Brandon Whitmore

John, Seeing as how you are getting picked on.........you spelled one word wrong in your last post [:-tong2]

The connections I have seen like that were silver, but those look similar-- I don't see a problem with those connections if that is what they are designed for. The overflow pipe doesn't appear to be installed properly.

I just got home from my softball games and don't want to look it up. I am guessing he got this from the IRC -- 25' sounds about right. I believe there is an allowance to comply with the manufacturers installation instructions if you know who the manufacturer of the dyrer will be. I did not look this up and am relying on memory only.

Thanks for your story, it may actually save someone reading this. I have considered wearing safety glasses and never have. This story pushes me closer to actually wearing them. Question: How many of you guy's actually wear PPE when removing a panel?

Paul, It sounds like you do write up the practice of nailing the centers of butt joints and am curious as to why. A ways back I considered whether to write up this practice and decided not to. I just couldn't (still can't) come up with any really good reason why it will hurt anything. My only slight concern is that they are sticking a hole through the WRB at the nail penetration and when (not if) the caulk fails at the butt joint some water can find it's way into the wall sheathing. But, I have that concern with all siding types, and that is why I write up poor seals, etc. all of the time. Even if that nail wasn't there, the WRB is punched full of holes behind the siding anyway's. Have you ever seen it cause any problems? If the siding is properly nailed otherwise, aren't those nails just extra, meaning the installer complied with the manufacturers installation instructions? I am not arguing with writing this up, just curious as to your thoughts, what you do write, etc. Also, regarding manufacturer reps.... I've met a couple of them on site in the past. One of them was Certainteed's vinyl siding rep who said that the lack of J trim overlap at the top corners of windows and doors would not be a problem. He just recommended that they caulk the corners if I remember correctly (something weird/ crazy like that). I told him I wanted something in writing from his company stating this was a proper repair---- it never surfaced. I met the rep on site after having a large, fairly reputable builder (job super) and the installer say I was wrong... they did put it in writing. I had the listing agent on site the entire time glaring at me for making an issue of the installation. It makes no sense why the installer does not get all of the grief- -- it's always the inspector's fault [:-dunce] We pretty much need to change the building code in Oregon. It needs to be written for the average contractor to understand. It needs to lay out exactly how things need to be done. To heck with interpretations.... everyone has their own opinion. I've read the dang code books more than I can count and still can't understand a lot of the stuff in there. Enough of my venting......

The first time I ran into those "hand scraped" hardwood floors, I mistakenly thought they were water damaged, until I pulled a heat register to see there was not any movement in the flooring after all.

My guess was the same as Mike's until I noticed the stain did not start near where the kick out flashing would be missing. The stain looks like a rust color as well. I would go along with the chimney flashing/ cap rusting along with missing kick out flashing. I've never seen condensation form on the wood chase walls, but I guess it's possible in some climates.

John, If you have a contractor's license, you can probably purchase your choice of furnace's wholesale..... it's all the help I've got for ya.

Got any more pics further back? I am getting a headache staring at this one. It looks like the key holes are running both directions... is this at a valley? I can't think of any application where that installation would be allowed.

We did have some earthquake damage to some older buildings a while back (10 years or so). Our earthquakes have not been very serious so far. I have never even felt one (slept through them). I doubt the small gaps/ cracks are a result of the earthquakes, but could be wrong. We don't really have problems with frost heave around here, so our footings are pretty shallow. In one of the pic's, you can see where the concrete has started to crumble-- likely from spalling, but most of the concrete is in pretty good shape. We don't really have many problems with subterranean termites in the area. I would say 1 in 500 houses or so have signs of termite activity, but I have never seen a home too torn up/ damaged by the little guy's--- at least not like you guys on the East side have. So I wouldn't be too concerned with termite entry at the gaps-- it goes back to the spalling issue with the concrete due to freezing. Thanks for everyone's help

Charlie, While researching this, I remember some granite expert writing that the max. is 8" for 3cm. (based on memory). It sounded like he was basing this on the Marble Institute standards, and mentioned ASTM standards-- I wish I had the link or remembered where I read this. Other guys on the forum were saying the max. was 12" when he cut in with specifics.

Would anyone recommend sealing the gaps/ cracks where exposed? Or should it just be left alone?

That stem wall looks about right in your diagram. Can't say I have ever see a CMU stem wall with a slab construction home. Something still doesn't strike me right about this foundation. Some areas show vertical cracks every 16" (cleaner looking concrete), while other areas don't have any vertical joints exposed. I was wishing I had a shovel to dig up an area to see what was going on. There just wasn't much concrete exposed.

Speaking of ladders, does anyone make a 26' extension ladder? I've never seen one, but want one.

Image Insert: 1075.38 KB Better yet, does anyone recognize the manufacturer from the marks on the roof.

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Thanks for the link Jim, That looks like it will work great.....Might keep my heart rate down a little

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Has anyone seen a concrete slab installed with concrete blocks around the perimeter. I hardly ever see slabs in my area, and this is a first for me. At first I thought I was looking at cracks in the concrete, and then realized they were fairly uniform. Some areas appeared to be parge coated (tough to tell) while at others, there were very slight vertical cracks 16" o.c. I have pictures that I can upload, but figured I would just ask first. It seems strange to me.

Dom, From what I have read, it is more common on the West coast to use the plywood base, since we use a lot more 2cm material. 3 cm. is supposedly more commonly used on the E. coast. Any idea what thickness you usually see?

I agree with everyting Mike stated regarding using a ladder to get from roof to roof. One thing not touched on is how high above the roof you should extend that ladder. The reason I bring this up, is that I uhhhh have some experience with this one. I am one of those that will drag my extension ladder up from the lower roof line to the upper roof line (same ladder used for both). 2:12 or less would be smart. I had a 3+:12 slope roof where the ladder kicked out on me- -it's a good idea to have quite a bit of the ladder extending above the roof line, so you have time to catch something if the ladder starts sliding out at the base.

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The kitchen was gutted and new cabinets were installed (pre- fab). There was no counter surface, just the cabinets. The slabs are set directly on top of the cabinet frames. So far it sounds like a 3 cm ( 1.25") slab does not require a plywood base, while a 2 cm (.75") does. This is regarding the strength of the slab itself and not based on cabinet strength. I guess when the granite slab is glued to the cabinets, it should make them rigid. Of course, I didn't measure the granite, but it looked fairly thin, so I bet it was .75". Anyone have a copy of ASTM ASTM C615 Standard Specs for Granite Dimension Stone?

After questioning the manufacturer and letting them know I received conflicing info, they sent me this e- mail: RE: þ From: Info (Info@Jameshardie.com) Sent: Tue 6/17/08 2:31 PM To: Brandon Whitmore (brandon_whitmore@hotmail.com) The Weather barrier is NOT required by us but the best practice would be to install a weather barrier over the LP to keep out any moister from reaching the old product in the first place. If you choose not to put it on it will not void our product warranty.

While we are on the subject of vinyl, I thought this would be an interesting addition. My dad installed vinyl on the home he (we, kind of) build in the early '80s. I pulled off the siding on one wall to do some repairs and replacement of sheathing. The Tyvek housewrap was completely shredded along the entire wall. I looked like the expansion/ contractor of the vinyl was shredding the material. It makes me wonder how effective a properly installed housewrap is behind this material.