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Back to DaVE & Noemi's Garage -- Phase II

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The week of the skylights! We discovered belatedly that building code says no operable skylights within 10' of vents -- which meant that the operable skylights we'd bought for the workshop area would have to be changed to nonoperable skylights. In the process, we realized that the skylights we bought were almost square, not rectangular as we'd envisioned. How did that happen? Since the skylight framing was happening within a few days, this turned into a phone scramble to find inoperable skylights, and longer ones. Which we did, at A-Z Discount Skylights in San Jose.

So the skylight framing went in, and after seeing how fabulous the longer (38") skylights looked, we decided to lengthen the other two 27" long skylights. Yipes! Just what I LOVE to ask: "you know all that work you did yesterday? Can you redo some of it?" Tim says this isn't THAT big a change, and additions like this he tracks at $75/hr. Fair enough. My fault for not lengthening them to begin with. Oh yes, and another scramble to find longer skylights, and Joe at A-Z came through again. Now we have $1200 of operable, 27" skylights to return, eeps. But they look fantastic.

Bonus! Joe at A-Z sells a double-X slider window, brand Polybau, for $330. This is much better than $495 for the Certainteed from Celebrity Window And Door, who wouldn't let us order it ("contractors only"), but gave Tim a hard time too. The Polybau arrives Mar. 8. We realize that we got REALLY good windows for the garage (Milgard), probably better than needed. The bathroom window, for instance, could easily have been a $75 Home Depot item. Mark that under "if you had it to over again, what would you differently...". I'm feeling very cost-conscious these days.

Despite constantly threatening weather, the gutterers got started, and the roofers finished, and we now have a dry building covered with Class-B rated heavy (3/4") cedar shakes. This is actually starting to look like a garage! I'm mildly embarrassed by its size, exaggerated by the expanse of plywood. It'll look less imposing when there are windows and siding.

We talk to Tim about adding so-called "Architectural Knee Braces", which will not actually support the structure, but will add a decorative detail that matches the house. This is a pretty typical detail on Craftsman-era houses, which our house sort of is. Tim likes the idea, and will give us a cost on it right away.
Original architectural knee braces on our house.
Drawing of Craftsman Bungalow exterior features
Craftsman Bungalow House Style

Our skylights are awesome. We're thrilled. And the roof is done, thanks to a big effort on the part of the roofers to finish on Saturday before the rain started.

This week's final view:

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