Is it me or is there a rash of things catching fire??

[toggleswitch]

Get a (Hercules) Grrip!

~I will be replacing all the flex connectors on the older gas appliances in this '41 home ASAP.

Please be reminded that on these connectors there should NEVER be any pipe-joint compound between the end piece and the connector itself. Thses are milled to perfection to form a flared seal on their own. Of course the threaded house piping to which the nipple of the flex connector attaches connects should get some.

IIRC gas pipes should not get teflon tape. A tiny piece can block the gas orifice.

http://cloroben.com/products/thread_sealants.html

 

[exploder3211]

FYI Toggles:

Guess who Built these homes???? Pulte did!!! Whooosh!

 

[toggleswitch]

I"ve got GAS!

uh huh, Someone is not working those pipes and nuts correctly. Some things have to be finessed.

 

[abcomatic]

Toggle, a question for you

My house was built in 1897, a wooden frame, 2 story Queen Anne (ok, watch the queen part)lol, lol with a full basement and full, walk up attic. I believe houses of this time were built using ballon construction. Is there anyway that i can tell if mine was built with that type of construction? My brother is an electricain and we have re-wired 90% of the house. We were pulling new wire down from the attic and couldn't get it past about the center of the outside wall. He thought that I may have fire stops? Does this ring a bell or not? What is your opinion on knob and tube wiring? Thanks kid. Gary

 

[toggleswitch]

Not famliar with balloon construction. I could use a lesson in it myself.

Fire stops? Can't say.

Frequently there were horizontal "studs" between the vertical ones, which may actually BE fire stops. I thought they were to keep the studs straight (*GULP*) and to support them.

Knob-and-tube wiring is the earliest form. And it is fascinating to see in a museum or as an education. In terms of tody's home I think you are very wise to systematically eliminate it.

Sorry to be of such little help. I am sure someone of greater wisdom, competentcy and famialrity with construction techniques will chime in.

 

[polkanut]

My parents home which was built in 1922, and ours built in 1925 have fire stops. I had never seen them before we rewired our home. We have an addition on the back of the house that was put on in '62, and it is constructed just as solid. The only way you can tell it's an addition is by looking at the foundation, old=stone foundation, new=cement block. We had a 60amp service with fuses and knob & tube wiring, upgraded to 100amp with breakers and all new wire throughout. The insurance inspector was so impressed with the work that we got a discount on our homeowners policy without hesitation.

 

[petek]

Well I did a little google on balloon framing and the key difference is that there is no separation between floors since the outer wood frame is built of solid length timbers from foundation to eaves rather than todays standard of 2x4x8 framerworks. So the firestops were installed at the floor level (in the wall) to slow down any fire using them in a chimney like fashion between the different floors of the house. This style of building disappeared along with the disappearnce of timber in such great lengths though it was good for electricians etc because the wiring could just be fed straight up/down thru the walls with nothing blocking the route, before installing the firestop.