This is an unusual product review listing.  It’s not about fine home building products that Before The Architect recommends.  Hardly.  And it’s not entirely about products alone, but as well it’s about how products are used. 

            These Forbidden Materials and Methods are Before The Architect’s opinion in application to their own dream home designing.  You can accept or reject their opinion as you see fit.
 

            Before The Architect’s Forbidden Materials and Methods involve –
 

                        Actual fine home building materials

                        Applications of fine home building materials

FRAMING
 

1)      Forbidden materials shall include 

a)     these materials

i)     standard and utility grade lumber, including all lumber less than #2

ii)    lumber finger-jointed

iii)   lumber end-jointed

iv)   members scabbed

v)    members butted 

vi)   members spliced 

b)     when applied to these structural members

i)     ridges

ii)    rafters

(1)   when overlong then

(a)  deep-V incised with

(b)  not less than 3 linear feet past incision termini having

(c)  both faces flushed with not less than ½ linear inch CDX

(d)  over 2 continuous beads construction adhesive each bead not less than ½ linear inch diameter and

(e)  fastened  overall with not less than 2 rows of 10d nails on not greater than 6 linear inches centers

(f)  with purlin not less than 2x6 at incision midline

iii)  roof trusses

iv)   exterior wall studs

v)    braces including

(1)   purlins and struts

(2)  knee braces

(3)  cross-braces

(4)  etc.

vi)   load-bearing studs

vii)  headers

viii) beams of all sorts

ix)   girders

x)    plates of all sorts

xi)   posts

xii)  all joists including

(1)  head

(2)  end

(3)  common, or field

xiii) strongbacks

xiv) ledgers

xv)  blocks

xvi) floor trusses

xvii) any other wood structural components imaginable

c)  when applied permanently otherwise
 

 2)      Forbidden materials shall include

a)  composite wood panels (or boards), commonly including oriented strand board (a/k/a OSB, waferboard)

b)  so-called OSB plywood and

c)  other fiber, chip, wafer, particle, and similar panels and boards

d) UNLESS EXPRESSLY APPROVED BY OWNERS FULLY INFORMED IN RE RELATIVE WITHDRAWAL STRENGTH, STRUCTURAL AND PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE ONCE SIGNIFICANTLY WET, DUCTILITY, ETC. IN COMPARISON TO PLYWOOD

  3) Plywood applied as wall sheathing and roof sheathing 

a) shall be applied if classified Exterior Exposure

b) shall be forbidden materials 

i)  if classified Exterior Exposure 1 or

ii) if classified Exterior Exposure 2

c)  UNLESS EXPRESSLY APPROVED BY OWNERS AFTER FULL DISCLOSURE OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MATERIALS 
 

4) In shearwall construction, there

a)  shall be no let-in bracing

b)  shall be no Oriented Strand Board, or OSB, or other particled board applied as sheathing

c)   shall be no sill anchor or other substitute for an anchor bolt

d)   shall be no nails with heads other than fully rounded, e.g., Sheather Plus by Stanley-Bostitch or similar

e)   shall be of no nails other than common galvanized or their equivalent shank diameter.

f)    shall be no framing member that is

i)   standard or utility grade lumber

ii)  including

(1)  all lumber in quality less than #2

(2)  lumber finger-jointed

(3)  lumber end-jointed

(4)  members scabbed

(5)  members butted  

(6)  members spliced

g) shall be no slots cut in a wall

h) shall be no doubled panels on a given panel face

i)  shall be of no fasteners other than steel of type including screws of any sort

j)  shall be no plumbing conduit within a wall 

         Comment:  In view of other prohibitions of wall mass amendments and other insults, this means that conduit of any sort shall not be permitted in shear walls. Note well that such prohibition might not extend to a centerlined bore for a water supply pipe or a small number of electrical cables

k) shall be no strap tie-downs

l) shall be no keyed footing or cold-joint between foundation foot and placed wall, i.e., shall be footing and wall shall be monolithic

m) shall be no prefab shear walls or bracing panels without the express advice and consent of the engineer of record, owner(s), and both general and supporting sub-contractor

FINISHING AND CLAD
 

1)  EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finish System, i.e., nonmasonry stucco products a/k/a Artificial Stucco, Synthetic Stucco, Vinyl Stucco, and Latex Stucco) shall be a forbidden materials
 

  2) Rigid foam insulation

a)  shall be a forbidden materials for application below grade and

b) in its lieu shall be Insul-Tarp and then

i)  only below slab-on-grade placements and

ii) only up the interiors' sides of masonry walls 

Comment:  Rigid foam insulation is, in time, possibly bound to become the home of crawly critters the effect of which is a bad 2-fer: 1. the insulation value diminishes with physical deterioration, and 2. there’s the unwelcome attraction to the material. 
 

3) Oil-based sealant shall be a   forbidden material  in masonry applications
 

4) Single-glaze plate glass shall be a forbidden materials in all applications, except, possibly, the most remote from physical contact, which spaces shall not include (i.e., which spaces must be glazed in safety glass) –

a)  a hallway to which an elevator has direct passage shall have not less than two means of egress, one of which may be by emergency egress window or door which shall be safety glazed

b) glaze(s) in a space designated for a child’s play

c) glaze(s) in a workshop

d) glaze(s) in a bathroom

e) all glazes in an emergency egress window – not just a lower sash

f)  glaze(s) in recreation or game room area     

g)  all glazes interior to perimeters
 

      Comment:  Note well that safety glazing applies to glazes wherever – window, sidelite, and door.
 

Comment:  Note well that no quarter or limitation is given for glaze, sill, or header height over finish floor level.
 

  5) Carpet shall be a forbidden finish flooring materials

a) within a 3 linear feet radius of a toilet or bidet drainage

b) within 3 linear feet in all directions from the full baseline of a shower door or curtain and

c)  within 3 linear feet from the outside edge of any open side of a bathtub or utility sink
 

 6) Physical conflict shall be forbidden between

a)  door-to-door

b)  door-drawer

c)  drawer-to-cabinet

d)  drawer-to-drawer
 

 7) Preservative-treated plywood shall be a forbidden material as an interior substrate

FASTENING
 

1) Forbidden materials shall include air-driven nails, or P-Nails, identified as modified round-head and clipped head – most especially when fastening sheathing and within that class of fastening when fastening roof sheathing where withdrawal strength can be substantially diminished by less than full-headed nails
 

2) A single nail shall be forbidden methods in fastening anything to anything else
 

3) Organic adhesive shall be forbidden materials 
 

4)  Staples shall be forbidden materials except for fastening house wrap  
 

5)   A particle rim board shall be forbidden materials for fastening a ledger without express compensations to structure as developed by a qualified engineer or, in some cases, a master carpenter
 

6) Toe-nailing hand-framed and truss-framed roof and ceiling structure to top plates shall be forbidden methods
 

7) Duct tape (a/k/a Dux tape, Ducks tape, and similar) is a forbidden materials  as a duct sealant
 

             Comment:  For tape in lieu, please consider Vickery, Inc. Hardcast Foil Grip 1403 or equivalent
 

8) Gluing ply sheets shall be forbidden methods except with the advice and consent of residential contractor(s) and owners, and then according to manufacturer's specifications.   

         Comment:  Notice is given herewith that gluing may be the only suitable means of fastening subfloors over heated concrete and under wood finish floors

 
ELECTRICAL
 

1)       Any appliance switch control when a multiplex receptacle exclusively branched from the controlling switch is not desirable (i.e., split-wire receptacles with less than all ports subject to a single branch’s switch control shall be of forbidden methods) 
 

2)     In any  electrical circuit wiring with more than one electrical device or electrical appliance or similar, electrical cable connections shall be by pigtail in parallel, i.e., sequential  electrical circuitry wiring shall be among forbidden methods, i.e., all conductors shall be pigtailed 
 

3)     Junior grade conductors shall be forbidden materials – no exceptions 

PLUMBING
 

1) Forbidden materials  shall include

a)  polybutylene pipe and fittings

b) ABS (a/k/a Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene) DWV (drainage, waste, vent) pipe 

2) Toilet drainage plumbing

a) shall include regard of a 3x4 closet bend as among forbidden methods

b) shall include regard of a low-heel takeoff as among forbidden methods

ROOFING
 

  1) Vented drip edge shall be of forbidden materials on roofs with 4:12 slope or less 

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