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Hello from Ohio's Amish country

ASchafer

Member
Joined
Jul 30, 2013
Messages
10
Location
Millerburg, Ohio
Hi,

I'm Andy Schafer, I am the head of maintenance for 2 hotels in Holmes County, Ohio. I have been at it for 11 years now and have found it to be quite the interesting journey! :p I take care of all the building maintenance including pools, sprinkler inspections, HVAC/electrical/plumbing issues, and changing light bulbs. Fortunately I don't have to mow the lawn!

I have recently been finding myself faced with various problems that require some research into our wonderful selection of codes. For the most part I enjoy researching problems and finding the solutions but when it comes to our fire codes in particular I have begun to contemplate moving to a cave and becoming a hermit! :) I decided to find some experts to help me and that is how I arrived here!

Thank you in advance to anyone willing to help me out! I hope that I might also be able to help some as well but I'm not sure where I'll be able to! I sure will try!
 
ASchafer,

Welcome to the Building Code Forum! :)

Do you have any questions?

To begin with, ..I have one for you. What construction codes do the Amish use,

or does Millerburg require?

.
 
I do have a question that I just posted in the Fire Codes section!

As far as building codes here, there is very little oversight on the residential construction around here. This makes a lot of contractors happy but I have seen some extremely shoddy work go unchecked. I actually saw a house with a full 8' basement entirely laid up in 4" block, laid on edge! I am from a construction background and during those years I worked outside of the county because I couldn't compete with the Amish crews who worked for next to nothing. Don't get me wrong, there are quite a few good quality Amish contractors but there is nothing to ensure that save their own consciences!

Commercial construction is regulated much better but is still not up to par with most of the rest of Ohio. I know of one hotel that the builder who was also the owner couldn't get his permits in time but decided to build anyway! To make it worse, he got away with it virtually unscathed!

Thanks for the welcome! I can see that I will be learning a lot here!
 
Welcome aboard ASchafer!

Hopefully we can help you out now and in the future, there is a wealth of knowledge and experierience on this forum. And sometimes you need thick skin..........but don't take it too personal.

Again, welcome!
 
ASchafer,

Thanks for your reply!

I was thinking that the Amish had a separate construction code to follow (RE: the Amish Construction

Code, or something similar)

Anyway, ..I will also emphasize what "fatboy" has stated, that sometimes Forum responders need

a (very) thick skin, and the ability to not take things personnally on here.

Again, ..welcome on board! :)

.
 
ASchafer, You landed in a very good place. There is a lot of talent here and I would even venture to say some of the best in the country. So welcome and enjoy!
 
Thank you to all for the welcome! It is very obvious to me already that there is a lot of knowledge here and I thank all of you for the willingness to help!

Have a wonderful weekend one and all!!
 
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