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Mr Executive posted:I'm building a deck (Madison, WI) and I'm having trouble researching one thing (sorry if this isn't the right thread). The deck is very simple in that there's just a single beam parallel with the ledger board. The joists are attached to the ledger with hangers, but they just rest on top of the beam. My question is if/how exactly I need to secure the joists to the beam. Toe nail them? Hurricane straps? Every joist, or just some of them? Thanks Check out Appendix B in the Wisconsin Uniform Dwelling Code. There are two allowable connections for joist bearing on beam (section six, page 240). And you need to attach all joists to the beam.
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Jul 28, 2020 22:57
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Mr Executive posted:Thanks for the confirmation on this. I actually found this last night and just came back here to close the loop. Looks like I can just (3x) toe nail each joist to the beam. Code says to use 8d nails, but is this a situation where I can oversize in order to use my (3") framing nailer? It'd be nice to avoid manually driving 100 extra nails. If you are getting it inspected, ask the building department (be specific about what nail you are substituting - size, type, coating). When you want a non-code solution it doesn't matter if it will work or not, the only thing that matters is the inspectors opinion. If you aren't, make sure the substitute is at least as long and of a similar diameter and rated for exterior PT. Stop if you see splitting around the nail and re-evaluate your choice.
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Jul 29, 2020 22:33
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HisMajestyBOB posted:I'm still considering to just replace the fixture as mentioned in the thread, but I'm wondering if there could be something else that's causing it, like an issue in the wiring. The other light on that switch works fine and is a traditional light bulb fixture with a regular LED bulb. Just replace it. This is why I steer clients away from integrated LED fixtures. Unfortunately I am uniformly unsuccessful. I usually just end up putting in the close out documents that fixture failure will require a new fixture/electrician call and this works does not fall under our warranty provisions.
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Aug 24, 2020 02:20
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devicenull posted:How much do you want to spend? We went with all Emtek hardware - it's *not* cheap (we paid $150 per interior door set, and $300 for the front door lock/handle) - but it looks and feels *nice*. Emtek is mid-range and is about 90% of what I specify. It's a good mix of quality, affordability, and having a full line of hardware. The other 10% is when we need to match some cheapo existing crap, or proprietary exterior door hardware (patio doors, etc). Emtek has options for other keyways, but they don't really have any high security products. Jerk McJerkface posted:So I have a weird issue. I have a floor joist that is super high. I've done some measuring and checking with levels and it appears that the post that was installed under it was too high. It's under the kitchen, and there's a hump in the floor almost the entire length of the joist, although on the wall end it's a not too bad. It's about 1/2" hump for most of it. Doesn't change the situation, but it may not have been installed high. When houses settle it's the beams that usually don't move as much, humps are very common over them.
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Sep 1, 2020 23:31
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dakana posted:My (completely new to this) thinking is that I'd want to remove the blanket-style stuff and adhere rigid foam board to the walls, then frame the stud walls right up against the foam board, right? It's easy to mess up the wall assembly in basements. You have, luckily, picked one of the few assemblies that works. There are two areas where you may still get tripped up: (1) make sure you install foam of the right thickness; and (2) make sure you install the foam sheets tight to each other (caulk if you can) to prevent air migrating around the sheets. Your goals are: keep the dew point temperature inside your insulation, prevent the concrete from becoming a condensation surface by keeping the foam tight to the concrete, and prevent moisture-laden air from reaching the concrete in the first place. The thickness of the foam depends on your climate zone and your building code. If your locality follows IRC 2015, the most commonly accepted code in the united states in the year 2020, it's R-5 for zone 3, R-10 for zone 4, and R-15 for zones 4 marine, 5, 6, 7, 8. The 2015 IRC does allow for cavity wall insulation in basements, I bring this up because you might see if you go poking around. This is a code legal, but riskier assembly compared to spray or rigid foam. If you're thinking about using batts, please reach out so I can dissuade you. Your radon system may depressurize the fill under the slab, so it 'works' no matter how you finish the space as long as you keep the system running. If you have a system that doesn't depressurize the slab and instead just exhausts the interior basement air, I'm not sure and you'll need to ask an expert.
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Sep 4, 2020 16:30
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Jaded Burnout posted:It's a lovely little behaviour and I won't tolerate it here, and Motronic has been warned about this before. You are overreacting. dakana posted:I'm zone 5a, so it sounds like I'd need the big 3" foam boards. The 1.5 inch thickness is more commonly stocked, just stack them and offset the seams if possible. If you want to use adhesive to glue the foam layers together be careful and use a "foam adhesive" as many construction adhesives melt foam. quote:How does this work with the staircase? You aren't missing anything - it doesn't work unless you reframe the staircase (and have the room to do so while maintaining code minimum tread widths). When you retrofit an existing house, you just have to be ok with not getting everything perfect. In this case, maybe you just don't insulate that part of the wall, or only insulate under the staircase, or insulate to the maximum practical value (ie - not code).
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Sep 6, 2020 17:26
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Jaded Burnout posted:Maybe I'm having a bad mental health day. I dunno. I'll take a few days away from modding and come back to it. The vibe was right (make room for all people with honest questions), the application just seemed a little too strict. It's impossible to be right everytime, and stuff is super subjective/context driven.
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Sep 6, 2020 17:47
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JIZZ DENOUEMENT posted:1. When I look at homes, can I ask for blueprints? I'm assuming basically 0% of home sellers would have these. You can, but the chances of someone having them is small, and even if they do the plans won't tell you a lot. Many residential blueprints detail layout and critical dimensions, and then builders use the building code span table to 'fill in' the framing requirements. This applies to most of the 'builder' homes you'll find, and about a third to half of architect designed homes - in my experience. The inspection period is probably the right time to ask to review any plans that exist (anything older than 20 years almost certainly won't be digital, and it's unlikely a seller will digitize the plans for you pre-offer). quote:2. Would a home inspector be able to check if [not-first] floors could support squat/deadlifts? Seems difficult without tearing up the floor and checking the supports. As a next step, I recommend that you research what framing is recommended for floors supporting these activities. I'm sure someone has done some calculations out there, a starting search might be "floor framing for olympic weightlifting". Knowing this will allow you to ask specific questions about the houses you are looking at and understand how far off a 'code built house' is from what you need. I'm just guessing here, but I imagine squats aren't a real issue, it's probably the instantaneous load from dropping a deadlift that will be a problem. There is a home gym thread somewhere, you might want to ask if anyone is deadlifting over a framed floor and get their impression. Most home gyms are in basements, outbuildings, or garages for a reason. The only gym I've ever done weight work in that didn't have a concrete floor was in a converted 1800's textile factory with a really beefy floor.
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Sep 6, 2020 23:03
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Manifisto posted:I would appreciate help with a screen door issue. I need one (preferably a wooden one) and it's not a standard size, my opening is 74" ish high. the premade ones are often around 80" and that's too big to shave off the top and bottom. Have you called and gotten a quote from a local lumber yard? You want one that has a millwork shop onsite. I think a screen door (custom sized) runs about $350 locally and that includes having them cut the hardware mortise. To be clear, that doesn't include hardware, etc. - but I'm not clear on whether you need just the slab or a more complete unit. When I see someone start musing about buying tools to build doors it's a red flag, doors are a commodity product and you should be able to find someone who can build one for you, especially a simple screen door.
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Sep 9, 2020 16:04
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dakana posted:This is definitely good to know because it seemed like the 3" would be hard to source. And re: the staircase, I didn't know how consequential not following code would be. I think my main concern while doing this stuff is to avoid issues during inspection down the line when we sell. It is hard to source. There is one supplier who stocks it in my city, and when I bought some they had to cut the shrink wrap on the pallet. They hadn't sold a single piece in something like half a decade. After using it I understand - it's easier to work with the 1.5 inch pieces and there isn't a price break for going with a 3.0 thickness. There are 'existing condition' exemptions in many code requirements. They are plentiful, but not absolute. For example, a code enforcement officer may not relent on window-to-floor-area ratios or egress requirements for a new attic room, but they will probably tell you that insulating to code in the roof system isn't practical, and you can just fill the existing rafter space with closed cell foam and they will pass it. You'll want to discuss places where you are not meeting code during your application for a building permit so you don't get caught out at the end, but you'd be surprised by what a congenial inspector will pass. Hed posted:Tezer you posted a lot of good info I’d be interested in your thoughts on what I’ve heard the cool kids do these days which is not do the XPS foam and just leave an inch or so gap to frame out their wall so that they can get airflow behind to mitigate any condensation issues and vapor barrier stuff. Then insulate the wall with fiberglass or rock wool to your requirements. It comes up online, but usually gets a lot of advice against the practice. With above grade walls we're always talking about drying potential - water vapor and bulk water intrusion will try to put moisture in your walls/roofs and you need to think about how to prevent that and, when it happens, how the system can dry out. With below grade walls drying becomes difficult because in a lot of places the soil is always or almost always wet, which leads to wet concrete, which leads to wet interiors. With this constant moisture pressure from the exterior you can no longer think of the wall as a system that can dry out because one side of it is almost always damp. Even though foundations are typically damp proofed, no system is perfect and becomes less perfect with time. Any attempt to dry a basement wall can only be done by moving moisture from the assembly into the interior, which is typically not where you want it, especially when you are trying to mitigate ground moisture which is essentially an inexhaustible source of moisture. This doesn't mean you don't want the assembly to dry to the interior (you do), it just means that if you design the assembly to promote drying the concrete you aren't going to be successful. There is a difference between a wall that CAN dry to the interior (ie - it doesn't trap water) and a wall that MUST dry to the interior due to an excess built-up of moisture. Some of this confusion may stem from one particular book that is very well regarded and has been around for a couple of decades called "Builder's Guide to Cold Climates" by Joe Lstiburek which talks about having basement walls dry to the interior. The author revised his recommendation in 2012 "The insulation just needs to be warm enough to control condensation from the inside. The perm rating doesn’t matter. It’s OK for the concrete to be wet. The concrete doesn’t have to dry to the inside." A lot more people have read the book than have read his revised comments. For more up to date comments on basement insulation refer to the Building Science Corporation publication "INFO-511: Basement Insulation" or the Department of Energy's publication "Measure Guideline: Basement Insulation Basics". There also may be confusion introduced if they observe basement framing prior to insulation. Where spray foam insulation is being used the framing is spaced off the concrete to allow the foam to expand into a solid layer behind the framing. This would look like a 1 or 2-inch air gap prior to foam install. Finally, there is a lot of confusion because not all basements have issues and batt insulation in basement walls is explicitly allowed by most building codes. A lot of bad basement wall assemblies with air gaps, batt insulation, etc. work just fine forever because the surrounding soil is well drained and isn't a moisture reservoir constantly pushing into the interior. The 'best practices' are designed to work even if you have soil issues you are unaware of. They are cheap insurance against unknowable future developments. Of course, hearing that 'foam is the only good answer' is a bummer. Foam is a bad product from a climate impact perspective, and spray foam creates assemblies that are impossible to disassemble in the future without total destruction. Using EPS foam instead of XPS helps a bit (although it's harder to source), and high-density mineral wool can be used as exterior insulation if it's a new build.
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Sep 9, 2020 17:25
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dakana posted:Really appreciate all the advice and information — this is great stuff. It's hard to comment on pricing given I don't know your local market and I don't really know the entire scope of work you asked about. If we are talking about finishing (insulation, framing, electric, drywall, painting, trim, flooring, etc.) 5-600 square feet of existing unfinished basement, then $31-36k doesn't sound bad to me. That consulting rate isn't bad either, that's about what I end up charging for putting together pricing for a simple project that doesn't even need plans. We just signed up a small basement project where it's already finished space (~300 square feet and a stairwell) - we are just replacing the flooring, trim, painting existing drywall, swapping out electrical devices (but not the lights), and replacing one pocket door slab. Consulting fee was $650 and the project cost came out to just under $12k. Around $40/SF depending on how you count the stairwell. If you are the type of client that balks at paying a couple hundred bucks for design/estimating work, that may be why you are having trouble getting contractors to call you back. With new clients that aren't referrals we typically just fire out a consulting agreement for e-signature and see if it gets returned. A lot of people don't have a good grasp (understandably) of how expensive construction work is, and the consulting agreement is a good first pass filter.
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Sep 11, 2020 01:21
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Phanatic posted:My girlfriend is going to be traveling out of the country for the winter months and leaving her house in southern New Jersey unattended. She doesn't want her pipes to burst, so she looked into getting someone to winterize the place for her and was quoted a price of a few hundred bucks, which strikes me as a few hundred bucks more than it should cost to turn off her water and drain her pipes and water heater. Knowing the answers to these questions is why you pay someone a few hundred bucks. Depending on the system, they will need to clear it with compressed air, and treat the plumbing traps appropriately.
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Sep 28, 2020 18:06
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Jenkl posted:What are everyone's thoughts on bottom plates in basements? I keep reading a lot of conflicting things re: pressure treated vs. Non + vapour barrier/gasket vs. Both. Perfectly matching sill height isn't going to be something that telegraph's through to the finish, so I wouldnt worry about it. Using treated in this location, especially if it's a modern slab with a subslab vapor barrier, is done to mitigate a very small risk of moisture migrating through the slab and into the framing. It's most important in old buildings and where dirt may be placed up against the sill (like an exterior wall where a homeowner thinks they want grade up to the bottom of the siding). I believe you are talking about an interior wall (does not rest on the foundation), so the risk is already reduced. That said, the products known as sill seal or sill gaskets are uniformly poor. I would use treated wood with them, personally. If you use an EPDM gasket (check out conservation technologies), that's a situation where I've used untreated in the past. The IRC is not crystal clear on the requirement in this context (it revolves around what exactly an "impervious moisture barrier" is - I think an EPDM gasket qualifies and sill seal does not).
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Sep 28, 2020 18:16
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actionjackson posted:has anyone heard of a 39" wide kitchen sink base cabinet, why the hell do I have this Yes. I think my vendor goes up to 48 inches before they need to produce a custom detail. What wrong with it.
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Oct 17, 2020 00:59
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actionjackson posted:i've found virtually nothing online that's 39", 36" is very common though. Ikea stuff is also 36" for a 33" sink which I have. home depot has one 39" sink base total. What are you trying to do? Is your existing sink base damaged?
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Oct 17, 2020 14:54
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