This looks interesting...
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/chemical-bath-and-strong-squeeze-makes-super-dense-and-strong-wood-180968117/
Please remember: we're not all guys!
Ok folks - a friend asked me if I know of any structural firms in or near Houston doing checks after Harvey. She wants to be sure the firm is reputable and experienced. Are there any resources of local firms I can send her? I bet the local ASCE or SEA won't be excited to recommend one over...
I don't do much in steel nowadays, but I have a house built in the 1980s and need to get size and properties info on all W10 shapes in the AISC 8th ed. Can someone please reply with a picture of the W10 properties for me? I'm trying to confirm what size I think it is.
Cheers!
Please...
http://www.islandgazette.net/news-10/index.php/news/local-news1/item/6398-officials-condemn-carolina-surf-condo-building-for-structural-issues
Absolutely watch the video. Yowza.
Please remember: we're not all guys!
For those of you who do work with existing structures, or who collect guitars or cigars, do you have a favorite hygrometer? I would like to have an accurate number on humidity and temperature when I'm in crawlspaces but am having trouble finding a reasonably-priced and accurate monitor...
This article was written by Frank Woeste, Prof Emeritus at Virginia Tech. It has some good info in it.
cheers.
Please remember: we're not all guys!http://files.engineering.com/getfile.aspx?folder=e06d46e6-e3f8-4d79-b6c6-6cbe22ed9e6c&file=All_Things_Wood_Frank_Woeste_1707.pdf
ok wise people -
I've been contacted by a firm that coordinates forensic engineers for insurance companies. Basically, they would call me when there's a structural claim in my area and I would go out and do my standard investigation, and write up a report with general recommendations. I've...
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publications/pubs_by_topics.php?sort_criteria=topic
I was looking for info on charred wood capacity and found this site. There's a lot of great info available for free. Just sharing the wealth.
Please remember: we're not all guys!
When you use round steel sections, do you specify pipe sections or round HSS? I'm designing replacement columns for an existing house. Should I call the local fabricator and see what they commonly have more of?
Please remember: we're not all guys!
I looked at a house built in 2007, where there appears to be a growing hump in the first floor. Floor joists (TJIs) run parallel with a CMU wall that has a little wood stem wall above it and is in place of a TJI at that spacing location. The wall below doesn't line up with the wall above, of...
ok smart people. Help me out here.
Clients want to relocate the support between their garage doors to widen one door. I'm proposing the fix as shown in the attached picture. I feel confident on the inside (right side) connections... The trouble is, I cannot for the life of me figure out how...
I spec'd out a retrofit adjustable locking column from Akron Products (www.akronproducts.com/adjustable-columns.html) for a residential renovation job recently. I've found these columns to be great replacements for old rusted-out jack posts. The contractor, bless his heart, didn't give his...
Let's say that your job is to go investigate issues with people's houses, and that you had tentatively set an appointment with a person. Let's say that only after that (but before sending the contract) you found out that the person is, well, dangerous. How would you word the email to cancel...
Ok folks,
I'm shopping for a new car and it seems like the receiver part for the seatbelt is much shorter on the new cars than on the current cars we have(2012 and 2013 models). I've tried several models of Honda and Ford. The current length means that the seatbelt buckle digs hard into my...
Hello all,
I've worked up a basic plan for the retrofit of two-story tall CMU exterior walls in a 1905 building (it suffered an interior fire with damage only to the second floor joists). The head joints in the CMU interior face were never filled, the CMU is chipped and gouged in lots of...
Ok folks - it's time to get a boroscope for looking inside walls. I've looked a bit online but am curious if anyone has a favorite one, or features that they would deem requirements. Thanks!
Please remember: we're not all guys!
I've looked through the archives, but didn't find anything talking about checks this large. I'm looking at large doug fir timber columns and beams (12x14 or so), about 7 years old. Construction pics show that they were straight with no checks at all when installed, so they must have been wet...
Boy do I get the interesting ones...
See the pics. 20 year old house - for some reason the contractor either didn't install the last course of CMU at the lower level deck or cut it away. I'm fixing the deck, no troubles, but the remaining gap between the lower CMU and the higher slab on grade...
See attached image. It shows a fireplace of river rock in a 1945 house with a concrete hearth of serious (6"?) thickness that has separated away from the cracked-up fireplace floor. I will be resupporting the hearth framing from underneath but am unsure what to do with the fireplace floor and...
What is your preferred way to connect commercial-sized downspouts to historic brick? The brick is from around 1900 (and stop sniggering about the "historic", all you Old Country folks) and is that lovely red-clay rolled brick we have in the American south. There's already a lot of spalling...
