Richard Moore

Who's Tom? The generators in the 40KW to 60KW range that you would likely need to power the entire house, assuming the 400-amp service is justified, weigh in at 1300 -1500 lbs. Not exactly something you would wheel around and plug in. I had something similar a few years back in a 7000+ sf hi-tech-everything home. The generator was in a large pit covered by metal grating. Click to Enlarge 71.79 KB I swore off mega homes after that one. It was a confusing nightmare of multiple appliances and electronic systems.

A bit more for you to peruse... If you go to http://www.generac.com/Service/ManualSearch/ and enter RTSE200A3CSA in the search box, it will take you to a pdf manual. There are some photos of what is behind the front cover. It seems there is a "Utility Service Disconnect" there...and no socket.

It looks like they are "Generac 200 Amp Outdoor Automatic Transfer Switch w/ Service Entrance". See http://www.everygenerator.com/Generac-R ... N1030.html . I can't find a photo of the interior, but my guess is that the "w /Service Entrance" bit means that there is a service disconnect under that cover. I think the generator (it would be a big one) would be hard wired from a remote location (was there a pit somewhere?). In other words I doubt that there will be a socket under the cover. I'd call out the rusted screws as a safety issue and suggest the client gets more info on the set-up from the seller and/or a sparky.

Isn't that effectively what happens when you apply a torque wrench (actually any single handled wrench) to a nut? The unmoving bolt creates the pivot point and forces the lateral movement of the wrench to become rotational...but there's still an uneven force being applied. So I'm going to go with "off-centered torque".

Sheesh Jim! I hope you tested that GFCI before setting up your "experiment".

From reading the related articles and posts it seems like it is very much the same as any mosaic tile on a fiberglass mesh...with the big, time consuming difference being that you first have to glue the pennies onto mesh squares. One of the responders, who had done something very similar, first printed and laminated a template then, presumably, laid the mesh over that and glued (hot glue?) the coins one at a time. Evidently she was on maternity leave so had lots of time on her hands. Once that was done you would just press the squares into an even layer of thinset and then grout, clean and seal as with any tilework. If I was doing it myself for a large area I would use the template once to create a square of MDF with shallow penny-sized recesses (made with an appropriate Forstner bit). That way I could quickly (relatively) fill the board, lay the mesh down on top and then hot-glue. Pull it up and start again, etc, etc. Might have to wax the MDF to prevent sticking from stray glue.

But isn't that exactly where most of it eventually ends up anyway after being "processed" by the congregation? BTW, I'm not discussing religion. I know better. My dog raised that question.

One final thing: I saw a disturbing film on natural gas fields in the southern states the other day and how it's affecting the groundwater. People with wells nearby are getting screwed. Some could actually put a match to a faucet and get flames. Were there any natural gas extraction facilities near this home?

Is the house on a well Jerry? I ask, because when I googled Dyna Pro I found that they make a variety of water treatment devices. http://www.dyna-pro.com/ Perhaps they would recognize the set-up? My guess is that the cylinder is some sort of gas-from-water separator (hydrogen or something lighter than air?) and they have it piped to the flues to evacuate it from the house. It's hard to believe that any plastic pipe, no matter what it's for, into a water heater draft diverter is kosher.

No issue as I far as I can see. They are, after all, allowed to be mounted on and between combustible wood studs. The deadfront can still radiate and dissipate heat if that is what you are concerned about. This is assuming you don't really mean "completely surrounded"...which would be weird!

Nice try Phillip, but that first photo is clearly one of those training school sample panels. In this case it's the "How many ways can you improperly bond a sub-panel?" display.

You guys are destroying my already limited knowledge of ancient Greeks. Next you'll be telling me that Archimedes didn't yell "Eureka" when his tub overflowed.

On the insect damage...my first guess would not be dampwood termites. Trouble is I don't know what type of ejected frass would cling to the underside of a board like that. Could it be the remains of an old moisture ant nest that has long since dried up and fallen off?

Scott, I'm not sure I'm going to be a big help because I have forgotten some of the details. But, I had to completely rebuild my front porch about 16 years ago. The existing concrete over wood porch was cracking and sagging due to rot, etc. I decided to go with tile over a very sturdy frame and plywood with backer board. I poured solid concrete for the new steps (also tiled). I do remember seeking advice from the local tile company I bought the tile from regarding exterior tiling over wood and followed their recommendation for tile quality/type and a roll-on waterproofing/isolation membrane. All I can remember is that it was very thick and pinkish and quite expensive. It may have been RedGard, but that's just a guess. I'm fairly sure that it was the last thing on the underlayment before the thinset and tile although I may have "doubled up" and used it directly on the ply as well (old brain forget stuff but I do tend to overbuild things!). Anyway...It's a full width "rocking chair" porch and 16 years later I still don't have any cracked tiles or cracked grout. So it seemed to have worked although I'm by no means recommending it over a sheet membrane.

Nice hell-hath-no-fury story Erby. Myth or truth?

Main Service Panel or a sub-panel? If the former, I'd say no, but that might depend on the attic. Code requires a "readily accessible location". You might get away with that if the attic was a loft with permanent stairs (ladder) but a normal attic, accessible through a hatch, I'd say no, definitely not good. On the other end of the spectrum would be a sub-panel only feeding equipment in the attic. That, I think is OK. In between would be panels that don't serve as service disconnects but serve circuits throughout the house. It's not clear on whether those would be allowed in an attic although there is the bit about damp or wet locations. I'm not sure that would apply. You would also need adequate working space which, it seems, would be difficult in the typical attic. Have a photo?

I try to keep most things requiring a sparky in one section...so electrical section. But, I really don't think it matters that much. If it makes you feel more comfortable, stick a line in the interior section along the lines of "See electrical section regarding stairwell lighting."

Further proof that a little knowledge (and I stress little) can lead to sheer idiocy. It wouldn't surprise me to discover that they first tried to stuff briquettes up each nostril.

No, of course not. And if you don't test any appliances, then fine...I'm sure your clients are made aware of that. The problem comes when you test some and not others. In my area, it is, I believe(?), the norm to check the "usual" appliances. And I consider a built-in microwave no different than a wall oven, disposal, etc. It's not a thorough check by any means at all, but it does at least test for basic function(s). Then in the report I state something along the lines of... "The built-in WhirlyGig was tested briefly and functioned normally. Note that not all combinations of whirling or gigging were tested."

Tell them to produce the standard that requires you to test the microwave. - Jim Katen, Oregon Of course, there is no such standard or obligation, but I'm guessing that Mike's SOP also does not specifically state that he doesn't test microwaves. Presumably, he did test other fixed appliances in the home, including the range and dishwasher. So, from the client's POV, why not the microwave? All of our tests are limited. Most of us that do briefly check microwaves probably would not have caught one that shuts off after 20 seconds, but we would at least have some documentation of what we did and did not do. Mike's problem is this bit..."Plus it is not even mentioned as an inspection item within my report." Unless he can actually point to something in his published standards about microwaves, or in the report about not testing them, he has put himself in an awkward position. As to how to handle this particular situation...I guess I would try pointing out to the client that any HI inspection of a microwave is incomplete and would not have found this particular fault. If that doesn't satisfy them (and it seems unlikely), my next step would probably involve money...Mine! ...and then in the future, I would make damn sure that what I did not test was documented somewhere.

Huh? Maybe I'm reading that wrong but, from that wording, it would seem that all CT home inspectors are required to determine the presence of radon, asbestos, lead paint and solder. That's nuts! Even a specialized pro in each field couldn't tell you that those are completely absent, every where and when. CT lawyers must love that paragraph.

Every cloud has a silver lining, eh? Welcome Jim.

I couldn't quite read the data plate... Download Attachment: 100614A106.jpg 153.45 KB OK...I'm kidding! I found this in the crawl of a nicely remodeled 1954 rambler today (new heater in a much more sensible place). Odd that the jacket is total gone. Hard to believe it rusted completely away. Perhaps they thought they could get it out of the access hatch by making it a bit smaller...and then realized there was still no way out? Or...maybe it fell through the floor at some point leaving the jacket behind? (No current sign of that.)

It means that the liner (or other membrane) needs to be at least 3" higher than the height of the threshold at the jambs either side of the threshold. I also had no idea what that first part of P2709.1 was saying until I googled "shower receptor" and realized they were talking about prefab shower pans. Click to Enlarge 28.96 KB In your case, could the metal frame count as part of the "curb" if it's totally sealed? It seems unlikely.

As I mentioned, there was a TX tank at the water heater, and also a pair of hammer arrestors at the laundry. Air in the water heater itself doesn't compute as it was a top take-off. I think everyone is on the right track but, unless there is a hidden pump or large pressure vessel as some suggested, the amount of water that runs before it slowed down seems like way too much for the combo of TX tank and arrestors. It was almost amusing at the inspection. At one point I had the the client and realtor in the bathroom as I repeatedly demonstrated the good-flow-good-flow-aaannnnddd-now-see-how-it-slows routine. We all agreed it was really weird. One thought that just struck me. The home only had a half bath for the two bedrooms at the upper level. Maybe they installed some extra lines at the same time as the newer copper for future expansion and it's those capped off lines that are providing the extra air reservoir? Yeah...that's the ticket! I can live with that. As for my clients, I'll leave it up to the plumber to determine what is actually happening and confirm the likelyhood that they need a new street feed.