homnspector

I have one and drag it out occasionally. Sometimes the 3-light will give me wierd readings, lights half lit, etc. This happens especially on switched receptacles. The suretest usually shows these to be ungrounded. The voltage drop test is worthless to me, about 2 of 3 receptacles in every house show excessive voltage drop. The electrician will tell everyone you are nuts if you report this. The bootleg ground test is more often wrong than right. Other than that, it is a great tool.[]

I think it is also true that if the GFCI receptacle is miswired, i.e., load and line reversed, the test button will trip it but the suretest won't.

"The bottom line is that the test button on the AFCI is the only recognized method for testing the proper operation of the AFCI." Same as with GFCI

Elwood556, I think what you are asking is "what is a safety fuse". An s fuse has a smaller base. There is a non-removable adapter (screws in, but not out) that should be installed in the fuse socket so you can ONLY screw in a 15 amp safety fuse for that circuit. Jim will correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think there is a safety fuse over 15 amps, as it would defeat the purpose of preventing over-fusing.

"Gasp! Choke! I'd have written, "I found water damage at the XYZ." Found to be? Is present? Do you talk like that?" That's funny, good point. I think you're right, present does sound better. Its a little difficult for me not to slip into past tense when writing off site. Sometimes I (really irritatingly) accidentally mix tenses like "there is water damage under the sink. No active leakage was noted". Anybody know the Heimlich maneuver? [:-sick]

"Minor defects are not reported", "I don't report on minor defects." Not sure what difference that makes. Don't they know I am the one doing the inspection? "I don't report on minor defects." is real similar to "Minor defects are not reported by me" which somehow sounds redundant.

Do you guys write in present tense or past tense? I find it difficult to write in present because I am writing the report off site. Would you say something like, "The shelf below the sink was found to be water damaged", or would you say "Water damage is present at the shelf below the kitchen sink"? Problem I see with present tense is that you can't report on the conditions at the time you are writing the report, you aren't there. But, if you report in past tense, there may be some confusion on the client's part on whether this problem still exists. For instance, "The roof was leaking". Was it leaking while you were there or was there just evidence that it had leaked in the past?

How about "Minor defects are not reported"?

Is the remote a long stick?

"Is that as much of a safety hazard as I think,or is it just me?" Maybe it operates the next door over[:-bigeyes

Double tap, grounding conductor under a screw head, white insulated on hot, #14 on 20 amp fuse. Thats all I see.

Wow, sounds like a phone wire splice. I will be interested to see the responses. It may be worth posting on an electrical forum. It always seemed to me that there may be a better way to do splices.

The roof does look pretty good.

I was looking more at the curling shingle tabs in pic #3. I agree, lichen probably doesn't hurt much. I guess technically it is breaking down the mineral, but very slowly.

Its algae on the deck and lichen on the roof. The deck looks pretty much shot and not too long for the roof. I would call both "symtoms of advanced age".

I think it's kind of cool, like the grass at the ballpark[:-basebal

Robert, or George, or whoever you are, It's unfortunate you had a bad experience, but don't bash the entire profession. If a doctor mis-diagnoses you or overcharges you, is the entire medical profession at fault? The "Waiver/Disclaimer" as you call it is an inspection agreement intended to inform you of the limitations of the inspection. It should have been read and signed before the inspection, not after. If you are unhappy with the quality of the inspection, you should demand a refund. If your state has a licensing board, you can take it up with them if you cannot get satisfaction from the inspector. I think if you bother to read through some of the posts in this forum, you will see that most of us are dedicated to our client and to our job.

I see the humidifier line installed on the hot side fairly regularly, I think to reduce the evaporative cooling effect. As far as the tanks, they are on all new construction here. May be a regional thing.

Dang, what happened to my picture? Anyway, there was an air conditioner CDL with a nice trap then a brass or bronze check valve then a tee to the T&P relief valve drain line. A/C was added later and I guess they were trying to avoid running an additional line.

I have been having trouble with pics too. Try sizing it way down.

"I specifically like the the ad at the bottom right for sextoy dot com." I thought that was the dirty little secret Hausdok was referring to. There was an article also?

As I understand it, the relief valve drain line should run separately from any other piping. I am wondering if the check valve makes this acceptable. Image Insert: 47.85 KB

"3) Whatever you write in a report, be 110% sure you can back it up. No if-and's or guessing." Or refer it to somebody else. The lessons I have learned the best are the ones I have had to pay for. Glad it worked out for you Randy!

I think your chances of forgetting an area may be less in your first year or so. IMO, when you settle into a rut, your chances of missing something increase. I try to vary my inspection sequence, that way I am not "expecting" what I should see next. Some days I start with the roof, some days I start with the interior. I often ask the homeowner "where would you like me to start?" I like the variety anyway. My only hard and fast is to inspect the crawl space near the end, after I have run all the plumbing. Definitely have a checklist of some sort in the beginning. You won't need it for long. Take lots of pictures, overviews of the rooms, exterior etc. If digital cameras had been around when I started, it would have saved me lots of return trips. REMEMBER TO TURN THINGS OFF and remember that you remembered to turn things off. There is nothing worse than getting home wondering if you turned the oven off, or locked the door. I have made more return trips to be sure I didn't screw that up than to check items I forgot to inspect.

I told him to glue around the registers and caulk the junction of the vinyl and baseboards, but now am not sure if the caulk was good advice.