The building appears to have many signature details that were drawn for Usonian homes and buildings during the mid to late 40's thru the late 50's. Could have possibly been a home vs. current use as commercial space for American Family Insurance agent. The building is at 600 E. Main St. , Sun Prairie, WI. |
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END Pork Chops on your homes forever! Go Vegan free with a more Usonian "natural" approach. PROBLEM: Ever see developments and "poorly" designed Architect homes with "pork chops" on them? Well, I guess for those who don't understand what I am talking about, a "Pork chop" is the construction trade industry name for those "ugly" little things under the ends of roof edges that have tiny little fascia boards & tiny little amount of roofing sometimes even on them. Sometimes called "box eaves". Developers & owners & even sadly SOME Architects think they look FINE & accept these ugly elements as the ONLY options for how to "finish" the ends of roofs at ends of roofs over garages and dormers & home ends where a triangle wall is used under a roof. (see image #1 & #2 below) So - - how do we get rid of these UGLY items forever & go Vegan ---I recommend the Usonian approach which uses NO Pork Chop - Vegan free! How do you get that look? Simple - just have the contractors "keep" the rafter ends as they are ---CUT SQUARE ENDS.....DO NOT EVER EVER EVER Allow a contractor to CUT the rafter ends vertically for a vertical fascia board. That is the secret. (see image #3 & #4 below) Also -- NO water can ever go back under & travel to the undersides of your roof because water won't travel upward along the backsides of the soffits if done the way suggested. (see image # 8 & 9) Oh & yes, you can still add your "L.E.D." microlights that are solar powered below your roof overhangs and soffits without any problem....so what is holding you back? (see last image) Other Benefits: It looks better, functions better, reduces rain/ice damage/build-up, has better curb appeal & higher value when selling. Q: Is it cheaper or more expensive? A: CHEAPER as cost savings & time savings for contractor NOT to cut all rafter ends. A: Also it's cheaper as the fascia boards then are NOT longer in height, so instead of 1x12 used, or a 1x10, you use EXACTLY the true size of the rafter height. If you use 2x8 rafters, then it's a 1x8 fascia board. Note: Frank Lloyd Wright (the founder of the Usonian style) sometimes used (2) or (3) 1x boards overlapped in combination at the ends of rafters for the soffit overhangs ( see image #12 above). The look also allowed him to add a detailed "dentil" strip between the 2 or 3 lapped boards to create a nicer looking facia board look as well & adding shade/shadow and a character to an otherwise BORING Roofline edge of the time period for the late 30's thru end of 1959. Apprentices still at his School & practice called Taliesin Architects or (TAA) in Scottsdale STILL today along with students learn how to draw the details for these roof fascia boards and roof overhangs. Q: Why doesn't my contractor or Architect know about this and offer it as an option? A: GOOD question....ask "them" why they don't. Maybe they are unaware of it...OR sometimes contractors or other Architects have huge egos and THINK "their way" of doing roofs looks the best... --- So test question then is to ask yourself ---do YOU Like looking at it? If NO then tell them to get over themselves and do a nicer better looking roofline without pork chops. Tell them to do a "vegan" organic version and then SHOW them in pictures what that means. Research for you to see what you prefer as a solution: 1) Almost any home or building done by Mr. Wright, any of his apprentices over the last 60 years, and currently many of the students pictures of projects built show exactly what these look like. Note: I will also post pictures here of examples to use or learn from. 2)You can ALSO see "perfect" solution on most "craftsman" or "arts & Crafts" homes from the 20's & 30's. They have "open" underside of roof to expose the bottoms & sides of the rafters & then attach the outside fascia board that you see along the edge of the roofing so water can properly drip off with "metal flashing at the top edge of it & behind the fascia board or as aluminum facing on the fascia board....all are effective solutions. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
HERE IS MORE DATA I FOUND ONLINE ABOUT EXPLANATIONS/HISTORY of THESE UGLY PORK CHOPS... from website: http://www.builderonline.com/design/alternatives-to-the-pork-chop-eave-return_o << Even when builders work in varied styles, the pork chop eave lives on. As clunky as it is common, it has become almost universal in production housing: the emblem of all that’s cookie-cutter. It’s quick and easy—the raking fascia is built flush, with a triangular piece that covers up the end of the rafters and merges with the soffit below. The pork chop evolved from generations of builders trying to imitate homes with classical entablature and traditional eave construction. But because so much common knowledge about traditional form has been lost over the years, so, too, has the ability of consumers and professionals to discern what looks genuine and what doesn’t. Pork chop eaves happened because they were efficient and simple. They didn’t stray too far from a traditional solution. A logical builder will say, “It saves work—what’s the problem?” The problem is it looks terrible. The options shown here are variations that work with many house styles. The boxed rafter tail gives an uncluttered look with an overhang that offers strong shadow lines, though this one can be tricky to install if the roof slope is steeper than 8:12. The simpler boxed rafter tail has all the upsides of the boxed rafter tail but avoids the tough-to-install sloping soffit. Finally, the traditional return is suitable for any style from a Georgian Federal to a Craftsman cottage. Buyers who look at your houses probably won’t be pointing to the eaves and commenting on what a super job you did on that tricky return. But consumers have intuition about what’s authentic. They can sense the difference between the junk and the good stuff. A properly done eave return means one more trip up the ladder. But it’s attention well spent because it helps sell homes >>
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AuthorD. Dominique Watts - Archives
June 2019
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