Tom Raymond

The guys that installed the trusses stood on the bottom webs cords, ask the builder if he knows just how dumb that makes him sound. When I sell retrofit insulation or radiant barriers I traverse the attic, how else would I know if my guys can get in there to work? If I can do that in my salesman costume you better believe I'm gonna do it wearing my HI cape. That said, I've come across a couple I just couldn't get into.

This is the best pic I've got of mine. Click to Enlarge 72.43 KB These were salvaged from an old apartment building before it was demolished. They were originally set up for a single pipe steamer. Sandblasted, primed, painted, and converted to water.

It's my experience that MLS info is marketing fluff and thus not entirely accurate. Any other clues that it's a 70's house? 70's materials will look and feel decidedly more 'Disco' than 'Miami Vice'.

That opener hasn't caught on because it isn't serviceable. The entire door assembly is diposable.

Just remove any diagonal bracing and start racking the thing. A few times back and forth and half the screws will be loose enough to pry out, the other half will be broken.[:-dev3] There is a wrecking bar designed just for that kind if project. It is about 5' or 6' long with a fork that straddles the joist and provides good leverage for prying at just the right spot. One of the big boxes should have it.

Don't shoot the dog, your tenant was the slob. I see almost as much trash in there as hair. Uhm, is 'moved on' a euphemism for shot the tenant? Note to self, never own rental property that doesn't have hydronic heat

Kurt said it best the other day, "I guess if anyone is allowed to build, then anyone will." That just may be my new favorite quote. Well, it's near the top. This is still my favorite, " I am good at writing but I don't plan on doing to much of it since I am also a tech geek so I will type everything."

How else do you think they get so many people to ride bikes[]

Marc, Yes, but, the idea behind closed cell foam is that it seals and fills all the voids thus leaving nowhere for the moisture to go. They will of course need to use the exhaust fans in the building to clear the humidity, and quite possibly improve them so that they can. The roof plane does not get vented. I personally haven't done any significant retrofit foam applications, but I do know of a few projects done by a very reputable roofing company. The most notable was on a $500K chalet at a ski resort near here. The roof cover and sheathing were removed, Poly ISO sheets were cut to fit between rafters and glued in place with a bead of low expanding foam around the perimeter (because much of the ceiling finish was T&G cedar), the remaining cavities were then sprayed from above. The new roof cover consisted of full ice and water shield and Certainteed Grand Manor shingles above 2' of copper standing seam at the eaves. When viewed from the chairlift, the copper is free of snow and ice and the shingles are nicely blanketed with snow. If a steep chalet can be retrofitted so can that flat roof.

How does the air know where it's supposed to go? - Jim Katen, Oregon It doesn't. It's just like every other vent scheme out there. The stack might be the only part that could reliably drive a convection current, but I doubt it's big enough. How much of that structure has to come out? If it's far enough apart, say 60-65% of the sheathing removed, it just might make better sense to strip it all and foam it.

So the paper was on the form? My first thought was an additive of some kind. Many of them, like color or fiber, come in bags that are designed to be tossed into the mixer drum. I could see how some paper could survive to end up in the wall like that.

Next to the view port with a single rivet in the center would work, then I could select whether I wanted to read it right side up or not[]

That is the result of years of exposure in an environment that the bees thrive in. If that board were milled that way it would have been culled and burned to heat the mill, sold as pallet stock, or marketed as a premium "character" piece. Once it's cut it gets used for something.

It would be really nice if manufacturers would figure out that the data plates for multi-position units should go on the covers, they're hard to read when you are laying on your back and the label is upside down under the inducer fan [:-banghea

Ramon, that wasn't very nice. Funny as hell though.[:-dev3]

My experience is that doesn't happen with the glass, but at the corners of the RO when underlayment and insulation details are less than ideal. Conditioned air makes it to the underside of the flashing causing condensation on the interior and enough melt water to contribute to damming.

I think you are right on about the window. Honestly I don't think it's what is leaking, rather it's a convenient hole in the envelope for water from much higher up the wall to make it to the interior. I correctly guessed the location of the water damage just looking at the first thumbnail image. That gable to the right will really need to be well detailed to keep that window dry. Replacing that window will likely only make things worse, unless they plan on cutting back the stucco to detail it correctly. Your wise to keep your name off of that mess. As far as the stairs go, that board isn't doing a damn thing. Never was. Some clamps, construction adhesive and big screws should pull it back in line, and some bracing behind it will keep it there. It might be just as easy to remove it and put in a new one. A couple of hours for a good carpenter, and that includes clean up. Pick your own guy if you want to fix it for your client, I think her's is looking for a bigger job.

I would suspect sunset to be a terrible time to scan a flat roof. After cooking all day the temps will be so consistent that you'd need a hole big enough to put your foot through to see it, even with Kurt's hi rez camera. I would think that early morning would yield better results. My experience is that differentials of only a few degrees are far easier to see (in any palette) when temps are cooler, 70's and 80's rather than 100+.

That sure looks like a propane rig to me. I don't like 'em, but almost every one of them looks like that around here. I remember some discussion about that type of line not being allowed (can't remember specifics), but every propane supplier I've ever come across hooks 'em up like this. Utility provider rules are trump.

Yesterday's house had white pine 1x10 (just common #2) butted edge to edge and nailed three nails per board to what appeared to be every other floor joist throughout the whole house. It was actually pretty nice, but would have been much nicer if they had used something other than 8d clipped head gun nails. That floor has been down for several years and is holding up remarkably well. I have samples of ipe and garapa 1x6 decking on my desk.

5 1/2 isn't that wide. If the manufacturer says it's ok to glue it, it's ok, but most solid wood floors are not designed to be glued. If it's glued down just what are the nails for? Nailing the floor will likely defeat any sound proofing between it and the subfloor, just too many bridge points to be effective. What about clips? I've never used them, but there are clips that tie solid wood together in a click/lock floating application. It will likely mean switching to a different board machined for the system, but "Brazillian Cherry" sounds trendy enough to be available that way. The flooring supply should know for sure (or maybe you need to find a supplier that knows this stuff). I'm not fond of floating floors, they feel funny under foot, but it would work better with the sound proofing mat and eliminate the idea of glue.

Now you did it Mike. Every kid in that neighborhood will be hanging out over there making garbage bag hot air balloons over those B's, then the delinquent in the group will convince them to start huffing flue gasses[:-dev3] Seriously, kids are doing worse things than that. It's really stupid, and I'd say so, then I'd punt it to the AHJ and let him decide if he wants to be liable for that stupidity. I bet only the bunker portion has a permit, the deck was done after the fact to hide those things and make the missus happy.

I wouldn't let one of those apron wearing monkeys take my new dishwasher out of the box, let alone install it.

Try PhotoScape. It's a suite of photo editing tools for free. It isn't perfect either, but it works and it's way easier to use than anything that came with any of my cameras.

Chris is on to it but he left out one very insightful exercise, scan your own house first. You know your house. Apply what you know to what you see with your IR cam and you'll be able to figure a lot of it out, and you can use the other tools at your disposal to confirm or debunk what you can't intuit. After that, follow Chris's advice.