hausdok

Go to the free downloads forum. I published some information about a free flat roof manual a while back. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Go here: http://www.benjaminobdyke.com/visitor/s ... entilation OT - OF!!! M.

Geez, Thanks loads, Mike. I didn't understand a single word. Just one more thing to make me feel dumber than I already am. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

2ppm is just about what you'd get in a house where a smoker is present or where they'd been cooking on a gas stove. Sounds like they should call the HVAC firm and say, "Hey, just what the hell does all that mean, Bubba?" ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Just a guess, but maybe the HVAC guy was planning to use air scavenged from the garage to replace air in the home with a timer. We have systems in garages here with an air intake duct on a damper and a timer. They're set up to periodically open up and allow fresh ourside air to flow into the home through the returns as a fan in the home kicks in. Maybe this was the HVAC guy's intent but he's got his head tucked up his bottom. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Uh huh, see #2 above. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, the first thing I'd be wondering is whether every row of comp shingles is telegraphing up through the surface and resulting in a roof plane that isn't consistent. The old comp roof, with another layer of felt on top of it, though not ideal is probably the equivalent to the two layers of felt underlayment that's required, no? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Just install some thin spacer blocks along either side of a ridge vent gap, install some sheating along the ridge to form the raised vent and then use shakes to cover it. Lots of insects and bats down that way, right? If so, maybe use some fiber cedar breather material under the ridge to keep critters out. Have you downloaded an installation manual from http://www.cedarbureau.org ? If not, that's the first place to go. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Apparently, life as a P.O. can be very hazardous - especially when the parolee has a dangerous pet gold fish. Jeez, is it only in California where things are this nutty? Click Here! [:-bonc01]

By Lisa Bolivar Treasure Coast homeowners who missed out on free wind mitigation inspections during the My Safe Florida Home Program may have another chance. The program allowed for qualified home owners who passed the inspection to take advantage of discounts on home insurance policies, but exhausted its funding for free inspections in 2008, said Tanya Smith of Quorum Services in Tampa. Quorum Services, along with JVI and WB Sanders Inspections and six other state-approved inspection companies are being authorized by the Florida Department of Financial Services to conduct a limited number of inspections on a first-come, first-serve basis free to homeowners. Inspections are expected to be done starting mid-January, said Tami Torres, My Safe Florida Home program administrator. To read more in the Treasury Coast Palm click here.

By Randy Eagar As it did over 300 times last year, Google is planning to unveil an updated algorithm. This one is going to change things dramatically. It will place much more emphasis on the user’s experience within their website. How are they going to do this? In a word, analytics. Many of you probably have a “tracking programâ€

Aw, go back to your bong, Mike

A Heartland man is in trouble with the law, and probably wishes he had hired a different home inspector. The suspect was cited for possession of marijuana, and drug paraphernalia. The home inspector is a U.S. Probation Officer, who picked up a second job as a home inspector. According to the police report the probation officer was inspecting a home in the Morton Middle School Neighborhood near I-680 and Fort, when he noticed a baggie with what he believed was marijuana in it next to a recliner. To read more at WOWT.com, click here.

I wonder if they neglected to leave the proper gap under that ridge vent. Not sure why/if that would contribute to noise; I'm just wondering. Maybe replacing the old roof has released the hounds of hell. OT - OF!!! M.

To everyone in the TIJ family, Kurt, Rich, Bill, Jimmy, Scott, Jim K., Chad, Bonnie, Mike B., Rose B. myself, and everyone else at the TIJ team want to wish each and every one of you a safe, prosperous and H Aid="orange"> P Pid="green"> Y id="blue"> Nid="limegreen"> E Wid="green"> Yid="orange"> E Aid="teal"> Rid="maroon"> ! !id="green"> ! id="blue"> [:-party]id="size6">

I got it from the Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau (http://www.nwcb.org) when I went through their EIFS inspection/repair course a few years ago. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yeah, there'll be a gap between the brick and the sheathed framing. There will be a single thin layer of felt covering the sheathing behind the brick and the through-wall flashing will be the bottom of that felt where extends to the face of the brick beneath the bottom row of bricks on top of the foundation wall. I've seen brick veneer with weeps going way back to the 20's here. Out of thousands, I've only seen rope wicks in a few though. The question is whether the system will drain properly or not. I think that if it is stucco, they probably would have applied an extruded metal lath over the brickwork first, because the stucco needs to be able to expand and contract independently of the wall. That lath should provide a drainage plane, and, if they've used a proper termination bead/weep screed at the bottom of the wall, it shouldn't be a problem. However, it looks like the walls go all the way to grade and might even have the yard applied against them - which is commonly seen here, and there isn't any expansion joint at the floor line where you'd want to see one in either a stucco or an EIFS application. If they've used dryvit on top of stucco, without configuring any expansion/accessory joints in the stucco, I think they're going to have problems with it as the stucco, veneer, and EIFS all struggle to expand and contract independently of one another. It should be an interesting job. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yeah, I looked at the photos. It's an EIFS application. I can't tell from the pictures whether they've properly detailed the windows and doors and I'm a little bit concerned because it looks like the applicator applied that stuff all the way to the flatwork and didn't leave it clear to drain at the bottom of the wall. If you'd like to bone up on EIFS before Friday, you can borrow my EIFS Existing Construction Inspection, maintenance and Repair Guide by Robert Thomas; the guy who was the Dryvit General Manager for more than a decade. I'll be out running some errands today; where will you be? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Brad, Well, it sounds like he's added E.I.F.S. and plantons over the veneer; not stucco. If the veneer had been draining well before the application of the EIFS over it, and if the EIFS was done properly and there is a way for any moisture that gets behind the EIFS to get out via the same route it's always gotten out of the veneer it will probably be fine. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Washington, D.C. - Release# 09-078 Today, Taunton Press, in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, voluntarily recalled two separate electrical how-to books that contained improper instructions that could put consumers at risk. The books recalled were Wiring a House, 3rd Edition by Rex Cauldwell and Wiring Complete, Expert Advice from Start to Finish and the total number of books recalled is about 64,000. Taunton advises consumers to immediately stop using the books and return them to the place of purchase for a full refund. For additional information contact Taunton Press at (800) 477-8727 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday, or visit the firm’s Web site www.taunton.com. To see a copy of the official CPSC recall notice click here. TIJ thanks Douglas Hansen, author of Electrical Inspection of Existing Dwellings for bringing this to our attention.

Send me a plane ticket; I'll be happy to deal with it for you. Uh, don't think I've ever seen Dryvit used in any attics. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, when you think about it, plank and beam framing makes perfect sense in earthquake country because you don't have any rim boards or joists to rotate and the ends of the beams are end-trapped inside of the walls so that they can't rotate off their piers. It makes for a very solid floor that stays in one place when the ground around the house is squirreling every which way. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Mike Very Kewl! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Actually, I guess I should have mentioned that the pipe burst behind the cabinet under the kitchen sink. The sillcock was immediately on the other side of the wall from the kitchen cabinet and is fed by the same pipe that feeds the kitchen sink. The kitchen sink is in the corner with the sillcock teed off just below the floor. The hose full of water froze, the water in the sillcock froze and then the water in the pipe froze all the way back up into the unheated area behind the cabinet in the corner. If the hose hadn't been hooked up it would have been fine; unfortunately, it was. The pipe burst above floor level beneath the sink just under the angle stop and apparently water was running in there for at least a day before it was discovered. The water simply sprayed everything under the sink, drained under the flooring and out of the cabinet and spread out over 100% of the first floor and drained into the crawlspace around the register boots as well as into the ducts and filled them up. The realtor told me since I wrote this that the client is still thinking about going ahead with the deal and that the owner intends to request that the bank allow him to do a short sale if the deal falls through. I bet it would make a pretty good 203K deal for someone who's very handy. I'm going to have to keep my eye on it. If it goes on the market as a short sale I might be interested myself. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, but with some sour cream, chives and some bacon bits both will be delicious. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike