AsktheBuilder.com Issue #1333 (Not Sure!)

April 13, 2025

Dear ,

Several days ago I visited two construction sites just above my house. It was a cold morning, and the long dirt road was very firm. Within days, ruts will be in the dirt road like this. Mud season is upon us here in New Hampshire.

The one construction site was busy with workers blasting very unusual music I've never heard before. The other one was abandoned. I believe the abandoned site is a home being built by a builder for himself. I can tell it's been months since work has been done. Here are photos of each house:

The photo just above is looking out at a deck on the abandoned house. The black material is Grace Ice and Watershield. There's a room below it.

I guarantee you that will leak in time. The design of this house is so strange. It has at least five different levels. I was shaking my head the entire time as I walked through it.

Carrying up groceries from the garage is going to be a nightmare. The builder, or architect, put the garage at the lowest spot in the hole blasted out of solid granite. Based on my perception of the room layout, the kitchen is up two full flights of stairs from the garage.

I would have put the garage up at the top so you only have a 7.5-inch step up into the main floor of the house. Who knows, maybe a dumbwaiter is going to be part of the house. It's too early to know as the house still needs so much framing as well as a roof!

Here's a photo of a deck support post under a beam at the house with the weird music. I would never build a deck this way, and it's shocking to me my town's building inspector allows this horrible technique:

Simpson Strong-Tie makes special metal post-to-beam connectors for this detail. Be sure your contractor uses those. Here it is:

Can you believe the use of the electroplated galvanized nailgun nails you see toenailed at the top of the post? That thin zinc coating is going to wear off within a few years. Those nails will be attacked by the copper in the treated post, and soon rust. The post must have been out of plumb and they beat on it with a hammer???!!!

I would estimate both houses are going to cost at least $3,000,000, maybe more. The lumber package for the one house with all of the huge custom-cut decorative roof-support beams has to be at least $250,000. 

Embassy Ceiling Installation Video

My son and I finished installing the amazing Embassy Ceiling suspended ceiling system in his basement.

We recorded an in-depth installation video. I URGE you to watch it. It's video #2 on this page. If you've not watched video #1, do so before #2.

Make Showerheads Great Again

Did you see the recent announcement? My very good friend John, who subscribes to this newsletter and lives on the East Coast, alerted me to this wonderful news.

The previous Biden administration in the USA took 13,000 words to define a showerhead. Then he further bloviated and forced manufacturers to sell to you a showerhead that dribbles water.

Many in this great nation live where there is NO water shortage. Some people, you may be one, decide to live where water is scarce.

It's insanity to force those of us who have plenty of water to use inferior showerheads. You do realize if you live in a big city that draws its water from the nearby river that for each gallon of water you use at your home a gallon of water reenters the river downstream from the city at just about the same time?

If this didn't happen, your municipal sewer plant would OVERFLOW! The same is true for cities that pull water from deep wells. That water re-enters the aquifer at the same rate it's withdrawn.

In other words, there is no shortage of water - except for those that choose to live in the desert. If the population is GROWING in your city that gets water from a large river, then you need to enlarge your water-treatment plant to suck more water out of the river.

Per this EO, you will soon be able to buy a magnificent showerhead that no longer dribbles water. 

Don't Buy the WRONG Lot/House!

Do you know what this is?

CLICK HERE to discover what it is, and why you don't want one. I guarantee you'll be reminded of your high school physics class.

#DoNotComply

Once bitten, twice shy...

Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel

The BEST Love Story of all time - well, maybe a close second.

That's enough for a Sunday morning.

Peace out.

Tim Carter (PhD, FullyAwakeology)

Founder - www.AsktheBuilder.com

Electromagnetic Adventures: www.W3ATB.com

My Pronouns: Told/You/So

Do It Right, Not Over!