Entries Tagged 'General Construction' ↓

Often times I am struck by the amount of folks who treat home maintenance as crisis management. I encounter this in all types of homes and all types of homeowners. It is not restricted to one socioeconomic class or another, nor is it restricted by geographic boundaries. I have seen this in mansions, and I have seen in in railroad shacks. What is always the most striking about this is the reaction I get when I ask the homeowner about their “maintenance plan” and am greeted by a glassy-eyed stare complete with rapid blinking of the eyes. The oft repeated statement that follows is usually something like- “Maintenance plan?” “What do you mean?”

When one buys a car, it is generally accepted by the buyer that the vehicle will require some regular maintenance and upkeep to run properly and have a long lifespan (this is not true of some friends of mine who think that cars are self-healing and require only gasoline). Anyway, most automobile owners know that if they do not keep up with their car’s maintenance and treat it well, it is likely that the car will not treat the owner well either. Due to the potential expense, loss of investment, and general inconvenience experienced when a car suddenly breaks down, most people try to at least achieve the minimum level of required maintenance on their vehicle, some people like my father-in-law even take pride in this and are downright militant about it.

But this is much less often the case with homes. Your home is a machine. It keeps you dry, provides a comfortable temperature and living space, and protects you from the elements. Your home is a machine because it works 24 hours a day, without ever stopping or getting a break. It is punished by a constant battle against ground movement, sun and weather, seasons, hot/cold air, wind, and usage by inhabitants. Don’t take that last part personally. Being inhabited is hard on any structure, no matter who the inhabitants are.

- At this point I am curious, is this boring to you? If so, you can confidently disregard the rest of this post if you can promptly and affirmatively answer ALL of the following questions:

1. When was the last time you replaced your furnace filters? Was it within the last 90 days for regular filters and/or 12 months for pleated HEPA fiters?
2. When is the last time you replaced your humidifier filter on your furnace? Do you even have a humidifier on your furnace? Do you know where your furnace is? If you have a gas-fired furnace, have you had the flu cleaned and the burners adjusted recently? Ever?
3. Have you cleaned and purged your water heater recently (annual job)?
4. Have  you cleaned your dryer vent (interior) and any pest screen (exterior) in the last 6 months?
5. Do you have a water filter on the home line or the water dispenser on the fridge and if so have you replaced that in the last 12 months?
6. Have you tested your smoke and carbon-monoxide detectors in the last 12 months? Did you know that the NFPA recommends testing monthly?
7. Do you have a fire extinguisher (you should have at least one in the kitchen and one near the cloths dryer) and is it current with a full charge?
8. Have you done a visual inspection of exterior masonry and/or siding to see if any tuckpointing or caulking/painting (respectively) is needed?
9. Have you performed or had a tradesperson perform an annual inspection of your roof, foundation, and visible structural members?
10. Are you experiencing any water pressure or drainage issues?
11. Have you noticed any new cracks or movement in the drywall/plaster on the interior of the home?
12. Have you performed a test of all GFCI breakers and receptacles in the home in the last 30 days (NEC recommended)? If not, have you done so in the last year?
13. Have you had your boiler (if applicable) flushed and filled and all air bled this year?
14. Is your A/C system properly charged- with no leaks –  and are the components of the system operating properly?

This is the short list. And just in case you are curious- YES these are serious things to be checking. Roofs only leak when things have gotten BAD. Bad spots in masonry joints can quickly transform into water intrusion spots and structural weak-points. Missing caulk and paint on cement/wood siding invites water and weather in which means higher energy bills and possible mold formation along with ruined drywall and trim. Clogged dryer vents mean decreased dryer efficiency, higher operating costs, and a VERY REAL threat of fire. A slow drain can usually by handled with a drain auger, a stopped drain may be able to be augered but can translate into sewage backups and piping replacement. Defective smoke detectors and GFCI receptacles are defective life-safety devices and don’t protect anyone if they don’t work. These devices have saved countless lives and must be maintained to protect you.  Clogged furnace filters decrease efficiency by a tremendous amount, lower the ability of the furnace and A/C to make the home comfortable, shorten the lifespan of the equipment, and will wreak havoc on allergies. Dirty humidifier filters render the humidifier useless and can grow mold and mildew which is then pumped throughout the home in the ductwork.

A technician can inspect these items inexpensively and perform routine maintenance quickly in the vast majority of cases. This can save tens of thousands of dollars in replacement work, hundreds if not thousands of dollars in energy costs per year, and provide peace of mind. It can even save lives!

If you have done these things, I applaud you on your technical knowledge and diligence in the upkeep of your home. If you have not, consider doing so either yourself or by hiring a professional. A professional can show you how to perform the bulk of this upkeep yourself and can handle the ladder and technical inspections.

Protect your family. Protect yourself. Protect your investment. Inspect and maintain your home.

As we move into 2012, we wish you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Note: Scarlett Construction Company employs several professional tradespeople who are more than adept at inspecting and maintaining homes. Please contact us if you have any questions or would like to set up an appointment.

As I have been snapping away with my camera at some fantastic examples of downspout installations, I feel the need to share some fantastic visual examples. The first is what happens when poor planning results in environmental benefit (this is rare-left pic below):

They need to water their zoysia as well as mother nature

Next we see an example of someone fighting simple gravity – once again.

And here we see the damage caused by poor gutter drainage installation and maintenance:

Masons love this. Nothing destroys like lethargic maintenance.

That last one really gets to me. What a waste of a building for something as simple as $5 worth of pipe. Now it is a repair in the $1000′s, and that is if it has not compromised the foundation.

These last two are my favorites this week. They are on the same building (it scares me that the building is an educational institution). The first is a proper downspout connection from downspout pipe (aluminum 3×4 in this case) to cast iron, slip-sleeve type connection. The second is, well, I really am at a loss for a description. You tell me.

I can find no faults with this installation. School #1

And then….

Truth is stranger than fiction.

I would congratulate the installer of the last picture on their use of a proper mission band for the connection, except that the installation uses an unapproved connector for a code-violating installation. Aside from that, this will certainly result in masonry damage, flooding in the basement, damage to the window below, and likely promote mold and mildew growth. I am sure this is a quick fix for a clogged sewer line, but it is anything but a fix. If anything, they should have re-routed this downspout to the street or combined it with another downspout sewer connection until they could repair this one.

Quick fixes must be temporary when handling large volumes of water. Otherwise,  building damage is sure to result.

In Saint Louis, our sewer system was designed with some foresight, but not enough to carry our current loads. Contrary to what many people may think, foresight does not mean that every future variable has been thought of. There are parts of the Saint Louis sewer system that predate the civil war! For those that have trouble with dates and history, the Civil War occured before: American Idol first aired, before the invention of the cellphone, before the invention of the telephone, before the invention of the light-bulb, before the invention of television or movie film, and before the invention of the internal combustion engine (AKA before cars).As such, the builders of the first sewers in Saint Louis used brick, mud, mortar, and wood to construct them.

Sounds kind if rickety? Well, some of those sewers are still in use! Many of them have been modified (photo of coating) to to modernize them and extend their lifespan. Many methods have been used to do this, but one of the most common has been parging them – much the same as we parge rubble-stone basements to keep out water.

The River Des Peres (or River Des Pieux as many Saint Louisans call it), was once actually a river (large stream anyway). It only became the sewage beheamoth we now know when it started being used to carry raw sewage from western City developments (such as the Central West End). It was later re-engineered into its current form by City engineers trying to contain the foul nature of its contents. There is a fantastic article titled “The Harnessed Channel: How the River Des Peres Became a Sewer” byMichael Allen posted at preservationresearch.com. This article does a fantastic job of describing how city systems evolve, outlining achievements that have been made, and giving some idea of the daunting tasks that now face MSD and the STL city engineers to modernize the system.

The problems we now have are not the fault of the system engineers from the last 150 years. While they could account for population increase, they could never have accounted for the lack of greenspace (to absorb water) we now have. Everything is paved and there is very little opportunity for rain water to be absorbed back into the soil.

They couldn’t account for one or more showers/baths per day-per person. They couldn’t predict the amount of commercial water usage and waste that is now created (AB uses thousands of gallons every day and has wastewater as a result. Add to that a lack of wild foliage to use the water, and now you have a problem of excess water that must be contained, routed, and treated. We send it into the sewers where it (hopefully goes to a treatment plant) eventually goes to the Mississippi river, but this is a process mined with potential problems.

As the monster storms we have had this season have repeatedly proven, water can get into almost any space with the right conditions. Basements are below-grade and therefore extremely succeptible to flooding. Water can come through the walls as a result of hydrostatic pressureand foundation cracks. Water can enter the basement as sewage through a clogged sewer line. Water can even “wick” through the concrete or stone walls as it is attracted to the dry conditions inside the home via the masonry basement (and masonry is a fantastic moisture wick!).
There are many plans and options to help handle sewage backups and hopefully divert future problems. The Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) outlines some of these options on their website. MSD has done quite a bit to upgrade and modernize the system, such as promoting the use of rain-barrels (photo and info) used by customers – and MSD has offered them at below-market pricing in some cases.

Now comes the warning…there are many companies that are in the business of stopping basement water infiltration. While these companies provide a valuable service, it is always good to examine the cause of the problem and the potential effects. Some basements have structural weaknesses resulting from water infiltration. Others suffer mold and mildew accumulation. Most commonly we see damp conditions and ruined possessions. But don’t start throwing your money around yet!

First, you need to determine where the water is coming from and why your basement is its chosen path of egress. Below I have included a list of items to consider before taking any further steps to waterproof your basement.

1. Is the water in my basement sewage or groundwater? If sewage, you need to contact a licensed plumber who specializes in drainlaying. If groundwater, read on.
2. Where do my gutters drain? If not connected to the sewer, are they simply flooding my yard until that water comes back into the house? If they are connected to the sewer, is the line intact and not blocked?
3. Are my gutters clogged and therefore overflowing?
4. Does the ground around my home slope away from the house?
5. What soil type do I have around my home? Is the soil saturated beyond the ability to absorb new water?
6. Still unsure of the problem? Contact a general contractor to look at the situation and determine the problem. Most (including yours truly) will do a walk-thru at no charge to determine a course of action.

The MOST COMMON CAUSE of BASEMENT LEAKING I see is improperly drained downspouts. Are yours drained properly? Don’t answer too fast! Take a look at my next post about daylight draining and clay soil around the old house.