Bain
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Everything posted by Bain
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Clueless. Is it to allow access by a chimney sweep?
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I've seen one of those . . . once. I remember getting the deadfront back on was a bitch 'cause it was so heavy, and there was nothing to sort of rest it on--like a main breaker--while I aligned it with the screw-holes. I just knew I was gonna destroy something, but luckily didn't.
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In a lean -to? The Pisa Tower? On the set of Bat Man? ( kapow!) On the crew for Hop along Cassidy? Rappin in the Hip Hop tour? Singin Stand By Me? IHOP
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A woman with big boobs works at Hooters. Where does a woman with one leg work?
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What is Kate Beckinsale's phone number?
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Just about all of my boilerplate is funny, and crappy. [] Marc Goodness, I think you're developing a sense of humor.
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Similar things have happened to me a couple of times. Every single time I remove a deadfront, now, I think it's gonna happen again.
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Imagination? Hurtful . . . Les, what I said is true about my county--Fayette--requiring a separate system for the laundry water. The reason, according to the Health Department, is phospates in detergents. I don't know what their source for the requirement is, but I've always been told it was because of the phosphates. Then again, this IS Kentucky.
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The phosphates in laundry detergent DO inhibit the bacterial decomposition of the effluent. In my County, two separate systems are required because of this--one for the clothes washer, and another for all else.
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I have learned a lesson. Thank you.
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I don't disagree, really, but who gets to take a look and make the call on what repairs are going to cost? Clearly, Jethro and his halfwit son, Buford, are going to be a lot less expensive than someone who's competent. Also, code officials in most areas aren't trained to assess fire damage, and my clients pay ME to tell them whether a building is sound, not a contractor who may or may not know what he's looking at.
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I actually found a commode and a sink in a detached garage, once. There was no vent, and no logical way that the drains could have been tied into the house's main waste-line. When I told my buyer that I had no idea where the drains were discharging, he said he'd already discussed that with the seller. The commode and sink dumped (pun intended) into a buried, corrugated drain tile just behind the garage. My guy had already negotiated to have the plumbing fixtures plucked out, and the drain-tile and gunk around it removed.
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I would have performed the highly-sophisticated, pull out a screwdriver and thump-the-rafters-with-both-ends test. It's easy enough to determine if the wood is still sturdy or not. Too, if there was no smoky odor in the attic, the damage isn't recent, and the rafters have performed swell.
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The wires will probably stay cooler, overall, than they would if they were exposed to the hot attic air. - Jim Katen, Oregon I was told the exact same thing by my local electrical inspector a few years ago when I called to inquire about a situation similar to Richard's. I didn't know if encapsulating the wires was kosher or not, and didn't want to screw up.
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Mikey, How can you be sure that's Poria in Mark's photos? It looks nothing like the gunk I've seen in crawlspaces.
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I don't think it's poria incrassata. I've seen that stuff and it's brown, fungal-looking and thicker. Whether it can grow in an attic, I don't know, but I doubt it. Click to Enlarge 55.69 KB Click to Enlarge 56.75 KB
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Do you plan to locate the tank hatch and remove it, and also check out the distribution box, which is often toast on old systems? And do you know what to look for once you have access? If not, you're wasting your customer's time and setting yourself up for a lawsuit. Too, I don't know about PA, but around here, the health department has to take a look before everything is covered back up, which typically entails a second visit to the house.
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It's purely a regional convention. I've had newby local inspectors proudly tell me that they flagged, as defective, an entire DWV system because it was made from PVC. "Can you believe the dumbass plumber on that one?" they'd say. - Jim Katen, Oregon Hilarious. PVC is all I see in new stuff around here. Been that way forever. I'd probably wig out a little if I saw ABS in a new house just 'cause it's never done.
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Terry, I just say something like, "It's inherently unsafe to operate the fridge/microwave/fill-in-the-blank when it isn't plugged into a grounded outlet because someone could receive a shock or even be electrocuted. I'm not certain an average person is going to understand that an electrocution risk exists just because a manufacturer says an appliance has to be plugged into a grounded outlet.
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Narrative reports are less descriptive
Bain replied to rbaake's topic in Report Writing and the Written Word
A friend sent me a report for a house he's buying in Arizona. It was filled with more nonsensical stick-and-paste boilerplate than you can imagine. Following a comment about the gutter downspouts needing to be extended away from the house, were three paragraphs about why it was necessary and all the deleterious things that could happen if it didn't occur. Same thing with baluster spacing . . . two paragraphs of hogwash. There was so much extraneous crap, I got bored reading the thing and wondered how Joe Homebuyer could make any sense of it, and obtain an understanding of what was important and what wasn't. -
Brilliant point!
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Well, but it isn't necessarily a passive system. The builder probably installed the piping before pouring the slab premptively, like John G. suggested. If there were a radon issue once the house was completed, the builder could have connected the piping to a fan to mitigate the radon without having to tear into the slab. I assume there was an easy-enough method by which to extend the pipe to the exterior in the OPs house. Here, I often see the same set-up, with a pipe installed in a chase, and terminating in the attic. Builders have learned it's easier--and more attractive--to address installation of the piping during construction rather than after.
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Double Take
Bain replied to Brandon Whitmore's topic in Fireplaces, Chimneys & Wood Burning Appliances
Don't tease . . . show us what it looked like in the attic. -
Uh, not that I make it a point to look for such things, but where is Mr. Pink's yingyang?
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Dude, you know how much I enjoy pointing out another's mistake. Your logo's all f**ked up in the last photo.