Nick Zappa on tue 3 oct 00
I find it rather interesting that anyone would want to break the laws of =
the city, or counties they live in by building illegal kilns. We made =
sure that our studio was completely legal before we did anything. My =
conscience is at rest, I can sleep at night. It seems that there might =
be some double standards out there. Nick Zappa
Nick & Joan Zappa
Zappa Pottery & Gallery Inc.
18800 P-61 Trail
Montrose CO. 81401
www.zappapottery.com
info@zappapottery.com
970-249-6819 Studio
970-252-0303 Gallery
970-252-0104 Fax
Cindy Strnad on tue 3 oct 00
Nick Zappa said:
I find it rather interesting that anyone would want to break the laws of the
city, or counties they live in by building illegal kilns. We made sure that
our studio was completely legal before we did anything. My conscience is at
rest, I can sleep at night. It seems that there might be some double
standards out there. Nick Zappa
________________________________________________
Thanks, Nick.
I don't know about *all* the laws and safety regulations. Unfortunately,
there are a lot of people who will say "no", just because it's easier that
researching a safe way to do a potentially dangerous project. Especially in
the (currently) arid North American west.
Still, all the fuel-burning potters I've discussed this subject with have
told me that if a fuel kiln is placed in a location which can be set on
fire, and kept there long enough, there will eventually be a fire. Now I'm
sure there are those of you out there who will justly contest this
generalization, however, I think it's a great deal safer to assume that
"anything that can go wrong, will go wrong".
However misguided they may become, safety regulations are there to ensure
the public's . . . safety. Do we really want to flout them? When I get ready
to build my first fuel kiln, you can bet I'll be working with the forestry
department, the gas company, and the fire inspector. They're the experts on
preventing disaster, and I want their help. Of course, that's easy for me to
say, as I don't live in the regulation-rich environment of California. But
folks around here are pretty antsy about fires, too, and myself included.
Cindy Strnad
Earthen Vessels Pottery
RR 1, Box 51
Custer, SD 57730
USA
earthenv@gwtc.net
www.earthenvesselssd.com
vince pitelka on tue 3 oct 00
> I find it rather interesting that anyone would want to break the laws of
the city, or
> counties they live in by building illegal kilns. We made sure that our
studio was
> completely legal before we did anything. My conscience is at rest, I can
sleep at
> night. It seems that there might be some double standards out there.
The above is arrogant and self-righteous. The reality is that some cities
or counties have ridiculously antiquated laws, or else they go completely
overboard on supposed "safety" regulations, or else they charge ridiculously
high fees in an arbitrary fashion. When the powers-that-be are drawing up
local building codes, anytime they come to a situation that they do not
fully understand, they are inclined to place unreasonable fees and/or
restrictions upon it, and during the permit process they are unlikely to be
at all flexible. Needless to say, they do not understand kilns and potters.
Ask anyone who has been professionally involved in this convoluted system
and they will verify this.
As a teacher, I instruct my students on how to build and operate kilns
safely, and I always encourage them to work within local building codes.
But the reality is that local codes vary so much around the country, often
in an entirely arbitrary and irrational way, and there are places where the
potter has no hope at all of installing a kiln unless they do it on the sly.
Any potter who is relocating should anticipate this, and move to a location
where a gas kiln will not be a problem.
For the potter who is already "dug in," there are alternatives. It is not
difficult to build a safe, efficient gas kiln which is undetectable from
outside the building. The real challenge is the gas hookup, and that is
handled differently from one area to another. Propane hookups are usually
easy, since you can simply get a very large tank on the premise that you
want a large backup supply for your house. Natural gas is more difficult,
because a household gas hookup is not enough to run a gas kiln of any size,
and any supplemental gas hookup will probably require inspection and
approval by the building inspector before the gas company will turn it on.
Whatever you do, above-board or below, you must assure that the kiln is
installed with all necessary safety equipment for the particular
circumstance. We must remember that in theory the buildling and safety
codes are there for a good reason. I am entirely in favor of standardized
building and safety codes, enforced in a reasonably fashion. I would like
to see that.
I am not advocating building kilns on the sly. I am simply acknowledging
that a lot of honest, sincere people are driven by the city or county
infrastructure to bypass or subvert the building inspection process. Any
city or county which imposes astronomical building fees and/or unreasonable
restrictions deserves to be subverted.
Best wishes -
- Vince
Vince Pitelka
Home - vpitelka@dekalb.net
615/597-5376
Work - wpitelka@tntech.edu
615/597-6801 ext. 111, fax 615/597-6803
Appalachian Center for Crafts
Tennessee Technological University
1560 Craft Center Drive, Smithville TN 37166
http://www.craftcenter.tntech.edu/
Norman van der Sluys on wed 4 oct 00
Another factor that needs mentioning is that this area of government is especially
prone to abuse of power. Nearly every builder in my area, and most people who have
either built their own home or done extensive remodeling, has horror stories to
tell about the obstructionsist nature of some inspectors, sometimes "getting even"
for percieved wrongs done them when they were in business before becoming
inspectors. This is not to say that all inspectors operate on this petty level,
but enough do to make anything out of the ordinairy a chancy business. And the
inspector has the final say on how to interpret the code.
vince pitelka wrote:
> The reality is that some cities
> or counties have ridiculously antiquated laws, or else they go completely
> overboard on supposed "safety" regulations, or else they charge ridiculously
> high fees in an arbitrary fashion. When the powers-that-be are drawing up
> local building codes, anytime they come to a situation that they do not
> fully understand, they are inclined to place unreasonable fees and/or
> restrictions upon it, and during the permit process they are unlikely to be
> at all flexible. Needless to say, they do not understand kilns and potters.
> Ask anyone who has been professionally involved in this convoluted system
> and they will verify this.
>
>
--
Norman van der Sluys
by the shore of Lake Michigan
ferenc jakab on wed 4 oct 00
> I am not advocating building kilns on the sly. I am simply acknowledging
> that a lot of honest, sincere people are driven by the city or county
> infrastructure to bypass or subvert the building inspection process. Any
> city or county which imposes astronomical building fees and/or
unreasonable
> restrictions deserves to be subverted.
> Best wishes -
> - Vince
Vince,
Sitting here 10,000 miles away I still feel disturbed that you, and more
especially, Mel, are by implication, giving tacit aproval to the illegal
installation of kilns. I don't know the state of affairs over there but the
prolifferation of different standards must be a nightmare, and it must be
this which leads respectable and respected practitioners of this craft to
make such...suggestions. Never the less there is no way to guarantee that
people who wish to hide their activities will adhere to safety standards.
Inevitably such activities can and will cost lives. Whilst I am sure that
there are potters who could install perfectly safe systems and run them
safely, there are many who cannot and should not. There is no way to
guarantee that due care will be taken. It saddens me that the fear of
bureaucratic entanglement should drive people underground.
Here in the state of Victoria, Australia, a spate of recent deaths from
misuse of gas appliances, including an explosion in a tile factory's kiln
has caused a tightening of standards. It is no longer possible to have gas
tanks delivered or filled until the requirements of the state Office of Gas
Safety are fulfilled. We still have a lot of do it yourself propane systems
in place but new systems will all have to be certified or you simply won't
get your gas delivered.
I don't mean to be judgemental. As I said I don't know the constraints you
work under. Even over here bureaucracies can be very frustrating.
Feri
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