Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Things I learded this week

What a productive week and further proof that you never stop learning. Here are the things I learned:

Bathroom fans don't always vent to the outside. 
I was chatting with an electrician about putting in new bath fans. He explained to me that in some cases, hooligan builders will just plop a fan in and have it vent all the warm, wet air right into the attic. Now, in some cases, that isn't horrible because attics are vented like crazy and it isn't doing any real damage. However, if your attic is buttoned up nice and tight to save you some cash on your heating bills, dumping warm wet air up among the insulation is just going to give you a mold problem. Mold in your attic is not a good thing. Once you get it, you need someone to come in and sort it out. 

Some tilers are excessive builders.
I worked on a bathroom remodel and had the good fortune of tearing out a shower that was built to withstand Armageddon. It was a 38" x 38" neo-angle shower that was framed out using every nail produced in the 80's.  I pulled one support out that had 15 nails holding it to a stud. On top of that. The studs were covered with drywall then a plastic screen was laid over it with a nail every 3 inches. That screen was then covered with 3/4 of an inch of cement and all that was covered with a layer of thinset and approx a billion 4" pink tiles.
I hammered on the walls with a sledge and could hardly get them to budge. The tray they built must have weighed over 300 pounds. Each 12" x 12" section I tore out (and they came out about 12 inches at a time) must have weighed about 20 pounds.

And the last thing I learned.

Nails are sharp.
I stepped on a nail. Not like I had a pile of junk on the floor and lost my footing ending up with a nail in my foot. It wasn't anything that accidental.
What actually happened was this. I had safely moved all the detritus out to the dumpster and was reviewing how much I had moved. One piece of trim was lying on the ground with 3 inch nails sticking out of it. In my eternal quest for safety, I figured nails sticking up would be better if someone could fold them over. So I stepped on one and gently pushed it to the side. Then another, then a third. The third one didn't like being bent over. It much preferred pushing through the bottom of my shoe and directly into the ball of my left foot. Deeply.
No one ever said I was the sharpest tool in the shed because I went to the same nail and gave it a shot with my other foot. Again the nail refused to fold and poked a hole in my right shoe and ended up piercing my big toe.

So at the end of the day, all the hard work done, I poked a hole in not one but both of my feet.
Thankfully, I am up to date on all my shots and am back in walking shape. I even went so far as running 5K yesterday.

For those of you concerned about my health, I will continue to watch the hole in my foot and make sure it doesn't turn into a festering wound. I like both of my feet a lot. I would love to keep them. However, I am a dab hand at carving. If I end up losing one, I can carve myself a good looking one out of wood.
In design news. If you do find you have mold in your attic, contact your friendly designer. He or she should know a mold remediation person that can help you get your attic clean and dry again. Then you should work with your designer to get your bathroom venting correctly.
I recommend a bath fan that is silent or near silent. If they are loud, you won't use them. If you can, you should splash out on one with a humidity sensor or a timer that is tied into the light switch. That way the biggest variable is taken out of the equation. You.


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