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Jim Katen

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Posts posted by Jim Katen

  1. I'm late to the party. I would suggest you advise the owner to request sashes. Most vinyl manufacturers won't have an issue with providing sashes and the repair becomes akin to changing light bulbs.

    I was involved in a whole house seal failure event with Hurd products. The homeowner was shipped loose IG units under warranty and left to find an installer on their own. No one would touch it and the glass sat in their basement for years.

    Thanks Tom. Unfortunately, most of the affected windows were fixed panels.

    I find that it's mostly the fixed panels that fail first, perhaps because they're more rigidly constrained.

  2. From the Alside Western Warranty for window after 2008

    Only those window products manufactured in Bothell, WA or Yuma, AZ after

    December 1, 2008, shall qualify for the terms and conditions of this written

    warranty.

    Extract from warranty

    Lifetime Limited Warranty ? Insulating Glass Unit

    The hermetically sealed insulated glass unit of the Alside Vinyl Window and

    Patio Door System is warranted for as long as the Original Property Owner

    shall own and live in the property from date of window installation against

    development of material obstruction of vision occurring from manufacturing

    defects, resulting from film formation or dust collection between the interior

    glass surfaces, caused by failure of the hermetic seal, under conditions of normal

    use and service.

    Thanks Peter. I missed your first post by about a minute.

    Interestingly, NAMI returned my email within 10 minutes (on a Sunday afternoon, no less) with the name of Alside. They said that Alside is no longer with NAMI.

    I sent my customer the warranty information and Alside's warranty desk help number.

    Thanks everyone.

  3. Is it true that more people died of malaria than would have been harmed by DDT? IE - the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

    As I recall, DDT is not particularly hazardous to humans. It's still used today in many countries. The problem was that it devastated bird populations by causing their eggshells to become thin. It's possible that the only reason we still have bald eagles is because of the ban on DDT.

    Given that malaria is not a big problem in the U.S. the ban here is probably an unequivocal good thing.

  4. Thanks for the replies. I have received a zoning variance for the structure. That means that it has NOT been "rezoned" as commercial, but an exception for my use has been granted (at great expense and almost 8 month battle. If I'd known going into it what I was getting into I would have thought of something else to do with my time, but that's a whole different story...)

    I am going to go to the local code department, for sure. My understanding, after talking to them last time about window requirements, is that this is not a commercial building and it is subject to IRC 2003. However, I am mildly afraid that I'm going to get a different opinion from each different person who looks at this thing.

    2003? Seriously? Indiana needs to get with the program. That was three code cycles ago.

    Aside from that, the IRC clearly states, in its first pages, that it's only intended for use with dwellings.

    That said, you really want to get a solid opinion from the code department, in writing, before you spend time & money drawing up plans - or even designing anything.

  5. Thanks, but this house was built in 2007 and the windows seem to be the same age. It looks like Arco last made windows in the mid-80s. . .

    Several manufacturer's around here will give a lifetime warranty against seal failure to the original homeowner, but only a 5-year or 10-year warranty to subsequent owners. If they can find the manufacturer, they can find out whether or not the warranty is in effect.

    I always find it disconcerting when a manufacturer is unwilling to put its name on its product.

  6. Here for the wiring rough-in inspection, the muni inspector wants to see all the boxes wired with wire nuts in place and two pigtails sticking out.

    If that passes, the receptacles go in. No small wonder back-stabbing takes place at that stage.

    It certainly simplifies the electrical inspection.

    The wire nuts have proven to be satisfactory, except yes sometimes a wire pops out and you lose power.

    Pigtails allow for easy replacement of receptacles, cheap 'upgrade' for a house flipper.

    It's basically the same here. However, if you wanted to wire through the receptacles, you could just leave those wires sticking out. There's no requirement to use wire nuts as opposed to the lugs on the receptacle, but if there are going to be wire nuts, then the inspectors like to see them in place. Examples attached.

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  7. Does anyone (Tom Raymond?) know how to figure out the name of the manufacturer of this window?

    A bunch of them are fogging and the owner would like to know if the warranty is still in effect.

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  8. I've been recommending NFPA Level II inspections for years on certain fireplaces. Lately, the local sweep who I've been recommending has stopped doing them. He says that they're just too involved and expensive and he believes that they're only going to get more involved and expensive with future editions of NFPA 211. He now does his own inspection, following his own protocol, using scopes when necessary, and using his own common sense. I trust him and will continue to recommend him.

    However, if someone in my area were to want to get a proper Level II inspection, as far as I know there's only one guy left who does them. This guy is F.I.R.E. certified but he's not a sweep, just an inspector. I'm a little unclear on this point. Isn't it necessary to clean a chimney before you can conduct a Level II inspection? If so, can a F.I.R.E certified inspector do the cleaning if he's not a sweep? Does he work with a sweep to do the cleaning first?

  9. I have moved from an apartment, which had mold problem with various molds, including also Streptomyces Bacterium. Now as I have moved to another apartment, I?m pretty sure I haven?t been able to get rid of all the molds that may have infected my furniture and belongings (couldn?t possibly destroy every single piece of them when moving to this apartment).

    Now I wonder what sort of cleaning detergents I would dare to start using. Since I have heard that for instance methyl benzene or phenyl methane, should be absolutely avoided, because molds could use them as a nutrition and the good bacterium would be destroyed using these. So what detergents should I buy for household cleaning?

    This is the wrong place to go for those kinds of questions. We deal in reality here. We'll tell you that your concerns are misguided, that simple cleaning with any old cleaning product is fine, and that you're obsessive. You'll get angry with us and you won't listen to anyone who doesn't share your viewpoint. Lots of bits and bytes will be squandered on recriminations and you will only add heartburn to whatever other health concerns you imagine you already have.

    Go to one of the nut job mold forums and wallow in the paranoia there.

  10. no back stabbing just terminals. so. something inside the recep fAiled but what

    It could have been any current-carrying part. There are lots of little bits of metal in there. Something worked itself loose or developed a small fracture or something like that.

    It's also possible, but very unlikely, that there was actually arcing going on inside the receptacle. Did you save it?

  11. could not find much of this on the web. thought Id ask you folks.

    had a plug in flashlight, in a standard wall recep. took it out to use it, found it warm around the plug in prongs.. so I plugged it in somewhere else it was not warm. back to the outlet , still warm between the upper and lower plug in places. , so I said ,maybe a loose wire, pulled it out of the wall box, no loose wires, but it was a feed thru rcep with things downstream, I turned those things off, still warm, almost hot actually, so I replaced the receptacle (20 years old) . then it was cool normal---

    ever seen this? wonder how much its cost me in heating it for all the years

    20 years ago, a builder-grade 15-amp duplex receptacle cost about 21 cents. Even today, you can find them for about 35 cents. They're a cheap commodity item and I find it amazing that they don't fail more often than they do. You got your money's worth out of it.

    It's a good thing that you were alert enough to spot the problem. Most people wouldn't have.

  12. Read IRC 311.3.1 that references direction of door swing and step-down. The problem is when there is not a step-down, and no roof over the entryway, the door can easily be blocked by snow.

    I need to get a new copy of the IRC. My 2006 doesn't have a R311.3.1

    Thanks Steven.

    Marc

    I didn't see it there. Nothing about outswinging exterior doors.

    Marc

    It's related to a step down at the door. The NJ edition might have something about snow.

    Why do you think it would be a problem in your area? Not much snow there.

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