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Yup, you beat me to it, Rob. I was about to correct my previous post. For some reason, roofers around here have nick named it selvedge, but it's not an asphalt product. As soon as I began researching it I realized the "name" is wrong. It is as you said 'modified bitument' which seems to be a pretty good and durable material. This is the material I was referring to: http://www.nombach.com/FlatRoofs.asp Sorry for the mix up. Mike

Mike and Danny, Judging by the size and consistency of the aggregate against the size of that screw driver blade and also considering the fact that Danny said it's rolled roofing, I'm guessing that what you're looking at is what's called "Selvedge" (Premium quality organic mat impregnated with asphalt saturant and high grade weathering asphalt.) It has an aggregate finish just like asphalt shingles, (typically white). It's put down with cold adhessive method. It actually has more the feel of modified rubber. It's a pretty durable roofing material. Good stuff! http://tamko.com/Portals/0/documents/19 ... pp_ins.pdf That gravel stop looks typical.

Apparently so, Jim and if Darren looks down this vent pipe from the roof it may smell a little worse than he's used to... [:-sour] [:-slaphap

Well, Mike, you're not alone. It was a part of my initial reaction too. It just looks like residual nastiness could end up dammed up in the vent pipe to me!

Yeah, I noticed the upward sloped connection which is most of the reason I said it looks as if things could end up where they don't belong along with Jim's thinking. I think the whole configuration and pipe size choice screams of amatuer work.

That's kinda what I was thinking too, but don't know plumbing standards to that degree.

I'm with you Fritz. It kinda looks as if things could end up where they don't belong. Also, that's a big vent pipe for a sink and shower!

"Take thees, Mike, EEZ GUUD for you!" [:-magnify "I gotta be me.... I gotta be me... " [:-slaphap

Interesting...

Ooops, My bad? I was gathering that a 240 was a "parallel circuit" made up of two 120s? Is that not so? This is becoming clearer, Jim and thanks for your patience and assistance. I just HATE accepting "because that's the way it is" or "just accept it." Comprehending hows and whys is so much more satisfying and sometimes far more useful in applying that understanding to troubleshooting and theory. Frankly, Jim and Bob, any time I'm truly learning, I'm having a flat out blast! "INPUT!"

Lol, I think this is profound, myself. When it comes to all but the most basic "codes" , to my shame, I'm pretty pitiful, (a code-check aholic) but this fascinates me.

Well, here's a fascinating little bit of food for thought. I had the pleasure of meeting with that master electrician again who said he had pondered my question and soon after I left recalled this interesting phenomenon regarding neutral wires: He explained that if you were able to turn off everything in a home and merely hook up two 2 amp light bulbs, one to each of the two 120 entry cables and turn on only one of the bulbs you'll read 2 amps at the neutral returning to the power company. However, if you turn on both bulbs, the neutral to the power company will now read "0"! He said that the neutral handles imbalanced load. That tid bit added with the fact that parallel circuits are said to enjoy decreased resistance and offer multiple paths for current to travel nails down the fact that in a 240 circuit the current may travel or return via it's own cable or the parallel cable and in fact ultimately seeks balance. Interesting!

Unless, of course, he elects to add a de-watering system with a life of the structure guarantee.

Bob, It is pretty common to see the masonry joints telegraphing through parged blockwork. Usually when we applied two coat parging to the exterior of basements before backfill the joints would show through like this the next day. Concrete block, especially older ones, are very porous and water easily passes through them. I believe that the joints give up their moisture slower because the material is more dense (simply sand and cement) and struck (tooled to a smooth slick cementicious finish)which is done to create a good weather resistant surface to the mortar joint. As far as the high readings at the bottom, the cores probably have water in them which is wicking up the block (if the cores aren't grouted). Water won't damage the blockwork. Concrete products reach the majority of the curing process in the first 28 days and under ideal conditions that last percentage of cure should take decades. (In an ideal world the half life of concrete is about 100 years) Actually, in the old days, concrete footings were earth or water cured. That is, buried or submerged to insure that the curing process would be purely a chemical process and not rushed by evaporation. So, as funny as this sounds, that wall (structurally) is bound to be as strong as could be hoped for providing static pressure doesn't actually heave it. Here's an article on the importance and methods of curing concrete products, which includes earth and water curing: http://www.nrmca.org/aboutconcrete/cips/11p.pdf I suspect that the exterior waterproofing was poorly done and/or no (or a poor) perimeter drain. When our masons would put a good cove along the cleaned off footing and two good thick coats of parging properly cured, a thick coat of tar and a perimeter drain our basements were always dry as a bone! But, our two coat parging ended up being pretty thick! (1.5" +/-) Parging is something that masons are notorious for skimping on not realizing just how critical a good thick coat is. I would not expect things to get any better or worse. What you see is what you get. That's just my guess.

You may have something there, Mike. I once repointed exterior brickwork and re-worked the fireplaces and chimneys and on an old Baptist church in North Fork, Virginia that a man had purchased and was renovating. I was there pretty early in the process but, his plan was to restore much of the original church area and claim the choir balcony for his residence. Hmmmm...

I'm guessing to easily view and greet whomever is in the parlor without having to come downstairs or lean over the rail?

I think it's already been answered! I had already reasoned and suspected that the only real possibility that made sense was what Chad has described and Jim has enhanced. I was merely hoping to have someone with complete understanding nail it down. Thanks to all! I think I'm good to go. PS. I do have a call into a local power company electrical engineer and if he offers a really enlightening explanation, I will share it here.

Ok, I think I've got it between Chad and Jim's explanations. But, it sounds as if my suspicion is correct that the opposite supply, be it black or white serves as the return or functions as a neatral would between waves back and forth so in a way there actually is "flow"? As Chad explained?

I've seen those sine waves. So, is current fromt the black wire completing the circuit through the backward milli-second surges on the white and the same on the white or is each returning on its own wire?... I guess I can't get past the flow of water and thinking it must pass through and beyond the unit to actually do "work".. Not to mention, without real current flow, how does the local power company meter sense that current has been used?

Well, first and foremost, I can't possibly thank you enough for your service, Bob! My son ran a catapult on the USS Stennis and as soon as he got off after an around the world cruise from Norfolk to San Diego to deliver it to the Pacific Fleet, my son-in-law got on the same boat as a navigator on an A-6 Prowler flying over "the sand box" for an extended stay at sea of 9 months. I had the pure pleasure of going out to sea on two Dependants day cruises on the Stennis and taking in two fabulous air shows and I also flew out to Washington State to see my son-in-law bring in his A-6 to be mothballed. Those planes were so tired that Kirk could no longer fly them at full throttle and into heavy g's because they'd come apart. Apparently, they had a lot of stress cracks in them and were pretty much "played out". He was happy to get out of it and go to the dessert in California to test-fly the new stuff for a while.

Oh, cool! Now heat pumps, I get! My HI school teacher used to own a company that actually built them and my dad was an engineer on the staff of the Architect of the Nations Capital providing Heating and Cooling to all the House and Senate office buildings on Capital Hill. I get water cooled and refrigerant systems. But Gas chillers... ugh... that's kinda like 240 w/o a neutral! I just know that propane is a natural refrigerant and once it's done the work it's burned off to complete the flow rather than returned to the tanks which would require a compressor. My travel trailer refrigerator runs off of it automatically when electricity isn't available. I'll trade ya! [:-magnify

Well, Bob, I guess that's the point of my question... and the part that isn't connecting in my pea sized brain... What's the return path with 240 w/o a neutral? Maybe I'm just pitifully stupid... [:-dunce] but, if I am.. I can accept that... [:-party] (When in doubt.. reach for the Redbreast, Johny Walker Black or Eagle Rare) SAVE ME FROM MYSELF, BOB!... OR SOMEBODY... [:-bigeyes [:-slaphap

Bob, Does this suck or what? Yeah, I need a color coded daigram with arrows etc. It's a mystery to me and obviously most non-electrical engineers. But, I'm chomping at the bit to understand!

Yup, you're right in that the ground is a fail-safe only protecting a particular unit from shorting. that is why current from the neutral doesn't travel back from the buss up a ground wire to another unit... no path to ground! Well, we know that current travels back and forth at the speed of light 100s of times per secnond on a 120 even when it is completed to ground via a neutral. (hence alternating current) Adding the two 120s together gives 240, which may not actually be the demand, but handles surges during peak demand... but still... it seems that somewhere along the path of a motor or compressor the energy needed must complete the circuit back to common ground or there would be "no flow"? What is the complete path of the current? That is the elussive question? Current reaching the motor goes where? According to the master electrician I spoke with, the amps will read the same on both sides of an appliance ( the hot and neutral) although the quality of the current he says is somehow different. This is not an easy question and I don't have the answer, but someone does... "Come batter... Come batter..."

I know! I was originally afraid to ask the question feeling a little bit ignorant or stupid, but it's a difficult concept to express and comprehend. So, to clarify the question, we know that current goes to a light bulb via the black "hot" wire and returns to ground via the white "neutral" wire. But, in the case of a 240 blower motor or a 240 compressor etc, with two hot wires where does the current go after performing the work? How does it complete the circuit back to the panel and on to the common ground? Apparently, very few understand what is truly occurring, and I think learning the concept and theory would be challenging and fascinating! So, as you say, Charlie, the lecture hall has grown to at least two... "Come batter!.. Come batter!... "