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  1. iggentleman

    What causes traffic jam's in your area?

    Must be daylight. Whenever the sun is up, there are traffic jams.
  2. iggentleman

    construction costs and permit fees

    Need to make a clarification. The minimum assumed construction cost is $15,000, and they base the fee on a percentage of the construction cost. For the minimum construction cost, the permit fee is around $550 if there are no revisions. Fairfax County is reasonable. Arlington County is the one...
  3. iggentleman

    2012 - Significant changes

    In Virginia the building code and amendments are approved by the state legislature every 3 years and is adopted statewide. We are currently in the transition period where both the 2006 and 2009 codes are valid. You get to pick which code to be reviewed under, but everything must comply with that...
  4. iggentleman

    Beams & Girders Bearing

    R502.6 addresses joist bearing.
  5. iggentleman

    Fire service elevator enclosure.

    Several of us didn't think the presenters' statement was correct. Just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something.
  6. iggentleman

    Fire service elevator enclosure.

    I was at a 2009 IBC training workshop earlier this week. We were talking about fire separation strategies for elevator lobbies in high rise buildings and the presenter made a statement that the fire service elevator and the accessible occupant evacuation elevator needed to be in their own...
  7. iggentleman

    pier construction question?

    Sounds like a carport with walls. I was called in to fix a project like that last year. Enclosing a covered porch, turning it into a family room. A contractor had started (without a permit) and abandoned the job when the inspectors shut him down. We looked at doing the walls with double 2x...
  8. iggentleman

    construction costs and permit fees

    Some jurisdictions have a minimum construction cost for tenant fit outs. In Fairfax it is $15,000. Got silly on a recent small project where the scope of work was paint and adding one door, total cost less than $5000. The county not only wanted to base the cost of the fee on the $15,000 minimum...
  9. iggentleman

    Pop up drains

    Might be possible, with difficulty, but you need a smaller hand than mine. Agree, it's not correct. The lav and wc are too close. In 1997 we took over the space "as is" (carpet and paint only, so no building permit needed). The last work on the space that needed a permit was around 1989. Grab...
  10. iggentleman

    Pop up drains

    This is the one in my office. Can't be lifted without grasping.
  11. iggentleman

    Pop up drains

    If it is the type operated by a plunder (push down for open, pull up for closed) how do you pull it up without tight grasping?
  12. iggentleman

    Exit doors & occupant load

    Yes, unless Assembly Main Exit requirements are applicable (2006 IBC 1025.2)
  13. iggentleman

    Asphalt Shims

    If you're worried about use of an inappropriate material, have them submit an ICC evaluation or engineered calculations.
  14. iggentleman

    Headroom at to of interior stairs

    Could argue it either way, but it seems tight to me. Are you designing or reviewing? I'd probably do a top landing dropped one riser from the floor level to improve the headroom. Not a perfect solution, but it gives you 12" + a tread of 6'-8" minimum and moving parallel to the roof, instead of...
  15. iggentleman

    Headroom at to of interior stairs

    Local interpretation (around DC) seems to include the landings (top, bottom and intermediate) as part of the stairway. I usually run the sloped ceiling at 6'-8"+ until it meets the ceiling of that story, but I've also had a top landing pass both reviewers and inspectors with a 6'-8"+ ceiling...
  16. iggentleman

    Should there be building codes to control noise in restaurants?

    That would be a nightmare. It's not as easy as calling for a particular STC between dwelling units or on a floor. Absorption, reflectance, surface angles, distances, ambient noise, point sources. Too many variables to either design to or enforce fairly. Do you require a sensor to sound an alarm...
  17. iggentleman

    Stair Landing

    Looking through both the 2006 and 2009 IRCs, I don't see anything that prevents it. Just need to maintain a minimum depth at couple of locations. Exception 2 under handrail continuity allows volutes and turnouts (which maintains rail height) but I'm not sure it allows a turn-down to replace the...
  18. iggentleman

    Stair Landing

    Definitely a winder. From the photo I can't tell if the handrail and it's termination works.
  19. iggentleman

    2 family separation vs townhouse separation

    Probably the same reason that the IBC has the height and area table. Larger building assumes a greater risk and therefore requires a greater degree of protection.
  20. iggentleman

    No building codes?

    I wonder how not having a building code affects their legal system. Normally a building code would provide something of a safe harbor for the building designers. Does that mean that there is no limitation on liability for anything that might go wrong with a building, whether it was done to code...
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