10. Cornice - Window and Exterior Doors

Cornice is what seals up your home. It is the installation of doors, windows, siding, fascia and soffit. Let's get started. The first thing your cornice crew is going to do is install your windows. After all of your windows are installed they should run your sheathing. There are several types of sheathing, you have deny board, Styrofoam, and some people will use O.S.B. covered with Tyvek are a similar material. Basic things to look for in window installation are the margins inside. From the inside of the home look at the distance from the wood framing and the edge of the window. The distance on the sides and top should be about the same. You don't have to worry about the bottom, because the trim carpenter will adjust for margin when he installs the window sill. the reason for installing windows prior to sheathing is that you want the sheathing to cover the window flanges to eliminate window leaks. Window leaks in masonry are especially troublesome . You end up with an eye sore masonry repair where your mortar and brick might not match. Some builders tape their flanges prior to installing their sheathing and others use deny board to insure they do not get leaks. During your pre-drywall walk you can ask what technique they used if it is not obvious. Your exterior doors are installed at this stage. construction doors might be used to protect your finished door. The door jamb will be your finished jamb. When installing exteriors doors there are several things you want to look for. You want to know what type of material is butting up to your door. Doors have different trim for different material. You have brick mold for brick and if it is siding you are going to have 1x4, are some type of trim with some width to cover the ends of the siding. Doors should never, I want to say that again - doors should never be butted up to the header cripple/stud. Doors should be tripled blocked on both sides. Exterior doors should be blocked at the hinges and the keeper. Exterior doors come with 3" screws attached to the jamb. These screws are to replace one screw in each hinge on the jamb. this will ensure that the door has an attachment through the blocks into the door header cripple. These blocks should not be continuous. these blocks allow for the vibrations that doors will get from opening and closing. I would recommend that your siding, fascia, soffit and all trim material be made of cement fiber board, Hardi is a well known brand. All soffit an fascia should be installed prior to your roof sheathing (called roof decking in some parts of the country) being installed. The reason for this is that you can not level and plumb your fascia correctly or with ease after the roof deck is installed. I know you are going to have someone tell you that they can, but I want you to know that if you look at homes done after deck you will notice the problem. Real quick, your rafter tails are at different lengths and need to be cut. You take a string line to the top of them and mark them so they are the same length. Now when I nail my sub-fascia to the ends they are already the same length and are nailed solidly to the rafter end, if I have the deck on I have cut my tails from the bottom and my deck is not even at the edges. To make my fascia straight I have to go to each rafter and pry my sub-fascia in and out if I go back at all. If you are using shingle mold now is the time to install. Shingle mold is usually a 1x2 attached at the top of your fascia. Some builders use shingle mold and some use Drip Edge. I personally prefer shingle mold for the look. Drip edge is metal and after time paint flakes off. When the cornice and roof is installed your home should be dry. When it rains, you should get no water inside the home with the exception of exterior door thresholds, if the threshold is not part of the door unit. After windows, exterior doors and your cornice is complete the home is ready for the roof sheathing installation. Depending on your part of the country you want to have the decker (roof sheathing installer) to cut deck for ridge vents. Your roofer will cut out for air hocs, roof vents and power vents. Generally your Construction Manager will claim a stage two (2) on his construction status report at this point in the process. Next - Rough Mechanicals