Watching The Trades

I never would have thought that the Japanese would treat their houses as throwaway objects. I have always heard so much about what fine craftsmen the Japanese were that I always imagined that they built their houses with the same kind of care. They don’t.

The typical lifespan for a house in Japan is only 30 years and buying a used house is almost unheard of. You can read more here.

I never would have thought that rising construction cost would so quickly become a problem for governments trying to build or repair their infrastructure. Obviously, I knew that this was going to be a problem in the future because I wrote a post on the problem. But serious problems are starting to pop up now.

This article from the New York Times explains why.

The Revenge of a Construction Crew.

I don’t know if this story is true or not, but I have worked with guys who might have done something like this. But I find it hard to believe that cops would have let people get away with doing something like this.

The One Thing That Worries Me About Diesel Engines.

Diesel engines are a lot more reliable then gasoline engines. But in the right circumstances they can run away from you and blow up. The above link describes the problem nicely, but I may do a longer post on the subject in the future.

A Company That Builds Secret Rooms.

That they can build all these secret rooms is cool. But I want to know how they do it.

This YouTube clip perfectly captures the kind of ingenuity that is necessary to be a good in the trades. Sadly, it is also a good example of why I am not a particularly handy tradesmen. The stunt below would never even occur to me. And even if it did, I don’t think I would have the guts to try it.

Apparently, this is quite common in third world countries. Though you have to think that if they could afford the equipment they could also afford some ramps.

This blog post demonstrates a cool way to strengthen an interior wall that does not reach the ceiling. It is probably a method that is in all your common carpentry text books. But if it is, I don’t remember reading it.

These links are pretty serious and they have a lot of eye candy. So don’t bother looking at them unless you have some time to blow.

We will start you off easy with a post from Andrew Cusack’s excellent blog on the rebuilding of a historical church in Maryland. Being the committed and historically minded Catholic that he is, Andrew goes into a lament on the evil Protestants who created that necessity of rebuilding this church. But he also provides some excellent photos of the rebuilding.

The noteworthy thing about this church is that it is being rebuilt using historical methods. It kind of cool seeing how they built their scaffolding from trees cut from the woods. Sadly, those photographs don’t capture any of the actual work that was going on at the time.

This next link is a bit more time consuming. Go here and you will see a picture of two Tantos. These are Japanese fighting knives (you can read about Tantos here).

Now they don’t look like much; for one thing, my western mind can’t get over the fact that they don’t have a cross guard (though the same smith does make Tantos with cross guards). But the looks are not the point. Look at the bottom of the picture and you will see a link that details how these knives were made.

What follows is an impressive photo essay that starts with the guy smelting ore to make steel and ends with the finished project. A fascinating read.

And last, but not least, is Castle Magic. The design of the site looks sort of amateurish, but don’t let that fool you. These people build honest-to-goodness castles. To get a reasonably decent one, you have to spend over a million dollars. Nothing faux about these babies.

Of course, they do make few changes as a concession to modern times. For one thing, they put some insulation between the outer stone layer and inner rubble core. Also, I don’t think that secret passageways were all that common on historical castles. But mostly they follow the historical template when it comes to building details.

There is a lot to see at this site, but I recommend that you start out with the FAQ, this set of pictures, and these plans.

To see the above picture in its original go here.

Concrete staining can produce some beautiful floors as the above photograph can attest. Maineloft produced that floor by using Scofield’s products. But there are many other products out there that you can use. Going by what I have read, all of them seem to produce stunning effects.

All Things Concrete is a good place to start if you are new to staining concrete. The web site has a Spartan feel and information is sparse and to the point. Still, it manages to cover all the basics.

Among other things, All Things Concrete will tell you the difference between an acid based stain and an acrylic stain. This site will also give you basic pointers on how to create basic stain patterns. And last but not least, it has a photo gallery that gives you a realistic idea of what an amateur can accomplish.

If you want a high brow look at stained concrete you can look at Advanced Concrete Enhancement’s stained concrete portfolio. It is a little too geared towards modern art sensibilities for my tastes. Still their work is pretty impressive from a technical standpoint.

In fact, it is well worth checking out all of ACE’s portfolios. They will give you an education on what you can do with concrete.

And just in case the professionalism of ACE shakes your confidence, here is an account with pictures of ordinary people staining their own concrete.

Let’s give the first link to Alice the Architect as she explains what happens to most pieces of modern articture that are considered news worthy.

In the actual news department, did you know that the world’s most heavily endowed prize for architecture only goes to architects who build in areas with a lot of Muslims? That is because the prize was endowed by the leader of a sect of Islam called the Nizari Ismailis.

Also in the news a lot is the Dubai skyscraper called the Burj Dubai. This thing is going to be huge when it is finished as you can see from this drawing.

This next link is not exactly world wide news, but we have to wonder why Oxford University is building a library on a flood plain? Sure they are incorporating flood defense into the design; but why not build someplace else?

Everyone who works in the building trades will eventually have to deal with difficult or awkward customers. Everyone handles the problem in different ways……

Alice the Architect believes in an eye for an eye.

Beedlebrox of plumbing the depths believes in running away and letting his partner deal with the problem.

A Sears’ tech sells his own company up the river when faced with an irate customer (As told from the perspective of the customer).

Let’s face it, very few men in the trades can speak intelligently even when the subject is something that interests them. And don’t even get me started on the average tradesmen’s writing ability.

Good thing that are people out there who can speak for them. Otherwise, the views and the feelings of tradesmen would never get expressed. So without further ado, let me present three essays that speak for the trades�..

Joel Dueck defends us from those who would like to impose the metric system on the trades.

Annie Choi is not in the trades, but she mock architects. Who in the trades can’t relate to that?

Plumbing the Depths explains what it is like to have a bad day in the plumbing trade.