Tom Raymond

I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that the fiberglass insulation stuffed right up against the skip is preventing it from drying properly and contributing to that rot.

Well, then how do you find them? How do you verify proper clamps?

There is hope that a recent favorable circuit court ruling in Florida limiting damages against home builders by owners of houses with defective Chinese-made drywall will spread to other states where the cases are being tried. The case, known as Marlene Bennett vs. Centerline Homes, Inc., consolidated a number of lawsuits by owners of homes with defective drywall against various builders. Read the full article here

I'll have to hunt down Rural Preservation and see what their requirements are. I can't find anything at DOS, no surprise there, and a quick search spits out a bunch of exterminators. I don't see any pest stuff on Joe's site either.

This is what happens when lawyers decide how we should do things instead of scientists. CSST only fails in this manner when it is subjected to a lightening strike, and lots of other systems in the same house will fail as a result of that same event. Active and passive lightening suppression makes more sense than abandoning CSST and suing the manufacturers out of business.

I thought cold spots and drafts were part of the experience of living in a mid century modern.

So what are the licensing and training requirements to do pest inspections in NY? I got a call today from a guy that is running down the RE agents list of inspectors trying to find a pest guy to satisfy the terms of his Rural Preservation (that means Federal subsidies) loan. If training doesn't take long or cost much there's no reason I shouldn't be doing these. Any help would be appreciated.

In 1954 that would have been a BUR with gravel ballast, and probably the longest lasting roof on the building. That means it's had no less than 4 coverings in its 56 years and it needs a new one now well ahead of schedule. Ouch.

I don't know what I'd do if I ran into a steam system, but I can tell you that that system has been venting like that for a some time. There is a pattern of deteriorated brick that match the angle of that steam cloud.

Assuming the last pic is indicative of the worst damage it isn't a very difficult fix, but it won't be cheap. Remove the gutters and fascias, peel back the EPDM roofing (in my neck of the woods 13 years exceeds its service life anyhow), and cut back the overhang far enough to remove the rotted end grain, spot treat small areas of remaining rot with an epoxy stabilizer, and use a solution of oxalic acid to remove the black stains if you prefer to keep the natural finish. Skip the acid if you can live with paint. Before resurfacing the roof you really should consider adding some insulation, with the little I can see of that building in your pics it is going to be an energy hog. If it were mine, it would get at least 2 perpendicular layers of 2 inch rigid foam insulation with the seams staggered, capped with commercial base sheet (a 2 1/2" foam panel with OSB glued to one side), and roofed in rubber or PVC. Obviously this would include new fascias and proper termination bars for the roof membrane. This is not a job your average residential roofing company will be capable of, and in my area at least would require a commercial roofer. EDIT: This is what happens when I answer the phone in the middle of posting. Pushed to the end of the line.

i before e except after c. Weird . . . I thought so. Since spelling and punctuation count toward his grade in every subject, you'd think his vocabulary text would actually use proper spellings and not acceptable alternates. My kid spells really well, I don't like the school system breaking that.

Just be careful, if both happen simultaneously you could implode[:-dev3]

Why does it have to be plural? Sewer gas works just fine. My son is in 4th grade and is working on irregular plurals now. Several of them are incorrectly spelled in his text.[:-banghea

For what? Unless the one of the other parties is going to pay for that signature he has nothing to gain. Lenders should understand this better than anyone, they charge fees for everything.

The rust is the least of their problems, don't you know there's radon in that granite?[:-monkeyd

Wait a minute! Are you being cautious pedantic because it's poop or did Jimmy get to you?

I kinda like the fact that our little club isn't static. I also like the concrete, but I have to wonder if the crack was intentional or coincidental.

Ah, you beat me to it. Heat loss from the ducts in the crawl and from the floor above don't make the crawl conditioned. It doesn't sound like combustion air was considered in the original design and was merely passable to begin with. And, am I the only one concerned about the fact that the crawls are accessible from one unit to the next? I always thought that fire separation in condos and townhouses was required to be continuous.

Cool, I just installed the 2010 suite yesterday.

Extech and Flir both have lower res cameras in the latest Sears tool catalog for right around $2k, IIRC.

What one will do that?

I still think it's hardboard. 2009 is too old to be the new Hardie, and the shadow line looks too fat to be the old. Look at the pic below, the bottom piece is brand new hardboard, the top is Hardie. Click to Enlarge 35.75 KB Based on the suppliers in my area I would guess the hardboard is from GP or Weyerhauser. I 2 stepped it so I can't be sure.

Go watch an infomercial and try again. Ron Popiel or Billy Mays you ain't!

Marc, check your local lumber yard. I don't know who makes it, but that is definitely hardboard lap. The supplier should have an install manual. Oh boy, a quick search points to LP.[:-banghea

Yikes! Too bad they spent the money on duct work. Insulation would have been cheaper, more effective, and a heck of a lot safer.[:-banghea