DIY Network

Gulf-Shores Home: Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season From "Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes" episode DBCV-107

Harry and Lundy Wilder's vacation home in Gulf Shores, AL.

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In this episode of DIY's Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes, we meet homeowners Lundy and Harry Wilder who acted as their own contractors on their unique waterfront home in Gulf Shores, Alabama.

In this segment the do-it-yourselfers talk about experiencing the aftermath Hurricane Ivan, and how their house held up to a direct hit by a serious hurricane.

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The house was built using DAC-Art material to help it withstand hurricanes.

After Lundy and Harry Wilder became enamored with Italian style architecture while vacationing in Italy, they decided to attempt to emulate that style when building a vacation home in Gulf Shores, Alabama. When they set out to build in this coastal region -- an area prone to hurricanes -- they wanted specifically to incorporate Italian design elements into hurricane resistant construction. To them, the stable stone and concrete structures like those they saw in Italy made sense for a home likely to be exposed to the harsh coastal weather. The building material they chose to achieve this look and stability is known as DAC-Art.

Gulf Shores Charm

Gulf Shores (figures A and B) is regarded as a relatively laid-back vacation area on Alabama's gulf coast. The area prides itself on its beautiful white-sand beaches, low-key atmosphere and spectacular sunsets It lacks the casinos and night life of some nearby resort areas, but has plenty in the way of outdoor activities like golf and sport fishing.

Figure A

Figure B

Figure C

The Wilders' unique vacation home is situated on Little Lagoon, a saltwater inlet accessible to the Gulf of Mexico by boat. Gulf Shores is about an hour from Mobile, Alabama (figure C) and an eight-hour drive from the Wilders' primary home in Memphis, Tennessee.

Trying to Reason with the Hurricane Season

The Wilders' lot on the inlet is located across a narrow body of water separated from the gulf only by a small barrier island. There is little protection from the force of a storm. The couple chose the specialized DAC-Art building material for its look, but also to withstand exposure to the winds and water of a hurricane. They also educated themselves thoroughly on building to withstand hurricanes and knowing the local building codes. They witnessed the results of their choice when Hurricane Ivan struck this area of the gulf coast in 2004.

On September 16, Ivan roared ashore leaving extensive damage in its path (figures D and E).

Figure D

Figure E

Figure F

"No photographs or verbal descriptions can describe what you see with your own eyes," says Lundy. "There were mountains of debris" (Figure F).

Though Gulf Shores sustained devastating damage, requiring many months of recovery and rebuilding, the Wilders' house sustained very little. In Lundy's own words: "The house was just as snug as a bug in a rug. It was like this tight little fortress."

Figure G

Closed wooden shudders protected the windows (figure G), and the stone turned away the water. Some of the electrical and mechanical equipment was ripped from the side of the house, and the rising water eventually did knock off some of the shutters which had to be repaired. But the windows, walls and roof held up.

The lesson learned with the electrical and mechanical equipment is that, in future additions to the house, the utilities will be installed within a DAC-Art chase to protect them as well.

	Figure H
	Figure I

Aside from the DAC-Art construction, other decisions that helped keep the house intact included special roofing and roof-framing (figure H and I). When deciding on a roofing material, Lundy interviewed a number of builders to find out which type had held up best during previous hurricanes. She found that a less expensive R-panel roof was actually more durable than the more standard standing-seam roof with clips.

For framing the roof, they went with trusses rather than stick-built framing. Once the trusses were bolted to the top plate, very stable beams were installed. Extreme winds coming under a less stable roof might have lifted it right off the house structure.

RESOURCES :

Investing in a Vacation Home for Pleasure and Profit
Author: James H. Boykin
Order this book from Amazon.com
Publisher: South-Western Educational Pub (2005)
ISBN: 0324314116

How a Second Home Can Be Your Best Investment: New, Tax-Free Methods for Using a Vacation Home for Recreation, Retirement and Investment
Authors: Tom Kelly, John Tuccillo
Order this book from Amazon.com
Publisher: McGraw-Hill (2004)
ISBN: 0071429700

Special Resources for Be Your Own Contractor: Vacation Homes, episode 107

DAC-Art Building Systems
Website: www.dac-art.net

Lundy Wilder's website
Website: www.scrapbookscrapbook.com