So How's That Workin' For Ya?

From time to time I come across or read about some pretty wrong headed ideas. Some of them are dumb, some are funny and some are OH MY GAWD, what were they thinking?!

Here are some good ones.

Working on a two story cabin in Wrightwood, CA that was built around 1930 and sits pretty much smack dab on the San Andreas Fault. I had a look under the house to discover that a good bit of it is built on what looked like broken chunks of concrete stacked 4' tall with NO MORTAR to hold it in place!! Looking at the front of the house, the whole place leans in on itself! How it still stands is beyond my comprehension.

My wife and I once found a house in a very rural area that had collapsed in on itself. When I gave it a quick look-over, it was pretty obvious why. The entire second story was an add on. Tile roof and all. Can you say no permit? All the walls on the lower level were 2"x4" construction. No large timber, minimal sheer paneling. Sort of like an anvil supported by toothpicks!

Recently in our local paper was another "house lost in a fire" article. But what made this one extra special was that the cause of the fire was the propane heater in the travel trailer...in the middle of the house! They had so many additions to the travel trailer that they built an entire house around (and over) it.

Just read a discussion (out of morbid curiosity) on using an arc welder to defrost frozen pipes. Um, no thanks.

A stucco guy was thinking about putting stucco over an existing (and perfectly fine) shingle roof. What? Too much free time?

As far as roofing goes, I live in an area that can get windy. At times we have gusts of 50-70 mph and dust devils that take those tin sheds right into the wild blue yonder, possibly accounting for a few UFO sightings. So why do people put on rolled roofing with a few nails and no roofing cement? That stuff makes one heck of a mess when the wind relocates it to the next town.

Another preventable roofing problem that shouldn't need to be pointed out: Now, I love nice shade trees, just keep the branches from coming into contact with the roof! Just a light breeze makes the branch rub a nice hole through the shingles, felt and at times the sheeting itself so you can see right into the attic. Trim the trees, it's cheaper!

Now this is a common one. Nice little porch for a mobile home with outdoor carpeting over plywood. Carpet gets wet, plywood rots. In a few years they get new carpet, new plywood, repeat. Just build a proper deck!

The list goes on endlessly.

Common sense (which isn't too common) would avoid any of this, but we need the entertainment. So, to all these people I say thank you!

~SJN