Engineered trusses in Italian style hurricane proof house

June, 2008

	Our special flat decorative panels that go between the windows on three sides of the bedroom above the garage are now in place. Above them goes an arched decorative lintel. Once we get these pieces from DAC-ART, then we will be able to go on up to the cornice in this part of Villa Lagoon.
	While the north end of the house is still going up (it is taller than the southern part), as you can see, the southern end is ready getting for the roof.
We are using a built up small wall of weather proofed wood over the tops of the cornice blocks. A special sealing system called HydroStop is installed by certified workmen. It involves several layers of materials. Our trusses are now set and you can see how trusses from Swift Building Materials sit atop the aqua-grey Hydro Stop materials. The hurricane straps on the trusses are attached to the HydroStop top-plate.

	Matt of Swift Engineered Truss Systems designed our trusses so that we gain about a foot of height on our top floor.


We plan to put up a temporary wall between the decked and unfinished area of the top floor to give us an 'almost' rain-proof space to store building materials as they are delivered to us.

For additional text and photos of this construction project see www.ConcreteCottage.com

Villa Lagoon Gulf Shores, Alabama