Material Die Marks?
Brian Smith
material. The plans call for
a 2x2 x .093 square tube and the installation company used a standard
2x2 x .045. This is less than half the thickness that it should be. I
asked the local building department if that was acceptable and the
reply
I got was " I have know a way to tell what the thickness of the
material is hire a engineer to tell me that it is wrong and then I
will fail the enclosure inspection". My point is if there is someway
to add a exterior die line in the material that is drawn on the plans
then he would know that the correct material has been used. The
biggest issue I have is that a storm comes by and it is less than the
"code" and destroy's screen enclosures put up with the wrong material
it will hurt all of us in this industry. People don't want to pay the
high price for a screen now. Let more of them fail in small storms and
the code will get stronger and the price will continue to rise? Does
anyone have any answers to this problem?
David W Miller
In your example the material is clearly marked externally. The 2X2x.046
Patio has screen spline grooves, while the .093 is smooth. But, I get your
point. This is a large and complex issue and until the contractors can (if
ever) figure out a way to police this, it will not happen. My experience is,
on the other hand, that the majority of the contractor community would not
be in favor of real and skilled enforcement. And, again, from my experience,
even when the contractors want it, the building departments are not capable
(either out of apathy or resource allocation) of providing the enforcement
necessary.
The case you site is neither small, nor insignificant, nor unusual. But
unless and until a big group of contractors get sufficiently concerned and
are willing to adress it, in deed as well as word, things will remain status
quo. In other words, "If you always do what you've always done, you'll aways
get what you've always got!"
David Miller
Brian Smith
Thanks for your reply. I explained the spline grove situation with
the inspector that didn't change his mind. The 2x3 comes in .050 and .
070 what is the industry really using where it specifies .070? We are
part of a large Assoc. that should be able to talk to the suppliers
about this and they should go with our advice, however this is what
gives the industry such a bad reputation in the public eye. I also put
this post on the UMDA group. In one area of Palm Beach County the
local Building Department did a inspection before you could erect the
enclosure. I know that the Building Departments are not going to do
this nor do we want to wait on the job site for the inspector. It
could get very time consuming waiting that why I feel that there
should be die marks.