tbird

Back in July, I inspected a older home. When I got to the kitchen sink, there was a leak at the drain. I quickly shut off the sink faucet to prevent further damage. I took a picture ond put a arrow to it. I guess they had a plumber fix that leak. Fast forward to today. I got a call from my client and said that there is now a hole in the glavanized pipe on the other side of the picture where I do not have a arrow. I asked why wait 3 months to call and she said she just now noticed it. She says when you run water in the bathroom sink (behind the kitchen sink), water runs out of the hole. She says the hole in the pipe had to have been there when I inspected because a hole does not happen overnight. A. When I noticed the leak, I did not run any more water. B. Being one man, how could I know if the water was leaking also under the kitchen sink when you ran the bathroom sink? C. The wall and the sub floor was so wet in this area, it definitely was not a new leak, it was leaking for quite a while. My report wording: Leakage under the sink is present at the drain line. Water stained wood under the leak is seen in the crawlspace. She wants me to refund my inspection fee. What would you do? Thanks.

In AZ - Most all of our electrcal panels and main breakers are located outside. Some people do lock them. but most do not. That is the first thing firefighters shutoff in an event of a fire so they do not have to run into a live wire situation.

I do whatever it take to do the best inspection possible, but also try not to hurt myself.

I see those installed in kitchen island type applications in new homes. They are not just for manufactured homes. But, they need to be installed in an upright position.

Very nice remembrance. It's simple but thought provoking. I wish Joe did not have to bring his what if's and pontification into this remembrance. It does not have a time or a place on this Home Inspectors forum.

I got feedback from the previous owner. It was an old TV antenae lead plug. I guess I should have removed the cover at the time of the inspection, it might have helped. Thanks

It was next to a kitchen sink. The prongs were not energized with any power at this time. I don't know what this is for, your guess is as good as mine.

Ran into this today - do you know? 61.24 KB[/img]

Wow, they still install 3-tab [:-crazy]. All the shingles butt together in a diagonal pattern, the seams show from certain angles as a diagonal "streak". The shingles themselves are about 3 feet wide, hence the 3 foot pattern. It's the nature of the beast - as far as I can tell without a picture.

I specifically like the the ad at the bottom right for sextoy dot com. [:-censore

Looked up mud daubers. Yes we do have them here but these do not look like their nests. Masonry bee, maybe. These nests are only on the mortar joints, could not find them anywhere else. I'll keep researching. Thanks, Carl

Sorry Guys - This was not a quiz. I do not know what causes this. Thanks for all your input. We do get wasps around here but I'm not sure about mud daubers (I have research to do). I do not think this is termite activity because most of these are between 4 and 8 feet high off of the ground. They are only in short sections about 2-8 inch's each. One nest was in a hole that was drilled into the brick. I scraped another off and did not see any damage or openings in the grout leading into the inner wall. The smell of the stuff is semi sweet and sandy texture. I have never seen this in my area before. The climate I live in is high desert. 17 inches of rain per year. Average winter temp 25 night-50 days and summer 55 night - 90 days. On average less than 15% humidity. Drywood termites are rare. Subs are also somewhat rare here (maybe 1 of 20 in the hills, 1 of 100 in the flatlands). Still Stumped in AZ.

Saw this on a 1960's home, in the brick grout. It looks like it contains some sand and ? Anybody familiar with this? Bird, insect nesting? Thanks, Carl http://www.thunderbirdinspection.com Download Attachment: brick1.JPG 61.45 KB Download Attachment: brick2.JPG 63.47 KB

Mike, I agree with you on being the best at doing just home inspections. There is an inspector here locally that "specializes in" mold, radon, FHA/HUD, NFPA (National Fire Protection Association), Arizona Enviromental Disclosure reports, moisture management investigator(CMMI), indoor air quality (IAQA) in addition to regular home inspections. I am all for furthering your knowledge, but how can you remember which hat you are wearing? When hired to do a standard home inspection and you suspect mold, but your inspection agreement and SOP excludes this, what do you say? Do you upsell to another level, when does it stop? At first I was concerned about this fellow winning over the zoids by having so many credentials, but it does not appear that he is direct competition anymore. He is probably busy doing all other inspections rather than home inspections. If you are going to do something well, specialize and focus on that one thing. The more your diversify, the more you lose focus on the most important matter - IMHO. My $.02, for what it is worth. Make it a great day! Carl Johnson

I think just reporting on the sighting of the soot in the attic and recommending further evaluation and repair by a "licensed" fireplace technician is enough. Now trying to find out exactly where the smoke is coming from (using smoke bombs, cherry flavored smoke machines, etc), isn't that above and beyond the standard call of duty for home inspectors? I already do, as standard protocall, recommend level 2 inspections on any type of fire equipment as standard wording in the report. Carl Johnson http://www.thunderbirdinspection.com

Thanks for your input Jon. This is Arizona - no oil furnaces in my area. 80% percent of the homes in my area are less than 30 years old. In fact 50% of the homes are less than 15 years old. Don't confuse the pipe to the right as the vent. That is a forced gas heat air duct. The pipe in question is just a small speck where the roof meets the ceiling. It is wood burning 8" inner with a 12" outer pipe. It is possible that it is not connected right at the fireplace and smoke is running up the chase along side of the pipe and when it hits the attic, it cannot continue out of the roof due to clearances. There is soot on most of the insulation in the attic also. What say you?

Ran into this today. A leaking chimney pipe in the attic. Darkened the underside of the roof sheathing with soot. The homeowners are lucky that the flame has not got this high, or has it? Now this is trouble waiting to happen. This is a double wall metal pipe at the very low point in the attic - can hardly see it. Has any one else seen something like this? Download Attachment: SootAttic.JPG 71.49 KB Have a great one. Carl Johnson http://www.thunderbirdinspection.com

HMMM... Is JH Busfart the same as Jim Bushart?

One particular seller sticks out in my mind. This seller threatened that I am finished in this town and will never do business again (this was over 2 years ago). He was mad at me because I noted on the report that "there was a growing station complete with a misting sytem and lights in the crawl space that you may want to have the seller remove before closing" and took a picture for the report. I did not state on the report that it was pot, but the listing agent recognized it from the picture. Needless to say, the buyer (who is a concrete contractor in town) was very upset that I would point this out (probably concerned for his reputation) and called to threaten me. I think it was the right thing to do. What do you think?

I had a strange one today. The sellers have a load of clothes in the dryer. The dryer keeps cycling on and off (anti-wrinkle cycle). Everytime the dryer turns on, the lights dim. This is a 3000 square foot home and no matter where you you are, the lights would dim anytime the dryer would cycle on. The sellers says it has been like this forever. Does anyone know the possible cause. 200 amp service. 22 110v circuits and 3 220v circuits. The dryer is on a 30 amp 220v circuit. No evidence of overload at the wire connections in the panel. I am stumped. Thanks for your help, Carl Johnson

Borrowing a section from Jim Katen's double tap writings: Neutral Terminal Bars Neutral terminal bars are easier. They can have only one neutral wire (proper term “grounded conductorâ€

As to the ASHI candidate and associate designations- how do they determine who is a good inspector and who is a bad one? I was talking to a gentleman who has been in the business for 15 years (an ASHI member). He was floored to know that I operate all the windows I can access, walk the roof and that I take digital pictures. To make a long story short, length of time in the business does not make you a good inspector. There must be many long time inspectors that have been doing it half assed for many years and still carry the ASHI associate member designation. I also have some inspectors in this area think that if they belong to ASHI, they are God. My opinion is that length of time in the business is no substitute for skills, ability to articulate a point(write a good report) and business smarts. IMHO. Carl Johnson

Hey guys, This is a head scratcher. These people use PVC pipe for running natural gas lines underground to outbuildings and above ground in the outbuildings. They painted the exposed pipe black. This is the first I have ever seen this. My instinct is to run. What's yours? Download Attachment: PVCGas.JPG 89.86 KB Download Attachment: PVCGasBlack.JPG 78.84 KB

Bob, Those are 3 flues entering one main stack, and yes, the clearances to combustibles are not right. Good Call.

What would you say? [:-dunce] Download Attachment: pipeduct2.JPG 76.45 KB Download Attachment: pipeduct1.JPG 70.11 KB You can imagine the fight between the plumber and the HVAC tech. Copper to galvanized connection leads to .... Have a great one.