Edited by Ted
Cushman
Contents:
Wood and Steel Deliver Double Price
Whammy
Minnesota Court Nixes Criminal
Prosecutions for Unintentional Code Violations
Load-Rated Screws Aid in Truss
Repair
Scrap Tires Prove Useful in Septic
Fields
Slim Chances Seen for Slimmed-Down Energy
Bill
Offcuts
Wood and Steel Deliver Double
Price Whammy
The new year has brought no relief from last year's
astronomical lumber prices: Reflecting strong demand, plywood,
OSB, and framing lumber prices bounced back to the records they
set last summer and threatened to go even higher. With supplies
still tight and capacity limited (especially for plywood and
OSB), demand showed no sign of slackening. January home starts,
while down from December, were 10% higher than the year before.
And a strong year-end economy has experts hedging on earlier
forecasts for a cooling housing market in 2004. NAHB economist
David Seiders said in February, "If [interest rate hikes] fail
to materialize, 2004 could equal or even surpass the record
performances posted by the single-family housing market last
year."
Builders who have switched to steel as a predictably priced
alternative to wood are getting their own unpleasant surprise
this year: With nations like China competing hard for limited
global supplies of steel and scrap, steel prices are on a
runaway train. "We're seeing increases of $30 to $40 a ton
every month, and we expect that to continue," says construction
estimator Bob Kovacs. "Reinforcing steel has gone up $120 a ton
since the beginning of the year, and it will probably go up at
least that much more by the end of the year." Price guarantees
are a thing of the past, says Kovacs: "We're getting letters
giving us until the end of the month to place an order on any
previous project. Farther out than a month, they won't honor
any quotes."
Scarier than high prices is the prospect that steel components
may be unavailable when needed, throwing project schedules into
chaos. "I haven't seen any real shortages yet," says Kovacs.
"But it depends on what you need. You can always get the common
25-gauge steel studs, but suppliers aren't keeping load-bearing
20-gauge or 16-gauge stuff on hand. They roll it as they need
it."
Steel framing: "No
guarantees." House framing is an uncommon use for steel,
and California steel-framing pro Matt Macarewich says, "They're
telling us we'll have to wait four to six weeks for
load-bearing stuff, like our 12- and 14- and 16-gauge floor
joist material. And then, even when it comes, it could cost as
much as 20% more than today's price quote. Nobody's giving you
guarantees right now."
Macarewich believes steel can stay competitive with wood. "Our
material cost is still less with steel than for a wood frame,
and our labor costs are going down as more people get into
steel framing and we get better tools and techniques." But he
says adapting to unstable markets is a new challenge.
"Steel guys are not used to volatility the way the lumber
industry is," Macarewich explains. "Wood framers will switch
from sawn lumber to wood I-joists or LVLs if they need to.
Steel framing offers options too, but it's so new that people
aren't familiar with them. We have a job now where the builder
can't get the 12-gauge joists he needs, because he thought he
could just walk in and buy them when he wanted them. I
suggested that by using 15-gauge or 18-gauge pieces, doubled up
back to back, he could achieve the same load. He had never even
considered that."
Substituting materials on commercial jobs can be tricky, notes
Bob Kovacs. "Usually, anything but a nonbearing partition has
to be engineered. If you want to deviate from the shop
drawings, you'll need a letter from the engineer."
To avoid getting burned by fast-changing job costs, says
Kovacs, contractors will have to stay alert. "They have to stay
in touch with their suppliers and keep updating their pricing.
You can't use a number from the last job. If you lock yourself
in, you can really get hurt." And Kovacs advises contractors to
take a close look at their contracts: "You need to include a
clause that covers you for material cost increases if the
contract is not signed within 30 days, or whatever period your
supplier is willing to cover you for."
Back to
TopMinnesota Court
Nixes Criminal Prosecutions for Unintentional Code
Violations
Minnesota builders breathed a sigh of relief in January
after the state supreme court overturned a lower court ruling
that would have put a builder in jail for unintentional
violations of the building code. The decision means that
builders will be spared a whole new level of exposure to
personal legal risk under a doctrine that would have held them
criminally liable for code violations they were not aware of,
or even mistakes made by subcontractors.
Violating the code is a misdemeanor in Minnesota. In 2001,
builder John Arkell's company, Carriage Homes, pleaded guilty
to charges filed by the city of Austin, and paid a $1,000 fine.
The company had set some townhouse foundations at too low an
elevation, resulting in drainage problems and puddles. Arkell
himself, however, pleaded not guilty to charges filed against
him personally. He didn't know that the site grading was wrong,
he told the court; he had relied on subcontractors to do the
work and on a site engineer to supervise.
But the trial judge ruled that the building code was a "public
welfare statute," like laws prohibiting possession of hand
grenades or dangerous chemicals, and that Arkell was personally
culpable for the acts of his corporation and its
subcontractors. When Arkell was convicted, the judge sentenced
him to a 90-day jail term and took up a homeowner association
request for a $250,000 restitution.
In overturning the conviction and punishment, Justice James
Gilbert wrote for the high court, "Classifying the building
code as a public welfare statute for criminal prosecutions
would set a dangerous precedent." Codes are ambiguous, he
noted, and local officials have broad leeway to interpret them.
"The legislature has not even imposed the state building code
on a statewide basis," he remarked, "which may lead to uneven,
disparate enforcement." Even the misdemeanor charges were
confusing and vague, said Gilbert: "The complaint remains
unclear as to the exact nature of the offense with which Arkell
is being charged. The city appears to alternate between, on the
one hand, charging Arkell with a plain violation of the
building code and, on the other hand, a failure to correct the
violation once it was cited."
Builders welcomed the decision. "If you want to call a builder
a criminal," said attorney Charles Schoenwetter, who represents
the Builders Association of Minnesota, "you ought to have to
prove intent."
Back to
Top
Load-Rated Screws Aid in Truss
Repair
If you ask structural engineers from the wood truss industry
how to fix broken trusses, they'll only tell you one rule:
Don't even think about altering or patching a wood truss
without instructions from the designer — and they mean
it.
So why is there a drawing of a screw-and-plywood truss patch,
and the words, "Repairing truss members: Simple, easy, low
cost, strong," in recent ads for Simpson Strong-Tie's
Strong-Drive screws? Well, if you're hoping to substitute a
page of generic instructions for your truss supplier's
engineering, think again. That's not the idea, says Mark
Crawford, Simpson Strong-Tie's manager of engineering research
and development.
Crawford was fresh from a conference at the Truss Plate
Institute when he spoke with JLC about applications
for the Strong-Drive screw. "Any time you have a broken truss,"
he said, "the contractor or the framer should not make the
repair decisions. You have to involve the truss company's
designer."
But Crawford said the new screws have made both the engineer's
job and the contractor's job easier. "I spent seven years in
the truss industry as an engineer," he said, "and I did a lot
of truss repairs myself. We didn't have this screw then. It has
some great advantages: You don't have to predrill, and you get
significantly higher loads with the screws than with nails.
Also, we have long lengths, so you can go through all the
plies. It's a popular product."
For an engineer, designing a workable truss patch is a
straightforward process, says Crawford. Truss suppliers provide
shop drawings for each truss that show the calculated load on
each member, and Simpson publishes allowable loads per screw
based on company testing. "Trusses are mostly made up of axial
force members — straight tension or compression,"
explains Crawford. "For most repairs, the designer can simply
take the total force in that broken member and divide it by the
allowable load per screw, and figure out how many screws to
use."
Simple — but complicated, says New Jersey structural
engineer Mike Pierce. "A contractor or carpenter might say,
'Hey, it's just a 2x4 — why can't I just fix it?"
commented Pierce. "But a wood truss is more than just a mess of
2x4s. It's an engineered system of components. If one component
is altered, it affects the entire engineered system. The
placement of those individual members, the angle, and the
manner of connecting them are all very important."
And there's more to the strength of a patch than the allowable
load per screw, Pierce notes: "For a framer in the field, it's
not all that easy to know whether to use 1/2-inch plywood or
3/4-inch, or full inch-and-a-half sawn lumber. Or how far apart
to space the screws, in what pattern, how close to the edge of
the wood — and you have to consider the wood grain, and
the angle of the screw."
But Pierce agrees that the screws can ease the job. "I've
specified them many times," he says. "They're very well
accepted. With nails, as the wood shrinks, it will pull away
from the nail. You've got pullout resistance with a screw that
is much greater, and they are a lot faster than bolts."
Back to
Top
Scrap Tires Prove Useful in
Septic Fields
American drivers discard 250 million tires a year, creating
an ongoing disposal problem. Recycling technology is gaining
ground; for example, the EPA's Region Six website reports that
Texas recycled more old tires in 2002 than it created. But the
push is still on for new and better ways to reuse tires.
One idea with big potential is substituting tire chips for
gravel in the treatment trenches of onsite sewage disposal
systems. It's a win all around, reports Caigan MacKenzie in the
fall 2003 Small Flows Quarterly: It cuts costs, it
works well in service, and it uses up a lot of old tires.
Tire chips are an excellent substitute
for gravel in septic trenches, providing equivalent or better
performance at lower cost, according to theSmall Flows
Quarterly. An average septic
system might use up 1,500 scrap tires, according to
experts.
Tire chips are a third as dense as gravel, and that makes them
cheaper to handle. Septic installer Bob Ardoyn, of Waycross,
Ga., told Small Flows that with tire chips, he spends
less on maintenance, fuel, and driving time. "A job requiring
75 tons of gravel can be done with 25 tons of tire chips," said
Ardoyn. "My profits doubled when I made the switch."
And installers like Ardoyn can get rid of a lot of tires. "An
average system with five 60-foot lines would use 1,400 to 1,500
used tires," Arkansas Department of Health official Carl Graves
told Small Flows. One Georgia firm processes ten
million tires a year, two thirds of them destined for septic
trenches. "Based on the average drainfield size, 4,600 septic
tanks would totally eliminate the five million tires discarded
in Alabama in 1999," said Ardoyn.
A companion technical article in the fall 2003 Small Flows
Quarterly lays to rest any doubts about the practice.
Compaction of chips in service has proven not to be a problem,
according to Barbara Grimes, Ph.D., and two colleagues.
Treatment is effective as systems age, Grimes noted. Systems
eight years old or older were found to support "healthy and
diverse ecosystems" that could break down waste as well as a
gravel system or better. And research into the possibility that
buried tire chips might release chemicals has found that, in
fact, the reverse may be true: In several studies, tire chips
seem to have purified water by absorbing chemicals like
naphthalene, toluene, and mercury.
For more information, contact the National Small Flows
Clearinghouse (800/624-8301,
www.nesc.wvu.edu/nsfc).
Back to
Top
Slim Chances Seen for
Slimmed-Down Energy Bill
Arizona Senator John McCain calls it "rancid pork." Public
Citizen, the consumer watchdog group, says it would "result in
elimination of virtually all consumer protections for
electricity ratepayers," creating a power industry run by
"unregulated, monopolist, mega-giant utility owners." And a
report produced for New Hampshire's deficit-hawk Senator John
Sununu by the U.S. Energy Information Office described its
likely effect on energy production, consumption, imports, and
prices as "negligible" (no more than a 1% drop in oil imports
by the year 2025). But it's back: With its grab-bag of tax
breaks cut by about half, and a controversial provision dropped
that would have protected oil companies from legal liability
related to the gasoline additive MBTE, the omnibus energy bill
that failed by two votes in the Senate last fall is slated to
come before the senators again this spring. Hoping to avoid
another mad rush by members to hitch their own pet tax
incentives to the train, Senate leaders Bill Frist (the
Kentucky Republican) and Tom Dashiell (the South Dakota
Democrat) have agreed to bring the bill straight to the Senate
floor, allowing no amendments and bypassing the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee that would ordinarily get first
whack.
If the bill survives to become law, there would be a few
tidbits for energy-efficient builders tucked in among the
billions in breaks for the coal, nuclear, oil, and electric
industries. Chief among the home energy provisions:
• a tax credit (payable to the builder) of $1,000 for
each new home rated to use 30% less energy than an
energy-code-compliant house, and $2,000 if the house is rated
at 50% better than code
• credits of $50 to $150 for energy- efficient
appliances
• a credit of 10% on up to $3,000 worth of
energy-conserving modifications to existing homes, for a total
incentive of $300 per job
The money isn't much, but for the more cost-effective energy
improvements, it could make a difference. Sealing an existing
crawlspace, for instance, can cut energy use drastically in
some houses. "The tax credit would be perfect for our
foil-faced foam insulation products," said Herb Reffert, a
product rep from Dow Chemical. "Insulating an existing
crawlspace is one of the few ways you can save 30% over code
for an affordable price." (Crawlspace expert Jeff Tooley,
however, cautions that sealing up an existing home's crawlspace
is a tricky proposition. "There are a lot more ways to get in
trouble sealing an existing crawlspace than building a sealed
crawlspace for a new home," he said. "You can't just block up
the vents and go away, unless you want the floor to
rot.")
You also shouldn't hold your breath while you wait for the
energy credits to become law. The energy bill can't pass the
House without the gas-additive lawsuit protection for oil
companies, and it can't pass the Senate with it, said one
Senate staffer: "Both bodies may lob modified energy bills back
and forth, since neither side wants the energy bill to die on
its doorstep. I hate to sound cynical, but with a short and
congested election-year session of Congress underway, time is
not an ally to getting energy legislation of any sort passed.
But anything is possible here, so stay tuned."
Back to
Top
Offcuts
Homeowners leveled sharp criticisms at New Jersey's
state-sponsored home warranty program during January
hearings held by the State Commission of Investigation, reports
the
Newark Star-Ledger. Complaining that the
complicated system was run by out-of-state companies who impede
legitimate claims, witnesses charged that supposedly impartial
arbitrators maintained cozy relationships with builders. But
William Connolly, head of the state's codes and standards
agency, defended the system, pointing to recoveries totaling
more than $50 million since the program began in 1978.
Complaints represented a tiny percentage of homeowners out of
240,000 warranties in force, said Connolly.
The Cleveland, Ohio, chapter of the National
Association of the Remodeling Industry is backing contractor
licensing legislation proposed by Ohio Attorney
General Jim Petro and state representative Jim Trakas,
according to press reports. Trakas's bill would set up a new
Contractor Registration Board, with all home improvement
contractors and salespeople required to register and show proof
of $300,000 liability insurance coverage. Unlicensed
contractors, or those convicted of fraud, could face fines up
to $2,500 and a possible 6- to 12-month jail term.
Atlanta home builders are proposing new impact fees to
fund work on the city's troubled sewer system, reports
the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Builders are still
pressing a two-year-old lawsuit against the city over Atlanta's
existing impact fee collections, which they say are unfair
because funds collected are directed to areas not affected by
the projects paying the fees. But the builders say they would
be satisfied if the fee system were used to pay for improved
sewers along with the type of work the fees currently support.
HBA official Chris Burke said, "Money applied to water and
sewer is money well spent."
An Audubon Society study says a trend toward larger
homes on larger lots is speeding up the loss of open
space, reports the Boston Globe. Home
builders told the paper that regulations and local resistance
to space-conserving high-density development are making the
problem worse. Instead of pursuing the uncertain, expensive,
and tedious process of getting an exception to lot
restrictions, builders opt for "McMansions" that conform to
existing limits, state HBA president Greg Spier told the
Globe. "The only way to get our money back [for
mandated site improvements] is to build large homes," said
Spier.
Maine lawmakers are working on a bill to establish the
state's first statewide building code, says the
Associated Press. The measure would make adoption of the code
by towns voluntary. About 80 cities and towns in Maine already
have building codes.
Arid Southern California's Metropolitan Water District
plans to fund water-conserving upgrades for at least 80 model
homes, according to a press release. The cooperative
of 26 member cities and agencies imports water for 18 million
people from Northern California and the Colorado River basin,
and growth is straining the limited supply. Cooperating with
builders to put frugal irrigation systems, appliances, and
fixtures in model homes will "show the public how water
conservation has evolved from the brick-in-the-toilet-tank
days," said Water District CEO Ronald Gastelum.
Responding to a "passionate argument" from Atlanta
builders, NAHB's executive board has voted to bring the 2007
and 2008 Builders' Show back to Atlanta's World Congress
Center, after all, as agreed previously in a contract
with the city, according to the Atlanta Business
Journal. The meeting has grown so large since the deal was
inked in the 1980s that organizers fear the Atlanta facilities
won't hold the crowds. But faced with losing a $200 million
shot in the arm, the city threatened a lawsuit. Said an NAHB
spokesperson, "If we're tight, we're tight."
Back to
Top