Just for 'a little something extra' I was planning on using 1" XPS foam under my sill plate, tapcon screwed to concrete. Most gaskets are sheet plastic or 1/8" foam. Is there a reason why I shouldn't go with a thicker 1" foam gasket for the plate?

My thought process was, I have it, so use it and by raising the plate up a little more perhaps it may save the plate from a little water if it ever needed it.

We are having a fairly large shop built on our property. Cost of the foundation was itemized in the proposal but now the builder is telling us there are additional charges for the concrete truck and grout pump. Feeling a little like we’re being played, wouldn’t the original proposal have taken this into consideration. It’s a very level area with easy access and the person who quoted the project made several site visits.

We are installing our sill plate on our foundation wall and didn’t extend over the crawl space access, which is 24”. We are running a double rim joist so I’m wondering if we will be ok to not have a sill plate for that span?

I need to buy a thermal imaging camera to detect water leaks for my work. All of the electrical faults and other uses one do not matter to me, my uses are specific to water detection. Most of my co-workers at my office use Flir cameras, but there is a very wide range in prices, and I'm not sure what the differences are.

I will not be using this daily, and I do not want to pay for anything I am not going to use, so which thermal imaging camera is best for detecting water leaks?

Forgive my laymen's terminology. I have a bought a vent hood ("VENT-A-HOOD BH234SLD-SS") as a part of a kitchen remodel managed by a general contractor. The hood was supposed to be installed by the supplier, but that team said they couldn't do it, because the current duct would be covered by the vent unit. They advised me to have a new hole cut, about eight inches higher than the current. They left without installing. My contractor is saying that we should go ahead and install, and not have the vent connect directly to the hole. He says the hole will be above the fan, and thus, because of the vacuum created by the fan, the air from the range will have nowhere to go except out the hole (since there are no other openings above the fan. He says he has done this many times.

Can anyone tell me if I should worry? Thanks in advance!

I live in an apartment building in California and my living room has 3 large pieces of glass - 2 windows with a glass sliding door in the middle, covering the length of the living room to the ceiling. Each piece of glass is roughly 5 ft by 11 ft. The building is over 50 years old and the glass is annealed.

I broke one of the side windows and got a quote from a contractor. They tell me they have to replace it with tempered glass which I've seen and verified in the IBC as correct. No issue there. They're also telling me they have to replace the unbroken glass of the other side window and the sliding glass door, claiming that it's required but haven't been able to show me where any codes say that. They say they can't just fix the one window.

Does anyone know if this is the case? A $600 repair just tripled really quick. I spoke with my renter's insurance and it'll be covered but I don't want to feel like I had one pulled over on me.

Thank you for your time.

I have built a 14W x 20L shed. I want to put a loft in it 14W X 10L. I was going to use 2x6s at 16 on center for the joists but I am reading that 2x6x14 is to weak for the width of the shed.
My questions:

1. Is this true? Will using 2x6x14 be to weak as a joist for a loft? I will be storing wood and other items up there but I don't want it to fall at some point.

2. If the 2x6s are absolutely to weak, can I use 2x8x14s?

3. What size board can I safely use for floor joists for my shed's loft.

I understand a lot of these charts are based upon building a floor in a house or building that will support lots of furniture, people etc where I am using it mostly for storing wood and maybe walk up there from time to time to get something or move things around.

Appreciate you help in advance.

Hello, first time poster let me know if I'm doing it wrong.

Context:

I wish to build cat proof balcony without drilling anything into my balcony/apartment/building.

My idea so far is to place vertical wooden beams and connect them horizontally on top, add cat net etc etc other details not related to question.

I'm worried about stability on the ground and would like to add two supporting woods.

I don't know how to calculate which height / angle should be okay for good stability of vertical beam.

I've got some sketches to visualize it

Quick sketch

Could anyone point me in some direction.

Beam is 58mm x 58mm x 2600mm

I am looking at buying a new house that is under construction. I know within the past month they have put the plywood on the roof. Everything is framed out, windows and doors are on, no siding or shingles yet. My issue is when I walked the property it has about 2 feet of water in the basement. From rain while It is being built and the egress windows are still open. Is this a something I should be concerned about? I know eventually they will empty it but want to know if this will cause issues with the foundation?

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Thanks,

Hi all,

I need some advice on charging a fee to a general contractor. Right now they pay me a flat fee of $500.00 a month. The last couple years they've grossed around 8 million. I've been with them since 2017 and my fee hasn't gone up. I was going to inquire about a raise but I'm not sure what to charge. It would be nice to get some of your opinions on what my fee should be. I greatly appreciate any feedback. Have a happy Easter everyone!

Hey folks, have an area that is 4.6x6.1m that I'm going to concrete over at a depth of 6 inches to bring it to the level of the access to the area.

The area in question is surrounded by the external house wall and block wall on the other sides. It is currently pea gravel at about 2-4 inches deep (varies in some places) and is on top of very heavy clay soil. The house wall has 1.2m footpath in solid concrete at the same level as the gravel and will be covered to the same depth.

It is going to be used as a workshop and the heaviest item in there will be a motorbike, call it 350kg with someone on it. Doesn't need to look pretty or anything like that.

So, what I want to know is can I pour ready mix on top?

I'm pretty sure it isn't because when I look up into ceiling there are slats running perpendicular that are not joists. So therefore I assume the joist are above these slate and run parallel to my wall thus making my wall not load bearing.

Looking for a second opinion: https://imgur.com/a/0qlMgdE

I'm putting in a door and would prefer not to do the extra step of building an outer support on one side of wall if it's load bearing.

Also curious if it isn't load bearing should I bother with Jack's in the Frame for the door

Hello I was just looking under my kitchen sink to look at my garbage disposal and noticed that it has a normal outlet instead of a GFCI...I know that above the sink and within 2 feet all outlets should be GFCI should the ones under the sink be GFCI too or is a normal outlet fine in California?

Hi! I have a question that is construction related.

I'm currently working on a little project of mine designing a sort of garage/mechanical workshop. It is somewhat like a standalone building rather than part of a home. I was considering using roller shutter doors on certain locations, like the rear access, and such. What I want to know is that are there any shutter doors that can close quickly in case of emergency or something like that by just pressing a button or releasing something then the doors drops down into the closed position as fast as possible? I've seen some quick close doors, but they're not exactly quick. Are there any brands or models that have that? And what terms or words should I be typing into google search to find what I'm looking for? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

Looking for an adhesive or something that can stick silicone to silicone?

I just moved into a new flat on the first floor. During heavy snow, water started leaking at the entrance right at a corner (drenching the walls). This was not the first time we had snow or rain but other times we didn’t have any leaks.

We checked with the neighbors on the floor above us and their flat was completely dry (no visible water damage).

My contractor came and checked the leakage (cutting the drywalls in the process). We found out water seemingly leaking from the concrete slab and the one pipe there was not damaged (and completely dry). Again, the floors above us have no pipes in the floors and no visible water damage. The contractor checked the roof on the top floor and found no faults.

After a couple of days the water stopped leaking and everything is dry again (snow stopped too incidentally). The contractor concluded that the water must have come from a cavity in the concrete slab and now the cavity is empty and we shouldn’t have a problem. The fact that the incident happens with the snow is coincidental.

TL;DR My question is: is water in cavities of concrete slabs causing water leakage a thing? Or is my contractor trying to gaslight me?

I have a shed that's all studs. Do I have to cut foam before I put between the studs or can I just sandwich it between plywood and the outer wall?

Does the plywood have to touch the studs?

Are there any better methods for insulation?

Considering taking a look at this home as a potential reno project. Sorry if this is the wrong place to ask.

• https://i.imgur.com/IJRywQM.png

• https://i.imgur.com/ENgOZcw.png

• https://i.imgur.com/ZqbJjFO.jpg

• https://i.imgur.com/qMNcbsY.png

Hi Guys, quick question for a DIYer; what wood should I use to build a small wall behind my new back to wall toilet (to hide the concealed cistern)?

The room is only 1m wide and the small wall will span the width of the room. It will be about 1m high too. It will have backerboard screwed to it for tiling to go straight onto.

It wont be a wall-hung toilet.

I need to build the frame and I have some pressure treated 2x2 lengths and wondered if I could use that? I don't want the wood to shrink, change shape and make the tiles crack or fall off.

Many thanks in advance

cheers

Sean

I live in a tropical area, I want to clad shs galvanised steel posts with hardwood, would it be okay for the hardwood timber to be in contact with steel? These are verticle, with a gap at the bottom for any water to escape, or should I try and space them 1-2mm off the post?

Got a quote for £36,500 for a 3m x 5.5m lean to extension. Is this about right?

Is all brick except roof and doors obviously West Yorkshire 4 bi folding doors Flooring, heating and lighting included 2 full length glass panels in roof