Ungraded lumber

[SCBO1]

How bout a phone? If there's an emergency do they have 911 service?

 

[steveray]

My first 4 story wood-framed apartment project was in 1995. The structural engineer called for #2 studs on load-bearing walls. I (the architect) came out to the job site and found the framing on the first floor was stamped “standard and better”.

The contractor tried to argue that the “and better” meant that it included #2, so I should be happy. I said, what if you paid for gas that was 92 octane, but instead they told you you should be happy with “85 or better”?
I told them they could either tear it all out, or contract with the mill to come out and stamp all the stud and plates that qualified at #2.

They tore it all down and rebuilt. I went out and saw when the 3rd wall was being rebuilt, and again I saw “standard and better”. So they tore it down again, and this time they got it right.

Ever since that project, I ALWAYS look at the grade stamps.

OOOOF....

 

[SCBO1]

Seen a few jobs with old growth lumber in a house and the guy wanted to reuse the lumber and I said knock your self out. Then he calls me and sez he can't use joist hangers unless he chisels the ends down or can he use double hangers? I suggested he get the rough cedar hangers if can find them from Simpson Strong Tie.

 

[Sifu]

How bout a phone? If there's an emergency do they have 911 service?

Having lived around them and worked with a few of them I have been told that the rules are somewhat of a moving target. I know they don't have electric service, but many do use generators (they are converting the metal working machines they bought to run off of them). The folks I know don't have phones in their house, but have had pay phones installed on adjacent or nearby properties to use. Some use cell phones, and one I worked with had a driver with a van that had a complete office inside it, with a cell phone and fax machine. I know several that make a decent little income from driving them around. I have read many articles about the application of codes for them, and there appears to be no standard practice, different strokes for different folks, and different strokes for different courts in many cases. Just a curiosity I have always had. Next time I go up I may visit the building official (whom I know) and see what they do.

 

[Inspector Gadget]

Little drift here...but related (maybe?). I just returned from central PA again, and the town I spent a fair bit of my youth in is experiencing a tremendous influx of Amish, far more than when I was there. But, when I was there, there was no adopted code or building department. Now there is, and I wondered what/if/how any inspections or codes applied to the Amish. Case in point, I went out to an Amish homestead that was previously in my family, and noticed their giant lumber mill operation, where they are getting the lumber for all the giant houses and barns they are building. (They also recently bought several huge (if not antique) metal milling machines, presses, lathes etc. from us for their new fabricating shop....built out of that lumber.) Most industrious group of people I have ever known.

When I first decided to do a ride-along to see if this inspection gig might be for me, I went to a different part of our province where there were Amish. Canadian Codes require electrical outlets/lights/etc to be provided. Nothing requires the electrical facilities to be connected to the grid - just present if that was a choice down the road. That was the guidance I received, and it made sense.

Shoulda asked how they deal with smoke alarms....

 

[bill1952]

They are not required to have electricity.

Around here, no indoor plumbing, unless it's a hand pump. Outhouses, no septic systems. The buildings appear all very level and plumb.

Their workmanship is really, really good.

 

[Mr. Inspector]

They are all different. i asked a group of Amish why they are using electric cordless tools. They said that they can have electric, they just can't get it from a utility. Two guys with them were not Amish, did the driving and plugged in their batteries to charge for them.

 

[Yankee Chronicler]

They are all different. i asked a group of Amish why they are using electric cordless tools. They said that they can have electric, they just can't get it from a utility. Two guys with them were not Amish, did the driving and plugged in their batteries to charge for them.

Yes, "Amish" is in many ways a very loose classification, because local Amish churches/communities/sects (whatever they're called) all have their own rules, and some are more strict than others with regard to how many "modern" amenities they are allowed to have and use. The differences even extend to the kind or markings and lights they use on their buggies.

 

[bill1952]

Yes, "Amish" is in many ways a very loose classification, because local Amish churches/communities/sects (whatever they're called) all have their own rules, and some are more strict than others with regard to how many "modern" amenities they are allowed to have and use. The differences even extend to the kind or markings and lights they use on their buggies.

Agree. Around here, very conservative. No markings on buggies (all black buggies here - frightening coming up behind them on a dark night); no cell phones in mailboxes (hear some do that for emergencies); they do use gasoline engines on some saws.