hausdok

Hi, I rarely see head flashings in new construction here anymore, unless it is on high-end homes or where there is a pretty savvy builder involved. When I do see it on other-than-high-end homes, they usually install the head flashings over any windows on the street-exposed side of the house or on the south and west (weather) sides. The standard here is to slap some Moistop or a similar material across the bottom of the rough opening, nail the flanged window home, add a couple vertical pieces at the side and then overlap the top flange with the building paper without installing any of the self-adhering stuff across the top of the window. Then they side the house and caulk the hell out of the perimeter. For the most part, it works most of the time but when it goes bad it goes really bad. I write up the lack of head flashings on 99.999% of the houses I do. I know there's not a whole lot one can do about it - especially if it's a 35 or 30 year old house with aluminum windows that have never leaked - I just want customers to understand that they were, and still are, the standard when it comes to a quality install, and that for many decades windows were installed without any self-adhesive material using ordinary felt splines and head flashings and those walls remained dry, as opposed to thousands of installs today that leak. Then I point out that upper end and intelligent builders are still incorporating them into their installs here, but that manufacturers, for the most part, aren't requiring them anymore, and that they (the customer) will need to ensure that they have every weather-exposed window carefully inspected and the caulking touched up annually. Like the lack of drip edge flashing that I write up on most homes, most folks pooh, pooh it. No skin off my a**, if they leak later on I certainly won't be the one that didn't warn them about the potential Achilles heel hiding behind their siding. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Terry, You say it's "wood" siding. Wood as in plywood attached over a layer of wood sheathing or wood siding attached directly to the studs with a layer of building paper behind it? OT - OF!!! M.

Yep, I did the same thing with an old Zinsco MagnaTrip I sent Douglas. Charlie, are you an ASHI/NAHI/AII/NACHI/HIF/or other association type of guy? Most local chapters give training seminars once or twice a year and I bet if you've got someone close by they'd be happy to have it for a training aid. If I were teaching home inspectors I'd take it myself. However, my students are primarily appraisers, investors, property managers, realtors and one or two wannabe home inspectors and I think a photo is good enough for them. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! M.

Yeah, I think Kurt is right. With the diagonal cracks and the doors sticking it definitely sounds like some settling or heaving. That's post-tensioned slab territory down there. If the home were built on a non-post-tensioned slab you might see cracks in the slab and notice it more but with a PT slab maybe only see it in the walls. An engineer makes more sense. Around here, if you brought in an inspector, most would call for an engineer in a circumstance like that anyway. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, That's easy to do. Go here: http://www.stuccomfgassoc.com/about.html click on "About Stucco" at the top of the page and click th second item and you can order it off their site. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, pretty much. Hey, a lab test will usually cost between $30 and $40 bucks. If you really want to know, go back, grab a sample and get it tested. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, That's fine, but you need to realize that at this point you are preaching to the choir and there's not a whole lot more anyone here can do for you. They've given you the best advice they can, now you've got to take it from here. I will say this though, that's one of the absolute worst installations of a barrier and sump pump that I've seen in years. Your builder obviously hasn't the faintest idea what he's doing under that house, and trying to get him to fix something when he doesn't know what he's doing is like spitting in the wind. Hire a competent contractor who can figure out what's going on there for you, have him fix it, document the heck out of it and then, if you want him to pay for it, get a lawyer and haul his butt into court. The longer you leave that mess like that, the more chance there is that you're going to end up with some serious moisture issues elsewhere in the house. Stop telling us about it, get a contractor and get it fixed. Sorry to be so blunt, but you're wasting precious time. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, The SMA adopted the Northwest Wall & Ceiling Bureau's Stucco Guide about 4-5 years ago. NWCB has been around for about half a century and their guide, now SMA's guide, is the standard for 3-coat stucco. OT - OF!!! M.

SMA = Stucco Manufacturers Association

Kurt is right. Rename your photo something like Crawlspace009 OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It's right there at the first diagram. That is the technique used - they just don't bother to show you receptacles and recessed lights. Basically casing bead backer rod with a fillet of caulk. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, If you've got the SMA manual you need to look at General Details. In there, you'll find diagrams for how to do Expansion Joint Patch/Infill joints Balcony Railings Glass Block Horizontal Pipe Railings Sloped Sills Hose Bibs Stucco Wall Penetrations It will depend on what you're trying to seal and at what stage you are trying to do it. OT - OF!!! M.

Yes, OT - OF!!! M.

[:-magnify Poria Incrassata = AIDS for wood [:-graduat

Hmmm, Lemme see. When I first got into this business in 1996 my references were the C-D Home Reference book which said that the T & P should discharge 6 to 12 inches above floor level but that some codes called for it to be discharged outside. When I asked my franchise mentors about that they told me that there's no way an inspecting boy can know the idiosyncrasies of every single municipality's code and that I'd be better off not to go down the code road and stick to what the general standard of care is based on the teachings of acknowledged experts in the profession. That was, and still is to a large degree, to stick to the position that it needs to have a valve and a discharge pipe and that when it's impractical to vent it to the outside don't sweat it - just make sure that it's got one and that it vents within 6 to 24 inches of the floor. There are the other requirements - materials etc. - but this thread is about where it discharges. The other reference that they'd used during my training was Norm Becker's book which said that the discharge pipe should empty into a bucket on the floor (Imagine that!). After I'd earned a little money, I got some more references that I'd considered authoritative - Mike Casey's Residential Plumbing Inspections and Alk's Training Manual For Home Inspectors. Casey's said, "The pipe should terminate outdoors or within 6 to 24 inches of the floor," and Alk's said, "to the floor or to a floor drain." That year I bought my first CodeCheck and it also said within 6 to 24 inches of the floor, so I adopted that as the rule I inspected to. A couple of years later when the IRC came out and I got the CodeCheck IRC, that was changed to indicate that it must vent to the outside and when CodeCheck West came out that didn't change. So, as far as I've been concerned to this point, My reference says that it must vent outside but I've been using what I thought was the old standard, because it made more sense to me, and I don't call it unless it's done in such a way as to make it dangerous or to cause damage. That means that I don't call it about 99.999% of the time that it vents inside as long as it vents within 6 to 24 inches of the floor. That's my call and I'm willing to stand up in a courtroom and defend my position - my own CodeCheck be damned. Now, your reference disagrees with my reference and says that the position that I've been taking on this is right anyway, that it may vent inside, and you're chiding me for not agreeing with a document that nobody has heretofore ever pointed out to me was flawed? So, what's the beef? Apparently common sense was winning out in my case anyway, because the common sense I was applying agrees with your reference. I didn't see myself as having only a 'few slivers of knowledge' on the topic. As far as I was concerned I did know it, based on what folks like Becker, Casey, Alk (Well maybe not Alk - lousy book), Kardon and Hansen have published. Unless you're saying that these references I've been using for years shouldn't be used as authoritative references in this business and we should rely only on codes, in which case I'd have to strongly disagree with you. The code is a minimum set of standards and isn't supposed to co opt our ability to reason, which is exactly why my position on the T & P discharge, though actually correct, has been contrary to what I believed to be the code for years. So, thank you Brian, now I won't have to feel that little twinge of guilt for having stubbornly been sticking to my guns for years by telling folks that in my opinion there's nothing wrong with allowing these to vent inside so long as it's 6 to 24 inches off the floor. If you spot any more flaws in the CodeChecks let me know. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Brian, Nope, not just dead wrong according to the reference I'm using - see the bullets in my second post above - and that reference is good enough for me. I'll PM you about J.P. OT - OF!!! M.

UFFI = urea formaldehyde foam insulation [:-graduat OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Randy, How many times have you had to look at new construction where all they thought about was getting it vented to the exterior and they were willing to do anything it took to do that, including sloping the danged pipes uphill? Look at it this way, at least when the discharge is inside where you can see it you don't have to worry about the possibility that some wingnut bent it upward or kinked it someplace between where it leaves the water heater and reaches the outside. Besides, why would you be in court over a functional T & P that is inside the home? They don't vent unless there's something else wrong - pressure is too high or the thermostat is shot and allowing the thing to heat up way beyond normal. The T & P would be the thing that saves the day if it vents when it's supposed to. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Brian, I'm using my trusty CodeCheck West and IRC CodeCheck and all they say is: Drain ends outside <6in. {6-24in.UPC} from ground IRC 2803.6.1 / UPC 608.5 3/4in. min., no trap, no reduction, no thread on end IRC 2803.6.1 / UPC 608.5 Drain line may not run uphill IRC 2803.6.1 / UPC 608.5 Watts 210 also req's. pressure-relief valve IRC 2803.6.1 / UPC Check local If you're using a code book your's could very well be more explicit. However, I don't like the idea of having to interpret ever nuance of the codes. That's too much like J.P. for me. So, I'm not interested in owning any of those. I'm perfectly happy with using all of the CodeCheck books and then, like Jim says, applying some common sense to the situation. If it's a situation where I think they need to stick rigidly to the code, I tell them that the CodeCheck is taken from the model codes and is relatively accurate, but that if there's any disagreement with the owner or builder about it they should check with the local code bubba to get a final decision. It's worked fine for me for nearly 10 years. I've only had one argument about a code issue with anyone in all that time and that had to do with a furnace vent placed too close to a side wall. I showed the builder the CodeCheck, he told me it was wrong and that I was full of it up to my eye sockets and I told him maybe so but I thought he should check with the code bubba just to make certain. He called me that afternoon and apologized. Code Bubba came out, took one look at the vent, looked in his code book and then admitted that he'd screwed up and missed it. The builder wasn't happy with the HVAC guy, he had to have a total of 7 vents in a 16 home sub-division moved. Me? I was just happy I'd purchased the CodeCheck series because there're just enough regularly occurring issues in those to keep an inspecting boy out of trouble without the need to turn into a J.P.. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, There's no question that the codes say it must discharge to the exterior by gravity and terminate 6 to 24 inches above the ground, and when gravity won't work a watts 210 gas shutoff must be used in conjunction with a simple pressure relief valve and it must still discharge to the exterior. That's what the codes say - not necessarily what gets done. Around here the great majority if them are installed so that the discharge is inside the building and it doesn't seem to matter which local jurisdiction your in, they're all doing it and the code bubbas are accepting it. My opinion, as long as the thing is going to discharge the proper height from the floor and the materials are the correct type, I'm not going to quibble about it. There are lots of much more important things to haggle about than whether a T & P discharges inside or outside. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, Thanks for pointing them to that image resizer Rob. Stuman168, you don't need to resize the images. I've done it for you. Guys, it really helps everyone, even the guys on broadband, if you resize all of your photos before you post them to TIJ. That way the guys on dialup won't have to wait five minutes for an image to open. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Needs no introduction: http://www.historicproperties.com/detai ... y=macar005 OT - OF!!! M.

It looks very much like a blob of urea formaldehyde insulation but obviously it can't be. Did you take a sample down to a local lab? I would have just to sate my own curiosity. It would have cost me $30 but then I would have known next time. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

4600 square foot 104 year - well, it would be 109 years old now - craftsman for Dan Wilson, catcher for the Mariners. Big protruding timbers, clinker brick on the outside to the second level. Huge basement and attic. Lots of very nice Port Orford Cedar. Snuggled neatly into a hillside lot. Seattle was founded in 1851. There was a really big fire in the city over a hundred years ago and a big re-grade project in the early part of the 20th century called the Denny Regrade - where a big chunk of hillside was dragged out into the sound to form much of what downtown is built on - removed most buildings older than that or caused them to be moved. Many of them never survived subsequent remodels or zoning. I gotta get offa here. I'm supposed to be typing up this report and I've been playing hooky from work for about 3 hours. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, That would be a drywell here on Puget Sound. It's funny how that imaginary line between the Canada and the U.S. and geographic differences between states create some interesting differences in terminology. Drywell vs. French drain, eaves troughs vs. gutters, leaders vs. downspouts, etc. Not to get off track, but here's a little primer on exterior drainage methods used here to supplement footing drains and properly pitched exterior grade next to the home: French drains are used strictly to remove surface water and really aren't effective at keeping water out of basements or crawlspaces, although they'll usually work for situations where infiltration is minimal. They're usually roughly a foot wide by as much as 10 to 14 inches deep. They're lined with geo-textile fabric and then an inch or two of quarter stone is spread in the bottom on top of which a length of perforated pipe is lain. The pipe either daylights to the street or downhill from the house or discharges into drywell below grade someplace on the property. Around here, they're placed along the edges of driveways, patios and sidewalks to prevent water flowing beneath them, undermining them and causing them to settle. Next up are curtain drains - essentially French drains that are much deeper and are buried below grade. These are usually placed between 2 and 4 feet below grade and are about 18 to 24 inches wide. Like French drains, they're first lined with geo-textile fabric and then a bed of quarterstone - usually at least 4 inches thick is lain and pitched to drainage at about 1/4 inch for every 6 linear feet. A perforated drainpipe sleeved with a fines sock is placed on the gravel and then more gravel is added on top up to a depth of about a foot. The geo-textile fabric is folded inward around the drain and then the whole arrangement is buried. Curtain drains are typically placed no closer than 6ft. to a foundation and can be staged in echelons about 6 to 8 ft. apart on slopes uphill from a house, although just one placed at the 6 foot mark will usually work fine to keep water out of a basement up to about 10ft. deep. The idea is that they interdict and divert any groundwater moving downslope long before it gets close to the foundation. Drywells here can be several types. Sometimes they are big plastic perforated tanks that are buried below-grade and then filled with gravel or surrounded by gravel.. Sometimes they are just large holes dug below grade that are lined with geo-textile fabric and then filled with chunks of broken up concrete. Extensions from the downspouts, French drains or curtain drains are brought into the center of these, they apply a layer of quarterstone, fold the fabric inward and bury it. The smart contractors will typically get one of those large plastic industrial-grade barrels, drill a bunch of holes in it, wrap it with fabric, place it smack dab in the center of the drywell, with the drain extension emptying into it, and will place the lid where it will be barely half a foot below grade. Once it's buried, they'll place a big concrete paver there to mark the location of the barrel. That way, when all of the crud that washes into it from the gutters fills it in 5 - 10 years, the homeowner can dig up the lid and clean out all of the muck that's preventing it from taking any more water. Sometimes drywells here will take the shape of fat curtain drains that are about 2ft. in diameter and anywhere from 10 to 30ft. long and placed at either end of a horseshoe-shaped curtain drain placed around and uphill of a house. When these are used, the downspouts, footing drains, curtain drains and even sump pumps, if used, might all discharge into them. Recently in the city of Seattle, they've been requiring builders to install large concrete tanks - essentially drywells - below grade to accept runoff from downspouts and footing drains. I've yet to actually see one of these before it's buried but, according to the builders I've talked to, these have to be sized according to the lot and roof size and are designed to hold a lot of water before they overflow. When they overflow, they discharge into the city storm sewer - if there is one - or into the sanitary sewers when there isn't any storm sewer. They're also designed to drain - albeit very slowly - between rains. Sometimes these aren't designed to drain and are equipped with very large sump pumps that periodically discharge to storm sewers in streets uphill from the house or away from the home. I recently did one condo where the builder was required to take the discharge from one of these into an alley behind the building and then down the alley half a block and tie it into the storm sewer. The tank was huge and was equipped with an alarm so that if the pump failed the occupants of the condo would know about it. A big steel spring-loaded door in the driveway gave it away. Release two latches and the whole thing swings up with a light pull and there was a steel ladder inside leading to pump which was as big as most of the typical maceration tanks one finds in the basement of a one-family residence. Most of the time here, the only thing that we see are the French drains. Sometimes a catch basin or a cleanout will reveal the presence of curtain drains and every once in a while there's the occasional cleanout lid for a sludge barrel in a drywell that's left un-buried. On one little home I did over in Kirkland recently the only thing I saw in a tiny little cottage community (Essentially a bunch of little individual cottages grouped around a central green and organized like a condo association, that look like an old-time 19th century village) were the downspout receivers. The site was relatively flat but was downhill from some higher terrain and I didn't see any drainage ponds to collect runoff. When I talked to the super on-site, the super informed me that they didn't want any ugly drainage ponds ruining the look and feel of their community, so runoff from every house in the complex was collected in a huge cistern beneath the clubhouse. When that is full, it overflows into the storm sewers. Kewl! More than RobC wanted to know I guess, but hopefully worth the read. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike