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Unless they remove the conditions that caused the ‘rot’, it’ll most certainly come back. Sounds like problems with moisture, carpenter ants, etc. So, it’s not just repairing the rotten structure.
The homes I’ve seen from the 70’s, that were built properly, have none of the problems you describe. The big differences between then and now are a few code changes, must have more energy efficient insulation and windows, a little safer electrical wiring, better earthquake protection. Not really anything that would affect this. If built and maintained well, should easily last 100+ years. Sounds like they’ve seen problems and have done darn little over time to mitigate them.
If I were to buy it, I’d want a long term warranty on the fixes for the rotten wood. And a lot of convincing that the problems are not just repaired, but precluded.
$1800 is an extremely low cost for the conditions you describe, if it includes anything for labor.
Some people buy old British cars because they love working on cars… and they tend to need constant repairing. If you love working on houses, maybe this one is just right for you.
The design of the shingle system has changed, over time. Back when it was paper strips, the paper was intended to be removed. With the current system, the clear strip will dissolve, eventually. Just how fast it dissolved depends on the temperature it sees.
IT IS IMPERATIVE that the shingles seal. If done in mid-summer, no problem, the heat will seal them within a day or two. In Canada, if done this time of year, the manufacturers say to seal each shingle with added tar. Otherwise they won’t seal until next spring.
As to wind damage, lots of causes, including that the shingles never sealed.
If you install shingles now, and your latitude don’t get several hot days (above 85F) this season, they may not seal until next spring. That means all winter the wind will blow dust up under the shingles, contaminating the tar, and they may never seal properly. You’ll end up with shingles held on SOLELY by the staples/nails. MUCH BETTER to have the entire length held down by the continuous strip of tar.
Unscrupulous roofers could easily ignore best practices, and do jobs that’ll have problems, if they install in cold months. A lot harder end up with loose shingles in hot months.
So, ….. it depends.
The clear strip will dissolve on its own, in time. The ones on the edge of the roof are good to take off, so they’re immediately sticky, to help keep the edge ones from blowing off.
If you’re roofing in very cold weather, may not be a bad idea to take all of ’em off, anyway, to help them stick right away.I think I agree. The skeptic in me would like to see more real-world data. And with that many issues, it’s probably wise to be skeptical.
Of course, wear gloves, eye protection, clothing that won’t mind getting bleached… better yet, a rubber rain suit and galoshes.
Personally, I dilute 5:1 before using. Still does a great job. At that dilution, can let it sit on the items for hours.
One company that does it is:
http://www.ccwwi.com/They don’t have providers in every city…
Seems to me the one I saw here on this message board was another name, so there may be other sources for this service.
Looks like what they do is:
-drill a hole
-use fluids to clean between the panes
-install a valve in the hole.Anyway, sounds like a great idea to me.
Or at least so they claim. There’s a company that drills a small hole in a corner of the glass, and installs a little one way valve.
I don’t remember the name of the company that does this….. saw it here a week or so ago, but now can’t find it.
Should be cheaper than replacing the insulated glass unit.See
http://discussions.tommmymac.us/wwwboard/messages/260937.html
You probably need a new toilet valve.Check to see if it matches the shade of the rest of the counter when it’s wet. I had that happen to me (mine was green also). If so, a little bit of clear acrylic paint (go lightly here) on the stained area will help. For me, it recovered almost completely.
Every structure has a natural resonant frequency. If there’s any vibration at that frequency the structure picks it up and amplifies it. If there’s not much to dampen out the oscillation, it’ll keep getting larger and larger.
Nikola Tesla did experiments where he set a hammer pounding on a building, automatically, at near the resonant frequency of the building. Eventually, the whole building was shaking, just from the hammer.
The problem is MOST LIKELY that your A/C condenser (and your neighbor’s) excite the resonant frequency of your home. Or at least that part of your home where the sound is picking up. The fact that they tried to cushion the mounting of the condenser, tried moving it 35′ farther away, etc, and it didn’t fix the problem but only changed the amplitude slightly, really points to a mechanical resonance of the structure.
If it were me, I’d probably hook up a microphone and an accelerometer to an oscilloscope or a spectrum analyzer, and see what frequencies are showing up, with the A/C running. I’d then turn them all off, and hit something solid outside with a large sledge, and see what resonance I was getting. That would confirm whether the resonance is the same frequency as caused by the A/C. That’s a bit complicated for most people, more in the range of what a seismologist might do.
You COULD get a structural engineer involved. One that knows how to calculate building resonances (such as Nikola Tesla did).
Short of doing that, you’ll probably need to do something to change the resonant frequency of the structure around the affected rooms. Stiffening up the structure raises the resonant frequency, and makes it a lot less susceptible. You’d need to make it at least 1/3 stiffer. Cross bracing, adding dense insulation (such as cellulose), adding thickness to supports, all affect this. Certainly you could do this incrementally, doesn’t all have to be done at once.
Do it the way Dodgeman says, either switch will turn it on. If you use regular ‘ol timer switches, after a few minutes both will be off, and the fan will be off. The fan won’t be inadvertently left on, and either bathroom can turn the fan on. Just wire as if you only have one switch, and then connect the other switch in parallel with the first switch.
There are several systems for radiant heat in ceilings. Could be PEX tubing in wood, PEX in concrete, electric radiators, electric in wood or concrete, etc.
Some of these are going to be vulnerable to any fasteners that penetrate the ceiling area. Some are not.
I’d talk to the neighbors &/or builder and find out more.I considered buying a similar house, except that the wood had rotted, so I would have had to replace flooring.
I figure 20 cats would generate about a half gallon of urine per day… that would tend to saturate any flooring they occupied within a few weeks. The wood flooring may have gotten to where it was continually moist.
2 problems: 1) de-odorizing the areas the cats occupied, and 2) the rest of the house.
Here’s what I think would work:
For #1, you’ll probably need to saturate the wood and concrete. with either the enzyme cleaner you suggest, or some sort of oxidizer. The cheapest oxidizer is sodium hypochlorite (chlorox). Too concentrated for too long, and it’ll break down the structure of the flooring itself, so I’d dilute it at least 5:1 and really saturate things for days. Coat the underside of the wood floor too, if you can get at it. Plan to re-seal the floors (varnish for the wood, maybe epoxy paint for the concrete, after things are very dry.
For #2, an industrial ozone generator will do a passing job. You can rent them, but not all rental houses carry them. The good ones are strong enuf that you need to stay out of the house while it’s running, other than the few seconds to exit and then later to enter the house to open windows. Also will get rid of tobacco smoke odors.
I saw one house that was so bad, they couldn’t even hire professional cleaners to work on it. Tough to imagine.
A good friend was successful with chlorox on concrete, with fresh paint to cover it up. High chance of success there. The difficulty will be whether you can really saturate the wood, with enough good stuff to really overwhelm 100’s of gallons of dried cat urine. A big challenge.
If anyone has more info on what they’ve seen work, please let us know.
