Readers take issue with “Taking Issue”
I can almost hear the primitive grunts of approval over Barbara Flanagan’s essay, grossly titled “For millennial man, tools rule” (FHB #123, “Taking Issue,” pp. 6, 8).
I’d expect this kind of half-baked, white-noise drivel from one guy or another—but from a woman? I’m not sure which is more disappointing to me: the fact that she goes on and on about men being the only hope for our future, narcissistic society or that she, as a trained architect in a male-dominated field, actually buys that load of he-man fodder.
What century are you channeling your information from, Barbara? There are a number of well-trained, highly skilled women carpenters on this planet who are capable of the lifting and fixing you’re so eager to place as a birthright known only to men. Although our number is indeed smaller at this time, rest assured I am one woman carpenter who won’t be waiting passively on her doorstep for some hairy, sweaty guy to pick up a sheet of CDX for me.
Ms. Flanagan and Fine Homebuilding have done a great disservice to women in the trades everywhere. Perhaps you haven’t been on a construction job site where—gasp!—you may see a woman working right alongside all those heroes of your self-prophesied, lazy future. Working in this male-dominated field can be hard enough without Ms. Flanagan and a national magazine spoon-feeding the overweening ego that some men already have and perpetuating the myth that women are nothing but helpless bystanders of society.
Thank God I canceled my subscription to this magazine a year ago. If I hadn’t then, I most certainly would now.
—Jenny Frazier, Bellingham, WA
I heartily concur with Barbara Flanagan (“Taking Issue,” FHB #123) that skilled tradespeople will be in short supply in the next millennium. Here in the Northwest, that shortage is already impacting general contractors. And with the average age of a journeyman carpenter approaching 50, the union will soon have to recruit apprentices in record numbers. But I am struck by Ms. Flanagan’s constant reference to the male gender. She has effectively reduced our potential source of new hires by more than 50%. Although no one has ever accused me of being politically correct, I do strive for accuracy, and this is where I take issue with “For millennial man, tools rule.”
Here at the Wood Construction Center in Seattle, I teach carpentry, cabinet-making and boat-building to both men and women. (In fact, at any given time, our rolls include somewhere between 30% and 40% women.) Our graduates work all over the Northwest in many different carpentry-related fields, and we try hard to dispel the notion that working with your hands is a guy-only thing. Women in the trades have a difficult-enough time finding acceptance and often have to work harder and smarter than their male counterparts. Articles such as this reinforce stereotypes, which only hurt our industry.
So I say to Ms. Flanagan and to the editorial staff of FHB: Stand up straight; your knuckles are dragging. The unsung builders of the next millennium may not be bare-chested or possess “a taut and robust physicality,” but “she will rebuild America’s front door.”
—Dave Borgatti, Seattle, WA
I am writing to express strong disagreement with some of the points made by Barbara Flanagan in her “Taking Issue” essay. Her unsubstantiated generalizations fail to reflect the home-building industry’s strong commitment to quality construction or the efforts being made to address some of the challenges builders face.
The National Association of Home Builders—particularly our National Research Center—is involved in a broad range of programs to produce housing that is both affordable and high quality. For instance, the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) is an initiative that seeks to accelerate the creation and widespread use of advanced technologies to improve the quality, durability, environmental performance, energy efficiency and affordability of American housing. President Clinton formally inaugurated the program on May 4, 1998, in Los Angeles at the site of an affordable-housing project that had benefited from technical assistance provided by PATH partners.
We are also addressing shortages of skilled construction workers caused by a building boom and by the lowest level of unemployment in 30 years. Ms. Flanagan would like us to believe that “every good carpenter in America” knows the problems that are going to occur with houses being built currently, failing to realize that a great many of these houses are in fact being built by these same “good carpenters.” The problem is not that there are no skilled and experienced construction tradespeople available. The problem is that there are not enough of them. And unlike certain building materials, the supply of which can be increased by running some extra shifts at the factory, skilled construction labor takes time to develop.
NAHB’s Home Builders Institute (HBI) operates many different training programs to ensure that skilled tradespeople will be available to build houses in the future. Annually, HBI enrolls more than 7,000 individuals in construction-crafts training programs. HBI also manages programs at 65 of the 115 Job Corps centers, annually training more than 3,000 young people for construction-industry careers.
The 200,000 member firms of the National Association of Home Builders are deeply committed to producing quality, affordable housing. If Ms. Flanagan or any of your readers wishes to find out about some of our initiatives to achieve this goal, please encourage them to visit our Web site at www.nahb.com.
—Charles J. Ruma, president, National Association of Home Builders, Washington DC
Congratulations to Barbara Flanagan on her excellent assessment of our consumer-fueled throwaway society (“Taking Issue,” FHB #123). She must have observed some of the new houses in central Florida, although I’m sure that this phenomenon is ubiquitous. I have spent 30 years in the business, much of it correcting the shoddy workmanship of others. I am continually amazed as the quality of building becomes progressively worse and simultaneously more expensive.
—Don P. Bolam, via e-mail
Breezeways can become fuses for a house fire
I have a quick comment on the article “Preventing House Fires” (FHB #124, pp. 68-73). I’ve seen two houses destroyed because a fire started in a detached garage and then followed a breezeway to the house. In one of the cases, I observed the fire being pulled down the triangular ceiling of the breezeway by the drafting action of hot air exhausting through the house roof where it joined the breezeway roof. After observing these fires, I started putting a draft stop in the top of the breezeway. This stop is usually 5⁄8-in. drywall attached to the rafters and the joist in the center of the breezeway. Often, it is necessary to work the drywall around various wires going from the garage to the house. But this is cheap insurance for delaying a fire long enough for the fire department to arrive.
—Judson D. Bryant, Houston, TX
Corrosive flux nearly leads to tragedy
I’ve been in the building trade for the past 20 years, mostly residential, and have never heard of—let alone seen—a problem like the one I’m about to describe.
About six months ago, we finished a remodel job involving a bed/bath addition above an existing garage. At the completion of the job, the homeowner took a two-month vacation. As I am sure you are aware, when taking an extended trip, it is always wise to turn off your water and gas, just in case. The homeowner did just that. Upon his return, he recharged his water and gas lines. He was in the process of lighting the pilot at the water heater when he smelled the unmistakable aroma of propane. Of course, he shut off the gas and called his propane supplier.
The leak was found at the aluminum-flex supply line to the water heater. It was not a defective part, but instead what seemed to be a corroded area in the aluminum. The gas man noticed we had done some redesigning of the copper water lines above the unit, and with the aide of a plumb bob, he found that there was a sweated joint directly above the hole in the flex. It is not hard to imagine the disaster that might have occurred if the homeowner had not turned off the gas.
When I heard of the problem, I immediately contacted our plumber. We examined the flex line to make sure the determination was valid. We agreed with the gas man, made some calls to the plumbing supplier and found that the problem was not in the solder, but in the flux. In fact, the label on the flux that was used says “… wipe off all excess residues. This product is highly corrosive.” The gas man stated that it takes approximately 60 days for this type of flux to melt through aluminum.
—Chris Redmond, Arcata, CA
More explanations for blowing halogen bulbs
With regards to “Blowing halogen bulbs” (FHB #124, “Q&A,” p. 22), there are a couple of factors that will lead to premature halogen failure. One is fingerprints on the quartz envelope. The oils in your skin convert to an acid that can etch the quartz. The temperature cycle causes the quartz envelope to crack and the halogen gas to escape. Clean the bulbs with denatured alcohol or use a tissue when you install them.
Also, dimmer circuits can be a problem. Dimming the lights too low interrupts the halogen cycle, and the tungsten is not redeposited back on the filament.
—Ernie Dankert, via e-mail
I also had a light soffit filled with 50w halogen bulbs that were supposed to last thousands of hours, but I was going broke replacing the bulbs. Here are some problems I found.
I checked with the fixture supplier, and the manufacturers’ specs indicated that 40w halogen bulbs were the maximum rating. There was no indication on the fixture, and I realized that some of the fixtures in the socket were more insulated than others, and therefore, they had higher heat buildup and burned out more quickly than the others. When I switched to 40w bulbs, I solved the problem.
Also, I’m on a rural electric system, but near the power source. My electrical supplier pointed out that I have 130v in my house so that the farmer who is miles down the street will get 110v. You can buy both 130v and 120v bulbs. Since I switched to all 130v bulbs, everything lasts a lot longer. This fix works even if you have 120v; you just get dimmer light.
Finally, I discovered that poor-quality bulbs are a big problem and are all too common. I have found Philips bulbs generally to be of high quality.
—Thomas Kraemer, Corvallis, OR
More tips for using nail guns safely
Thanks for the timely and useful article “Framing With Nail Guns” (FHB #124, pp. 74-81). I thought I might add a bit of hard-learned knowledge to this informative piece. I say hard-learned because that seems to be the story of my life.
Nailing studs to plates is a repetitive act. I soon learned always to nail the bottom nail first, remove the hand holding the stud in place and then drive the top nail. I can promise you that if you don’t do this, sooner rather than later, you will just catch the edge of the top plate with the gun nose and fire a nail into your hand.
These days, a lot of metal (straps, diagonal braces, etc.) lurks behind shear panels being nailed to walls. When you hit metal with a nail gun, the gun recoils. If you happen to be working with the nail gun directly in front of your face, it can bounce back and give you a serious rap. I’ve never lost a tooth making this mistake, but without a backrail on a scaffold, I would have been airborne once. Sometimes you get lucky.
Many states require annual testing of the pressure tank used in compressing air. If your state doesn’t require this, think about what can happen when the water that accumulates in the tank rusts a spot in the metal until it becomes quite thin and finally bursts under pressure. Tanks, like fire extinguishers, need to be checked on a regular basis to ensure that they are safe and sound.
—Larry Haun, Coos Bay, OR
Beware of exploding air compressors
A friend of mine had an air compressor very much like the one in your article “Framing with Nail Guns” (FHB #124, pp. 74-81). He almost never drains condensation out of his compressor, and consequently, it exploded violently one day.
Upon examining the remains, I could see where the rust had thinned the metal all along the bottom. The weld seam was not involved in the failure. When the rusted area failed, it failed catastrophically. The rip extended from end to end. The motor was broken and separated from the mount, and the flywheel/pulley was broken and became another part of the shrapnel that was flying. It destroyed a door it was sitting next to, and the main part of the tank, with attached hardware, flew over the owner’s head and damaged the corner of a building about 50 ft. away. The curved walls of the tank were twisted the other way so that they were wrapped around the remains of the compressor.
I wasn’t there when it happened, but I expect that the sound of it got everyone’s attention. He didn’t try to repair it.
—James D. Nelson, Woodville, WI
Erratum
The door pictured in the “Tools & Materials” column of our June/July 1999 issue (FHB #124, p. 134) was made by International Wood Products (800-468-3667). Beveled Glass Works Inc., whom we identified as the manufacturer, does make its own doors but serves only as a distributor for the door in the photo.
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