hausdok

Like he said. The client won't understand 'concentric' just tell 'em it's a combination intake/exhaust vent terminal and they'll get it first time. Did you get a snap of the condensate drain configuration? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Big ol' hump in the drain line maybe. Had one a while back. Went into the crawl and found a 25ft long trap caused by some dildo hanging insulation that decided to move the pipe out of the way by cinching up one of the hangers. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I'm having a little trouble with the fact the beam runs parallel to the floor joists. Is this such a narrow structure that the floor joists can span the entire crawlspace without overlapping on a beam someplace? Man, I wish just a third of the crawls I have to go into every year looked half as clean as that one. If they did, I'd be in hog heaven. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Have him construct an insulated chase for that duct that sided to make it look like it's part of the house, which is will be. A duct running up the outside in the open, even wrapped with insulation, is going to look pretty lame. Hope it works but it sounds like a jackleg path to me. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

You might have scissor trusses. It's not uncommon around here to find an 80's house with scissor trusses above some raised ceilings. What style house - do you have a picture? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Number 1 - Stop calling it "mold," whatever it is, it's fungi of some sort. When you say mold you automatically trigger my BS meter, because the whole "toxic mold" thing is B.S. Number 2 - Make sure that every exhaust fan is venting all the way outside via a connected and dedicated rain cap that has a male extension that comes through the roof plane - if there is a flex duct lying on the floor of the attic aimed at the eave vents or hanging by a piece of wire just inside the gable end vents it is really venting air into the attic and is unsatisfactory. Number 3 - Add vents near the crest of the roof. They typically use pot vents around here but a ridge vent will pull more air. Regardless, a ridge vent or pot vents combined with gable end vents is going to pull air from the gable end vents instead of the eaves and won't dry the underside of the roof very well - ergo, the fungi. You're profile says you're in Seattle; so, unless you've got a real oddball house, you don't have soffits, you've got deep overhanging eaves. It looks like the builder did what so many around here do; he drilled under-eave vents at every third rafter bay instead of every rafter bay. Close the gable end vents and make sure there is free flow of air through every rafter bay from eaves to ridge. That means installing baffles between rafters and drilling eave vents through the frieze blocking in the 66% of rafter bays that don't have them. Number 4 - Treat the fungi with a fungicide such as TimBor, BoraCare, Concrobium or similar to kill it. Wood Care Systems in Kirkland has what you need. Number 5 - If you're concerned about the staining inhibiting future sale, clean the underside of the roof. Some companies send a group of peons up into the attic with buckets, pieces of plywood to lie on and scrub brushes. I think it makes more sense to use a portable soda blaster with sodium bicarb. It will leave the wood all pretty. Once it's scoured, coat it with some BoraCare and you'll be in good shape. Don't worry about the bicarb and residue landing on the cells - the cells is totally infused with borate so it won't burn and borate is toxic to fungi so it's going to die when it comes into contact with the cells. Number 6 - Go on with your life and stop giving credence to media fairy tales about toxic mold. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I dunno, I think a shower drain could handle that kind of pop-off easily. It will be equal to that flowing into the tank from the other end and about what you'd see arriving at the shower anyway. The idea of it popping off while someone is in the shower? Really? Most folks use hot water when they shower, which means while you are showering you're going to be removing pressure from the tank and cold water will be entering the tank and reducing the temperature. I think it's unlikely to blow off when someone is standing in the shower. It's a creative solution. One that I probably wouldn't have thought of. To me, it must makes more sense to find a way to run that pipe outside; but I think it will work fine as long as the seal around that pipe is maintained and as long as the section of pipe from that shower pan through the wall to the side of the drain pan on the other side of the wall isn't clogged with dirt, dead rodents, etc. and flows clear. It certainly is better than having the thing blow off inside the home. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! mIKE

Hi, if it was Color Plus siding it requires flashings at the butt joints, if not, flashigns are preferred but if you don't install them they want to see the butts caulked. Caulking is a lousy choice because the siding will expand and contract heat and cold changes and the caulk invariably fails. Then you daub more caulk on the joint and need to touchup the paint. Before you know it, you've got a thick bead of caulk and paint built up after several re-caulkings and the siding looks like hell. The vibration; is your floor system truss joists by any chance? If so, the Engineered Wood Association published a paper that tells how to dampen some of the vibration folks experience with TJI's. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Agree with Jim. Before MVMA came out with their first set of guidelines in 2009 I used to use the stucco guide to make folks understand how these installs should be done. Kurt, FWIW, I've been writing this stuff up almost daily for years. There is this one large development that started going in five years ago. When I started writing the stuff up back then there were no flashings, no weep screeds, no standoff from soil or hardscaping. I just kept criticizing it and telling clients to express dissatisfaction with it. Today, as that development goes into last phase, the veneer has weep screeds, is up off the hardscaping and grade, and has flashings at penetrations and above the veneer. Now If the danged contractor will finally start doing the veneer-to-window joints correctly they'll be there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The synthetic usually has a limited number of profiles before you start seeing the same one over. Look at the wall closely enough over large enough a section and you can usually spot the same stone a couple of more times. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I see those all the time. They're programmable timer switches and they normally control the whole house air change fan. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Poria Incrassata - AIDS for wood. Lots of it here in the NW and it is pretty tough stuff - even kind of scoffs at PT wood. Nuke it with BoraCare fast. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Someone likely bought a bag to use for potting plants and then didn't need the rest so they dumped it in the attic. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I don't try and figure it out; I tell 'em it's either TPO or PVC and if they're interested in knowing which they should find out who installed it and give 'em a call. I don't really care. If it's right it's right; if it's wrong I write it up and let the roofing contractor figure it out. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The TPO is shiny and feels and looks exactly like a swimming pool liner with heat-welded seams and the EPDM looks and feels exactly like black inner tube material. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hey! What strangers? We're all family here. [] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Problem: How to speak in down eastese in order to blend in. Solution: Practice, practice, practice Down eastese exercise #1: Situation: Private Speer has just arrived at a party in Bangor and can't find a beer. You offer to find one for him and you address the host. You say, "Private Speer is here. Where is the beer?" You pronounce it, "Praavit Speeah's heah. Wheah's a beah?" Repeat 50 times, gradually building speed until you can speak in a normal tone of voice. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

[:-bigeyes (Backing away very slowly now.) ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Don't know exactly where in Maine that one is in the OP but if you're interested in more details about those others, go here and click "View All." ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's 'cuz they're easy to fantasize about. These ones are currently for sale too: http://realestatesales.gov/lotimages/re ... 004001.JPG http://realestatesales.gov/lotimages/re ... 004001.JPG http://realestatesales.gov/lotimages/re ... 003001.JPG http://realestatesales.gov/lotimages/re ... 005001.JPG http://realestatesales.gov/lotimages/re ... 007001.JPG http://realestatesales.gov/lotimages/re ... 008001.JPG They're also available free to non-profits and other qualified candidates. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, If you're really into light stations, the GSA auction for the Diamond Shoals light station just opened up on the 13th. GSA is accepting sealed bids through May 24th. It's located 12 miles of Cape Hatteras, NC. Two floors with 5,000 square feet of living area on the level beneath the helideck. Engineer's report: https://extportal.pbs.gsa.gov/RedinetDo ... ection.pdf Auction ad: https://extportal.pbs.gsa.gov/ResourceC ... opId=15365 ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's where I think you're wrong. If you've got a wall space where a supply duct can go up all you need is enough space to put a return next to itwith a layer of foam insulation between and then close it in a chase. If it's a 900sf house you aren't going to need that large a return or supply anyway. Around here i've seen them take the ducts right up through the second floor into the attic and then split the return air away from the supply air in the attic space. Talk to an HVAC firm that can figure that out for you. Check out the stuff Kurt's pointing you to. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

If you've got central air it's probably already been configured as part of the air handling component of your gas furnace and uses the air handler of the furnace to move the cold air around. If the system is properly sized, it's probably not necessary to install a complete new system to the second floor, just improve air distribution up to the second floor and install a return air duct from the second floor back. If it's not large enough to heat/cool the entire house than you can explore a separate system for the second floor. There are lots of systems that can supply both heat and AC. Do you want it to be a heat pump system or are you interested in a gas heat/AC unit. Ultimately, you're going to need to talk to an HVAC guy who can determine whether the system you've got now is capable of properly heating/cooling the entire house; and, if not, can help you find the right setup for the attic. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, those sounds can be tricky, especially if your with clients. Once squatted down on my haunches to look at the underside of something. Guess it was too much for the arse valve 'cuz there was emitted this distinct "pop" that sounded like a gun shot. Couldn't bear to look at the clients. Just said, "Dang, I've been meaning to get that thing patched." They cracked up; then I turned to look at 'em kinda sheepish like to apologize. Tears of laughter streaming down the husbands face, the wife trying her best to hold back giggles that wouldn't be held back and the realtor standing behind the two of 'em with her face white as a sheet with that look on her face that said, "What kind of savage are you?" Shrugged and said, "Laugh now, wait till you're my age," whereupon the husband started laughing even more. Could have used some Great Stuff that day. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It would be interesting to have the opp to pop one of those breakers to see if the bus has a rejection feature and if so whether the breaker had been modified; and if there is a rejection feature and the breaker wasn't modified, find out what type breaker is being used. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike