Old Versus New Construction Adhesives

When I first started building in 1978 as a young carpenter and an apprentice to my father. I had the grand illusions of becoming what they call on the east coast a master carpenter and on the West Coast a journeyman carpenter.

Part of my training in construction was learning to use the proper adhesive and caulking for different parts of the building project. We used to use a standard solvent-based construction adhesive when we were building our stairs and they would also use this adhesive on the floors to eliminate squeaks.

This glue dried extremely hard and everyone thought the harder the better. This construction adhesive was great when I started using it in 1978. There wasn't the polyethylene super elastic expandable multi-use glue and caulking construction adhesives at that time.

We used this brittle glue and it always seemed like a waste of time. As the wood dried and started to shrink the brittle hard glue would crack and break away from the wood it was glued to. Normally the glue was breaking away from plywood floor sheeting. I have seen 2 x 12 shrink 3/8 of an inch before in as little as a few months during the summer.

Now as time went on the old construction adhesives were replaced with a new window sealant made by a company called TOPS. This stuff was the hottest and best product of the decade to me. I used this stuff for everything.

This new urethane glue was now being used for sub floors, stair treads, sealing the windows flashing and siding. This stuff is still in use today and is a great choice for all of the uses I mentioned above. The price for this sealant is about double that of most water-based or solvent-based glues. But it's worth it.

So there you have it I like the urethane glues because of their flexibility, elasticity, their ability to adhere to wood concrete or metal and their performance in the years ahead.

There is one thing to keep in mind when using construction adhesives. Most construction workers seem to ignore the fact that the wood needs to be dry and clean before applying the construction adhesive. There have been quite a few times I have witnessed carpenters working with me and ignoring my advice.

Don't put yourself into this category. Doing quality work and following the manufacturers recommended installation instructions for their product will decrease your liability if there is ever a problem. Read the instructions carefully on all of the building products you use.

The manufacturers of these construction adhesives have thoroughly tested them. So use them properly and follow all safety warnings.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Carlsbad Structural Repairs

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Sources of Heat Loss in the House

There are three main sources of heat loss in the house that when fixed may save you up to $500 per year. One source of heat loss that you may not have considered is the fireplace. Some homes have an open fireplace that is certainly just like leaving a window open. Warm air escapes through the chimney, which acts as a funnel, drawing air up and out. Even if you have a firebox installed into your fireplace and the gaps all around sealed, there is still the damper.

The damper creates an airflow without which the fire could not burn, but when there is no fire going, leaving the damper open is like leaving a window open. In fact, you could lose up to 30% of your air conditioning heat through the damper.

Not all houses have an attic, but many do, so if you have access to your attic by means of a folding stair, the ceiling and insulation will have been removed to install it. Frequently it is just covered up by a thin piece of plywood that may even have gaps around the edges. To find out, switch on the attic light at nighttime and view it from below. If you can see specks of light, there are gaps that need closing. In fact, the whole area should be covered with an attic stair cover.

The third place for heat loss is if your clothes dryer exhaust is ducted to an outside opening. Even when the door is shut, warm air can still escape through the clothes dryer. Add a dryer vent seal to solve the problem and keep out bugs as well.

Find out more about the Advantage Air http://www.advantageair.com.au range of reverse cycle ducted air conditioning including the Gen 3.

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Prague Apartments - A Home Away From Home

Prague, located in central Europe is a well recognized tourist destination, which has a few most extensive collections of art and culture include:

Charles Bridge: It demonstrates fantastic architecture and river views that keep the visitors engaged
Bertramka Mozart Museum: Romantic summer residence of W.A. Mozart's friends, the Duseks, a couple of leading Czech musicians has now turned in museum
Astronomical Clock: It makes known the respectful regard that people of the past felt for the heavenly order.
Old Town Hall Tower: One of the most terrific buildings in Prague, built in 1338
Dancing House: A new, glass building delimited by historic architecture

In fact, the Old Town with its Gothic church spires, the elegant ribbon of river Vitava that winds through the city and memorialized Jewish quarter preserve a miraculous and unforgettable sagacity of the past. Apart from it, Prague is also proud of its capability to put together the old and the new. There are a number of pubs, restaurants, fast-food corners, beauty parlours, malls, multiplex cinemas and many more to make your holidays an unforgettable experience.

When you make plans to visit the city, one of the most frequent concerns comes in your mind is luxury accommodation in an area that is secure, central and close to the main tourist attractions. Prague apartments are suitable for you that fulfill all the mentioned requirements.

Luxury accommodation in Prague apartments

If you want to stay in Prague without any fuss, then before starting your journey, book Prague apartments through an online booking site. These Prague apartments are located in the centre of the city together with an assortment of facilities.

Prague apartments have all the amenities you can possibly expect into an efficiency apartment include:

Telephone, television, air condition, internet connection and many others
Modular kitchen where you can prepare food and enjoy hot coffee
Bathroom with sufficient towels, capacious tub, washer, dryer, ironing board, central heating, adequate hot water and many more
Luxury sleeping arrangements with comfortable beds as well as foldout sofa beds

Prague apartments are preferred by budget-conscious tourists because of their luxury accommodation, which is a source of additional space, comfort, sovereignty and flexibility if compared to luxury hotels. When you stay in Prague apartments, definitely you will feel as you are in your home away from home. In other words, after staying in Prague apartments, you will congratulate yourself on your luck for luxury accommodation and memorable tour.

Magicprague is an online booking Prague apartments site with full of all the luxury and modern facilities including, internet connection, T.V., air condition, modular kitchen and modern bathroom. Apartments in Prague are preferred by budget-conscious tourists.

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Structural Framing Beams

Let's start with the beams. They can be Glulam, Parallam, Microlam or even wood beams. What are all of these and why do I need them in my house. The beams are used to hold up parts of the house and are located in your walls, roofs and floors. Beams are used to transfer a load from one point to another.

Structural framing beams allow the architect to create large openings, floors and roofs in your house. The beams are also used to support the weight over the doors, windows and other openings in your home. These beams support massive amounts of weight in some cases and are even made of steel if needed.

Another growing problem is the lack of old growth trees in the forest. If we just used wood beams with out using the new engineered beams we would have to cut down a lot more of the bigger trees. So you can add these guys to your Christmas list. The lumber or wood engineers have come up with all sorts of alternatives for new building products. These new beams are just some of them. Keep up the good work guys...

Glulam is a engineered wood product comprised of wood laminations, or 2 x 4s that are bonded together with strong, waterproof adhesives. If you use a Glulam beam on the buildings exterior you will have to order a exterior Glulam beam. In this case the manufacture will use special exterior rated glues for the beam.

When ordering any wood engineered beams specify to the lumber yard what you are using the beam for. Exterior or Interior of the building. If you use a interior glulam over time there is a good chance of the beam delaminating or cracking apart.

Parallam is made from almost all of the wood on the log using veneer strands that are aligned parallel for maximum strength. The end product is a rectangular beam; which is longer, thicker, and stronger than solid-sawn lumber. They are often used as beams, headers, columns, and posts, among others uses.

Microllam is an engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives. It offers several advantages over typical milled lumber: it is stronger, straighter, and more uniform. It is much less likely than conventional lumber to warp, twist, bow, or shrink due to its composite nature. Made in a factory under controlled specifications, Microllam products allow users to reduce the onsite labor. They are typically used for headers, beams, rim board, and edge-forming material.

These beams come in all sorts of different lengths, widths and heights. They are engineered to hold amazing amounts of weight. They really are great engineering marvels.

Tip: I have had to replace almost all of these types of beams over the years due to some form of damage. Like anything else in your home if it is used improperly there is a good chance your are going to have some sort of failure. I have seen people add weight to these structural beams with no thought of them ever failing.

If you are planning on building a room addition, rebuilding your roof, adding a floor or any other type of construction where you are adding a addition load to your house. You might want to consult with a building contractor or structural engineer.

Thanks Greg For Another Super Article On Home Building. For more great articles visit Greg at http://gregvan.com/

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry. Causes of Structural Failure

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Considering Home Painting

When remodeling a house, homeowners should not forget the importance of painting their home's exterior. With expert help, homeowners can get a paint job that will allow the rest of the remodel to come together nicely and compliment the rest of the work that has been done. Exterior painting is often the factor that brings the remodel together and gives the house the best chance of looking great.

When considering home painting, homeowners should realize the importance of a good paint job. Simply painting the house is often not enough to make the house look its best. The homeowner should ensure that the job is left to the most qualified person possible. When things are left to the experts, everything else will just fall into place. Simplicity when it comes to handling these complicated jobs is something every homeowner can smile about. Realizing that they cannot handle home painting and other complex jobs themselves is the best realization a homeowner can come to when remodeling.

Contractors are their best bet in getting the results they are expecting or hoping for. The work of an amateur is just not up to par with the work of a professional. Professionals simply have too much training and experience for amateurs trying to emulate their work. Home painting can be tricky, so this training and experience will come in handy for sure. When the painter does not possess these qualities, they will often fall short of the expectations that have been laid upon them.

More information on College Works Painting home repair for your home is just a click away.

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Childproof Your Bathroom When Remodeling

While renovating a bathroom can get you excited and can be done in a number of ways, the most important thing to consider is safety of your family. Usually, we view things from our own perspective and take care of problems that we might be facing. But if you've got a small kid or are expecting one in the near future, then it's necessary to consider the child's safety too. Else, you would be renovating again and incurring more expenses at the end of the day.

So when you redesign your bathroom, make sure that it will not only be safer for children to use, but will also not pose any problems for adults. The first step should be to put barriers such that your child cannot enter the bathroom without your assistance. You can move the door knob a bit higher so that it goes out of reach for your kid. If you don't want to move the door knob, then you can install a sliding bolt on top, or you can get a doorknob cover that won't allow your kid to open the latch. Make sure that the doorknobs can be opened from the outside even if you child locks himself in accidentally.

Whether inside the bathroom or outside, water is one of those things that can hurt your baby in many ways. But the slippery floor tiles in the bathroom can significantly increase the risk of your child slipping on it, especially if they are wet. So make sure that your bathroom floor is leveled such that water doesn't stay there; it should rather drain quickly even if you spill a bucket full of water. Moreover, the thermostat should be fixed around 115 degrees Fahrenheit so it doesn't burn your baby's skin. You should further test it on your own hands first to be safe.

Another area which parents usually ignore is the faucets around the bath tub. It's pretty easy for your kid to hit them while playing in water. So buy a spout cover for them while you do other shopping for your renovation. If you have got curtains around your shower, don't use long tiebacks that can cause strangulation. And forget walk-in-showers if you are really conscious about your kid's safety. Their glass doors are too much of a risk and can break quite easily, inflicting serious injuries to your child.

Though it might not be common, there's always the chance that your small toddler can fall into the toilet, which is unhygienic at the very least and can even cause drowning. As a solution, you can buy a latch to keep the toilet lid shut. If you place a stool where your kids can stand to brush their teeth and wash their face, make certain that the bottom of the stool is rough, strong and stable.

A typical toilet has many small products that can be pretty harmful for your child, like razors, chemicals, plungers, etc. Have a small closet where you can keep these out of the reach of your children, and make sure you always keep them locked. And take care of naked sockets and electrical outlets using safety plugs and other appropriate measures.

Although it's nearly impossible to make your bathroom 100% safe for kids and adults, taking the above mentioned measures can reduce the chances of a good number of hazards.

Scott Rodgers has child-proofed numerous bathrooms in his career as a plumbing contractor. If you want help renovating your bathroom, check http://eLocalPlumbers.com

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Window Header Framing Problems

As a building contractor it is my job to assemble the house to meet the specifications from the architect and the structural engineer. I do this by looking at the building plans and installing the specified lumber sizes. I can take it upon myself to install a larger size wood beam or window header adding an additional cost to the job of course. I don't think so.

It's not uncommon for a framing contractor that has an additional 5 foot scrap piece of 4 x 8 left over that he now has no use for. He can then choose to use the 4 x 8 instead of a 4 x 6 for the window header. This type of building is common and acceptable.

If the structural engineer calls out for 4 x 6 window and door headers do not take it upon yourself to replace the 4 x 6 with a 4 x 4. I have seen too many framing contractors or carpenters make an on-the-job judgment like this.

A good example would be a single story house with 2 foot wide windows that require a 4 x 6 window header. As the carpenter builds homes over the years he can come to his own conclusion that a 4x4 will work fine for this application. Again keep this in mind as a framing contractor and a carpenter you are assembling the home not designing it.

Do not change the sizes of any headers or beams.

A long time ago carpenters used a standard rule of thumb, you could go up two sizes larger than the window opening for your header. Let me give you an example of what I'm trying to explain.

A 4 foot wide window opening would require a 4 x 6 window header. A 6 foot window opening would require a 4 x 8 window header. This should give you an idea of what I mean by going up two sizes larger than the window opening to figure out the lumber necessary to use for your window header.

This rule of thumb does not necessarily apply in today's building industry. The reason for this is structural changes from earthquake damage. The structural requirements that are required for building a home require a lot more metal bracing and strapping. Therefore some of the lumber requirements for beam sizes and window headers will be different.

This message is for general contractors, framing contractors and carpenters. When installing a window header and you take it upon yourself to change the size you also assume the responsibility if the building fails. This type of mistake is common and you guys know what I'm talking about.

It's not worth it. Keep in mind you are the assembler and not the designer of the building you are working on.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and House Framing Structural Repairs

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