**** Welcome to another round of Questions of The Week!
Please read the Introduction and requirements, changes may have been made.
A member of the Awards Committee will post questions, at a random day/time.
The competing member may make one post per question thread to answer the questions and the member’s winning entry must have all parts of the questions answered completely in that one post. Editing your one answer post allowed will result in disqualification.
Any disregard to the above and divulging the correct answers or giving hints/references will cause a disqualification. I like the new member rule so until at 0001 (CST) on Tuesday 6 August 2019 only new members here less than 5 years are eligible and at that time if a winner has not been announced the questions will be automatically open to all members. I like that rule change, give the new guys/gals a chance since you old timers know so much!
First correct answers (as judged by the Awards Committee or Poster of the Questions) wins.
The lucky winner will get a case of “Now that you’ve had a Home Inspection Books” shipped to them at their address on file. Make sure your Address on File with INACHI is correct.
Winners of the Questions of The Week shall request their prize by emailing fastreply@nachi.org and submitting their Mailing address for shipping.
Allow 2 weeks for delivery.
GOOD LUCK! ~ GO!
When a wall stud has been excessively bored for installation of plumbing what can be used to repair the stud in place without having to replace the stud?
In a roof covered with LP Techshield Radiant Barrier Sheathing how do you use new LP Techshield sheathing to repair a 12” diameter hole in the existing sheathing? For reference the rafters are 24” OC and the hole is located between rafters.
When a header in a load bearing wall above a door, window, or other opening in an existing or completed home is displaying obvious bowing/sagging and is causing issues then what is the proper method to repair this condition?
In a standard electrical single receptacle outlet box, utilizing 12 Gauge wiring, how many Ideal Model 73B wirenuts can be used before the box fill is reached?
When water is noted around the base of a toilet and a sewer smell is present what is the most likely possible failure condition?
The following question is for extra credit. This will be used as a tie breaker between the first two people who answer all five questions (1 – 5) correctly or if nobody answers all five then the first two people who answer 4 of the questions (1- 5) correctly.
In nail sizes i.e. 10d what does the “d” stand for and how did it originate?
cut a piece of 2x4 2x the width of the hole, insert into attic and pull up against the inside of the sheathing. Nail 2x4 to the roof sheathing. Cut a piece of LP Techshield Radiant Barrier Sheathing the exact size of the hole and place inside of the hole. Nail LP against 2x4. Lay felt paper and replace with new roof covering material.
Remove the drywall from the majority of the affected wall and install a temporary stud wall to support the roof trusses. Remove the window or door. Remove the exisitng studs from above the window/door opening, remove the damaged header above the window/door, cut a few studs in place to create jack studs for the new header. Install new appropriately sized header to span above the window/door. Install new window/door. Install drywall and trim out the new window/door.
ideal model 73B wire not is not sized for 12 gauge wiring per manufacturer recommendations.
the base of the toilet is loose damaging the wax seal causing water and sewer gas to seep through.
XTR) the letter “d” stands for Denarius, a Roman coin similar to a penny. The relation of penny to nails is in midevel times it is believe to describe the number of pennies required to purchase 100 nails.
A stud shoe installed to manufacturer’s instructions.
2)Replace the sheathing in the area of the hole with at least a 4’x2’ piece of sheathing.
This is according to instructions that all panels must be continuous across 2 or more spans. (3 rafters on 24" o.c. in this case) A minimum width of 24 inches is needed to achieve span rating of the sheathing. That is my official answer based upon the information I could pull from the manufacturer.
A common method of repairing a hole that I was conflicted to answer with is: A rectangular piece of sheathing cut out slightly bigger than the hole to be patched and solid blocking added at right angles to the rafters and nailed.
A new piece of sheathing is then nailed on all four sides and well supported.
3)Flitch plate (I might be reading too much into the “existing/completed home” portion in the question)
4)None, Ideal Model 73B wirenuts are rated for a maximum of two (2) 14awg.
5)Wax ring failure
E.C.) d for Denarius/penny. Presumably, that is how many pennies 100 nails of that size cost. (ex. 16d cost 16 pennies, 8d cost 8 pennies.)
A Simpson CTS218 tension and compression strap would be the best choice I can think of (not knowing the specifics of the wall).
Cut a 48" wide x 24" deep rectangle out (removing the hole from rafter to rafter and going one more rafter beyond). Replace with a 47 3/4" x 23 3/4" LP techshield piece (to allow for expansion - 1/8" on each side). Use construction adhesive and 8d nails at 6" centers on the rafters. Add H clips if the local code requires.
Without knowing the cause of the bowing (the load above or a defective header), you would need the advice of an engineer. If you can determine that it is a defective / undersized header you would remove the drywall from the majority of the wall and install temporary stud walls a couple feet away on either side of the bearing wall to support the load above. You would then remove the window / door (if there was one), remove the damaged/ undersized header and associated cripple studs, cut jack studs for the new header (1- 2 on each side depending on span) and install new appropriately sized header to span above the opening. Reinstall a new window / door (if there was one). Install new drywall and trim as necessary.
Trick question - wire connectors do not count in box fill calculations and those wire nuts aren’t for 12g wires.
A failed wax ring.
The “d” stands for the Roman coin denarius. In English it means “the penny.” There are three leading theories as to how it originated, but most likely it was because one hundred hand-forged nails of a given length cost sixpence (6 pennies), eightpence, twelvepence, etc.
Example: 100 3-1/2” nails = 16 pennies.
1: Mechanical stud shoe. Stud shoes come in various dimensions to meet stud size.
2: Nail 6˝ o.c. along supported panel ends and edges and 12˝ o.c. at intermediate supports. Fasten panels 3/8˝ from panel edges. Use 8d common nails for panels up to 1˝ thickness. For panels over 1˝ use 8d ring-shank or 10d common nails. Other code-approved fasteners may be used.
3: Install an adequately sized beam and re-stud the wall. But that’s just me providing a quick answer to a problem I am unaware of. A home inspector would recommend further analyses by a licensed professional. Without knowing the cause of deflection providing a remedy would be unprofessional.
4: Fill box calculations include; the total volume of the conductors, devices, and fittings in a box.
5: The toilet is loose. The wax seal has been compromised.
6: d was used in the UK for penny. d comes from Denarius. A Roman coin similar to a penny.
Wow great answers Y’all! You’re sure making this tough to decide a winner. However it’s been busy this week and my bad for not getting back faster. Looks like as per the rules above Brandon Feltner wins this round with 4 of the 5 and the extra credit pretty much spot on to the answers I was looking for.
Sorry Steve but you really should be mentoring someone if not already. So now I’ll cause you some headaches. Hey new Inspectors if you have questions hit Steve up! Even I found something new with the Simpson CTS218 strap concept which works for many different issues beyond notching and boring.
Jacob don’t stop answering questions as you’re definitely in the game!
These are the questions and answers.
When a wall stud has been excessively bored for installation of plumbing what can be used to repair the stud in place without having to replace the stud?
In a roof covered with LP Techshield Radiant Barrier Sheathing how do you use new LP Techshield sheathing to repair a 12” diameter hole in the existing sheathing? For reference the rafters are 24” OC and the hole is located between rafters.
When a header in a load bearing wall above a door, window, or other opening in an existing or completed home is displaying obvious bowing/sagging and is causing issues then what is the proper method to repair this condition?
Answer: Unless you’re a trained Engineer don’t even go there! Most likely you can not see the cause anyhow and even if you can you may be way overstepping your expected abilities by specifying an engineering correction. The proper corrective action is to recommend further evaluation by a licensed and competent Engineer.
In a standard electrical single receptacle outlet box, utilizing 12 Gauge wiring, how many Ideal Model 73B wirenuts can be used before the box fill is reached?
When water is noted around the base of a toilet and a sewer smell is present what is the most likely possible failure condition?
Answer: Most likely it is a failure of the wax ring seal.
Extra Credit
In nail sizes i.e. 10d what does the “d” stand for and how did it originate?
Answer: I can’t say it better or more succinctly than this short Wiki article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_(unit) . It is always interesting how construction terms originate.
Thanks, Manny! 
