What is a Post-tension slab?

It is a particular design and method of constructing a sound foundation for a house. This house is almost ready for cement.
If you notice in this photo there is no re-bar or wire mesh. Instead the red plastic sleeves contain steel cables that will be drawn tightly and locked in place. Each cable will be stretched to a specific tension as prescribed by the engineer who designed the foundation.
As the concrete continues to cure, these cables will remain taught [hopefully] for some time.
This design may or may not be better than other methods but it is now the industry standard in North Texas . Until a better design comes along, builders and engineers will continue to use what works best.
Soil composition and site preparation are the most crucial elements of a sound foundation; hiring a highly-skilled foundation contractor is essential but may be secondary. If the developer and the builder fail to choose the right location to develop or fail to prepare the site, the skills of the foundation contractor and the quality of the foundation he installs will mean very little.
If you are building or buying a new home, premature failure of the slab is not good.
My experience with foundations has lead me to several conclusions. First, all concrete slabs fail. That is, they fail to remain intact, pristine, whole, etc. for much more than 3 or 4 years. Don't panic. [Stop shaking.] I should add the word....eventually.
All foundations move but probably much sooner than most people think. Slabs just can't move up or down without cracking. Pier and beam foundations move also, the floors just don't crack.
Most houses in North Texas move between the 3rd and 5th year. This movement usually is so subtle that no one notices. It may show up as a hairline crack or a sheet rock tape joint separation. Five years requires some level of forgiveness but not too much.
If this movement occurs in the 3rd year, it is likely right on schedule. If it happens in the 2nd year, it is premature and may not be a good sign. If movement occurs in the first year, it has to be addressed. Contact the builder, an engineer or an inspector and get it documented, especially if no action to repair it is taken. It must be documented in case serious problems develop well outside of the warranty period. You can at least contend and prove that problems began to manifest much too soon.
A good builder will take the movement seriously and will consult with their engineer as well, especially if it is still in warranty. Others might try to explain the condition as normal when in fact it may not be and hope to get through the warranty period.
Builders are not scientists but they have to deal with the laws of physics indirectly. Three elements of these laws are common to foundation and structural movement: expansion, contraction and that wonderful, always-available gravity.
Whenever structural movement is discovered during the inspection for the first owner, there is no level of forgiveness. It has to be addressed because something has failed.

Who used the bath tub last?

...and whoever told you that you could dye Easter eggs in the bathtub?

Tornadoes

A strange thing happened when a tornado hit the farm of Clyde Vinson in the small town of Orestes, Indiana in 1922. The home was picked up and set down about one hundred feet from where it originally stood. The dining table and furniture were damaged and most everything was rearranged but the hanging oil lamp was still hanging suspended from the ceiling and continued to send out rays of light throughout the night. A basket of eggs that was sitting in the dining room was not disturbed.


In 2000, a tornado raged through Tarrant County. I don’t have any information regarding anything similar happening during this storm but you can bet some bizarre things happened.
I was a mile away from the storm when it passed through. My neighborhood experienced some high winds and heavy rains but sustained no major damage.
The storm hit late in the day but it was still daylight.
News broadcasters were beginning to show up at many of the areas hit hardest.

I never considered myself a gawker but I’m as curious as the next guy.
So shortly after dark, I headed to Monticello, a west-side neighborhood in Fort Worth filled with elegant older homes. On my way to downtown to view the damage done to several of Fort Worth's landmarks, I was quickly turned away. Too many power lines and trees were down. There were no street lights and more gawkers were coming out.

It was just as well. I was already beginning to get uneasy, seeing what devastation that an ordinary tornado can do to an ordinary neighborhood.

It’s anthropological, I’m sure, but is there something inherently wrong about being so curious when it comes to someone else’s misfortune? Perhaps it’s nothing more than feeling lucky; grateful that it wasn’t me.
Knowing that it could easily be my house with the roof that's gone or my house that's ripped completely off its foundation. Or worse.

My consolation is that it is an inherited trait; I didn’t invent curiosity.
I'd like to think that all my bad traits are inherited and all my good ones are acquired but I know better.

Now many years after, Fort Worth, Arlington and other cities who were smitten by Mother Nature and her wrath have completely restored their communities.
That is a good thing.

Who Do You Trust?

Some photographs require no explanation but this one may.

This is not a snowbank in Wisconsin. This is insulation in some one's attic. Gosh, if you can't trust the insulation guy, who can you?

NEW HOME OR OLD HOME?

There was a time, before you and I, that people said that they would never own a house that had electric wires running through it.
We've come a long way since then.

The old saying "They don't build 'em like they used to" is true.
[But] That is a good thing. Materials were stronger and methods were more traditional but there are several misconceptions about the old days.
I had the privilege of working with some of the Old World craftsmen as a young carpenter. They grumbled when plywood became more prevalent; they snarled when air nailers were changing the way wood was fastened. They would never "use a stapler for anything but paper".

These methods merely changed the delivery of the product; they did not compromise the integrity of the structure as many think. Architects and engineers have made certain of that. As new products are introduced, cynicism or reservations will always accompany a new idea.
Houses are much safer, easier to maintain and much more affordable. On top of that, they are much more energy efficient.

Many of the things they did as home constructors were actually harmful to us or the building. At times, home builders were careless and abusive with poisonous chemicals. These chemicals are now regulated.
Builders no longer treat every new house with pesticides as they once did. Pre-treating was at least unnecessary and at most, reckless.

At least in North Texas, builders no longer install heating and air conditioning systems in crawl spaces under our house. They no longer embed ductwork into and under our concrete slabs.
They vent clothes dryers to the exterior instead of into the garage or the attic.
They install shut-off valves on all of our gas appliances that don't require special tools to turn in case we need to shut them off.
They install smoke detectors and fire alarms.
They elevate appliances in our garages to reduce the risk of fire.
They install special firewalls, fire-rated doors and fire stops.
They install special electrical devices to keep us from accidentally electrocuting ourselves. They now install devices that can detect a faulty electrical outlet as we sleep. Builders use more fire-rated materials than ever before.
They use plumbing materials that don't rust and that make our drinking water safer. They install water heaters in a way that prevents flooding of our interiors if they leak or burst.

Our homes are better insulated and no longer contain asbestos.
They are equipped with windows that allow more light and keep out more heat and cold. Fireplaces now require less maintenance and provide more heat. Our carpeting and other products no longer contain high levels of formaldehydes. Our paints no longer contain lead.

And yes, they are right. "They don't build 'em like they used to"..........
and that is a good thing.

Do electric heating systems have problems?

Yes Virginia, they do. An electric heating system is as reliable as any other, safer than most others. But they can overheat and malfunction or malfunction then overheat. Either way, this is a photo of a 20 year old electric heating unit that someone rigged. By eliminating the circuit breakers that would likely have prevented this meltdown, this handyman’s work could have burned down the whole building. Sparks flew here but lucky for them, not for long. [Picture in your minds eye going into your attic and firing up your arc welder.]

Ductwork materials/Goodman, Owens-Corning

These are air conditioning and heating ducts [also known as HVAC ducts]. In the 70’s and 80’s ductwork materials such as Goodman gray flex-Duct, Owens Corning Flex-Duct, and others were widely used but soon fell from favor by most builders and installers. Then came the suits; those guys in suits from Harvard and the lawsuits they filed. Class-actions and other problems developed for these and other manufacturers and those flexible ducts wrapped in gray trash bag material were no more.

The biggest problem was that the material could not withstand ultraviolet light from the sun’s rays and the outer material would simply melt down. These photos show two things: one, how the meltdown begins by tearing apart the plastic covering. Two, how one homeowner dealt with it with plastic tie wraps. The repair is interesting but not effective.

Many homes are still equipped with these ducts; many without problems. For others though, replacement is the most practical solution when their ducts begin to break down.