Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I Built a Shed (2020)

eduardosasso.co

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

251–260 of 323 posts

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#251

Post by PragmaticPulp »

DoreenMichele wrote: post #220
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> So this is a real issue and I'm reminded of the fact that after racist White people burned down "Black Wall Street" they then began interfering with the rebuilding by trying to pass more stringent fire safety codes This 100% has nothing to do with it. Screws aren’t even the easy, cheap, or fast option for construction. Everyone defaults to nails anyway because they’re the cheap, fast, easy, and correct option for f…

Trivial for someone in the know can mean (something like) "If you have a PhD and a decade of experience, it's obvious." People not in the know who look things up online have the problem that they often cannot properly judge the quality of the information they are seeing. I'm confident that some of the people on HN saying "Oh. God. Don't do that." actually know whereof they speak. But reading the article in no way tri…

> Trivial for someone in the know can mean (something like) "If you have a PhD and a decade of experience, it's obvious."

Construction workers don’t get PhDs and a decade of experience before they can build a safe structure.

It’s trivial because you can look up virtually any plans or tutorials and see the accepted ways of doing things. You can type it into Google and get instant results explaining why something is against code.

This person had to go out of their way to spend extra money to do it differently. It’s not even a good example of a pitfall, because everything in framing construction revolves around nails by default.

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#252

Post by DoreenMichele »

PragmaticPulp wrote: post #251
DoreenMichele wrote: post #220

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trivial for someone in the know can mean (something like) "If you have a PhD and a decade of experience, it's obvious." People not in the know who look things up online have the problem that they often cannot properly judge the quality of the information they are seeing. I'm confident that some of the people on HN saying "Oh. God. Don't do that." actually know whereof they speak. But reading the article in no way tri…

> Trivial for someone in the know can mean (something like) "If you have a PhD and a decade of experience, it's obvious." Construction workers don’t get PhDs and a decade of experience before they can build a safe structure. It’s trivial because you can look up virtually any plans or tutorials and see the accepted ways of doing things. You can type it into Google and get instant results explaining why something is ag…

I'm aware construction workers don't get PhDs.

Some people are exposed to certain things from early childhood and others aren't. Some people have a rich ecosystem of pertinent experiences and are surrounded by knowledgeable people and others don't have those assets.

People who have no friends or relatives who know anything about X real world physical skill and are googling up info online are often poorly positioned to judge the quality of the info in question.

To me, it seems to be a simple and obvious point. I don't know why it seems to be failing to click with you.

Ironically, that's perhaps an example of the kind of disconnect I am trying to describe, though that fact seems unlikely to help me make my case.

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#253

Post by Tempest1981 »

dugmartin wrote: post #233
amluto wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Forget the devices -- the risk is to people . If the insulation fails on the power cable and your network cable is insufficiently insulated, then your network cable could end up live. People generally avoid playing with hot power conductors, but no one takes any care to avoid touching network cables or, for that matter, the devices plugged in to network cables.

If they did short I think those tiny diameter wires in the cat6 would pretty much vaporize at household current.

Imagine a short, so Cat6 is now at 120V. Then imagine someone repairing a Cat6 wall jack. Or a kid with a paper clip.

Household current levels don't need to be flowing for it to be dangerous.

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#254

Post by gjvc »

hinkley wrote: post #65
ohazi wrote: post #33

Not that anything about this shed is built to code, but this takes the cake: > PRO TIP Use screws for everything; if you mess up, remove the screws and redo it; with nails, it’s a lot harder to do that. You absolutely should not do this for framing, and most building codes specify the type and size of nails that you must use when fastening load-bearing structural components. Screws are convenient, sure, but they are…

I was going to post about code violations but I’ll just tuck it under yours here so we don’t flood the top level (although one could argue that this really deserves it). I had to stop reading r/diy because half the stuff in there made me angry. Especially people building lofts to store heavy stuff without knowing anything about construction. You can’t overlap rooflines like this. That’s how they allow people to build…

> The way I did it was to run both wires inside a 3/4 inch PVC conduit using 14/2 electrical wiring + 100ft cat6 ethernet cable.

should be SWA

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#255

Post by gjvc »

adolph wrote: post #87
ohazi wrote: post #33

Not that anything about this shed is built to code, but this takes the cake: > PRO TIP Use screws for everything; if you mess up, remove the screws and redo it; with nails, it’s a lot harder to do that. You absolutely should not do this for framing, and most building codes specify the type and size of nails that you must use when fastening load-bearing structural components. Screws are convenient, sure, but they are…

Something I appreciate about HN is the number of reverse-bikeshedding moments there are and for which the parent comment exemplifies. Points out a critical flaw and explains it in plain language with no rhetorical flourishes. Bikeshedding describes our tendency to spend too much time discussing trivial matters, and too little time discussing important matters as a result. It describes the inverse relationship between…

but this is closer to https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cunningham%27s_Law

(ISMETA)

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#258

Post by respondo2134 »

tharkun__ wrote: post #81
hinkley wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I was going to post about code violations but I’ll just tuck it under yours here so we don’t flood the top level (although one could argue that this really deserves it). I had to stop reading r/diy because half the stuff in there made me angry. Especially people building lofts to store heavy stuff without knowing anything about construction. You can’t overlap rooflines like this. That’s how they allow people to build…

I like your parent's explanation of why screws are not allowed by code in some places and also saying that yes, screws actually can be used, if you use the right ones, even if they aren't allowed by code in some places. I really like that because just mentioning code doesn't do any good. Just because code says something doesn't mean that it makes sense. There's tons of omissions in codes or stuff that is unnecessaril…

It also looks like from the single angle shown here that the shed roof is pitched towards the house, so any water is going to be channeled towards the foundation. This is a terrible idea.

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#259

Post by zeckalpha »

jefftk wrote: post #232
drodio wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

San Mateo: under 120 sq ft; no electrical.

Thanks! Quickly looking at the rules, it doesn't look to me like the issue is whether you're connected to the grid? If you have high-voltage wiring (50V+) it looks to me like you still need to get that permitted and inspected?

Don’t have HV then, at least as part of the structure. Say, 14.8V DC and a removable 120VAC inverter.

Re: I Built a Shed (2020)

#260

Post by parsimo2010 »

sokoloff wrote: post #249
ketzo wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Basically make it easier and less of a problem for people to get inspected Totally agreed, and this post is the perfect example of why: people should want to be inspected! The whole point of a city building code is to have rules to keep people safe in situations that aren't obvious to, e.g., the DIY shed-builder. If I'm building a shed in the backyard, and I have the opportunity to call an employed expert to make s…

I’d be happy to have projects inspected. If the inspection only cost a modest fee covered by the permit. Instead, permits are a way to find ways to raise assessments and therefore property taxes. Given the recurring costs, it’s no surprise at all that a lot of work is done without inspections.

Permits are for both safety _and_ tax reasons. Adding outbuildings to your property increases the value, so you should have your taxes increased, by the same logic that people with more expensive houses should pay more in taxes than people with cheaper houses. And property taxes, if properly codified and enforced, are a good way to ensure rich people can’t avoid taxes by hiding it in real estate. They also incentivize people to actually use land for productive purposes rather than hoard.

So unless you have some disagreement with tax in general or property tax specifically, I’ll argue that the permitting and inspection process in most cities is a good thing for society despite the personal hassle. It ensures that buildings are safe and helps the city assess the changing value of homes.

Quick edit: I will acknowledge that your point is correct that inspections and taxes cause a lot of work to be done without notifying the city and hoping they don’t notice.

Post reply on HN