Ontario Building Code, DIY long builds
ontariomom
6 years ago
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newbie question - building permit & codes
Comments (15)A deep pond with vertical walls will go a long way in predator control. Once in a while you will get a heron who learns to just stand quietly at the side and spear the fish when they surface, but I have never had it happen here. And I have lots of big herons fly over almost every day. I have shade sails over the pond so that may help some as well. Kingfishers don't care how deep the pond is though. They sit in a near-by tree and watch for a fish to surface, then dive in and get it. Comorants, Anhingas, and Ospray fish like that too. But I have never had an issue with any of those birds either. So you are new to koi keeping? Are you building this pond yourself or having someone build it for you? Do you understand the use of bottom drains that tie into filtration to keep the pond bottom clean? A koi pond, in otherwords a pond designed to provide the optimal environment for koi, differs greatly from a water garden. A properly designe koi pond can be VERY low maintenance. My biggest pond is 9000 gallons yet maintenance takes only 15 minutes a week at the most. You are in the perfect position to plan this thing out now and make it a wonderful habitat for the koi. I am attaching a link to a pond forum that I moderate on. There are some pretty good pond construction threads there with loads of pictures. Check it out if you get a chance. My newest pond building project is there, along with some good DIY filters and such. Here is a link that might be useful: The pond forum...See MoreInterested in do-it-yourself vertical structures!
Comments (28)I use those 4' orange electic fence stakes from home depot (about $1 a piece)for lots of things in the yard & gardens. Pound it in the ground and then slide the PVC pipe over it and into the soil a bit. Set out several of these with holes drilled in the PVC pipe and string wire through them to make a fairly sturdy, portable & cheap trellis. I use these stakes to build easy fencing. I use plastic cable ties to secure wire or plastic mesh fencing to them. Because I dislike the orange and it stands out like a sore thumb, I paint my stakes black. Pound 2 rows of these stakes in the ground about 4' apart and slide each end of a flexible PVC pipe over them, making an arch. Cover this with garden cloth or plastic to protect plants. I "sew" the fabric to the pvc with fishing line. If you are using plastic, cut some flaps in it, to keep it from blowing away in a big wind. I use them to brace non secured retaining walls. At my old house I built a raised bed using them to hold the lumber together. I drilled holes in the timbers and slid them over the stakes, then I lined the interior side with heavy plastic....See MoreBuilding Codes and Deadbolts
Comments (33)Yes, thieves can drill through a deadbolt in a matter of minutes, BUT they're going to look a bit suspicious walking up to your door with a power tool, and they're likely to be overheard. If they want to break into your house, they're more likely to use a "bump key", which can be seen on You-Tube and purchased from eBay. No, they're not so likely to break a window or sliding glass door. Those double-paned glass items are much more substantial than you might imagine, and they do make a big noise -- also, they leave a big, visible hole that people can see. In contrast, if they bust open your lock, they can still close the door and carry out their evil deeds in private. So, pretty much, if a determined professional burglar has chosen your house, he's going to get in. What's the point, then, in having a lock at all? They keep out the casual burglar, the teenager who's roaming the neighborhood after school looking to score some beer and enough money to fill his gas tank -- and, speaking only for myself, I have never known anyone personally who's been the victim of anyone except a casual burglar. For those casual burglars, you don't have to do a whole lot to keep them out -- you pretty much just have to make it look tough to get into your house so that they'll go on down the road and choose a different target. My personal thoughts on what's important: - If you MUST have a pier glass next to your front door, make it a single glass and place it on the hinge side. The longest-armed burglar can't reach across your whole door to get to the doorknob. - Make sure your back door isn't too private (so many plans these days feature a recessed back porch, providing burglars plenty of privacy). - Avoid double French doors, which are pretty easy to kick in. Instead, choose sliding glass doors (which can look just like French doors) or French doors with only one operating side. - Be sure your garage door is secure. Burglars love to get into the garage and then break into your garage-to-house door at their leisure. And don't skimp on the garage-to-house door. My in-laws bought a house that had only a simple little bedroom door in this spot! It provided essentially no protection from robbery, and they changed it before they slept in the house the first night. - Plant holly or other thorn-y bushes under your low windows. - Lots of thieves will go on down the road if a dog is present. - I personally don't put any stock in alarm systems. They do nothing to prevent the burglar from breaking in, and since most burglars are in and out of a house in 5-10 minutes, it's unlikely that the police will arrive while the bad guys are still inside your house. Yeah, you might get a picture of the criminals, but they're unlikely to be as stupid as that guy on the TV commercial who so conveniently looks right at the camera and is wearing very distinctive clothing. Your real burglar is more likely to be wearing a hoodie or a hat to hide his face. What MAY help is having signs that say you have an alarm system; that may make the burglar move on to an easier target. One final thought concerning fire and getting out of the house: Yes, if you couldn't use the door during a fire, you could absolutely break a window -- throw a chair through it or whatever -- but in a crisis situation, when you have less than a minute or two to escape, would you think of it? Maybe I would, maybe I wouldn't. I wouldn't want to count on it. I was once in a fire during the night at summer camp, and I remember another camper screaming, "Fire" . . . and then I was outside. I ran under my own power. I was literally outside before I was even awake, and I don't remember how I got there -- don't count on being rational in a fire....See MoreNeed help with egress building codes
Comments (19)That wording in Section 310 can be interpreted in one of two ways and neither interpretation makes a window part of a means of egress (Section 311). The wording in question was originally used in the old CABO code from the 80's & 90's when the term "egress" was used to describe any and all required methods of exiting the building in an emergency. Both methods were described in Section 211 "EXITS" and the term "egress" was used with it's most general meaning. However, this was not the case with the national codes for larger buildings where there was no requirement for an emergency escape opening and a "means of egress" was described in it's own section and did not include a window. In 2000, "CABO" changed it's name to the "ICC" (International Code Council) and revised the residential building code (now called the IRC). The ICC also combined the national building codes for larger buildings published by its 3 member organizations (now called the IBC). In order to resolve the conflict between the different terms used for exits, the new IRC dropped the term "Exit" and created two separate sections: "Means of Egress" and "Emergency Escape and Rescue Openings". Because of this change the term "egress" had a specific rather than a general meaning. Unfortunately many window manufacturers and contractors have not figured this out yet. The wording that has gotten jrldh all exercised is taken directly from the 20 year old CABO code Section R210 when the term "egress" had a different meaning. The use of this word can be interpreted in one of two ways but not as jrldh has suggested. 1. The term should have been omitted when the major code revision occurred. or 2. The term refers to the section 311 requirement for a means of egress from all basement sleeping rooms in addition to the requirement for an emergency escape and rescue opening. In any case, it doesn't really matter because the IRC does not allow a window to be part of a "Means of Egress" so there can be no such thing as an "egress window" and homeowners should be warned to avoid using that term. jrldh has made some pretty nasty accusations obviously intended to offend me and they have. I offer free professional advice here when owners and architectural firms are willing to pay me well for the same work. I'm going to give one of the other members a revised perspective of her project and then let someone with a better "attitude" (like jrldh, I suppose) take over responsibility for advising members on their house designs....See Moreontariomom
6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoontariomom
6 years agomillworkman
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6 years agoDavid Cary
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6 years agolast modified: 6 years agoworthy
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