Gable trim and porch beam trim--advice?

[john]

We need some advice on trim for our new house. Please see a close-up look at our front elevation so you know what I'm referring to...

We're wondering about the gable trim and the porch beam trim. What material should we use? (preferably maintenance-free) And for the gable trim, what dimensions?

Here's some additional information about the house...

Siding: Rollex sage green vinyl clapboard-style Siding corners: Rollex white vinyl corner trim Roof fascia and soffit: white aluminum Window trim: Fypon for top trim and Azek vinyl trim boards for sides and bottoms, all painted white Porch columns: HB&G 8" square composite columns painted white Porch railing system: HB&G PVC white railing and ballusters

So where does the gable trim and porch beam trim fit into this?

Regarding the gable trim, the guy who drew up our plans penciled in "5-in. lineal." Is that a good width? (The fascia is 6" and our window trim is 3-1/2" lineal.) What material would look good wedged between the sage green vinyl and the white aluminum soffit? I was thinking white aluminum like the fascia and soffit material, but how would that be done to avoid a wavy, rippled-looking vinyl-wrapped board look?

Regarding the porch beams, I know they're going to be 8" tall and wide, but what material? Again, since the fascia and soffit are white aluminum, maybe white aluminum would look best? If so, how would that be built? ...just with lumber and then wrapped with aluminum? Again, I'd like to avoid that wavy, rippled vinyl-wrapped wood look if there's risk of that when using aluminum. ...maybe clad in white vnyl Azek boards? Any ideas?

Our builder does not have a strong opinion on these issues, and he's asking us what we want--I think because he knows we're picky. So I'm trying to do some research and find out what would look best combined with the other materials we're using. All feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, John

[Pat]

Aren't you supposed to go ask your wife what SHE wants?

[john]

My wife does not have an opinion on the matter. She would probably say, "It should be white." I was looking for a little more along the lines of technical advice. Thanks, though.

- John

Pat wrote:

[RicodJour]

Once more to the well, eh?

To summarize: you're picky (can't think of a worse combination than picky and indecisive), your wife doesn't care, and you're being indecisive about something as personal as color selection. I'm sorry, you're right - asking random people about what they'd like on your house makes perfect sense.

Why don't you just go buy into a nice condo association or gated community where all of the decisions can be made for you? Wouldn't that be a huge relief? I know it would be for me.

R

[DT]

John, you need to look at catalogs from a siding distributor to get ideas. There are hundreds of trim products that the guys at Home Depot never heard of.

Companies like Norandex/Reynolds make a lineal surround, either flat or fluted. It looks like a 1x4 or 1x6 with a built-in channel along one edge to accept the siding without needing a separate J-channel. It would work great in your application, used to trim out a rake. Here is a link to their website, the photo of the house on the page uses the 5 1/2" flat surround on a rake pretty much like yours:

They don't have a good closeup, here is a link to some of my work that uses the lineal surround:

There are dozens of options for post cladding. I like Sherline's fluted column cladding, it is a 4-piece system that snaps in place and includes finish molding for the top and bottom. My Norandex distributor handles it. As for the fascia around the porch, they can be wrapped in aluminum custom bent to the contours. I like to finish the wrap against the ceiling of the porch by bending the trim to snap over a board so no visible fasteners are inside the porch. Here is a link to my porch, showing a fluted column and wrap-around trim snapped over a 1x2 (the top of the column still needs the finish molding):

You need a creative trim guy. Here are a couple of things I like to do. One is a ribbed fascia that looks much better than just a plain, flat fascia. It is made using a Tapco Brake Buddy to mold the ribs.:

I like to fabricate a combination brick mold with built-in J for high end work. I never use J-channel to frame windows and doors for my best work. Here is a picture of the small ones I used on my house, it is also made with the Brake Buddy and a half-dozen other bends:

-- Dennis

[john]

You really need to get some help. We're hanging out asking questions and (some) providing answers, and you're just lurking around, waiting for an opportunity to make negative comments, not to mention the stalker aspect of your harrassment in that you target specific people and follow their posts across multiple newsgroups in order to harrass them. Yours is classic sociopathic behavior. Kind of funny. Sad for you, though.

By the way, I wasn't asking for color advice. I was asking for technical advice on what products/materials to use. You would have realized that if you had read my post closely, but you were too busy stalking some anonymous dude in a Usenet discussion group. Next time why don't you just wack-off first. You might find that the urge to stalk is diminished, until the next time at least.

- John

RicodJour wrote:

[john]

Excellent information! I really appreciate all the links to photos. You're very helpful. Much appreciated. I'm going to go through our siding catalogs to find an appropriate product. I should be able to find a Rollex product that will match our white corner trim.

Thanks, John

DT wrote:

[Pat]

Hey, I can't help you. Up here, the answer to everything is coil stock. You can get it any color that the contractor has with him (which is only white). I mean, come on, look at the guys putting garage roof on next door. You think they go for any hi-tech options?

[john]

[RicodJour]

Congratulations on your discovery. Opening the catalogs is an _excellent_ place to start. I hear the internet has oodles of information - free, too. I'm sure that will appeal to you.

People on these newsgroups took you to task for forging ahead half-cocked on your own without hiring design help. Then, miraculously, you divulged you were really working with an architect, which makes your mention of the "the guy who drew up our plans" a little odd. Now, instead of talking to "the guy who drew up our plans" or your builder, you're asking for essentially random input.

No doubt if you're effusive in your thanks people will overlook the fact that you're too cheap to hire someone to help with your indecision. If you hadn't lied from the start about what you were doing I wouldn't be busting your balls.

The fuckups you're experiencing are directly caused by your attempt to learn architecture and construction while building your house. At the end of the project, tally how much time you wasted, how much you had to redesign or rework, and how much money you spent unnecessarily due to your attempt to save a few bucks.

You shouldn't take the stuff I write too personally. I don't know who you are or anything about you. Believe it or not, these newsgroups aren't about you. Consider my feedback (you did say all feedback welcome) a public service for those people that come after you and are considering building a house without sufficient assistance. I hope they'll search the newsgroups and be able to follow your project's ups and downs. And I hope you emerge at the other end still married and were able to contain your inevitable cost overruns to under 30%.

R

[john]

Your posts are filled with venom, silly assumptions about what I'm doing with my project, and downright inaccurate comments about my previous posts. Get a life, weirdo. Go participate in a discussion group where you actually have some expertise to contribute, like alt.sociopaths.stalking.how-to.

- John

RicodJour wrote:

[Pierre Levesque, AIA]

I'm not so sure about that John... Many excellent points are made in RJ's message. I don't know about the lying stuff or any of that but I do agree that once your house is finished you should sit down and ask yourself many of the questions he brings up. In order to save a few bucks was it worth all the time, cost and effort? The simple fact is that 99% of the time my clients that went through the process once before confirm that the first time they tried doing a project on their own, with their own builders, with their own project management, with just a minimal set of construction documents etc etc etc they realized that it almost broke up their marriage, almost cost them their job, eneding up compromising a good design, ended up taking much more time to complete, ended up costing much more.

But then again, you might be having the time of your life and be in the 1 percentile...

[john]

Actually, I'm enjoying the process, we're right on budget, and our project is very econmical. I think, when it's finished, it will be impressive what we've created with $240K. Yeah, I could spend $5K, $10K, or $20K, on an architect and just leave everything up to them, but I don't *WANT* to leave all the decisions up to others. We do have our own personal tastes, after all. I think there is this misconception by some that, if somone is not an expert in a particular field, then they should just hand off all decision making to someone that *is* an "expert." I disagree. The intelligent thing to do is to do research, consult professionals, and then make good, intelligent decisions. In some cases, I don't even know what the options are, but that doesn't mean that I don't still want to make the decision; it just means that I first need to find out what the options are, analyze them, and make a decision, which is what I'm doing. I realize that this approach is not in the best interests of certain underemployed mediocre "architects," but I think that most truly good professional architects would approve of my process, especially since we did pay an architect to draw up our original plans which were based on a plan book/website drawing.

Yeah, I think our house is going to look and feel great, it's going to be practical/economical, our marriage is stronger than ever, we're both very well employed and in no danger of losing our jobs, and, in general, I have no complaints. The only complaints seem to be coming from a certain obsessed Usenet stalker who has absolutely nothing to do with our situation. But that's okay, because it's our house, and all that matter's is that *we* are happy with it. In the meantime, I appreciate the input from those truly helpful folks who participate in these discussion groups. Sometimes the answers are not what I'm hoping for, but if they're objective and helpful answers, they're still appreciated, and I can tell the difference.

- John

Pierre Levesque, AIA wrote:

[Pat]

Big ole coil of aluminum that siding contractors carry with them for cover EVERYTHING that they can't figure out how to put vinyl on. Used for "trim" on windows, posts, doors, and just about else that'll take a nail.

[Don]

wrote

LOL

[Don]

wrote

When we were building our new home we were *right on budget* right up until we set down at the closing table and the law was laid down. Everything costs more than it costs and takes longer than it takes. Fact.

[RicodJour]

And this from a guy who has _infinitely_ more construction knowledge and experience than you, John. Fact.

R

[RicodJour]

The only place that a client lets the architect make all the decisions is on TV. In real life they're an expert resource - a paid resource.

Since when? You've been polling groups for months on every esthetic decision. Why would you do that if you knew what you liked? The odds of the regualrs on this newsgroup having the same taste or opinion on most things is rather slim. 'Cepting ugly - everybody knows ugly. I don't understand what a text based reply, with a few pictures scattered about will tell you about the poster's taste and experience. And you're basing your home design on the replies.

How are you weighting the answers you receive? One vote per poster? Extra credit for being polite? You started a snipe hunt and you don't even know you're on it.

See above re:architects.

Consult professionals...uh huh. You mean like polling newsgroups for free advice? Was the supervision oversight on the stairwell opening a good, intelligent decision?

Your objectives are fine, but your methodology is lame. By the time you figure out what it is you want (ie - settle on the first solution that seems to fit the bill), you'll be building it. Let me know how that works out with the detail stuff.

People post on these newsgroups asking what something should cost. Some don't even indicate where the project is located as if they're expecting prices to be uniform throughout the country. Some goodhearted souls trying to be helpful might toss out a number. I find that pointless. Even if the number is the "correct" number, unless the poster can locate a contractror that they trust (that's first for a reason), is qualified and that is willing to do the job for that number, it isn't a correct number. It's misleading.

Your approach to this is one step above, and below, the innocent "How much should it cost?" question. You're in a bigger project, with more risk and more possibilities for screwups. You've already had a taste of that. In a nutshell, what you're doing is spending your time and effort in an attempt to offset inexperience. You will have a very short, very painful learning curve. That is how construction works. If you can figure out a way to get around that, start a business - you'll be filthy rich within months.

You might end up with a good home after all is said and done. If you had acknowleged your inexperience and were willing to modify your approach you could have ended up with a great project for the same amount of time and money. That's the shame. That's your loss.

Are you sure? Maybe we could take a poll...

R

[Ken S. Tucker]

The interior is 80%, where does the microwave go, I want an extra freezer, what color is the toilet seat, should it be padded? Not to mention the kitty litter box. Lately, you drink a lot dear, we'll need a urinal, in your _upstairs_ bedroom. It's just beginning, I'm betting on John, he sounds like a survivor. Yours Incureably Optimistically ;-) Ken

[john]

I'm an Internet marketing professional by trade, and my hobbies include information technology, music, movies, philosophy, disc golf, and playing with my wife and kids. Based on that, am I supposed to know what "coil stock" means? Is that what you're laughing about? If so, do you laugh at your clients (assuming you have clients) when they ask questions? If you do, I feel sorry for you and your small penis. (It's a Freudian thing.)

- John

D> wrote