Homeowner Forum / Construction / April 2006

Is there relaible device that can track hot 110V wires inside
sheetrocked walls? Where can I get it?

The subjects in play: Structural engineering; integration of old and
new construction.
The scenario: We own a nice, 2,100-sf house on a beautiful half-acre
lot in an extremely desireable and rapidly appreciating area. The

I work in the San Antonio, Texas area in the home building industry.
More specifically, my jobs had dealt with placing and tying
conventional rebar reinforcement in concrete foundations.    Over the
last two years,  all of the major homebuilders in the San Antonio area

I am installing 2'x4' ceiling tiles; I need to do all wall L's, main T's,
panels, everything. I am then going to insulate the entire ceiling area with
Roxul Safe & Sound insul. batts. From Home Depot I purchased 6" Cooper
Lighting Halo Insulated Pots and Halo baffles. "Recessed ...

I just recently had my roof replaced with GAF 30 year dim. shingles.
One of the roof helpers neglected to nail properly the starter row on
about 50'+ feet.   I am able to left the shingles and starter back to
the first stapled row of dim. shingles.  Yes the starter is in the

Want to construct 12' X 16' second story free standing deck to masonry
home.  Contractor doesn't think free standing is safe.  Any pros, cons,
advice?

I tried to search the internet but couldn't find the answer. This is my
situation:
I bought a new house (currently in construction, close in 2 monthes) 3
monthes ago. Full documented loan was pre-qualified and contract was

I'm looking for an effective floodstop device, an automatic water shut off
valve that will both sound an alarm and shut off water supply to the washer
if the washer experiences a failure resulting in a leak during operation or
while sitting idle (if water valves in washer fail ...

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Anyone know the going rate in Chicago to rent a GC license on a project with
a 300K budget which is scheduled to take about 6 months ?  I'm told that the
GC would just poke his head in once a week or so to sniff around.
Thanks,

A couple questions about the placement of foundation holddowns for use
with wood structural panel shear wall segments.  First, for a 3" wide
holddown (e.g. Simpson HHDQ14) installed on a 3x6 squash post using 1"
threaded rod through a 2x6 mud sill, is it necessary to center the

All,
The specific issue.. I'd like to move my spa heater
closer to the house, which would place it closer to
a window, which according to the pool builder must be

Hello all, my new kitchen is being built at the moment, I currently
have a hot and cold feed going past it at the moment to my shed in the
form of flexible water pipe and push fit fittings, would it be within
regs if I just T off these and feed the sink in the new extension the

This post follows an earlier post on running hardwood parallel to the
joists.  I've decided to run the 3/4" hardwood perpendicular to the
joists to avoid possible issues.  My other problem is that I have 3/4"
OSB as a subfloor which I am hearing isn't ideal for nailing hardwood

I'm talking to contractors about installing tile in a shower.
One contractor insists that the concrete under the tile must be hand
mixed using pea gravel for best results. Another says that ordinary
sand mix will work just fine. So the question is, "What is the purpose