| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
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| siding | 11/21/2009 | Dave Johnson |
Q: I am reducing an 18 foot garage opening to 9 feet. It's the front of the house, and is actually the ...
A: First, being from Maine I have had very little experience with this type of construction. As a ...
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| siding | 11/21/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I am reducing an 18 foot garage opening to 9 feet. It's the front of the house, and is actually the ...
A: if the existing wood siding, I am betting that it is plywood T-111, is in good termite free ...
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| conceal beam | 11/20/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: i have a room of 28 feet* 11 feet. 28 feet in length and 11 in width. this room apart from ...
A: it sounds to me like the builder needed to add the "intermediate" flush beam to cut the span of your ...
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| home repair | 11/19/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: just removed a window encasement. want to fill hole with cinder block.want to know the correct way ...
A: a little trick I have seen masons do, and I have done it myself, is to use chips of block or small ...
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| building a shed on a brick foundation | 11/19/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I recently moved into a home with a little shed in the back. The old shed sits on a 15 x 15 foot ...
A: I've read this question several times over the last couple days trying to figure it out. A lot of ...
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| building a shed on a brick foundation | 11/19/2009 | Dave Johnson |
Q: I recently moved into a home with a little shed in the back. The old shed sits on a 15 x 15 foot ...
A: If that brickwork has been there for a long time, and you live in a frost free climate, I'd say go ...
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| Roof | 11/18/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: What is the best way to attach two roof together one has a 6/12 pitch the other has a 4/12 pitch and ...
A: Dennis, you will have several problems not keeping the same pitch on the two roof lines. The valley ...
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| housebuilding questions | 11/18/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: I'm sorry to bug you again, but I never got your first answer to my question, because I had mistyped ...
A: This is a duplicate of my answer. I hope this one comes through. Annalisa, I'm glad you're ...
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| eletrical surge | 11/18/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: i live in a house built in 1990 in California with copper wiring,i have lived in this house for over ...
A: Steven, this is normally a sign of a problem with the neutral bar in the panel. I would contact ...
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| Outside basement entrance | 11/18/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: We are finishing our basement and want to add an outside entrance to our basement. The basement has ...
A: a standard, handicap accessible ramp is a 1/12 pitch so every one foot of rise would require 12' of ...
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| construction during freezing weather | 11/17/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: My husband and I have hired a company to build the shell of our new house (basement, garage, stick ...
A: Annalisa, I'm glad you're thinking the entire process through. Buildings are built during the ...
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| FIRE WALL-2 HR. | 11/16/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: DAN, I NEED TO BUILD A TWO HR. FIRE WALL TO SEPERATE FLAMM. GAS FROM NON-FLAM. GAS. ASIDE FROM 10" ...
A: Jim, there are many ways to comply with a two hour wall. I have the UL directory of tested ...
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| basement under garage | 11/16/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: I want to build a 2 car garage with attached shop in my backyard. The footprint will be around 20 x ...
A: Core slab is a fairly common way to deal with garage floors. You would need to contact them for ...
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| basement under garage | 11/15/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: I want to build a 2 car garage with attached shop in my backyard. The footprint will be around 20 x ...
A: Karl, a shop is a great asset. I do have to say that having one in a basement or an upstairs sure ...
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| Leaking Floor | 11/15/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: In the process of expanding the kitchen wall out into flushed existing concrete deck, my contractor ...
A: you can try caulking along the exterior where the wall meets the slab. Use a good urethane caulk, ...
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| Concrete roof | 11/15/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I'm building a concrete shed with 8" filled CMU block walls and 12ft x 8ft interior roof span. The ...
A: Using #4 rebar, I would go to 8" on center or up my rebar size to #5. The steel should be located ...
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| Foundation-Water Seepage | 11/15/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I just recently renovated my home. The joint where the new foundation wall meets the old, I am ...
A: the best place for water intrusion protection is outside. If you can dig up the area in question ...
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| support pole with water in it(basement) | 11/13/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: We removed the old support pole for the main beam and reinforced same in the basement. However, ...
A: you definitely need to remove as much of the post as possible and probably remove the section of ...
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| Possible code violation | 11/13/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I live in Pennsylvania and I was wondering if in an apartment building if they don't have heater ...
A: it's easy enough to find out. Call your fire department or building department and request an ...
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| support pole with water in it(basement) | 11/12/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: We removed the old support pole for the main beam and reinforced same in the basement. However, ...
A: hydraulic cement should do the trick. There are also some commercial products available through ...
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| siding over concrete blocks | 11/12/2009 | Dave Johnson |
Q: My home's lower basement level has 2 small walls constructed with flower-patterned ornamental ...
A: Sure, you could use t-111. Go to your lumber supplier and ask for the best adhesive for this ...
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| surfacing a deck/roof | 11/11/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: we have a huge problem with a 1000 square foot flat roof which is supposed to be a deck. It was ...
A: there are several cementious type of underlayments that are mainly used to level floors prior to ...
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| surfacing a deck/roof | 11/10/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: we have a huge problem with a 1000 square foot flat roof which is supposed to be a deck. It was ...
A: no wood or tile? That kind of narrows your choices down. I like to use composite decking in these ...
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| enclosing a 36" wide doorway in a slump block wall. | 11/8/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: I would like some advise on how to go about enclosing a 36" doorway in a slump block wall. My wife ...
A: Ben, I'm aftaid you're stuck this time. If the block wall continues through over the door, then ...
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| Rotten sill plate and subfloor under tub…PLEASE HELP! | 11/8/2009 | Dave Johnson |
Q: We purchased our small 1943 cottage-style home six years ago and we have had very few problems until ...
A: Wow, what a mess. That is surely a rotted sill. Yes, you'd need to jack enough to take the pressure ...
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| building | 11/8/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I have a house that sits in high water table area with sandy loam. The basement is 8 feet down. We ...
A: what kind of problems are you having? If it's water getting into the basement, this can be fixed. ...
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| Framing | 11/7/2009 | Dave Johnson |
Q: Our house is 5 years old, and the entire house frame stud spacing is 24" OC. The exterior walls and ...
A: Yes, standard practice on homes is 16" o.c. However many builders use 24" o.c. to save a buck.(you'd ...
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| removing section of load bearing wall. | 11/7/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: Bruce, I have a split entry built in '77. I want to open a span on the main load bearing wall ...
A: for a span of less than ten feet, either of your ideas will work. Just be sure to support the floor ...
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| window replacement on brick home | 11/7/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: i have a 15 year old brick home that has aluminum windows..we live in south Texas...homes here are ...
A: Steve, upgrading windows is all the rage. YOu can order custom replacement windows designed to be ...
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| Patio Cover | 11/6/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: We are planning to build an attached patio cover in the back of our home on top of a concrete slab ...
A: It kind of depends on how your walls are constructed. If they are cement block with brick veneer ...
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| Granite and Marbles | 11/6/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: A supplier is supplying different kind of marble and granite to my site to be fixed as thresholds ...
A: if you are testing for specificity then the tests would be related to what you ordered: verification ...
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| Side Entrance to Basement | 11/6/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I am in the midst of trying to hire a contractor to put a side entrance for direct access to the ...
A: a basement entrance will require retaining walls on each side of the entrance beginning at the ...
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| adding to a roof | 11/5/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: I saw a question from 2008 that was similar to my issue, My Mom's house has the main entry ...
A: it appears from your drawing that the eaves at the inside corner of your roof are level. I would ...
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| adding bathroom and toilet | 11/5/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: My house is a 2 story with a toilet on the main floor. I'd like add a half bath and a toilet in the ...
A: it sounds like you will need to cut into your concrete floor and bring the sewer into the house from ...
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| Granite and Marbles | 11/5/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: A supplier is supplying different kind of marble and granite to my site to be fixed as thresholds ...
A: I am assuming that the marble and granite was ordered per a specification in the project spec ...
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| Patio Cover | 11/5/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: We are planning to build an attached patio cover in the back of our home on top of a concrete slab ...
A: I would trim the rafter tails back at what I assume is the kitchen roof and then attach the ledger ...
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| Clipped eave - see photo rafter tails | 11/4/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: that is helpful. I've been looking for exactly that, but mostly find information with soffits. The ...
A: Marie, yes nail into the rafter tails. If you can create some additional blocking between the ...
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| adding bathroom and toilet | 11/4/2009 | Bruce E. Johnson |
Q: My house is a 2 story with a toilet on the main floor. I'd like add a half bath and a toilet in the ...
A: that is a complicated question. Without knowing some particulars I can only speculate on cost and ...
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| Replacing fascia board- no soffit. Sealing attic | 11/4/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: Griffin, I have removed the outside trim and old gutters around my brick home. (under rehab). The ...
A: Marie, I prefer eave overhangs and soffits, it just seems to make roof venting easier and makes the ...
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| Tearing Down a Brick wall | 11/3/2009 | Dan Griffin |
Q: I would like to know if there is an easier way to tear down a brick wall? We are using a masonry ...
A: Sherry, there is not a chemical to help. There are various electric chipping hammers that can be ...
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