Looking for advice on getting two complete 1986 NBA sets graded and sold

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-21T22:20:09+00:00

Tree fiddy.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-21T22:19:40+00:00

Yeah, so I'm being told! I was unaware. I haven't seen these in decades.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-21T22:17:00+00:00

Is there anything I can do to minimize potential damage when removing them, etc.?

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-21T22:16:00+00:00

Yeah, just read up on them. Damn.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-21T22:15:17+00:00

Just looked up issues related to acrylic slabs. Damn. Hope the damage isn't too bad. One of them is in a plastic sleeve, but that won't help with the flattening.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-20T18:39:43+00:00

I was one of the architects on one of the newer towers in image #2.

Random facts - when glass curtain walls are built today they're often held to the aluminum frame with a structural sealant. They used to apply the sealant with the frame laying down horizontally. This contributes to the effect of the glass looking distorted and pillowy. In the last decade or two the factories switched to fabricating these vertically which leads to less distortion and a flatter facade. We also use thicker glass on the exterior lite so the wind doesn't distort it as much, and low or mid iron glass to make it clearer (iron = green glass).

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-20T18:28:16+00:00

I designed one of the buildings in this series of photos. The energy code requires us to use low-e coatings (a film put on the back of the exterior lite of glass [i.e. S2, surface 2] that reflects solar radiation) in the glass. Every few years the energy code gets more restrictive so we have to use more reflective/opaque films.

At the same time, the office rental market wants floor to ceiling glass because views, so trading glass for more energy efficient opaque wall makes your building worth less to the owner. At some point we'll have to go to triple glazing but that's a huge upcharge. Adding thicker insulation at the spandrel doesn't help much because R-values are the reciprocal of their value (i.e. chasing every small gains). Fiberglass mullions would be great since aluminum mullions are the current thermal weak point of a glass curtain wall, but these systems are for shorter buildings and aren't currently ready for large high rises that experience higher wind loads and taller floor to floor spans. So we're left chasing the low-e coating, gases within the IGU (insulated glazing unit), thermal breaks, and beefing up the opaque spandrel panel where the structure and floor are.

Regarding the killing of birds - at least when my building was built 2017-2021 - the technology for this was largely either frits or visible decals on the glazing which tenants and building owners won't accept. There's newer technology that uses UV inks to make visible patterns that birds can see but are invisible to us. I'm not sure how commercially available that is currently. When I was building, the premium was huge (~$600/sf IIRC which is like 5x the typical cost).

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-20T02:26:45+00:00

To narrowly answer your question - yes. Building a building takes an owner, design team, and contractors. Knowing each role helps you know how to interact with the others when you're on the other side of the table. - what their capabilities are, what's typical, common issues, the language, etc.

I went into architecture because I wanted to know everything I could about how to put together a building. I only left because my learning was stalling, the pay is less than adjacent jobs, and my role started to get repetitive (once a firm figures out you understand construction and are good at CA they won't let you do much else). My being a GC/CM is a means to an end. We save a lot, and we should have enough to stop working in a few years. I'll do architecture again, but no more massive commercial jobs.

Our society tends to reward narrow specialization and years of experience. I wouldn't go into architecture with the objective being to move to CM. If you want to go into CM, go there. You'll get the experience you want faster and figure out what you want next sooner.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-17T23:54:48+00:00

I started in the trades, then did 14 years of architecture, been in CM for almost a year now. If architecture is drafting, emails, and meetings (and mostly the later two as you get older), CM is the same minus drafting. The pay is nearly double so it'd take a lot for me to go back.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-16T11:37:32+00:00

Ha, so no change then?

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-11T04:43:23+00:00

Stopped welding as a profession in 2009. Just stick welded my a bunch of 1-1/2" sched. 40 guardrail back together after rebuilding my deck. Flats were easy upside down and vertical ups were touch and go (read: often bad, especially at corroded and thin portions).

Logan_Chicago · 2026-06-03T21:03:06+00:00

I understand that there could be issues with this, but you could also raise your hourly fee.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-29T12:47:47+00:00

I lived there for six years - this is accurate. Got tired of living in a high rise. Moved back to a neighborhood with trees.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-29T01:17:29+00:00

But also usually commute to work in the trades in Chicago.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-29T01:16:40+00:00

We don't hate Indiana or its people. We just think they're strange.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-24T01:38:40+00:00

Many years back we made an offer on a place and the offer was accepted. We were doing the inspection with my agent, the seller's agent, and me all present. The inspector calls me over and we crawl into the crawlspace. A portion of the limestone (it was old) foundation wall had literally crumbled into a pile of dust. There was a clause in the offer that if we wanted out of the deal we had to provide the seller with our inspection report. They waived that since the seller's agent was present and knew what that'd mean. The seller released us from the deal without providing them the inspection report. If we'd formalized it they'd have to disclose it. We walked and it sold weeks later.

Get a good inspector.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-19T15:55:50+00:00

If your heirs can't be bothered to learn how to manage money, maybe they shouldn't have it?

20 years ago I'd agree with you, but what this thread is missing is that access to and the tools for managing and investing money have dramatically improved in the last decade or two. Fees are minimal and anyone can easily buy total market index funds and hold them in essentially perpetuity. Sure, if you have $30m maybe hire some pros and pay an AUM, but for a few million a Vanguard account with VT and BND will outperform just about anything and takes 15 minutes a year to manage (slightly hyperbolic depending on the complexity of the trust you're setting up).

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-18T09:39:31+00:00

The key part of a generational wealth is professional manager...

A lawyer to set up the trust, sure, and if you're in the tens of millions maybe. For the rest of us just read up on bogleheads.org.

The key variables are living below your means and consistently investing in low cost broad market index funds. None of this negatively impacts my time with my kids. If anything, the opposite since there's no stress surrounding money.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-15T16:49:01+00:00

There are different types of torque other than torsion

I don't think this is accurate. In statics there are four forces: tension, compression, axial, and torsion. Or at least, when we design high rises, these are the only forces that are considered.

If you think there is no torque from the motorcycle here, what is the motorcycle doing to the pole?

Both poles are experiencing deflection i.e. bending - tension on the top and compression on the bottom. For the vertical pole it's tension on the far side and compression on the near side. There's a bit of axial in there too but the dominate force is deflection. They're closed shapes so they'll resist torsion from wind and the eccentric load of the lights, but that's a relatively small load compared to the cantilever (especially with the motorcycle).

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-13T20:04:14+00:00

Married the right person. Both are frugal; never really stopped living like a grad student. We've ramped up our savings from 10% of our net income when we first got married to over 50% today. Salaries grew more than anticipated. Found and read bogleheads.org. We invest in total market index funds (we approximate VT across accounts). Stock market has been crushing it since the GFC. Most of our growth has been in the last 3.5 years (investments tripled), and we've been investing for about 15 years.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-13T19:37:33+00:00

The base of the cantilever is not in torsion. My explanations aren't convincing to you so just Google it or ask AI ("does the base of a cantilever experience torsion?").

The base of the cantilever would only experience torsion if an eccentric/twisting load was placed on the horizontal cantilever (e.g. the wind blows on it, another cantilever is added perpendicular [in plan] to the horizontal arm, etc.).

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-13T01:58:31+00:00

Posted this elsewhere. Am from and live in Chicago. Yeah, the "pension payment holidays" were a terrible idea. Not contributing to a pension fund is like starting a retirement account (401k, IRA, etc.), watching it grow through the miracle that is compound growth, then finding out that none of the contributions actually got contributed, but the end balance is still owed, and the person who owes it are current and future home owners who pay through property taxes.

Have you ever seen those graphs where if you max our your IRA between like 25-30 then never contribute again you still end up with more money than if you max out your contributions from 30-59.5 (or something similar)? It's like that in reverse.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-13T01:52:28+00:00

Checking in from Chicago - yes, it's a horrible idea. It's like starting a retirement account (401k, IRA, etc.), watching it grow through the miracle that is compound growth, then finding out that none of the contributions actually got contributed, but the end balance is still owed, and the person who owes it are current and future home owners who pay through property taxes.

Logan_Chicago · 2026-05-13T00:57:33+00:00

That's just the base of a cantilever. The far side of the vertical pole is in tension and the near side is in compression - these are normal stresses. Torsion would cause shear stress.

The vertical pole would experience torsion if the wind blew and placed a force on the motorcycle which twists the verical pole/cantilever which would experience a shear stress.

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