http://altbuildingservices.com Green building, design, and renovation Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:35:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en That's the word from the Contractor's State License Board's SWIFT (Statewide Investigative Fraud Team) unit. They opened the latest edition of California Licensed Contractor, the little mag they send out to us contractors every quarter, with that leader. And the next article on page one was titled "CSLB Helps Protect ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/08/14/unlicensed-contractor-scams-on-the-increase/ It's finally happened! BernzOmatic has finally released a recyclable line of fuel cylinders they've dubbed the Fat Boy™. I mean, I don't know about you, but for me, dealing with spent propane and MAPP gas cylinders has just been a pain. You're not supposed to throw them into the ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/08/02/bernzomatic-introduces-new-recyclable-torch-cylinders/ PEX, (or cross-linked polyethylene tubing) is `legal' for installation in homes and businesses in 49 States of the Union -- but not in California. This despite the fact that the 2001 California Plumbing Code (CPC) listed PEX "as an acceptable material for domestic water piping," (but didn't approve it for ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/07/24/the-politics-of-pex-in-california/ Took a long weekend over the 4th to go camping. Not far away, just "over the hill" to a little campground called East Fork, near Willow Creek. Got away late on Wednesday and went into Willow Creek for dinner, then back to camp. It has been a couple of years since ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/07/07/back-from-a-short-break/ Back at the turn of the year I said one of the projects on the table for his year was a design build project I'd be calling the Cove House. Well, the project hasn't gone away. We signed the contract the end of January, but didn't get started until the ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/06/19/cove-house-preliminary-design/ When [building] code enforcement goes a-roaming, with guns and backup, what's it really after? That was howThe North Coast Journal's Heidi Walters opened her article Fear In The Hills back in April. The article covered an incident back in February when: . . . a convoy of Sheriff's deputies and a county code enforcement officer ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/06/06/paramilitary-code-enforcement/ I must apologize to loyal readers for not posting here for over a month. I have been working on The Cove House since the end of February (among other small jobs) and have been hoping to get a post in here about it. But on the personal side, my 91 year ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/05/13/a-personal-loss/ Okay, so you want to build green, but you're on a tight budget. You can't afford to have a custom house designed for you, but those McMansions in the house plans magazine are also way out of your budget. Well, somebody finally noticed that there's a market for smaller homes: ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/04/08/building-green-on-a-budget/ Finish stripping is one of those "easy" things that's a hardware store video favorite. But as I was reminded this last week -- it's not as easy as those store videos make it look. In fact, there's a lot that's simply not well known. So, though I originally wasn't ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/03/23/a-primer-on-paint-finish-stripping/ The design/build method of building isn't exactly new. But it's growing popularity in commercial and public construction has taken time to trickle down to custom home building. And for good reason. Design/build is a very different animal. Even if you've had a home built before, and so are familiar ... http://altbuildingservices.com/2008/03/01/understanding-the-designbuild-method-and-contract/