endotherm vs ectotherm?

why would a endotherm be more active during the night and a ectotherm be more active during the day?

Convert garage into bedroom.?

Basically i want to convert a 2 car garage into an extra bedroom as cheaply as possible. Also, since it will be a temporary (about 2-3 year) room, it will eventually be converted back into a garage. It has 2 automatic openers which i plan on keeping in place, removing the hardware that extends into the room itself and drywalling off that end of a garage about 1ft. away from the doors. Also because of a 6-7 inch drop off between the concrete floor itself and the house (it is attached), I want to build a wooden deck that can be covered by insulation and carpet. No need for any plumbing or electrical work, it already has one window which i plan on putting in a window AC unit and using a space heater during the winter. Being in Louisiana our winter is maybe a month anyway. So in the end, the only expenses will come from the drywalling, building of the deck and carpeting. I haven’t measured, but its a typical 2 car garage, i would assume around the 22X22 ft dimensions, give or take 2 feet on each measurement. Me and my dad would be doing it, so costs would be strictly for materials. The garage does have a slope (another reason for the deck) that i would guess to be about 3 inches over the 22 feet, however it starts gradual and gets sharper the further away from the house you get.

How much to install new windows?

I would like to add two new windows to my garage, to bring in light. There are no windows today, so this would involve cutting through the vinyl siding on the outside. The inside of the garage is currently wood stud framing and fiberglass insulation (no drywall). The windows wouldn’t have to open, they would be plain picture windows. How much would this cost, including materials and labor?
Also, who should I approach to have this done? A replacement window company, exterior company, or general contractor?

Help Building A Cat House?

i have an outdoor cat living with me. (shes more of a stray cat) im not able to let her inside or in the garage but she needs some sort of shelter this winter. i want to build her a cat house for the winter. and it needs to be somewhat easy to build.(it gets cold and very snowy where i live). Im not building anything too big, maybe 2″ x 3.5″ x 2″. i need to build her a cat house to keep her warm this winter. I would love to be able to make it out of a transparent material like plexiglass, so that i could see in, and she could see out. The only problem is that im not sure if that will keep her warm enough. Would i need insulation? Then i couldnt see in though. Is there a form of transparent insulation? If its not possible to make her house see through while warm, should i still use plexiglass with insulation or should i use another material along with the insulation. any tips would be helpful.

Thanks
Some one answering made me realize i had written ” instead of ‘. Sorry, just had one of those moments

What does (0h2p0) mean? (guitar)?

I know the h stands for hammer and the p is pull off. But how do you do those with 0?
So do I do open string, 2, then open string again?

How do you play this tab?

riff
| | ———————————————– |
| | ———————————————– |
| | ———————————————– |
| | —0h2p0—–0——————————— |
| | ———3————————————- |
| | ———————————————– |

Could you tell me how you play it? Like: Finger on third fret second string, type of deal.
Its the song The Cave, by Mumford and Sons. Thanks!

How Do you read guitar tabs??

Well i’ve had my guitar for about 6 months now. And i want to learn how to read guitar tabs. I was trying to learn the intro to More Than Words by Frankie J, and when i read it it said 2h3p2 and 0h2p0. What do those mean?? I would really appreciate it if someone would help me out.

Please & Thank You! [;

I need help on the guitar?

How do i go about playing this

0h2p0 2p0

i know what the H means but what does the P stand for and how do i do it

Guitar language assitance pleeeease?

what does this mean in tabs? –0h2p0–

thanks for any answers

how do you play this tab? (guitar)?

its supermassive black hole by muse- the second bit and i dont know what the notes are :S

e|————————–|
D|————————–|
G|—–2br-0h2p0————|
B|—————2———-|
A|————————–|
E|————————–|

This guitar tab doesn’t make sense to me.?

http://tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/m/misc_computer_games/legend_of_zelda_-_gerudo_valley_tab.htm
heres the link to the tab

the specific part i dont get is right here
|—0-0h2p0—|

how can i pull off from nothing? i dont get it. can somebody explain?

Can anybody please supply me with a draft for an insulation (megger) test report?

I tested a 3-phase line that we installed, and need to hand over a report to the customer. I don’t know how to fill out the report… If anybody can email me a draft or a completed report so I can make my own, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance…

Why don’t they build houses with basements as a rule in Las Vegas area?

I would think using underground space here would help with insulation and be easier to climate control to keep it comfortable. The problem is it seems 90% of construction seems to be on a slab without a basement. Is there a reason for thi?

Bat Insulation in Attic/Crawl space?

I recently purchased an older home and it has zero insulation. So as part of my renovation first I installed faced bat insulation in the attic. After i finished, a friend of mine who’s a roofer told me that I had installed the insulation upside down. well I had installed it with the paper barrier down towards the living space. But he said it’s supposed to be with the paper face upwards toward the roof. He claims all houses he’s ever roofed were done this way. So i went back and flipped all of it back over like he said. Then I was in the home improvement store purchasing some insulation for the crawl space to do the floor of the house, and the guy that works in there told me that I had installed it correctly the first time! I don’t want to have to flip all of this insulation back over again but if I have to, I certainly will.

So can someone tell me what is the true correct way to lay the insulation in the attic? Is it paper side down or up? Does it matter? And how does the way I lay it (up or down) impact if i want to go back later and lay unfaced insulation across the joists at right angles to make it even more insulated?

Also for the crawl space would the paper side face up towards the living space or face down to the ground? The crawl space is, of course, unheated. The house is enclosed underneath with blocks and has vents. But there’s no slab. It’s dirt underneath where the crawl space is.

Also too: I was wondering if i could use the 4×8 insulated sheating in the crawl space area instead of laying the bats between the floor joists? It would make it much easier to work over my head since the area from ground to floor is only 2′, but I didn’t know if maybe that might not be safe for the wood to be enclosed. Just thought I’d ask before I invest further in more insulation

Can I run the water line for a refrigerator up the attic?

We are going to get a new fridge with ice/water and there is no current hook up, we live on a slab and the water lines are on the opposite wall. Would like to know if I can run the line up into the attic and then back down to where the fridge will be. If this is ok to do, I live in Ohio, would i need to put any kind of extra insulation over line to keep from freezing? or just cover with existing insulation?

Thank you!

What kind of insulation do I use in a first floor ceiling?

I need to put insulation in the ceiling between the first and second floor (Chicago area). Both spaces are heated and air conditioned. The first floor room is built on a slab and has 2 walls of windows. The first floor room is heated but is cold, The second floor room is heated and comfortable. Everything I’ve read says the facing goes toward the heated side. Well, in my case both sides are heated, but one side not as well as the other. So do I get unfaced insulation or faced? If I get faced, what side do I put the facing on?

Can I use regular household aluminum foil for Radiant Barrier?

I was wondering if I spread some heavy duty aluminum foil over my existing insulation if it would have the same effects as the product out on the market. Not to mention would it be safe to use.

I thought of rolling it out over the area or I could adhere the aluminum foil to cut out pieces of card board and lay it over the installation.

I have checked some local places that are running there so call sales, but I am very discouraged when i am told in order to save this amount of money I have to buy the insulation, I have way more than the required amount that is needed, and don’t feel like I should be told to buy something I don’t need.

I have a neighbor who has solar screens and his electric bill is more than half of mine, that is another option I can look at. I like the idea of having a $100. electric bill rather than mine at $380.

Anyone have any input on this. I have about an 1800 sq.ft home, One window facing the South, most the living areas and the other main windows are all facing East.

Any help on this is appreciated.

Is Amana a quality central A/C?

I was quoted a price for an Amana13 seer/3.5 ton. The same A/C company offered Lennox at the same price and size: $7500.00, which includes some additional insulation for the attic. Too much?

How much should my first offer be? $165,000 asking FSBO?

We are looking at a 3+1 OLD home on a large lot with a detached 2 car garage. (garage not in good condition)

It is for sale by the owner. They are asking $165,000 and it seems fairly in line with some other 3+1 in the town.

A little catch though, they are in the process of doing renovations on the home. They have done the kitchen, windows, blowing insulation in attic and basement, siding, adding an upstairs 3 piece bathroom, and others. They have done a very good job so far, but don’t expect it to be fully done until April and our closing date has to be by May 5th. Understandably we want to make sure they are done and we get the home for a good price.

Any suggestions would help. Any ideas on first offers, and what to include in the offers would help a lot.

Thanks,
The Home is in South Western Ontario

Weatherproofing – Is More Better?

I have a small screened in porch off my kitchen. The door leading outside is not solid wood (typical 50′s veneered). It needs to be replaced, but when you’ve been laid-off, you do what you can. The kitchen has always been colder in the winter, but I figured it was because the heating thermostat is on the opposite side of the house. Might help to also know that I have a full unfinished basement/garage under my floors. The whole basement has the thick roll type insulation in place between all the floor joists (if insulation can be stuffed some place, it’s stuffed) then the sub-floor, then two layers of vinyl flooring). It stays pretty warm down there, though it is not heated space. The other morning it was 31 degrees outside, and 58 degrees in the basement.

Back to the door. One day this pass summer I just happened to be in the kitchen at the right time and sunlight was coming in under the door. Well no wonder it’s so cold in the kitchen. I’ve put off fixing this problem, and now it’s almost winter again. While putting weather striping around the whole door should help, would it make that much difference if I put up a storm door? Keep in mind the budget is limited, so I’d have to stay in the $100-$125 range door. Doors in this price range are cheaply made and it could be a waste of money. Does it make any difference if a storm door frame is constructed of wood oraluminum? Any suggestions welcomed to make the kitchen warmer. Thanks

how much to rebuild a house completely in Toronto? ?

I have bungalow in Toronto, it has some major problems like:
1) It needs insulation
2) Both bathrooms need renovating
3) We need like to extra bedrooms

These are some of the problems, so I need to know how much would it cost to completely destroy my house and build a 3 house story with 4 bedrooms, 3 washrooms, a basement with 1 one bedroom and a living room. So let me know how much would it cost for the rebuilding, or should I renovate it instead.
I really need a price for the rebuilding.

Can I do anything about removing PMI from loan? Bank wont accept new appraisal price.?

Never late w/pymnt loan 2.5yrs old. new appraisal makes Ltv is where it needs to be. Bank wont take increase in value due to improvments (add hardwood floors,finished full basement & replaced paneling w/ drywall & insulation,new 6 panel doors,oak crown molding& trim) 2 houses next door sold for 289k&186k both needed updating & 2nd had 1/2 the sqft of mine.I owe 142k.Bank only take improvements if its an inground pool,sprinkler,added room or garage. Improvements only must raise value 17k.Is this standard practice for PMI removal?Have good interest rate,hate to have to refinance. I have Excellent credit score never late on anything.

Alternative heat. Is it better to insulate the walls of a house or add an add on alternative heat furnace?

I can only afford one of the two. I have a 900 Sq ft.block, stucco home with vinyl siding in Southern Pennsylvania. The interior walls(between the studs at sheetrock) has no insulation. My attic has insulation at the attic floor joists. My basement has no insulation. I want to help my parents make the house warmer. I was just going to have foam insulation blown into the interior walls. But with energy prices on the rise, I also am considering adding an add on wood/ coal furnace to the existing 1990 natural gas furnace.
Does it make sense to run the add on furnace like crazy and not worry about wall insulation? I can only afford one of these projects. I would love to have your cost and economicial opinions on how you would handle this. Not so much interested in environmental preaching. I will take those things into consideration.
Thanks

As a followup to my question about a very humid basement… There does not seem to be any water coming in.?

Nothing along the floor or coming down the walls etc. It seems to be condensation as the last person to answer my question indicated. We do not have a vapour barrier over the soil in the crawl space- I did not even know you could put one in, How would you do it?? The insulation in the walls was not a styrene type-it was the kind of styrofoam you might buy to make a fake gravestone for your front yard at Halloween or use for packing in a parcel. We considered foam but are not sure how it compares price-wise to regular bat insulation. We have two sump pumps and no doubt that is adding to the moisture as well since the wells are covered only by a wooden cap. Should those be sealed over with plastic as well? My last house was in the city and we had No humidity problems so this is a whole new experience. There is a bit of mold in one spot going up on the drywall- that will be yanked out tomorrow. Any further suggestions appreciated-especially how to put that vapour barrier on the dirt. Tx.

No $ to put dark blinds on my windows. Only drapes, sun light makes it so hot. Need to fix, any suggestions?

The front window is a picture window, but there is a patio cover, which helps keep the sun out and keep the front of the house cooler, but the rear of the house has a dining room with continuous windows on two walls. So there is also not much insulation there, very hot in that room and it draws all the cool air from the rest of the house. Seems my ac runs constantly, I can close off the room, but then I can’t use it. I’ve even considered spray painting them!!! It would look trashy and terrible, but I am desperate at this point. How can I cover these windows without spending too much money. I’ve priced blinds and it would cost me $100′s of dollars to cover them. I have dark drapes up but its not much help. The A/C unit is sufficient for the home, but the room is like a leach to the air in the rest of the house.

how much do you think this would cost?

lets pretend that i bought a 1200 sq. ft. house from the 1950s.
I gut everything out, walls, ceiling, insulation, bathroom, kitchen, ect….

how much would it cost to put up new walls/ceiling, completely redo the bathroom and kitchen, install new windows, new shingles on the roof, update the plumbing, heating/cooling system, ect…

im just looking for a high and low price.. doesnt need to be precise

cost should include parts and labor to please… thanks

What can I do to protcet myself from shoody roofer now wanting to go into attic?

We got a “new roof”… well, that was what we paid for, but the roofer did a lousy job. Tried to get him to fix it, but no such luck; just excuses and avoidance. Now he thinks it will be cheaper for him to “fix” it from in the attic.That means coming INTO the house with his group of “followers”. The attic is super low(head clearance) and is full of 50 year old pink blown-in insulation. Can I make him provide proof of insurance? proof of citizenship for his workers? Can I make him sign some form holding me “harmless or blameless” if he gets hurt up there while trying to gerry-rig the roof problems caused by his workers in the first place? Here’s the problem. We paid for the replacement of any deteriorated wood before the felt, tar and shingles were installed. Easy enough ‘eh? NO. Feeling excessive “sponginess” in the roof, I went into the attic. Beyond stress fractures all over the place from his foreman beating on the planks, there are areas that simply have no wood at all! You can see felt, big size 13EE foot sized areas with NO WOOD! The last 2 months have been me tracking him down and him saying that’s normal/!?! or that it happens because my house is old, and MANY other ludicrous excuses. Finally I filed w/ the ROC. That REALLY made the roofer mad and on the day of the ROC inspection, the roofer showed up with 4, yes FOUR people to back him up. So every time the inspector would say something wasn’t right, one of his “dudes” would pie in with some excuse. So, there’s me, a mere housewife, the inspector, and 4 dudes who kept yapping, rolling their eyes at me, and making light of anything I saw as an issue. “Oh that’s from walking up here when it’s hot”.. Actually nobody has been on the roof to walk (hot or not)… eyes roll. on and on. Finally, the inspector said he would close the complaint if the roofer and I could have a meeting of the minds as to how to fix the problems. I said NO, because the roofer has told me 5 times he’d fix it and has done nothing at all but ignore me. Finally the inspector said he’d give the roofer 2 weeks to fix it, and thet he’d let us come to an “understanding”, but then to call him if it wasn’t worked out in 2 weeks. The inspector left and I endured another half hour of how it’s normal for an old house to have broken boards. (that weren’t broken before the new roof). Finally, the roofer said he would fix the broken planks from the inside of the attic to make it where he didn’t have to remove the shingles. I was unable to explain to his tiny mind, that replacing wood that is not connected to anything is… impossible. So, now he wants to crawl around in the attic with the 50 year old pink blown-in insulation and attempt to replace the boards in the tiny crawl space (with no light or ventilation)… to save him money. Everytime I’ve been up there, I’ve choked on insulation and there’s not even a catwalk up there. If he or one of his pathetic helpers gets hurt, I don’t want him fileing against MY homeowners insurance!!!! What can I do? While it’s easy to say he’s lisenced & has a bond, he has sniveled and moaned that me wanting my roof fixed is going to make him lose his business, and how mean I am for that. So PLEASE, guide me! Can I require proof of citizenship on his helpers? Can i have them sign a “hold blameless” or some sort of form? If so, what is it really called and where do I get it? I looking for a hero. i hope someone knows the answer. Thank you for reading my dilema and offering suggestions.
ok, more details. the roof is not sheathed (like in 15/32 osb.) Nope. It’s slats, it sounded like “ship slat”, but I’m sure that’s not what it’s called. anyway, it’s slats, which is then covered with felt, and then the 30 year GAF/elk shingles. No, he has not been paidoff on the contract. because he hasn’t fulfilled the contract. He: 1) didn’t run a strip of sheet roofing along the transition to the flat roof,2)he didn’t elastomeric coat the flat roof, 3) he didn’t give us ANY written warranty on those lovely 30 year shingles, oh do I need to go on. So the day the roof was going on, we were also getting a new ac unit installed, and if the day wasn’t bad enough, we had a leak inside the kitchen wall which meant doing demolition under the sink and getting the water pipes re-routed from another part of the house. I had my hands full! So, the roofing foreman (no longer with the company) was 6’8″ and 340lbs. got on the roof with a rigging axe and walked along smacking each slat to determine
which ones needed to be replaced. He whacked and whacked and whacked. Then left the jobsite to be tended to by his 4 man crew of non-english speakers. It was sooo hot out, 110. So igave them shade, and gatorade, and horchata, and icewater, and even gave them a menu from qdoba and went and bought them full lunches of their choosing. I went on the roof and used my best high school spanish/charades, to tell them, the satelitte dish stays, it is not basura; the tv antennae goes, it IS basura, the clay adobe trim tile are for ME, they are NOT basura, When they were done, I looked outside and the 100 decorative tiles… gone. I fussed and got them back in a week. Then I went to check out my new lovely roof. There were shingles that were separating (really separating! you could see every layer involved. It’s freaky). Then it got more complicated. The roofer said it’s a materials issue, the gaf/elk guy said it workmanship. Then they talk amongst themselves and decided it was my imagination.
So while I was checking out the status of the deterioration of the 30 yr, (3 month) shingles, I noticed the roof was warped, spongey, made nail squeeking noise and looked like garbage from the street. Still just excuses from the roofer. I filed with the ROC. Then I went in the attic to see if I could tell anything from the inside. YEP! that’s where I see wood slat busted up BADLY from gigantor and his rigging axe, some wood not ever replaced, some wood just hanging there and a blob of tar to “make it ok?” The stove vent was removed, gone, nowhere, and again, just aopen hole and felt paper. When the ROC asked the roofer about it, he said.. Brace yourself: “didn’t you have a cabinet guy or something at your house that day? He probably did that.” The inspector sort of took on a tone of like: all these dudes were there agreeing with the roofer, and me the lady. It seemed like his ego got involved and he didn’t want to agree too much with the girl. Anyone want pictures?I’ll send ‘em. THX
Dear Thor, They actually WERE responsible for having the ac scheduled at the same time. We needed a new ac, AND we need a roof. The roofer ezplained that the new ac would have a new “footprint” therby ruining the new roof if it was installed after the new roof. He insisted the two jobs be done simulteneously.
as far as a contract, we had it all.. before the job began. we checked his record, did everything right, even interviewed the guy. we have a contract, it’s just now he want to bale out and not complete the contract. I understand that whose jump on the bandwagon to say I’m being unreasonable, BUT do know this, I have had another roofer over to inspect the roof and after a 4 hour inspection, they said the outfit should be shut down at once, and the the shingles should be pulled up and the roof boards repairded correctly, there is no 1×2 between the drip edge and facia, the stove vent stack has been removed, not replaces, and simoly felted over, and the list goes one. the overhang out side is not connected to the house, you can take a broom handle and move the roof OFF the roof by 3 inches, HMMM.

Where can I get firm thin pvc tubing or strong plastic straws?

Look at the work of Theo Jansen. He builds giant mechanical creatures using the PVC tubing found in dutch households (as electrical insulation). This is a bit like plastic canes of bamboo, the advantage of plastic being that you can heat up the ends of the canes and bend them.
I have looked in DIY shops for this firm tubing, but only found the more flexible rubbery stuff that can be kept in a roll like rope.
Drinking straws would be good enough (also they would be the right size for what I want to do) except they are too weak.