Richard Moore

I occasionally have to write up hose bibs on exterior, unheated garage walls at new homes that lack interior shut-offs to drain the lines. Code seems a little "fuzzy" on these, but it seems like an obvious "best practices" issue. Today's new townhouse seemed worse than normal. The hose bib was at a short 18" wall between the car and man door. Presumably the piping (CPVC if it's the same as elsewhere) is coming from above. With the small size of the wall and three sides effectively exposed to the weather, this seems like a flood just waiting to happen if we get a long deep freeze. I'm actually surprised it survived the one that just ended. You guys write these up, right? Download Attachment: 091214B021.jpg 65.88 KB

Huh, we have snow today? Where were you? I agree with the Mikes but also think that the attic has been suffering since day one. That looks like more than the result of one season. Are your clients walking? I know I would. There's enough inventory out there that dealing with that mess (and the bank) makes no sense at all unless it is very, very cheap and they are willing to tear the place apart.

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There's no handy dandy date decoder for Thermopride serial numbers. You have to call them to get the actual date. (Phone: 574-896-2133) I typically don't bother. Oil furnaces can last almost indefinitely with regular service and the occasional part. As long as the thing has been serviced regularly and recently, it's enough for me. In your case I would just say the ANSI date indicates manufacture in the late 90's.

One other thing, but seems pretty major... So, we only need to prevent further damages? There is no mention, anywhere I can find, that tells the client that the existing nasty damage in the photo needs to be fixed.

Ha...I just finished reading that at Working RE Magazine, came over here and here it is again. Honestly, I don't know what the problem is if that is all he has to complain about. “....Appraisers must state within the appraisal that all utilities including water are on and working...â€

Once we find a cure for cancer, I hope we can start working on stupid.

Gave me the shivers. Especially the bits at the top where he has to go out and around the staging. Eeeek! It's good that there are people like this and those skyscaper steel erectors, but I could never be one of them. I may have lost my bravado early on, like 7 or 8, with a couple of bone breaking falls from trees.

Might be the "ticking" of hot water pipes creeping in the framing as they expand and contract after use. I know from personal experience that can sound a lot like a regular drip, although it is only during and after using hot water. Otherwise, you are probably right about condensation from the upper cold portion of the sewer vent falling back down the piping. The "gobbling" and "flowing"...no idea...sounds like a sewer issue. The beauty of cast iron over ABS is that it dampens the noises.

My two cents... Codes don't usually "forbid" specific materials. They would have to out-guess every possible weird substance. Lard anyone? We are normally left with "approved" materials or "to manufacturers' specs". As Westape (from the link above) also makes a UL Yellow Gas Line Tape ( http://www.sealtape.com/ptfe_yellow.html ) I suspect they would specify that for gas lines.

Sure as hell ain't the way I did mine. I mean you set the drain in place and then mud to it. OSB, "mud", foam and cardoard...WTF? And if that's the membrane, it is supposed to be trapped or pinched by the drain system. All in all, I'd say total crap! Here's a few of mine...you can see in the first photo how the initial sloped mud bed was done with the drain in place. Download Attachment: 10-17-004x.JPG 83.01 KB Download Attachment: 10-17-005x.JPG 68.38 KB Download Attachment: Nov 11 2006005x.JPG 100.51 KB

I'm not sure how this will affect us Mike. What are your thoughts? Meanwhile, I'm really worried about getting rid of the Migratory Waterfowl Art Committee. Who is going to regulate flying duck paintings?

Back to fridges and especially garage freezers on GFCIs, there's always this simple, inexpensive option... http://www.homesecuritystore.com/p-888- ... teid=10050 There's a variety of these available. Plug it in to the other half of the receptacle; if the GFCI trips then a loud alarm sounds (not sure how long it would last).

agreed... however it looks like one of wires is a larger gauge than others, is that kosher or is it ok as long as the smallest gauge is not overfused?? I'm fairly sure (99%) that you can mix or combine wire sizes in most wire-nuts although I'm not familiar with what would be allowable with that particular one (odd color). But, yeah, it would otherwise be OK as long as the smaller gauge is not overfused.

I don't know what else is going on with circuit load or that red wire at the back, but pig-tailing two conductors with a wire-nut is an acceptable way to connect to a single breaker. It is NOT double-tapped.

[:-thumbu]

Likewise. I would have eyeballed it and found it close enough. Haven't you ever wondered how so many safety measurements "just happen" to end up as nice round whole units? I seriously doubt that after extensive scientific testing, exactly 3' was found to be the safe/dead cutoff. This whole thing sounds like a ridiculously high mountain being made out of a two inch mole hill.

Just curious. Are we talking about 2' 10" instead of 3'? As Randy said, we have a guide that gives clearances from the vent termination. I would imagine the clearnaces are similar elsewhere. http://www.pse.com/SiteCollectionDocume ... s/3885.pdf I often see that termination extended to get away from windows. It seems it would be a very simple job to add an extension (if needed).

I have actually done quite a bit of wiring of 3-phase panels, but that was back in my Scuba store days, many years and a couple of careers ago. I managed not to kill myself or anyone else. This particular panel didn't really seem that much different than a single-phase except for the extra bus-bar. The arrangement was different but not hard to understand. I agree, sort of, that 100-amps is 100-amps, and it was the way I reported it...BUT...you can't convince me this doesn't have the potential for more load than a 100-amp single phase. For instance, if I had 3 50-amp (208-240v) loads, I could (I think) arrange three 50-amp double pole breakers to handle all those loads simultaneously, and each leg would end up with 100-amps. I could only use two of those in a single-phase 100-amp panel. I'm sure I am missing something, what is it, other than a solid grasp of electrical theory? [:-dunce]

Not necessarily. They make TPR valves with extended sensors for that type of set-up. The label will reads something like XL xx if it is an extended model.

Simple answer...NO! Even if that "PR valve" was a TPR valve it is still supposed to have the sensor immersed in the top 6" of the water tank, not at a remote location. If it's just a pressure relief then you have no protection at all for excessive temperature. You did right calling it as a safety hazard. I can't see anyone (but an idiot) arguing with that. BTW...no harm leaving that "extra" valve in place but the TPR at the tank needs to be unplugged and plumbed in an appropriate manner.

Well...this is new for me. My first residential 3-phase panel. Really a "sub" panel in a 1962 apartment fed from a 100-amp 3-phase service disconnect in the meter room. Nothing more than 2-pole breakers, of course, within the unit's panel. I'm going to report this as a 100-amp 3-phase 120-208 volt service even though, in reality, there is more than the usual 100-amps available. Would you describe it that way? Click to Enlarge 40.38 KB Click to Enlarge 99.86 KB Click to Enlarge 52.36 KB I also had a couple of double-tapped breakers, but this was my "favorite". Check out the connection of the blue wire. Almost got it! Click to Enlarge 40.73 KB

By necessity, frost free bibs will have the knob at 90° and in line with the piping. While that, in itself, might not guarantee a frost free hose bib, any other angle and you can pretty much guarantee it is not.

2½' seems too low for it to be a fill pipe for a tank in the basement and also seems high for a feed in from a buried tank outside. The 1½" pipe would be the right size for a drain though (as would the approximate height). Any indication that they used to have a sink or the laundry in that area?

I'm kind of surprised. It looks like the type of set-up that I typically find with a second switch. Sometimes, it is on the wall to the other side of the fireplace. Like a lot of these rheostats, they have an off position through a click detente. They usually turn on from there through high to low. So, yes, it could have been left in the off position.