The Journal of Light Construction articles from February 2006

The Journal of Light Construction archives from February 2006

The case of the missing beam.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... Regarding the letter "Who Pays?" (11/05), Mr. Matteson may be a fine engineer, but he's a rotten attorney. If he designs a "simple carport and [his] plans don't show a beam that is needed," he should not pay for that beam; the homeowner should....

Dealing with complexity.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... I realize we live in an age when stepping forward and taking responsibility is increasingly rare, but Thor Matteson's letter really pushes the envelope. After stating that the meaning of "standard of care" can be the source of a huge...

Thinner sheathing could cause nail pops.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... There is another possible answer to the question about nail pops in shingles in the South (Q&A, 10/05). As a former Midwesterner, I know that the thickness of roof sheathing there is dictated by snow loads. Here in the South, however, the...

Strength of OSB vs. plywood.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... In the response regarding OSB vs. plywood I-joists (Q&A, 10/05), Paul Fisette states that "OSB has interlocking fibers that transfer shear loads better than plywood does." This is not quite true, because OSB is not made by actually weaving the...

Need adequate air for spraying finishes.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2006... Having spent a number of years in the automobile body repair and refinishing industry before entering the rental property rehab/remodeling field, I was especially interested in Randal Weber's article "Spraying Clear Waterborne Lacquer"...

One day at a time: communities grapple with rising numbers of day laborers.(In the News)(curb on illegal hiring of consruction workers in United States America)
February 1, 2006... Activists on both sides of the immigration debate are organizing around the growing use of immigrant day laborers in the construction industry. While the federal government considers building walls at the Mexican border and issuing guest-worker...

Homeowners should not have been granted class-action status in a construction-defect claim.(In the News)
February 1, 2006... Homeowners should not have been granted class-action status in a construction-defect claim, ruled the Nevada Supreme Court in December. Craig Ranch Village homeowners had argued that all of their houses' foundations and slabs were damaged by...

Katrina reports offer expert view of wind damage to wood-frame buildings.(In the News)
February 1, 2006... Speak of load paths, and your average inland builder imagines gravity loads working their way down from roof to foundation. Builders who work near the coast or in tornado zones know better--or should. High winds turn the typical load path on...

Louisiana adopted a statewide uniform building code.(In the News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Louisiana adopted a statewide uniform building code on November 29. The International Building Code, International Residential Code, Existing Building Code, Mechanical Code, and Fuel Gas Code will apply to coastal parishes this year and to all...

DeKalb, Ill., city council members voted on November 14 to more than triple impact fees.(In the News)
February 1, 2006... DeKalb, Ill., city council members voted on November 14 to more than triple impact fees on new development to pay for schools. One council member, Donna Gorski, said that such a drastic increase was necessary because the previous fees "were...

Roofing-tile installation manual.(RESOURCES)
February 1, 2006... Following the 2004 quartet of hurricanes in Florida, the Tile Roofing Institute (TRI) and the Florida Roofing, Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors Association (FRSA) studied the pattern of damage to tile roofs throughout the state. The...

Circ saw recall.(In the News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... Porter-Cable recalled 196,000 HAG-Saw circular saws (see chart, far right) in November because the lower guard can get stuck in the open position, posing a hazard. A "T" marked on the label indicates that the company has determined the saw is...

Q&A.
February 1, 2006... Q. Attaching Deck Ledgers to Engineered Rim Joists Are ledger lag-bolting schedules that were developed for 2-by rim joists adequate for engineered rims? It seems that lag bolts would be more likely to pull out of a thinner engineered rim...

Alum-A-Pole: innovative product design to make your job easier.(SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION)
February 1, 2006... Specialty contractors often find that the most time-consuming problems on site aren't about job size or labor-intensive architectural challenges--instead, hours of your time are eaten up simply from having to repeatedly measure, cut, apply and...

Membrane deck flashing.(protect pressure-treated deck )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... We always protect pressure-treated deck (1) and stair framing (2) by flashing edges where water might collect and cause rot. This is vital here in the West, because the preservatives don't penetrate very well into the hem-fir lumber used in...

Quick brick shelf.(On the Job)
February 1, 2006... If you think this looks like an upside-down footing form, you're right. A Colorado contractor used 28-inch Bigfoot forms (Bigfoot Systems, 800/934-0393, www.bigfootsystems.com) as quick and efficient support shelves for several large...

Keeping the design phase on track.(Business)
February 1, 2006... I've long appreciated the advantages of design/build. This approach to construction removes you from the rat race of competitive bidding. It enables you to get reimbursed for the many hours typically spent on the design phase of a project. Most...

Using mediation to settle construction disputes.(Legal)
February 1, 2006... Every so often, a client will call for advice and begin by saying, "I've been in business for 20 years and have never had a problem like this with an owner." It frequently means my client is headed toward mediation. Mediation is a method...

Quick layout for stair rails and balusters.
February 1, 2006... When I was learning the basics of building a roper staircase, I found rail heights to be one of the hardest concepts to master. Not only do rails have to be properly set to make the post heights, baluster lengths, and rail fittings work well...

Installing your basic pocket-door kit: get the sequence right and you can make serious time.
February 1, 2006... At first glance, installing a pocket-door kit might seem like a pretty simple task. But the truth is, messing one up is pretty simple, too. In this article, I'm going to share some of the lessons I've learned--the hard way--about pocket-door...

Choosing kneepads.
February 1, 2006... There's an incredible number kneepads on the market--so many it's practically impossible to figure out which ones to buy, or even how to make reasonable comparisons between models. For this article, I had to narrow the field, so I tested 24...

Installing on-demand water heaters.
February 1, 2006... In recent years, about half of my remodeling customers have chosen to replace their conventional water heaters with on-demand--or "tankless"--models. Long popular in Europe and Japan, on-demand water heaters first showed up here during the...

From the patio.(Kitchen & Bath / Cooktops)
February 1, 2006... Backyard kitchens may be all the rage right now, but this outdoor-equipment maker is moving the action back inside with its kick-ass Vintage Professional Cooktop. The polished stainless steel unit features six burners in a roomy, continuous...

Wok like a man.(Kitchen & Bath / Cooktops)
February 1, 2006... There's nothing like stir-fry to stir the human soul--or to splatter the place with greasy smoke. Better install a high-power extraction blower over this 30,000-Btu unit. The 24-inch Professional Wok Cooktop is a dedicated, single-burner...

Six stars.(Kitchen & Bath / Cooktops)
February 1, 2006... Thermador's cooktops feature incredibly cool-looking and efficient star-shaped gas burners. The PSC366ZS provides six of these great burners under one great grate; it lists at $2,200. For other burner and griddle configurations, see the...

Induction instruction.(Kitchen & Bath / Cooktops)
February 1, 2006... Let's pretend you know all about induction cooking. You should, because I bet your clients do. (Hint: It's magnetic.) The Wolf Induction Cooktop measures 15 inches wide -and includes one 6- and one 81/2-inch-diameter heating zone. The zones can...

Blast from the past.(Kitchen & Bath / Jetted Tubs)
February 1, 2006... Need early-1900s-style plumbing fixtures to complete a vintage look? You may find a suitable whirlpool tub in Kohler's Bancroft Suite. The 5-foot ProFlex (shown) and 51/2-foot Experience Whirlpool, Bath, and Bubble Massage Bath models both...

Tub ahoy.(Kitchen & Bath / Jetted Tubs)
February 1, 2006... Your clients can unwind in a tight spot with the Atlantica bath, originally designed to fit within the snug hull of a yacht. The fixture comes in a variety of configurations: soaker-only, whirlpool, air-bath, or whirlpool and air-bath combo. An...

A better bath.(Kitchen & Bath / Jetted Tubs)
February 1, 2006... With a tubful of options, including a waterfall filler, hydro-jets, hot-air jets, combined jets, and a water heater, the Urban 7242 defies its maker's description as a "minimalist bathtub." Heating elements embedded in the tub surface warm the...

New standards.(Kitchen & Bath / Jetted Tubs)
February 1, 2006... For upgrades beyond the average whirlpool fare, look to the Comfort Plus Series. New standard features--muscle-pummeling back jets, a water heater for sustained bathing comfort, optional color "therapy" lighting--jazz up today's Jacuzzis. The...

No-fuss support.(Products / Columns)
February 1, 2006... A lot of carpenters complain that too much of the exterior millwork used these days is made from plastic and other synthetics--yet synthetic materials are not always a bad thing. Keeping joints tight on square wood columns is a struggle, and...

Rock solid.(Products / Columns)
February 1, 2006... Many stone columns are composed of small segments stacked together. If the budget allows, however, nothing beats the smooth finish found on Rhodes Architectural Stone's One-Piece Stone Columns, Made from granite, limestone, or sandstone, these...

Good fit.(Products / Columns)
February 1, 2006... Wrapping a 4x4 or 6x6 with pine or some other flat stock is a fairly common way to finish off porch posts and other structural columns. A better approach comes from Advanced TrimWorks: First you slip the U-shaped PVC Column-Wrap over a wood...

Easier anchor.(Products / Specialty Fasteners)
February 1, 2006... Corkscrew-style, self-drilling wall anchors are great: They hold well and go in fast. Their only shortcoming is the 1/2-inch holes they leave when you remove them. With the WallDog, you don't have that problem. This one-piece threaded wall...

Smarter-than-average bit.(Products / Specialty Fasteners)
February 1, 2006... Okay, so this product isn't a specialty fastener. Still, any tool that eliminates the need for specialty fasteners deserves equal consideration. Designed for deck screws, the Smart-Bit makes a pilot hole and countersink in one step, and boasts...

High-grip deck clip.(Products / Specialty Fasteners)
February 1, 2006... If your clients don't want a bunch of fasteners cluttering the surface of their hardwood or composite deck, consider using the Tiger Claw. This hidden fastener comes in four versions: the TC-2, for pressure-treated soft woods; the TC-3, for...

Dream tape.(Products / Adhesives)
February 1, 2006... One of my good friends once had a dream that workers were repairing a nuclear reactor with duct tape when he arrived on the scene as a DOE inspector. I thought of him recently when I heard about 3M's introduction of Performance Plus Duct Tape...

All-weather, low-VOC construction glue.(Products / Adhesives)
February 1, 2006... Most carpenters like conventional solvent-based construction adhesives because they work in just about all temperatures and weather conditions. But solvent-based adhesives have a downside: They give off vapors that aren't good for you--or...

Superior Glue.(Products / Adhesives)
February 1, 2006... This isn't the first time JLC has covered 2P-10, but the extra attention is warranted: 2P-10 is one of those products that I consistently hear carpenters say improves their quality of work and speeds production. Formulated much like Super Glue,...

Metabo KGS 305 miter saw.(Toolbox)
February 1, 2006... As a finish carpenter remodeler, I use a miter saw almost every day. I prefer the compound sliding models because they can cut everything from 2x4s and small pieces of trim to wide baseboards and crown moldings. A few months back, JLC asked me...

A cord with teeth.(Toolbox / Extension Cords)
February 1, 2006... You're about to make a cut or drill a hole, but you need just a little more slack, so you give the cord a tug and--you know what happens next. The Push Lock cord from Coleman Cable has a locking female end that the maker claims won't let go...

Pro-grade power strip.(Toolbox / Extension Cords)
February 1, 2006... Most job sites have plenty of electric tools but comparatively few outlets. The Power Sentry Model 100588 Power Center adds to your supply four conventionally spaced GFCI-protected outlets and, for devices with DC adapters, four wide-spaced...

Locking plug end.(Toolbox / Extension Cords)
February 1, 2006... This is one of those devices I can't believe somebody didn't think of sooner. The Qwik-Lok Plug replaces the conventional female end of your extension cord with a locking receptacle that operates the same way as quick-connect fittings on...

Tight miters.(Toolbox / Finish Carpentry)
February 1, 2006... Every finish-carpentry guru has his own unique bag of tricks for producing high-quality interiors. There is one method, however, that all of the best finish carpenters have in common: preassembly. They preassemble door and window casings, crown...

No-slip grip.(Toolbox / Finish Carpentry)
February 1, 2006... Clamping odd-angled surfaces for gluing and fastening can be an agonizing process--but you can minimize the pain with Bessey's ES Irregular Angle Clamp Set. The ball-and-socket adapter mounts on the pressure plate of standard TGK-series bar...

Get jiggy.(Toolbox / Finish Carpentry)
February 1, 2006... Not all the carpenters I've talked to are on board with Hitachi's new hip-hop styling, but most agree that the company's recently introduced string of tools offers good performance at reasonable prices. One of the newest additions is the...

Living large in less--much less.(Tumbleweed Tiny House)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2006... With little--literally--to recommend them, Sebastopol, Calif., builder Jay Shafer's Tumbleweed Tiny House designs delight similarly small-minded clients. The diminutive dwellings have been used for everything from country getaways to backyard...