From renosteinke

One of my customers decided to make an addition to his restaraunt. They may know how to run an eatery- but, as these pics of the rear light show- they have no idea how to build!

The fixture...a 125 watt Mercury Vapor, was mounted to the rear of the building. They simply cut a hole in their new "roof" to make it fit!









[This message has been edited by electure (edited 04-08-2006).]

John,
This isn't your favourite restaurant again is it?.
Is there actually a roof above that sheet of Chip-board?.
What sort of a gang-nail plate is that, in behind that ceiling joist next to the light fitting?, something doesn't look right there.
125W MV lighting isn't exactly the lighting source of choice for candle-light dining, is this some sort of a utility area?.
One would hope so.

Here's the story... please seat your self first!!

Yes, it's my favorite restaraunt... 'nuff said :-)

When this place was built, local code required a light over the back door. That's what this light is.
A bit to the right, out of view, is the walk-in cooler. This was assembled from parts found in a scrap yard (not kidding!) and appended to the rear of the building, with a direct entry into the kitchen.
Since there was no engineering data available for this home-built cooler, the town wanted a roof over it for snow-loading purposes.

Thus, the restaraunt owners went to the handy home center, got some lumber, and cobbled together a "roof." They decided, while they were at it, to extend this roof along the rear of the building- enclosing the switchgear, water heater (gas fired), and making a storage / staging / smoking area.

There is no other roof above the chip board; that is snow that you see on it. The area near the wall is clear of snow due to a 16" overhanging eave from the 'real' roof. With the arrival of nice weather, they have laid some asphalt roll roofing over it.

The connector ("Nail plate") you ask about is made by "Simpson Strong Tie," and is commonly used here as you see. Used properly, they make quite a sturdy structure. The gang nails (rect. plates) you see connecting the vertical and horizontal wood pieces are NOT being used properly. A sharp eye will alos notice that the "rafters" are spaced too far apart and seriously undersized.

Also, it appears to me that in the first pic the furthest right rafter is not conneted to the piece below it (the tech name for it fails me). Wonder what happens when it shifts...

(spelling edit)

[This message has been edited by trobb (edited 06-11-2006).]

covering a walk-in cooler that might not support the weight of snow, with a roof that might not support the weight of snow? Seems a little pointless doesn't it?
-Will

Elviscat, I have posted other pics form this job. To say that this DIY "addition" set local records for code / zoning / planning violations would not be far from the truth!

These folks paid my bill promptly.... otherwise, they really put the CUSS in customer. The part of the job controlled by a general contractor wasn't much better. I actually had a guy setting ceramic floor tile around the feet of my ladder, while I was on the ladder, working!

I try - and sometimes it's really hard- to take pics that focus on one item. This can be hard to do, as hacks seem to delight in packing violations in at every opportunity!

For these pics, I wanted to focus on the silliness of cutting around the light- and the possibility that the light just might be hot enough to ignite the roof!

A good blaze would solve a lot:

* $150,000 of improvements.
* Remove an ugly eysore.
* Solve all the Code issues in one swoop.
* Melt any remaining snow.
* Save them felting over the lamp.
* They could do a pig roast.