Well the construction site next door has been busy the last few days.  Stay tuned as they will be pouring concrete in the next few days I am sure.  I would not be surprised if they were not shooting for tomorrow as it is supposed to rain some this weekend.

I will see if I can get some of the photos processed to time lapse video over the weekend.  Keep watching HERE!

I was evaluating the performance of a home's foundation today where a root barrier had been improperly installed to low in the soil.  This resulted in the barrier being pushed down as an oak tree's roots grew over the barrier.  The failure of the barrier was evident in the performance of the building's foundation which had not shown much evidences of differential settlement over the last 15 years, and which had shown significant changes in performance over the last few months.

The root barrier is the sliver line the tree root is to the right in the picture.

Root barriers should be installed well above the soil to prevent this from occuring.  If you are not installing them above grade then they will eventually fail.

I ran across some information being sent around by email on how to prevent the flu.  Basically just wash your hands and don't touch your face; however there are some other good recommendations.  I follow some and have found that I do indeed have improved health.  Check out the short blog on Peerviewblog.com that I contribute to and you will find the link to the article home page.

I was sent an email from Rodney Townsend, a Marine whom I consider to be a good friend.  I felt this worthwhile to promote  and ask if I could post it to this web site.  Please consider his request as part of your Christmas planning and lets see if we can get a wreath on every headstone.

The Wreaths Across America program is a nationwide effort to place Christmas wreaths on the headstones of our fallen at National cemeteries across the country. The National Cemetery located in Houston has over 53,000 local veterans buried in it. Last year just under 14,000 wreaths were placed on those graves.

As a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Alvin, I’m looking for folks to sponsor wreaths. They are $15 each and contributions are tax deductible. If you know a veteran buried at Houston National, we will see to it that your wreath is placed on their grave.

Wreaths will be distributed on Saturday, December 12th starting at 11AM. You do not have to be present to have your wreath placed but we are asking for volunteers to assist. This presents an incredible opportunity for youth organizations, sports teams, church groups, families, etc. An opportunity to Remember, Honor, and Teach.

Please let me know if you would like to donate or assist. The deadline is OCTOBER 31st.

If you would like to donate please shoot me an email. rod_townsend@yahoo.com

Please make checks payable to Alvin VFW Post 5237 and mail them to 13720 Bryan Ave. Alvin, TX 77511.

For more info, visit www.WAAHouston.com

***Wreaths can be purchased through the above website but we encourage you to go through our VFW Post… it will allow us to place more wreaths.***

$5 out of every wreath purchased goes back to our local VFW Post. Our Post will then spend every dime of what we get back to purchase more wreaths. Example: 100 people sponsor wreaths (through our Post) at $15 each… our Post will receive $500 from the Wreaths Across America Program. We will then purchase another 50 wreaths.

I really would appreciate your help with this. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Business is still pretty brisk which is a nice change from last year at this time.  I have not had much time to contribute to this blog.
I am working on some information on cornice details for fiber cement cornice interfaces to the roof.  This is a detail which is typically poorly addressed by builders.  As such I have done some research and have information to help address this problem as soon as I can get it formatted and posted.
I also have some life expectancy data I have reviewed and edited for our area I would like to get posted in the information section of this web site.
Stay tuned.  I will get to this as time permits.  Thanks for your interest and business.

I often work with Clouse Floors helping them to find and solve moisture issues with wood floors.  In many cases these issues are related to wood floors installed over crawlspaces in older homes or in homes which have been remodeled.  We often find wood floors or sub-flooring rotting, cupping or warping.  It is amazing how little moisture differential is required to cause severe warping of a wood flooring system.

During a recent conversation with Dan Tremble at Clouse Floors he asked if I knew of a vendor selling specific ventilators he could recommend to his clients.  While I often see them fabricated from components I have not seen a system sold as a ready to install unit.  While browsing the Journal of Light Construction this afternoon I saw they had one advertised at Tjernlund.com.

Normally these are installed as part of generally correcting condition as much as possible to reduce humidity at the crawlspace.  This could include improving drainage, installation of ground cover, drain systems, ect…

If your brick mortar is as soft as shown in this video then you have problems.  Soft brick mortar is weak and prone to rapid erosion due to water action.  This normally occurs first at the bottom of brick walls and window ledges.  Excessive erosion of the mortar will promote water entry behind the brick and possibly into the building if it happens quickly.  Loss of mortar also weakens the brick creating the potential for its failure structural failure.  It is normally recommended that brick veneer mortar have a compressive strength of 750 psi which cannot be easily scratched with a sharp tool.  (Labratory testing of the mortar is not nomrally possible once installed and if testing is desirable test samples would need to be prepared during its installation.)

To repair this condition you need to contact a mason for options based upon your specific construction and failure.  Patching repairs can be effective in some cases although you may expect more maintenance over time.  Full repair would require replacement of the brick if necessary.

First and foremost I would like to extend my thanks again for everyone who supported my efforts at riding the MS150 this year in San Antonio.  Your donations to the muscular sclerosis are appreciate.

The ride did not go well this year.  It was cool and raining from prior to the start on Saturday morning until they canceled the second days riding on Sunday morning citing safety.  My friend Teddy and his wife Una, who put together the group I was riding with, allowed me to stay with them Friday night.  We drove to the Alamodome early Saturday morning in the pouring rain with bikes loaded prepared to go for it.  The rain only lightened a bit and never let up.  When we arrived at the parking area a guy on a bike crashed and slid into the intersection and we took that as a sign maybe this was not a good idea.  Teddy and I have been riding collectively for at least 30 years.  Both of us have spent a fair amount of time in the saddle in rainy, wet, and cold conditions in both training and racing to know that this was not something we thought was a good idea for safety, nor fun.  We chose to sit out the day and wait for the next day.  The forecast was worse for Sunday.  I packed up and headed back for Houston.  This morning I heard they had canceled Sunday’s ride.

Speaking with friends and associates who did the ride it was less than pleasurable but they made it.  I don’t regret my decision, but I wish the weather had been better to enjoy the day riding and making friends.  Perhaps next year.  I will be in San Antonio again in about 3 weeks to enjoy riding Tour De Gruene so all is not lost.  I will wear my bandana from my MS 150 sponsor.

I did see something I thought was worth a word.  Check out this bamboo bike.  It's called a Bamboosero.  They are making them in 3rd world countries for transportation because they cost effective. If you can help out their web site is:

http://guluhope.org/bamboosero.html

Thanks again,
Edward Robinson

I was performing a quality of workmanship inspection today on a newly constructed home.  The builder would not allow me to access the roof without a harness system for safety, which prevented my access to inspect the roofing system.  Currently I do not carry a harness of this type and had to inspect from the ground in this case.

Looking at the roof system of the home next door made this worrisome.  Notice the 2x4 planks nailed to the surface of the roof?  The nails used to secure these in place leave holes in the roof that most roofers and builders do not repair.  You will most likely find these near siding or on very steep pitches of roofing.  I could not check the roof for such nail holes, but when I can I frequently find them.  These nail holes often do not leak immediately.  They most often leak within 6 to 8 years after installation of the roof if they do not leak immediately.  Repair should be performed by replacing the shingles where the damage exists.  These planks should never be used, but they are cheaper and easier than proper jacks or metal strapping systems for cleats.