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Post date: Feb 22, 2015 3:47:22 AM
This winter has been quiet. The architectural drawings are finished, the ground is frozen (so we can't start building), the landscaper has escaped the cold, and I'm biding the time in Seattle until the ground thaws in Taos (7,000 feet elevation). There was a thaw last week, but only down 6-8" - not deep enough to drain the water away - leaving a muddy morass on dirt roads and driveways. The next hard freeze will push the start of construction further towards Spring.
However, the Structural Engineer has checked over the plans and made notes - so I am told. The updated drawings should be available 'soon'.
One point of structural interest are the three water tanks at the south end of the garage. Together they will contain 6,000 pounds of water after a big rain. That is about double the weight of a smallish automobile. The drawing (click on it to enlarge) shows two tall tanks in the corners and a possible third tank under the window. (Also in the garage are the water softener and water heater for the kitchen.) The water tanks are fed from the roof drain that runs under the ceiling and has a sediment trap to keep the water clear.
The engineer says that the tall tanks (in the corners) must be tied to the walls to prevent falling over in case of an earthquake. I didn't think Taos was in an earthquake zone, but there is a series of small faults nearby. It is on the border between zones 2 and 3, where Seattle is clearly in zone 4 and San Francisco and Los Angeles are in zone 5.
In Seattle our water heaters must be tied to the wall and I have tied all our bookcases to the wall, too. So this is not new to me.
Under the garage floor are concrete blocks laid on their sides to form warm air ducts. Immediately adjacent to the foundation wall at the bottom of the drawing is an air duct that pulls air to the bottom right corner, where there is a vertical, triangular duct up to a fan. But this means there is a gap in the support under the floor slab at this edge. I am curious to see how the engineer supports all this water weight.
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