Joinery Details

Hello - I have a new project to build a small front porch/stoop roof. No big deal except this one will have a barrel vault ceiling. Essentially it will look similar to this one

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one in the picture has a bead board ceiling following the 2x4 rafters and a curved plywood front. My customer wants a true barrel ceiling. I have the plans for the design in my picture and everything is straight forward but since the plans are for the ceiling following the rafters, not the curve, I have a question or two.

First - The rafters - I figure I will use 2x material with plywood cut to the appropriate radius to attach my, probably shop made, t&g boards to. Construction adhesive and brads or finishing nails here. I'm not too keen on nailing into the edge of ply. Any thoughts on this?

Second - THE MAIN QUESTION. How would you handle the details of the connection between the plywood facade's radius curve and the ends of the beadboard? Would you lap the bead board ends under the plywood and have the end grain exposed to the front? Would you butt the ends of the beadboard to the plywood and have the plywood edge exposed below? I think I am leaning toward the second. If I go that route would you do anything to finish the plywood edge or just paint it as was done in the picture above?

Third - And a just curious question. How long would it take you to build what is shown in the picture with the modifications I described above? Support would be via brackets, not posts. Siding will need to be cut back, j channel installed, roof applied and a light hung (Including new wire from existing switch). Customer will paint, I will caulk, fill, sand and back prime. Moldings are stock. Would you completely site build it or would you build it in your shop and do final install on site? I'm thinking of building the gable and brackets in the shop, install the brackets and get someone to help me lift the whole thing onto the brackets then trim it out, wire it and roof it. Barring that, I may build the trusses and brackets ahead of time and then put it all together on site.

TIA

Reply to
No
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I'd do the second BUT I'd cover the curved ply edge with a board extending back maybe an inch (and probably forward 1/2" or so) so that it is flush to and laps the bead boards a bit. Run a molded edge on the back bottom edge and - if extended forward of the ply, an edge there too. Maybe bullnose...

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Reply to
dadiOH

I'm not sure I followed the whole idea but...

It sounds like you will have plywood cut to a radius to provide the ribs to which you can attach slats. Yes, nailing into the edge of ply is not very effective. I would either use solid material or add backer boards held back bit from the radius edge, (running on short chords of the arc) and nail into them, letting the ply hold the shape but the solid material take the fastener.

On the front, I think you should bend some edge molding for the best look. If this is to be painted, you might be able to get some sort of plastic molding that would be easier to deal with. If not, then some experiments with Pine or maybe steaming.

Reply to
SonomaProducts.com

Consider not using plywood? You're already making a nice custom stoop, if the radius is gentle enough, you might get it cut out of a

1" x 12" plank of doug. fir or cedar. Then you can cut the triangle for the peak out of whatever you like and join them together. In that case, it'd look really nice if you butted the bead board against the back side of the curved piece with a little bit of the facade (maybe an inch or so) hanging below the level of the ceiling.

If you're set on plywood (and it may be the best choice) I'd do the same thing as above, and secure a thin strip along the end grain with some adhesive and a couple of small brads. It'd look a little funny if the end grain of the bead board was hanging out.

In either case, it might not be a bad idea to use a circle cutting jig and a router to cut a shallow curved dado for the bead board to slide into, for alignment purposes during installation, as well as to accout for any future wood movement.

Are you looking for a guess so you can make an estimate? It's really hard to say until you start working on it- there's always a surprise or two waiting for you. If it were me, I'd say two or three good days. Two or three hours for demolition, 4-5 hours for framing, 5 or

6 hours for trim, an hour or two for shingles, 2-3 hours for priming and 1-2 hours to replace the siding you removed. The light is fairly trivial, timewise.

I'd fabricate the facade off-side, and then frame the rest in place, starting with the brackets, then the horizontal members, and the trusses- ending with the facade. Once all that is in, slide the beadboard into that curved dado, and lift into place, tacking it however you can until it is all roughly there. Then to support it, I'd make a thin curved piece that matches the facade, and secure that directly to the wall to align the curved ceiling and keep everything in place. Then you can reach between the rafters and secure the ceiling from above with some finish nails.

Of course, there are any number of ways to do any project, and you may use entirely different methods!

If you fabricate the whole thing in your shop, you've got a couple of problems- first, it's going to be heavy and clumsy, and there's a fair chance you could drop it and have to redo some of it. Second (and more importantly) you should tie that peak into the wall- If you've already got the whole thing assembled, how are you going to reach inside of it? Unless you're planning on using L-brackets or something, it seems like a bad idea to me.

Anyhow- it looks like a fun job, enjoy!

Reply to
Prometheus

Thanks dadiOH, Sonoma, Prometheus and future responders. I apreciate your feedback. I have priced this job out and plan to build the brackets, trusses and front facad in my workshop. My goal is to build enough ahead of time so I can install everything in one day. Too bad this project will not require any new tools. :(

-B

Reply to
No
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Hello,

I just finished building a porsche, so I have a good idea of the work involved (although mine was smaller)...

2*4 material for the rafters and 2*6 for the structure is OK. for the front, I would use particle board or osb or similar to get the vault and then, in front plyboard that goes lower as in the picture (and but end my roof boards on it (it would be supported in the other placed by the particle boards)... caulk the bottom to avoid water sipping in...

I would build the brackets and cut the plywood/particle board in the shop, and then go onsite and install the stuff... easier that way cause you can do it easily by yourself... I would say that you should be able to knowk it off in 5 work day day 1: mesuring, planning, buy material prep the brackets day 2: finish the brackets, prep the t&g prep particle board/plywood day 3: remove siding, install ledger and brackets, framing day 4: install roof and ceiling, start trimming day 5: finish trims and calking/puttying

but I might be wrong...

cyrille

Reply to
Cyrille de Brébisson

Thanks - I am vehemently opposed to using particle board and OSB in any outdoor project despite manufacturer claims. If I decide to eliminate the plywood I will build my exposed front arch from boards, jointed, with biscuits and glue. In fact, as I write this, I'm thinking that's what I may end up doing. If I use 5/4 stock I would have enough room to cut a rabbet for my ceiling planking to sit in!

Thanks again for your suggestions!

Reply to
No

Wow! Could you make me a Lamborghini next?

:-P

Reply to
Jerry S.

No,

I think nailing into the edge of plywood would be a Really Bad Idea.

I would frame the porch roof using 2x10's or 2x12's and cut the radius of the ceiling directly into the rafters themselves. From the picture I would bet that the curve is only at the bottom 2/3 of each stick. Just make sure that the thinnest piece of the rafter is at least 4" thick. Of course, this would depend on your particular design dimensions.

As for the front end detail, let the beadboard die into the face of the plywood end panel. As we all know, edge grain exposed to the elements (especially a horizontal piece) is a no-no and would certainly look amateurish in this context. Secondly, having the front fascia lower creates a drip edge for water falloff.

I like the clean look in the picture, but would probably double up the plywood to 1-1/2" to make it beefier and in better proportion. Make the front fascia radius about 2" smaller than the radius of the beadboard ceiling. Install a second curved 2" wide x 3/4" plywood piece under the already installed beadboard to hide the BB connection with the front panel.

Carefully backprime everything. Seal the edge of the exposed plywood with epoxy or something else to enable a smooth stable prepped surface for painting, that won't soak up all the paint and any rainwater via capillary action.

I have no idea how much time it would take to do this job. I'm not a carpenter, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn last night.

-Matt

Reply to
Matt

Thanks again to all who replied. I haven't gotten the go ahead on this job yet but I expect to.

Anyway - I was visiting a friends house last PM and he had a portico like in my picture on his house. It looked almost completely prefab! It looks like it came in a kit. The curved trim details were so precise (wood) that they must have been cut on a CNC machine or at least with a template. This was not a one off as there were others like it in his neighborhood. The ceiling was a flexible vinyl 'bead board' that installed like vinyl soffit into j channel. Has anyone ever seen these kits anywhere?

It would be interesting to compare materials costs. Higher is suspect. And then to figure labor. Slightly lower I suspect.

Since in my business (A side business, nights and weekends sort of thing) I am really only charging my time, something that makes the job faster will only hurt me unless I start to fix price my jobs.

So, to stick build this, with attention to detail, will give my customer a one of a kind design that will fit into their house and last 100 years. I suppose a kit would loose some of the benefits for my customer.

Sorry for the ramble....

Reply to
No

My vote goes for Promethius' suggestion with one change: rather than route a curved dado, just glue/screw a series of mounting blocks to the inside face of the pannel. You could use a jig saw or band saw to cut a concave surface to which the beadboard would be nailed.

-Steve

Reply to
Stephen M

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