  I got tired of putting them back on every year.  That is why I am trying something else this time.  Hopefully this new variety will stay put.

Be careful out there, folks, especially when you are on a ladder of any height at all.  Wear gloves, too.

Rand Soellner Architect:  1-828-269-9046

Well, that is not the reality, and I am once again saddened to at first hear of Steve Jobs’ retirement as CEO of Apple and then, within just a few weeks, his passing.  Steve Jobs was among a very small group of people with the creative genius and financial ability to see his dreams come true.  Mr. Jobs has been said to be the Thomas Edison of our era and there are likely not many that would challenge that.

As one of the founding partners of Apple Inc. in 1974, Steve Jobs developed numerous computers, including the Macintosh, which used Xerox’s developing graphical mouse-driven user interface, that has become The way to compute around the world (can you actually imagine  writing Fortran routines these days?).  Steve Jobs founded NeXT Computer in 1985.  Tim Berners-Lee at CERN used a NeXT computer as the first server in the then fledgling World Wide Web.  So, we all owe Mr. Jobs a debt of gratitude for his role in helping making the Internet possible.

Steve Jobs and Apple developed the iPod, iTunes, and the iPhone, revolutionizing the mobile communications industry.  His Pixar studio provided animated movies so wholesome that Disney purchased Pixar in 2006, resulting in Steve Jobs becoming the owner of about 7% of Disney stock: more than any other person on the planet, including Roy Disney.

So, thanks to Steve Jobs’ superb business skills, technological genius and creative planning, his legacy is still with us, as well as is Apple, his company.  Maybe some things WILL remain the same, at least in terms of values and quality, while in the midst of revolutionary and continual technological change.

Oh yeah: today’s post has nothing to do with architecture.

I leave you with Steve Jobs’ own comments about death:

“No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs

Why?  Because simpler is usually better, in the long run.  Complicated swoopy curves (which cost an alarming amount of $$ to build) and overly complicated details (while initially interesting) can cost a lot over the years to maintain, as well as to construct initially.  Also, remember the 1960s fad with 1″ square turquoise ceramic tiles on large courthouse buildings?  Well, what do you think of those now?  Hopelessly dated, right?  Just remember that when you see some zippy new “contemporary” swoopy form with complex details!  Come a few years, those forms, shapes and colors may be no longer in vogue and looked outdated.  Remember the Hyberbolic paraboloid concrete shell roofs from the 1960s?  Hopelessly outdated now.  How about “avocado green” and “harvest gold” kitchen appliances?  Ridiculously passe’.  Remember Formica kitchens with aluminum trim from the 1950s?  That was a modern new “trend” back then, too.  No one could imagine having that today.  A simple, real granite counter installed back then would still look good today.  Simple quality that lasts.

What to do?  Try simpler.  The challenge with simpler things is greater.  The arrangement cannot be concealed with flashy colors and expensive materials and extravagantly expensive details (who can afford that stuff, anyway?).  Simple things have to work.  It will be obvious if they do not, because they are the raw truth of what is going on, in and on the home or building.  They are not hidden or camouflaged behind some trendy “modern” shape or color or flashy expensive material.  They are exposed and real and either work or do not for all to see.  And being able to see what is happening clearly allows them to be refined and corrected, improved and as perfect as possible before they are actually built.

Also, overly complicated floor plans can add a great deal to the cost of a home.  They look cool, when you are viewing the floor plan like it is a piece of art, hanging on a wall in a museum of modern art.  But that is Not how you experience the actual house!  Your floor plan should be a record of your desired lifestyle, not a nifty assemblage of zippy, swoopy lines.  Hopefully your lifestyle has a more solid basis than such idiosyncratic arrangements.

Rectangles have a lot of good in them.  Especially golden rectangles (a particularly well-shaped easy-to-live-with proportion that has been known for thousands of years by geometricians, and some architects.  Squares are good too.  For instance, there is a lot of economy in having a home design with less surface area and overall volume, being more of a volumetric cube.  You have to have sloping roofs to get the rain and snow off, of course.  And there are topographic and foundation issues to be considered, depending on your ground slopes, which can affect the proportions of your home, and your views.  However, in general, simpler, more boxy arrangements will cost a LOT LESS than more complicated and exotic shapes, proportions and arrangements.

I strive for Timeless Architecture, which in general means: I would like my designs to look like they could have been built today, 50 years from now, or 100 years ago.  I think most of my clients would agree.  Not trendy, “flash in the pan” quirky fads.

It appears that some architects and designers design for other architects or for contemporary magazines that they want their work to be featured within.  I personally admire their creativity and artistic ability.  Beautiful shapes, details and forms.  Very Artsy.  But I wonder how many people out there in the “real” world understand how much those sorts of things cost?  Certainly no where near normal construction costs per square foot.  Homes with extravagant shapes and exotic materials and complicated details can cost $500 per square foot, or $1,000 per square foot, and even more!  I have clients coming to me wanting to build for $100 per square foot, or $150/sf or $200/sf these days.  I cannot imagine coming up with designs of the sort I am seeing on some other websites.  Such creations might charm clients for a few weeks, at most, until they got the shock of their lives when contractors bid that exotic design!  Then they would see red.  No thank you.  I will not trade today’s political expediency for tomorrow’s complaints.

I would rather be up front and explain that less truly can seem like more.  Also, it is okay for less to Cost less!  Nothing wrong with that at all.  And it is wonderful to have “less” result in much lower utility bills each month, and to have simpler details that cost less to maintain over the nearly 100 years that many homes will be with us.  Tell me this: 100 years from now, who will care about some trendy detail that has rusted off the building?  Better to have a priority of sound decisions that result in use of funds where it counts the most.  DO provide several interesting features!  Just do it where it makes a difference and where people will see it the most and do it in a way so that it will be durable.

Does that mean that homes have to be super-plain?  No.  Not at all.  I pride myself on having designs that do win awards and do get published and featured in books worldwide and win energy conservation awards.  But such recognition is not the basis of the creation.  Solving a client’s problem or satisfying their hopes and dreams are what results in the solution.  And they are beautiful.  And simple.  How that’s accomplished is part of how I do it.  Give me a call and let’s talk about it some more…

Rand Soellner Architect 1-828-269-9046

6 Reasons for an Architect to Design Your House

1.  Your architect is here to make you happy.  He or she will do everything in their power to please you, while creating your project.

2.  Your architect can all handle the complex issues so that you do not have to, leaving you free to enjoy the fun aspects of the process.

3.  Your architect can involve you in as much or as little of the decisions as you wish, fine-tuned to your needs.  You determine what you want to know and the architect will provide the amount of information and choices from which you can choose your preferences.

4.  You may have already been talking with a residential architect, who may have already begun analyzing your land, views and programming ideas.  They have a jump start at understanding your site, and your hopes and dreams for your special project.

5.  If you are talking with an architectural firm that specializes in residential architecture and has won architectural awards, is knowledgeable with all aspects of house design, has been featured in books and magazines all over the USA and the World, is licensed in multiple states throughout the USA, then you may be already engaged with one of the leading house architects in the USA and the World.  Rand Soellner Architect happens to be one of those.

6.  You can have direct access to your house designer, if you choose Rand Soellner Architect: no menu-trees to navigate, no secretaries to get past, no message services to get in your way: you normally directly can talk straight to the top person when you call Rand Soellner, AIA/NCARB:  1-828-269-9046.   Contact Form: contact Rand Soellner

There are many more reasons, such as: your house architects can help you save much more than their fee by the ways they save you construction & maintenance dollars by the features and materials they design into your new house, lower monthly energy bills, a healthier home and many other reasons.
More reasons to hire a residential architect: reasons for an architect to design your home . There, you will find additional information about your home being one of the largest investments you are ever likely to make, what you want doesn’t exist anywhere else, you want a true, licensed professional designing your residence, and other compelling reasons.

Rand Soellner  www.HomeArchitects.com  is interested in designing your house.

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