John Kogel

Bring a step ladder and feel the undersides of the wood for dampness. You are correct, probing is difficult without doing damage but a thin blade could be used between the 2 x's. Infrared imagery could be an option, but this will simply tell you if there is moisture, and appearance and feel can do that too. Can that eave be shortened and a conventional gutter be installed? As you probably know, there is minimal insulation in that ceiling. However, I see a raised area inboard of the overhangs, so they may have laid foamboard down under the new roof cover. This creates a soft surface and there can be problems with the membrane bubbling or sagging, especially around skylights and vents.

Didn't we go through this one before? Either is fine, but gasses looks really strange to me. Why is the second s there? Is there any other word in English that's made into a plural by adding ses to the end? I always use gases. - Jim Katen, Oregon "Bases are loaded! Asses are on the line!" I feel some pity for our ESL clients.

In which case, would he be passing gases, or just gas? Speaking of gas, does swamp gas smell like rotten eggs? 7 Canadians killed in Mexico and they are blaming it on the swamp below the building. One survivor said they smelled rotten eggs similar to the pulp mill back home before the blast.

I think you could run that drawing past the authority and see if he accepts that setup. I see no glaring problems there. Your drawing shows the tub/shower drain below the toilet drain, but that is because of the perspective, right? Tim Carter, the plumber and builder posts this drawing on his website. It is Tim's drawing, not mine. [] Click to Enlarge 17.75 KB http://www.askthebuilder.com/722_Rough- ... gram.shtml

Roger that, Mike. Just trying to help. Somehow I doubt my remarks will sabotage the project. [] Your comment about the guy laying in a 2 foot cavity lends some sense of realism to the job, doesn't it?

Unless there is some serious leakage around the top in that area, it pretty much has to be the rock itself is bleeding. Wrong rock, you said it. They could try a clear epoxy coating on it, but there's no easy fix for that one, and that rust stain will be tough to clean. Some people would be inclined to paint over the rust and hide it with something equally ugly like lattice and a rose bush. []

I will stand by my comments above. If the conditioning is not done right, good chance, the only way to know that there are problems will be for someone to check the crawlspace regularly. And a two foot crawlspace can be quite warm and dry from heat loss from above. The key is to prevent moisture from accumulating down there.

Instead of drawing combustion air from the crawl, why not draw it from outside through a duct? Conditioning the crawlspace is not a bad idea, but I think it should be monitored for problems such as moisture because of the closing off of the vents to the exterior. An uninsulated floor will radiate some heat downwards. I learned that here. [] If there are heating ducts running thru the crawlspace, they will also heat the area.

Somebody has no intention of upgrading their wiring just to make a sale. []

Body heat - the best kind, ask any Canadian igloo dweller. []

Yes, try to get a steer into the back of a truck for his first and last road trip to the butcher's place. A bit of grain in a can won't cut it.

I thought it was more like 1/100th. 10 milliamps. Marc That is correct, Marc. A 1/10th amp can kill you 10 times better. The point is you can shock yourself silly as long as your heart does not come between the two points of contact.

So how many times has that old sow been back to haunt you? Wait a sec, your in-laws ranch, better not respond to that question. [] One thing I know is that a 1/10th of an amp across the heart can indeed kill a person.

Jim. I think you left some claws marks on the glass in the second pic. Please go back with some glass cleaner. The sellers are very upset. [] My guess is that there is so much indoor heat accumulating in that peak, that the moisture around the plywood is evaporating? That and soaking into the framework. Did you make any recommendations?

What are you doing in there with the ants, Rob? [] I agree. Ants.

Yikes! Sorry for being a smartass, but if the breaker was switched off first, it could be removed safely. But I see why you would not want to tamper with it. It's a crime scene! []

I ran Free AVG for a couple of years, then their services became weak somehow, like they left cracks in the shield by mistake, maybe. [] Switched to Free Avast, and they were good, but not good enough. To clear the last infection, I bought a Norton CD for $60 and installed that. This saved me sending CC info while my machine was infected. I found a sale on Norton 2011 at the local Staples, so bought the disc to install at renewal time. $30 a year for up to 3 computers.

So they must not extend down. It's a split bus panel and they're backfeeding the lower set of bus bars. It makes me wonder what happened to the original wires that fed the lower buses. - Jim Katen, Oregon They were removed so that the subpanel could be backfed by what appears to be a 60 amp breaker. But you knew that. [] There should have been a label on that breaker. It is not much help to the occupants if they don't know what the breaker does. Why hasn't it blown up? Those copper busbars are better quality, so that helps. The breakers must fit relatively snug, and none fell out so that must be the case. And three, if no circuits are ever overloaded, the old breakers are never put to any real test to see if they would actually protect the wiring or allow the whole mess to go up in smoke. To me that is the question to ask for any breaker panel over 30 or 40 years old - Will those old breakers snap off when they need to?

A propane supplier here was asked to remove an above the ground "fat boy" tank from my property. It took them two months to get it done, and they then sent me a bill for $250 for labor and hauling.

Marc, I often see wooden stands under the tank here, usually just a table built from 2 X lumber. Only the gas units need to be elevated in my northern neck of the woods. We can have electric water heaters sitting right on the garage floor. On another note, we don't like to see PEX pipe crimped directly to the tank like that. It is better to have 18" copper stubs there between the tank and the plastic pipe. Edit: That may not be a requirement for electric tanks in your area, but it is usually done that way here. (Nevertheless, I have found electric water heaters with the PEX directly attached with no visible sign of trouble.) Welcome to the 55+ club!

I don't know if I'd trust that gizmo. It doesn't pull evenly, so the door will want to jamb. The rubber wheel is going to spin out. Let's wait and see if they stand the test of time.

The nasty part will be crawling in to retreive it in the really ugly crawlspace when it refuses to comes back out. [] I think I'd keep mine on a leash.

If you need soffit vents, and we're not sure you do, but they are usually beneficial, why not have the contractor come back and drill the round holes as planned? He could blow the holes clear with a blast of compressed air and tuck cardboard tubes in to keep them open. Make sure screens are added as well.

Well, there was a missing cable clamp and a neutral had been extended with a taped connection which might not be soldered, so I called for an electrician to make repairs and check under the tape.

I will poke my arm in first, snap a pic or two, make sure there's no crocodiles. I will go feet first if it's a real tight squeeze. That way, my mouth is facing the hatch so they can feed me. [] I had a really tough crawl to do a few mos ago. The home owners had lost a sale because there was no crawlspace access. So they cut a hole in a closet floor and called on me to do the honors. [:-slaphap Sitting on the dirt floor of the crawl, the floor was level with my chest. I scrunched down and saw I had to go down around a corner into another wing to see much of anything. It was so tight, I backed out, got a breath of air, then went down around the bend feet first, took a pile of pics, nice dry crawl with no problems other than the access. A week later, they had a buyer.