Operating hours card
The front porch nobody sits on
The porch chair does not open for reading for an hour in any month of the year, at the hours this use happens.
The porch chair, for reading for an hour
The porch chair does not open for reading for an hour in any month of the year, at the hours this use happens.
Nothing here opens for reading for an hour at any point in the year. What it feels like shuts 6 months and privacy exposure shuts most of the others, so this is two problems rather than one — and a change that fixes either on its own still leaves a shut garden.
| January–December | shut | Shut for reading for an hour. What it feels like stops it in 6 of those months and privacy exposure in most of the rest. |
|---|
Every month, if you want the detail
The card above is the honest summary; this is what it summarises. Hours are the ones usable inside the part of the day this use actually happens in, on the fifteenth, in average conditions for the month.
| January | shut | What it feels like stops it |
|---|---|---|
| February | shut | What it feels like stops it |
| March | shut | What it feels like stops it |
| April | shut | What it feels like stops it |
| May | shut | Privacy exposure stops it |
| June | shut | Privacy exposure stops it |
| July | shut | Privacy exposure stops it |
| August | shut | Privacy exposure stops it |
| September | shut | Privacy exposure stops it |
| October | shut | Privacy exposure stops it |
| November | shut | What it feels like stops it |
| December | shut | What it feels like stops it |
Where this stops
- These hours are modelled from geometry and typical conditions for the month, not from a forecast. A cold snap, a still evening or a wet week moves them, and nothing here knows about the weather on any particular day.
- The reading is taken on the fifteenth of each month. Days at the edge of a season differ from the middle of it, which is why the shoulder months are the ones worth checking on the day rather than trusting to a card.
- 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 4 places: a structural engineer, a drainage engineer, an electrician and your planning authority.
Inferred from the time zone America/Chicago. 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 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 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 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 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.
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
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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