The future of magazines
In the back of this magazine, you will not find an annual index—something we’ve included in every other December/January issue for the past 18 years. Devoting four pages to an index that covers only the past eight issues no longer makes sense when there is a cumulative, electronic index online at www.FineHomebuilding.com. We’d rather use those pages to expand our articles and departments, and rely on the Web to help you find that article we published 12 years ago on making concrete countertops.
Like every other magazine or newspaper on the planet, we’re wrestling with how best to serve our customers in the Internet age. We don’t think print is dead or dying, but it is changing. Eventually, we’ll use the Web to deliver information that is clearer (thanks to video and animation), goes into more depth, is quicker to access, is easier to navigate, and is collected conveniently for future reference. When that happens, the printed magazine won’t go away, but it might become more fun to read. If detailed, technical information can live on the Web, maybe the magazine can be more entertaining, more inspirational, and more thought-provoking. Who knows? But right now, those are the questions we’re facing.
Over the coming months, look for changes to our magazine and to our Web site aimed at integrating the two media and serving you better in the process. As always, we need and value your input. Tell us what changes you want and don’t want. Tell us what you’d like to find on our Web site. Do you want blogs from contributing editors? Do you want estimating calculators? We’re in this together. Fine Homebuilding can’t stay in business unless you value the information we provide. Send your thoughts and opinions to us at [email protected].
As proof that we listen to your requests, I have good news for all of you who’ve been wanting an updated version of The Best of Fine Homebuilding CD. We’ve just completed a new collection, this time on DVD, that includes more than 1,000 articles and 1,300 tips from the past 25 years. For details, see the ad on p. 115.
—Kevin Ireton, editor
Beware of upstairs laundries
Putting laundries in places other than the basement (FHB #180, “Drawing Board,” pp. 116-120) requires some extra planning. Besides the considerations mentioned in the column, there are some other practical concerns to be dealt with.
For the past four years, I’ve supplemented my firefighter’s income as a licensed home inspector. As a firefighter, I once witnessed some very expensive damage done by a burst washingmachine supply hose in a third-floor apartment. The tenants were out of town when the hose failed, and it took a while to identify the problem and force entry to the apartment. By then, water had flooded the apartment and the adjacent unit, and damaged another three below before pooling in the underground parking area. The tenants were probably responsible for the financial losses in all the affected apartments.
As a home inspector, I see lots of laundries in condos and on the upper floors of houses. Most of them have common problems. For one thing, many building codes don’t require a floor drain below a laundry, and some require only a drip pan below the washer, which isn’t going to be much help if the tub overflows or if a supply hose fails. (See “Q&A,” p. 100.) To my mind it’s irresponsible not to install a floor drain, ideally within a curbed floor, when putting a laundry above finished space.
Most washing-machine manufacturers recommend replacing supply hoses every five years and turning off the water at the source when the machine is not in use. Lately, I’ve been recommending a device called the IntelliFlow (Watts Water Technologies; www.watts.com), which connects to the washing machine’s water and electrical supplies, and shuts off the water automatically whenever the machine is inactive. The device also incorporates a leak sensor that activates the shutoff feature.
Placing a laundry closer to the source of dirty clothes makes a lot of sense, but it sometimes takes a bit of extra effort to do it right.
—Tom O’Donovan, Highland Park, Ill.
Sealing foundation holes
I’m writing in reference to the letter from Andy Engel, “Flood insurance of a different kind” (FHB #182, p. 8). I’ve been amazed how the simple concept of water seeking its own level catches so many of us off guard. The problem that Mr. Engel has encountered I solved many years ago in several similar situations and with 100% success. My simple method can be used instead of Mr. Engel’s or in addition to it.
I seal the utility penetration in the masonry wall as follows: I mortar from the outside, penetrating just a few inches in. After that hardens, I waterproof outside and do the regular backfilling. Back on the inside, I use an expanding foam in the penetration hole, extending from where the mortar ended to within a few inches of the inside wall. After that hardens, I finish up with mortar to the inside wall. The mortar is for physical integrity. The expanded foam is the water seal.
—Joe Kaye, Phenix, Va.
Window sashes need stronger joints
As a long time sash-maker and student of old sash methods, I read the article “Building a Divided-Lite Storm Sash” (FHB #182, pp. 82-85) to see how the author joined rail to stile using modern methods. Apparently he doesn’t, relying on glue and the coped cut. This method would work well to hang a decorative frame on an interior wall, but outdoors, the moisture cycle would cause enough wood movement, even with waterproof glue, to open the joint and allow moisture in. After a few years, the storm sash would need replacing. There needs to be some sort of mechanical connection, ideally mortise and tenon, but even biscuits, dowels, or deck screws would be an improvement.
—Murray Yungblut, Ripley, Ont.
Author T.H. Richards replies: I have heard this assertion before, but my own experience doesn’t bear it out.
The first set of storm sashes I built this way for a client has been in service for more than 10 years and shows no signs of deterioration. Although that’s not an extreme length of time, it is a respectable one, and those sashes happen to be installed in a particularly hostile location. The temperature ranges from 35°C down to -40°C, and there is no tree coverage to protect the sashes from 50-knot winter winds. Ten years of those conditions would be equivalent to twice that length of time in southern Ontario.
I also restore original sashes when they can be saved, and a fair number of the 40-plusyear-old storm sashes that I have seen were built using cope-and-stick joinery. Yes, the joints are often loose in some of these old sashes, but they are also loose in equally aged mortise-and-tenon sashes. It seems that unless the sash has been maintained properly, whatever glue was used eventually gives up the ghost. The type of joint doesn’t seem to be the determining factor in the windows’ failure.
When I add to these observations the fact that the great majority of factory-built wood doors and windows today are manufactured using cope-andstick joints, I feel more than comfortable recommending this technique to the readers of Fine Homebuilding.
Toggle-bolt tip
Concerning toggle bolts and the problem of not being able to remove the screw (FHB #180, “What’s the Difference?” p. 102), I believe I have a solution. The Snaptoggle is expensive and can be used only on drywall. When I’m using toggles on drywall or on hollow concrete block, and I want to be able to remove the screw, I put a dab of construction adhesive on the wing tips. Once installed,the wing will adhere, and once hardened, the adhesive prevents the wing from falling down into the cavity when you remove the screw.
—Joe Kaye, Phenix, Va.
Detailing the top of a valley is simple
I was excited to see the article on roof valleys by Stephen Hazlett in the October/November issue (FHB #182, “A Durable Roof-Valley Repair,” pp. 53-57). However, he doesn’t address the peak of the valley. Could you explain the best option to avoid water penetration? I haven’t seen a good detail of peak transitions with W-type metal flashing.
—Scot R. Maxwell, Des Moines, Iowa
Author Stephen Hazlett replies: If you are using aluminum W-type valley and asphalt shingles, there are no esoteric secrets in this situation. If we assume two valleys meeting at the top of a dormer and tying into the main roof, you can handle it pretty much like you would any other type of valley. On the first valley, cut the flashing on the dormer side of the valley flush with the ridge. If you wish, extend the metal on the main-roof side of the valley a few inches above the ridgeline. On the second valley, you can also cut the flashing on the dormer side of the valley flush with the ridge, or you can extend the metal a few inches past the ridge and fold it down the other side. The main-roof side of the second valley can be extended up to overlap the first valley’s main-roof side. Install ridge caps along the ridge, right across the valley, and tuck the final caps under the field shingles on the main roof, just as you would on any other valley. If you feel the W-valley profile does not allow a smooth-enough transition, you can peen the top few inches of the W-valley a bit flatter. (I have not found this to be necessary). The ridge caps will cover the top of the valley flashing by 6 in. or so. The last cap on a dormer or main ridge will require two to four exposed nails, which I seal with Geocel caulk (www.geocelusa.com). This technique is very simple and very neat, and it sounds more complicated than it actually is.