Nearly 40,000 nail-gun injuries are reported to emergency rooms across the US every year and OSHA claims that nail gun injuries account for 14% of their reported injuries. Not only operators are at risk of injury; 12% of nail-gun injuries happened to bystanders. With these staggering results, it may be time to rethink nail gun safety.
Frozen pipes on construction sites and in new homes are one of the issues builders face over the winter. Burst pipes, especially when they go undetected, can wreak havoc as they spew water into the building or erode the surrounding landscape.
Burst pipes occur during extremely inclement winter weather when water in the pipes expands and places so much pressure on the inner walls of the pipe that it bursts. You can avoid burst pipes by either preventing the water from freezing in the first place or by managing pressure when it does.
Whether you are a professional roofer or a DIY enthusiast building a garden shed, here are a few simple steps to reduce call backs and ensure a quality roof that will last for years. Not all shingles are the same and individual manufacturers may have specific instructions for their products that have to be followed in order to meet building codes and validate warranties. Read and follow the installation instructions that come with the product, even if you have installed shingles before.
If you are getting callbacks for uneven or squeaky floors, make sure that you are correctly spacing your OSB subflooring panels. Wood expands or contracts with changes in moisture conditions and without proper spacing, the panels can push together and this causes the edges to lift which, in turn, causes the squeaks and bumps.
Winter has arrived and with it snow and ice which make surfaces more treacherous and cold hands and feet which make workers less stable. It falls to construction jobsite managers to ensure that all workers are following safety protocols to reduce the risk of injury.
For OSHA, fall prevention is a major priority because of the over 40 deaths and many more injuries that occur annually. Public safety is also a concern when construction job sites border busy roads. Not only do jobsite managers have a responsibility to create a safe working environment for workers and the public, they also need to meet OSHA regulations or face fines. From large contractors to residential home builds, everyone must comply with OSHA regulations to create safe working environments.
These are an excellent choice as a retrofit to older homes which have non-ducted heating systems. These include homes with hydrontic heating systems, space heaters or radiant panel heaters. If you are considering an addition to an existing home and extending the existing duct work into the new space isn’t feasible, ductless mini-split heat pumps provide a good alternative. Select an Energy-Star appliance in order to ensure that you are getting the most energy-efficient option.
Modern home design is a dynamic entity that needs to grow and change with the market needs. Any builder who is building the same homes they did ten years ago will steadily be reducing the pool from which they can draw new clients. Of course the biggest influencer on the modern home is energy savings, but there are other trends to note as well. Livability is still the most important factor in home design choice and the role that technology plays is also increasing.
We’re no experts on safety, but there are some practical guidelines to onsite job safety from Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). These standards for construction sites help to reduce the risk of injury. Always remember to check local safety requirements and ensure that your crew is properly trained.
While the Atlantic storm season have been getting worse for builders and home owners over the last few years, this year offers a brief reprieve thanks to the El Niño effect which offers strong wind and shear which makes it difficult for hurricanes to form. Predictions from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association put the number of tropical storms at between 8 and 13 with 6 expected to develop into hurricanes.
