Storm Water Drainage

Posted on by Tim Carter
downspout splash block

Storm Water Drainage | Splash blocks don't do much to channel water away from the foundation, but they can slow soil erosion. © 2017 Roger Henthorn

Just last night, I was watching the British Broadcasting Show Ground Force. The stars of the show had come to Atlanta, Georgia to renew the backyard of a home. As dawn broke on the second day of the two-day shoot, the stars of the show and the homeowner discovered that an overnight rainstorm had flooded the side yard and part of the back yard where the new pond, garden and deck were being installed. I know, you are wondering what in the world this has to do with your new home in Chicago. In one word: Everything!

Do splash blocks help with storm water?

For two brief seconds, the videographer showed the cause of the flooding. The downspouts from the roof terminated at the bottom of the exterior walls and the rushing water simply hit a two-foot long concrete or plastic splash block. The only purpose the diverter served was to absorb and spread out the energy of the falling water. Without the splash block, the soil around the house would quickly erode. The roof water was not being piped away from the home.

Do building codes require rain water be piped away from the foundation?

Many building codes do not mandate that rain water from a roof be piped away from the foundation. Keep in mind that building codes are different in many parts of the nation. We are getting very close to having one national building code, but even when we do, local building officials can tweak the code to match local practices and such.

Add to this the storm-water management problem many have just started to realize in the past 15 years. Do some research and you will discover that urban and suburban flooding has become a reality during the past 20 years. Part of this is because storm water systems designed many years ago simply underestimated the volume of water that is generated by hard surface house roofs, driveways, patios, parking lots, etc. I don't think that engineers 50 or 75 years ago ever dreamed a shopping mall or a subdivision with hundreds of homes might ever exist.

Where do you redirect downspout water?

Modern planners and engineers deal with this storm water using sophisticated water retention systems. Roof downspout water can be piped directly to underground storm water retention basins. In some instances it can flow into open retention or detention features. The bottom line is that your new home should become a responsible member of the community. The water from your roof should be captured and redirected to a place where it does not cause a problem on your lot or the lot of a neighbor. At the very least, it should be released slowly so it does not overwhelm the natural waterways near your home.

If you are lucky enough to build in a community that requires storm water to be piped to a central location, be sure the piping on your lot is the right type and it is installed the correct way. Even if you are not required to discharge your storm water to a central location, it is still a great idea to divert it as far away from your home as possible.

What size should sewer line pipe be used for downspouts?

I prefer to use four inch diameter plastic sewer line pipe for down spout drain lines. This piping is very durable and the joints between sections of pipe and the fittings are very tight. You can often buy fittings that have rubber seals or ones that are glued with a regular solvent glue. Using either type insures that water will not leak from the pipe and that tree roots will not enter the piping system.

dvd french drain outside cover

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The installer of the piping should avoid the use of 90-degree fittings except where the pipe terminates against the foundation wall and turns up to capture the roof downspout pipe. These tight bends when placed downstream in the piping are enormous obstacles for plumbers or drain cleaning companies. If your piping gets clogged in the future, 90-degree bends may prevent a company from extending a metal drain cleaning wire down the piping system. You can easily create a 90-degree turn by gluing two 45-degree fittings together. Two 45-degree bends create a gentle turn that the drain cleaning equipment can navigate.

What slope should the drain pipe have?

The piping should not be buried in the un-compacted fill dirt alongside a foundation. This dirt settles over time and the piping can fracture or develop a negative pitch where water actually flows the wrong direction. It is better to put the pipe in the undisturbed soil that usually can be found about 4 or 5 feet away from the foundation. The buried pipe can cross this uncompacted soil to get to the virgin soil, but make sure it has plenty of pitch. I recommend one inch of fall for every two feet of run as it crosses this danger zone. Once the pipe is in good soil, it can have a pitch of 1/8 to 1/4 inch of fall per linear foot of run.

If at all possible, take photos of the installation of this system. These photos will prove invaluable years from now as they will help you locate the piping should you need to dig a hole or excavate for any reason on your property. Place the photos and negatives in a safe place such as near your electrical circuit board panel. Put the photos in a sturdy labeled envelope and nail it to an open spot next to the electric panel. The circuit breaker panel board is rarely disturbed and makes a great spot to store facts about your home.

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Garage Plans 2 Car Planning Tips

Posted on by Tim Carter
2 car attached garage

Garage Plans 2 Car | This looks like a great 2-car garage. It's NOT. It SUCKS. It's too small. You'll never be able to store anything along the walls.

"Over the years, I've discovered a two-car garage needs to be 32 feet wide by 26 feet deep."

Garage Plans 2 Car - 99 Percent are Too Small

Almost all 2-car garages are too small. You can't open your car or truck door without hitting something along the wall. The overhead door might not be wide enough or tall enough for a modern full-sized pickup truck. The list of flaws of garages is endless.

Before you get too attached to your new home plan, you better step back and take a look at your existing garage. If you are like most people, you probably have accumulated too much stuff. Well, maybe that isn't the problem. Maybe your existing garage is simply too small and/or the storage system is simply undersized or antiquated. If you want to avoid garage storage nightmares, now is the time to exorcise that demon from the blueprints.

Are Most Garages Undersized?

It is a sad but true fact that many garage spaces are simply undersized for the average homeowner. By the time you park cars, place garbage cans, lawn mowers, garden tools, bicycles, workbenches, etc., you rarely have any space to spare. What's more annoying are the delicate maneuvers you must make to get in and out of cars without scratching or bumping doors. All of this can be avoided if you speak up during the design process.

How Can You Create the Perfect Garage?

One method of creating a floor plan for your new garage is to simply look at your existing garage. Use a measuring tape and see how much extra space you need around the fixed objects in your garage. For example, with your car(s) parked within the garage, note how much space would be needed to comfortably move around the front, rear and sides of the car(s). Do the same around any workbenches, floor and wall cabinets, etc. If you walk around with everything in the garage and feel cramped, not that on a piece of paper.

How Big Should a Garage Be?

A garage should be big. It should have plenty of space in front of your car and plenty of space next to it. Over the years, I've discovered a two-car garage needs to be 32 feet wide by 26 feet deep. These are interior floor space dimensions, not exterior foundation dimensions. As for the height, a garage with a 12 or even 13-foot-high ceiling is ideal. This height allows you to construct a loft that runs over the hoods of the cars you park in the garage. All sorts of things can be stored on this loft.

Should I Use Storage Trusses for the Roof?

If that kind of interior height does not work with the style of your plans, you may be able to gain extra storage space by asking your architect or builder to install storage trusses over the garage. These unique trusses are made to support both the garage ceiling as well as a variety of boxes and possessions one might find in the average attic. If your overall house plan has steep roofs, inquire about attic trusses over the garage. Using these affordable trusses, you get a bonus room on top of the garage!

What Size Should the Garage Doors Be?

Don't make the mistake many do with respect to the actual garage doors. If you are going to have two separate doors, be sure they are nine feet wide and eight feet tall. This will allow you to easily park with ease a vehicle that might have protruding side mirrors. The extra height allows you to park an SUV that might have pairs of skis, a ham radio antenna, or a lower profile carrier on the roof. These things rarely make it if the door is the standard height of just seven feet.

How Many Electric Outlets Should Be in a Garage?

Electric receptacles are a must. Be sure you plan for an exterior receptacle near the garage doors that allows you to power tools as you do projects in fair weather. Be sure you have several dedicated 20 amp electrical circuits near your workbench. If you plan to become a more serious do-it-yourselfer, be absolutely certain several larger empty conduits are installed between your main electrical panel and the garage. These will allow an electrician to install more circuits to the garage with ease in the future.

Is Ventilation Important?

Ventilation is an important consideration. I highly recommend a through-the-wall ventilation fan that exhausts fumes or hot air from the garage to the exterior. If you work with paints, stains, and other solvent-based products in your garage, a fan such as this will give you plenty of replacement air. They also work well to keep garages cooler in hot climates.

What About Floor Drains?

You should install floor drains. These capture dripping rain water and snow meltwater. Don't slope the floor to the doors. The water collects against the door seal creating a puddle. In cold climates, the door can freeze to the floor.

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New Construction Change Orders – Costly

Posted on by Tim Carter
house blueprints with marker and scissors

Construction change orders | Avoid change orders with fantastic plans like this. CLICK or TAP HERE to order a PDF set of EXCELLENT PLANS that you should copy.

Construction Change Orders - Death on a Stick

Construction change orders can cause you great financial harm. Some contractors use change orders to dramatically increase their PROFIT.

How Can I Avoid Construction Change Orders?

You avoid change orders by making sure your plans are accurate and thought out. CLICK or TAP HERE to download a set of excellent plans so you can see how yours should look.

You need to make sure you can visualize your new home in 3D from a set of plans. If not, use computer-aided design to render your plans in 3D.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local architects that can give you 3D plans!

Change orders can be eliminated by you selecting all fixtures, materials, etc. BEFORE the drawings are made. This way the builder can't come back at you saying it will take more time to do a task. He had the chance to add that to his bid when he was reviewing your drawings.

How Big is the Home Building Process?

The new home building process is titanic in nature. You will be asked hundreds, perhaps thousands, of questions by your architect and builder. The thought of this alone scares some people to the extent they avoid building a new home.

Those that do decide to stroll down the new home building path may twist an ankle or even dislocate a hip if they begin to modify decisions that were made months earlier in the process. If you want to avoid the pain associated with injury, then by all means do whatever is necessary to avoid change orders.

Change orders in new construction are like flies at a picnic. Change orders aggravate just about everyone invited to the party. Most builders detest them, sub-contractors become frustrated and homeowners feel they are being taken advantage of. Rarely is there a winner in the change order game.

How Do I Locate a Great Builder?

It's not too hard to locate a great builder. CLICK or TAP HERE for tips.

Why are Change Orders Bad?

Construction change orders are bad because:

  • they can slow down the project
  • they can often add extra cost
  • they can create distrust between you and your builder

Imagine you're a builder. Your project is running smoothly and you are on schedule. The finish carpenters are on the job and the painters are not far behind. You have several other customers who are anxiously awaiting you to start their jobs.

But one or more of your current customers calls you one morning to say they would love to have the family room window one foot wider. The customer says they understand there will be a cost to change it and are willing to pay for it.

How Complex is One Change Order?

One simple change order can be very complex. Consider the following situation where the customer wants a larger window. Here's what's involved in making it happen:

  • You're going to have to spend hours to calculate the cost of the change and then administer it through all of the stages
  • The window they want may take you six or more weeks to get to the job site
  • The exterior brick must be carefully cut so as not to reveal the surgical procedure required to enlarge the opening
  • The rough carpentry opening has to be enlarged
  • Your electrician may have to be called in to move a wire or outlet
  • Drywall repairs will be necessary

In other words, the finish date of the job will be delayed. You will be distracted taking care of this pesky change order when you should be focusing on your other jobs that this current customer knows nothing about. In other words, this change order becomes a pain in the you-know-what.

How Does A Homeowner View a Change Order?

Your view as a homeowner perspective is very different. After all, you're no expert.

You looked at the plan and saw a window opening and the view of the window on the plan elevation, but you had no idea that there would be so little glass area.

The builder tries to convince you - because he does not want to change the window - that you will get used to it. In fact, you heard him mumble, "Heck, I'll not be able to see that window from my house."

You think to yourself, "How hard can it be to change a silly window?"

After getting the written change order, you faint thinking, "What? It costs THAT much!"

What Happens With Multiple Change Orders?

Now, imagine this situation replayed 25 or even 50 times during the building process as you discover both little and big things you want to change. One of two things usually happens:

1. You break your personal bank or credit line with your self-imposed cost overruns.

2. Your builder blows one or more head gaskets and your relationship deteriorates to where neither of you speaks to one another.

Believe me, I've seen both happen. It's an ugly sight. The process of building your new home was supposed to be fun and filled with happiness. Instead, change orders turn it into a dark place full of animosity.

How Do You Avoid Change Orders?

You can avoid change orders fairly easily. Doing so will allow you to frequently stay on budget and complete the job on time. You need to open the lines of communication early in the process. Do not be embarrassed to say you do not understand how something will look. Do not hesitate to ask for a 3-dimensional printout of what each room will look like. Inexpensive computer software is readily available that will allow you to see your new home. In fact, it will even allow you to easily build a scale model of the home with all interior and exterior walls with the finishes on them!

Be sure to see actual samples of hardware, faucets, lighting fixtures, etc. Do not rely on a photograph in a catalog to make your final decision. Select all products and finishes in the planning stage, not the building phase of your job.

How would you like me to build your new home? It's probably impossible for me to fit your job into my schedule, but I will gladly share hundreds of my tricks and building secrets with you and your builder. Check out my New House Specifications.

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Mold Prevention When Building a Home

Posted on by Tim Carter
tile mold

Mold Prevention is easy. This is gross mold growing on shower tile. It's pretty easy to stop this from happening.

Mold Prevention - You Must Keep Everything Dry

Mold is very akin to fire. To have a fire you need just three things:

  • fuel
  • heat
  • oxygen

Oxygen is always present all around you and your home so you can't do much about that. The fuel for a fire is also everywhere. I don't think you want to sleep on a piece of steel. Imagine the inside of your home if you removed ALL the things that can catch on fire. That leaves one thing you can control: heat.

Mold is so similar. Here are the three things you need for active mold growth:

  • mold spores
  • food
  • water

Mold spores are everywhere in your home. Forget about trying to clean them all up. Food is everywhere unless you're an extreme OCD person. I happen to know a few who take cleaning quite seriously. But think about water. You can control it to a large degree. Keep things dry, and your mold problems will disappear. Period.

Do Builders Know How to Keep Houses Dry?

Based on the email help requests I get, I would say many builders and subcontractors don't know how to keep a house dry.

If you have a skin in the new home building game right now, you must surely be acutely aware of the mold issues that are plaguing many new homes. There are many reasons why mold is growing where it should not be.

What is the Primary Reason For Mold Growth in New Homes?

In my opinion, the primary reason for mold growth is simply operator error. Many young builders, job superintendents, and sub-contractors do not have a crisp historical perspective of how homes used to be built. Many also do not treat their jobs as a vocation. Those craftsmen who have a true passion for building tend to avoid mold issues as well as other construction defects.

How Do Old Homes Help One Understand How to Keep a House Dry?

Before I started into the custom home building profession, I had the good fortune to work in the home remodeling field for nearly ten years. It was not apparent to me at the time, but I was getting educated each time I took apart a house to rehabilitate it or add a room addition. When you start to take the outside surface off a home, whether it be brick, stone, wood siding, stucco, etc., you soon discover how well the home was built. I have taken apart many 80 or 100-year-old homes that had no mold, mildew, or wood rot.

Are the Causes of Mold Obvious?

When I did discover mold, mildew, and wood rot in homes the cause of the problem was usually very obvious. Poor workmanship would allow water to saturate the wood used to build the structure of the home. Here are a few of the primary causes:

WATCH these two videos to see the right way brick should be flashed. Less than 0.1 percent of houses have this flashing.



Undoubtedly other builders before me had seen the same thing and figured out that if you keep wood dry, it simply does not promote the growth of fungi that we see as mold, mildew and wood rot.

Does Felt Paper Help Keep a House Dry?

Traditional asphalt-saturated felt paper is a wonderful product to help keep a house dry. It can be found on hundreds of thousands of older homes.

You may wonder what sets those homes apart from the mold-stricken ones you see in the news. One of the significant differences between many of today's new homes and those your parent's grew up in is simply tar paper.

Where Was the Felt Paper Placed To Stop Mold and Wood Rot?

Older homes that had exteriors made of wood siding, fiber cement, stucco, etc. had a weather-resistant layer of tar paper sandwiched between the wood framing and sheathing and the finished surface exposed to the weather. When water got behind the exterior surface, the waterproof tar paper would shield the wood from getting wet. By carefully overlapping the tar paper both vertically and horizontally, any water would be escorted back to the atmosphere.

Do Metal Flashings Help with Mold Prevention?

Yes, metal flashings do help with mold prevention. They capture water and redirect it back outside.

In addition to the tar paper, metal flashings were common on top of windows, doors and other distinct horizontal breaks in the outside building materials. These simplistic flashings served one purpose. They would capture water that got behind the exterior surface and then redirect it back to the exterior of the home where it could continue its journey into the soil around the home. Flashings are simple to install and made from inexpensive pieces of aluminum, tin or galvanized metal.

What is the Trick to Stop Wood Rot, Mold, and Mildew?

The real trick to stop wood rot, mold and mildew is to create an air gap between the exterior skin of your new home and the structure behind the skin. The structure must have a waterproof membrane such as traditional asphalt saturated felt paper or one of the newer air and water infiltration membranes.

WATCH THIS VIDEO TO SEE THE AIR GAP:

Once installed, vertical furring strips made from ACQ treated lumber can be nailed to the solid studs behind the felt or membrane. The thickness of the strips can be as little as one quarter inch and up to one half inch. The wood or vinyl siding, stucco lath, etc. are then nailed to these wood strips. Long nails must be used so that the fasteners eventually travel into the wood studs in the wall.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE quotes from local companies that can treat your mold.

Should House Siding Extend Over the Top of the Foundation?

Be sure the strips extend down past the top of the foundation at least one and one half inches. Galvanized hardware cloth that has one eighth by one eighth inch spacing needs to be fastened to the bottom of the vertical strips so that insects can't get up into the void space behind the outer skin of your home. This heavy screening will last as long as your home and will be hidden by the outer finish material that you and all of your neighbors will look at each day. The hardware cloth must lap up behind the furring strips, then span the gap and finally lap over the top of the furring strips to make an effective barrier.

Does an Air Gap Allow a House to Breathe?

The air gap your builder creates will allow your house to breathe. There are other products that help create this same space and your builder may find them to be more cost effective. It is my hope that the building code officials will eventually mandate this to be a required item on each new home built. Doing this is smart, easy and is a great thing for the health and well being of everyone.

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Air Conditioning

Posted on by Tim Carter

ac units HVAC York A/C Tim's

Air Conditioning Units

I find it interesting how some of the coldest parts of our nation get hot - and I mean steamy hot - in the summer months. Ask any elderly person who still has a fairly crisp mind and he will tell you what it used to be like without air conditioning (AC) in the summer months. Yes, AC is a relatively newer innovation for the residential home. Tens of thousands of older homes that still stand in the U.S. were built without it. But I am convinced that your next new home will come with AC as standard equipment, not an option.

But don't think for a moment that the AC in your new home is going to work perfectly and keep all of the rooms in your home pleasant and comfortable. To achieve that goal your builder and heating and AC contractor (HVAC) have to engineer a system that is tailored and fit to your home like a custom suit or dress. Unfortunately, poor builders and HVAC contractors often install AC systems like clothes bought from the rack at a discount store.

How do you determine the proper size air conditioner?

The first step in the process is studying your actual building plans. Most of the local distributors who actually sell the AC equipment have special computer software that can analyze your plans. The software studies the compass orientation of the house, the sizes and types of windows and doors, thickness of wall and ceiling insulation, number of occupants, special appliances or lighting that generates extra heat, etc. to determine what the heat gain of your new home will be. With this number, they can specify the correct equipment that can adequately cool your home.

Does orientation of your house affect the size of the air conditioner?

Strangely enough, two identical homes on the same street can end up with slightly different equipment. The primary reason being compass orientation. The house that has more window and door glass surface area facing due west will almost always more cooling capacity. The equipment size is measured in tons with 12,000 Btus of cooling capacity equaling one ton. It was determined long ago that it takes 12,000 Btus of energy to melt a ton of ice. Equating this to your new home, if the calculations show your house has a total heat gain of 59,750 Btus, then you need to make sure you have a 5 ton AC unit. It is that simple.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE quotes from local HVAC companies that can size and install your air conditioner.

But the proper sized unit doesn't mean you will be comfortable. The amazing software that computes the overall heat gain does so by looking at the individual heat gain of each room. This data is extremely important as it tell the HVAC contractor how many supply ducts need to be placed in each room and most importantly the size of the pipes feeding those outlets. Think of fighting a large house fire with a garden hose. It doesn't work because you aren't putting enough water on the fire. You need to pump in enough cold air into each room to offset the fire or heat gain that is occurring within the room.

Why do the ducts get smaller further away from the HVAC units?

Getting the cold air to each room is not as easy as it sounds. The large fan within the air handler in your basement or attic creates pressure much like wind blowing against a sail on a boat. This static pressure needs to be maintained within the entire supply duct system. To do this the HVAC contractor must reduce the size of the main supply duct after every two or three branch runs run towards the individual rooms. If the main duct remains the same size, there is simply not enough energy left in the remaining air to push the cold air to the rooms farthest from the air handler.

Where should the return air ducts be located?

I have news for you, we still are not finished. What happens to the hot air that is in each room? It needs to be sent back to the air handler where the heat is extracted. To do this, your builder and HVAC contractor need to make sure a return air duct is located in each room, preferably seven feet high off the floor. Ideally this return air duct should be on the opposite side of the room from the supply ducts. As the air handler is operating, it is both pulling air into the return ducts and pushing out an equal amount of air through the supply ducts. By placing these different ducts far apart, anyone standing in between the ducts feels the cool air floating over their body.

Beware of builders who do not understand these concepts. The HVAC component of your home is very important. It is what creates and maintains the artificial climate within the four walls of your new home. The HVAC part of your home is perhaps that last place to trim costs if the budget is running a little high. Be sure to specify top drawer HVAC equipment. If at all possible, try to tour a home that is under construction. Look at the overall HVAC equipment and ductwork. Pay attention to see if the main supply duct decreases in size. That is a good indicator the HVAC contractor is likely on top of his game.

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Concrete

Posted on by Tim Carter
concrete finish slab rough plumbing troweling machine

Concrete Tips | Here's a large concrete slab being finished. It's hard enough to stand on. The column below is so helpful I shared it in my free December 9, 2020 newsletter. 31,000 subscribers plus you will now know how to install concrete the right way.

Concrete Tips for Driveways, Sidewalks, and Slabs

Every week, I receive several emails from homeowners who complain about their new concrete driveways, sidewalks, and exterior patios. The surfaces of these improvements peel shortly after the first winter, random jagged cracks scar the surface, and puddles of water often form in the middle of a slab.

You may become a statistic as well as your new home is being built, unless of course you make sure your builder and concrete mason have a complete grasp and understanding of how to professionally install exterior concrete.

It's important for you to know as many concrete tips as possible so your concrete lasts for 50, or more, years.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local concrete contractors.

Where are the Best Concrete Tips?

The best concrete tips can be found at the professional associations devoted to concrete.

Attempting to cover this subject in this small column does it a great injustice as many books and professional papers have been written about concrete. You can obtain vast amounts of superb concrete installation facts from:

  • Portland Cement Association
  • American Concrete Institute
  • National Ready Mixed Concrete Association

There are a number of other state and local associations that also can provide you with reams of reading material.

Do Deicing Salts Harm Concrete?

CLICK or TAP HERE to discover the truth about deicing salts and concrete damage.

What is Concrete?

Concrete is an artificial man-made rock comprised in its most basic form of Portland cement, gravel, sand and water. It's not uncommon for concrete to also contain smaller amounts of fly ash, silica fume and even ground slag. The Portland cement powder ingredient is the basic glue that holds the sand, gravel and other components together.

What Makes Concrete Strong?

The stones, or rock, and Portland cement make concrete strong. You can test this with ease by comparing a mix of just sand and Portland cement and the regular mix of stones, sand, and Portland cement.

If you want strong concrete that will stand the test of time, you first need to make sure you have sufficient cement in the mix. The industry uses both strength measurements in pounds per square inch (psi) and volumetric measurements to communicate strength. For example, it is recommended that the minimum strength for exterior slabs be 4,000 psi or a six bag mix. Keep in mind that I said minimum. If you want to pour a 4,500 psi driveway, then do so.

Want perfect concrete work? Find a pro by using my Concrete Work (Sidewalks, Driveways, Patios & Steps) Checklist. I offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee.

Can Water Hurt Concrete?

Water is needed to activate the cement powder, but water is also concrete's worst enemy during the delivery phase and finishing phase of concrete installation. If you add water to concrete once it arrives at the jobsite, you can significantly alter the ratio of ingredients that make up the batch. Added water can dilute the amount of cement powder in the overall batch. This means the bond between ingredients is weaker. This same thing happens if the concrete finishers sprinkle lots of water on the surface of the concrete as they trowel it.

What Causes Concrete Spalling?

Concrete spalling is caused by a weak top layer on the concrete. When the top finished surface of concrete peels off, or spalls, revealing the coarse aggregate matrix below, it is typically a sign that a workmanship error occurred with respect to added water.

The mistake can even be traced to natural bleed water that appears on the surface during normal installation. As you can see, it is very important that all of the workers have proper training to understand what water can do to concrete.

WATCH these three videos to understand the dangers of concrete bleed water:

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE quotes from local companies who can pour your concrete driveway.

Proper curing of the finished concrete is also important. If the best concrete masons install concrete but fail to allow it to cure, the concrete can fail long before its time. The water used to mix the concrete must not be allowed to evaporate from the drying slab. Concrete finishers can cure concrete by keeping it wet for several days, spraying a liquid curing compound that seals the water into the slab or tightly covering the slab with high-quality plastic for several days. All of these things allow the water within the concrete to stay there to help fuel the chemical reaction that allows microscopic crystals to grow and bind all of the ingredients together. This hydration reaction goes on for weeks and even months.

Why Causes Concrete Cracks?

Concrete cracks are caused by shrinkage. Concrete shrinks as it cures and dries. This shrinkage creates tension within the slab that cause the concrete to tear itself apart.

Are Concrete Cracks Normal?

Cracks are normal. But with proper planning and tools, a concrete mason can control where the cracks will be.

Can You Control Where Concrete Cracks?

Yes, you can control and predict where concrete will crack.

This is often done by placing lines or control joints within the slab as it is being finished or immediately after the concrete is placed and can be walked on. The depth of these joints is critical. Be sure your concrete installer makes the depth of each control joint or saw cut line one fourth the total thickness of the slab. For example, a four inch thick concrete sidewalk should have one inch deep control joints.

What is the Best Weather to Pour Concrete?

Try to schedule concrete placement when the weather is cloudy and overcast. Concrete placement in weather extremes is very hard on the material. Concrete loves to be placed when the air temperature is in the mid 50sF. Placing it in blazing sunshine or snowy days is simply not a good idea.

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Interior Door Tips – Super Secret Ones

Posted on by Tim Carter
kitchen pantry door close up

Interior Door Tips: This fancy Victorian lockset is on a solid poplar door. You'll not scuff your knuckles here because it's set back 2 and 3/4 inches from the jamb.

Interior Door Tips - It's All Little Things

What are the Top Door Tips?

These are the top interior door tips of all time:

  • use 2 and 3/4-inch backset
  • solid doors are affordable
  • drive a long screw through the top hinge into the rough stud wall
  • paint the top and bottom of the door two coats

CLICK or TAP HERE  for FREE BIDS from local finish carpenters.

What's involved in building a new home?

The process of building a new home involves hundreds of decisions. If you really peek under the covers, you might be expected to provide answers to thousands of questions. Architects and builders can often overwhelm a homeowner with questions if they are not careful. In many instances, the builder or the architect decides not to ask but simply act. Believe it or not, one of the trouble areas can be the seemingly innocent category of interior doors.

What is the Biggest Interior Door Mistake?

The biggest interior door mistake is a 2 and3/8-inch backset. This is the distance from the edge of the door to the center of the large hole drilled for a tubular lockset.

Have you ever noticed how your knuckles sometimes rub against the door jamb when rotating a doorknob? But strangely enough, this does not happen on other doors at a neighbor's house or your office building. The trouble can be traced to the backset distance of the hols that were drilled to make room for the doorknob assembly. Backset is the distance of the centerline of the doorknob from the edge of the door.

What is a Lockset Backset?

A lockset backset is the distance from the edge of a door to the center of the large hole drilled for a common tubular lockset.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get discover how to replace hollow doors with SOLID ones.

What are Common Backset Distances?

There are two common backset distances: 2 and 3/8 inches and 2 and 3/4 inches. The difference between the two measurements is less than half an inch, but it makes a big difference to your hands.

The larger backset distance, 2 and 3/4 inches, is commonly used on exterior doors.

But for some reason, the smaller backset distance was chosen as the default distance for interior doors. The good news is you can specify the larger two and three quarter inch backset for both interior and exterior doors. All you have to do is coordinate your interior lockset hardware so that it is ordered with the longer latch to accommodate the longer backset distance. Many lockset manufacturers make a door latch part that is universal so it will fit doors that are drilled with the either the short or longer backset.

What is the best soundproof door?

The best soundproof door is a solid one. Solid doors are harder to vibrate. Hollow doors act like a drum a rock band drummer beats. The sound waves on one side of the door cause the thin veneer door skins to vibrate. This movement reproduces the noise on the other side of the door.

You can get fantastic solid interior and exterior doors from Brycon Wood Products. I bought all my interior doors from them.

Noise can be a problem to solve after you move into a new home. Hollow core interior doors tend to transmit noise very easily. Consider solid-core interior doors or doors that are advertised to reduce sound transmission.

How Can You Soundproof a Door?

You can soundproof a door by using a solid door and then installing weatherstripping around the door. Sound travels through air and it's easy for sound to travel around a typical interior door.

You can also install a superb metal prehung exterior door as an interior door. These doors come with perfect weatherstripping.

What is the ideal clearance between the door bottom and the finished floor?

The ideal clearance, or height, of a door above finished flooring is 3/8 inch and certainly no more than 1/2 inch.

The height of interior doors above finished floors can also be an issue. Some builders and finish carpenters may not communicate well. The net result is doors that have large gaps between them and the finish flooring materials or not enough gap. In my opinion, the ideal clearance between the bottom of a door and the finished floor is between three-eighths or one-half inch.

Carpenters who set doors before the finish flooring is installed often do not cut off the ends of the door jambs to adjust for the proper height. They may also set the uncut door jambs on shims so they don't have to come back and cut off the bottoms of the doors. Hoping the clearance distance is correct is a gamble. Open lines of communication between the carpenters, builders and flooring contractors can solve this problem in a hurry.

Do the doors need to be painted?

The tops and bottoms of doors need to be painted to minimize or eliminate warping.

The painters also have to be part of the interior door team. If interior doors are wood, it is absolutely necessary that the tops and bottoms of the doors be painted. Some wood doors come from the factory with a primer, but this is not enough protection in my opinion. Instruct your painters to make sure two coats of paint or urethane are applied to the tops and bottoms of all interior wood doors. If this wood is left exposed, humid air can enter the wood core of the doors and cause them to warp and twist over time.

Match the door style with the overall style of the house

The aesthetic appearance of interior doors is hard to change once they have been installed. Try to match the interior style of the doors with the overall style of the home. For example, if you happen to be building a Victorian-style home, you can readily purchase doors that match that time period. Two common door styles were the horizontal five raised-panel door or the vertical four raised-panel door. I happen to have the vertical four-panel door in my Queen Anne Victorian style home. Installing a flat slab door or the traditional colonial style six-panel door in my home would cause any experienced architect or interior designer to shudder.

Should Exterior Doors Be Set Up High?

Yes, exterior doors should be set so the bottom of the door threshold is flush with the top of the finished flooring. This allows plenty of height for a throw rug indoors that will not move when the door is opened and closed.

While on the subject of doors with your builder, be sure he doesn't make a mistake with your exterior doors. Frequently rough carpenters set these doors three-quarters of an inch too low. Exterior doors must be able to pass over interior throw rugs. If you visit your home as it is being built and discover the threshold of the exterior doors is sitting directly on the subfloor of the home, you will have problems.

By the time the finish floor is installed up against the threshold of the door, there is usually very little space for a throw rug. A scrap piece of lumber placed on the subfloor often allows the top of finished flooring to fit snugly under the threshold of the door. This allows sufficient room for throw rugs in almost all cases.

Column NH004

Bath Vent Fan – Not Too Hard But Important Steps

Posted on by Tim Carter
duct roof cap

Bath Vent Fan | Here is a special roof termination cap for the fan exhaust. There's a flapper damper just inside the outlet that stops insects and cold backdrafts from entering your bathroom. A new and improved one that I'd use had it been available is RIGHT HERE. CLICK or TAP HERE to see it.  PHOTO BY: Tim Carter

DEAR TIM: I'm remodeling a second-floor master bathroom and will be installing a new bath vent fan. The fan itself will only be three feet from an exterior wall so I could easily extend an exhaust pipe through the attic and have it terminate at the soffit overhang. Do you see any problems with this method? I can extend the exhaust pipe towards a roof ventilation hole but I'm worried that water might condense and run backward towards the fan. What would you do? Larry L., Bloomfield Hills, MI

DEAR LARRY: I can only think of one other method that might cause more damage and destruction than the two methods you have proposed. Some builders, subcontractors and unknowing do-it-yourselfers simply let a bath vent fan blow air directly into the attic space. Talk with any seasoned certified home inspector and she/he may tell you tales of horrible attic mold and wood rot in the roof framing and roof sheathing.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local Bath Fan Ventilation contractors.

Should I Vent My Bath Fan Under the Soffit Overhang?

You are definitely thinking about doing the right thing by getting the exhaust air to the exterior, but dumping it under the soffit might create massive problems for you. The moist humid air that is exhausted when someone is showering will create a vapor plume at the exhaust fan vent. Some of this cloud will waft over the soffit and dissipate into the outdoor air, but some of the sinister water vapor will sneak its way into the attic space through soffit ventilation intake vents, cracks and gaps in the actual soffit materials and seams between the gutter board and soffit.

What Happens When Moist Air Gets Into My Attic?

When this moist air gets into the attic, it will readily condense into liquid water on the cool or cold attic framing surfaces. This liquid water is the needed spark to ignite active mold growth and fungi growth that causes wood rot. The actual buildup of water on these surfaces can turn to a thick layer of frost in very cold weather. I have seen it and it is a very eerie feeling.

Where's the Best Place to Vent a Bath Fan?

I've found that it is often best to vent fans and dryers through the roof. The only folks that can't do this are those that live where snow can accumulate on a roof. Snow can block the vent.

How Do You Install the Roof Vent With No Leaks?

You install the bath fan vent flashing just like any other shingle or a plumbing vent-pipe flashing. Watch this video.

Will a Bath Fan Cause Roof Rot?

Yes, a bath fan will cause roof rot if you just vent the moist air into your attic.

This same problem can happen if you extend a bathroom exhaust fan and terminate it at or near a rooftop ventilation hole. Some of the air may make it outdoors, but some will undoubtedly find its way to other places in the attic. The best way is to simply extend the pipe through the roof and end it with a special bathroom exhaust fan termination cap that includes a damper.

What is a Great Bath Fan Ventilation Pipe?

I prefer to use a smooth galvanized steel pipe to duct the air from the fan to the outdoors. Your concern about condensation forming inside the pipe is valid. An uninsulated steel pipe in a cold attic will produce lots of condensation that can leak back into the bathroom fan and drip or ruin a ceiling if the water leaks from a joint between two sections of steel pipe.

Can You Insulate Bathroom Vent Pipe?

Yes, you can insulate the bath vent fan pipe. There are several ways to do it.

One way is to use spray foam that comes in an aerosol can. Clean the exterior of the pipe with a rag soaked in mineral spirits to remove the residual oil film from the manufacturing process. The pipe should be covered with at least 1.5 inches of dried cured foam, and you must cover all of the exposed metal pipe from the fan all the way to the exhaust termination cap at the underside of the roof.

spray foam bathroom vent

The spray foam is partially applied in this photo. I wanted you to see some of the smooth steel pipe. Note how the spray foam extends all of the way up to the wood roof sheathing. You want to coat any and all exposed metal with the spray foam. PHOTO BY: Tim Carter

Be sure the foam insulation is approved by your local building and fire inspector for use in your attic space. Some local codes do not allow flammable insulation in accessible locations.

Is it a Bad Idea to Use Fiberglass Insulation?

Don't try to wrap the pipe with standard fiberglass insulation attached with duct tape. High attic temperatures can cause many traditional duct tapes to deteriorate in attics. If you want to wrap the pipe, use special duct insulation and tape that can be purchased at heating and cooling supply businesses.

Who Should Install the Roof Vent?

If you do not feel confident installing the exhaust fan termination cap in the roof, hire a roofer to do this. It is really not that hard, but it is a job that must be done correctly to ensure you have no leaks from rain or snow-melt.

CLICK or TAP HERE to get FREE BIDS from local roofers to install your bath vent flashing.

Never underestimate the amount of damage simple water vapor can do. This danger is real for all homeowners, even those who live in very dry climates. Those who live in warm humid climates are at grave risk for rapid mold growth and wood rot. Don't think for a moment that you are immune from damage because of where you live.

How Long Can a Bath Fan Vent Pipe Be?

The length of the bath fan vent pipe is determined by the fan manufacturer.

It is also very important to install the exhaust piping as directed by the fan manufacturer. Short runs are better and you can only insert in the line a given amount of bends in the piping. The pipe and bends create friction to the moving air. If you install too much pipe or too many bends, the fan motor simply will not be able to push the air to the exterior of your home.

Column 546

November 6, 2004 Show Open

Posted on by Tim Carter

Tim:  Good morning! Welcome to the Ask The Builder Show here on WGRR. It's great to be here. It's great to have you with me as well. We've got a full team today.

Annetta:  Yep.

Tim:  (laugh) We've got Annetta.

Annetta:  Good morning.

Tim:  We've got Travis.

Annetta:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  We've got Carey.

Annetta:  Yeah.

Tim:   And we've got me.

Annetta:  Yep!

Tim:  So that's like four, four people.

Annetta:  Me, my four and no more.

Tim:  (laughing) Tell us about Cebella. Was she bad again this week?

Annetta:  She was, but it caused her to get hurt.

Tim:  Oh!

Annetta:  Yeah. Cebella's our dog, in case you don't know by now.

Tim:  Is she all right?

Annetta:  She's okay. She's getting there.

Tim:  Okay now.

Annetta:  She's okay now. Yeah, she got out from us and got a little hurt. She came back and I don't think she's going to run.

Tim:  She's not going to run free anymore, huh?

Annetta:  It's going to be a while.

Tim:  Yeah.

Annetta:  She's kind of scared to even go out to use it (laugh).

Tim:  Yeah. I had a problem with my crazy Cinder dog.

Annetta:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  He's going to be two years old in January, so he's still a puppy.

Annetta:  Right, right.

Tim:   He's still got some of that puppy in him.

Annetta:  Oh, yeah.

Tim:  He's gotten a lot better.

Annetta:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  I told you before how he used to (laugh)... A year ago when we first got him, he was like 6 or 8 months old, he would carry (laugh) entire garbage cans outside the house, you know. He would throw garbage cans up into the air (laughing), and anything that was not bolted down in the garage was outside.

Annetta:  He would carry it. Okay.

Tim:  Because it was his (laugh). I mean he felt like, "Well, you know, this tool's mine. This bag's mine." So anyway, he's kind of gotten over that, but he still wants to get out.

Annetta:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  And, of course, we've got one of the invisible fence things on.

Annetta:  Oh, Uh-huh.

Tim:  And I'm telling you what, those things work so long as the little battery (laughing) inside that collar thing works. Well, we we're having some trouble recently where it's just like he was kind of getting out. And I put a new battery in; the battery's fine.

Annetta:  Uh-huh.

Tim:  Well, lo and behold, I take it down to the invisible fence place and I talk to Carey McMannis. Remember, he was on.

Annetta:  Yeah, right. I remember him.
Tim:  This just goes to show you the problem with modern electronics. That little receiver in the collar...

Annetta:  That's on his neck. Yeah.

Tim:  ... that's on the dog's neck, that particular one had a very small short circuit in it.

Annetta:  Oh-h-h!

Tim:  And it was causing the battery to drain down much faster than it should. So, no wonder 'ole Cinder boy was getting out!

Annetta:  Was getting out! The battery wasn't working. He knew!

Tim:  Yeah, because he figured he's walking up close to the wire and...

Annetta:  He's not getting zapped as hard (laughing).

Tim:  No, no, no! Don't say zapped. The actual term is called "correction" (laugh).

Annetta:  Ah-h-h, yeah (laughing).

Tim:  And let me tell ya. I had that thing in my hand one day (laughing) and forgot, walked up to that wire.

Annetta:  Did you feel it (laughing)?      

Tim:  Oh, my goodness! Oh!

Annetta:  Was your hair standing up (laughing)?

Tim:  Oh! It hurts to even think about it! So anyway, so those things really work.

Annetta:  Well, she still is just a puppy, so. I mean, she's not even a year old yet.

Tim:  I'm sure there are tons of people who are listening who know much more about dogs than you and I.

Annetta:  Yeah.

Tim:  But I just know that you gotta get past that puppy thing.

Annetta:  Yeah, that's what I'm figuring. You know, once we get past the puppy stage... I'm trying to tell my husband, "Just give her one year, just one year."

Tim:  Yeah.

Annetta:  Just one year, you know?

Tim:  Well, you should be all right, so just be patient. Be patient.

Annetta:  Okay. Okay.

Tim:  Now, if you want to talk to me about, not so much dogs, because I mean, I like Cinder and I was the last one in my family that wanted the dog, because I know how much work they are, but Cinder and I are good buddies now and we play a lot, but...

Annetta:  Same here.

Tim:  ... but if you want to talk about home improvement, maybe you've got a question. Of course, now we're into the heating season and you could have furnace questions, air filter questions. I can think of tons of questions you could have. You could have a question about, like today, the weather's kind of up there. It might get to the 50s like it was yesterday, 55; it was a gorgeous day. Is that a good time to paint outside? Because you procrastinated and it's like "Well gosh, I've got to get some stuff done." Well, is this really the right time? So, whatever your question might be, call me at 749-1035 (repeat).

I want to tell you something new at the website, and this may interest you. I have started a new program at AsktheBuilder.com where at least five times a week, I'm adding a new column. I know that sounds crazy, but I'm doing it. You've got a couple of choices. You can stop back to the website and just try to find it yourself. It'll be right on the home page.

I've talked about this in the past. I don't push it much, but I'm going to just talk about it a little bit because this is really important. In years past I could easily sign you up to my quick newsletter and send you an announcement via email. Because of all the spam and all these other things, email is just not the best tool anymore to get a message from one person to another. There is technology that's been out on the Internet for years and it's called push technology. It kind of had a bad rap about five or six years ago for a good reason, but they got all those bugs out and now it's called RSS. It's stands for Really Simple Syndication, and it really works a lot like the way you get your newspaper delivered. In fact, we're going to be talking about Barb in a little bit here, who's delivering the paper right now, a question of hers I'm going to answer on the air.

RSS works just like the Inquirer or the Post coming to your house. Now how's that? Well, here's the trouble with email in a way. Email is delivered into your mailbox, but for you to get your email, you have to go to the email box to get it. It requires a trip. It requires you pressing a couple of buttons, doing this, doing that. RSS is different. In other words, imagine if the Inquirer said, "You know what? If you subscribe to our paper, but each day you have to come down to the Inquirer to get it," well, people wouldn't do that. They wouldn't drive all the way down there, so they wouldn't get the paper! Well, RSS is simple. It simply is technology where there is intelligence in these other computers, and every time I add a new column at my website, this other computer (like a speed burner) knows it. It comes back, it catalogues that new item, and when you turn your computer on and just open up this software (I mean, you can have it automatically open up), it automatically tells you, "Oh, look! Tim published something new yesterday," or "The New York Times published something new." There are thousands of websites that have RSS feeds.

So, it's really cool technology. Don't mean to overwhelm you this early in the morning about it. But I'm telling you, you should start to look into RSS and sites that have RSS feeds (and I have one), and you'll automatically be notified every time anything is new on that website. So it's pretty cool stuff.

Okay. If you want to call me, once again it's 749-1035 and we're going to go to the phones now and we're going to talk to James. 
 

Ask the Builder Radio Shows

Posted on by Tim Carter

This is a brand-new section of AsktheBuilder.com. It will soon be populated with nearly ten years of past radio show transcripts. Oh, you want to listen to the shows while you jog, work around the house, exercise or drive in your car? Soon you will be able to download mp3 files of each radio show of mine or just individual segments of a particular show. The technology to do this has finally arrived and it is both convenient and powerful.

Stay tuned!