Home Improvement Today?

It's nuptial season for ants, if they still have wings they haven't made a colony yet, just flying around looking to mate, after they've mated the males usually die and the females eat their wings to give them energy for raising brood until they have enough drones to start foraging for food.

Essentially trying to bait them now won't do any good, alates don't usually eat.

 

I’m seein’ a pesky, stubborn streak formin’ up here.

 

Update on the ants, alates, flying ants, ants with wings, whatever! These were discovered because we're having siding installed. Some trim was removed and there they were. I've killed ants in that spot for years, so once the siding guys are gone it's game on. I've got some 38 Plus for them.

 

Making head way on getting my footings poured. In the meantime, I’m starting to run some ideas by our engineer regarding ceiling joist and rafter tie design to take load off of the old barn wall we are removing. When the previous owners started on this outer wall, it looks like he inverted the second top plate in order to keep the roof pitch the same on both sides (building is on a slope).

Here is how the original outer wall meets the rafters — pretty classic:


Here is how his new wall meets the new rafters from the roof extension:


I kind of like this design for adding structural ceiling joists — it puts the joists higher so I keep more head room:


In order to do that, it looks like I’ll have to get rid of the hurricane ties to get those blocks nice and tight to the rafters. I’ve heard you can replace them with timber lok screws. Any idea how I’d fasten those screws to the inverted top plate (or whatever it’s called)?

Another option is to be more precise with my ceiling joist cuts and do something like this — a retrofitted truss — but I think it might be too far up into the second third of the ceiling for my shallow roof pitch:

 

in the second pic where previous framer stood top plate on edge , is there nothing outboard of that standing plate ? ie is the plate a 1 1/2" thick hinge the roof system is bearing on ? Or do you mean there is another set of rafters tied into that standing 2x6 on the other side of the wall ?

 

Nothing on the other side — that’s the end of the wall. The board that’s on end is actually a 4x6. I’d be pretty sketched out if the whole thing was balancing on 1 1/2” of material .

 

your engineer will likely have a solution but you could run 3/8" GRK RSS screws through the lower plate into the 4x6 and then use Simpson A24 or similar on the sides of the rafters to connect them to the 4x6 and lose the hurricane anchors

 

https://www.nps.gov/articles/limewash-an-old-practice-and-a-good-one.htm

https://www.askthebuilder.com/whitewash-recipe/

https://www.crisppointlighthouse.org/formula.html

 

Lol yeah they were serious. But looks like good preservation technique reading on it

 

So deciding to add an outlet in the corner of my garage ceiling or wall for a wall mounted osculating fan. Was looking into the Big Ass Fans. anyone have that brand? i know theyre supposed to be good.

 

American Classic right there

 

When I worked for an electrical engineer, we specified them for a few projects but those were usually the 24' fans. I'm assuming you're not looking to go quite that big ass.

 

The only experience I have with them is that they are commercial quality based on some YouTube tear downs I've watched, they are used in commercial spaces where money is no object, and they're expensive as all hell. That being said, if they're within your budget then I don't think you can go wrong. I just checked and the 2 wall-mount "residential" fan options are $850 or $1,029....starting prices.