hausdok

Yeah, Just imagine a long narrow box with tapered sides sticking up above the roof at the inner ends of any joists that dead end in the center and at the center where any joist bays continue from one side to the other. A curved or gable cover covers the top with screened mesh down both sides under shelter of the vent overhang so animules don't get in there. It has to be high enough to place the strip vents above any snow accumulated during a storm so that ventilation isn't impeded. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yesterday's inspection had a 200 amp panel for the house and next to that a 200 amp disconnect that used to be connected to an electric boiler. Since the boiler has been replaced with a gas boiler, the cable and conduit had been disconnected from that disconnect and the disconnect was turned off and labled "Don't use" although turning it on wouldn't have made any difference. Beneath the two meters was an unsealed gutter and next to them was a large sealed gutter. In the unsealed gutter, 500 kcmil cables coming from the sealed gutter that are spliced to the two sets of 3/0 copper cables feeding power to those two panels indicate that it's a 400 amp service. One couldn't tell the service size by looking at the meter because there were transformer coils like those described by Jim above around the cables in the unsealed gutter. The meter had a very low CL classification (I forgot to note the number and have forgotten it now) and the meter was labeled (if memory serves) 35 volts. I wrote it up as a 400 amp service with a 200 amp panel fed by a 3/0 copper SEC rated for 225amps but limited by the main disconnect in the panel to a maximum of 200 amps. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! MikeI

They'll use like an 11-7/8 I joist with 9-1/2-inch thick high performance fiberglass batts so there will be an air gap above; then vent the ends of the I-joists, use spaced blocking to create a gap between the top of the rim board and the parapet curb, apply a layer of mesh over the slot, install more spaced blocking, hang a wide fascia on that and bring the metal coping over the top of the curb and down the face of that fascia, leaving a gap behind the fascia for air to flow behind and enter the roof cavity. A long tower or parapet topped with a vent cap extends down the center of the roof perpendicular to the line of the joists. Once the roof surface heats up, convection takes over as air starts leaving the tower and pulls in fresh air at the fascia. I've emailed you a very, very rough sketch. Don't you dare snicker at my lousy drawing skills. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, We have 'em here. They put vent stacks in the center and use a fascia vent at the perimeter to get air under the surface. Seems to work. Of course, we don't have winter temps like Chi-Town; so I'm not sure if it would work in your climate. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, It looks like paper-backed self-furring galvanized rib lath. It can be installed directly over studs as long as a WRB is used behind it and the studs aren't any more than 16-inches on-center. However, you can't expect it to perform properly if the WRB behind it is peeled back like that. I hope you aren't the one that did that. If so, you're liable to take the hit for the repairs; the WRB is the drainage plane - once that's torn the water is free to drain into the structure. That sure looks like wood rot reizomorphs moving down the wall to the left of the torn WRB in the first photo and the rot shown in the third photo says very stick structure. What is an "independent stucco inspection by a certified stucco inspector?" Who/what is a certified stucco inspector? Certified by whom? You said yourself that stucco isn't popular there; so any expert you find there might turn out to be as clueless as the guy that put that 3-coat on without proper terminations and flashings around those windows. Go here: http://www.stuccoguru.com/index.cfm Click on "contractor" or "building official" and then click on "Resources" in the left-hand menu, drop a rheam of paper in the printer, kick back with some coffee and start printing. Get out the 3-hole and a few loose-leaf binders, bind some of those up and then take 'em into the throne room for some in-depth study. Who knows? You might become the area's only independent stucco expert. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, So I'm poking around the Burnham boiler site trying to confirm whether one must call them to get the exact date of manufacture on one of their boilers; when I click on a link entitled "The Heating Helper" and discover the neatest little 116 page .pdf primer on steam and hot water heating systems. Glanced it over; this one is definitely going to get read cover-to-cover. you guys should get it. You can download it at: http://www.usboiler.burnham.com/PDF/htghelper.pdf ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Not sure where you got your info for Burnham boilers but today I had one of those. The control valved was marked for the 38th week of 1992 and the owner's manual printing date was Septemer 1992 and that corresponded with a permit on the wall for replacement of an electric boiler with a gas boiler. The serial number was 17308660 and it obviously wasn't manufactured the 17th week of 1930. I have a handwritten notation scribbed in the margin of the TIJ age chart I carry that says to call Burnham at 888-432-8887 to obtain delivery shipping dates. I remember calling them years ago. I don't remember the exact conversation but the note causes me to believe that there probably is no pattern to their serial number and one has to call. Anyone else got any feedback on that? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Looks like a flat roof framed with truss joists and an OSB deck and covered with modbit; no? Any kind of whole house ventilation system to remove the moisture moving up into that roof plane? Any sort of barrier? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Agree, as soon as I saw the photo and before I read the post I thought "old golden buprestid damage." Of course, you shouldn't pay any attention to me; since, according to WSDA, the fact I no longer hold an SPI license has erased all knowledge of insects from my brain and I'm no longer qualified to speak to the issue of bugs []. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

LOL, Regional differences. Individual returns in homes after the 60's around here are scarce as hen's teeth. The biggest most expensive homes around don't even have them. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Around here gutters are sealed with a couple of screws with holes in the head and a wire passes between them with a crimped seal on the wire so that you can't twist the screw out without cutting the wire. If it's sealed, it's the utility's, if it's not sealed it's the consumer's. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef611.asp http://cipm.ncsu.edu/ent/Southern_Regio ... 7/bees.htm http://www.pestworld.org/carpenter-bee

I guess the question I have for the original poster is whether or not there was a gutter that wasn't sealed near the panels where he could have seen the service conductors feeding the panels. Most of the larger services I see around here have underground laterals because they are in neighborhoods where everyone wanted the power below grade. In upper end neighborhoods with very large homes, I occasionally find multiple panels with a gutter and inside the gutter I find larger cables bringing power to those panels. If you were to look at that meter and see that it was a class 320 meter and inside the unsealed gutter you find 400 kcmil copper cables or 600kcmil aluminum cables then you know that the service capacity is 400 amps and there is no issue I think you could have, for instance, a 200-amp panel feeding a main floor and another one feeding a second floor. Each panel could be individually fed by cables rated for 200 amps and have a 200 amp breaker, but you don't know the real size of the service until you look in the gutter. If those service conductors are only 2/0 copper or 4/0 aluminum the service capacity is 200 amps, in which case, a 60% load on both of those panels simultaneously would exceed the capacity of those service cables, no? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Mike, Thanks for posting that. Yep, we've posted info about there here before; but there's nothing wrong with reminding everyong that it's out there and such a great resource. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The fact that he came up with that line shows just how brilliant he really is. Some of you folks here are so smart it's scary. It leaves me both really proud and grateful that you choose to hang out here and let the rest of us pick your brains and wondering why the hell I was shortchanged. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Methinks Jim just showed John another aspect of how sowing links uninvited can turn around and bite you. Now that google's bot and other bots have crawled this site, those links are going to show up whenever someone searches for "Mold Removal." Play with fire, you get burnt. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yeah, a window guy can rebuild/replace cells and replace old worn out seals. Ask the window tech how he/she'd repair the window and avoid anyone who's answer begins with, "Well, I can take my caulking gun and...." ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

See my other response, on the other thread, John. If you repeat this same post in another thread, I'm going to start deleting. We don't appreciate it when folks post a bunch of identical stuff to these posts because it wastes everyone's time as they click on the thread only to find it's someone sowing links. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah? So, what are you saying, John; that mold is dangerous? Just where is the unacceptacle threshold for mold exposure, John? Please provide credible references for your response, please. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Mike, A couple of years ago I inspected a huge Chinese restaurant in Ballard (a Seattle neighborhood) and saw what looked like water stains from a roof leak on the ceiling over the dining room. I got out the LG knockoff, extended it up there in high stepladder form, climbed up, lifted that ceiling panel and discovered that it wasn't a roof leak at all - just the toilet for a rat warren. Rodents will normally have an area close to where they are nesting where they do most of the pissing and crapping. Ask yourself, "If it's condensation, what the heck in this vacant house can cause that much vapor diffusion to occur in only scattered spots throughout the house?" When you think about it, you'll probably answer, "Nothing." ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Kewl! Can't wait to try it. Thanks! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I know they aren't designed for that purpose, but I'd probably use either of the two brackets below in pairs along with threaded rod to secure that stairway to the deck. Click to Enlarge 11.81 KB id="left">Click to Enlarge 23.95 KB Where the hell are all of the accessory beads and expansion joints in that 3-coat? Are you sure it's 3-coat and not EIFS? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Don't kid yourself. Americans love Australians and love your country even though we haven't been there. The retailers figured that out years ago. If you could see the success of television commercials and infomercials here where the folks selling stuff are Aussies, you'd know what I'm talking about. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, The MVMA site is masonryveneer.org but it's easily the slowest site on the net. Either their ISP's server is bogged down or they are on dialup, 'cuz it takes about 15 minutes for most of the page to load and even then it hasn't even started loading the graphics. They've got some stuff that's useful on the home page (If you can get to it). Codes, an online guide, etc.. It looks like they've updated their guidelines. The copy I've saved is a February 2009 copy and it looks like the upgraded their guide in July 2010. I've tried to download it via Firefox, Chrome, IE8 and IE9 (Beta) and nothing is working - that site is slower than dogsnot rolling down the side of a ship in the Antarctic. Nolan, if you can't get that new guide downloaded, shoot me an email and I'll attach my Feb 2009 copy to a reply back to you. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Forgive my ignorance on the subject, but if it is true stone, shouldn't the base rest on a support ledge due to its weight, like Mr. Luttral wrote? (vs. a weep screed). PS: When is the last time you've seen a weep screed used with cultured stone? Never. Not once. The builders and subs don't even know what one is. I've been hammering the details of the MVMA manual for about six months and one big builder has been sharing it with his sub and the last few houses I did in one of their developments not only had the proper separation, they had the termination beads, weep screeds, backer rod and proper flashings. Keep hammering on it long enough and word gets around. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike