We have been sistering many joists in building.  In fact, there are more sisters than a convent in eastern Quebec.  As a result we have been moving through a lot screws.  Our trusty engineer specified a particular type of screw and they have been difficult to locate here in Brooklyn.  I have driven to multiple Home Depot’s searching for large buckets of these things.  Each time we buy the screws in bulk we pay less than 50% for each screw.  Its quite a savings and only a few Home Depot’s carry them in bulk.  Today I just downloaded the Home Depot app on my i-phone and I have to say, its pretty impressive.

Not only can I purchase product from my phone on the job site, but I can also compare prices and shop around. Pretty powerful.

It will also locate which stores have the items in stock or what the delivery times might be… Workers in the store will then go out onto the floor, remove the purchased items from the shelf and store them behind the counter until I arrive.  I can also assign one of the contractors assistants to go and pick them up under their name.  If I decide that I just want to go to the store to pick them up myself and purchase them with cash, the app will tell me what aisle and section they are located in.  This way, there is no wasted time, no confusion and I know exactly where the items that I am looking for are located.

Once my order is ready for pickup, Home Depot will then shoot me a text message to notify me.

Almost as good as the day they decided to deliver a piping hot pizza to your door…

I am sure many of you are going to think that I have lost my marbles shoveling the roof, but I can assure you that I have not.  While many of us think of snow as light and fluffy, when wet snow loads can wreak havoc on the structure of a building.  The maximum design snow load prescribed by the building code for Brooklyn is approximately 20#/sf.  Twelve inches of wet snow weighs about 21#/sf.  Considering there was about 8″ of snow of the roof today, I was probably removing about 13-1/2#/sf as the snow was quite wet.  While there is still capacity in the roof joists to carry the snow load there are a few concerns that we have;

1. It is to remain cold for the remainder of the week and more snow is expected this weekend. Perhaps up to 30″.
2. We are also sistering the joists below this roof in the next few days and it is important that the sisters are not screwed into the existing roof joists that were under a lot of strain.  It is best to do this procedure when there is no load on the roof.
3. While the span is only 15′-0″, these are only 2×6 roof joists which are a hair on the thin side.
4. A lot of snow on a roof can also lead to an ice dam that could possibly create leaks inside the building.

Needless to say, we have removed the snow from the roof so that we can proceed with sistering the roof joists over the kitchen.  While I often don’t think of these things, I do have a good friend who explained another condition to me that is of concern, the plaster collapse. Apparently the plaster keys in the ceiling simply let go and the ensuing plaster falls from the ceiling to the floor below.  While I have yet to do the research, I am guessing that plaster is somewhat heavier than wet snow.  I have done my due diligence as a good friend and mentioned to him that he should wear a hard hat and safety goggles while watching the ranger game in his parlor beneath his ornate plaster ceiling.  Trying desperately to not be overly neurotic about the building, it is important in a renovation or construction project to recognize small issues before they become large issues…