Recent content by thayer

As a vise addict (like a lot of you) I’ve got an eBay alert always looking for the holy grail: the Reed 3C. It finally popped up on eBay this morning. Having bought 2 Prentiss and a Starret recently I am holding off but someone should snap this up. The 3C doesn’t pop up too often...

Beauty!

A rail-road tie retaining wall like yours has a useful life of about 20 years max with just the lateral load of the earth pushing against it. In Alberta there will also be significant freeze / thaw cycles that will push and prod it. All of this will be exacerbated by the additional loads your...

Also in the south bay!

Evan Thayer here. I’ve been lurking but I’m making it official! I’m into product design, prototyping in wood & plastics & metal, and electronics & automation. I’m an architect by training but have done a fair amount of furniture design, too. I do mostly wood work in the shop but I’ve...

In the case of the NEC “accessible” means not having to remove obstacles and essentially all junction boxes need to be exposed in the finished surface. I think the answer is no. I’d recommend checking the allowable conductor volume for the box built into your high-hat to see if you can make...

The electrical code is by jurisdiction but all codes reference national standards. The national electric code (NEC) is the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) publication #70. It is available online. The NEC requires all splices to be in a junction or fixture box. Neither can be...

Due to the frost concerns in your climate, slab heave is a real issue. Check your code for required footer depth - I’m guessing minim 36”. I’d pour the footers and piers on the first pour, isolate them from the slab with isolation joints, and then pour the slab separately. Isolation joint...

Hi - 20 year licensed architect here. You've got a couple of significant issues: 1. Slab cracking: I'd recommend a construction joint every 5'-0" to 8'-0" and an expansion joint every 20'-0". In your case, it would be nice if you had an expansion joint dividing your slab into (2) 14'-0" x...