I always thought joint compound should not freeze – lurked in a $2M+ 7500+ sf house this morning on my dog walk. There in the living room and den are 100 5 gal pails of the lightweight JC. Big propane 20 gal gas tank and space heater to bring the temp up (been in mid 20’s for the last week @ night.)
Front door unit is there but not installed; garage door not there — all closed with temp plywood — Just not sure how the place is going to be kept warm enough with one propane heater with the garage and FD haphazardly blocked.
Is this JC still good?
Replies
You probably don't want your JC to freeze. On another unrelated manner though, you should not be heating with propane, unless it is a closed loop space heater, because the amount of moisture put into the air by a propane heater is phenominal. Almost a litre of water per gallon of propane (not sure of the exact figure) and your joint compound will have a hard time drying in this moist environment. Use Kerosene or Electric space heaters to eliminate the problem. (ps Keep the JC stacked together and boxed in with cardboard. The thermal mass should prevent freezing overnight).
No to kero too. Any open flame heat source will dampen the air.JC has limited freeze thaw cycles, usually written on the label. If the freeze separates things throw it out.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Quite true. The site below quantified the amount of moisture Propane produces; (1.3 KG of water vapour per Cubic Metre)slightly less than natural Gas. Almost sounds impossible to believe.
http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/crops/facts/00-077.htm
If you don't heat with propane you aren't gonna heat, in a situation like this.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
A builder I work for turns the furnace on after insulation and lets it run for a minimum of 2 weeks before sheetrock, is that bad?
If you can arrange that, that's ideal. But around here the propane heaters are used a lot. Only practical way to heat a large house when you don't have a furnace hooked up.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
No place I have worked allows you to turn on the elect or gas before the house is complete. Actually, once the electrical final is passed, a message is faxed to the power co. Then they set the meter on the house and the power is on. That is usually about 4 days before the CO. So, your choices are you can heat with kerosene or propane or not heat at all. Once I used a catalytic heater in a walk-in closet to keep about 20 buckets of paint from freezing, but I think it just kept it at about 40 degrees, and it wasn't exactly like heating the whole house. The house was sheetrocked too.
Regarding the OP's Q - I think it takes quite severely cold weather to freeze a bucket of drywall mud. Further, on my jobs anyway, the mud would not be delivered until the day before it is used - or it might sit over the weekend at the most. Sounds like he wants to be a construction manager. He should update his resume.
Not every place is so restrictive. Also I am sure you have electric available to build the house on a temporary pole, right? There are some very good electric heaters out now for construction sites. Dry heat is far better.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
No doubt that dry heat is far better... I've just never seen a portable electric heater that could heat more than a room though. The kerosene heaters we typcially use are, maybe 180,000 BTU. Anybody got a web link for an electric heater that could heat a house in an hour and not require a cord the diameter of my forearm to power it? If these were available I gotta think my drywallers and/or painters would know about them. They hate the K heaters because of the fumes.
In an hour no, but turning it on the night before I can heat over a thousand feet insulated unless its way below zero
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
We use indirect forced air - called frost fighters i think - u can get em for both kero and propane.
I have two electric furnaces running, sitting in the middle of two of the big areas of the house.
I also have 2 salamander type heaters that I use to knock the chill off. Should I stop using these? Why have I never heard of this before? Wouldn't you think the plasteres woudl of told me this?
Thanks for teaching me somethign today.Maybe I should say, "Screw work!" Then maybe I cold start living a little more of my life.
When I started looking for electric it was mainly because of the CO headaches we were getting years ago.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
i am just throwing everythign I have at this place. Gas just takes chill off, moisture problem?"Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everthing he learned in school"........Einstein
Personally, I don't think there is a big moisture issue unless you run one 8 hrs a day or something like that. The fumes do suck. Just last week my painter told me that it makes him "crazy at night". I said, so, what, does your wife get the worst end of that deal? :-) He said no - it makes him have a hard time sleeping and he has nightmares. Probably from all the brain cells that are getting killed off... :-(
I'm guessing your electrics aren't great if you have 2 and fuel heaters for backup... I guess it is a lot colder there though... still waiting for a web link. I've searched and can't find anything but room heaters.
my electrics are for small houses, would be fine for a ranch.
They are not designed for 5300 sq ft with a 22 x 30 room that has 23 foot ceilings.
HInce the backups.
"Education is that which remains when one has forgotten everthing he learned in school"........Einstein
84500.16
Now yer going to give sledgehammer a real hard time.
Edited 1/22/2007 3:32 pm ET by rez
Here in Maryland, BGE (Baltimore Gas and Electric) will turn on the juice to a light pole in the middle of vacant lot as long as you have a meter , breaker box and inspection.
Don't get me wrong... I work for plenty of builders that use propane or K-1 torpedo heaters. The one that impresses me the most is the one who turns on the furnace to at least dry the house out alittle. He has a filter arrangement to keep dust outta the unit and has the ducts all cleaned and inspected prior to walk thru. One interesting thing is, his carpet guys don't throw used razor blades in the floor registers.
Bottom line it's all about timing and scheduling... Some do an excellent job... some don't care.
Edit to add: How do they final the electric without it being turned on? Here the inspector tests every outlet, GFCI, and smoke detector to make sure everything works.
Edited 1/21/2007 8:30 pm ET by sledgehammer
>> How do they final the electric without it being turned on? Here the inspector tests every outlet, GFCI, and smoke detector to make sure everything works. << How can that be done without all the devices being installed? Lighe fixtures, plubs, etc, etc? When would those be installed before drywall? What am I missing?
I'm sorry... You said
"No place I have worked allows you to turn on the elect or gas before the house is complete. Actually, once the electrical final is passed, a message is faxed to the power co. Then they set the meter on the house and the power is on. That is usually about 4 days before the CO"
I have to admit I don't know what "CO" is .... but I assume when you say no electric before a "house is complete" I do know what complete is....
CO is Certificate of Occupancy
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Permit office here calls it a U & O... use and occupancy.
Onsite electric usually has been hooked up for months prior... Anyone else get their electric hook up 4 days prior to U&O or CO ?
Around here they'll do a power and gas hookup ahead of time. Meter base and panel needs to be installed for electric, and maybe some of the roughin -- I'm not up on the details. Fairly common to install furnace early, before ductwork is finished, and use temporary ductwork.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
We typically finish the duct work prior to installing drywall. How do you do it after the walls are done?
This is after the place is just dried in. Still working on ductwork and rough plumbing.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Maybe it's a north/south kind of thing??? We have T-poles out by the road, but electricity in a new house that has not had the electrical final is a big no-no - it'll get you a stop work order in a heartbeat. And, since they won't install the meter withoug written OK from the city/county/whatever. So, whatever electrical devices we use have to run off extention cords - not great for electric heaters.
Matt... I'm sorry it must be a regional thing with electric companies. Here we can't get a final on electric, till power from the electric company is supplied. Apparently you can't get power till you get a final. Weird world.
Yea - that is wierd. It would almost make the best sense to have 2 finals - one before and one after the meter is installed. The electricians typically "hot the house up" by backfeeding a dryer outlet or the meter base or whatever to test the house but it is actually ellegal.
Only if the furnace and ductwork are sealed up prior to rocking. That dust will gum up fan blades and Heat pump coils (if fitted).
You mean filered not sealed right? If sealed it won't make any heat.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
No I mean't sealed and not used immediately prior to sheetrocking. That dust will find its way into the ventilation system if it is used during the rocking and taping phase. HWBB is ok to use though. The City here allows you to use electric construcion heaters run off of your dryer and or stove outlets. Does not leave much for options in some areas though. The first house I built I installed the heat rated propane fireplaces prior to sheetrocking vice after, (build in Jan 02 @ -30Deg C) These are vented to the exterior and produce no moisture in the house. Worked great.
No, a furnace has a flue to vent all that bad stuff up and out
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
answer is
depends
Sounds like there is some heat, and mud like most latex paint has a limited amount of freeze/thaw cycles. And does have mass going for it right now.
It's usually pretty easy to tell when mud's gone bad and can't be used.
Aside from the frozen joint compound. I would not have been pleased if I found someone lurking in my house.