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Darren

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Posts posted by Darren

  1. Can't we take a compliment?

    By the way, did you get thoses storms yesterday AM?

    My house got hit with lighting; lost my fax/scanner; coffee maker, garage door opener, am older 35 " TV (mine for watching the games), a 42" Plasma and a 32" HD.

    My wife was sitting at the kitchen counter whn it hit; the sparks came shooting out of the now burnt GFCI.

    Lost cable, phone and internet

  2. "Yeah, I do. I say it's good for heating the basement"

    About 5 years ago I attended a seminar in NY. The speaker stated the steam pipes located near the boiler should be insulated because, and I quote

    'Steam will condense (cool down and turn to water) 5 times faster in un-insulated pipes.'

  3. I would like to thank everyone for their responses and opinions. When something is un-familiar, it’s good to know you guys are around.

    Here’s a little background on this inspection. The house is located in Bernardsville, Original construction about 1960. Completely renovated in 1990.

    The seller bought it about 18 months ago and his inspector requested further review, that’s where the two thumbs up came from. Another buyer had it inspected about a month ago but backed out for unknown reasons (maybe something to do with the roof?)

    The buyer just sold a horse farm in Bedminster; she just went thru replacing wood shakes on her house several years ago and knows a wood roofer. I asked her to keep me posted on what his opinion is.

    To answer some questions; No copper ridge; Yes, plywood sheathing with inadequate attic vents (only 3 gable vents & 1 gable fan).

    In 2005, another addition (2nd fl rear upper dormer) was added. They left the outline of the roof with about a half-foot wide of shingles. This area slopes down to a wall and stops; during the inspection I found the inside corner trim rotted out. Someone tried caulking, probably after some water entry into the bathroom below. Very poor design or some really bad on site decisions.

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    From the patio looking up...

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    From a 2nd floor window looking down.

  4. I don't get to see a lot of wood roofs; here's one I did today.

    Everyone involved in this transaction stated the roof was inspected and given two thumbs up on lasting another 20 years (it's currently 19 years old)

    I told my client there are problems; worn, curled, damaged and missing materials. I also said it looks like it was never maintained and she should have a roofer who deals with wood roofs come out to evaluate it.

    I'm thiniking it's pretty bad; what do you guys say?

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  5. In my NJ experience, no code official has ever required that for an air conditioning condenser. Regarding M1308.3, outdoor "mechanical systems" has always referred to package units.

    For NJ, read Chapter 14, Heating and Cooling Equipment.

    M1401.4 Exterior installations makes no mention of the 3" above the ground.

    M1403.2, under Heat Pump Equipment, states "the outdoor unit of a heat pump shall be raised at least 3" above the ground to permit free drainage of defrost water".

    Funny, In my NJ experience, MOST code officials hardly ever required weep holes & flashing in bricks; does that make it OK?

    Where does it say M1308.3 is referring to a packaged unit? Are we to assume that?

    Chapter 13 is General Mechanical Requirements.- M1308.1 refers to drilling and notching; is that for a packaged unit also?

    Like I said, it depends on how you read the code book.

  6. Darren

    I know the IRC says a heat pump should be three inches above grade. Do you have something that says an air conditioner should be three inches above grade?

    Jeff Euriech

    Peoria Arizona

    I guess it depends on how you read the code book. This is my take on it:

    A condenser is a mechanical system.

    In NJ 2006 IRC

    M1308.3 Foundations and supports,

    Foundations and supports for outdoor mechanical systems shall be raised at least 3 inches (76mm) above the finished grade, and shall also conform to the manufactures installation instructions.

    So, even if the manufacture doesn't say it needs to be elevated, the word AND after 'finished grade' tells me it's required.

  7. This question was asked on the ASHI website last year. The SDS screw is designed for deck ledger attachments. This is the reply from Simpson:

    Hello Darren,

    On behalf of Simpson I’d like to thank you for attending the seminars. As far as your question replacing 16d nails or any other size nail with SDS screws would not be advisable. First place the hole size in the connector would not be large enough for an SDS screw. Simpson does not stand behind products that have been modified, i.e. drilling the holes larger to fit SDS screws.

    George Wienholz,

    Simpson Strong Tie Co., Inc.

    Phone: 925.560.9207

  8. * Has the gravel pad been adequately compacted?

    * Has the gravel pad been adequately compacted?

    * Has the gravel pad been adequately compacted? (Repeat until certain

    - Jim Katen, Oregon

    I had a soil engineer on a job one time tell me there is no need to compact the stone we were installing under a slab. I gave him my 'what the f' look and continued with the compaction.

    The next project I had a different soils guy say the same thing when we dumped 3/4 clean in an over excavated footing.

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