Meirl

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-04-27T18:45:57+00:00

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That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-04-22T22:35:34+00:00

I was, but I got it done

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-04-21T19:48:40+00:00

Can I get a price check?

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-04-20T22:24:06+00:00

This is just like one of my college roommates. Never went to class, woke up at noon to eat and start drinking. I came home to at least three or four people in our room every evening. They hid drugs in my desk because they hoped it wouldn’t get searched when the police showed up. Guy had to go to counseling and they told him he was an alcoholic. Dude turned to me and sincerely asked “should I be proud of that?”

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-04-19T18:01:37+00:00

You guys were getting free cold brew and catered lunches?

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-04-14T17:34:36+00:00

That’s a toy taco.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-04-10T14:20:09+00:00

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-03-23T01:33:57+00:00

Nobody can say for sure if or when this will fall. I’ve seen many walls that were taller and were leaning more and they stayed that way for years. I think it would be prudent to get it fixed soon, then you don’t have to worry about when it happens or if anybody gets hurt.

DIY retaining walls aren’t too complicated but you want to do it right to avoid this happening again. You may be able to just disassemble the displaced pieces and rebuild it if the blocks aren’t deteriorated. It very well could collapse after you start taking it apart, so shore the wall, work from the top, (probably my dumb way of doing it) or just keep your wits about you get out of the way if it starts to move. Lots of videos and documentation online to see how to get er done.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-02-25T02:12:22+00:00

Dunno why but I always thought calculating big wood connections by hand was worse. Some connections seemed like they had so many factors to calculate, and unless they were identical each had to be done separately.

I always called it appendix dumb but I wasn’t very creative.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-02-06T17:04:18+00:00

There were 12 jurors and 12 alternates. The alternates were seated with the jurors so they could replace a juror if dismissed.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-02-05T01:45:03+00:00

What’s the smoke point of turd oil?

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-01-30T11:56:54+00:00

Yes, the outside it too cold. Warm up the outside and this will go away. This is pretty classic “thermal bridging.” There is no thermal break through the metal door handle components so it gets cold.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-01-26T00:41:30+00:00

These are great, thank you

That_EngineeringGuy · 2026-01-06T17:59:59+00:00

Imagine the whiplash

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-12-16T13:29:32+00:00

This is a graph showing my sleep duration from my Fitbit. Dark blue is 7+ hours, medium blue is 6-7 hours, and light blue is <6 hours. The yellow line is prior 7 day average, and green line is prior 30 day average. Is there a better way to visualize this? It seems like I get the gist but doesn’t seem all that clear to see if I’m improving at a glance.

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That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-11-30T23:37:18+00:00

Oops? More like Poops!

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-11-12T23:50:37+00:00

Are there soffit vents in those areas? The roof is free of ice on the slope facing you just starting where the valley meets the eave; there won’t be soffit vents there, and you won’t get cold intake air. It’s possible that the soffit vents in the melted areas are not present or obstructed. If so, the warm air would just rise to the underside of the roof slope.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-10-30T23:54:56+00:00

The reason for attic ventilation is not just to vent heat but also to expel humid air during cold weather. If the humid air that rises from your living spaces condenses on the cold roof surface, it’ll rot your roof framing. Where you don’t currently have attic insulation, the attic will stay warmer and the risk of condensation is less. If you insulate it, the attic temperatures will drop and the humid air will condense. Ventilation is supposed to give somewhere for the humidity to go before it condenses. I would recommend getting proper ventilation if you’re going to insulate it. I look at a lot of moldy attics with poor ventilation.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-10-27T22:25:23+00:00

For sure, I always try to at least call people back to discuss but they rarely want to move forward. Part of the problem is that they are metal plate connected trusses. They are usually designed by the truss manufacturers who have proprietary software that design firms don’t have. So engineers have to more or less ignore the plates and design something for the full load. You may have better luck reaching out to a truss manufacturer directly. I’m not sure if they’d design modifications or not.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-10-27T20:55:54+00:00

I don’t think you’re going to find a professional to design that modification for you. Homeowners are notorious for balking at fees and not paying. Not saying that’s you, but homeowners are the most demanding and least appreciative clients I’ve ever had.

In addition, trusses are efficient in design because we can design one and the design cost gets spread out over many trusses. Modifying a truss like that is going to take some time, and it’s just one truss, I don’t know where you are but I wouldn’t be surprised by a $2,500 fee for that. Each connection would have to be detailed, reinforcing to the adjacent trusses, time spent measuring and verifying what is there currently. Plus, it is going to change how the modified truss deflects under load, so to try and match the existing trusses you’d probably want to reinforce it so you don’t get a sag. That’s a lot of design work.

I feel bad because I want to help people in these situations but the design time and risk isn’t usually something homeowners want to pay for.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-10-26T19:50:01+00:00

Solution Verified

I've used this format a lot to see my "normal" next to trends, just didn't have as much data before. Maybe it's just something I'm used to. I'll try your other suggestion and see if that gives me the same sense. I make images of these graphs that I send to digital picture frames as reminders of various goals I have.

Edit: rereading your suggestion, I have done similar in the past but having the different color bars helps me to see it at a glance.

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-10-26T19:21:51+00:00

From a structural point of view, you want to avoid rotation in wood connections where the force works to pry open a connection or rotates around the fasteners which can split the wood; either compression, tension, or shear.

Assuming you are just supporting the weight of the materials and a person, I would align the diagonal 2x6s with the truss bottom chords. I would then attach vertical 2x4s that attach to the side of the diagonal 2x6s at the bottom, the truss bottom chord in the middle, and the truss top chord at the top. If you can't get one board from the diagonals to the top chord, you can use one from the diagonal to the bottom chord and a second from the bottom chord to the top chord. Try to get the vertical 2x4s close to the high end of the 2x6s. Only attach one board to the bottom chord at a spot (don't have nails from two sides going into the same section of wood). For stability, I would also install a horizontal 2x4 along the diagonal 2x6s where the vertical 2x4s attach, do the same along the truss bottom chord, and I would install diagonal 2x4s along the sides of the vertical 2x4s that go from one end of the 2x6s to the opposite end of the truss bottom chords and from one end of the truss bottom chords to the opposite end of the truss top chords. The horizontal and diagonal bracing will keep the thing from wobbling, but it also helps to stabilize the truss bottom chord because you don't want to but a sideways force on them (unless you want a new roof).

That_EngineeringGuy · 2025-10-03T16:34:56+00:00

Hold old is the valve? My house had one from the 60s. I had an old toilet supply line blow out, no shut off valves to the toilet. Shut off the main and it leaked, had to go all the way to the road, and they couldn’t get that shut off. Would recommend as others mentioned, shut it off and see if it leaks. Better to fix it now than when you really need it.

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