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November 25, 2008

Wood-Burning Appliances and Fire Safety

Despite all the talk about climate change, we still have winter. And, last time I looked at the calendar and the frost on my grass every morning, its coming.

This combination of climate change, winter -- and add in some seriously pricey fuel costs -- has people installing wood-burning appliances like crazy where I live, whether they be pellet stoves or wood-burning stoves.

The key here is to make sure they heat your house, not burn it down. So...

• If you haven't had your stove checked -- by a dedicated stove specialist -- recently, do so. There are wear parts in a stove that need to be maintained.


• If you've just bought a house with a wood-burning appliance in it, also have it checked -- especially if you don't have paperwork from the previous owner.


• Some things to look for: Clearances to combustibles is a big issue with stoves. They get hot and need the proper distance between them and the wall. They also need a non-combustible hearth underneath them that extends far enough out from the stove to catch sparks that might fly. The chimney height: You want to make sure you have the proper clearance from the chimney top to the roof. The chimney should be 2 feet higher than anything within 10 feet of it (the 2 and 10 rule.)


• Outside air kits. I like this idea (an outside air kit vents cold air into the stove for combustion and they're requirements in some locations/homes) but my stove guy tells me that they're kind of like opening a window in the house because you typically can't close them... in other words, cold air fills the stove when it isn't burning. Check this detail with your installer.

Bottom line, wood-burning appliances are safe and, to my mind, very green. Wood is harvested locally and is totally renewable. Indeed if we don't burn it it goes into a landfill. But stoves aren't toys. Check yours. Be safe. Stay toasty.

Posted by Mark Clement at 1:32 PM | Comments (3)

November 20, 2008

What's Your Bathroom Bible?

I love it when I find relevant and useful information all in one place. While prepping for a recent bathroom I installed I found some great design information -- both recommendations from experienced designers and code minimums -- at NKBA.com.

I like that they detail where I can frame walls, partitions, and how I should lay out what's always a limited space in a bathroom.

That was the challenge I just faced. To make it work we installed a 4-foot bathtub. We also did a 3/4 high (about 7 feet) shower wall to let light get into the shower area from the new window.

But code and recommendations sometimes only take you so far. For example, if I were planning a full addition to a property, I'd have the room to plan in these minimums -- at the minimum. But as a remodeler of old homes I'd need a variance for every bathroom I ever did; my building department knows that so we do what works in the space we have. Nevertheless I find that these recommendations are still useful. I can use them as benchmarks in working with customers. I can even hand them off to prospective customers so they can get a sense of what their bathroom looks like.

One area where you really can't skimp is the shower. A person can either fit in there and move around or not. Minimum code for a shower stall (I often makes these to fit the space, so this is good to know) is 900 cubic inches. To gauge this in real life, cut a 30 inch diameter disc out of cardboard. If you can pass that through the interior space of your planned shower, then it meets minimum code. Nice tip.

What's your bathroom bible? Your design rules for the bathroom road? What tips can you share?

Posted by Mark Clement at 1:25 PM

November 2, 2008

Bathroom Installation Checklist

Pound-for-pound remodeling a bathroom is one of the toughest jobs we have. They're even tougher than kitchens. Think about it, the customer can always eat out.

Oddly, in most bathroom build-outs there's almost nothing skill-wise that's totally elusive to most decent carpenters. You might do some basic framing, replace a window, hang drywall, tile, install some flooring, sub out the plumbing/electrical, install a tub…Hey wait a minute—you have to do all this in a 6 x 8 space!!!! You can barely breath in a 6x8 space, much less build a complete house within a house, which is really what you're doing.

It's not the little things that can derail a project like this, it's doing them all, rapid fire in a small space—and in what's arguably the most personal space in someone's home.

To get things off on the right foot, I do a lot of preparation. And one thing I like to do is go over a checklist of things with the customer that are important to the project. That I have a list caught a lot of guys' attention during the www.Kohler.com www.SterlingPlumbing.com presentation at www.TheRemodelingShow.com. My checklist includes:

• Mapping out the yard and the house: where can I place materials, where can I park, do I need parking permits, what are the restrictions, where can my guys park?
• Where can I put my dump trailer or dumpster? Do you have prize marigolds you need access to a dumpster might block?
• How can I enter and exit the house? What doors can I and can't I use?
• Do you have pets? Can you please see to ALL of their needs so we can work?
• Can we take over a room inside the house for staging materials that can't go outside, like bath furniture.
• In a gut job, I emphasize this verbally and in email: YOUR HOUSE IS GOING TO GET DUSTY. I will do my best to minimize the dust, but I can't control it entirely. Where there's budget, I include a maid service to do a final clean-up after I'm done.
• Halo Effect: In a gut job there is a lot of bang-and smash work and this can dislodge drywall, plaster, whatever in other rooms. I let them know this ahead of time and that fixing it will be an upcharge.

After we do all this, we can actually do some work on the bathroom.

Posted by Mark Clement at 12:43 PM | Comments (3)