hausdok

Then, Assuming they properly detailed it where the downspouts are connected to the gutters (If it has built-in gutters) and there are proper cant strips and copings and flashings with care you should be able to get at least 15 years from installation. You'll still need to get up there to remove all of the needles a couple of times a month. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I propose a little thingy that looks like a micro masceration grinder and fits in the downspout inlet. Water runs through it; no problem but when a solid object enters it starts spinning and grinds the material up into pancake flour. Viola! No more clogged downspouts. Seriously, I think you'll just need to climb up on that roof at least once a month and clear 'em. Are you sure it's mineral surfaced roll roofing and isn't a modbit membrane with a coating of stone granules? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Welcome to TIJ. You've told us about your certification but you really haven't told us what kind of job you're hoping to get training in - prop maint, inspections, appraisals, energy auditor......?

Yep and yep. OT - OF!!! M.

Hold a series of blood parties to raise the cash. We used to do it in the Army if we had a troop who was in financial straits due to a new baby or unanticipated expenses like a blown engine or transmission, etc.. We'd invite as many folks as we could to a blood party. Cost of admission - the receipt from the blood bank times and dated during the times of the day the party treasurer was at the door of the blood bank. Everyone would converge on the local blood bank, go in, sell a pint of blood, collect their nice crisp $10 bill and drop if off with the party treasurer on the way out the door. The treasurer would initial their receipt. With the funds collected, we'd buy enough booze to keep the number of "doners" appropriately lubricated, break out a couple of huge barbecue grills, get a side of beef or a pig (sometimes we'd ask the MP game wardens to "find" a deer lying along Longstreet that had gotten hit by a car [] and we'd throw one helluva bash. Folks could bring a date and/or friend or two and we'd pass the hat for the troop a couple of times during each party. After paying for the party stuff, the balance went to the guy in need. When I was a slick sleeve freshly arrived from jump school and had no money for a deposit and first months and needed to get my wife moved down with our new baby they threw two parties that paid my deposit and paid my rent and put food on the table for three months. Later in my career, we did it for troops in my office or platoon. Don't know if it would work in todays P.C. world. You'd probably have to get a permit, pay an enjoyment tax and there'd be a bunch of protesters on the front lawn squawking about anything they could think to complain about. Hey, you guys stop scowling and shaking your heads. He asked and I suggested the first thing that popped into my head. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike P.S. Is this home part of a development where all of the homes are built by the same guy who used the same moron of a deck contractor? If so, you might have the makings of a mini class action there. First consult with a lawyer is usually a freebee, check it out!

The last photo looks like they used a long apron flashing behind it that drains out over the siding. Any water in the wall behind that? If so, they put the top of the flashing against the WRB behind the siding instead of behind the WRB against the sheathing. The second photo looks like some numb nuts secured the ledger against the face of the siding without any flashing. Then to make matters worse he stuck that piece of trim against the bottom of the ledger and that's caused a drainage issue to become worse. Can you get a crane into that back yard. Those deck sections and the stairs are fairly modular. With some careful preplanning and disassembly you can probably detach them without seriously damageing them, lift them away with a crane, set them down on the ground, make your repairs and then reassemble. I know it's painful, but take it all off the house, strip the siding, fix it right, and then reinstall it all with correctly configured flashings. Do not attempt to jackleg that. I'm serious. If you think you're upset now, wait and see how upset (with yourself) you'll be later when really bad stuff eventually happens if you try to fix that using a CAHO (cheap-ass homeowner) technique. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's OSB, The idiot that hung the deck should have repositioned that bolt to hit that stud. If you think it's bad on that side of the wall wait until you strip that siding and see it from the other side. You can't just stick head flashings over that ledger and expect that to be OK - the sugars and starches in that OSB are just going to continue to feed that rot using whatever ambient moisture it can obtain through vapor diffusion. Tear it off and redo the wall or make sure your life insurance is paid up when you go out onto that deck. Obviously, I'm being a little dramatic in order to try and make you understand you can't just stick a bandaid (drip cap flashings) on this and expect it to be fine. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, it's definitely a transformer, but telephones need to have step-down transformers to work so it could be for a phone system. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It's a little odd, In their Cedar Siding Installation Manual on page 9 the Western Red Cedar Lumber Association shows a diagram of a window flashed with what can only be splines and with head flashings incorporated into the wall; but they don't directly address the use of self-adhering type splines. It's almost as if they're trying to avoid the question of whether head flashings must be used but are saying that they should. You folks who see HardiPlank a lot should read the description of how to flash the siding. It's spot-on the same requirements that J.H. has outlined for their fiber-cement products in their Best Practices/Installation manual. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Adding a flashing over that ledger isn't going to help. You've stated that the wood around the lag bolts is rotten where water has been following the bolts into the wall. You can't fix it in place if there's rot behind that ledger - it has to come off the building so that you can repair the rot damage that's in that wall. If you try and jackleg it by simply adding flashing over that ledger and putting things back together, I can guaranty you that you'll regret doing so down the road - perhaps when you're having a party on the deck and that rotten part of the house decides it can't hold on any longer. Do the job right. Detach the deck, tear off the siding, fix the rot in the wall, restore the siding, reinstall the deck with proper flashings and make sure it slopes away from the house sufficiently to ensure proper drainage. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I'm a gonna be lockin a couple of profiles.

I don't have a dog in this hunt either - in fact, radon isn't even a consideration where I am. Nobody does radon testing here and nobody is worried about it. But.... If the defacto standard is 4 pc/l or less, and she's currently at 3.9 pc/l with the unconventional system; isn't the system working satisfactorily (Assuming a post-remediation test verifies that the continuous monitor that Jim won't risk his spleen over is correct) regardless of its configuration? I will grant that the firm that installed the system, though they apparently didn't guaranty anything, does seem to lead one down the garden path with the proposal she's attached where on the first page they state that their "typical" system reduces levels to less than 1 pc/l and goes on to describe all sorts of other advantages instead of promising to get levels down to the maximum acceptable level. Is it just me or does anyone else think it might be a little bit of deception to spend so many words in a proposal glowingly describing what you'll do, while stating that your "typical" system reduces levels to below 1 pc/l, and then you don't actually promise to do that? Maybe I'm just getting old and my reading comprehension is suffering. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Nobody has told her how to "half-ass" anything. I didn't say she should do it and neither did Charlie. She's wondering how they'll keep the dust down and how contaminated the house will be when they get doen and both Charlie and I have described what we've seen of that process. It's simple and straightforward and she will be sitting there wondering why she paid someone to do it after she gets done. It's the same with mold remediation. Folks envision this wildly technically difficult process that's beyond the average person's capability and when they finally see how simple it is they're left wondering why they paid so much money to someone to have it done. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, Jim Simmons (User name Mr. Electric) just sent me the link below to a little tutorial on the net about double-tapped - some say double-lugged - breakers. http://www.startribune.com/local/yourvo ... 11393.html ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Warning, If there is one thing that really irritates me, it's someone referring to TIJ as a "blog" which it isnt'. To me it's as offensive as the N word. Call this site a "blog" one more time or refer to these forum members as "bloggers" one more time and you're going to find your profile locked and will no longer be able to respond. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

They'll keep everything wetted down and use a product specifically designed to remove it. If they do their job right, there won't be any dust. When they start scraping it, they'll use 1ft wide putty knives and it will slough off the ceiling in long damp bands at a rate of abouit 5 - 6 square feet every five seconds. They'll be done scraping lickety split, will wipe down the ceiling with damp sponges, roll up the still-damp mud in plastic, take down their plastic and roll it up and then leave. You'll be standing there wondering why you didn't save a bunch of money doing it yourself. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

You put a funnel in the interior end and then you've got a place to expectorate your chew while you're taking a bath. Ptoo! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Suddenly have the urge to go on a roller coaster ride. OT - OF!!! M.

Depends on how deep they're placed. Most of the one's I see have the bottom of the floor plate threaded so that it can be screwed onto the valve. It works great when the valve is where it's supposed to be, but when it's too deep in the wall they just kind of hang there. I've never seen one in the ceiling myself; but I bet some silicone or acrylic caulk allowed to dry just long enough to make it tacky but not skim would hold one. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Joe, I've seen them mounted in floors, in walls, in bookcases, even in the brickwork of fireplaces surrounds, and now heard of one used above a ceiling. Begging your pardon, but nowhere in Dante's instructions does it say that it must be installed in a floor. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, It's a gas shutoff valve for a fireplace. Was there a log lighter in the fireplace or a ceramic log set or perhaps a pipe stubbed out at one side of the firebox? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

What do you know about the level of business success of anyone here? You carp about folks slandering you and then you come here and spout that - and you took five long paragraphs to say it? Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself that what you say is true. If you had a pair, you'd come on here and address the issue like a competent professional and include diagrams and explanations of why/how the system was installed that way instead of bleating like a kid that got spit on at the playground. One thing is for sure, the next time anyone here is asked by their clients for the name of a competent radon mitigation company I strongly doubt that your's is one that'll be recommended - more likely than not, they'll advise their clients to avoid dealing with you. Way to go, genius! For the sake of Google, what was the name of your company again., so I don't forget it? Air Quality Control, Air Quality Control, Air Quality Control, Air Quality Control OK, I think I'll remember it now. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

You didn't follow the link and study them or you'd understand. Follow the link I gave you and look at the edge vents and study how they work. They go under the shingles. A narrow slit is cut in the decking beneath the vents. They could be placed anywhere on a roof and they'd work. The only question is whether they'd work in snow country. What are you dinking around here for; the tech people at Air Vent Inc. can probably provide you a better advice. Those guys deal with roof ventilation issues day in and day out. They'd have to be better than a bunch of broken down old home inspectors spread out all over the country. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Studied it some more and studied the Air Vent Inc. literature. I think you could still use a series of stepped edge vents just above the valley flashing between those rafters and that would put air along the underside of the roof. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I thought you were describing a hip roof; not a gable roof. You don't need to have a gutter to install edge vents; just a roof edge. Aren't those open overhangs with frieze blocking between rafter tails? Why didn't they just drill holes in the frieze blocking so air could get in from beneath the eaves? That's the way it's done here. A ridge vent along the top and it'll pull so much air you'll need to wear weighted shoes when you go up in there.[] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike