Bain

. . . for the coolest crawlspace-hatch of the year. All copper, with smooth seams and perfect edges. Yes, I need to scrounge up a life . . . Click to Enlarge 66.54 KB Click to Enlarge 54.74 KB

I'm almost certain I looked at that same house for some people who walked.

I did a house for a woman from Belgium recently. She was aghast over all the exposed cables running through the basement ceiling. I told her that was pretty much the norm, and she said in Belgium, the wires had to be installed in "little tubes," like in your way-cool photo.

Bingo. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "The last house we bought, the (fill in the blank) didn't work. All the inspector had to do was turn it on, and we would have known."

Brandon, sorry for the headache. I've had similar experiences with dishwashers in the past, and you'll likely never know what went wrong. A seller called once the day after I was in his house and said the dishwasher began smoking when he turned it on. I explained that I had merely run the thing through a cycle, but that he should call a repair-person. I also said that if the repair-person thought I was in any way responsible, I would pay for the damage if the story sounded legit. I never heard from the seller again, so I suppose I was the victim of bad luck and bad timing. After I'd left another house, the seal or the water-valve solenoid failed in a dishwasher and leaked a couple of gallons of water on wood laminate flooring. I won't bore you with the details, but that one got contentious and one more person in the world hates my guts. In your instances, the fridge defect isn't even described, and there's probably something a little tricky with the dishwasher, as others have said. But even if that isn't what's up, three months is three months, and who knows what's occurred during that time?

I relented today and typed a few words. I wasn't angry, but I couldn't let the regulars think I was your bitch. If you hadn't said something, I certainly would have. I don't want any misunderstandings about whose bitch you truly are.

Must be a regional thing. I've never seen a slab foundation that WASN'T surrounded by concrete blocks. Around here, the block walls are laid first, and then used as "forms" in which to hold the concrete till it sets.

So . . . how does one convince a fox to pee down a skunkhole? Question two: You can actually BUY human urine? Eliminate skunks from the equation, and ask why anyone would want to buy the stuff.

I'm not sure of the exact date, but it came with the kit to make an Interociter. Mine is from the late 50s and looks similar, but is 240V. By then the Cathermin tube in the Interocitor had an inindium complex of +4, so it required more than 120V. Is that just before they included the anal probe? That might be the one Bain owns. I think that one has a stikitinciter. Actually that model had a problem with the insulators for the individual conductors and the oscillators couldn't be relied upon. Everything's transistorized now. Much more dependable . . . and enjoyable.

Can you tell us why? It's never done that way in my area. The neutral must always be bonded to that mast. The place where you typically see that bonding connection is in the service equipment, and any additional bonding at the point of attachment should only be adding to what was already present. Using an insulator at the mast may provide a more reliable or durable connection from a mechanical standpoint, but not electrically. Suppose that inside the mast the insulation on a hot conductor is damaged and that it energizes the conduit. The path for current is from the conduit to the enclosure of the service equipment, across the main bonding jumper, and over to the incoming service neutral. There is no breaker in that circuit - it is on the "line" side of the service equipment. A fault as described here is going to cause something pretty bad - it could possibly cause a fire or blow up the utility transformer. If you were lucky it would trip the overcurrent protection on the primary of the transformer and just knock out power to all the customers served by it. Suppose we have the exact same thing, only this time there is no main bonding jumper in the service panel. Now nothing blows up. Instead, something much worse happens. The conduit sits there with 120-volts potential, waiting for you to touch it while also contacting a grounded surface. You become a human bonding jumper. If the service mast had been anchored with metal to metal contact instead of that insulator, we are back to plan "A" (a noticeable fire or explosion instead of a potential electrocution). The reason we require bonding jumpers around concentric knockouts on the line side of the service is to assure that we are using plan "A" rather than the human bonding jumper. Thank you.

Can you tell us why? It's never done that way in my area.

The utility guy came and went. He said some power companies never insulate the neutral from the mast, but mine does. The only danger with my kind of insulator, he said, is some companies use inexpensive anchors in which the pins aren't flared well, and the pins fail when they take a hit. I didn't think it was a big deal when I saw it, but I didn't know if there was a possible problem I wasn't aware of. Click to Enlarge 48.15 KB

It was circular, and it WAS intended to insulate the neutral from the mast. The half circle that broke off is on the roof. That's what I was curious about. Now that the neutral's in contact with the mast, what are the possible consequences?

I was cleaning my gutters earlier and saw this. Apparently a tree limb fell on the SE cables and cracked the ceramic bushing. The utility company is going to repair the anchor, but while I THINK I understand all the ramifications, I'm curious about what the gurus have to say. As an oh-by-the-way, I realize the masthead is too close to the shingles, but the installation was inspected and approved before I bought the house, and I haven't wanted to spend the dough to make corrections. Yet. Click to Enlarge 61.63 KB

I'm aware of the conventional wisdom when it comes to roof venting, but I've seen lots of roofs that were inadequately vented, and the shingles were prematurely deteriorated and looked much, much older than they truly were. I don't have anything quantitative to reinforce what I'm saying but, in my experience, here in the quasi-South, maintaining reasonable attic temperatures is as important as managing humidity when it comes to venting.

Important Note: Utilizing the above technique with success will without fail make certain real estate agents HATE your f**king guts pretty much forever. I pull the meter covers on all the polybutylene (big blue) era homes I inspect. Once I found the delta spinner moving forward a few turns and then back a few turns. It kept repeating that. What was going in there? I've seen that, too. I'm not certain, but I THINK that if a main is, indeed, leaking, water spurts through the hole but doesn't completely dissipate due to slow absorption by clay soil or whatever. When the pressure around the leak exceeds the line pressure, water backflows until the pocket of water around the leak is fully absorbed by the soil, sort of like Newton's "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction". Just a theory, however . . .

I know. Just one reason (of six) I think you're sweet. And do I want to hear the other five . . . ? I'm truly not sure about that one.

Oh, you . . . . . I guess you did call me first and ask. . . Sweet of you in a couple ways. I didn't steal much and I did, indeed, ask first. It's a compliment, dude.

Oh, you . . . . .

Important Note: Utilizing the above technique with success will without fail make certain real estate agents HATE your f**king guts pretty much forever.

I see this sometimes, and it never seems to cause a problem. Did you check the water meter to make certain the pipe isn't leaking, Mark? I always look at the delta on the meter to make certain it's stationary, and find maybe one faulty water-main a year.

It's better than nothing, I suppose. I wonder why they didn't tap into the light fixture circuit, though, and install a mechanical fan?

Is there a grille in the door? If so, it's probably okay, but not the most efficient configuration. If there isn't a grille in the door, the installer either forgot, or hasn't put it in yet.

You know what I don't get? People who come around here, wear their alleged wealths of experience like badges, and then become indignant when what they say is challenged by others. Most, like the recent guy, tuck their tails, spout off some sort of playground-ish "Screw you," and then never surface again. There are others, like bare-chested--I just KNOW there were tatoos hidden somewhere--stump dude, who possess the emotional maturity to take their lumps and realize that they can learn from others and others can also learn from them. And . . . everybody's better off because of it in the cliched big picture. The reason I don't get it, is that by nature our job descriptions demand that we invoke the wrath of sellers, realtors, builders, contractors and others on a weekly basis and, by definition, must develop incredibly thick skins unless one is fortunate enough to be a sociopath like I am. So WHY do they get their feathers in a fluff simply because a bunch of people on a forum question what they have to say? Where is this Dietrich's thick skin? Why won't he answer simple questions? Meh . . .

I'm trying to keep an open mind, but you didn't answer any of my questions. How can one create an inspection report with "personal narrative with minimal point and click," on an iPhone? One doesn't text with two thumbs on an iPhone. That occurs with a Blackberry.