Homeowners & Trades Resource Center - Latest Comments

Re: LEAD FAQ’s – To Test or Not to Test – that is the question

SLS Construction — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 21:15:00 -0000

Hey Stephen I was wondering why I haven't heard from you on here. So what your saying is if you live in Cali you have a 50 / 50 shot of testing positive instead of 25% - interesting
Thanks for popping in & commenting

Re: LEAD FAQ’s – To Test or Not to Test – that is the question

Stephen Masek — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:42:32 -0000

What is missing is how much lead-based paint is in the buildings EPA studied. The same for the other government studies. Fortunately, consultants have decades of experience, so we can provide more detail. My company has been in business twenty years, and we have tested thousands of buldings. Since we started keeping detailed statistics in 2010, we have found that half of the residential buildings in southern California built 1960 to 1977 we have tested contain no lead-based paint, and half just a little. That fits with our memories of our earlier work. Even the older ones do not have it everywhere. There is however a neighborhood bias - the fancier areas have more elad-based paint.

Thesting is properly thought of as the process of backing down from the silly and expensive assumption that all of the paint is lead-based paint.

Re: LEED Habitat: Let’s get this project rolling

Dumpsters of America — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:41:32 -0000

Nice to see such a worthwhile project getting under way.

Re: New Home & Condensed Maintenance Checklist

SLS Construction — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:20:32 -0000

Thanks Ginny & in short, it should have a gauge on it - if it falls out of the green area or does not have one it should be turned in. One other item to check is for rust or other signs of damage - if it is damaged it also needs to be turned in or disposed of properly as it may not function (even if it still shows full)
Hmmm, maybe I should do a follow up to my Primer article: http://blog.sls-construction.c...

Re: New Home & Condensed Maintenance Checklist

GinnyPowell — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 13:33:30 -0000

Excellent list Sean! How does one check to ensure a fire extinguisher is operational? I have a very old one that I keep near the bedrooms & have no idea if it is still good or not. Thanks!

Re: LEED Habitat: Let the concrete flow

Marnie Hughes — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:53:50 -0000

Fantastic work! Thank you for your caring and hard work.

Re: Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?

Castsustainable — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 01:13:10 -0000

Excellent ! i have never seen such Explinations before best of luck..

Re: Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?

SLS Construction — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 18:31:20 -0000

My pleasure Mike & thanks for the comment. I definitely agree with you on the planning. Shoot with enough planning & fore-thought the cost for most builders isn't that much more unless they start adding in boutique items like renewables, spray foam, or geothermal.
Granted a hundred here & a hundred there adds up, but some of this gets offset with smaller equipment choices. For the consumer the choice is easy do you want to "pay for it now or pay more for it later."

Re: Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?

SLS Construction — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:52:23 -0000

Thanks Josh - I have heard about & looked through there site http://www.architecture2030.or... but not followed it to closely as most of the architects I know that are part of the AIA are mainly dealing with commercial work. Hopefully this will change soon
Congrats again on your project achieving LEED Gold - way to go

Re: Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?

SLS Construction — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:44:28 -0000

Thanks for checking in Andrew & sure we would love to hear how it is done down under. I have been following what Australia has been doing for some time & have been pretty impressed. Thanks again

Re: Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?

Mike Hines — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:06:16 -0000

Sean,

Thanks for this update. Steady progress gets the job done. I'm pleased to see so much effort going into building homes better...takes some plannig and adds a bit of cost up front but the eventual benefits roll to the homeowner and the broader society. A good trend...thanks for keeping us up to speed.

Mike

Re: Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?

Josh — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 13:41:29 -0000

Have you looked into the Architecture 2030 challenge? Same goal of carbon neutral by the year 2030, however have different HERS index targets. For instance, by the year 2015, all new homes should meet achieved a score of 39.

Re: Are you up to the Challenge – the Building America Challenge?

Andrew — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 01:55:21 -0000

Building smarter and using carbon neutral materials and making the most of solar aspects will get You guys a long way towards your goals. I am in Australia but I am willing to give some of my experiences for free if you think I can be of assistance contact me http://www.aadbuild.com/contac... regards Andrew :-)

Re: LEED Habitat: Weather & Scheduling

SLS Construction — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:48:52 -0000

Thanks Mike & I hope to - concrete got poured today & a new group from Western Kentucky was here. I hope to have todays pics up later today or by Wednesday at the latest. As for making things happen, my hats off to Habitat & the volunteers - I think there the real stars and I am just glad to be able to help out

Re: RIP: Solar Powered Attic Ventilator’s

SLS Construction — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 18:45:35 -0000

Yep, got to love their math - basically though it is based off the size of the opening & the fan is just there to simply assist it
Thanks for joining in & commenting - much appreciated

Re: RIP: Solar Powered Attic Ventilator’s

Bob Blanchette — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:10:17 -0000

I've always wondered about the CFM ratings on the fans. Only in solar attic fan world can a 20 watt motor move 800CFM of air.

Re: LEED Habitat: Weather & Scheduling

Mike Hines — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:59:28 -0000

Sean,

Nice update...keep the coming. Despite the less-than-cooperative weather you, the Habitat and Notre Dame College team are making things happen. Great life lesson all around...and for a worthwhile cause. Nicely done!.

Re: LEED Habitat: Let’s get this project rolling

Mike Hines — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 09:56:22 -0000

Sean,

I'm thoroughly enjoying your LEED for Habitat posts and look forward to the updates. Participating in a Habitat event is beneficial on so many levels...adding LEED experience to the mix is surely icing on the cake. Rock on and keep those posts coming. Thanks.

Re: Becoming a LEED AP: Habitat for Humanity, BOULD, and You?

SLS Construction — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:01:54 -0000

Thanks & hopefully I will have one up later tonight or tommorow morning. The NDA was pretty boiler plate though somewhat vague and was mainly written to protect the info gathered for LEED points / documentation. That was one item I wanted clarified and I also wanted to make sure that not only BOULD but the Habitat folks were fine with the idea.

Re: Becoming a LEED AP: Habitat for Humanity, BOULD, and You?

johndpoole — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 09:55:21 -0000

That's a great opportunity Sean and a real win-win for every one involved. Only thing I don't get is the NDA requirement. When you said you settled on your right to blog and post photos, was that basically getting them to waive the NDA? Can't wait to read more about this project.

Re: Becoming a LEED AP: Habitat for Humanity, BOULD, and You?

SLS Construction — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:58:55 -0000

In many ways that despends on your local Habitat affiliate, you and others.That is one reason why this was my first article on the journey, which is to let everyone know about this program and the benefits for everyone. If you look under the EverBuild section above, there is a link to how affiliates can sign on,the benefits, and what is required. Thanks & best of luck

Re: Becoming a LEED AP: Habitat for Humanity, BOULD, and You?

Greg Harris — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 07:30:11 -0000

Will there be programs like that coming to the DC area.

Re: Let’s Blog Off: Warning, objects maybe closer than they appear

Pat Eggleton — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:04:35 -0000

Happy New Year!

Re: Let’s Blog Off: Warning, objects maybe closer than they appear

SLS Construction — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:47:42 -0000

Thanks Todd & here's hoping you meet & exceed all your goals and likes this year

Re: Let’s Blog Off: Warning, objects maybe closer than they appear

SLS Construction — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:45:46 -0000

God I hope so... & thanks for the vote of confidence - to bad your husband isn't a graphics designer though we might have to chat later about some diagrams I need done up. Thanks for the comment & nice post today