Readers write to save mahogany door from paint
I hope I’m not too late to save Joe’s door (FHB #129, “Q&A,” p. 22). Painting mahogany? Sacrilege! I too live in a harsh climate with an exposed wood door (fir) and have tried the “varnish, now varnish for life method.” There is an easier way. Try Daly’s Seafin Teak Oil (800-735-7019). It’s as easy as dusting with Pledge, so it’s no big deal to recoat every year or so. You don’t have to remove the door or hardware, and it dries quickly. If you have to have a white door, there are lovely energy-efficient metal doors that come already painted (and go nicely with vinyl siding, I might add).
—Becky, Bend, OR
In response to William C. Feist’s letter (FHB #129, “Q&A,” p. 22): I felt that I had to attempt to save Joe’s mahogany doors from paint. But even if I’m too late to save his, maybe there are some other beautiful wood doors out there that need to be rescued from the pitfalls of paint.
I work as a painter and recently coated three mahogany garage doors with Sikkens Cetol TGL Satin finish. It produces a transparent varnishlike finish. But unlike varnishes and paints, it remains flexible and is less prone to cracking and blistering. Preparation is straightforward. The wood needs to be thoroughly sanded with 80-grit paper and coated first with Cetol I, which seals and protects the wood. The wood should then be finished with two coats of TGL Satin, which provides protection from UV-rays. Depending on exposure, rather than scraping, maintenance is limited to sanding and recoating as necessary. And the best part? The beauty of the mahogany shines through for years to come. For more info, contact Akzo Nobel Coatings Inc. (800-833-7288).
—Ronald Quay, Georgetown, MA
Will I-joists fail over time?
There are numerous valid arguments to be made for the use of composite I-joists (“The Argument for I-Joists,” FHB #129, pp. 70-73). However, the one concern that I have never seen addressed in articles extolling the virtues of the composites is what is the expected longevity of these products?
Composites appear to be nothing more than wood chips held together with glue. Glue eventually tends to become brittle. I can’t help but wonder if structural floor and roof members will fail over a relatively short period of time. We know that a properly built house framed with standard dimensional lumber should last for at least 200 or 300 years, but are the houses built with composite structural members going to last 75 or even 50 years, or will we have millions of homes turn to sawdust in the not-too-distant future? Are we building disposable houses?
—Jonathan Gerlach, Portland, OR
Author Paul Fisette replies: I can’t predict what, if any, demons lie ahead for I-joists. However, I am confident that I-joists will perform well for a long time and don’t share your fear that I-joists constitute “disposable” housing. As an apprentice carpenter, I heard similar statements regarding the use of plywood as a substitute for sawn-board sheathing. In my opinion, plywood is structurally superior and has passed the test of time. I expect that oriented strand board will establish a trusted reputation, too.
Wood-composite technology is not new. Portland Manufacturing Company made the first structural plywood from western woods in 1905. The Forest Products Laboratory was actively involved in glue lamination during the 1930s. And MacMillan Bloedel opened the first viable waferboard facility at Hudson Bay, Saskatchewan, in 1963. I think the success of any building material hinges on appropriate use. True, some lumber-framed homes have lasted centuries. But I have witnessed a fair share of rotting solid-wood homes. Some were only two or three years old. There is no reason for I-joists or any engineered wood products to fail when they are used in the environment they were designed for. The adhesive does not disintegrate. Waterproof, thermoset adhesives with long track records are used. In reality, the fibers of solid wood are small particles that are glued together by lignin.
Don’t shingle low-slope roofs
What are you, crazy? In the “Q&A” column of your latest issue (FHB #129, p. 22), you have a question on the use of shingles for a roof with a 2-in-12 slope. You missed the point: If the existing roof leaks with shingles at this low slope, don’t use shingles. It is really that simple. In the years that I have installed roofing shingles, I have been asked to do as you recommended for the roof in question, and I refused. Low-slope roofs tend to leak, and often not for some time. But as shingles age, they change shape and sag to form low areas where the overlap occurs. This situation happens in all climates, not just in the areas that have ice dams.
The best thing to do is to use solid membrane roofing: no holes, no leaks. If you insist on the shingle look and nail down shingles in any way, you are asking for a leak.
—Roy Hoffman, Oriental, NC
A tip for repairing extension cords
I really enjoyed Ken Textor’s excellent article on extension cords (FHB #129, pp. 84-89). However, in his sidebar, “Making and repairing extension cords,” Mr. Textor omitted a key step. Before you even think about the business of stripping wire and hooking up the new plug, don’t forget to slip the plug cover onto the wire first. If I’d just remembered that little step every time I wired a plug on an extension cord, I might still have hair on my head.
—Roe A. Osborn, Woodbury, CT
Questions legality of garage sink
In reviewing Karl Juul’s tip, “Freezeproofing a garage sink,” in the February/March issue (FHB #129, p. 34), I find some issues present in the setting of the drain trap and in venting. As it is presented, I would consider the drawing to show an illegal unvented running trap. The installation should be modified to meet the following requirements of the International Plumbing Code:
• Section 1002.1 of the code requires that the maximum distance from fixture strainer (outlet) to the trap be no greater than 24 in. vertically and no greater than a 15-in. offset horizontally.
• Section 901.2 requires that all fixture traps be vented to protect the water seal.
• Section 906.1 specifies that for a drain set at a standard 1⁄4-in. pitch, the maximum distance from the trap discharge to the vent, or vent stack, shall not exceed 5 ft. using 11⁄2-in. pipe, or 6 ft. using 2-in. pipe.
If it is difficult to meet the 15-in. horizontal offset, I would recommend using electric heat tape if the sink is used in the winter months, or protection with RV antifreeze if use is not an issue. Probably the easiest version would be to enclose the sink base, provide the heat tape and vent up through the garage-house wall.
—Jon W. Oldenburg, building inspector, Little Chute, WI
Karl Juul replies: The essence of my tip was to install the trap on the warm side of the rim joist rather than in the unheated garage area. Trap venting was not addressed because it is a given; virtually all codes require venting on the discharge side of the trap and specify the critical distance to the vent. The technical rationale for venting the trap exit is to prevent a negative pressure within the drainage system from emptying the trap water seal. The code you cited, however, also specifies a maximum horizontal distance of 15 in. from the sink drain to the entrance side of the trap. The technical rationale for that requirement is not obvious, and the code in my area does not impose that restriction. Perhaps this code provision was intended to prevent mechanical instability resulting from a long length of thin-wall fixture drain terminating at an unsupported trap. Nevertheless, it is practical to comply with the 15-in. limit and still mount the trap according to my tip.
The typical slop sink is a plastic or fiberglass laundry tub. Some brands have a centrally mounted drain, while many have the drain mounted toward the rear of the basin. The tubs with the center drain will probably not be able to comply with the 15-in. limit, but the others easily will.
How do you keep that job-site trailer from being stolen?
I enjoyed Charles Bickford’s article on different approaches to transporting tools (FHB #128, pp. 92-97). My company has considered the approach Mark Chick takes with an enclosed trailer pulled behind a pickup, but we have one major concern with this approach: safety. Being able to take all your tools, supplies and equipment with you to a job and then leaving them there until the job is done is great, but it also creates one-stop shopping for the thief with a truck of his own. How does Mark handle the threat of someone pulling the trailer away, as well as just breaking into it?
—Allen Smith, Burton, KS
Mark Chick replies: To secure the trailer while it is parked on the construction site, we take several precautions. We installed an auto burglar-alarm system, complete with door sensors and shocker. The trailer has a deep-cycle battery and battery charger, which powers the alarm system. We made sure all electrical connections were on the interior of the trailer, which prevents anyone from cutting power to the alarm.
To prevent a thief from taking the entire trailer, we installed a tongue lock, which can be purchased at any RV store. In case the thief is able to remove the tongue lock, a lock can also be installed through the pin in the tongue jack, which will prevent anyone from lowering the trailer onto a truck.
If the trailer is to be left unused for an extended period of time, I recommend parking the rear of the trailer tight against a building or wall to prevent access to the rear doors. If you’re really concerned about theft, jack up the trailer, block it, and remove the tires. All these approaches will deter theft, but obviously, I strongly recommend having all your tools and equipment insured. The cost of insurance is fairly expensive, but you will sleep better.
Doesn’t like baseboard detail
When FHB #126 came out, I was building the 31⁄2-in. oak baseboards for our home. I was admiring the house featured in “A Basic Box Isn’t All Bad” (pp. 114-119) until my eye caught the baseboard detail (1×3 mitered at 90° around a bullnose outside corner) pictured on p. 116.
Sorry, but that inferior corner job on the baseboards made me wonder just how many more corners were cut for the rest of the home. Now I wonder if “A Basic Box May Not Be All Good.”
I am enclosing a photo (left) so that you can show how baseboards are supposed to be detailed around bullnose walls.
—Billy L. Hines, Benson, AZ
“Much to-do about toilets”
I see in the latest issue (FHB #129, “Letters,” pp. 6,8), that there’s much to-do about toilets. Nick Roberts wrote that he doesn’t like the sight of toilets, and that goes for me, too. I’ll tell you why. They can lead to divorce. Yes, they can. I’ve seen it happen out in California. Let me explain.
Back in the early ’50s, a friend of mine moved to Los Angeles. He was profoundly good looking, and it wasn’t long until he married into money. The wedding made high-society headlines. By and by, word drifted back east that he and his wife had gone into the building business. They were building houses of great proportions, some with four and five bathrooms.
Soon, my wife, Dawn, and I grew jealous. We were building houses in Ohio with only one and a half bathrooms. We made the arduous trip west to check things out.
Sure enough, the news coming east was all true—and then some. In their dream home, the master bathroom had two of everything. His and hers in pink and blue colors, right down to two sumptuous toilets, which they called commodes. To add to our flabbergastation, these thrones were mounted side by side—close enough to hold hands. All the way back east on Route 66, Dawn and I mulled over the situation. We decided to stick with one and a half baths. We thought their marriage couldn’t last, and it didn’t. They got divorced.
Now Jay Neale of Afton, Virginia, writes that besides a toilet, he and his wife opted to install in their remodeled bathroom some kind of a sink that you sit on. They call it a bidet. Now I looked up that word in my standard encyclopedic dictionary, and it isn’t in there. Say, I remember when Charles Augustus Lindbergh flew the ocean, but I’ll be hanged if I can recall any bidets in our outhouse to sit on. There was a box nailed on the wall, but it was to hold corn cobs.
I guess I’m old-fashioned. Pneumatic nailing systems, laser levels, cordless power tools and bidets have passed me by. Got the best of me. I’m taking in my shingle.
—Clyde R. Kennedy, Rushville, OH
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