Homeowner Forum / Construction / November 2007

Hello Group,
I'm relatively new to the group having been a lurker for years, now I
have a concern.  My wife and I built a log home in the 80's and added
an addition to it two years ago.  Both the house and the addition are

I have a single pole switch outlet combo device in my kitchen.  The
switch started to make a loud pop when the light was turned off, not
on.  I tried to replace the device and here is what happened.  There
are three wires in the box.  I know the one hot and the other are

If a building was built in the 60's is it probable that the quality of
steel is a higher grade than the steel that's available today? Do
qualities of steele fluctuate? Why?

Dear Experts,
I have a townhouse in the Boston area with a flat roof.
From top, there is the roof, the joists and insulation,
and then the drywall. ie.  It is not a truss system.

I need to cut a 12" diameter hole through floor for steel chimney.
Chase is only 13" wide so not enough room to complete hole with jigsaw
or sawzall. Hoping someone can offer solution.
Thanks in advance.

I'm wondering if there are generally any differences in price for
excavating a basement on a sloped lot.  E..g a 9' basement on a level
lot would require more material removal and handling than a lot where
the excavation starts at 9' and ends somewhere at around 2'.

Ok, I'm building a 10x12 foot outdoor shed on skids.  I've got the
floor done- notwithstanding some "gotchas"- like forgetting to measure
and trim the rim & floor joists to length first (a 2x6x12 is actually
a 2x6x 12.5, 12.25, 12.65 etc), placing the floor joists 16 inches OC

I am building a Lanai screen using Aluminum frames from HD. I have
been trying to use tapcons to screw in the frame into the hollow
brick.
Problem is when I try to drive the tapcon into the predrilled hole it

(Sorry for the crosspost, I didn't know this group existed.)
I have a room that was added on to the back of my house.  It's about
18 x 28 (feet) - a big whopping room.  The outside of the room is
brick, with 2x4 framing inside the brick.  Across the shorter

We are building a cabin, 24x17feet, on crawl space in a place that has heavy
snow in the winter. Honestly, we probably won't go there in the winter
because it is off the road too far to keep the road plowed. I want to heat
it with a wood type stove and propane logs, but code ...

(I figure it's OK to ask this question here, since I may set my coffee down
there while working on a construction project.)
I need to get a piece of 1/4" glass cut to put on top of a wood coffee
table. Should I want the glass to be exactly square with the edges of the

All-
Any and all help is appreciated!
I'm in the beginning stages of a home renovation project and just got
preliminary pricing from a builder in a design/build firm.  I'm a

Good afternoon.
I had to remove some of my bathtub tile, as water had seeped behind the tile
and soaked the plaster underneath. I removed the soaked plaster (oatmeal
consistency) and dried out the wood lath.

Hey everyone...
I'm building a 10 X 12 foot storage shed that I will need to move in a
year or so.  I'm about done framing the floor: I'm using PT 2 x 6
lumber, 16" OC, w/ joist hangers.  I plan to sheet it with 3/4 PT