Bain

Kurt, I'm with you, and seldom even tug the CO detector out of my bag. Like I said, I was merely curious about what was spewing out of the oven vent. Most gratifying of all, though, is to find out I'm not the only one who's wondered about this kind of thing and wanted to check it out. Neal and Jim have even measured the CO production of electrical ovens, which I'm sure I'll do myself at some point just because. I'm not saying it terribly well, but I sometimes think I'm a little nutty when I catch myself wondering about something like this. And I honestly know it's whacky since I've never heard of anyone succumbing to CO poisoning because they overcooked a lasagna. Having said that, and with utmost kindness and respect, it's nice to know I'm not the only one whose mind meanders around something a little off the wall like the CO production of an oven.

Randy, The exhaust from the oven discharges from the vent behind the burners, hence the confusion regarding the photo. Jim, as always, you're two steps ahead of me on this one. I'll follow your advice and, hopefully, satisfy the little OCD demon inside of me . . . John

Very clever. I'll steal that one.

How'd you know what was beneath the copper, Mike? Without physically removing a portion of it?

Exactly, Mike. That's what I thought. That's why I yanked out the CO detector just to see if the gas was incompletely combusting because of all the yuck. What I didn't know is what was SOP for ovens.

All I ever do with ovens is turn them on, make certain the convection fans are spinning if applicable, and check temperatures with a laser thermometer. But today there was a crudded-up oven with goop on the burners, so out of curiosity I whipped out the Monoxor II. The CO level raced to over 200 PPM and would have shot up higher if I hadn't turned the oven off. So now I'm wondering, did I actually observe a defective oven that wasn't properly combusting its gas, or do all ovens spit out CO this way? The EPA says we can endure no more than 8 PPM over an 8-hour period. So what's 200 PPM gonna do to someone standing over a stove? Being the obsessive compulsive idiot I am, I now will be checking the CO output of ovens in every house I wander into. Unless, that is, someone already knows about this stuff. The photo's out of focus, OBTW. Download Attachment: DSC04803a.jpg 148.01 KB

Scott, Is that the primary garage? Or is it the golf-cart/riding-mower garage? Around here, the secondary garages seldom have an actual driveway.

And while a real estate attorney might be the appropriate person, there are also construction attorneys who might be more savvy about limitations and realistic expectations. There's an attorney in my town who's BOCA certified and who knows the IRC and ICC as well as anyone. 'Course he's the last guy in the world you wanna see sitting across the table from you representing a disgruntled client.

Chad, It's heartening to know there's someone in the world as neurotic as I am. I helped a friend replace wood clapboards on an addition with fiber-cement siding, and it took forever because I was continually shimming the declivities so the siding would be uniform. I remember telling myself I would go broke trying to install the stuff by the lineal foot.

The photo isn't appearing. For me, anyway.

Jim, your last post makes me cringe, since that happens a lot more often than it should. Oftentimes it's a burden when we know more and understand more than the folks who come behind us to effect repairs or make further assessments.

I've been through this a few times. They only warrant the shingles, don't they? Not the tear-off and reinstallation cost?

Ummm, sort of like Mike's link, which I was too dopey to read until after my post. [:-paperba

We have lots of clay in our soil, which is highly expansive when it gets wet. Therefore I see tons of those horizontal cracks, which are nearly always caused by external soil pressure. Structural engineers around here favor the method of anchoring I-beams to both the basement floor slab and the main-level floor system so the expanding soil has to effectively move the entire house off of its foundation or seek elsewhere.

I never said I rely upon a check box and incomplete sentence. It isn't a simple matter of either/or. And everything I do and say is well documented. But maybe it's time to merely agree to disagree, as the old cliche goes. As for maintaining a steam boiler, you should be careful with dispensing that kind of advice. One misunderstanding by the customer or one tiny omission by you, and something awful could happen. You don't want to have to respond to, "But Mr. Mitenbuler said all I had to do was . . . and the damn thing exploded."

But it's also wrong to summarily dismiss the approach of another if the result is full dissemination of knowledge and a satisfied customer. My reports are thirty pages long(Yes, cousin. I know how you feel about that) and they contain plenty of exposition. But more importantly, I spend thirty minutes to an hour with the customer following the inspection to walk around the house and--for instance--show him/her the soft copper gas-line in the furnace. For attics, crawlspaces, roofs, etc., I take plenty of photos and display each one on my laptop while explaining to the customer what's incorrect and what kind of remedy might be in order. A photo of termite-ridden floor joists or water stained roof decking goes a long way toward making someone understand what's happening in the house he or she is about to buy or walk away from. People are busy, and it's sophistry to think each and every customer is going to curl up with an inspection report and devour it like it was a tantalizing novel. Do folks actually read the termite report? Or do they simply want a yes or no answer? Same with radon. People typically have no idea of what it is or what its hazards are, but if radon is an issue, well of course let's mitigate. Like I said, the most valuable time for my customers is when they walk through the house with me and check out the photos as I describe what they contain. Everybody has a method to their own particular madness, but I'd much rather spend the extra time with the client instead of typing up notes that may or may not make sense to a layman.

I, too, prepare reports on-site with a laptop and print them out so my customer walks away with a physical product in exchange for his/her check. I also use the laptop to create a CD-ROM of all the photos, which I use during the wrap-up to demonstrate what I'm talking about. Cousin Kurt didn't care for this approach when it was discussed in a similar thread several months ago, but it's what works for me. I'm a fairly good typist and a mostly-failed writer who is fairly adept at describing deficiencies in a house in clear, concise sentences. And, of course, I find myself describing similar conditions day after day after week after week, so there's already a quasi-boilerplate of what I need to say swarming around inside my head. There are lots of good technical-writing books around that explain how to get to the point and most-importantly-of-all----to communicate.

Like you said, though. The weather is "whacko." It's almost impossible to construct a building that'll perform perfectly in all weather conditions. I had calls last week from recent clients who complained that their A/C systems weren't working in the mid-ninety degree temperatures. I explained that the systems weren't designed to function properly under those conditions because they don't occur often, but I'm not sure anyone believed me.

Kurt, I managed a commercial construction company for nearly a decade and this same condition occurred in an eight-story building we erected. I consulted with two engineers, an architect, and some guy with a fistful of outlandish, esoteric degrees I was referred to. No one could--or would--definitively formulate a plan for mitigating the moisture. There were lots of "maybe"s and "probably"s, but in the end we left it alone. I'm pretty sure the owner of that building still hates my guts. I offered to pay for any reasonable remedy but the remedy was never discovered.

Sadly it's true. There are likely even some farm animals in the family wreath, which render the creation of seating charts for reunions ridiculously difficult.

Les, what relief were you seeking? How did you claim or demonstrate that you or your company were injured?

Um, well. But back to the drifting filament. It's not only my dog . . . I, too, bear a faint resemblance to Kurt. Could it be? Cousin Kurt? Download Attachment: DSC_00381mg.jpg 192.58 KB

Sorry, Mike? But why? My Loki is a good lookin' kid.

My little guy displays all those characteristics, Bill. I had a girl Shepherd for eleven years and she was the love of my life.

And what about bumps and knocks from kids, vacuums, etc.? How long before the compression fittings begin to leak? I have a sixteen-week-old German Shepherd who would love to wrap his jaws around that tubing and start yanking on it. Download Attachment: DSC04428b.jpg 239.58 KB