Denray

Ignant. Click to Enlarge 46.22 KB

Just in case anyone needs a good photo of this. Click to Enlarge 39.93 KB

That's my succesful contractor friend doing a swan dive. I had been jumping in feet first cause I no likey head first, then he pulls that off. So I conjured up a gainer that was pretty good, so I quit diving after that. No girlie screams, this time.

Yeah, but we were able to get out. The 15yr olds were too chicken to try. Click to Enlarge 100.13 KB

Yea but...I bet you still think young. Just give me hope and say you do. I'm 58 and just pulled off a 20ft gainer dive on the river yesterday. My one month younger buddy was doing swan dives, so i had to.

Thanks Jim.

Whoa, whoa, don't everybody rush to reply at once. Here's a comment I got: Nope. When installed they should be tight (but not cranked into the wood) and then turned 1/4 turn past tight. As the wood shrinks during construction and as the framing settles during construction (from the loads placed on the framing as the structure is constructed) the nuts should be re-tightened during construction, and one last re-tightening just before drywall is installed. From the bow in that all thread (or rod with treaded ends), it was likely never tightened, and/or may be binding up in mis-aligned holes (the tie-down rods should be straight and not bound up in the holes. Simpson StrongTie makes a couple of self-adjusting nuts and self-adjusting couplers which are tightened as described above, then a pin is removed and further shrinkage/settlement is automatically taken up in the self-adjusting nut/coupling - as I recall, those self-adjusting nuts/couplings can take up 1/2" before hitting their adjustment limit. I would write them up. Having loose hold-down bolts and rods is no different than having loose truss straps and hangers - and I am sure that all of us would write up loose truss straps and hangers. I also got this one: Where are the hold downs? This is only threaded rod not a hold down. There should be a hold down connected to the 2 x 6 (which also should be doubled) at the foundation connection and 2 more hold downs between the 1st and 2nd floor. This looks like Uncle Buck's version of a hold down.

Is it ok for hold downs to be a bit loose? Click to Enlarge 60.76 KB

Came across these photos of a "cabin in the woods" I looked at a few years back. Anyway this chimney could be safe? Click to Enlarge 59.75 KB Click to Enlarge 57.97 KB Click to Enlarge 49.86 KB

If he does the roof last, slips and falls at the end of his inspection, grabs the gutter on the way down, and ends up paralized from the waist down, he could still write the report and his clients would be thankful.

My son got a pair of image stabilized binoculars as a graduation present last spring. Fuji I believe. Holy carp do they make it easy to look at something. Try them out sometime. I walk roofs all the time so would not buy them for that, plus I make no money. But they are way better than standard binos.

Thanks Marc. Re your signature, an engineer friend of mine is in Guam right now figuring out how to get their water wells to produce more.

I ran across this old picture the other day. Is it ok to have the sill all the way to the edge of the foundation? House is two story so the sill should be 6 inch, right? Click to Enlarge 51.06 KB

Nice wrap up Richard. My 82 yr old mech engineer Dad got just about that far too.

Are'nt those two skinny breakers that the conductor is split between called "wafer breakers, piggy back, half-width, or twin breakers? That's the way they are discribed in Mr. Hansens book. Yep, I don't know where it went to. Maybe it wasn't for a 240 circuit. Thanks for the reply Richard.

Going thru some old photos I found this. (2) 20 amp wafers going to one stranded conductor. If the strands are evenly split will that put out 40amps? I'm sure it's not correct. What will be the problems? Click to Enlarge 62.45 KB

Thanks guys. My intent, from the beginning, was to right it up as a FUBAR. I was just wondering what the heck was going on?

Main panel. Click to Enlarge 55.08 KB Click to Enlarge 42.7 KB

Thanks for the fast reply. Now I don't feel so ignant.

Main service has a 100 amp main breaker, 2 20 amp breakers, and one 40 amp 220 volt breaker. Upstairs is this 100 amp panel with no breakers in it. What the heck is this all about? Click to Enlarge 66.29 KB Click to Enlarge 57.89 KB Click to Enlarge 79.31 KB

Dumbtard is a better word to use.

My father gave my son a pair of motion stabilizing binoculars for his college graduation. Probably around a grand. Incredible how well they work. Check them out sometime.

Fun to clean.

Schedule 80 coupling. Hardware store propbably was out of the white 40's.

The vent connectors don't have much of a slope either.