RobC

Ed, I'm thinking you've move down there to get away. So, if you are looking for advise, here's mine. CHILL! As Kurt mentioned those look like cheap fake brass butts. And in the end it don't matter if they bleed all over the house. You've got bigger thing to worry about. Send us a picture of your brand new washing machine and dryer after a year down there............and your car and your whatever. I toured Jamaica for a month back when and I'll tell you, park it or you'll end up a basket case in no time. Get used to the time warp and the corrrosion....LOL Good Luck,

Agree, I'm thinking you are talking about a natural draft boiler. High efficiency boilers run cooler so they can condense. A 3 load full modulating boiler can run differently for each load. For example my configuration looks like this: Load 1 (In floor) - 130F Load 2 (Space) - 160F Load 3 (HWH) - 140F These are maximum set discharge temperatures, and can vary depending on the demand load and outside temperature. If the outside temp is -30F and the snow is falling horizontally you could see the boiler at 160 but generally it runs around the 140 mark, the condensing max temperature. Did you check the PRV for leaks?

Ah! Got it Dave, Guess you have 'challenges' closer to home than having to drive 300 miles to find more. ghentjr, I'm not suggesting that we are getting lazy or "not willing to do anything anymore" and that your test is not acceptable. I'm saying that if you turn off a safety device and forget about it, you'll be liable for the damages you cause. Should we talk about leaving the oven on, letting the pool size jetted tub fill up past the overflow drain or looking at your jacket through the living room window in -30 degree weather after you've locked the doors. [:-crazy] There are lots of ways to determine if a radiant system is leaking without shutting down controls. Kyle, As Bob would say............"FANTASTIC!"

Looks like you beat me to the punch. I'm not sure why you'd pass on this one. I see this as a great learning opportunity. But then again I like a challenge. "The propane supplier I spoke to stated that hydronic radiant flooring systems generally use more propane than force air systems" You might want to ask him where he got his information. RC

Gas consumption is dependent on a lot of things such as heat loss, degree days, number and size of appliances and lifestyle of the occupants etc. This is what we use here in Calgary (5200 dd) to estimate propane fuel consumption. Remember that this is an approximation and can vary greatly. 2000sf home Mid efficiency furnace - 3200 liters/yr or 850 gallons Water heater - 1200 liters/yr or 320 gallons Gas range - 350/yr liters or 92 gallons If you say the house was vacant in the last year then we'd only be concerned with the furnace consumption or 850 gallons. But we have a 3000sf home so that would put us at around 1300 gallons for a standard built home. Since the home is energy efficient, what ever that means, you could discount the figure by whatever percentage. So yes, 3,000 gallons in one year would appear excessive. With regard to your radiant in floor system: "To do a simple test on the in floor system, When you arrive mark or note the water pressure on the boiler and then turn up the thermostats for more heat. Turn off the boiler water feed valve." DO NOT turn off the water feed valve. Let me repeat myself DO NOT turn off the water feed valve. NEVER turn off the water feed valve..........EVER If you should have a water leak in the system and the boiler is missing a low water cut out valve or one that is malfunctioning, you could risk damaging the boiler. The system should have either glycol throughout the distribution tubing or an exchanger for zones that are susceptible to frost damage such as an attached garage. But from your information I would guess frost damage is not an issue considering the high fuel consumption unless of course the windows and doors were left open and resulted in frost damage somehow. Good luck with your inspection. RC YourCalgaryHomeInspector.com

Chad, You might want to check this out http://www.follansbeeroofing.com/produc ... specs.aspx Particularly this, Limitations: All Terne II surfaces must drain and must be painted. Terne II to be applied on a wood deck. Wood treatments that are hygroscopic or chemically treated, such as ACQ (Alkaline Copper Quaternary), must not be used for decking under Terne II. Minimum 1/2" plywood to be specified. If sheathing boards are specified, maximum 2" spacing between boards. Roof deck must be smooth, clean, dry and must remain dry after application. Rosin sized paper is the only permissible underlay on a Terne II application. Do not apply roofing felts under Terne II.

This is what's happening here in Calgary.. Land of Oil and wheat... http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/sto ... 2f957b&k=0

Go offshore or out to most of the developing world; lotta aluminum wiring out there. I think they also use it extensively in Canada, but I could be wrong. Any Canadians in here? Aluminum service entrance conductors are somewhat common here but never in branch circuits. Even though copper is going through the roof at the moment, I haven't heard of any proposed move to aluminum - but ya never know that could change???

What Mike said, Joist hangers - yes A 2x lumber ledger would be installed in this fashion. http://www.logixicf.com/client/LogixICF ... D+Drawings The 'skinny' would be found in 5.6 Floor System Connections Enjoy

Jesse, What would prompt you to ask the question in the first place? OR Are U playing "Kick The Croc"?

Very kind gentlemen Thank you and May you all have a great 4th

You've touched on a very complex issue that I would like to discuss but time won't allow. Let me say that at the time of construction the common method was to lay piping on gravel and pour concrete. Today as we speak radiant systems have become more common, more complex, more design oriented. Heat loss is calculated -generally by the wholesaler and the piping 'layout' is computer designed, insulation is an option that an uninformed builder would omit. Anyway, from a home inspection point of view I would concentrate on the following: Are all the zones responding? Is the slab thick enough (recommended 4" minimum), I pour 5" There is a ton of other things to consider but the most important is air changes. Does the heating sytem provide air changes in the form of a fan/coil or HRV ...? Your question: Is this thing going to do more than heat the floor? The answer: We would need to know heat loss calculation, boiler rating, flow rates, lenght of zones and their circulator size.....etc. which is beyond a regular home inspection. If the system is designed accordingly, it will keep the basement toasty warm...the Mercedes of heating. This sytem is now becoming common in commercial space where they could have numerous large commercial overhead doors opening and closing on a continual basis. I apologize in advance for not responding as I'm currently building a home out of town and have limited time on the puter.

Is the barometric damper installed correctly? I've never seen one in action as we are on natural gas here, but I would think they should function thusley Download Attachment: 0837.JPG 275.66 KB Is thusley actually a word?

I'm not sure what is the concern. Expansion joints are not a requirement anywhere, except indicative of good workmanship. Why would you feel the expansion joint is wrong? Don't think I'm setting you up, just simply asking.

Here is the math C$1.095 / Liter (gasoline is sold in liters) 1 US gallon = 3.785 Liters 1 US gallon = C$4.145 OR .88 x $4.145 = US$3.65 / US gallon If you're driving a vehicle with - say 120 liter tank - it could cost you 120L x C$1.095 = C$131.40 Not Bad.[:-crazy]

Mohawk gas stations have been around for years selling ethanol - blended gasoline. Looking back on it now, they were light years ahead of current thinking. http://www.huskyenergy.ca/products/products_ethanol.asp Lloydminster is an interesting place as part of it straddles Saskatchewan. With the different tax rates (AB has not Provincial taxes) it makes for interesting conversation amongst the resident.

These folks were featured on PBS last night http://www.kettlefoods.com/index.php?cID=227 Incidently, they're located in Salem, OR

The in slab radiant piping is mostly PEX although I've see a few Poly B systems and I recommend to monitor closely. Copper and brass controls are seen from the manifold to the boiler. I have to admit that radiant is relatively new for us and reserved for higher end homes. For the most part, systems are less than 20 years old and perhaps the reason we don't see failures yet. I agree wholeheartedly about the importance of reaming the copper system. Turbulence and as you say eddies can wreak havoc not to mention reduce efficiency and volume. Here is a typical installation Download Attachment: HeatingBoiler_M.jpg 66.76 KB FYI- PEX come in different colors- for identification purposes only Red - for hot Blue - for cold White - for both

"I don't understand about the working erratically part and defeating the purpose of supplying instant hot water. When the temp in the supply line drops,......." Precisely, we don't want the water to drop in temperature at any time during our peak demand period. If I understand you correctly you suggest placing a temp control at the demand point and activate the circulator when the water falls under a pre set temperature. What would happen if you turned on the faucet at the time the control called for 'pump on'. That condition would not satisfy your original design criteria that of always having available hot water on demand. How Long? That would depend on the occupant(s) and their lifestyle. It could be a half hour or two hours in the morning and the same in the evening. Or multiple occasions, for instance the husband leaves early morning, children a bit later and perhaps the wife starts work at 10:30 am etc. It could also run continuously on certain days. What about Erosion? I don't see this problem here and we have millions of miles kilometers of radiant heating without any reported failure due to erosion. It may have something to do with water quality and chemical composition, I don' know. I understand the chlorine content is higher in the States. Perhaps Jim could elaborate on his observations about this. Circulator design can vary greatly depending on the application, if we're discussing commercial, then that would be a horse of different color(s). The demand criterion's are more complex in design than residential. "I can pick up on many different styles and systems and create my own "what works for me". AND isn't what's it all about ...........sorting through all the information and making an informed decision. Kind of tough when you don't have any information to sort[:-graduat

The circulator in my picture services a remote fixture, an ensuite lav in this case. They are more a matter of convenience than function. If you've ever been in a large home and had to wait for the hot water to arrive you would appreciate this device. However, we don't want them operating continuously, when the house is empty, so we place conditions on them to turn on at specific high demand times such as mornings and evenings. To impose a temperature condition on the circulator would cause it to cycle eratically and defeat its original intention - that of supplying hot water on demand. It may look like a pump but it only circulates water without creating pressure hence the name circulator.

You might also want to mention that without insulation, efficiencey will be reduced and the pipe could act as a radiant heating system. That is of course, assuming the circulator is intended for domestic hot water and not hooked up to a remote radiator or convector.

I've been seeing this lately, Download Attachment: PlumbCirculator_M.jpg 39.96 KB The time can be set for high demand periods like mornings and evenings. I suspect it would be cheaper than a circulator and timer.

I would guess that it would be located near the kitchen/butler pantry. Each rectangular bell represents a room with an individual sound to summon for assistance, food etc. The large dial might be a clock. The lower round bell might be the front door chime. Whatever it is, it's a magnificent piece.

Selvage (rolled roofing) is seldom used here in commercial work. It's usually considered as a temporary, low quality, temporary fix. What you might have is a 'Modified Bitumen' roof membrane that would appear to have been torched on. Although this material looks like selvage, its properties are light years more advanced, and durable than rolled roofing. If so, I would question the need for a 'gravel stop' as there would be no gravel to stop. How is the roof draining? Scuppers, Troughs or Roof Drains How much staining are we talking about?

Yes, if they looked like this. Download Attachment: PlumbSewerStack1_M.jpg 46.72 KB This is a newly installed roof. If you look carefully, you'll see what appears to be a grey mesh fiber on the left at the neoprene flashing. Straight from the Handy Man Corner Download Attachment: PlumbSewerStack2_M.jpg 56.95 KB Makes you wonder if the original roof was stripped and the decking inspected. But that wasn't your question, you asked.. "If so, when you see water lying at the bottom of the stack, what do you report?" I'd have to ask you in return if you observed the sewer stack(s)connected to the plumbing vent system and most importantly did you notice any appliances behaving abnormally?