hausdok

Just about everyone in the police business uses the Gall's catalog for that kind of stuff. http://www.galls.com/index.html OT - OF!!! M.

Try this: http://www.oldhousejournal.net/magazine ... ners.lasso and this http://www.jlconline.com/cgi-bin/jlconl ... w/8709chim (You may need to pay for the second one if you're not a JLCOnline member) OT - OF!!! M.

The concept of building attics as conditioned, unvented spaces has grown in acceptance in recent years, and this construction method has been advocated by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building America program. A principal benefit of conditioned attics is that ductwork located in the attic is not exposed to extreme conditions. With ducts inside the conditioned space, energy loss from leaks and heat conduction from the ducts is much less severe. The 2006 International Energy Conservation Code® specifies a default efficiency of 80% for forced-air systems, if ducts are located in an unconditioned attic. Where the distribution system is run entirely in conditioned space, such as a conditioned attic, the default distribution system efficiency increases to 88%, resulting in energy savings. A new set of requirements allowing unvented, conditioned attic assemblies is contained in Section R806.4 of the 2006 International Residential Code® (IRC). The 2006 IRC requires that the surface under the roof deck, where moisture would condense, be maintained above 45°F on average during the coldest month. The 2007 Supplement of the IRC simplifies this by specifying the insulation levels that will maintain this temperature. The IRC requires air-impermeable insulation to prevent moisture reaching the underside of the roof deck in all but climate zones 2Band 3B. If air-permeable insulation is used in the exempt zones, rigid board insulation may be needed above the structural roof sheathing to keep the underside of the roof deck above 45°F for the coldest month. The IRC prohibits the use of a vapor retarder between the conditioned attic and the top-story ceiling of the house so that any moisture that does collect in the attic can escape into the house. A final requirement is that if wood shingles or shakes are used, they must be separated by a ¼-inch air space from the roofing felt over the structural sheathing. For more information, see the Code Note, Conditioned Attics, at http://resourcecenter.pnl.gov/cocoon/mo ... rceCenter/ article/1520. For the full requirements of the 2007 Supplement for the IRC, See Section R806.4 of the code at www.iccsafe.org/cs/codes/2007-08cycle/2 ... IRC07S.pdf Source: U.S. Department of Energy’s Setting the Standard newsletter.

I clicked on that and then I had one of those, "What the f***" moments before I figured out what was going on . That was a pretty good one, Bill. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, Has anyone heard anything definitive about a Celotex brand shingle recall. It turns out that a badly damaged roof that I inspected a few weeks ago is a Celotex brand cover and the roofer is claiming that the cover - not his work - is defective. Surprise!!! Anyway, Celotex was apparently purchased by Certainteed and they're coming out to look at my client's roof. I googled the issue every which way and could not really find more than about 5 or 6 sites that directly referred to defective Celotex shingle. I thought that the brethren might know of a site where I could find definitive information - if any. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

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No Bill, Of course it isn't the bible. It's just a pretty good addition to the library; and, since it costs $55 when ordered directly from DOA, it's a good deal. OT - OF!!! M.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (Business Wire EON) November 27, 2007 -- Environmental Service Professionals, Inc. (OTCBB:EVSP) announced that it launched today a national campaign in more than 200 markets to alert homeowners and building owners to the health fallout from toxic mold. Entitled “Environmental Service Professionals Mold and Moisture Management,â€

I'm thinking a die grinder and some J.B. Weld but I'm betting that's not what the plumbing gurus are going to say. OT - OF!!! M.

OK Folks, It's taken me the past hour and a half, but I just saved everyone $55 by adding a 10 part PDF document - USDA Handbook #73: Wood-Frame House Construction - to TIJ's documents library. If you don't have a copy of this 260 page manual in your professional library, you need to add it now, lest the rest of us find out and brand you as a poser. Get yourself a 1-1/2 inch binder, a 3-hole punch, a reem of paper, replenish the cartridge on your printer, and start printing. The links to all 10 parts of this document in TIJ's library are below. You can also find them on the menu bar above under "Library" - "New Files" and in the file directory in the Structural category under "Construction Techniques." Enjoy! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike U.S. Department of Agriculture Handbook #73: Wood-Frame House Construction by Sherwood, Gerald El, Stroh, Robert C. 1989. 260 pages total, dowloadable here free in 10 parts. Cover, Table of Contents, Introduction Chapter 1: Before Construction Starts Chapter 2: Laying the Groundwork Chapter 3: Framing & Closing In Chapter 4: Completing the Shell Chapter 5: Specialty Features Chapter 6: Working Inside Chapter 7: Finishing Touches Chapter 8: Special Topics Technical Notes, Bibliography, Glossary, Index

Hi, I've seen those. They're a 3-tab shingle that's made to simulate the look of an architectural grade cover without the cost of an architectural-grade cover. When one sees it from the ground and doesn't look at it closely, one thinks, "OK, there's at least a 25-year service life on that cover," then you look closer and realize that it's just another 20-year 3-tab. Instead of the extra tabs being laminated in place, they're molded into the surface. Put one of those on in hot weather, and I imagine that those fake tabs - which are just thickened asphalt - will squash all to hell when you walk on them. I've found them less than 10 years old where they were so worn at the edges that the fiberglass matting was showing through and the fake tabs were almost worn away from the weather. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

As Christmas nears and all little good inspectors dream about putting new crap in their tool bags, they've got to compete with the spouse's own shopping priorities which are usually at odds with the inspector's. [:-weepn][:-banghea Maybe Kaplan can make it a little easier this Christmas. They're having a video and tool clearance. [;-xmas] OT - OF!!! M.

The guy can't stop himself; he's done it again! http://ct.zdnet.com/clicks?t=41234520-c ... f&s=5&fs=0

Gee, Kyle, I'm sorry, I'd meant to upload that doc to TIJ's file library and I'd forgotten all about it. It's there now - in the stemwall foundation (crawlspace) category and here's the link. OT - OF!!! M.

Four years ago, the UK government announced that beginning in June 2007 all homes put up for sale in England and Wales would require a mandatory home information pack (HIP). A key component of that pack, and the one that's the most controversial, was the home condition report (HCR), because it needed to be done by some who was trained in the, at that time nonexistent, practice of home inspection. To pull it off, the government needed thousands of fully trained home inspectors. Almost overnight, a crop of trainers sprung up in the UK and began teaching home inspections. Whole new companies appeared, funded by millions of pounds in private investment, and recruited and hired thousands of prospective inspectors. Hopeful recruits - lured by the promise of six-figure salaries - quit their jobs, cleaned out their savings accounts, and enrolled in government-approved training courses around the country. Some of these courses were 3 year long diploma earning curriculum that cost prospective home inspectors thousands of pounds. At the same time that thousands of hopeful new inspectors were jostling each other for space in the new schools, rumblings began within the special interest groups that opposed the HCR - estate agents, mortgage lenders, valuation experts, and especially members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors - long the king of the roost when it comes to inspecting homes in the UK. Soon, that rumbling became a clamor and the special interest groups began lobbying the government to scrap the HIPS. The predictions were dire; there wouldn't be enough home inspectors trained on time, sellers would be saddled with huge costs to repair their homes prior to sale, people would lose money because they couldn't sell their homes, the inspectors would be half-trained "cowboys" who would stall sales for nonsensical reasons, first time home buyers would not be able to afford homes because the added cost of the HIP would put prices out of their reach, and on and on. After nearly three years, the caterwauling of the special interests took its toll; the government backed off and removed the HCR component from the HIPs and mandated HIPS for only homes that were four bedrooms and larger in size. When this announcement was made, the thousands of new inspectors-in-training began blanketing parliament with letters, got on television and radio talk shows, and began demanding that the government reimburse them for the savings that they'd "wasted" on training to become home inspectors. The government's solution was to throw them a bone - the inspectors would carry out the mandatory home energy assessments components of the HIP. Many of these inspectors did not bite and went back to what they'd been doing before - others went on the dole. Those who decided to tough it out, fought their way into energy assessor courses all around the country. By the time of the official roll out of the HIPs in June, there still weren't enough trained energy assessors, and the special interests were complaining that the training process was too slow. Now, six months later, there are more than 5,000 trained energy assessors and the government estimates that there is only enough work for about 3,000. The special interest groups? Now they're complaining that the entire HIPs process was ill conceived and they're demanding it be scrapped. These energy assessors are in serious straits. Those who are actually working because when they were recruited they'd been promised 2 to 3 times per assessment than what they're actually making; those who aren't because their old jobs have been filled and there's no job to go back to. Many in both category can't pay their mortgages and are losing their homes. To read more click here.

Aw, Give him time, Les. It usually takes folks a little while to realize that everyone over here doesn't have cloven hooves, horns, and a tail and carries a pitch fork. Once they realize that, it gets easier to resist the koolaid. OT - OF!!! M.

I wouldn't use those. What's your roof profile like? Have you got open eaves with frieze vents or enclosed soffits? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It always makes more sense to keep the ducting and the electro-mechanicals within the conditioned envelope of the house. If the crawlspace is open to the basement, you can close the vents, insulate the foundation walls and turn it all into conditioned space and leave the underside of the floors uninsulated. However, you'll have to make sure that you have sufficient combustion air and that there's nothing nearby, like a clothes dryer, to cause that furnace to backdraft. OT - OF!!! M.

In this oped piece, a Missouri home inspector sends a broadside across the bow of the Missouri Association of Realtors. To read the entire piece, click here.

Professional Roofing magazine is the official publication of the National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) and the leading publication for the roofing industry. The magazine offers up-to-date information about roofing trends, safety practices, legal issues, business management, legislation, technical issues, new products, industry news and more. To sign up for your free subscription, click here.

Forest Products Laboratory In the Southern United States, where high water tables often preclude basement construction, building houses on posts or piers or over crawl spaces is a tradition. Decades ago, it was common in the South to build houses on posts. In these houses, the under-floor area was extremely well vented and about as warm in summer and as cold in winter as outside ambient conditions. Although these houses would not meet expectations for thermal comfort today, they generally did not have moisture problems. Moisture that evaporated from the ground was largely dissipated to the atmosphere. As decades passed and crawl spaces became more common, it became evident that they tended to become objectionably damp. Outside-air exchange rates are much lower in crawl spaces than in under-floor spaces of houses on posts or piers. As a result, seasonal temperatures in crawl spaces are more effectively moderated by the ground than in the under-floor spaces of houses on posts or piers. This means that crawl spaces are not as cool in winter or as warm in summer. This can reduce heating and cooling costs, and it reduces the chance of plumbing lines freezing in cold weather. In short, crawl space construction was recognized as having thermal benefits relative to post or pier construction, but it was also recognized as being more prone to moisture accumulation. Venting a crawl space would seem to create a situation more like that of a house on posts. By the 1950s, crawl space ventilation became mandated by building codes. The basis for the code requirements was the combined idea that (1) the primary source of crawl space moisture was evaporation from the crawl space floor and (2) crawl space ventilation would allow for dissipation of this evaporated moisture. Over time, however, it became evident that experimental evidence to support the code mandate was insufficient. Additionally, the assumptions on which the code mandate was based now appear to have been largely incorrect or to have become invalid with the widespread adoption of air-conditioning. Over the past two decades, experimental studies have shown that crawl space ventilation is usually counterproductive, especially in humid climates. Crawl space humidification by evaporation of soil moisture is related to soil moisture content and temperature. Evaporation is generally greatest during summer, when the soil is warm, and least during winter, when it is cold. Vapor barrier ground covers appreciably inhibit evaporation from crawl space floors, thereby lowering crawl space humidity levels. When codes began mandating crawl space ventilation, the long-term durability of ground covers was in doubt. The assumption was that ground covers might eventually cease to function, which could cause appreciable evaporation of soil moisture into the crawl space area. Polyethylene has become widely used as a crawl space ground cover since code mandates for ventilation were promulgated. It has proven to remain functional for extended periods. Although sometimes valid, the assumption that outdoor air functions as a moisture sink – in other words, as a place to dissipate moisture – is often invalid. In cold weather, the vapor pressure of outdoor air is usually low, or at least lower than the vapor pressure of crawl space air, and the assumption appears to be largely correct. In warm weather, however, outdoor vapor pressure is significantly higher, often higher than the vapor pressure of (relatively cooler) crawl space air. This is especially true if the building above the crawl space is air-conditioned. Thus, in warm weather in humid climates, outdoor air is more likely to be a source of crawl space moisture than a sink. In these climates, the assumption that outdoor air would mostly serve as a moisture sink was largely incorrect. It has become increasingly incorrect with widespread adoption of air-conditioning. Crawl space moisture research performed in the Eastern United States over the past 20 years indicates that moisture conditions vary seasonally, with dampest conditions in the summer and driest conditions in the winter, and that damp summer conditions are consistently exacerbated by crawl space ventilation. Experimental work conducted in the San Francisco Bay area (with less seasonal temperature change and less humid overall weather conditions) is more ambiguous. In some of the California work, poor management of site surface water was evident. With standing water in crawl spaces and outdoor vapor pressures low, ventilation could reasonably help dissipate the water. Construction on posts or piers, however, would work even better for dissipating standing water from crawl spaces. Preventing bulk water from getting under the structure is, of course, preferable. Following are several recommendations that can help prevent moisture problems in crawl spaces. 1. If a building is constructed on piers or posts and is working acceptably, leave it as is. If energy costs are excessive or thermal comfort is unacceptable – the building is not “working acceptablyâ€

The Hydronics Industry Alliance recently completed it's new website, MyHomeHeating.com. This site is a good start for inspectors who want to begin learning more about hydronic heating systems. It has sections that are specifically designed for architects, engineers, homebuilders, and remodelers. Check it out! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I think you've got a right to be concerned, but this isn't the best place to go to get answers. You need to go to the horse's mouth, so-to-speak; the Metal Roofing Alliance. You can even post the question on their Ask the Experts Forums. Check them out. Once you get the answer, please stop back by here and edumakate all of us codgers. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Scott, My Dad was the first to use them in his area. He put them in for more than a decade and never had a problem with them. OT - OF!!! M.

This 80-page pub is the updated 2007 edition of APA's comprehensive guide to engineered wood construction systems for both residential and commercial/industrial buildings. It's a free download at the APA site. You'll need to register in order to download the guide but registration is free and only takes a minute. To get your copy, click here.