Chad Fabry

Me too. I like reading it, but I don't know enough to make any comments yet.

A friend of mine sent me this link in an email. For political reasons this person can't post it here. Being the magnanimous guy that I am, I figured some of you may be interested. http://www.nachi.org/bbsystem/viewtopic ... 6802#46635 I've said this in private and in public before, but I think Clinton has changed careers to being the owner of a home inspector org.

I'd want the roof as cold as possible.

I always service my water heaters when there's an annoying puddle in my basement.

With all the solids that have precipitated on the exterior, those pipes are self sealing. Sodium sulphate, potassium sulphate,sodium carbonate, calcium sulphate, sodium bicarbonate, calcium carbonate,sodium silicate, magnesium sulphate. All those salts would clog yer arteries too.

It looks like it leaks (or has leaked) everywhere.

That looks to be a standard dielectric fitting and is correct.

See if the problem coincides with them washing their cat.

I'm not aware of any blown in insulations that wouldn't require venting. Icynene, if properly applied could be used in an unvented attic with a meticulously installed vapor barrier on the bottom of the ceiling joists with excellent detailing at the wall to truss or rafter junction. Given the age of the home it's far more likely that the vents were omitted during a re-roof or never existed

Hi, errr Crusty, My point is voltage variance presents a problem for the load device if it exceeds the parameter where the device will operate safely. I'd bet that most devices will operate safely in the 90% to 105% range of specified voltage. If the voltage drop was critical in that range, more stringent guidelines would be applied. Don't mistake my opinion for an endoresement of a 10% percent voltage drop, but current will increase as voltage drops until it kicks a circuit an overload device. The real danger is mostly to the windings of motors.

I don't get that excited about voltage drops of less than 10%. Last year I bought a graphing, recordable digital oscilliscope and to learn how to use the record feature I left it plugged into my 20 amp washer circuit for a couple of days. Line voltage varied on that circuit from 111 volts to 123 volts over a 48 hour period. Oddly the lowest voltage was recorded on two consecutive days very early in the morning around 2:30 am when the homes electrical loads were almost nil.

ASME ratings aren't cheap to come by. For compressor tanks an ASME rated tamk is twice is as much as an identical non rated tank. I'm not sure but I think all ASME tanks are hydro tested.

I'm thinking that'll be pricey to fix.

Don, The only other thing that could be going on is they pigtailed those whites to be the ground for the three devices that are going to reside in the box. There's no reason to bootleg a ground.. the ground is there. If those three white wires (that are bonded to ground) were bare, it wouldn't raise an eybrow. Is the color the issue? I'm confused..what was the question? From here down is an edit: I just read Jim Katen's reply so I'll summarize mine. What he said.

A rat in the wall smells bad for a long time.

Drain the tank and check for sediment. I have hard water and when the sediment builds up it takes a while for the heat to get to the water and then after the burner shuts down the water contacts the hot sediment and percolates for a while. I just pretend I'm at the ocean. My wife pretends that I'm handy and insists I go clean it. Sigh.

The wires are outside the box, like Chris said. Maybe he's just temporarily powering up some circuits to use during construction. It's not a permanent installation.

They were originally sold to homes that weren't on the gas grid because of their rural locales. The technology was serendipitous in its origin and the timing was off for widespread use. Spelunkers and coal miners more recently used smaller versions for personal lighting. It's energy intensive to produce calcium carbide making acetylene quite pricey compared to other energy sources. The final nail in the coffin was a classifcation of calcium carbide as an explosive by the DOT after Timmy McVey's bombing.

http://membres.lycos.fr/cavalampes/Site ... P-EcA6.htm Here's a line drawing of one.. Mine was mostly a pile of rust whose original purpose was determined by a label that stated "Union Carbide acetylene generator." 1918. Only the "scrubber tank" was intact. I've saved it along w/ some other stuff to display in my nearly finished library room. (photos of library coming soon)

"Type K, Type L & ACR copper tubing are still permitted nationally. Type GAS is the only cu permitted in Canada. In my experience, individual municipalities and utility companies have banned any use of cu for ng fuel distribution." I was advised by my gas company that copper (schedule K or heavier) was acceptabled for gas distribution. As for Brian's photo I'd bet that is water plumbing. Interestingly, my whole house was plumbed for acetylene in a fashion similar to that w/ gas fixtures in every room. The remnants of the acteylene generator were still in the basement when I moved in and empty calcium carbide containers were stored in the smoke house.

From a practical point of view it doesn't bother me at all. I'm very conservative, but I don't think I'd write it...what's that you say?...you were looking for someone who's done more than 8 inspections to offer an opinion? Fine then, be like that.

Having been enlightened by Jim's Gestalt-ism, and oddly aroused by Kurt's phrase "semantical flogging", I feel compelled to be of benefit to all the stakeholders in my marriage.. It's not easy to be this magnanimous.

That's just scary. I've only done 8 inspections..if I worked like that I'd have collected only four checks. Getting paid 50% of the time just won't work for me.

The wager definition sort of works. The realtors are betting that they can find a house or sell a house for their clients. The bank is betting that the client will pay them back and if they don't they're betting the house is worth what they loaned. The attorney is going to close a deal at some point and gets paid hourly for that service. The people holding the wagers are the buyer and the seller.. They're the stake holders. Everyone has a legal obligation to perform their part of the deal as outlined by contract. If time runs out the realtors don't get paid, the buyers didn't find a house and the sellers aren't moving to Florida. I'm certainly not disputing that the folks Scott mentioned have an interest in the sale; they all stand to gain from the execution of their contracted services, but I still think stakeholder may be a strong word. If they fail to provide their contractual obligation then they don't get paid. Now that I've seen comments from two smart guys, I'm out of the discussion because I learn best when my lips aren't moving.

I'm sure Steven Hockstein who just asked how's business been after ASHI is rolling his eyes at the thread drift so I came over here. Mike, feel free to eliminate the thread if you think it's going to open up a can of whoop ass. "Stakeholders include: The home owner The home buyer The real estate agents The appraiser The mortgage broker The insurance agent The closing attorney or escrow company The title company HUD/FHA on some homes And I am sure several others that might become involved in the transaction at some point. Scott Patterson MS ASHI http://www.traceinspections.com" "Minds are like parachutes they only function when open" The word "stakeholder" and the inference that everyone has the same interest in a real estate transaction just bugs me. There are just two stake holders in any sale. The buyer and the seller. Everyone else has been commissioned to provide a service by one of the stake holders and their only responsibility is to provide that service. All the money that's changing hands anywhere is coming from one of two participants. It was their judgement to hire a realtor or an attorney or an appraiser. These folks are nothing more than employees, just like an inspector is just an employee in the strictest sense. The fact that you stand to profit does not make you a stakeholder. Making an investment or liquidating an asset...that makes you a stakeholder.