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I'm going to assume that's staged, not merely because it seems improbable, but because this sort of thing keeps happening and...and really, it can't be that common can it? No. No please. Surely it can't.
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Feb 2, 2016 05:10
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Shady Amish Terror posted:I'm going to assume that's staged, not merely because it seems improbable, but because this sort of thing keeps happening and...and really, it can't be that common can it? No. No please. Surely it can't. One possible explanation I saw was that the framers were too lazy to move the roofers' ladder. Or were angry at the roofers for some reason. This does seem like the kind of thing that's a lot easier to have happen when you have multiple groups working on the same project.
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Feb 2, 2016 05:39
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Took me a second to figure out what was going on there, haha
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Feb 2, 2016 12:39
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It’s a structural ladder now.
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Feb 2, 2016 13:07
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Holy poo poo, so many questionable things here, even without the ladder. Overhang over the window, but not the door? Sure, why but. Guaranteed water penetration where support meets the wall? Yolo, I guess.
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Feb 2, 2016 13:33
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That's a hell of a way to jury-rig a splash shield for the lime squeezer maintenance hatch.
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Feb 2, 2016 15:18
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Nitrox posted:Holy poo poo, so many questionable things here, even without the ladder. Overhang over the window, but not the door? Sure, why but. Guaranteed water penetration where support meets the wall? Yolo, I guess. That is a door, and (not saying it will get done but) flashing is how you deal with the potential water issue. There's nothing really wrong here other than the ladder.
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Feb 2, 2016 15:21
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This seems like the most apropos place to ask this, so am I suffering from crappy construction in my own house? I purchased the house about 6 months ago, and recently noticed (thanks to 8 kids dancing at a party) that the floor in my living room is a bit soft along the back wall. I went to take a look under it and this is what's there:  I'm not sure if the window boxes are original to the house or if they were built out when the original owner did some waterproofing of the back wall a decade or more ago, but it looks like they may not be doing a great job of carrying the floor joists. If you look, where I've circled and labeled A, the cross-beam (Header? Not sure what the technical term is here) is just toe-nailed into the double joist that sits on the foundation between the windows. Then, at B (and everywhere else they are), the joists are only nailed through one of the two 2x8s that make up the cross beam. The end result is a bit of a spongy floor. I want to stiffen this up, but I'm not sure what the best way to do it is. Am I better off just running more nails through everything, to connect the cross beams to each other and the joists better, or should I put a couple of bolts through the cross beams to effectively make them one structure and then use joist hangers for the joists? Would it be overkill to put a couple lag bolts through the cross beam and into the joists that still sit on the foundation behind it (like on either side of the circle for A), or should I just use hangers for those as well? Help me, crappy construction thread. I don't know any framers!
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Feb 2, 2016 16:12
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Not a framer, but adding some joist hangers wouldn't hurt. They're prefabricated metal brackets that have holes for nailing into the two pieces of wood being joined, and they're a lot more secure than just toenailing. Simpson Strong Tie is the usual brand to go with, and they have tons of different hangers depending on the precise sizes of wood and their positions with respect to each other. Make certain you use the correct nails per their instructions. You may want to use a compressed-air-powered palm nailer, and/or drill pilot holes, for some of the nails. Driving 16d nails by hand isn't always straightforward, especially in tight spaces (e.g. between joists).
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Feb 2, 2016 16:31
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stealie72 posted:If you look, where I've circled and labeled A, the cross-beam (Header? Not sure what the technical term is here) is just toe-nailed into the double joist that sits on the foundation between the windows. It is called a header. Only nailing the joist through one of the header beams is correct. The two beams should then be nailed to each other with a staggered 16d nail every 16" o.c. Joist hangers or framing angles would be the standard way to stiffen that set up.
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Feb 2, 2016 20:18
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGX6lqkeevE A great toilet install
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Feb 3, 2016 06:12
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canyoneer posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGX6lqkeevE this is fantastic
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Feb 3, 2016 06:18
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Nostalgia4Butts posted:this is fantastic oh poo poo how will he ever take the door off it's hinges?
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Feb 4, 2016 05:06
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Robawesome posted:oh poo poo how will he ever take the door off it's hinges? It's not that it's a hard fix, but if that really is an apprentice on his first time he's just handed everyone else he works with something to give him poo poo about for an indefinite amount of time until someone else fucks up in a funnier way.
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Feb 4, 2016 21:19
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wolrah posted:It's not that it's a hard fix, but if that really is an apprentice on his first time he's just handed everyone else he works with something to give him poo poo about for an indefinite amount of time until someone else fucks up in a funnier way. This and also the fact that his brain is probably still firmly in 'plumbing' mode and all he can think about now is that he has to undo all the poo poo he just did. Hopefully somebody pulled the hinge pins not long after the video cut.
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Feb 4, 2016 23:29
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Nothing like as bad as most of this thread but a compilation of poo poo I've encountered in my flat which is the upstairs of a ~100 house. First problem is that it's got subsidence because, like all the other buildings nearby, the back part is not properly joined into the main body of the terrace, is built on sand (3 streets from a river!) and as a bonus turns out to have no actual foundation beyond about 30cm of brick. Slabs werent invented back then apparently, the floor is just dirt below the ground floor flat. So that was pretty fun and its taken 4 years to get it fixed but hey, could be worse and insurance covered it so the ~£30k cost only actually means like £600 for me. But then someone bought the downstairs flat and discovered that when the previous owner took out a stud wall and put in a beam, he didn't bother with building control and supported the beam on two bits of 2x4 bolted together. The load on the beam goes all the way up to the roof and we're not sure what it sits on under the 'column' either. Nice. And today I unscrewed the thermostat to replace it and found two unmarked exposed wires behind the mounting plate. No idea if they're live so for now i wrote 'what the gently caress' on the wall and put the plate back. Could be worse though, a friend lives in the US and bought a house and thought it was odd that every light fitting was above a wall socket, can you guess why?
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Feb 6, 2016 18:36
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:
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Feb 6, 2016 18:39
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:
What colour where the wires in the Tstat? Most likely someone was using 7 conductor wire and just left the ones he didn't need off. It's pretty common. As for the light thing, built in voltage tester? If the light isn't on the plug doesn't work? Or something equally stupid?
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Feb 6, 2016 19:56
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Yeah every light fitting was wired into the socket below it apparently christ knows how this didn't result in a continuous tripping of the breaker. Oh apart from one which was embedded in a mantlepiece and the electrician was completely unable to trace and seems to be on an unknown circuit, my guess is that that one is wired to the other side of the breaker or something equally horrid. As for my thermostat, pretty sure there must have been a mains wired one at some point and then someone (probably a plumber) replaced it with the wireless one and just screwed it over the old wires. Not even electrical tape to cover the contacts. I'll sort that out properly later.
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Feb 6, 2016 20:52
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:As for my thermostat, pretty sure there must have been a mains wired one at some point and then someone (probably a plumber) replaced it with the wireless one and just screwed it over the old wires. Not even electrical tape to cover the contacts. I'll sort that out properly later. Mains voltage to a thermostat that has control circuits that are not mains voltage is a thing where you live? It's one of the other everywhere I'm aware of. The non-mains voltage is typically 24vac and plenty to power a thermostat (even one that uses power continuously like smart/wifi thermostats) providing there is a common wire.
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Feb 6, 2016 22:28
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:Yeah every light fitting was wired into the socket below it apparently christ knows how this didn't result in a continuous tripping of the breaker. The more I think about it, the less I get the setup though, so I may just be being dense. The lights were all above outlets? So the entire place was lit by wall sconces? Slugworth fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Feb 7, 2016 |
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Feb 7, 2016 00:37
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:But then someone bought the downstairs flat and discovered that when the previous owner took out a stud wall and put in a beam, he didn't bother with building control and supported the beam on two bits of 2x4 bolted together. The load on the beam goes all the way up to the roof and we're not sure what it sits on under the 'column' either. Nice. Sistered 2x4s are just as strong as a a 4x4 column (and sometimes stronger). There's nothing wrong with that. Powerful Two-Hander posted:Yeah every light fitting was wired into the socket below it apparently christ knows how this didn't result in a continuous tripping of the breaker. Probably because residential lighting doesn't draw much current. You can run 30 60w incandescent bulbs on a single 15A 120V circuit. Slugworth posted:The more I think about it, the less I get the setup though, so I may just be being dense. The lights were all above outlets? So the entire place was lit by wall sconces? It does sound like an interior design disaster. Zhentar fucked around with this message at 00:54 on Feb 7, 2016 |
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Feb 7, 2016 00:52
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I should clarify this by saying that I'm in the UK where it is 100% uncommon to share lights and sockets on a circuit, to the point where I think it's probably a code violation as it were. The circuit for lights is on a lower amperage fuse whereas the 'ring main' would be a 13 amp for sockets, possibly with one circuit per floor and a separate one again for ovens etc. Even my goddamn doorbell is on its own breaker which might explain why it's so goddamn loud. Wooden columns are also not allowed under building control regs in the UK. I actually asked a structural engineer friend about this and he said that although it was probably strong enough, no one would be able to prove it so replace it with steel. Apparently being unable to prove that wooden beamed houses actually should stay up is quite common. This is also probably to prevent builders from using any old wood to hold up a beam. In this case, they just hid it behind plasterboard.
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Feb 7, 2016 02:03
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Wiring in the UK is on totally different principles than wiring in the US, I've discovered. We do things that are horribly against each others' code, IIRC.
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Feb 7, 2016 02:48
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Powerful Two-Hander posted:Wooden columns are also not allowed under building control regs in the UK. Good plan. What have you done with all of the old poo poo that is held up by wood? Oh, it's still standing?
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Feb 7, 2016 04:32
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Jordanis posted:Wiring in the UK is on totally different principles than wiring in the US, I've discovered. We do things that are horribly against each others' code, IIRC. That's because you guys have metric electrons, right?  Though in all seriousness, I wonder if it's because your residential voltage is 240 vs our 120? I could definitely see that being justification for different safety related limitations. This is a stupid question from someone with a very lay understanding of electricity, but is UK's 240v household electric single phase? Or is it split phase like the US?
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Feb 7, 2016 05:09
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Jordanis posted:Wiring in the UK is on totally different principles than wiring in the US, I've discovered. We do things that are horribly against each others' code, IIRC. The big one that springs to mind (other than color differences) is ring mains. loving ring mains!
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Feb 7, 2016 05:15
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OSU_Matthew posted:That's because you guys have metric electrons, right? Their plugs are all fused iirc, which is cool.
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Feb 7, 2016 05:34
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H110Hawk posted:Their plugs are all fused iirc, which is cool. And every outlet is switched.
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Feb 7, 2016 05:59
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Magnus Praeda posted:And every outlet is switched. Ughhhhhh
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Feb 7, 2016 07:03
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Switched outlets are good, especially for things like TVs that can have significant vampiric power usage. I really miss them in my current home which only has "safety outlets".
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Feb 7, 2016 07:25
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OSU_Matthew posted:Though in all seriousness, I wonder if it's because your residential voltage is 240 vs our 120? I could definitely see that being justification for different safety related limitations. It's primarily because the UK uses ring circuits. The biggest difference between the US and most other 230/240v countries is that they have the whole house on a GFCI breaker.
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Feb 7, 2016 07:47
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H110Hawk posted:Their plugs are all fused iirc, which is cool. And they're worse than lego or an upturned hairbrush for stepping upon in the middle of the night.
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Feb 7, 2016 07:57
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H110Hawk posted:Their plugs are all fused iirc, which is cool. This because the UK has oversized circuits. An appliance can short severely enough to be a fire hazard, but not enough to trip the breaker. Other countries divide buildings into larger numbers of smaller circuits, which limits the potential for shorts like that to cause fires.
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Feb 7, 2016 08:07
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Zhentar posted:It's primarily because the UK uses ring circuits. The biggest difference between the US and most other 230/240v countries is that they have the whole house on a GFCI breaker. Every single circuit in my 2015 built Australian home is on a GFCI breaker- lights, power, everything. Even the AC is on one. My fusebox is full, mostly from loving safety switches! Apparently you can just whack one big 200A one in any more, theres limits to how many circuits each one can operate.
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Feb 7, 2016 08:14
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Ferremit posted:Every single circuit in my 2015 built Australian home is on a GFCI breaker- lights, power, everything. Even the AC is on one. Australia...
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Feb 7, 2016 08:35
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The gently caress is a ring circuit?
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Feb 7, 2016 09:24
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Geirskogul posted:Australia... You also have to get a licenced electrician in to do any work on your fixed wiring, lest you void your house insurance. Which considering some of the loving disaster hackjobs you lot in the land of the free and brave are posting up, is very much a "Good Thing"
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Feb 7, 2016 09:41
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PopeCrunch posted:The gently caress is a ring circuit? At 13:00. Though, watch the whole thing if you have 15 minutes to kill. Also watch this video to finally understand 3-way lighting switches (6:30). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO6xDI43Mg8 Queen_Combat fucked around with this message at 10:45 on Feb 7, 2016 |
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Feb 7, 2016 10:42
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Motronic posted:Good plan. What have you done with all of the old poo poo that is held up by wood? No argument there. In fact if you build something that isn't up to building control but nobody finds out for something like 6 years it gets some sort of assumed consent, if it hasn't fallen down that is.
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Feb 7, 2016 10:44
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