OK Pelican architects! Does this seem crazy?

Moses · 02-10-2014, 01:38 PM

This home is built in the 4th snowiest town in America. Not too unusual to have 15 feet of snow on the ground. They average more than 200 inches of snow per year. A few miles from here the Donner Party got 16 feet of snow in 2 days. The flat roof below the upper level seems bizarre. The snow will be above the windows and I expect those windows may break from the snow load.

GWN7 · 02-10-2014, 01:44 PM

If it gets that much snow, shouldn't there be a second floor entrance? The windows have what looks like 6" (or more) thickness between the adjoining panes which should support snow leaning weight.

Icemaster · Icemaster's Garage

How far out do the eaves extend? If they extend far enough theyd provide some shelter.

Moses · 02-10-2014, 01:55 PM

One of the windows is less than a foot above the flat roof. I have a friend who had a window fail in 15 foot drifts. The window was 6 feet above ground with the same 3" eaves.

This is common...

This was 1952...

rusnak · 02-10-2014, 01:58 PM

We used to have a cabin at 7,000 feet, and we've had years with 15 feet of snowpack.

I can tell you for a fact that many cabins get completely demolished by snow every year.

The ones that last seem to have steeply raked roofs (45 degree or more), and ideally tin or something that will let the snow shoot off. Otherwise you'll be up there shovelling the snow off the roof to get it lighter.

The doors tend to be inward swinging, and made of solid 2" thick boards. You have to build some sort of shelter around your door so that you can dig down to a snow bubble and then slide down to it. If you don't have snowplow service, then you winterize your cabin and head somwhere else for the winter. You bid your cabin farewell and hope for the best. We had to regularly rebuild the deck rails. Snow would break the railing but somehow our deck never got destroyed. We would close the shutters for the winter. You can't see out anyway.

JJ 911SC · JJ 911SC's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moses

... They average more than 200 inches of snow per year. A few miles from here the Donner Party got 16 feet of snow in 2 days...

Great, they will have a few of those around the house

Rusty914s · 02-10-2014, 02:02 PM

That looks like a nice house so one would hope that they used a local architect and engineer.

Where I live, we get lots of wealthy out of town architects and they put whatever they were building in NYC or LA...I just shake my head.

madmmac · madmmac's Garage

A flat roof in snow country is a bad idea....very bad.

Is the house complete already? If so, I'd be looking at ways to retrofit some heat into it. If not, I'd be changing roof plans or designing heat into it.

P.S. I'd be heating the concrete also.

GWN7 · 02-10-2014, 02:24 PM

New style snow removal tool:

Avalanche Roof Snow Removal System - Snow Removal Equipment, Snow Roof Rake for better Roof Maintenance

porwolf · 02-10-2014, 03:58 PM

Here is SoCal there is one place with sometimes up to 20 feet of snow. Mammoth mountain ski area. It is customary there to have a strong covered tunnel structures leading from the road curb to the house entrance. That keeps snow shoveling to a minimum.

SilberUrS6 · 02-10-2014, 05:24 PM

I don't think I'd want any kind of flat rood there. Even those pitched roofs look a little "not pitched enough" for my tastes, with that much snowfall.

carambola · carambola's Garage

is the driveway heated?

look 171 · 02-10-2014, 05:53 PM

I often wonder if they can use a something similar to a radiant floor heater to keep the snow from accumulating? The same stuff that go into the driveway.

kach22i · kach22i's Garage

It's a beautiful design but like everyone else I question some of the functionality/durability aspects.

1. That flat roof appears to be a narrow glassed in breezeway, meaning not very wide. I suspect this will mitigate some of the concerns, but snow will still stack if it doesn't manage to blow off. Drift loads should have been looked at before this was built, time will tell. EDIT It's twice as wide as I first thought - there is outdoor covered areas front and back.

2. With all that glass on the first floor I can only pray that there is a winterizing plan which includes panels/shutters to protect the glass. Same goes for that window over the breezeway on the second floor.

3. I don't see a second floor door, possible one on the backside - can sort of see a balcony back there. I can only conclude this is a summer only place.

This looks to be a structure which was pre-built and put on a trailer like a modular house/mobile home, then stacked and assemble in short order at the site. The greenhouse room could have been done in the same kit fashion, short summers make this approach attractive if you can get the foundation in early enough.

The chimney looks a little short, should be at least 2-feet higher than the nearest 10-feet of roof.

EDIT: I did a search on the image and found this...........................
http://www.resourcefulblogger.com/hgtv-dream-home-2014-giveaway-open/

Many more images here:
http://www.hgtv.com/dream-home/index.html?vty=DH_CENTRAL

http://www.hgtv.com/dream-home/hgtv-dream-home-2014-rendering-and-floor-plan/pictures/index.html

Video said located at Lake Tahoe .

http://www.hgtv.com/dream-home/fan-favorites-from-hgtv-dream-home-2014/pictures/index.html?i=1

Moses · 02-10-2014, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carambola

is the driveway heated?

I'm almost certain it is not.

emcon5 · emcon5's Garage

That house is in Truckee, so the Donner Summit snowfall records are misleading. It is ~1200 feet lower in elevation, and because of the terrain, weather doesn't always make it to Truckee if it is coming from the west.

Case in point, last Thursday I drove back to Reno from the Bay Area. It got rainy around Newcastle, once past Auburn it became rainy and foggy to Emigrant Gap, and Foggy and snow flurries from Emigrant gap to just before the Soda Springs exit (if you make the drive, it is the last section , where it became snow, and started sticking to the road. Once I cleared the summit, and started down toward Donner Lake, it was snowing and slick for about 1/4 mile, then the road was wet for about 1/4 mile, then dry. It was mostly cloudy, but not raining the rest of the way home.

Don't get me wrong, I lived in Truckee for about a year, and it gets plenty of snow, although not as much the past few years. The average is ~3 feet a month from December to March, but the last few years have been way below that. I don't think we had 3 feet all winter when I was there.

Averages and records here: Truckee, California Average Snowfall | Current & Historical Data

rusnak · 02-10-2014, 07:28 PM

Tahoe at 6,000 ft makes a lot more sense than Donner at 7,000 ft.

That's like the difference between Shaver Lake and Huntington in my neck of the woods. Or the difference between Lakeshore Village and the top of China Peak.

Tobra · Tobra's Garage

There is more to it than just elevation. Tahoe is 6200 ft, Truckee is like 5800 maybe. Both are sort of in a rain shadow though. Sugar Bowl gets a ton of snow, as do the other resorts west of Tahoe.

I don't like the flat parts of that roof at all. I have been up at Tahoe when there was better than 4 feet of snow on top of the car when I got up in the morning. With what you have, a little snow blower you can take on the roof would be pretty handy. Don't know about those big windows, will want protected in the winter.

That faux wood stuff holds up pretty good to extreme weather. I know a guy who buillt a deck made out of that stuff in Tahoe City and it looked like new, even after a few years.

look 171 · 02-10-2014, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rusnak

Tahoe at 6,000 ft makes a lot more sense than Donner at 7,000 ft.

That's like the difference between Shaver Lake and Huntington in my neck of the woods. Or the difference between Lakeshore Village and the top of China Peak.

Really, almost froze my ass off during an early fall camping trip at Huntington then back at Shaver, it was like summer. You live near there, in paradise? I spent some time up in that part of the forest in my early 20s. I haven't been back in years. Is it crowded and more commercialize and more tourists compared to 20 years ago?

rusnak · 02-10-2014, 09:07 PM

Actually Huntington was PACKED back in the late 70s and early 80s. They still have the regatta I think. We sold the cabin and built a house on the beach, haha! Got tired of digging 12+ feet down to the dang front door.

We used to go there when I was a kid. I was fishing on the shore of Huntington Lake when the 7.0+ quake hit Mammoth Pool. I was trying to snag chunks of ice that were breaking off near the shore and floating out into the lake when BOOM BOOM BOOM!!! I heard the earthquake and almost fell into the freezing water. My sister was still home and she thought the cabin was falling off the mountain. Our place was near the Rancheria gas station, near the Boy Scout Camp.

Cold like that gets really old after a while. I don't miss it at all.