iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Banger gas station food. Heirloom tomato sandwich w/ fresh basil, dill, and buratta cheese spread.

Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Building Science 101: overhangs help keep your house dry. Roof is about 35' above ground, and is still keeping it dry several fee from the house.

A house to the left with some HVAC units outside. The ground around the units is bone dry but just a few feet away the dirt is noticeably darker due to a pretty substantial storm.

Another image of a house, with black brick facade. Around the facade is dry dirt and a few feet away, it's wet soil. In some places the roof overhang extends 8 feet from the wall.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Post a perfect album from the 90's that isn't nirvana, soundgarden, pearl jam, or alice in chains

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

This is what my setup looks like. Info in alt text. But yes, venting to outside will always be better than recirculation, even though the filters have gotten pretty good on the indoor recircs.

Home under construction. Left side is a 3x3 awning window with a wire hanging down. The wire is for a chain actuator window opener. This signal will be tied to the range hood so when the range hood is on, the actuator will open (and close when turned off). Its a very easy way to get makeup aor for cooking exhaust.

Box sitting on a window sill at a home under construction. The box is the approximate size of the chain actuator. These using run a few hundred dollars but are great for automating window openings.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Lunch. Egg fried rice with cabbage, garlic sprouts and some onion. Got some wok he(sp.), without gas. Induction cooking FTW. 🍜

Bowl of fried rice with chili oil on top.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

I'm sure mine is worried about that right now. My back is yelling at me to cut corners.

A tall, three story house of modern design, still under construction.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

About every 6 months. Of course they are the shoes at Walmart (the kind on the hanger). To be fair the bike was probably from Walmart too ($50 on Craigslist). You should be good to get a new pair.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

My wife questioning her career choices.

A bowl of eggs and a text from my wife saying "I wasn't even this proud of my Masters degree."

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

My first kink after nearly 1500' of pex tubing for A2W heat pump. FML. Yes radiant floors can do more than just heat.

Photo of radiant pex tubing with a hand holding a go/no go gauge to check whether a path will hold.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 02/07/2026

Use fiberglass rebar and insulate the outside. That's a pretty good start

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

Look at this tiny doofus. Does he know he should be above me?

Small dove or pigeon resting on a tree branch. The photographer is on a platform above the branch, however and the bird looks like its not sure what to do

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

View from the couch. I really need to frigging finish this place

A home under construction from the inside. The photographer is looking through three large windows of a Forrester lake. Inside is construction debris and partially insulated walls.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

House is coming together. Need to order a little more composite siding and paint the bridge and the outside is done. 3" of exterior c.i. is keeping it nice.

A modern home three-stories tall built on a hill. A bridge is needed to walk from the parking are to the front door.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Thinking about pitching a new pilot to CBS, The Fat Man and the Potato. Think it will work? #dogs

A bearded man sitting on a couch with a black and white pitbull. The pittie is resting his head on the owner's shoulder looking at him and the owner is looking back.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Dude straight up fell asleep sitting up. #dogs

A bearded man sitting on a couch with a white and black pitbull sleeping on his shoulder. The pittie is sleeping sitting straight up.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 17/01/2026

Took mine yesterday. I like watching the sunspots go round

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

I asked about interior and exterior vapor sealing and it gave me the the article. Better than most Ai. I got spray foam on the outside with this as my finished interior wall. Should be OK since we sealed the rim joists and top plates if next floor

A partially built house with glazed black brick walls. The walls are finished on the inside, but will receive a layer of 2lb closed cell foam

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 06/12/2025

House is starting to look fancy. Next it gets a 3" spray foam sweater on the outside, a #buildingscience good practice.

A lakeside house with a butterfly roof. The house is a simple box, but had some interesting details like a bridge and large windows.

View of the entranceway if the house, which immediately looks out to two large windows.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 27/11/2025

What the fuck did I do? Trying to catch her dreaming and as soon as I start the camera, she's got something better to do. #dogs

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Literal hours were spent explaining why we cant have a vapor barrier between the slab and subfloor after deciding to flash and batt in the crawl space. It's very easy to screw this stuff up.

Structural cross section of a wall and floor showing a 40 mil underlayment between a concrete slab and the sub floor. This would have been perfectly fine as-is but the addition of spray foam below would prevent the osb subfloor from releasing water vapor.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Thanks, Philip. Looks, I'll be installing a couple of these next month. Theyre among the most efficient AWHPs on the market. I'll buy you guys dinner if I average anywhere close to the stated COPs on the sell sheet.

Sell Sheet of Chiltrix CX34 air-to-water heat pumps. These units have a cooling COP od 6.52 and heating COP of 3.92.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

I'm glad that my new dog respects me and understands who the master of the house is.

A pitbull sleeping on the couch with his owner and a white lab. The pitbull has his paw covering his owner's face, as if to say, 'smell what I got into outside'.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 19/11/2025

I love that my new dog is finally starting to trust me.

A black and white pitbull mix standing on his owner but leaning as far away as possible. He looks very suspicious of his surroundings.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Why are there no motorcycle spots at costco?

Royal Enfield Bear 650 at the Costco parking lot

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 17/09/2025

New hat... smells like dirt.

A fat bearded guy looking at the camera with a black and white pit bull laying on his forehead. The pitbull hates humans, but he's warming up to this one.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 31/08/2025

Guess who worked outside all day?

Two beers, one 7oz and one 32 Oz at Aslin brewing a motorcycle helmet sits on the ground.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

There's little 'natural' about this scene, unless we recognize humans are an intricate part of nature.

A lake nestled in between a deep wooded area.
1. The lake is caused by a dam on the other side; we're looking at a mountain valley
2. Most of the trees have been clear cut at least once due to the similar growth size.
3. Inside the forests the undergrowth has been wiped out due to deer population and farmer ls killing off deers natural predators.
It's still pretty though.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

#buildingscience tip of the day. Pick up a gallon of water. Heavy, right? Now, pick up a few thousand at once. This is the kind of force your basement walls experience when the water has nowhere to go. Dimple mats are cheap and solve this problem.

Image of a below grade concrete foundation wall. Behind the black mat is asphalt-based peel and stick. Both will offer waterproofing protection, but the dimple mat offers the water a place to go, down. This relieves hydrostatic pressure, and the foundation wall experiences less stress.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 11/08/2025

They fixed the hole in the wall. Getting there

Inside a brick house. The brick will remain exposed as the insulation will be on the inside.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 07/08/2025

No longer with us, but his boops were pretty memorable too

Jack Russell named yeah yeah sitting with a puppy named Wren

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

Guys are going old school with this wall. Multi-wythe is how we used to build. Those late 19th century houses are still holding up pretty well. #buildingscience

Masons working on a partially completed block wall. The masons are adding black glazed brick to the block wall. They will be bonded together to form a monolithic system.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

My occupant is a real asshole, and he's also short and bald. Fortunately, though, he doesn't mind cold or warm air too much. The window is pretty high, and he's hoping it won't be too much of a nuisance. Range hood is about 8' away from the window.

House elevations with a door and transom window highlighted. The transom window is currently specified to be an awning style window that will automatically open for makeup air.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

Okonomiyaki at home for dinner yesterday. Don't think we did too bad. 🍜

Okonomiyaki on a white place with a can of fresca.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

We can still build durable, reasonably-sized houses. It's astonishing to me that too often size denotes quality. Design question for BS. Since the insulation is on the exterior, would you cover the concrete walls with anything or leave bare?

Image of an unfinished family room probably only 140 sfqt in total dimensions. The focal point of the room is a large, 6' by 6' window that overlooks a lake.

A view of the lake from 2nd story master bedroom. This bedroom is only 180 sqft max but will have amaz9ng views.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

I just had this conversation with my carpenter. 2300 sqft is still big for what I want, but when I commented on the size of this family room, he said (jokingly), "we could always make it bigger". All he works on anymore is oversized SF homes.

Roughly 150 sqft family room under construction. The walls are poured concrete with two large window openings. There is a 2x6 stud wall that's not finished. The house overlooks a lake. Craftsmanship is way more important than size.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 11/07/2025

Bedroom view is going to look nice. As soon as we get the walls, that is.

Taken from an under construction house overlooking a lake.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 02/07/2025

It's really good at melting chocolate, too. Try doing that on gas.

Melting chocolate and butter for a triple chocolate cookie. Using an induction stove, which has a low setting that's safe to use directly on chocolate without a double boiler.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

Rain shouldn't bother mass timber too much. If it's engineered, the adhesives they use now are pretty resilient. If it it is solid timber, it's pretty indestructible so long as the end grain is treated.

Crawl space on a residential construction project. 12" x 12" timbers will eventually hold up the roof.

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Jon @jonkatora.bsky.social · 07/06/2025

Here's about 130 cuyds of it. 4000 psi, with GFRP reinforcement. Exterior will be water proofed and insulated. Below grade will be getting water proofed dimplematted and a drain tile. Don't ask how much it costs... I already cried today.