The famous and creative local architect Art Troutner utilized one of his recent inventions on this small but wonderfully detailed modern house located on Warm Springs Avenue in Boise, Idaho. The invention was a potential new product or system called Trus-Deck. This system was utilized for all-in-one roof support framing and finish system. The process of construction was one of threading the finished ceiling onto little connecting bars and small cord members between each joint in the ceiling and roof deck members. The result was a roof structure that was very thin. Trus-Deck was used in only a few of Mr. Troutner’s residences and never made it to market.
The house has an indoor pool surrounded by operable wood and glass doors. Unforeseen by Mr. Troutner at the time, the chlorine gas from the pool eventually corroded the metal bars and cords of the Trus-Deck system and the roof failed, drooping lazily over the swimming pool. Trout Architects was tasked with replacing the roof with a new system that would withstand the corrosive nature of the chlorine used in the pool. Trout Architects took it upon themselves to meticulously replace the roof structure with new and match the original design in thickness and finish.
The house is bisected in the middle by a barrel-vaulted skylight. This skylight provided a natural break in the Trus-Deck in one direction. However Mr. Troutner’s Trus-Deck system spans structurally in two directions. Therefore a steel beam with very small columns was delicately inserted below the edge of the skylight and just above the existing wood and glass pool doors. The Trus-Deck roof structural above the pool had to be completely removed. The new replacement roof system was comprised of galvanized steel joists that with the final wood ceiling applied, matched the original thickness and finish exactly. Great care was also applied to matching all interior and exterior trim.
