Charles46

There are those home inspectors that do what they have to do to get that certificate they can hang on their wall and that is all they do. Then there are those home inspectors that get that paper for their wall and keep striving to learn more and provide a high level of service to their clients. Likewise, there are those in the Mold business that do what they have to do to get that certificate they can hang on their wall, and that is all they do. Then there are those that get that piece of paper for their wall, and then keep striving to learn more so they can provide a high level of service to their clients. For those of you that want to be closed minded about the effects of mold, I encourage you to tell the mother of a two year old little girl, whose whole life has been lived in a mold infested home, that mold causing the little girls hair to fall out every time she brushes it is not true. That mold does not cause problems. Or how about talking to the father about his seven year old son that after living in a home with mold for a year has caused his asthma to go from mild to severe. Nah, mold is gold Dad. Or how about the 35 year old female that after living in a mold infested house for four years has gone from bright and happy with good health to having an auto immune disease that will be with her the rest of her life. Yup, mold is gold. I agree there are a lot of incompetent "Mold Professionals" out there. But there are a lot of incompetent Home Inspectors out there also. Imagine if any of the three people I mentioned had read this thread about mold. One of them may not even be here today.

My choice was and still is Flir.

If they went in and by a visual examination only said there was high microbial growth then I have to call it out as not an accurate assessment. Without taking a sample of what they call microbial growth, along with an air sample from the HVAC system while operational, and an exterior control sample, then they are just looking for extra work. Without testing you are just guessing. If it was microbial growth, are they authorized or qualified for remediation of a contaminated HVAC system? Not all HVAC contractors are. Cleaning to remove potentially harmful microbial growth is different than just cleaning and "sanitizing" the system.

After adding gutters with downspouts that move the rain water at least 10 feet from the foundation, you could also considered trenching around the interior of the crawlspace. Add a drainage pipe to the exterior at the low end of the crawlspace that again gets the water at least 10 feet from the foundation. Then a plastic vapor barrier sealed to the block foundation and support columns to keep the water and moisture from creating other issues to your floor system.

Flex drain lines are just a debris trap and a clog waiting to happen. Just because they make them, does not mean you should use them.

If you are removing the insulation so that you can spray the fungal growth in that area, then you need to remove and dispose of that insulation. That insulation will likely be infested with mold spores as was the wood. Then install new insulation to replace that which was removed.

PLEASE TELL US IN YOUR PROFESSIONAL OPINION WHAT WAS DONE WRONG HERE... The answer is improper installation, of the siding, of the flashing, of the shingles, and that is before we remove the siding to see what was not done properly before the exterior was installed. The person that did the install may even say that he did it the way everyone else does it. Well that does not make it right. It is still not proper.

Thanks for the input gents. I'll spend some time getting comfortable with load calculations.

Gentlemen: Today's inspection had a main distribution panel with a 150 amp main breaker and appropriate service conductor. This breaker supplied the main portion of the house. It also supplies the subpanel that services the new addition complete with a heat pump system. This subpanel has a 100 amp breaker at the main distribution panel as well as a 100 amp service disconnect at the sub panel being feed by an appropriate size cable. Am I just being overly cautious or is that subpanel to large for the main panel?

It is a new high efficiency washer on an old home with a 1 1/2" drain pipe.

Everything inside was found to be normal, well as normal as could be. I just never had the pleasure of seeing soap bubble all the way up the vent like that prior to today. See something new everyday. Thanks for the feedback.

Gentlemen: This foam had come out of the boot flange or appeared to come out of the boot flange of the laundry room vent stack. The pipe did not feel wet as would have been my expectation. Any idea how or why the bubbles? Thanks. Click to Enlarge 43.27 KB

Or you could go to the Building Intelligence Center and get the info on HVAC systems or Water heaters. http://www.buildingcenter.org/

There are two schools on the preventative pest treatment. One method is bait stations that "lure" the creatures to the stations, away from the home, and over time will eradicate the entire colony, or so they say. The second school is what most do on new construction and what is being proposed as a re-treatment for you. That is to treat the soil around the perimeter and that includes inside the block foundation. This process kills the pest upon contact but does not kill the colony. It just tells the advancing troops to find a new route. On my eight year old house that was treated during construction as yours was, the little pests found their way past the liquid treatment and fortunately showed themselves before things got to bad. So, in my opinion, if you are going liquid treatment, go the route that is like new. They could probably use the same holes as were originally used. They just use plugs to fill the holes.

2011 NEC Section 300.5.1: Direct buried conductors and cables emerging from grade and specified in columns 1 and 4 of table 300.5 shall be protected by enclosures or raceways extending from the minimum cover distance below grade ... to a point at least 8 ft. above finished grade.

From the photo I can't determine if the pieces would be more prone to falling than any other trim. In my opinion, if you believe it is likely to fall, then I would do as you did and report it. If you felt it was just so poor an install that you had to say something even thought it may be secure, then I would say something like it is secure, but ..... and then politely say what is really on your mind when you saw that.

If you have fire ants out that way, they are known to use the walls of a house for warmth. They are not destructive, they just like to bring sand/soil from the outside in with them. If it were fire ants, you should see mounds close to the foundation and tunnels from the mound up the fuondation under the siding, or you might see the mounds right up against the house.

I think I would have just quoted section M1305.1.3 which will give you opening requirements specifically for this case and also states "large enough to allow removal of the largest appliance." in the 2012 version which we are under here.

Here are a few spec's from the Flir site Click to Enlarge 18.79 KB

Kurt: I am good with the speaking in tongues, but you can leave the snakes at the door.

I keep a dustpan and a whisk broom in my truck along with a battery operated handheld vacuum. Usually don't need either one, but have them both with me so I can have a choice for those times I do.

IRC G2427.8 Item 3: The vent terminal of a direct vent appliance with an input of 10,000 BTU per hour or less shall be located at least 6 inches from any air opening into a building. An appliance with an input between 10,000 and 50,000 BTU per hour shall be installed with a 9" vent termination clearance, and an appliance with an input over 50,000 BTU per hour shall have at least a 12" vent termination clearance. IRC G2427.8 Item 4: Through the wall vents for Category II and IV appliances and non-categorized condensing appliances shall not terminate over an area where condensate or vapor could create a nuisance or hazard, or could be detrimental to the operation of other equipment. Or you could go with the manufactures installation instructions for the AC unit and those usually mention a 3' clearance.

The IRC or NEC will tell you where you can and can't put a receptacle in the bathroom, or with regards to a pool, spa, hot tub etc. They will even tell you what you can do with luminaires in those circumstances. The switches to control them? Not a word. The closest you get with the code is "A flush mounted switch in a damp or wet location shall be equipped with a weatherproof cover. Switches shall not be installed within wet locations in tub or shower spaces unless installed as part of a listed tub or shower assembly." With the shower door, you are outside the tub space so no code help on this. What a shockingly bad location for an electrical switch.

Les: None I am aware of and I am confident that if there was the folks at ESA would be emailing me about it daily trying to sell me some new equipment. You may want to have someone anonymously call him and ask him about his instant radon screening. I am willing to bet he is using a CRM and his instant is at the end of the test period. Why wait two days for results from a charcoal canister test when I can have the results for you the instant the test period is completed.

Personally I like and use Home Gauge. http://www.homegauge.com/