Looking for and Architect or Engineer for a small build (house, cabinet)

[terracore]

Originally Posted by Arktikos

Have you seen or heard of hi-bor wood being attacked by termites?

I know a guy who claims the Hi-Bor wood is only good for 2 years, but he also builds houses- and only concrete houses. The engineer we hired to inspect our home told us that properly installed, hi-bor built houses have fewer problems with cockroaches and bugs in general (the borate kills a variety of insects) than older homes, so at least in his experience it seems to work.

Hi-Bor wood is "guaranteed" for 20 years, but I read the warranty and it reads to be pretty much worthless. Among the list of exclusions is if any of the wood is weathered, warped, split, been left uncovered, rained on, the home has "settled", wood improperly painted, been within 4 inches of the ground, etc etc basically a list of all the things that happens to every piece of hi-bor lumber here will invalidate the warranty. Usually when I go to Home Depot the 2x4s and 2x2s are sopping wet and heavy from their warranty invalidation. The other cuts are usually drier because they sell less volume and they've dried in the warehouse, but that also makes me wonder if prior to that happening they spent more time out in the rain.

[TropicalLivingHawaii]

You are so helpful. Thank you

[Futuremauian]

Originally Posted by terracore

I know a guy who claims the Hi-Bor wood is only good for 2 years, but he also builds houses- and only concrete houses. The engineer we hired to inspect our home told us that properly installed, hi-bor built houses have fewer problems with cockroaches and bugs in general (the borate kills a variety of insects) than older homes, so at least in his experience it seems to work.

Hi-Bor wood is "guaranteed" for 20 years, but I read the warranty and it reads to be pretty much worthless. Among the list of exclusions is if any of the wood is weathered, warped, split, been left uncovered, rained on, the home has "settled", wood improperly painted, been within 4 inches of the ground, etc etc basically a list of all the things that happens to every piece of hi-bor lumber here will invalidate the warranty. Usually when I go to Home Depot the 2x4s and 2x2s are sopping wet and heavy from their warranty invalidation. The other cuts are usually drier because they sell less volume and they've dried in the warehouse, but that also makes me wonder if prior to that happening they spent more time out in the rain.

When I carpeted my bedroom with Dupont StainMaster carpet, the warranty was void unless you vacuumed it at least 4 times per week. Who has time for that?

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Futuremauian

When I carpeted my bedroom with Dupont StainMaster carpet, the warranty was void unless you vacuumed it at least 4 times per week. Who has time for that?

An iRobot/Roomba does - and they really do work.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

An iRobot/Roomba does - and they really do work.

Yeah, until they run through dog poop, that's a lot of fun.
But yeah, I have 4 of them and they're awesome for in-between the deep cleanings.

[dobanion]

You had the dog poop thing happen to you? I about died laughing when someone wrote up their story on FB. They drew a map of their apartment and the trail of crap everywhere.

EDIT: Ah, here it is:

https://www.today.com/home/when-room...-viral-t101883

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by dobanion

You had the dog poop thing happen to you? I about died laughing when someone wrote up their story on FB. They drew a map of their apartment and the trail of crap everywhere.

EDIT: Ah, here it is:

https://www.today.com/home/when-room...-viral-t101883

Yes, it was pretty traumatic. Luckily our house is all wood floors, so that part of the clean up wasn't bad. But cleaning the tread/wheels and the whole undercarriage of the roomba required me to sacrifice a family members toothbrush.

I also have a great story about one of our Roombas and a mongoose. Kind of an "only in Hawai'i thing".

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Grassyknoll

Yes, it was pretty traumatic. Luckily our house is all wood floors, so that part of the clean up wasn't bad. But cleaning the tread/wheels and the whole undercarriage of the roomba required me to sacrifice a family members toothbrush.

Yikes, I'd just buy a new one.

[BuildBliss]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

Yikes, I'd just buy a new one.

I'd buy a new toothbrush too.

[Grassyknoll]

Originally Posted by BuildBliss

I'd buy a new toothbrush too.

Well it wasn't MY toothbrush......