Questions For A Master Carpenter

Originally posted by Paul Dirac
Advice to home buyers: turn it down if it has polybutylene pipes. They develop one slow leak after another. I am ready to replace a run or two of pipes at my place with copper. Is it best to keep my strip of removed wallboard completely between joists? (I hope "joist" is the correct term for the vertical 2x4s or 2x6s or whatever they are, about 16 inche ...[text shortened]... nto when putting things back together, do I use the lathe & screw method to re-attach the piece?

Oddly enough, I worked on a job with just the opposite problem. Whatever the hell they were pouring down the drains was making the copper drain pipes leak after a while. The copper drains were replaced by the contractor twice. I put in plastic drains, made sure they were sloped properly and-so far so good.

Originally posted by StarValleyWy
Paul, you say that your plumbing is in plastic?

That was a fad that caught on during the Carter administration because it saved the wonderful resource of "copper".

So.

If you can isolate the leak, tear off the walls and jus ...[text shortened]... are good until it leaks again or you die. Which ever comes first.

Suspect it was because plastic was cheaper!

We have had a building problem around here. Traditional houses had eaves - but they looked old fashioned and so we got rid of them - the Med look. They also stopped treating internal wood - nearly always radiata pine. Blame the Greenies for that. They also got rid of flashings - far too fiddly, easier to use a squirt of gunk. They also stopped training apprentices - new methods of no-cavity wall board meant house building was unskilled work and cheaper to build.

Any idea where this goes? Did I mention Auckland gets a fair bit of rain?

No flashing, no eaves, and poor workmanship meant the houses leaked. No cavity meant it did not drain away. No treatment meant the wood rotted - balconies are close to falling off five year old houses.

Thousands of leaky houses. Builders who have disappeared and companies in liquidation. And the only solution is to tear down the wall, replace wooden framing, and spend tens of thousands.

The real problem may be the Government - they went so far right they decided the market would decide what houses got built and moved away from regulating.

So Mr Carpenter- is there a govt role in regulating standards in housing?

Originally posted by steerpike
Suspect it was because plastic was cheaper!

We have had a building problem around here. Traditional houses had eaves - but they looked old fashioned and so we got rid of them - the Med look. They also stopped treating internal wood - n ...[text shortened]... is there a govt role in regulating standards in housing?

Ok. Sorry. This was on page two. Took a while to get to it.

You, my friend have a chance to make a million.

What you will need.

1 - Good supply of three foot rolls of galvinized metal or aluminum. Which is more expensive.

2 - Have somebody build a "U" shaped extruder for your truck. What you want is a two foot or so flat piece with a rain gutter. Nine inches minimum goes up under the shingles.

3 - Ambition.

4 - Effective adverts.

5 - Good people. You start with yourself. Then add a helper. Then another machine, truck. You give it to the guy you trained.

6 - Knowledge. That's why I'm here.

Solution:

PUll up to job. Knock on door and introduce. Ask apropriate questions about "delicate plants" and pets.

Put ladder onto roof. Measure and then extrude your 60 foot piece.

Lay it aside while you uncork and unnail the shingles or tile up the 18 inch mark or whatever fits your metal product with a foot under and the rest draining past the wood. Hell. Get fancy. Offer "designer Colors" in aluminum. Easy to do.

You may need a 200 dollar tile saw for making a slit.

Install into/under the tile/shingles.

Build or install prebuilt downspouts.

You are rich. And have a wonderful business.

I will be glad to provide details in drawings, but I think you are smart enough to do it yer'sef.

The idea is "The only good water is running water. That touches no wood."

Feel free to use that in your adverts.

Mike

<edit> Ps. Don't forget the wonders of modern chemistry. Silicone and waterproofing at all appropriate "interuptions" to the natural drainage of rain. May the force be with you. Not against you.

Second edit... As to government... they are good for taking bribes? That is about all the good I have ever seen from them. And I say this seriously. They know nothing. Do nothing. Sad.

Third edit...

Notice I included "tile" as an option? If I remember right, you guys have a lot of tile roofs. None here. All shingle.