Standing Seam Metal Roof and Dry Stack Stone (Building Resilience Show)

In this final episode of season 3, we install standing seam metal roofing on the roof from ABC and dry stack manufactured stone on the walls
Sept. 2, 2024
8 min read

A standing seam metal roof caps the Stylish Shed, and a dry stack of manufactured stone fills the last space of the wall cladding. These two extremely durable cladding choices complement the other cladding and match their resilience. And that, after all, is what Building Resilience is all about.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

Last time on Building Resilience, we were installing a peel and stick roofing membrane that’s vapor open. We were snapping lines, cutting sheets, peeling backing, and sticking it down. Then we rolled it into the substrate like self-respecting carpenters do. And like clowns, too.

We're all familiar with ice and water shield. That's that peel and stick stuff you put around the eaves.  Typically from there, we switch over to a synthetic or some other kind of underlayment for the rest of the roof that's stapled down. Now  Benjamin Obdike has a product called VaporDry and VaporDry is a self accured membrane.

It's got a solid acrylic backing. Uh, and when you lay that down over the roof deck, you have continuous air sealing across the entire surface. However, one of the big advantages is unlike ice and water shield. which is vapor impermeable. This product is fully vapor permeable. This means that any moisture, any water that manages to get from the inside of the house up into the rafters or the truss area has the ability to get through this membrane and out into the world and away from all your wood products.

Another advantage of Obdike's vapor dry roofing underlayment is the ability to walk on the surface with confidence. Unlike a mechanically fastened system that's using a cap fastener or staple to hold it down to the roof deck, because it's continually adhered, it's insanely grippy and there's no sag, there's no movement in it as you walk across that surface.

—Michael Anschel, principle, OA Design + Build + Architecture

A ventilation channel below a metal roof

And as long as we’re walking along that surface, we rolled out a Cedar Breather ventilation mat. Abd, then we installed a standing seam metal roof over that. The roofing comes from ABC, which is as easy to remember as 123. Only different.

The roofing panels clip together and screw down, but before we can do that, we need to deal with the lower edge of the roof: the drip edge flashing.

Sections are installed along the bottom edge, sealed at the seams, and screwed down to the roof deck. A seal-down strip is added along the bottom edge to seal the bottom of the roof panel to the drip edge.

Standing seam metal roof locks into the drip edge

Before installing the roofing panels, they must be modified to tie into the drip edge. The edge seams need to be separated from the panel's bottom for about the first inch, so he measures, squares up lines, and snips the bottom free, so that it can be bent downward to create the interlocking hem.

The roofing panel slips in place, and he closes the hem with hand crimpers.

Clips are clipped onto the standing seam and screwed down to the roof deck. The next panel clips onto the seam, over the clips, and we’re back where we started.

As the crew works across the roof, they measure top and bottom to make sure they’re still square to the roof, and they keep rolling.

At the end of the day, the edges are covered with gable trim, and the ridge is finished with a wider trim for shed roofs. 

Manufactured stone is like the third coat in 3-coat stucco

Down on the ground, the masons are setting up to install some manufactured stone from Stoneworks on the remaining sections of the wall that have not been covered with cladding yet.

Before we can install stone, though, we need to install a couple of traditional stucco coats, beginning with a scratch coat and a brown coat. Before that, we need to install metal lath to the walls.

Before we can put the stone on, there's the prep work, and we all know that the prep work is maybe the most important part. And that starts right here. Usually with a double D or a tar paper as the WRB. In this case we have GP's force field on there and over that we have our rain screen, the slicker max.

The max is the fabric that keeps the mortar from getting inside the rain screen. Once we've got that in place, we put on the lath. Now, believe it or not, lath has a front, a back, a top and a bottom. In fact, it's so important that we install it the right way that we have lath inspections here. So the first step is the backside, which is the bumpy side.

We can feel it. So we want to make sure that the smooth side is forward.  Then the next step is, are we upside down? Are we right side up? If we're upside down, it's shiny.  If we're right side up, it's got a matte feeling to it. So when we have our inspections here, the inspector is going to feel that it's smooth, that it's installed flat, that there's no waves to it, and then he's going to shine a light at it to make sure that it's the dull side up.

Once that's in place, a scratch coat of mortar goes on.  And then the guys get to work. 

Like he said, there’s a little bit that goes into the prep work. First up, they install a weep screed at the bottom of the wall behind the rainscreen and WRB.

Next, they’ll install a metal lath on the wall and wait for an inspection. After the inspector gives the thumbs up, they add a scratch coat and a brown coat, just like with regular three-coat stucco, and now comes the manufactured stone.

Begin at the corner and alternate directions with each course. But don’t run up the corner just yet. Set the corner and the first course, then the second corner piece, filling some of the next course, and so on.

But let’s back up a little more and look at the jobsite setup.

Drystack stone installation begins with site protection

Before sticking rocks to the walls, the crew sticks some site protection in place. 
Blocks keep the scaffold from sinking into the flower beds and scratching the concrete, and the boss checks on this often.

They cover the stone path with plywood strips and use drop cloths to protect the landscape from mortar, which they begin mixing now.

Jose begins working at an outside corner. You can see the weep screed at the bottom of the wall embedded in the first couple of coats of stucco. This allows water out of the assembly and if installed level, provides a guide for this first course of stone. He uses a level to mark level lines atop each course he installs to keep it honest.

There are nubs along the edges of the Stone from the manufacturing process that Jose knocks off with his rock hammer when he installs a dry stack wall so that he can achieve a tighter look.

The dry stone is set in place to gauge the fit; the back is then buttered with mortar, and it is pressed in place. He works both sides of the corner, extending out as far as he can comfortably reach. In this case, it’s only a few feet over to the door in one direction and about a foot over to a stop where some exterior cabinetry will be installed in the other direction.

As with all stonework, the corners alternate in length. This first one extends to the right, the next one will extend to the left.

In the case of manufactured stone, it is an aesthetic choice, and in actual stone wall construction, it is a structural necessity. In general, stone masons try to bridge joints between stones in one course with stones on the next course.

As he works his way to the top of the cabinetry block-out, he must consider the height of the stones to make a smooth transition.

Cutting the stone is done with a wet saw, also known as a tile saw.

The next obstacle is a window. Jose runs a course under the window, leaving enough space to place a window sill afterward. He uses small chips as shims to even up courses until they are set up.

At the top of the window, he again finds a stone height that will align and allow a smooth course over and into the corner.

Lastly, he fills in the top of the wall the same way he fills in the rest of the wall: dry fitting, cutting, buttering the backs, and placing the stones.

Some cuts are a little more complicated than others, and sometimes, what seemed obvious at the top of the scaffolding gets a little foggy down at the wet saw.

But in the end, he cuts it once and sticks it on the wall. Filling in the rest is a matter of picking through the pile for the right pieces. Stepping back, we can see that the whole composition really looks great.

We’d like to thank all of the trade professionals who worked this season on Building Resilience, as well as the sponsors who sent the products to the jobsites so they’d have something to install. Because without products or professionals to install them, this would be a pretty boring show. Without viewers, it would be a complete waste of time, so thanks for watching. 
 

About the Author

Michael Anschel and Dan Morrison

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