[AT] Talking about shops/sheds + (OT) Building Code Changes

charlie hill charliehill at embarqmail.com
Sun Mar 6 04:22:14 PST 2011


Guys the brilliant politicians that run this country now are trying to push 
through a bill that will require everyone to bring their house up to current 
code before they can sell it.
No they can't escrow the funds for the new buyer to fix it.  It would have 
to be fixed to be sold.   That includes plumbing, electrical, HVAC, windows, 
insulation, green roofing materials (that aren't even current law yet), 
energy efficient appliances, air infiltration (loss and gain) and probably 
some other stuff I've forgotten.  By my estimate (as a certified appraiser) 
most houses over 30 years old wouldn't be worth fixing.   As far as I know 
that proposal has been beat back for now but it's out there and some folks 
want it bad enough that I'm sure they will try to hide it in the law 
somewhere before it is all over.

Charlie



-----Original Message----- 
From: Chuck Bealke
Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2011 2:23 AM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group
Subject: Re: [AT] Talking about shops/sheds + (OT) Building Code Changes

On 3/5/2011 9:14 PM, Larry Goss wrote:
> You understand completely, Ralph.  REALLY completely!  It's the most 
> frustrating thing you can imagine.  The old tubes were efficient, just not 
> as efficient as someone wanted us to be.  So we've got to go through and 
> change out everything.  When I changed the incandescent emergency exit 
> lights at the church over to CFL's, I did the calculation on power savings 
> alone and found that we amortized the complete cost of the changeover in 
> less than one year.  But the congregation doesn't understand the full 
> meaning of what I say when I tell them that the infrastructure of the 
> church isn't worth our efforts to save it.  None of it was built to code. 
> Even though it is only around 50 years old, everything has to be 
> replaced -- all the plumbing, electrical, HVAC, septic, parking lot 
> paving, outdoor drainage, concrete floor, single glazed windows with steel 
> casement frames,  --- everything.  The sound system stopped working about 
> a dozen years ago because the insulation rotted off th!
e copper wires of the 70 volt audio output.  It's all in steel electrical 
conduit, so it shorts out very easily.  But it's NOT just a job for pulling 
out the old wire and pulling in new.  All the original conduit was 
undersized, and you can't pull anything out to replace it because the new 
stuff is larger in diameter and won't even fit the existing space.  It's a 
good example for why nothing should ever be left up to a committee.
>
> Larry

Ralph and Larry,

Code changes over time that render church structures non-code compliant
and thus pose financial threats is one pregnant topic.  I have been on
the finance - sorry, Larry - committee of our church for seven years.
It has been an education on building inspectors finding fault with what
was in the mid 50s - when the church was built well and met all the
applicable city and other codes - a splendid, high quality building.  As
you likely know, churches are by and large threatened by diminishing
membership and finances in this age.  Many in our area have closed or
are in the process.  Elevators, wiring, and fire protection equipment
come to mind as items subject to new requirements which can threaten
church financial solvency pronto.  In our case, we have a school on
property (Grades 1-5) and some florescent tubes overhead.  Hope the
changes to lighting requirements like those mentioned in your shop
discussions will not represent too bad a cost for us.  Will check it
out.   Thanks for the heads-up guys.


_|___\  __
|_____/    \          ~ Chuck Bealke ~ Dallas ~
(  )       \__/

Surfing find of the week: http://www.thebarnjournal.org/








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