Steven Hockstein

In my area there are too many lawyers looking for clients. The building departments do not want the added liability and they are hesitant to tell the owners how to design their projects. I am meeting with someone tomorrow morning that wants to remove some walls in their home. The contractor and construction department told them they need plans from a licensed architect.

And by the way. It is my opinion that there should be a fire separation between the garage and the adjacent space that you are showing in your sketch. You can buy sliding doors that are designed as fire rated doors. $$$$

Me too. That is part of what keeps us all busy.[:-wiltel]

Around here it is not the contractor's job to interpret the code (although the contractor is required to follow the code). The architect determines the design and code requirements. The local construction department checks the drawings and performs the inspections.

Still not a word about outswinging doors. Marc Read again. If a door swings OVER the landing it is an "Outswing." There is an exception to screen and storm doors. There is no requirement for an outward swinging egress door from a single family home.

for your reference Download Attachment: Threshold.pdf 867.25?KB There is no reference to snow. Common sense dictates that you don't place an outswing door that can be blocked by snow.

Then what about storm doors? They always swing outward and they are ubiquitous here in eastern PA, where we get a lot of snow. I have no control over what people add to their homes. I just said that we do not design homes with outswing exterior doors in areas where snow can block exiting. I often see storm doors too. Does not make it a good idea, but it is permitted. R311 in the IRC 2009 (NJ Edition) is the code reference that was originally requested in the beginning of this thread. Read IRC 311.3.1 that references direction of door swing and step-down. The problem is when there is not a step-down, and no roof over the entryway, the door can easily be blocked by snow.

Bill is right. We do not design homes with outswing exterior doors where there can be snow. There are some exceptions (i.e. at a covered porch), but they are rare.

Just discovered it. Never had this before. I am thinking that the two houses were jointly owned in the past. They may have shared a private system in the past. The homes are at least a 100 years old. We have been hired to design some renovations and this was found while documenting the house. I will let you know what happens.

This was found in a basement of a home we are working on. The waste pipe through the wall is connected to the next door neighbor's roof leaders and sanitary sewer pipes. The roof leaders and sanitary sewer pipes from the house above the basement are connected to the lower pipe. They join together and exit the foundation wall to an unknown location (most likely the municipal sewer but can't be sure). Click to Enlarge 53.14 KB

What they really meant was: "We will "Hide" it when we drywall."

I agree but the roof is about 100 squares. The difference is real money. I watched an installation video about the Davinci system (on Youtube). I am not a fan of the way the ends are detailed.

Condensation?

That's right. By the time you get into preparing everything for the cover, decent slate is only a little more than the plastic stuff. I was told $1500/square for synthetic slate and $2500/square for real slate.

nobody?

We designed a house about ten years ago ago and the builder installed a Tamko Lamorite synthetic slate roof. The Tamko roof has failed and the owner has asked for our assistance in specifying a replacement. Does anyone have experience with The Davinci Slate roof system? I need to pick a brain or two.

On the positive side, his 5 reasons about why you should replace a garage door operator are true. And his profile offers "highly affordable prices"

I wonder if the architect's drawings look anything like the final product. That is an ugly house.

And the spam continues....... What's next, toilet paper ads? "For big American bottom end, you like soft wipe? My suggested experience for this is to click here ______________"

When I get a call from the seller or their agent I quickly let them know that I am working for the buyer and it is not appropriate for me to discuss the inspection with them. I hang up the phone and send an email to my client to let them know what happened. I ask them if they are OK with me discussing anything with seller. I make sure I have this documented in an email. Only after I get approval will I offer the information. If it is more than a phone call I let them know I expect to be paid for an additional site visit. You are entitled to compensation for your time. You have no obligation to be a free consultant for the selling real estate agent. Ask the real estate agent if they would list your house for free and help you sell it. I bet that will get their attention. The only exception is if I find something that I feel is a life safety issue that the seller should immediately know about. If my client is with me (I rarely do an inspection without a client attending) I tell me client and let them know why it is important. My client has never told me not to tell the seller about a life safety issue.

Not to be picky (but this comment is -[:-bigeyes- sorry). I suggest you remove the word potential. I would just call it a trip hazard. Aren't all trip hazards "Potential" ? I see this a lot when the stair treads are designed for hardwood and the adjacent floors are carpeted or covered with vinyl tiles.

Drip sill is another name for the cap over the transition between the siding and foundation.

Agree me yes. Clear advice be well writting. Thread drift... Actually, it is written like most of the cover levers that accompany the resumes I received from foreign countries. People are looking for employment in this country and want to be sponsored. I guess it is a big leap for me to expect someone to have their letters proof read by someone that understands how to write in English, even if they don't have the ability to do it themselves. The scary part is that I also receive cover letters from people that are born in this country and write similar cover letters!

Use the "go back" feature to see if it is a system registry error.

The house is still standing since 1952 without much sag and the walls are not bowed. Personally, I would spend the money on a vacation.