hausdok

Hi, Those look like 2 by 3 shear wall studs; are they? If so, it's a manufactured home - not a modular - and you should edit the title of the thread to avoid the confusion. Please don't call manufactured homes modulars or vice versa. There needs to be some kind of decent underlayment that's approved for tile work. I've got a decent article here from Prof. Frank Woeste (Virginia Tech) about design considerations and such when putting down tile floors, but I'm having a little trouble getting the formatting fixed up so that the charts in the article display correctly on TIJ. I'll post it to the front page when I finally get it figured out. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yeah, I remember someone making a post on here about those thingies about 5-6 years ago. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Erby, Here's one place you can buy them. http://www.vintagewoodworks.com/mgshin.html They refer to them as Shakertown shingles but I wouldn't call them that because Shakertown is a trademark for a type of shingle panel and it will only confuse the customer. As you've already found out, there are lots of references to them as combed ceder shingles out there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, It's combed cedar siding. Some folks refer to it as striated cedar siding. It's as common around here as liberals at a Democratic party convention. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Sorry Brian, my bad; I usually fix those for guys when I see them but I didn't even bother to check this one. It's fixed now. Chad, I agree, except that most builders around here vent the frieze blocking uder the eaves and install chutes. There's probably three mesh-covered 1-1/2" holes in every block between rafters above the top plate. Still, it's way too much overkill. Someone needs to sit down with that guy and teach him a little building science and then show him what will work here and what won't work here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Has anyone ever heard of a regulator valve blowing? This is the first I've ever heard of it in more than 12 years at this gig. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep, Richard is right; it's most probably veneer applied to a wood frame and there's a 6 by 6 PT post in the center of that "column." If you don't leave a way for the water that's going to get in there to get out, the danged PT posts will rot out in just a few years; I know, it happened to a friend of mine. I'm constantly writing up cast stone wrap on fake columns for lack of any drainage means. I know that it looks stupid to leave the stone off the concrete stoops, but after seeing what will happen when they're closed up with no drainage I can't afford to let it pass. It kind of sucks, but there it is. When builders start cussing about it, I point out that they probably could have avoided the whole mess if they'd only used a real masonry pier. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Not only have they addressed it - they're enforcing it. Not too long ago, I had a situation where a builder's sub had poured a new stoop and walk directly against the Hardiplank. I called it out and the builder berated me, telling everyone that would listen that I didn't know my ass from a hole in the ground 'cuz there was a capillary break behind the concrete and the local code guy had approved it. I shot an email off to James Hardie describing the situation and promptly got an answer back from a fellow in their technical assistance department that not only was it wrong - they wouldn't warranty the product since it had been installed wrong. A certain builder ate a little bit of crow over that one and his concrete sub came back, busted out all of that concrete and had to do it over again. Wanna guess which major builder's developments I'm not welcome in? [] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

During these slow times, the tool junkies among you might want to check out Ridgid's Reputation Roadshow 2008 which is touring the country right now. It's a chance for trade professionals to experience Ridgidn's latest tool innovations. Highlights include visual inspection, utility location, drain maintenance and pressing technology. Attendees are also able to participate in interactive demonstrations of products, earn RIDGID gear and ask RIDGID experts about any product. Additionally at most locations, participants can meet a RIDGID calendar model and stay for lunch. The Roadshow team will stop by distributors and trade schools in Louisville (June 11) Las Vegas (June 18) Baltimore (June 26) Wilmington, Del. (July 10) Philadelphia (July 11) Orefield, Pa. (July 16) Reading, Pa. (July 17) Springfield, N.J. (July 24) Ann Arbor (week of Aug 11) San Francisco (August 20) Pittsburgh (September 10–11) Dates are subject to change so visit www.RIDGID.com/Roadshow for the most up-to-date information and to read the Reputation Roadshow team’s blog.

According to an article in HGTVPro.com, Hawaii has just passed the first law in the country mandating that, beginning in 2010, requires that all new homes be equipped with solar water heaters. To read the entire article, click here.

This short article from FineHomebuilding.com provides an easily understood tutorial on how to properly start the roof-over for an asphalt roof, so that the new roof lies flat and will wear a long time, versus the typical jackleg job that will wear out in half the time that it's supposed to. To read the entire article click here.

Green, green, green! It seems like there's nothing in construction today that doesn't include a discussion of "green" technology. There's so much good information....and crap...out there that it's hard to get a handle on it all. Well. GreenBuildingTalk.com seems like it's going to be the place to go for the straight skinny on green. With recent additions made to the homepage, professionals and users can access newly added tools that include a quick search of professional directory listings, a redesigned news section for the most recent green building happenings, and a blog that includes video and multimedia by Jamie Pero, GreenBuildingTalk's site editor. Check them out! Just click here!

Hi Kurt, You're right; there's not much to them and they do seem to wear out often. That said, the "often" seems to be about 8 to 10 years after they're installed and, given the fact that you can still purchase one for less than $50 at the big orange box, they aren't such a bad deal. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Depends if I was concerned about structural movement, infiltration, or both. Regardless, you can find what you need for any of these conditions right here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The Andromeda Strain [:-scared] OT - OF!!! M.

I dunno, It kind of looks like Simson DuraFlex 316Ti to me. Why not pick up the phone and talk to whoever installed it and find out if they used stainless steel? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Jodi, Are you sure it was aluminum dryer ducting material and not a flexible stainless steel flue liner? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jodi, That's the interior of the flue pipe sloughing off in the center of the water heater. When you remove the puff shield a whole lot of extra air enters that area and affects the flame, so the color doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot. When you put the puff shield back on, if the burners are clean of debris the flame will probably go blue again. However, the crud can clog the jets and you should look to see whether any jets are clogged and aren't producing a flame. If any are clogged, recommend they get the thing turned off, vacuumed out and then relit. When I see water heaters sloughing off like that I make clients understand that a water heater around here has an expected service life of only about 10 to 15 years before it begins to leak. I point out that, even if they use a shop vac to clean all of that crud out of there, eventually the rust will get so bad that a leak will develop, so they should start planning for replacement in the near term and not be surprised if the thing failed tomorrow - or even when I'm backing out of the driveway, since there's no way to predict when it will fail. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

LOL, I agree but, try as I might, I've never been able to locate the code reference for oogly. [}] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Bwhahahahaha!!!

Hi, I'm guessing that Mike L. is responding to Brandon. Folks in other parts of the country might be puzzled when out here in the Northwest, Brandon, to see that. Most builders elsewhere have enough common sense not to do that, but it seems to be endemic out here. They are supposed to use some sort of a capillary break between the placed concrete and the siding and trim, and most do. However, though that satisfies the code bubbas, it won't keep rain from draining behind the capillary break, becoming trapped, and eventually rotting the siding and trim, and whatever is behind it, anyway. Last summer I had a house where that had been done on the south side of the house - the weather side here. Outside, the house looked great; inside the crawlspace behind that stoop, I could put a pick completely through the rim joist and siding, despite the presence of the capillary break. I usually recommend that they seal the joint between the house and stoop with butyl. It can handle the different expansion rates of the concrete and the wood without the bond breaking. I don't think it will completely stop deterioration but I think it will probably greatly slow it down. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Looks like Omni-Wood, a Masonite product and the subject of a long-ago class action. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Don't know about code, but James Hardie prohibits their siding installed any closer than 2 inches to any surface where water will pond and there is a spec in the stucco manual that talks about keeping the bottom of a stucco'd wall not less than two inches above flatwork. OT - OF!!! M.

Douglas and I communicated via email a few weeks back. At that time, he was taking some time to get back in touch with things, somewhere on the California coast as I recall, and isn't always near a computer, email or the internet. Be patient, when he surfaces, he'll contact you. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Brad, Good for you. The College of San Mateo where Douglas Hansen taught has a two-year AA Degree earning course in building inspection. My dream is still to get the first college up and running that teaches strictly building science and home inspection. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike