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Hello – I’m an architecture/construction management student and I’m
doing a paper on superstitions in the building and architecture trades – like
the tree topping ceremony and the hidden imperfection. Do you have any that you
can share with me? I have two weeks to collect information. Thanks!
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I don't know of any superstitions, but I enjoy leaving messages in hidden areas in houses. I have left anything- from date and temp to long price lists,(price of a new truck, a gallon of milk...).I almost always sign my name on the front door casing of a house- hidden until someone decides to change the door. I found my name inside a cooler that was being expanded- and I had forgotten that i wrote anything in that wall. I had been a helper on that project 10 years before. I was doing a remodel in my parents former house, and found where dad had scribbled in a wall, 15 years before. He had passed away several years before- and it was neat to find something like that, even if it was just a scrawl during a quick jobsite figuring session. I got the idea while I was climbing around the attic of my church.The volunteers had all signed a truss, out of sight, and some names I didn't recognize, but some that I did recognize. Old guys- sort of immortalized. 100 years from now- some remodeler is going to say " who the heck is Waterdog?"
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William,
I don't know of too many either. We got over walking under ladders after a few years of it. Breaking mirrors happens all the time in remodeling demo, stepping on cracks happens everyday. Leaving the old broom behind gets expensive after awhile. The only thing I don't like to do anymore is to say "I think this job will be under budget" before the job is done. That's the kiss of death sometimes. I knew one mill man who wouldn't start a job on Friday. He said it was bad luck. It's never bothered me. I have 5 black cats at home. They cross my path all the time. No big deal. Some guys are superstious about thier tools. You know, gotta have a certain hammer for this or that. But I think that's just preference. I do carry an Irish penny that my wife gave me. I think it brings me good luck. Maybe?
Ed. Williams
*I always do the "Pine Bough" yell when I get a roof dried in and try to tack a bough on the peak of the gable. It's kind of fun to keep those traditions alive. Reminds me of the ties we have to carpenters past. Our profession really hasn't changed much in at least the past 100 years. I like that. The other one I try to remember is "you don't tug on Superman's cape..."
*Jim, Never met Superman, but wind direction is always a factor to take into consideration.
*I don't really subscribe to the superstition theory, I figure at this point, like Ed Williams said, we walk under ladders daily, break mirrors, etc., I totaled a car in high school and ran it off a 50 foot cliff, rolled three times....lived, started roadracing when I was In Europe, and in '93, broke my neck (c-1/c-2) along with my back (L-4/L-5)getting folded in half backwards going facefirst through a piece of 7/8 plywood fencing...lived and walk, a year later after learning to function again, went waterskiing and hit a sandbar skiing up to shore like all the cool guys do, facefirst into the beach to re-fracture my neck again....lived, walked, and ski. At this point in life, aint jack sh*t gonna' kill me, I'm a firm believer that I'm a crash test dummie.
*Ever thought about becoming a stunt man and getting paid to bust yourself up?Speaking of that, the crashtest dummies just unionized, felt they were getting screwed by the industry, always sticking their necks out to be the guinea pigs, low compensation for being on call 24 hours a day, and the best thing that happens at work is getting a 3 second thrill ride before they smack a brick wall at "breakneck" speed.But even the dummies are getting paid!MD
*May 3 is dia de Santa Cruz, the day of the holy cross. Tradition has it that on that day a cross should be attached to buildings under construction. (Or so I have been told)
*William. Here are a few "superstitions" and myths in the building trade.Exterior walls need to "breathe." The wire mesh used in residential slabs-on-ground reinforces the slab and prevents slab cracking. Placing rigid foam board insulation (RFBI)on the exterior of the outside wall will caue moisture problems and lead to rotting of the wood. Fifteen pound felt underlaymnet is a vapor barrier. It also is a giant sponge that sdaoks up water and causes the shingles to wrinkle.Using felt underlayment under shingles will void the shingle warranty. Bituthane stops ice dams. Ice dams cannot form on metal roofs. The 1/150-1/300 attic ventilation ratios provide "adequate"attic ventilation. All combinations of ridge and soffit vents work. The best way to ventilate an attic is to install all of the following: gable-end louvered vents, soffit vents, ridge vents and roof vents. While a turbine vent is turning rain and snow cannot enter it. Radiattion can be flushed out of an attic. Shingles on an unvented attic will suffer serious degradation. Diffusion is the main cause of moisture migration in exterior walls and attics, therefore a vapor barrier mst be installed.These are a few. There are many more. GeneL.Crawl space must be ventilatedPlywood is a vapor barrier.
*It is interesting that several posters started out with, "I am not superstitious", then went on to describe, finally, a superstitious behavior of their own!:-)
*I was hanging rock with my brother and brother-in-law in San Francisco in 1983 and uncovered, on the old plaster, "March 17, 1932. This depression going on for 2 years now. Roosevelt is President - good guy! Murphy and Sons extended lights to dining and living room." So we added "May 23, 1983. Reagan is President - elitist, insensitive idiot. John Stover, Owen and David Thomas sheetrocked dining room remodel and added double 5/8" to the exterior walls". And sealed the wall back up for another 50 years. -David
*Hi Gene,Couldn't resist could you?Here's one that isn't a myth.Our forefathers (and threemothers) were not all fools. Houses and buildings built centuries ago are still standing tall.In recent times, we have forgotten the crafts of our ancesters and are hell bent in re-inventing the wheel to claim credit as the inventors.Not that long ago masons everywhere were repointing old clay brick with modern hard mortar instead of the old lime mortar and buildings everywhere are suffering damage as a result. I'm sure, it was a good innovation at the time too.Vapour barriers installed on one side of the wall in one part of the country works well and is a disaster in another climate. This is true of every product that we use. Climatic zones and soil conditions are not just for gardeners. Glad to see you're still kicking around this site,Gabe
*More of a tradition than superstition, I always throw the plans in a PVC capped and sealed tube in the last cement pour. (I'm not saying where however) for future work and proof of design....
*I like to kill a sub at the beginning of each job and hang the body from the electric temp. Just a subtle message about timeliness and budget constraints. We like to use virgins but they are becoming increasingly hard to find. Thinking about switching to architects...or redheads, maybe Luka...have to get back to you...
*Anderson has now explained why all concrete foundations develop cracks. Could there be Doritos bags and Dew cans in there, also?
*During some wiring upgrade in my last old house, I found a cross made with split reed up in the attic gable, and I doubt it had been put where it was by any previous owner -- not where owners typically go. Of course I left it there -- who knows what could have happened if I had removed it?
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No, the cracks are where Jimmy Hoffa has settled.
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I usually try to steal a subs beeper , put in a fresh battery and seal it up in a wall. Depending on the stage of construction, I have buried it in attic insulation, put it behind cabinets or in hvac returns. Put it on vibrate if possibe. They are usually insured, and it's fun to hear the haunting stories. After a month or so it will disappear like magic. Keith C (redheaded, and ornery as hell, never pass up the chance for a laugh, no matter whose expense)
*Gabe,Amen.A little late...........but I'm glad to see you back.Ed.
*Your full name wouldn't be Frederick Eugene Leger, would it ?? LOL(FredL, or GeneL, or FredGL.)View Image
*It's been said ( mostly by my dad ) that every floor squeak sounds like the builders name.
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William, Having lived and worked in Germany for a number of years, I became familiar with the tradition of having a fir tree mounted on top of any barn, outbuilding or home being built. I have seen it on top of some steel construction sites too. A mason that I knew well, always poured at least a mouthful of beer on the ground before taking his mid-morning, lunch and late afternoon beer break. He always said that it was for the lost or deceased masons. For the animal lovers out there, many a furry creature has been walled up out there I understand too, overseas and in the U.S., purely by accident I'm told. Hope this helps.
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PROBABLY THE BIGGEST SUPERSTITION IN THE COMMERCIAL BUILDING SEGMENT IS THE AVOIDANCE OR ELIMINATION OF A 13th FLOOR (SKIPPING FROM 12 TO 14). TAKE A LOOK AT THE ELEVATOR BUTTONS NEXT TIME YOUR IN A HIGH RISE BUILDING. I WORKED WITH ONE CONTRACTOR WHO Wouldn't LABEL A 13th PARKING SPOT IN ANY OF THE 3 PARKING GARAGES WE PROVIDED SIGN AGE FOR.
*Carpet installers like to trap a budgee or parakeet...
*LOL Doug. A cranky customer might be good.
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over here in japan where i live and build, there are all kinds of traditional rituals in the building process. things such as starting to build on certain "good luck"days, and permanently attaching written prayers etc.in the attics. they are all religiously based usualy Shinto or Buddhist.
although i participate in and sometimes perform them i don`t understand the meanings of these rituals well enough to explain with any credibility.
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Gabe. Good hearing from you. I couldn't agree more with you. A case in point being roof drainage on steep roofs. Its been estimated that the amount of rain and snow falling on the average roof over the course of a year would form a lake on the roof 2-1/2 feet deep. Now given this, take a look at 12th century European roofs. According to one researcher, through the centuries enough snow and water has fallen on these roofs to cover the South Pole. They were so perfectly designed and constructed, drainage wise, that not a single complaint of backups is reported. But of course, we today know " better"and have more modern materials.When a valley empties into a gutter the medievil designer placed a downspout immediately below the valley so the water gets right to the ground. But we "moderns"know better...we don't do it this way.
Luka. Thanks for giving me a chuckle. GeneL(Leger)
*Just as a possible root...the chinese believe that the number 4 looks like a man (1), plunging a knife... (the part theat turns the 1 into a four resembles an arm and a sword), thus representing suicide...and death. The word for 2 in chinese...sounds just like the word (and). Thus...the worse possible combination of numbers....424...death and death again. They have many superstitions regarding money and chi...stairways and door directions and mirrors all having to do with something called Feng Shui. When you start looking at the rules as laid out by the superstitions, some bits of common sense begin to appear. ie... entrances should be to the north or south. (In most of china and hong kong...the prevailing wind is from the west...) Thus if they had oriented the entrance to the west...they would have had a drafty house and likely suffered ill health. What has to be remembered is that this way of designing is 3000 years old.L
*One tradition was to leave a coin dated at the year of construction under the newel post cap. If it was hollow, a set of blueprints were left inside. I still do the coin tradition.
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I wouldn't call it a superstition, but in my area of the country, when building a two-story home, it is considered common courtesy to the homeowner to inquire as to whether they want the "odd" step in their staircase to be on the top or the bottom of the run.
ITS A JOKE FELLAS!
For kicks, we always left a piece of paper with the whole crew's names written on it and rolled up in the area directly abve the front door header. It is difficult to sign your work when it is a house, so we had to improvise.
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While recently renovating a room in my Mom's 90+ yr old house here in Philly, I pulled a trim board and found underneath that the original carpenter had sketched a profile caricature of (presumably) himself, and signed something - too illegible, but again presumably his name. It was weird, he kinda looked like Hitler, so I was a bit (more) surprised. I also found the remains of a newspaper in the attic above, from a bit later, 1912, the BIG story of the day being an auto accident.
While not specifically construction related, the whole house-warming party idea I think would fit in this discussion.
As for voids in concrete, I know Jimmy Hoffa has been the more fashionable rumor of late, but I remember hearing the Hoover Dam supposedly has dozens of workers entombed in the concrete. They're men who fell into the forms while the concrete was being poured, and there was either no way to pull them out, or the other tale I heard is the foreman didn't want to take the time to pull them out and thereby miss the deadlines. (no pun intended ;) Sounds like a buncha bull to me, but then I never see this story on the hoax websites...
*Hi Gene,It behoves me to think that researchers have so much time on there hands to come up with such useless information. (and inaccurate)Another 6 inches of snow fell last night out here which would mean that we get enough to cover the south pole every year!The esthetic requirements that the modern homeowner has demanded negates the use of downspouts at every intersection.European homes, for the main, also have their plumbing on the exterior of the home.That would go over well here.GabePS My book is almost finished now.
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Gsabe. Looking forward to a copy of your book. GeneL
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William Kelley. Here are some half dozen or so energy-efficiency myths.
1.Polyehtylene vapor retarders are a must.
2. Pl acing sun shades over and around air conditioners saves energy.
3.Log houses are too leaky to be energy efficient.
4. Crawl space ventilation is a must.
5. Ground-source heat pumps are efficient and cost-effective.
6.Cellulose insulation is a fire hazard.
7. Duct cleaning is a must if you want good indoor air quality
8. Ceramic paint is considerably better than white paint for saving energy.
9. House wrap when used on an average sized house saves hundreds of dollars a year.
10. When using rigid foam board insulation (RFBI)as exterior sheathing, the seams should not be sealed so that the walls can "breathe."
GeneL.
*In ancient times the lords from the British isles to the Polynesian isles Egypt to Central America (in other words, all around the planet) believed that the blood of a slave in the foundation would bring peace and prosperity to those who would indwell the structure. Could this be a way of getting a religious exemption from OSHA?
*Read a book a while back ("Midnight in the Garden of Good & Evil") which stated a custom in Savannah, GA in the Victorian era was to have the stairs built with one of the risers near the top a few inches either higher or lower than the others. Was supposed to trip up burglars.
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it's become a tradition for me to hide a clean set of job prints(sometimes wrapped in a plastic sleeve) up in the joist space, or a stud bay just before it's rocked. you never know when the next remodeler will find your work!
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Don't stand on the lower side of a roof from a cranky roofer, especially if you turn your back to admire the view. 2x Especially if you've had anything to say about the roof installation other than 'great job.'
*Jeff...being an architect onsite must be like being a lieutenant in the Army....Not for me!Watch your backside!near the stream,aj
*This sounds a little similar to a strategy I've been using for years, in the non-construction area of life. You know how the guys who snap and make the headlines are always "quiet, never bother anyone " types, as described by the neighbours? Well, when I move into a new neighborhood, I search these types out. Then I kill them, and bury them in my back yard. I have yet to be bothered by psychopaths. I've been doing this for years as I move from town to town, across the nation. Gives me some peace of mind.
*That's thoughtful of you Adrian, but you're leaving behind residual neighborhoods of noisy, bothersome people. Had you considered this consequence of your actions?Quiet, but bothersome, Steve
*Steve; why do you think I move on? Where do you live, by the way? And how quiet are you?
*Figures. A quick check with your neighbors, past and present, finds you invariably described as a quiet, never bothers anyone type.Rich Beckman
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Not much work getting done today, huh? Isn't the architect/construction manager student an oxymoron?I recently submitted to my Writing class at the local community college, an essay detailing the demise of the architect in favor of the construction manager,when did the tree topping ceremony become superstitious?This post lends credence to the long anticipated stratagy of the building industry that all arcitectural students spend about 4/5 years on a building crew before imparting their "wisdom" on the outcome of a building, may take a little more than two weeks to gather this info you seek,wil
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Hey Rich! Adrian knows where YOU live.
Keeping a low profile, Steve
*My neighbor's would tell you that I keep to myself and I'm often seen digging in the back yard.Rich Beckman
*And you'd never guess what finger gets used the most to salute! Of course, my back is i usuallyturned ... except on the roof ...I'd say it's more like being a cook, particularly since the word 'mess' comes up so often.Jeff
*Does this mean you also post in the "Fine Gardening" forum?Becoming increasingly paranoid, Steve
*> Does this mean you also post in the "Fine Gardening" forum?Funny you should ask. I plan to check over there for a couple of things this week!Rich Beckman
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Hello - I'm an architecture/construction management student and I'm
doing a paper on superstitions in the building and architecture trades - like
the tree topping ceremony and the hidden imperfection. Do you have any that you
can share with me? I have two weeks to collect information. Thanks!