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- Storm-Ready Design > Episode 7: Storm-Ready Stucco Paint, Foyer Tile, and Textured Finishes
Applying Durable Exterior Paint Formulated for a Subtropical Climate
Project: Storm-Ready Design, Episode 7, Part 1
Bob joins Tim McLaughlin from Color Wheel Paints and Coatings as the crew applies the Flex Lox Masonry Coating System to the exterior of the house. Flex Lox protects masonry and stucco finishes from water infiltration through cracks and stands up to South Florida’s damaging sun, heat, wind, and humidity. The crew sprays a finish coat over the primed surface to 10mil thick and wet rolls it to fill in the stucco. The Flex Lox dries to 5mil thick and expands to cover hairline cracks that might lead to water penetration from wind-driven rain. On the inside, Bob watches as Pocelanosa tile is installed in the entry foyer. Fired for maximum durability with an oxidized look, these tiles are contemporary in styling, offset to give a staggered pattern, and framed with small glass tiles in shades of stone and metal. In the bedroom, Doug Frueh of West Coast Drywall sprays the DensArmor fiberglass-faced walls with Magnum, a dry powder mix that is blended with water and sprayed on with an airless sprayer. The compound is quickly troweled before it sets to give a textured look to interior walls. Jim Trottier of RBP Trim installs eight foot pre-hung doors throughout the Punta Gorda home.
- Part 1: Applying Durable Exterior Paint Formulated for a Subtropical Climate
- Jim McLaughlin from Color Wheel Paints and Coatings is with Bob as the house is sprayed with its finish coat of the Flex Lox Masonry Coating System. McLaughlin explains how a subtropical climate like South Florida's degrades a paint surface with its heat, sun, and damaging UV rays, forcing it to crack and peel. Bob watches as the crew sprays on the terra cotta colored Flex Lox finish coat over a lighter primer. McLaughlin explains that using a lighter shade underneath helps the crew to avoid skips and maintain solid coverage across the surface. The crew uses a sprayer set at 2,000 psi (pounds per square inch) to apply a heavy finish coat that is wet rolled to push the paint into the nooks and crannies of the heavily textured surface. Flex Lox is a hybrid latex and elastomeric surface coating that stretches to cover surface cracks and voids. McLaughlin uses a water force test to show how the Flex Lox protects against water infiltration with wind-driven rain. McLaughlin uses a block of stucco with two rilem tubes protruding and a hairline crack running across its face. The left side is painted with a traditional 3 mil thick coat of latex acrylic paint. The right side is covered with Flex Lox built up to 8 mils thick. When the water is poured into the tubes its force is equal to that of rain hitting the surface at 88 miles per hour. The water immediately breaks through the crack under the latex paint but does not break through the Flex Lox. McLaughlin also shows Bob the tool that is used to measure the thickness of each coat at application. With the Flex Lox system, the goal is to apply the finish coat to 10 mils thick and let it dry to 5 mils.
- Part 2: Laying Porcelain Oxidized-Look Tiles
- Part 3: Applying a Textured Finish to the Drywall Interior Walls
When a hurricane hits, it's not just the house that's endangered, it's the homeowners, the neighbors, and the community. When hurricanes strike again and again, as they did in Florida in 2004, the effects are devastating. In Season 1 of Bob Vila, Bob works with FLASH -- the Federal Alliance for Safe Homes -- to completely rebuild a home that was destroyed in Punta Gorda, Florida. Using current technology and new standards for storm-ready housing, Bob and the crew build a new home of pre-cast concrete that is cast in place with a structural system designed for integrity. Bob looks at the key elements of a home and how they protect or compromise the overall structure when high winds and wind-borne rain strike, as well as why some building systems fail and others succeed. The new Punta Gorda home will feature integral roof and envelope tie-down systems, advanced roof trussing technologies, and impact-resistant windows. Working with the builder, FLASH, and FEMA, Bob learns how current building codes are making new and upgraded housing safer for Florida residents. He also visits a home under repair and looks at how to guard against further damage to your home and surrounding homes while fixing damage from a first storm.
Also from Storm-Ready Design
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Episode 1 - Rebuilding to Beat a Hurricane
Description:
Bob is in hurricane battered Punta Gorda, Florida, to build a storm-ready home in Season 1 of Bob Vila. Bob visits two homes in the same neighborhood, one that was completely destroyed by Hurricane Charley in August 2004, the other that was built to exceed hurricane codes and was left unscathed by hurricane winds and water from the same storm. Scott Buescher of Mercedes Homes shows how enhanced building practices and technologies can create a storm-resistant home, while Lieutenant Governor Toni Jennings and Secretary of Community Affairs Thaddeus Cohen discuss rebuilding Florida. Building inspector Randy Cole and Mercedes Homes’ Jesse Gonzalez review the site and watch the pour of a three-stage steam wall that sits below grade and ties the slab foundation to the ground. The resulting foundation will resist water penetration from storm surge by allowing water to move around the foundation without encountering entry points. Bob reviews the house plans with Scott Buescher of Mercedes Homes and learns how the house is constructed as an integrated system. Building connections are emphasized and reinforced rebar and steel mesh are extended from the stem wall to the roof line in preparation for the solid concrete pour that will form the exterior walls. -
Episode 2 - Building a Reinforced Concrete House
Description:
Bob recaps construction of the stem-wall foundation and integral concrete slab, the vertical steel reinforcing, steel mesh, window bucks, headers, and spacers put in place for the cast-in-place concrete walls. Cameron Parker and the crew of Solid Wall Systems spray the aluminum wall forms with an organic oil spray to prevent adhesion from the concrete and set the forms for the pour. Bob joins Wayne Sallade, Charlotte County Emergency Manager, to review cleanup, demolition, and repair one year after Hurricane Charley. sallade explains that housing built in the 1960s through the 1980s, before the Florida Unified Building Code, had stick framing, gable roofs, and siding. "It didn't stand a chance," he says. Looking at surviving 1920s Florida architecture, it's clear that unified construction, concrete walls, protected windows, and hip roofsare the way to design wind-resistant homes. Back on site, bob watches the pour, learns how the walls and window openings will be vibrated to eliminate voids, and sees the bracing set to hold the walls square before leaving the site to let it cure overnight. Once the forms are removed, Jesse Gonzalez explains how a traditional three-coat Florida plaster job will complete the exterior once the structure has cured for two weeks. -
Episode 3 - Building a Storm-Ready Roof
Description:
This episode of Bob Vila will focus on roofs, how they are built and tied down to keep structures safe. Leslie Chapman-Henderson from FLASH, the Federal Alliance for Safe Housing, explains how FLASH brings information about safe housing technologies and practices to homes across America, to protect them against floods, winds, hail, and wildfires. Chapman-Henderson explains how a connected house works as a system to beat back the pushing and pulling forces of wind. Randy Shackelford of Simpson Strong-Tie shows Bob the embedded truss anchors that will tie down each truss member of the roof framing, as well as retrofit tie-downs and heavy connectors designed to fight wind uplift forces. Jesse Gonzalez walks Bob through the steel-framed interior that has a master suite and bath, and lots of open space. Bart Cox of Hanson Roof Tiles brings factory-extruded cement clay-look tiles that are pre-drilled for mechanical installation. Dave Peck of D. Peck Roofing explains that stiffer 5/8-inch plywood sheathing, 30 pound felt that is nailed, hot mopped with asphalt, and covered with 90 pound felt makes a strong, water-resistant roof deck for the tiles. Metal nailer boards keep cap tiles in place when wind strikes. -
Episode 4 - Impact-Resistant Windows for a Storm-Ready Home
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Episode 5 - Storm-Ready Doors, Fiberglass Wallboard, and Power Backup
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Episode 6 - Faux Columns and a Gunite Pool
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Episode 8 - Concrete Color Staining, Soffits, and Energy Efficiency
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Episode 9 - Kitchen Finishes for the Storm-Ready House
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Episode 10 - Pool Deck, Toto Washlet, and Wind-Proof Garage Door
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Episode 11 - Sustainable Landscaping, Water Use, and Termite Control
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Episode 12 - Hurricane-Safe Pool Structures, Pool Mechanicals, and Safety
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Episode 13 - Surge Protection, Plumbing, Bamboo Blinds and Garden
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Episode 14 - Completing the Punta Gorda Storm-Ready House
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