Bain

I've never heard of this before. Do they use a backhoe to remove dirt all the way down to the footings and then spray them and the foundation both? Think about what a big, messy job that would be. 10K sounds cheap for that much work. I wonder why your peeps didn't call B-Dry or one of the companies that employs the interior-trench/sump-pump maneuver.

Oh, you gotta have clearances . . . ? Image Insert: 116.63 KB

No crusties, John. And FWIW, once you start your business, you're gonna catch heat and/or blame for all kinds of stuff, most of it undeserved. The heat pump and its problem belong to the owner of the house, which is why I gently tugged on the wires. I probably shouldn't even have done that.

That's pretty much the standard set-up for all heat pumps, Fritz. This is a series circuit, so it's okay. I thought the same thing you did, Richard, which is why I tugged on the wires. Maybe it had already been quasi-corrected by someone in the past. I suppose I was curious about whether it was indicative of other problems elsewhere that I should be looking for. John

I found this in a six-year-old heat pump this morning. What would cause it, other than loose connections? I tugged gently on the wires, and they seemed well secured beneath the breaker screw. John Image Insert: 88.58 KB

Who has less sense? A fool, or someone who tries to reason with a fool? Explanations are quite unnecessary.

Both notions seem plausible. What kind of knucklehead thinks sheet metal will suffice for decking? Then again, it's probably been done many, many times with similar results. John

The photo is of the house next door to the one I was checking out this morning. The thing was approximately 100 years old, so I have to assume the decking was one-bys. But how could they sag so uniformly? The decking could have been replaced, clearly, but in my area roofers typically install OSB on top of the original plank decking if it's shot. Both layers could be sagging, of course, but that would be pretty strange. Has anyone ever been in the attic of a house with this kind of failed roof? I realize it sounds a little weird, but I sat there on the roof this morning, fascinated by the mess next door. Image Insert: 108.5 KB

Didn't know that, Jim. I suppose it's like finding the unopened bag of refrigerant-line grommets sitting on top of the unit, huh? Those are always interesting photos to show customers. John

I find those plastic plugs missing in evaporator coils all the time. Is there any reasonable--albeit wrong--explanation for why someone would remove one? John

Hmmm . . . purse. I gotta say, Chad, that isn't exactly the word I was searching for.

I'm not much on the wiener look, either. I wear a fairly large North Face fanny pack(I'm sure there's a less nerdy name, but I can't think of it). It has plenty of room for a camera, digital recorder, Strion, electrical testers, and a screwdriver/probe. One really nifty feature is that it can be zipped closed when you're in an attic or crawlspace, so you don't have to worry about stuff falling out. I hopped out of an attic once and realized my camera had fallen out of my pocket. I must have spent thirty minutes digging through blown-in insulation before I found the bloody thing.

When I had a construction company, my men installed a steel door frame in a block wall. They figured they'd insulate the cavity between the jamb and the wall with Great Stuff so they attached the straw/tuby-thing and started spraying. Before I had time to process what they were doing and yell, "Stop," the steel frame buckled outward and was destroyed.

Well, but it's fascinating how we all look at things in different ways. The engineer who currently works in the building described above and is now buying it, suspected a grounding problem because his surge protectors have lights on them that say "Improper ground," or "Wiring fault." When I explained that the original two-prong receptacles had been replaced with three-prongers, he just looked at me in stunned disbelief. "Who would do something like that?" he asked. I told him I see it all the time. "But it's wrong. What kind of electrician would do that?" It was amazing, watching his learned, logical mind trying to wrap itself around the idea that someone could be dopey enough to connect the wrong kinds of outlets to the wiring. As for the power-pack, it beeped and the lights dimmed when the furnace blower energized sans condenser, and I regurgitated the suggestions of my kind respondents to the post, and told the engineer an electrician needed to investigate further. John

That's pretty much what I told him, Jim, and added that I know a thoughtful, responsible electrician. I asked about the age of the compressor and compared it to those old, belt-driven furnace blower-motors that always seem to dim the lights, but the guy was clueless about the compressor's age.

I read you loud and clear vis a vis the grounding rod having nothing to do with voltage drop, and thought the same thing. But then I told myself, "He's an electrical engineer . . . He know's more about this than I do." I'll humbly borrow from you all and seem much smarter than I am tomorrow. Thank you.

I'm checking out an office duplex tomorrow morning, and the buyer--who's an electrical engineer--is concerned because when the A/C condenser energizes, the back-up power system for the computers in one office occasionally sounds an alarm. I explained that the load upon condenser start-up can be substantial, but he's convinced the problem is grounding related and suspects the ground rod is installed mostly horizontally in dry soil and that the rod is what's causing the problem. I told the engineer that identifying this particular condition was beyond the usual scope of an inspection, but that I would look for any glaring flubs. I suspect the problem may simply rest within the brand and/or settings of the back-up power system, but wondered if anyone had ever dealt with something like this before. John

No big deal, Mike. The attorney of the owner of the document mailed it to me as potential evidence in a lawsuit, so I think I have a right to solicit professional opinions regarding its merits. But you're right, no sense in taking chances. John

Since you asked, Brian--the summary page for a fifty-year-old house. The inept inspector hired by the seller did mention the water damaged windows, but not the mushy cripples beneath the windows. I removed a few of the outlet coverplates and could fully penetrate the studs with a probe. John

Chris, I currently find myself in the same predicament described in your last post, except that the house didn't sell. The seller recently hired her own inspector who repeatedly begins every statement in his wretched report with, "Taking into account this house's age," or, "For a house this age . . ." I've been sent a letter by the chick's attorney saying he's gonna sue me for killing the transaction because Inspector X says the house is just hunky dory, uh, for its age. Apparently there's no legal basis for any kind of lawsuit since I had no contractual or fiduciary relationship with the seller, but if her dipstick attorney convinces her to proceed so he can hose her for $250.00 an hour, I'll have to defend myself. The attorney actually said in his letter that I had, " . . . attached a stigma to the house." The other inspector's report is by far the worst, realtor-sucking-upping thing I've ever seen. I'd upload it, but it's too large.

I'm not even as good as Kurt, and have to rely on the kindness of others when I come across something I don't see very often--Thanks again, Bill, for the recent help--but I work my rump off for my clients and charge accordingly. How many roofs do we climb on in a week? About a month ago, a roofer around here fell off a roof and tragically died. I could fall off a roof and die, too. Guess what? A buyer's gonna pay me an outrageous fee if he wants me to risk injury or death to look at a roof for him. I've dated a bunch of realtor chicks, who typically were needy and manipulative--though I suppose that had nothing to do with their occupations--and have been made privy to how cutthroat agents are when it comes to their commissions. "Your buyers didn't mention your name when they came to my open house, so I'm on record as having shown them the house for the first time. Boom! I'm telling the board I deserve half your commission." "You f**king bitch!" Happens all the time, along with tons of other Draconian maneuvers. So if they think you're too expensive, screw them. They're certainly out there fighting and scratching to earn(a word I use loosely) every penny they can. Thing is, they do have power. Their buyers want to trust them. Most realtors wrongly abuse this trust by pointing a buyer toward a sycophantic home inspector. I'm sure there are lots of smiles and yuck-yucks going on while the buyer is getting hosed without even realizing it. There are honest, well-intentioned realtors, but sadly they're in the minority. We can survive without referrals from shifty realtors. A woman called this afternoon because there are several glowing reports about moi on our local Angie's List. There was that cliched pregnant pause when I told what my fee would be, and I wondered, like we all do at that point, if she was going to say she wanted to think about it. But she went ahead and scheduled a gig for next week. That woman will get her money's worth. I'll climb on her roof and risk falling off of it for her. I'll squirm through her crawlspace in search of every gremlin I can find. And it's exceedingly gratifying to know that if I need help with something, there are kind souls at TIJ who will gladly offer it.

Too true.

I remember a Prof in college explaining that fuses were actually better overcurrent devices than circuit breakers because the fuse will fry about 10,000 times more quickly than a circuit breaker will trip. Fuses are much worse as safety devices, however, simply because people monkey around with them. Like so much that we see, it's a matter of not following the instructions . . .

T'anks, Mike.

How does one register, Ron? I checked out your web site and clicked on "Professionals," but saw nothing about the seminar. John