Author: Tony Fallon

Lakefront porches are often the main entry during the Summer months.  Many people don’t bother with the front door since most often people are outside on the lakeside.  If there is not a lot of traffic expected in front of the chairs a six foot depth works.  In the pictured case we have a coffee table and some expected traffic and so an eight foot depth was picked.  On smaller lakefront lots sometimes the main entry is on the side of the house with a porch or deck that wraps around the house to the water as pictured in the sketch.

Whether to have metal roofs in Northern Climates is a topic that comes up frequently.  The feature of having snow and ice slide on down to the ground throughout the Winter and keep less weight on the roof is attractive.  The longevity of metal roofs is also a plus that draws people towards them.  They can be a louder option in a Summer’s rain which can be soothing to some and annoying to others.

I advise a number of things around metal roofs.  First is to not have any doors under any eaves in a Northern climate where ice and snow are a thing.  When the heavy, sharp snow and ice come tumbling down, we want it to land on the ground and not on people.  Care in what plantings are along the eaves too is something to navigate so that they aren’t routinely crushed each Winter.  Although there are add on items like snow brakes that theoretically protect one from sliding snow and ice at an eave, they can fail.  Better I think it best to use gables over all doors when a metal roof is afoot per the pictured project below.  We added all five of the gables to the pictured renovation below so as to keep things safe for people and vehicles.  Of course on the lakeside, the gables help with the view too!  Also, it is far better to use concealed fastener style standing seam metal roofs as pictured below versus exposed fastener style.  The exposed fastener style is much less expensive but opens one up to thousands of possible failure points at each fastener.

With the real old fashioned Winter of 2025-2026 ice dams again were afoot and people were reaching to me asking how to avoid.  I posted about this previously twice:  Win Win Solution for Ice Dams and Icicles and Ice Dams and so looking back at those two posts and this additional sharing hopefully helps.

Recently I was asked about ice dams by a daughter, neighbor, and client.  While talking to the client I looked over and saw a graphic illustration of what I have let people know about one half of the solution being a common roof temperature.  With unheated barns, the roof is default at a uniform roof temperature and so when snow melts it runs all the way to the ground.  Ice dams occur when there is a heated space with insufficient insulation to maintain a constant roof temperature from ridge through eave.  Adding insulation while double checking the the roof can take the added weight is the first solution.  The other half of the solutions are using waterproofing, commonly WR Grace bituthene also labeled ice dam and water shield under the shingles or developing a bit of metal roofing coming up from the eaves a bit.  The metal roofing does set one up for some sliding snow and ice that can damage and hurt and injure so it is important to not have this over doors by providing some gables.  Refitting a house with additional insulation is difficult but worth it.  Closed cell spray foam or foam board on top of the roof deck and overlay with a wood assembly and then more shingles.  Sometimes the wood assembly is complex to allow some venting.

One of the pics shows a barn attached to a house with the barn having no ice dams and the other is a restaurant with standard ice dams.

Twenty two years after designing the Fixed Based Operator, Port City Air building at Pease Tradeport, I received a call from the rep for the new owners wondering if I might be able to help in a pinch.  They have several divisions and one provides catering for flights coming in and out of Pease Tradeport.  This catering division was planning to shift locations to an existing building they had purchased and had planning board approval for.  The renovations and additions though all of the sudden had to occur very rapidly and they had gotten my name somehow from someone.  Funny thing is these new owners didn’t know that I had designed their first building with offices and hangar for private planes.  In all events, I was able to quickly assist and they were delighted.  The addition is mostly providing enclosure for the existing loading dock.  Tons of fun looping back in with the company and new owners.

A beautiful classical home is added to so as to allow for a future parent’s bedroom on the first floor.  We are underway despite the wonderful Winter.

A landmark 38,000 square foot building in Conway, New Hampshire originally was a retail building.  Recently it was a headquarters for a electric medical records software company.  With most of their staff shifting to remote work settings, the building became available.  A local family that owns a large amount of retail and hospitality resources pursued transforming the building to 24 apartments along with self storage and a new location for their administrative offices.  The apartments are hoped to allow for more affordable abodes by having a smaller 750 square or so footprint.  These single bedroom units have the bedrooms mostly situated in second floor lofts.  This was a bit like designing a 38,000 square foot watch so as to get the most amount of living space to fit within the existing footprint.  The size and complexity of the original design was quite a thing to measure and create the 3D model and drawings for.  It was quite a mind twister.  It was cool to only need four dormers with regards to the exterior modifications.

Twenty years after designing an addition to First Congregational Church in Ossipee, New Hampshire, I have been again asked to design an addition to the church that will both expand the worship space and shift the administration offices to the main building.  We are also looking at a new building for youth and functions.  Capital campaign time now!

A long term friend’s son and wife reached to me when they had an opportunity to build a lake house near their parents.  While many homes on lakes have walkout basements with the living space a story up, this couple opted for keeping the living space closer to the grade and lake.  A full width porch with Kitchen, Dining, and Living is a one story portion closer to the water built in the area of the original cottage.  Further back bedrooms and a garage step up as does the land.  The owners are keen on environmental and clean environ and I learned something new with some of the insulation being real wool from New Zealand.  Up to the first floor deck is Insulated Concrete forms which are a great energy saver too.