Wall jacks cost less than a back injury
I read with interest the article on building and raising gable walls in the April/May 1999 issue (FHB #122, pp. 88-93). As a small renovation company, we build and raise several of these large walls each year. We have purchased a pair of wall jacks in an effort to make the lifting easier and have found that for the price (a pair of 20-ft. jacks runs about $800), the payoff is worth the investment. A back injury can cost so much more, not to mention the lost time from work. And we don’t always have the six to eight people necessary to raise really large walls. Wall jacks are the ticket.
—Steve Jones, Golden, CO
The great rebar debate continues
I’d like to respond to Paul Shanta, the structural engineer who complained in FHB #122 (“Letters,” p. 6) about the lack of steel in a foundation (FHB #120, pp. 64-71). Wouldn’t you think that there are engineers in Rhode Island who are qualified to know what reinforcement is required in foundation walls in their area? Why would the builder want to spend more than $1,000 to put steel in a foundation where it isn’t needed? Of course it would be stronger with steel, but that would be overkill, which many engineers specify because it protects them and because it isn’t their money they’re spending.
—Glenn Woods, Ogden, UT
I have been a loyal reader of Fine Homebuilding for many years. I have always found your contributing editors to be informative and interesting, but recently, I have been very disappointed.
Rick Arnold and Mike Guertin have written many questionable things in their recent concrete articles that I disagree with. In my opinion:
• Rebar should be installed in footings regardless of codes not requiring it.
• “Cheap insurance” is stronger concrete. For foundation walls, 2,500-psi concrete is minimal at best.
• Concrete should be pumped when necessary. It isn’t possible to push 4-in. slump concrete by hand in 8-ft. walls that are over 40 ft. long.
• Concrete vibrators should be used on all walls, not only used in extreme cases. (Just don’t overvibrate.)
I don’t know who you believe your readership is, but I’ve come to expect more from your magazine.
—Paul Thomas, via e-mail
As a stonemason from the old school, I feel compelled to comment on the use of rebar in footings. Lest modern builders succumb to total amnesia, let’s remember that the best footings on the planet contain no rebar (and no portland cement, for that matter). The 200-year-old churches, barns and houses I’ve been privileged to restore were built on 3-ft. wide ditches filled with big flat rocks and dirt. If the craftsmen of those times had reinforced concrete, they might have been tempted to skimp on the width or depth of the excavation, or span over subsoil of questionable stability. Because it has recently come to light that rebar actually rusts while embedded in concrete and that because of it the infrastructure of our modern civilization is imperiled, it strikes me as excessively smug to insist on its continued use instead of seriously considering the alternatives. Architects of no less stature than Frank Lloyd Wright heartily endorsed footings for residential structures that were no more than ditches filled with gravel. In an earthquake, I’d rather be in one of those buildings than anywhere near the monster fireplace shown on your back cover (FHB #121), no matter how much rebar is in its footing.
—Stephen Kennedy, Kettle, KY
Laminate counters need waterproof substrates around the sink
I am writing about the article on installing laminate countertops (FHB #121, pp. 68-73). Steve Morris, the author, appears to be a quality-oriented installer. Unfortunately, many installers, contractors and fabricators don’t know that where sinks are to be installed in countertops, the substrate must be of exterior-grade or waterproof marine-grade plywood or of phenolic-resin particleboard. This standard, promoted by the Architectural Woodwork Institute (703-733-0600), has been mandated for many years on FHA-HUD financed projects. Exposure to water would eventually result in loosening of the laminate from the surface of commonly used substrates. And any exposure to water is detrimental to commonly used particleboard substrates.
In addition, the substrate for all high-pressure decorative laminate (HPDL) should have either a backer sheet, HPDL or an appropriate fused-melamine surface on the opposite side. This prevents warping and provides dimensional stability from varying temperatures and humidity.
—M. Ray Millman Jr., Plymouth, MA
Readers charged up over dielectric unions
I have a correction to the April/May issue’s “Q&A” concerning dielectric unions (FHB #122, pp. 20, 22). Peter Hemp’s answer is good, but his brass solution is not and misses the point. Dielectric unions are needed because certain metals have different numbers of electrons in their outermost shells. If certain metals can give up or take in electrons to or from another metal, they can combine more easily with, say, oxygen and therefore oxidize rapidly. Therefore, it is the ability of the electrons to get from one metal to the other that enhances the corrosion rate. Mr. Hemp’s brass nipple and couplings would not stop this electron flow and not stop corrosion. The key component of a dielectric union is the electrical-insulation material between the dissimilar metals, which does not allow the electron flow—cuts the circuit, if you will. (I guess remembering dielectric as “die, electric!” might help.) So never build an aluminum canoe with copper rivets.
—James M. Uhlik, via e-mail
Peter Hemp replies: As I said in my little answer, I’m speaking only from my experience. On countless occasions, I have found failed dielectric unions and couplings. Explanations? I don’t have any. Your theory sounds good on paper, but not convincing in practice. My recommendation, illustrated in “Questions & Answers,” works. Explanations? I don’t have any. But the proof is in the pudding.
I agree with Peter Hemp that the connection between copper and galvanized pipes needs a dielectric union, especially underground. However, the purpose of a dielectric union, or flange insulation joint in large piping, is not only to prevent the copper from touching the iron but also to insulate electrically the two different pipes from each other. The alternate dielectric fitting shown by Mr. Hemp will work and probably not show evidence of corrosion right at the threaded joint, but still is electrically conductive. Somewhere farther on down the iron pipe, corrosion may continue and eventually rust the pipe.
Buried underground piping builds up a charge along its length, and this charge can cause piping to corrode. This is why insulation joints are installed where buried piping enters buildings. Corrosion can occur to indoor piping and equipment and even to the rebar buried inside concrete walls if the insulation joint isn’t installed.
After you install a dielectric union, you can check it with an ohmmeter to be sure the copper side isn’t touching the iron side. If the plastic has become damaged, you will get continuity.
An alternative to using the brass fittings and nipples on this kind of work would be a PVC schedule-80 section of pipe that has threaded/slip couplings.
As for the homeowner, if you have old buried galvanized piping, you’re better off to get rid of it completely.
—Dale Ohda, Pleasant Hill, CA
I encounter numerous installations of dielectric unions in my work as a home inspector and want to share some thoughts on the subject. In the nicely illustrated answer that Peter Hemp gave in your last issue, he wisely favored the use of brass nipples in joining old galvanized water lines to newer copper work.
Nearly without exception, the commercial dielectric couplings that I encounter in my work have failed. I don’t believe that they are worth the effort of installation. But more important, the nonconductive plastic isolation coupling also renders portions of the pipe useless for electrical grounding, making it the inferior choice. In most of the old homes that I inspect, the only grounding provided is to the water line.
Most seasoned plumbers, for their own as well as their clients’ safety, pay close attention to the importance of electrical grounding when making repairs and often use jumper cables to maintain electrical contact between pipes under repair. Another related problem I commonly encounter is a lack of grounding resulting from the installation of a new plastic water-service line without moving the grounding clamp to a properly located grounding rod. Houses are complicated systems, and the better we understand the interrelations between the systems, the better and safer we’ll be.
—Daniel Meisel, Santa Barbara, CA
Makes knee pads a company policy
I am a general contractor in Washington state with a number of employees, and I’m going to have them all read Steven D. Bond’s excellent article (“Preventing Job-Site Knee Injuries,” FHB #122, pp. 70-75). Over the years, I have stressed the importance of being careful with the knees, and I have to keep reminding the men to wear their knee pads. In fact, I’ve made it a company rule that if they are doing any work on the knees, they are required to wear their knee pads.
I follow my own rule faithfully, take a lot of breaks as the knees demand and know when to quit. Plus, I gave up torturing myself with the carpet kicker a few years ago. I use a heavy rubber mallet on the kicker, let someone else kick it with their heel or use the stretcher. I am not going to sacrifice my knees for a piece of carpet.
I have a close friend with whom I worked on a lot of jobs over the past 10 years who never used knee pads. Just recently, he had both knees replaced because he was nearly crippled. Now he doesn’t work at all and will probably end up just retiring. I keep my employees reminded about that man’s knees when I see them still on concrete without knee pads. With articles like Dr. Bond’s, we should all live longer, more productive lives.
—Elliot Gesang, Graham, WA
Says dehumidifiers aren’t that expensive
I’d like to respond to the “Q&A” item in the April/May issue (FHB #122, pp. 22, 24). As an ex-Honeywell engineer (in the commercial group), I can tell you that over-sizing air-conditioning units is an industrywide dilemma.
Sometimes, our deep-thought process hides the most obvious solution to a problem. I would suggest the homeowner with the mildew problem buy a dehumidifier. These devices are available in several capacities, are relatively inexpensive, operate at modest power requirements and can remove several gallons of water a day.
One other thing I always tell people to do is that when they turn on the A/C switch at the thermostat, also move the fan switch to “on.” This stops stratification of air in the house, uses freon better and minimizes the sense of thermal variation. In addition, air moving over the skin makes us feel cooler, and it moves more air through the filter, which could minimize pollen problems. Incidentally, fans are normally rated for continuous duty, so homeowners should not worry about burning out a motor.
—Craig Brown, Duluth, GA
An argument for white cedar
I was pleased to see an article clarifying some differences between the cedars as used in roofing applications (FHB #121, “What’s the Difference?” pp. 130, 132). However, your article neglected important considerations. After years of researching, using, supplying and milling all four of the cedars mentioned (Atlantic and northern white, western red and Alaskan yellow), as well as eastern-red cedar, cypress and redwood, I began to use the white cedars exclusively, both Atlantic and northern, for all external applications. I appreciated the silver-gray color of the white cedar when weathered and found the other woods to be inferior performers.
I ultimately stopped supplying red cedar. The best red cedar comes from the old-growth trees. These trees are not a renewable resource and, as your article points out, will dry up by the year 2020 with the original stands of this slow-growing tree largely wiped out. To anyone who has followed the history of old-growth stands in America, be it longleaf heart pine, cypress, redwood or red cedar, this point should come with some consternation.
In contrast, white cedar is renewable, and some white-cedar swamps have already been harvested up to five times since colonial days. Moreover, your article mistakenly says that the old-growth white cedar has been harvested, leaving only inferior second-growth material. In truth, the white cedar harvested now is identical to the material harvested hundreds of years ago. Mature white-cedar stands contain relatively younger, smaller specimens because the trees do not have the same tendency to live thousands of years and grow to mammoth proportions. I think that the combination of environmental considerations, performance and aesthetic attributes makes both the Atlantic cedar and the northern-white cedar the superlative choices for roofs, sidings, decks and many other external and internal applications.
—Wilfred J.O. Armster, Madison, CT
Your writer left out the biggest difference between Alaskan yellow cedar and red cedar. In Washington state, yellow cedar grows mainly at higher elevations, which means steep, easily eroded slopes. This subalpine ecosystem is far more susceptible to serious damage than the lower elevations more typical of red cedar. In southeastern Alaska, it grows at lower elevations, but given the high rainfall in that region, the Alaskan slopes would certainly suffer much the same fate. Please consider this fact before choosing Alaskan yellow-cedar lumber or shingles.
—Victor Garcia, Westport, WA
We forgot to tell you who designed the HOUSES issue
Much to our chagrin, we neglected to list designer Amy Bernard Russo on the masthead of our recent HOUSES issue (FHB #123, Spring/Summer 1999). We have our hands full with the six regular issues of Fine Homebuilding, and Amy, who regularly works for The Taunton Press’s corporate design department, is gracious enough to help us out with HOUSES. She’s responsible for what we think is our best-looking HOUSES to date.
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