kurt

Does radon kill mold? If so, can asbestos be used to encapsulate the radon mold daughters? I'm looking for a unified field theory of environmental management.

"I want to make that noise as I throw my steam boiler out the window.".......[:-eyebrow Sometimes vents were buried in walls or joist cavities; any possibility of buried/unseen vents? Got a picture of that bullhead tee? I'm still learning and figuring out all the goofy stuff that effects steam distribution; I know that oddball tees can screw stuff up, and am still trying to identify oddities. When they suck, they suck bad....that's for sure. When they work right, they're kind of amazing.

Yes, they boil the water. When they're really cranking, it's exciting. You can hear it. They sing. Primary return vents hiss early in the cycle, and in the well designed systems that have never been mangled, they're then silent except for the slightest little brief burble at the vents, and a sound we call "ghost rattles", this kind of faint metallic far and fading away tinging in the pipes. Mangled systems, and those where the vents have never been replaced, clank like engines throwing a rod. It's heating season now. I just completed an experimental rebalancing with some new vents, relocated sensors, and I'm trying a slightly different programming in the control system. Initial review says heat distribution is better. Steam boilers make you want to make that sound Tim Allen made on Home Improvement....that "uhhh, uhhh, uhhh" sound.

The average chimney chase will not leak if.... 1) The cap drains and has a well profiled drip edge. 2) All other siding & flashing details are correct; very basic stuff one can determine by looking. One can observe a lot by looking.....YB. Access to verify fireblocking would be nice, but in my entire career, I don't recall ever seeing it; in my market, it's safe to assume fireblocking is not there. Because there's never any access to verify, it's not anything I can intelligently report on, so I don't. I like the idea of access though.

It's well preserved because it's lead, not because of the ash. Lead doesn't break down. OTOH, Ghent may have found the murder weapon used by Colonel Mustard, in the Library.

As nasty as it is, it can actually perform well if it's installed anywhere close to competently. It's usually slammed over some previous wood clapboard.

We're not even off the 1st page. Give it time.

Stupid and meaningless are not the same thing. If results can be reproduced consistently, that's one thing. When they can't, it's another. Regulatory directives stem from honest conviction and a desire to improve conditions. That doesn't make them either meaningful or meaningless, or stupid. It only makes them well intentioned. Mixing up all the previous definitions is what makes this confusing. I don't know what other people's testing has shown. I know what my testing has shown. I own 5 garage doors with different openers, all relatively new. When I used to care about this, I spent entire weekends "testing" all of them under varying conditions. They all change constantly and I've broken doors, cables, stripped hubs, and snapped a spring "testing" doors with a 2x4. None of the multiple results could be reproduced in any consistent manner. Tom, my garage door guy, and the person that knows more about how garage door equipment actually works, thinks the test is meaningless. Not stupid. Meaningless. The only consistent result of all my testing is the eyes always work. I rely on the electric eyes. Everyone can do what they deem appropriate.

I understand it's about the kids. 6" + working electric eyes = preclusion of snapped neck regardless of whether snapped neck is entrapped or not. I can measure 6". I can't measure anything else. No one has established any relevant criteria for what adjustments should be maintained at. Downforce adjustments go out constantly. Different mechanisms behave differently at different times under different conditions. If the industry and all regulating agencies can't come up with equipment that can be adjusted and stay that way, I'm not interested. It's a meaningless test, and you seem to want to do it. Go for it. For the OP, my advice is forget what AHIT told you. The place is a swamp. Anyone doing this job long enough has demolished a door.....or a door and other stuff. I took out an entire Buick 20+ years ago. When you demolish a door and other stuff, commentary along the lines of "door failed under testing" is empty blather; you're buying a door or other stuff whether you like it or not. Expect someone to solemnly blather that they use this defense all the time and it works. Yes, it works when you are working for people too destitute to hire a gumshoe lawyer and you don't care if anyone ever calls you or refers you and campaigns actively to discredit you. No, it doesn't work if anyone involved (seller, realtor, client) has the means for engaging a mildly competent attorney that will bury you in more costs and activity than any door (or stuff) would ever cost. You seem intent on performing a competent inspection and are looking relevant and concrete direction. You're not going to find it relative to garage door testing. You're going to find folks quoting all the stuff you should be doing. Go back to the 2nd paragraph, then decide what you want to do.

We know that various building codes, testing protocols, CPSC proclamations, inspector "school" directives, and other corporate or governmental humiliations we are forced to endure in this gig are completely stupid, so it's possible the garage door test is also stupid. I check the electric eye return function. If they aren't working, anything under the door is going to get crushed regardless.

The layout doesn't translate in mobile format consistently. I got about 7 different overlapping issues when viewing it on my iPhone. Is this a Wix template?

I see those where there is an array of main disconnects in a central closet. That's probably it.

I have a mix of yuppie larvae in there. It's not all scum.

Yeah, I know. I mix up the terms because I'm trying to stay current with the trend of using acronyms for everything, which I've shortened to TOUAFE. What I gather is folks out east insist it's fine to forgo pressure reducing valves because it's not necessary, it's entirely elective, and here (Chicago) it's the opposite. No pressure reducing is recognized as the realm of The Other. I am not applying social or interactional interpretations. Different areas are.....different, for no apparent reason. Actually, I'll apply one interpretation. It's an American thing. Americans do stuff their way. When we were installing the heating system in our apartment in Wuchang, I introduced the fellows to the idea of pressure reduction and autofill. They'd not heard of it, in addition to not knowing about primary/secondary loops, zone arrangements, air bleeders, or just about anything else. When I showed them a B&G device on the internet, the installers all made that sound Chinese make to indicate they get it. The sense of it immediately sunk in.

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Not having a PRV, around here anyway, is remarkable. No, it's more like jaw dropping. Trusting someone to actually fill their boiler is not in my repertoire. I can't imagine any customer of mine wanting to know how, let alone actually doing it.

Based on the presentation that we both sat through on Friday, I'd say it violates just about every principle espoused by Joe. There's no continuous air/water/vapor control layers anywhere. It's scattered. Bad.

It was an old galv. steel tank located in the attic. Someone still using the old tank in the attic could mean mean there's no PRV. In fact, it probably does. Regardless, I'd be telling them to enter the 20th century, and preferably the 21st, and get a bladder tank and PRV/autofill.

Just goes to show....something. Not sure what. Not sure what "right" means either. I always thought "right" meant someone setting the system up with a PRV and/or autofill of some type. The only time I see systems lacking a pressure reducing valve/auto fill setup are troglodyte jobs. Someone fill me in here.....are we arguing that no PRV or autofill is all right and smart?

I was wondering if that was what you were actually proposing. Amazing. People in NJ do this a lot....(?)... Thousands of boilers with people standing there regulating pressure by opening and closing valves....(?)....

How does one get 12 psi in a system tied to a city water supply? When one opens the valve, it's city pressure. When one closes the valve, it's.......what? Of course one can manually fill a system. How does one regulate pressure manually?

How does a manual feed valve regulate pressure in a system? Does anyone know? Mike, what I'm guessing is there is one of those little angled auto fill/pressure reducing valves at the expansion tank. Was it a bladder type tank?

How do the thousands of boilers without pressure reducing valves regulate pressure in the system?

Are you sure there isn't one of those little inline jobs?

Yes, excellent article. I've never understood the logic for primer. It's all the same stuff. The main cause of failure, in my experience, is not holding the components tightly together until initial set, or not enough glue (meaning applying glue to both sections being assembled). Loosely translated, that means doofus installers, which I've been on occasion.

Damn. We lost a brother. A good one.