To the editor: Drywall is fire block
I want people building the apartment or office I live or work in to be competent in their trade.
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 05:00:00 GMT
link -- with images
If there is a fire in your building, the drywall is the barrier between life and death. Firewalls provide protection between tenant units, in stairwells, around mechanical rooms, and office spaces. These walls slow and contain the fire while other fire-suppression systems, if any, go to work and give emergency response crews time to get on site.
Mike Farrell, Toledo’s deputy chief building official, said at the city council hearing that fire protection in the form of sprinklers and fire alarms are expensive and rehabs of older buildings into apartments or offices usually can’t afford the cost of adding them. Because of this, the Ohio Building Code allows using elements of the building itself to provide reasonable protection to the occupants in the place of sprinklers and alarms.
Mr. Farrell stated that, “there is no inspection department that can see 100 percent of any project.” Much of the protection relies on the skill and knowledge of the craftsman who is installing the drywall.
What Mr. Farrell stated he finds most valuable is the continuing education piece as building codes are updated and that information needs to be getting to the actual installers.
I want people building the apartment or office I live or work in to be competent in their trade.
DAN MOREY
Financial secretary, Carpenters Local 351,
South Toledo
Why the fighting?
It seems as if the political rancor is dividing many people. It is fine to disagree, but why are we dividing family and friends?
If the politicians in Washington do not like each other and want to have a power struggle, why do we allow ourselves to be sucked in? What’s really important are family and friends needing and helping each other and even helping strangers who are in need.
Do we really think that “our side” is getting a raw deal? Most of us did just as well under Presidents Clinton, Bush, Obama, and now Trump. Their policies have had no real different effect on our lives or our family and friends. So, maybe, it’s all in our egos and biases.
It really does not matter who sits next to the window up front. We are all heading to the same place. Let’s try to get there together and enjoy life.
STEVE CHERRY
Oregon
Dems unfair, too
Two letters on Jan. 12 expressed concern about fairness over when and if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would send the impeachment charges to the Senate.
One writer (“Give fair hearing”) was concerned that the Senate will not include key witnesses and review all relevant evidence. Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler didn’t allow the Republicans to call witnesses. The Republicans were not even given the opportunity to call the so-called whistleblower who made the original charges that led to the impeachment. The Constitution allows every accused person to face his or her accuser.
The other letter writer (“Re-read the 9th”) has, in his own mind, convicted President Trump for breaking the law, violating the Constitution, and ignoring legal subpoenas. The President can invoke executive privilege if he disagrees with a subpoena from Congress. The House could have appealed to the courts, but the Democrats were in such a big hurry to impeach President Trump that they couldn’t wait for a court decision. Had they known that Ms. Pelosi was going to sit on the articles of impeachment for weeks, they could have made their case in court.
DON DECKER
Holland
Try E-Verify
Licensing of drywall installers is not the answer to illegal immigration. There is an easy way to deal with illegal workers. E-Verify, the federal government’s free computer program, quickly determines whether a new hire is authorized to work in this country. This process begins after an individual is hired. If the person’s information is rejected, that person can keep working until they can correct the problem.
Drywalling, like the trades in general, is rife with illegal workers. According to Department of Commerce figures, these are jobs that Americans will do.
DAVE GORAK
Executive director, Midwest Coalition to Reduce Immigration
La Valle, Wis.