The Love Builds, Inc., Blog

Hello Valued Customer!

This Post is about lasting exterior joinery; here in New Mexico we love the rustic look, but we also love things looking good and holding together over time! I show this example of our handiwork as we did a number of things that are special, which many builders don't take the time to do, to keep our work looking good. This lead photo is of Alan's Eschenbacher's Entry as it looks today. In the body of this post below, with the rope, I show this same detail as it looked when completed in the summer of 2011!

Normally considered a banal topic at best, drainage has a functional elegance when done well. Our customer’s crawl space was flooding. Too little slope and poor waterproofing were both factors, but a chronic reliance on “New Mexico dry” was also at play. Water against the foundation rusts the rebar within, weakening the footing, and can lead to the subsidence of the whole structure! Read un-fun $$$ spending!

Customers don't just want to keep out the rain; they want a look which inspires as well. This customer was interested in slate. Slate while beautiful, having a natural and organic irregular appearance, is heavy, weighing in at 10lbs per square foot! This requires doubling up the rafters. This is expensive! While looking for "slate" on line we discovered the DaVinci product. This epoxy/slate-powder fusion comes in at just 2lbs per square foot, has the top fire rating, and looks like true slate from even an up close inspection. And... its is 1/5 the price of true slate.