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Home > Bob on TV > Bob Vila > Strong, Affordable Storm-Ready Housing > Hurricane-Resistant Roof and Windows, Historic St. Petersburg > 0202 Transcript
0202 - Hurricane-Resistant Roof and Windows, Historic St. Petersburg
Dates Aired: September 18-24, 2006 and March 19-25, 2007
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>> Vila: Welcome to the show, here in historic Bartlett Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. Work is continuing on our affordable house being made out of abandoned shipping containers. We're gonna look at how the roof truss system, which is made of wood, is attached to the steel boxes today. Also, we're installing a PGT vinyl-and-aluminum window with impact-resistant glass. And we'll be giving you a tour of the historic northeast neighborhood. Stick around. It's good to have you with us. Well, here we are in St. Petersburg, our second visit in Bartlett Park—a neighborhood in transition. And we're showing you an adaptive reuse of abandoned shipping containers. That's right. We're building a house with four shipping containers that have been lashed together. And today, we're gonna be giving you some details on how you put a roof on them and how you put windows in them. But last week, we showed you what the concept was all about. We explained how this particular neighborhood had really been in decline and how there was much abandoned housing as well as empty land to be taken advantage of. And the lot that we're building on was just such a lot. We also looked closely at the whole story of why there are so many shipping containers around the world that have been abandoned and how you can reuse them and put them to work as affordable housing. In our case here, we lashed together four of them and put them on a foundation that we built specifically for these containers. And today, we're ready to show you how the roof system, which is a traditional truss system built right here in Florida, gets bolted and latched down onto these containers so that when a hurricane comes along, you have very little worry about the roof blowing off. We're looking also at the PGT Windows, which are made here locally and have impact-resistant glass, and we're gonna understand how they, too, can resist hurricane winds. So, now let's go up on the roof and talk with our friends from flash. All right, you're seeing a lot of action up here 'cause all of these trusses have already been brought up into place. And since what we have here is a steel box, we need to learn how you tie it all together. We have Billy York and Rob Davis from FLASH. And just to refresh our minds, what does "FLASH" stand for?
>> "Federal Alliance for Safe Homes."
>> Vila: And one of the main things that we're concerned about in Florida, in terms of safe homes, is keeping hurricanes from destroying them.
>> That's correct.
>> Vila: So, we're gonna just watch them for one second while they finish with these fasteners so that we don't have to yell above them. He sure is putting a lot of nails in there.
>> Well, we need the nails to be able to carry the uplift resistance. These trusses will have an uplift resistance of about 850 pounds when he's finished putting those clips in place.
>> Vila: So that means they'll be able to resist a force comparable to 850 pounds. How does that translate into winds?
>> This house is designed to withstand 140-mile-an-hour wind speeds and meet the flash blueprint for safety standards.
>> Vila: Okay, now, as I said a minute ago, we're building a wooden structure on top of a steel structure. What's the transition? How does that work?
>> They've welded a piece of steel on top of the box. And then on top of that steel, they've welded these 5-inch-diameter threaded bolts, and then the bolt sticks through the wood. And you can see, we use a nut and washer, which then holds the plate in place and allows us to transfer the load back into the box.
>> Vila: All right, so the steel that they've welded onto the corner is running the whole length of this thing, and it is essentially what we might call angle iron.
>> Yes, angle iron is exactly right.
>> Vila: All right, and then you've got it threaded and bolted down. All right, so what's the purpose of this type of strapping that's being put down here?
>> The loads that are created on the ends of the roof are higher than they are in the middle of the roof. So for the first, approximately, 6 feet of the roof, we have to use a heavier-duty tie-down strap. So this connection that we're putting up there is gonna give us about 1,200 pounds of uplift resistance, versus the 850 pounds we had from the two clips that we saw earlier.
>> Vila: I understand that. It's just 'cause it's at the gable end, where there's more possibility for uplift from the external wind.
>> That's right.
>> Vila: Okay. Okay, so, what kind of plywood do we recommend using?
>> What you've got right here is they're installing 5/8-inch plywood up on the top, and that's about 1 1/2 times thicker that what you would regularly see required by the Florida building code.
>> Vila: 5/8Ths. Normally, what do they require?
>> 7/16ths.
>> Vila: Is that right? Okay, and what about fastening down. Are they using any kind of construction adhesives?
>> It looks like they are in this case, and that's not required at all.
>> Vila: But it's a nice extra.
>> It's a very nice extra.
>> Vila: Okay, and what about nailing? What kind of nails should you use?
>> The code requires a minimum of an 8-penny nail, which is a 2 1/2-inch nail. The blueprint for safety requires a 10-penny nail, which is a larger nail and gives about 50% additional uplift resistance. So in this case, where they're using the 10-penny nails and the adhesive, they've probably got double the resistance of normal roof construction.
>> Vila: That's great.
>> Vila: Hey, before you do that, let's talk for a minute, Steven, about what you've already done here. What is this material?
>> This is a membrane flashing that's been applied to cover the joint between the steel frame and the steel skin of the trailer.
>> Vila: Okay, so 'cause there was a gap there, just about a 1/16th of an inch, in order to make sure we never have any kind of wind-driven rain penetrating, you've got this sealer. Okay, and this opening was done at the factory.
>> The frame was done at the factory. T.A.W. Has applied a pressure-treated buck to the steel frame.
>> Vila: And it's nice and square?
>> And the opening is square.
>> Vila: We're lucky. It's great. They've done a beautiful job. All right, so, now you're about to apply a bead of caulking.
>> Yes.
>> Vila: And go ahead. And my friend Dave and I can talk about the features of this window before they hoist it up there. This is—obviously, it's a winguard pgt impact-resistant window, and so there's a lot of different features to talk about. But this a vinyl-extruded frame, right, Dave?
>> Yes, Bob, it is, a very thermally efficient frame
>> Vila: Mm-hmm, now, in terms of thermal efficiency, you're talking about heat or cold not being conducted through.
>> Yeah, here in Florida, we have to deal with what they call "solar-heat gain" more than we do heating. This window has loe glass. Here, I can show you. We have laminated glass. This is the impact-resistant portion.
>> Vila: So this is the part of the window that's out to the weather.
>> No, this part is to the inside. This is regular glass on the outside. It's what we call a "sacrificial lamb." It might break if the window is impacted, but nothing is gonna get through this second piece of glass. We put the low-emissivity coating on the second surface to reflect heat back away from the window, rather than the heat getting into the room. So it creates a very comfortable environment.
>> Vila: Okay, and so a minute ago, you said that the big concern here was solar penetration—the heat entering the air-conditioned environment, and so by having a vinyl-extruded frame like this, it can lessen that.
>> Yeah, it doesn't conduct heat into the room.
>> Vila: Okay, I understand. Steven, are you gonna need a hand getting it up there?
>> No, I think I can get it. John's gonna help me from inside. Now, what are the advantages, besides that, of a vinyl window? Is it less money?
>> A vinyl window is just slightly more expensive than the aluminum-frame product that you see used in Florida.
>> Vila: I didn't realize that.
>> It's a fairly new product line. It does very well in salt-air environments 'cause it doesn't crow. It doesn't scratch because the color's all the way through the frame. And, like we talked about, it doesn't conduct heat. By the fact that we put an insulated glass in it, it also keeps noise out tremendously. It makes it very quiet inside. It eliminates hot spots in the room. And, of course, it gives you the hurricane protection.
>> Vila: Well, tell us, how is it that it gives you that hurricane protection? What is it about the glass that makes it impact-resistant?
>> Well, it's laminated glass. It's actually polyvinyl butyral. It's been around for about 30 years, used in car windshields.
>> Vila: Oh, okay.
>> The technology just went a little further, and we made the inner layer a little thicker.
>> Vila: Now, Steven, what kind of fasteners do you need to use in order to comply with hurricane code?
>> This is a number-10 2-inch stainless-steel screw, and to comply with the code is representative of the depth. We're trying to get an inch-and-1/4 depth into the pt.
>> Vila: Into the lumber. Into the pt, meaning the pressure-treated lumber.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Vila: And they're every foot or so?
>> Approximately. Basically, 6 inches up and approximately 13 inch on center.
>> Vila: And, of course, at the factory, this lumber itself was attached and bolted through to the steel.
>> Yes, sir.
>> Vila: And, in addition, the wood acts as a buck, doesn't it?
>> The wood is an official buck.
>> Vila: There's really no way that the whole window, Dave, could actually be blown into the house.
>> No, not likely. These windows are tested for wind speeds up to 146 miles an hour.
>> Vila: Okay. Now, Steven, why do you you need to add another layer, yet?
>> What we're doing is that we're covering the joint that's between the end of the vinyl window and the actual buck. If you see, there's another gap right here. So what we want to do is make sure we have a water barrier between the outside of the window and the other piece of flashing.
>> Vila: Gotcha. Dave, one of the concerns that a lot of people living in kind of inner-city neighborhoods have is, you know, the defense of the home against burglaries. Does this help out in that sense?
>> It sure does. We've got a lot of documented cases where people tried to break in throwing cinder block at it, propane tanks, anything they could find on a jobsite. To my knowledge, no one's ever gotten through one of the windows.
>> Vila: They're impact-resistant, and that includes keeping burglars out. That's great. Now, Steven, how come the bottom sash is missing?
>> We keep the bottom sash out to make it more easily handleable to be able to put in because of the weight of the impact.
>> Vila: And is it easy to re-install?
>> Yes, sir.
>> Vila: How do you do it?
>> The sash is designed with a pivot bar that goes into a pivot cam. That bar slides into there on one side and slides down from the other side. What we did is make the window even, and, basically, it tilts in.
>> Vila: Tilts it in, and you lock it, and you're done.
>> Right, and then you can close the window and lock it.
>> Vila: So, is that feature good from the point of view of cleaning it?
>> It sure is, Bob. That's a feature that a lot of customers ask for. That's why we put it in that product.
>> Vila: Terrific. Well, they're great windows. Thanks, Steven.
>> Closed captioning provided by...
>> Vila: Hi, i'm Bob Vila. Next time on the show, work continues on our project in St. Petersburg, Florida, where we're taking some abandoned steel shipping containers and turning them into an affordable house. We're gonna be looking at how the wooden roof truss systems are attached to these steel boxes to create a real storm-ready house. We're also installing some beautiful windows, and we're taking you on a tour of the neighborhood—the old northeast neighborhood, which is filled with beautiful houses from the early 1900s right on the shores of Tampa Bay. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: Next time on the show, work continues on our affordable house being made out of abandoned steel shipping containers. We'll take a look at how the wooden roof trusses are being fastened on to these steel boxes, install a window, and give you a tour of the historic northeast neighborhood. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: Next time on the show, we're installing the roof trusses on top of our steel-shipping-container home. Don't miss it.
>> Vila: While work continues on our ISBU house in Bartlett Park, I thought we'd take a walk around the neighborhood and give you a better sense of what St. Petersburg is like. We're just north of our site, in Roser Park, often called "the neighborhood that a cookie built." Charles Roser came down here in the teens, the early part of the 20th century, after selling his fig newton cookie company to the National Biscuit Company. During the 1920s, as it was being built up, it was considered one of the most attractive residential developments in all of Florida, and a lot of the original craftsman-style bungalows and cottages remain today, shaded by royal palms and old live oaks. The brick streets follow the curves of booker creek, and you can still see they're made of augusta brick. The sidewalks have their original hex block, and the creek banks are held back by concrete levees and rusticated block retaining walls. You can see that Mr. Roser really made an effort to civilize what was then jungle, and, evidently, he succeeded. In 1916, Mayor James Bradshaw built a house here for his family, a very stately colonial-revival-style home in cast concrete. It's one of a lot of St. Pete houses that look like they were inspired by more northern architecture, and it's still the jewel of Ingleside avenue. To the east of Roser Park, the old southeast neighborhood was developed a little later and prides itself on its frontage on Tampa Bay in Lassing park. In 1924, Judge Robert Lassing donated this land to the city with the proviso that it be used as a public park. Since the rest of the land was developed for housing in the 1950s, it's been a place where everyone can enjoy fishing and recreation in a purely residential area. And that's significant, since just north of here, the high rises and busy streets of downtown St. Petersburg sit right on the bay. You've got the museum of Salvador Dali, the first tourist mecca on the pier, big business, and colorful little restaurants all grouped along the neatly laid out city grid. In north downtown, you can still see the footprints of the city's first developers as they bought up the orange groves and built around Mirror Lake, which was the city's first source of drinking water and is still its public water supply. During the building boom just after 1900, edward tomlinson built the unique and very ornate open-air post office, where you can actually stand on the sidewalk and get your mail, as well as St. Peter's episcopal church down the block. Now on the national register of historic buildings, the coliseum opened in 1924 and has hosted concerts, sock hops, and ballroom dancing ever since. Moving north again from here, you get to Crescent Lake Park and into the quiet residential areas of the historical northeast neighborhood. This is where you really start to get a variety of styles coming in. As people moved here from all over the country during the early 20th century, they brought their own ideas of a dream house with them. These streets are lined with modest to medium-sized bungalows, mediterranean-style homes, prairie-style cottages, two-story dutch colonials, and even some federal revival variations on the Florida theme. And, of course, you still see some true Florida crackers looking right at home among the banana palms. This area was completely built out by the 1950s and '60s, so the character of the neighborhood has really been well preserved. This north-shore neighborhood has its own public park along Tampa Bay. Again, it was donated to the city by developers to preserve public access to the beach and waterside recreation and, of course, to keep it looking nice. Even in the early 20th century, developers knew the value of that well-maintained open public land and what it added to property around it. The properties along north shore park are, indeed, quite valuable, and, again, they come in all shapes and sizes. There are really elegant palazzos, mediterranean villas, grand plantations with columns, and enormous banyan trees, and even some truly unique and well-maintained prairie-style homes as you work your way up to snell isle bridge over coffee pot bayou. When C. Perry Snell began his efforts to develop his land here and on snell isle in 1911, he had in mind a very upscale residential area, where homeowners could feel they had really made it. He even went to europe to buy statues and shipped them back to give the development ambience. Evidently, his buyers saw his vision, too.
>> Vila: In all the neighborhoods of St. Pete that we've just visited, as holds true everywhere else, it's careful planning and vision teamed with a lot of creative thinking and homeowner's pride of place that determines how a neighborhood thrives or revives. Here in Bartlett Park, St. Petersburg neighborhood housing services is doing a lot to encourage first-time home buyers to take charge of the neighborhood in a sustainable way. There are two people who are especially interested in the success of our little project—Todd Pittman of NeighborWorks and Kelly Caffarelli of the Home Depot Foundation. Kelly, this is pretty impressive. Now, tell us a little bit about the role of your foundation, and what's this gonna cost, anyway?
>> Well, the Home Depot Foundation is in the business of building homes for people who don't have as much means as others, and it's gonna cost us about $150,000, but we're really pleased to be able to have this great house for a family soon.
>> Vila: And a really innovative house.
>> Absolutely, it brings a lot of different components together, not only using the steel construction that will resist hurricanes, but it's also very energy-efficient, water-efficient, and will have great indoor air quality, as well.
>> Vila: Yeah, it's not totally a green project, but it's close. And, Todd, tell us a little bit about the NeighborWorks.
>> Sure, Bob. You know, over the past five years, NeighborWorks has invested more than $10 billion in low-income communities all across the country, so we're extremely excited to have the opportunity to partner with our neighborworks affiliate here in St. Petersburg and our partner, the Home Depot Foundation, to provide affordable housing that's not only affordable. It's also environmentally friendly and storm-resistant.
>> Vila: So, we really have to commend the people of the community right here. Thanks, guys. Well, we're out of time. Next week, we'll be still working here. There's still other details to show you. Till then, i'm Bob Vila. Thanks for joining us. Looking for help on your next project? Visit Bobvila.Com for everything you need to get the job done right. You'll find show highlights, interactive tools for planning your next project, and helpful how-to articles for every room in your home. BobVila.com—the ultimate home site.
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 | Carpentry, Construction & Materials
• Barrow Construction - home building and general contracting services.
• Simpson Strongties - building safer structures with bolts, clips, straps, plates, tie-downs, and fasteners.
• Tampa Armature Works - converting steel shipping containers into building units.
Real Estate
• Home Depot Foundation - building affordable homes and strong communities through grants and partnership to non-profit organizations.
• NeighborWorks - a non-profit network improving communities and creating opportunities for home ownership since 1978.
• St. Petersburg Neighborhood Housing Services - home ownership services and education for low-income, first-time homebuyers.
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