Alright, guys, welcome back to Mr. Post Frame. Today, we're going to be covering window boxes and house wrap for the MAD COunty Standard barndominium. We'll talk a little bit more about that here in a second, but first, if you are a person who wants to self-build, check out our Patreon. It's a self-build group where we discuss different topics every month, have live sessions where you can interact and ask questions. It's a great community that's starting to grow, and we have a lot of people interacting within the group. So, check that out if you're looking to design your own post-frame home or building. Email us at design@mpostframe, and we can help you out with that. Now, let's go ahead and jump into the show.
Barndominium Window Boxes:
We have a degree slant on the bottom of our sideboards so that the bottom sill slants towards the outside of the house. This way, if you ever have a window failure, the water will hit the flashing, go out over your tieback, and down the wall. Now that we've got all our pieces cut, let's go ahead and assemble them. We'll be screwing all these together.
Window Framing:
We have the window boxes installed, and now we have to go back, cut out the girts, and then put in blocking between the girts where we cut them out. This provides a place to install all our trims and our metal.
Versetta Stone Prep:
This particular house is getting Versetta Stone around the front door and up into the A-frame. It's a small area, so we're taking one-inch pieces of 2x4s and using a half-inch piece of plywood to sit flush with the girts. This allows us to fasten our Versetta Stone securely. There are often questions about whether you should sheet your post-frame home. Typically, structurally, you do not need it if you're using steel because of the shear strength from the steel. However, we'll explore the cost differences, so stay tuned for that.
House Wrap:
Here's a little house wrap trick: take a board the height of your house wrap, line the marks up, wrap it over, staple it to it, and then you can square this 2x4 up on the corner of the building. This will hold your house wrap in place and help you stay square as you get started.
Price Comparison:
Now, let's talk about the difference in price for sheathing or not. For this part, we'll only consider material costs. House wrap tape is around $800. If you were to OSB the entire structure, that would be $1,437. Using OSB also requires wrapping it, adding another $800, bringing the total to $2,237. If you opt for a half-inch Zip system, the cost is $3,302, with an additional $450 for tape, making it $3,752. The difference between OSB and Zip is only about $1,500 in materials, making Zip a more practical choice considering the labor and other factors.
So, should you sheath or not? It depends on factors like client preference and current material prices. If prices are reasonable, it might be cost-effective to include sheathing for additional shear strength. However, personal preferences also matter. For instance, if you're using steel siding and house wrap, closed-cell spray foam might be a preferred insulation method. Consider these factors when making your decision.
Alright, that wraps up todays post about exterior details. I hope you found it useful. In the next post, we'll be talking about the process of putting in windows and doors, so don't forget to check that out.
Thank you,
MR Post Frame
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