My goldfish pond

[CometKeith]

Mitch. Steel is pretty common here for "nicer" decks. The original plans had wood but the inspector said it wouldn't be a problem to make it out of steel. It will have cleaner lines and match our architecture more. Also more maintance free. All the decking including the steps on the stairs will be cedar. We are building a steel canope for it and also there will be steel on the side porch that is our main entrance. We have plenty of work for our carpenters so I don't mind they aren't doing it.

 

[sissy]

My neighbor has black painted steel and it looks nice and modern .I love it .

 

[MitchM]

Thanks. I've never come across a steel framed deck here in Alberta.

 

[sissy]

That is unusual since they say they hold up to snow load .They do a lot of the frames in Colorado with steel .I saw the show today and that is where they were building another massive deck .I guess it is like the tundra cookie they are building homes on in Alaska .They don't sink or affected by earthquakes or freeze and thaw

 

[MitchM]

That is unusual since they say they hold up to snow load .They do a lot of the frames in Colorado with steel .I saw the show today and that is where they were building another massive deck .I guess it is like the tundra cookie they are building homes on in Alaska .They don't sink or affected by earthquakes or freeze and thaw

It may because of corrosion from the salt on the roads that becomes airborne in the spring.
Powered salt getting on power lines causes a lot of power outages.
I don't think a steel deck would hold up here for too long, plus you have the fastener that holds down the decking. That would be a point of entry for corrosion.

 

[sissy]

Anything requires that you maintain it no matter what it is .Look at some of the bridges and dams failing here ,they don't maintain .I know in NJ potholes are like obstacles courses .Route 1 bridge there has not been maintained for years .

 

[CometKeith]

Mitch there are special fastners that are used to hold down the decking that won't corrode. Also there are a lot of recycled decking products that are used on them. Steel is not that unusual in Chicago for decks on more expensive projects. I guess it's a functon of what materials are readily available and it's pretty easy to get steel here at a reasonable price. We expect to get more light with the thinner frame and there are a lot more variations of design available. The cost is about 25-30% more than if we had gone with all wood. I recently sided and roofed someone's house with all 24 gauge steel in a black matte finish. It is a very modern looking house. Now that was pretty unusual but there are parts of the city where there is a lot of modern architecture and it fits in.

 

[herzausstahl]

Makes me glad they sand my neighborhood roads in winter. My truck is rusting efficiently enough but not horribly for a 2000 Silverado (I still have some rocker panel left lol). Keith I'd chalk any fish losses up to part of the cost of moving/construction at this point unfortunately & be ready to monitor more after your done. Do you need to add anything for it tenant wise in your future leases/for insurance? Or is part of your goal to let it be a perk for future renters? Still looking like a nice build tho!

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Nathan I'm not adding anything to the leases about extra insurance. So far we received three applications all at full price. There is a couple that I liked but they have a 2 year old and a 5 year old and a cat. I'm a little concerned about the small children around the pond. All the applicants are good though so I'm sure we will have nice neighbors whoever we pick. One is willing to move in June 15th and we are probably going to go with them. We are going to meet their dog on Saturday.

Well the pond was looking good so naturally I had to mess it up today by throwing in some food. When I saw it later in the day it was full of algae. I did see too large dragonflies flying all around the pond this morning so that was pretty exciting.

 

[CometKeith]

We bought the cedar for the porches today. We actually found a great deal at Lowes so we bought it all there. We met the new tenant's dog and she seemed very nice. Things are starting to come together finally. We still need to work with the fabricator for the steel railings we are getting for the interior stairs. I'm researching Chicago code versus the IRC code. It seems like the Chicago code is not as strict and we will probably build it to just meet that. All the algae dissapaited in the pond so hopefully things will be getting better.

 

[herzausstahl]

Thanks Nathan I'm not adding anything to the leases about extra insurance. So far we received three applications all at full price. There is a couple that I liked but they have a 2 year old and a 5 year old and a cat. I'm a little concerned about the small children around the pond. All the applicants are good though so I'm sure we will have nice neighbors whoever we pick. One is willing to move in June 15th and we are probably going to go with them. We are going to meet their dog on Saturday.

Well the pond was looking good so naturally I had to mess it up today by throwing in some food. When I saw it later in the day it was full of algae. I did see too large dragonflies flying all around the pond this morning so that was pretty exciting.

2/5 year old could be fun to watch running around but I get your concern with the pond. Given that you'll have renters, did you ever think of adding a 3' fence around it? Decorative & mostly see through of course but could put it back a few feet so as not to interfere with sitting around it or viewing from your apartment. Can't beat that piece of mind.

 

[CometKeith]

Hey Nathan, Yes it was big concern for me when building the pond that it would be "child" safe. For that reason I built a series of steps on one side so someone could easily walk out. I think it would have been fun with the kids but it also could have been a little noisy and hectic. We preferred to go the safer route. Also I wasn't crazy about them having a cat because I'm very allergic to cats. I'm sure the parents of the children were dissapointed. They were both extremely nce and I think they would have made great neighbors. We showed it to three couples and each one made an application. The couple we rented it too really loved the apartment. They have a dog that seemed really nice.
Here are a few pictures I took today. One of the pond. It gained a lot of water with all the rain we have been having. It was about a foot down since my pump started spraying water in the wrong direction. Now it's only a few inches down. The other is the progress of building the back porch. It's almost ready to be painted and decked with the cedar. They are working on the canope now. We decided to add this so our porch would be covered. It took a little figuring how to design it. It's actually a little higher than the gutter and is attached to the building with L brackets. We are working on the design of our side porch railing and canope tomorrow. The inside is going well. Naturally there are a few hicups but we are working through them. We are doing tile and cabinets now for our unit and will be ordering the kitchen countertop within the next week. We are planning on moving in mid June. yay!!

 

[herzausstahl]

Looking great! So what will you work on first after moving in? The pond or the apartment?

 

[CometKeith]

Thanks Nathan. Naturally the house.....My wife all along has maintained that our home needs to be done first before I finish the fishes home!
We picked out the paint color for the porch today. ..decided to go with matt black after looking at a lot of other colors. We need to paint the deck and install decking on at least the stairs before we can start installing our kitchen cabinets. We need to carry up a lazy susan cabinet up through the back door because it is too wide to go through any other opening. The manufacturer says it can't be tipped without the mechanical assmble falling apart.

 

[addy1]

One day you might be done!