Property exposure brief
The patio that disappears into its own glass after dark
Outdoor sofa cannot be answered for sitting out after dark yet.
The property, as mapped
The patio that disappears into its own glass after dark at Los Angeles (demonstration). 1 places are being read, against 1 things that stand in the way.
| House | 19 ft | 100 per cent solid. Confirmed. |
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How Outdoor sofa behaves in September
Outdoor sofa cannot be answered for sitting out after dark yet.
Nothing in September clears what sitting out after dark needs here.
The sun reaches this spot from 7:00 AM and leaves it at 7:00 PM.
| Direct sun | 12.3 hours | of 12.3 hours of daylight |
|---|---|---|
| Sky visible from here | 78 per cent | House takes 100% |
| Usable light | 19.9 mol/m² a day |
Whether it works for sitting out after dark
We cannot say yet whether Outdoor sofa works for sitting out after dark, because privacy exposure is still unanswered.
| What it feels like | 52.8°F against at least 53.6°F | Radiant heat held by paving is what makes an evening terrace work at all. |
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What to try, cheapest first
Move the table 8.2 ft south-east is the smallest change that moves this. Move the table 8.2 ft south-east fixes what it feels like.
| Move the table 8.2 ft south-east | +4 | move it. It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season. |
|---|---|---|
| A second seat 19.7 ft south | +4 | move it. It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season. |
| Shield Kitchen through glass | +0 | an afternoon. It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season. |
| Two low shielded lights instead of one high one | +0 | an afternoon. It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season. |
| Raise the bed 1.3 ft | +3 | a project. It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season. |
| A paler paving | +0 | a build. It does not meaningfully change the beam in either season. |
What survives out here
Things stay wet here for 8 months of the year. That, and not rainfall, is what decides what survives. Natural rattan, jute and untreated rope is the family this place punishes hardest. Family behaviour is a starting point. The exact product still decides the outcome.
| Stainless steel | well suited | The surface here peaks near 109°F. Ask the supplier: Is it 304 or 316? Within a few miles of salt water that difference is the whole decision. |
|---|---|---|
| Tempered glass | well suited | Anything that stays damp grows something, whatever it is made of. Ask the supplier: What is the edge detail, and how will it be cleaned on the outside face? |
| Weathering steel | well suited | The surface here peaks near 109°F. Ask the supplier: Is this a genuine weathering grade, and what does the datasheet say about wet-dry cycling and about run-off staining? |
| Exterior porcelain paver | well suited | Anything that stays damp grows something, whatever it is made of. Ask the supplier: What is the slip classification, wet, and how is it being laid: pedestals, sand or mortar? |
| Gravel and self-binding aggregate | well suited | Anything that stays damp grows something, whatever it is made of. Ask the supplier: What size and shape is the aggregate, and is there an edge to keep it where it belongs? |
| Powder-coated aluminium | well suited | This spot takes about 1.17 MJ per square metre a day of ultraviolet in its harshest month. Ask the supplier: Is the powder coat rated to AAMA 2604 or 2605, and is the substrate marine-grade? |
What belongs here
About 28.2 moles of usable light a day with about 13 hours of direct sun in high summer. That is full sun, whatever the label on the plant says.
Of the groups in the reference set, rain garden and swale planting is the one that actually belongs in conditions like these. Anything planted here sits wet for 8 months of the year, so drainage is the decision before the plant is.
| Rain garden and swale planting | belongs here | Zone 9.1 is outside this group's usual range of 3 to 9. Hardiness is a floor, not a plan. Examples, not recommendations: Iris in damp ground; Switchgrass; Joe Pye weed in North America. |
|---|---|---|
| Moisture-loving marginal | will work | Zone 9.1 is outside this group's usual range of 3 to 9. Hardiness is a floor, not a plan. Examples, not recommendations: Astilbe; Ligularia; Iris sibirica. |
| Narrow upright evergreen screen | wrong place | This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does. Examples, not recommendations: Columnar hornbeam; Italian cypress in mild dry climates; Upright yew in cool climates. |
| Broad evergreen hedge | wrong place | This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does. Examples, not recommendations: Yew; Portuguese laurel; Holly. |
| Deciduous hedge that holds its leaves | wrong place | This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does. Examples, not recommendations: Beech; Hornbeam. |
| Medium deciduous shade tree | wrong place | This spot sits wetter than this group tolerates. Wet feet kill far more plants than cold does. Examples, not recommendations: Field maple; Serviceberry; Hop hornbeam. |
What to measure before spending anything
Ranked by how far the answer actually moves across the plausible range, not by a checklist.
| Who can actually see in | sit there | Sit where you actually sit and look around. Mark the one window or path you can see a person from. Until one exists, privacy is a question we are not answering rather than one that is fine. This is not a refinement. Nothing can answer this question until somebody marks it. |
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The year at a glance
| Jan | 9 h sun | 5.4 mol light, would not dry within the day |
|---|---|---|
| Feb | 10 h sun | 9.9 mol light, would not dry within the day |
| Mar | 12 h sun | 16.2 mol light, would not dry within the day |
| Apr | 13 h sun | 24.8 mol light, would not dry within the day |
| May | 14 h sun | 30.7 mol light |
| Jun | 13 h sun | 33.8 mol light |
| Jul | 13 h sun | 33.3 mol light |
| Aug | 14 h sun | 27.7 mol light |
| Sep | 13 h sun | 19.7 mol light, would not dry within the day |
| Oct | 11 h sun | 11.6 mol light, would not dry within the day |
| Nov | 9 h sun | 6.3 mol light, would not dry within the day |
| Dec | 9 h sun | 4.3 mol light, would not dry within the day |
Where this stops
- Anything involving permanent wiring is an electrician's work.
- Permanent exterior circuits need code-compliant wiring.
- Standing water against a building, or water that has nowhere to go once it leaves, is a drainage question rather than a planting one.
- Slip classification, falls to drainage and substrate are the paving specification, not a colour choice.
- This is a decision instrument. It models sun, shade, sightlines, radiant heat and drying from the geometry it was given. It is not a structural, drainage, electrical or planning assessment, and it does not replace one.
Who to ask, and what to ask them
Everything this reading cannot answer goes to 6 places: a structural engineer, a drainage engineer, an electrician, your planning authority, local planting advice and the manufacturer.
Inferred from the time zone America/Los_Angeles. A time zone identifies a country reasonably well and a county not at all, so nothing below is local to you.
A licensed professional engineer (PE), structural
Whether a wall, deck, post or fixing carries the thing you are proposing is a calculation about materials and connections. This product models sun, wind exposure and sightlines; it has never been told what the wall is made of or how the deck is framed.
Take these questions
- Will this fixing or footing carry the load, in the wind this site actually gets?
- What has to be opened up or exposed before that can be answered?
- Is there a version of this that avoids a structural question altogether?
Take these with you
- The contractor packet from this property, which has the dimensions and where each came from
- Photographs of the wall or frame the thing would fix to
- Anything you know about what is behind the surface
Where the register is
NCEES — licensure and verification — Licensing is by state; this points at the board that holds your state's register.
The line in this document that sends you here
- This is a decision instrument. It models sun, shade, sightlines, radiant heat and drying from the geometry it was given. It is not a structural, drainage, electrical or planning assessment, and it does not replace one.
A drainage contractor or civil engineer
This product reads how long a surface stays wet from sun, shelter and shade. It does not know where the water goes afterwards, what the ground is made of below the top few inches, or what your drains are connected to.
Take these questions
- Where is this water going now, and where would it go after the change?
- Is there a connection or a soakaway involved, and is that something I am allowed to alter?
- What would a percolation or infiltration test cost here before anybody designs anything?
Take these with you
- The wetness reading and the months it is worst in
- Where the downspouts land and where water stands after rain
- Any drainage drawing that came with the property
Where the register is
USDA NRCS — Web Soil Survey — Free drainage class and infiltration context for your parcel, before you pay anybody.
The 3 lines in this document that send you here
- Standing water against a building, or water that has nowhere to go once it leaves, is a drainage question rather than a planting one.
- Slip classification, falls to drainage and substrate are the paving specification, not a colour choice.
- This is a decision instrument. It models sun, shade, sightlines, radiant heat and drying from the geometry it was given. It is not a structural, drainage, electrical or planning assessment, and it does not replace one.
A licensed electrician
Outdoor lighting and anything powered near water is a wiring question with a legal answer, and this product models the light rather than the circuit.
Take these questions
- Is this circuit suitable for outdoors and for the distance involved?
- What protection does this need, and does the work have to be certified or inspected?
- Can the fixture be aimed or shielded the way I need without changing the wiring?
Take these with you
- Where the fixtures would go and what they are pointed at
- The distance from the nearest existing supply
Where the register is
Your state or county building department — Permitting and licence checks are local; the state consumer office lists who holds them.
The 3 lines in this document that send you here
- Anything involving permanent wiring is an electrician's work.
- Permanent exterior circuits need code-compliant wiring.
- This is a decision instrument. It models sun, shade, sightlines, radiant heat and drying from the geometry it was given. It is not a structural, drainage, electrical or planning assessment, and it does not replace one.
Your city or county planning and building department
Whether you are allowed to build a thing is decided by a local rule set that varies street by street. This product has no idea which rules apply to your address, and anything it said about consent would be a guess dressed as an answer.
Take these questions
- Does this need consent at this height, this footprint and this distance from the boundary?
- Is there anything specific to this property — a conservation designation, a covenant, an easement, an HOA rule?
- If it does not need consent, is there anything that would make it need one?
Take these with you
- The dimensions and the position relative to the boundary, which the contractor packet already states
- A site plan showing where it sits
- The property address, which is what everything above is actually keyed to
Where the register is
USA.gov — find your local government — Permits and setbacks are city or county; this finds the office that issues them.
The line in this document that sends you here
- This is a decision instrument. It models sun, shade, sightlines, radiant heat and drying from the geometry it was given. It is not a structural, drainage, electrical or planning assessment, and it does not replace one.
Your county Cooperative Extension office
This product names the kind of plant a place suits — the light, the moisture, the exposure it has to survive — and stops short of naming a species, because which species does that job well is a regional answer and a wrong one costs a season.
Take these questions
- What grows here that wants this much light and this much water?
- Which of those is a problem locally — invasive, disease-prone, or wrong for this soil?
- What is the honest mature size, rather than the label size?
Take these with you
- The light and moisture reading for the bed, which is the part most advice has to guess at
- Your hardiness zone if it is known, and the coldest temperature the place actually reaches
- A photograph of the bed at the hour it gets its light
Where the register is
USDA — find your Cooperative Extension office — Free, local, and the single most under-used resource in American gardening.
USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map — Your zone, from your postcode.
The line in this document that sends you here
- Standing water against a building, or water that has nowhere to go once it leaves, is a drainage question rather than a planting one.
The manufacturer or an approved installer
Wind ratings, fixing patterns and warranty conditions belong to whoever made the thing. This product can say what a change would do to the reading; it cannot say what voids the guarantee.
Take these questions
- What is the wind rating, and in what mounting?
- What does the warranty require of the installation and the maintenance?
- What is the actual lead time and what does it look like in five years?
Take these with you
- The exposure this product measured, including the windiest month
- The fixing surface you actually have
No register is named here, because this router does not know which country holds one for you. The questions above are the same wherever you are.
The line in this document that sends you here
- Slip classification, falls to drainage and substrate are the paving specification, not a colour choice.
Nothing here says what the answer will be. These are registers rather than recommendations, and a name on one is a qualification rather than an endorsement.
What this was built on
- NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Solar Calculation Details
- ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals, Climatic Design Information, clear-sky solar model
- Oke; Steyn, Boundary Layer Climates and the sky view factor method
- ASHRAE Standard 55, Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy
- International Journal of Climatology, Thorsson and others, Different methods for estimating the mean radiant temperature in an outdoor urban setting
- DarkSky International, Five Principles for Responsible Outdoor Lighting
- Proceedings of the Royal Society A, Penman, Natural evaporation from open water, bare soil and grass
- Royal Horticultural Society, Plant selection and site assessment guidance
- US Environmental Protection Agency, Using Cool Pavements to Reduce Heat Islands
- ISO 9223, Corrosion of metals and alloys, corrosivity of atmospheres
- ASTM and DIN 51130 ramp test, Slip resistance classification for pedestrian surfaces
- ASTM C666, Resistance of concrete to rapid freezing and thawing
- American Architectural Manufacturers Association, Voluntary specifications for high performance organic coatings on aluminium
- Purdue University Horticulture, Faust and others, Daily light integral as a design metric for plant growth
- USDA Agricultural Research Service, Plant Hardiness Zone Map
The property record itself can be exported as a file and carried to another device. Nothing about this property has left your device unless you chose to send it somewhere.
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