Thank you - we did have carpenter ants and this time I hired an exterminator who put bait inside and outside. The ants were nesting in at least our window frame onto the new deck, possibly also along the kitchen wall as an area where deck met brick wasn't properly caulked The ant exterminator said the problem wasn't there long enough to cause structural issues but could have left untreated. my architect is going to stop by next month and take a look. The steel deck is an unusual shape - nestled into a bump-in in a brownstone rear - but has two footings and a bracket, and stairs to the lower area - I've attached a photo, the carpenter ants were nesting on the right hand side window, and we put a door onto what had been the left window

Well, you could guesstimate it this way: measure the depth of the floor to ceiling below distance. Obviously you have some thickness in the materials to account for, but it should be possible to locate places where you have little peeks into both surfaces (ceiling fixtures, outlets, closets, stairs, etc.) so you would be able to calculate what the actuall joist dimension is. Then you can see how far apart the joists are by looking for evidence of places where the surface materials (floor and ceiling) were nailed into the joists. Doing a little sleuthing should tell you whether the hidden parts are 2X8 or 10's and what the spacing is. However, you should know that some of the newer front loading washing machines, when installed on second floor, need some floor reinforcement (plywood under machines scfewed down into joists) in order to handle the increased energy created by a horizontal axis design and higher spins. You should check out the Laundry Forum here at Garden Web for more info. It is a very frequently discussed issue. There are also some machine brands which typically create more, or less, vibration problems. Molly~

OK - went home at lunchtime to check out the situation. Really not that bad. (Although I think this roof/ceiling may be the death of me!!!) Here's the deal: Something about the way the very edge of the roof on the porch-turned-breakfast room was built. You know - something that was fine way back when, but not so much today. They changed the roof-line when they turned it from a porch to an actual room and they did something sort of screwy I guess. The fix, however, isn't that bad. The bottom line is, we need to get a letter from an architect or an engineer stating that he came out, looked at the construction, and that the way the builder is rectifying it is acceptable. The builder told me that years ago, the building inspector himself could look at the job and he could make the decision that the construction was adequate. However, in our litigious society, now they require an architect or engineer to certify it. It doesn't sound like the actual construction to fix it is affecting the cost of the project. We will have to pay for the engineer who is coming out - hopefully asap. We're talking a couple of hundred bucks. All-in-all I'm not feeling too horrible about this. The worst part is that it's going to cause a bit of a soffit on the long window wall. We could do other things instead (like maybe the tray ceiling that was suggested by another poster.) But honestly, I think I've already grown attached to the vaulted look. It really looks fantastic opened up. And maybe I'm just convincing myself of what I WANT to feel, but I'm thinking that the open ceiling might actually add to my countryish/cottagey look. And my attitude by now is: Hey I live in a really old house. Anything a little "odd" in the structure is just adding architectural interest!!!

Everything IS bigger in TX! Find a builder or home that is Energy Star certified or insist on it for your current build if it's not too late. You're correct to be concerned with your build's lack of attention to detail behind the finished surfaces. Not only is the concrete inaccurate, the brushed surfaces indicate a lot of honeycombing cosmetic cover-up. No sill sealer or garage leg shear wall?