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I gave notice yesterday. As much as I wanted to let him have a piece of my mind about certain things, I took the high road. There is a website that has form resignation letters that are pretty good: http://www.i-resign.com/uk/letters/default.asp Here is the letter I wrote...

Alas, no. The top of the wall is actually the parapet, which is 1' above the bottom of the joists. The joists are set into pockets in the wall, as are the trusses on which the joists sit. I think that some sort of epoxy solution is the answer. Maybe I will just use Dur-o-wall URM wall repair...

YES. I am trying to find a loophole in the code. This is a building that has been in service for many years and the worst it has to show for it is a few cracks in the URM. That is pretty standard. The idea is to basically "smear" epoxy onto the ledger and epoxy it into place. You ask...

I am currently designing a frame to retrofit an existing unreinforced masonry building. The existing building has been in existence for a long time (50+years) and has experienced the expected settling, shifting, etc, which resulted in some diagonal cracks at the corners of opening and at the...

I am currently still in Design Review on said project, so it is not yet resolved, but I believe that the limitations of the existing walls are dictating that I must leave the walls uninsulated. Glad to hear that it may not be such a problem!

Maybe, but that is irrelevant. If the SE designed the foundation and drew up the plans for it, then the inspector is going to want to see the foundation built per the plans. If he sees it done another way, he is going to demand a letter of approval from the SE...why don't you save yourself and...

Does not house wrap also force any condensation to drip down it so that it does not infiltrate the building envelope any further...the whole thing about heating climates v. cooling climates and where to put the vapor barrier also comes into play here. So then, what is the best way to seal the...

Actually, that is a great way to support the ceiling without having to worry about cracks due to stiffness irregularities in the beam v. joist. The remodel looks great!

I suspect the lack of replies to this thread is due to the vagueness of your question. Can you restate a little more clearly?

I am working on an old house in Oakland, CA which was damaged by fire several months ago. I am designing a new roof and will be doing the interior as well. THe problem is, the client demo'ed the interior down to the studs and there is no building wrap between the studs and the siding as one...

I am working on a project that involves the demolition of an existing 100 year old structure that contains hazardous materials, including asbestos, PCB ballasts, fiberglass resin in containers and huge timbers covered in lead paint. I have another project that is to design a new home for a...

I realize you probably found your answer, but I have found "MARINAS and Small Craft Harbors" by Tobiasson & Kollmeyer to be a very useful resource. It gives examples of loading, dock design, etc. I think it can be found at amazon.com

The UBC (don't know about the IBC, California and all;) states that the minimum required footing width for walls supporting 1 floor is 12". For walls supporting 2 floors, 15". Is your bottom floor a slab on grade? If so then the footing is not supporting this floor, so the attic counts...

The spacing of the piers is dependent on many things, but primarily on vertical and lateral load capacity. Is this a sloping site? Is there a known tendency for homes in your area to experience differential settlement (do your neighbors complain of their houses leaning strangely, and perhaps...

I suspect you will be required to obtain renter's insurance for this. It is standard practice for most apartment complexes for aquariums and waterbeds. On the plus side, renter's insurance is cheap and it also protects you against many other civil liabilities.

There are a couple of books that I use regularly that are filled with rule-of-thumb types of formulas. The first is called "Standard Handbook of Architectural Engineering" by Robert Brown Butler and is filled with short formulas that the author has compiled for all aspects of...