Homeowner Forum / Construction / July 2006

I've just purchased a new home with a mansard roof which is pretty
ugly.  I'm  looking for an economical way of creating a gable roof over
the top of the mansard roof without removing the old roofing.  Can I
build a new rafter system over the top of this one.  At the same time,

We're shingling the sidewalls of a house with northern white cedar
shingles.  Does anyone have
a suggestion for a jig to use in cutting the "sets" of shingles that
head into the gable

I'm just curious if anyone knows where the standard for 16" OC stud spacing
and 4 foot plywood widths came from?
Since older houses used individual boards instead of plywood, I assume the
4 foot width was designed to fit an existing 16" OC standard stud spacing?

Anyone have any thoughts on difference in the costs of cmu (concrete
masonary unit) vs stucco?  Any ideas on the costs and benefits of each?
This would be for a commercial retail building in Seattle.  It's our
family's first commerical building development.

How can I determine good developers from the bad ones? A new home in a
subdivision can
look good on the outside, but 5 years later could start falling apart -
e.g. homes built by developers who do shoddy work, cut corners, hire

We are about to start building our house which sits about 1000' from the
road. We have city water available but are looking into having a well. I am
told that the iron content is high in the area but folks on that street were
on wells before the city water came in about 7-10 ...

Does anyone know any alternatives to using a curved glue-lam beam?  I
have to build a circular tower, and i need a solution for curved
headers over the doors.
Any ideas??

Beeping from attic
We recently moved into a used house and a few months ago noticed a high
pitched beeping sound which seemed to originate from a particular
location of the ceiling in the hallway.  This beeping sound continued

I'm re-roofing my garage and tore off the shingles and facia. Some of
the eave support rafters have ends which are rotten half off and were
not doing any support.
Replacing the rafters would be a major project. Normally these eave

Sirs: was looking for a site that can give me instructions. Thanks in
advance.

I am looking for a cross between the insulating concrete forms and the more
common plywood form.  I would like to use the insulating forms on the
exterior, and plywood on the interior.
I like the idea of heavy insulation on the exterior of the foundation wall.

Grandfather was a Kentucky hill boy, born in 1900, whose family owned
the local corn mill.  There was virtually no paper currency and very
little hard money, so the local economy was based upon the barter of
corn.  This made the family much like the local banker, and they became

Hi folks. I'm looking for some suggestions about how to lay a concrete
floor on an existing floor (with all tile and underlying stuff ripped
out), stain it, and acidwash it. specifically -
how thick do i need to lay the concrete?

I am considering a project which would require the use of cement pillars.
What I need to know is a rough idea of how much weight a cement pillar would
hold.
The pillar will be circular with a six inch diameter and assume a height of

Anyone have any thoughts on difference in the costs of cmu (concrete
masonary unit) vs stucco?  Any ideas on the costs and benefits of each?
This would be for a commercial retail building in Seattle.  It's our
family's first commerical building development.