mgbinspect

It turned out that the soffit vents were functional, as was Mike O's suspicion, but clearly this attic was way too hot, which I believe is due to two factors: 1. The front and rear accent gables are not cut through to the main attic and only have about a foot of soffit ventilation and maybe six feet of ridge - an oven. 2. Hip roof attics are especially difficult to ventilate. Of course, the builder has passed it off as typical attic temps for a very hot day, and done his best to wiggle out of any responsibility to improve the condition. I believe replacing the false gable vents and cutting some of the roof sheathing out to merge all the attic spaces would help a lot.

Not enough info there, Jeff. If you don't have photos, you must paint a pretty crystal clear picture so we can at least visualize your area concern.

Nice plan of attack, Mike. I mulled stucco over wire in my head and nixed it for a veriety of reasons.

That's my route as well. Spread my ashes on the Appalachian Trail and the open seas from the back of a cruise boat.

The cracked cap and painted surface accelerate the whole process. I would probably start with a new crown or cap flashing to prevent (or at least minimize) future moisture intrusion. Unfortunately, concrete masonry units are merely a cementicious sponge. So, you definitely want moisture to evaporate as easily as it is absorbed.

Of course, if we had anything to do with it, the box would have to be blower door tested. coated with state of the art sealants, surrounded with a perimeter drain and sump pump with a discharge a minimum of five feet from the mound, a radon remediation system, an operable Velux skykight (proper egress - after all it is in the basement) and a solar powered ventilation fan for proper air exchange.

It was after dark. The occuapant was out for the evening.

And, I always wondered how those orphan pieces of yellow and pink insulation end up in the middle of the forest. This is truly a revelation. [^]

Gee, that really seems to be a sub-standard (defective) concrete block? Or, something is possibly reacting with the materials? My guess, since you mention snow, is that maybe the damage is from excessive salt? Before you make any final decisions, consider contacting the National Concrete Masonry Association (NCMA) at www.ncma.org . I've seen this condition before, but it's been a long time. I'm confident that they've seen it before too and can offer you an explanation and reliable remedy. The NCMA is a wealth of knowledge and publications similar to the Brick Institute of America (BIA). Both organizations actually exist to represent and assist the materials manufacturing and distributing industries, so their complete collection of publications is very hard to come by. They seem to have a very detailed publication for practically any condition you can throw at them, explaining the probable cause and great solutions based upon their familiarity with their products. I used to have the entire binder of both organizations, which was endless fascinating reading. Then, I loaned them out.

I disagree with your opinion on the architectural drawings from the past. Around here when I see a set of drawings and specifications from an old house and I am impressed that the houses got built with so little information. You used to be able to give a carpenter an elevation of a house and tell him to make it look like the drawings. There were often technical mistakes (we see the results of these mistake when we inspect the houses now) but the old houses looked like the drawings. A typical set of drawings included a simple wall section, one plan for each floor and an elevation of each facade. A builder and his craftsman could be proud of their work when completed. Todaty we have to provide lots of technical details and inforation in order to get a building permit and hope that someone will actually look at them when the house is being built. The general lack of craftsmanship combined with the goal of building for the most profit has resulted in some bad homes. Many builders are just looking at the bottom line when they walk away from a completed home. They hire the cheapest sub contractors and the house suffers the results. I have many fights with crappy contractors when I am hired to do construction administration. The most common reply is "I have been doing it this way for __ (fill in the blank) years!" I tell them that they have been doing it wrong for that many years. On the other hand there are still a few old school good contractors that take pride in their work and are willing to make a little less money for a better result. I enjoy working with this type of contractor because they show me how I can improve my details and I am willing to learn from them. IMHO Opinions are bound to vary on a subject like this according to perspective. Accuracy is a separate issue. I know there were tons of times i was out in the field on both commercial and residential projects rather miffed that a proper detail was not in a set of drawings. In fact, on a number of occassions, I found myself submitting to the architect a missing detail for their approval so we could proceed. Similarly, during my days as a structural detailer, one had to anticipate what installers will need to fully understand the task. As I'm certain you will agree, a great set of drawings is far more about the renderer than any standard. If you can't visualize it, you can't build it. I suppose your opinion and mine are the best argument for why Desig/Build Construction works so well when properly managed. It was wonderful having qualified input from master tradesmen, throughout the design and pricing phases. Mike

It looks like they smeared concrete over 2X4's to create the illusion of a wide footing. I wonder how many times they got away with it? I was really hoping the deception wasn't quite that blatant. Maybe the foundation was installed over some construction debris in a few spots. We can only speculate now, that it's come to light fifty-two years later.

Aw.. I was mulling over the possibility of having one in the attic, where it could capitalize on endless on all the passive heat in the summer time and maybe recover a bit of lost heat in the Winter? Bad idea? Any thoughts or experience? M.

Marc posted it at the end of his message. - Jim Katen, Oregon Oh, OK. I thought maybe you were alluding to a new one you had come up with you liked more than the one Marc had posted. But, now that I re-read your post, I realize I read too fast. Thanks

Purchaser or seller? (Did you have to wait til' sundown for them to be able to come out and meet with you?) [:-vamp]

Actually, I've found the chart to work equally well across the board. Air conditioner, heat pump, different manufacturers, Freon, Puron, . . . none of it seems to matter. They all seem to be engineered to pull the same amount of energy out of each cubic foot of air that passes by them, given a certain temperature/humidity point. The feedback I get from the techs pretty much always backs up the chart. You've got a set of pressure gauges. Try it. Just remember that readings at the registers are going to be inaccurate if the ducts are screwed up. The best data comes from the plenums that are adjacent to the indoor coil. Of course the filter has to be clean and the coil can't be dirty, blah, blah, blah. - Jim Katen, Oregon I'd love to behold that chart. Can I? Can I? Can I? Huh? Huh? Huh?

Thanks for the heads up! It sure is sad when government authorities insist upon work being done by specialists who daily demonstrate that they have no pride in their work and really don't give a rat's butt. But, that's the government for you - always meaning well, but relying on the presumption that others do also... [:-banghea

Great video! I know I must be sick, but based upon everything I've observed during my life and career, I love that stuff (asbestos cement siding). Outside of being breakable due to blunt force, the stuff will outlive us, our kids, and grandkids. Lol. When people tell me they plan to remove or cover it, I always ask them, "Are you sure?" [:-spin] Almost any direction you go from that siding, short of brick masonry or stone, seems to be a step down, as far as durability. I wonder if there's any documentation of health problems among the installers of asbestos cement siding?

My high school architecture text books were pretty much based upon drawings from that era - a time when architectural drawings offered more detail than they ever had before or ever will again (amazing schedules of every component of a home right down to the species of wood to be used, hardware, and sectional drawings details that even showed the grain of the wood - beautiful stuff). If memory serves, footings were the norm. Also, construction from that time period was about as good as it would ever be as well. Tradesmen went through genuine formal apprenticeships to actually earn their titles as mechanics (masonry), master carpenters and plumbers, etc. (How novel). Your photos seem to be of someone that cut some corners. I don't believe that really reflects typical construction from that time period.

I wish I didn't see this setup almost every day. But, recently I've seen three builders actually use a metal insulated entry door to the attic, which is encouraging. I always recommend that folks weatherstrip and insulate hollow core attic doors.

I was unaware of that problem. Thanks for the warning, because I have definitely done it. I won't again, though without something to spread the load. This post may have just helped me avoid a disaster, and at 57 I don't mend like I used to.

The good news, other than forums like this, in seventeen years, the word OSHA has never come up as a concern or as a warning or citation. I think we're awfully small fish for them to try to fry (pun intended), not to mention being an ever moving target. Now in masonry, we had a visit or two from that gang - just keep an eye out for the guy with the camera.

2 packs here - one at work bent over laying brick with the smoke streaming back up into your face and one iin the evening to supplement the other things I was smokin' ... who me? Finally quit in 94 when I lit a cig and realized I had one going across the room in an ash tray. That did it.)

Oh yes, folks don't realize that we are duty bound contortionists - akin to rodents complete with everything but collapsible skulls, which some may even argue that feature...

That was truly the most moving and Summary worthy report comment I've ever read... [:-weepn] It cries for a subtitle... "Gone With the Wind" perhaps?

Getting back to the subject at hand, actually, I have a line called "Significant Inspection Limitations". It is there that I would bring up that the dishwasher has been removed and was not tested. Similarly, things like gas logs that can't be tested because the tank's empty. A few times early in my career I'd get calls about alleged defective stuff that wasn't even present the day of the inspection. So, in foreclosure homes, there's a lot that get's written in the "Significant Inspection Limitations" Section.