Garet

Propane powered RV water heater.

More "educated speculation" (BTW, I'm stealing that one): A flaw in the sock (or an opening in the pipe itself) is certainly one possibility. The sock will only trap larger particles. Ideally, the larger particles will trap slightly smaller ones, and those will trap still smaller ones, eventually building up a graded filter on the outside of the sock. At least that's the ivory tower thinking. If the soil is a uniform, fine-grained clay the filter sock won't do diddly to keep it out. Regardless of the cause, if soil is continuing to enter the drain system then it can eventually remove enough soil from below the foundation to cause structural movement. That would take a while, but it's a possibility. Something needs to be fixed. The question remains as to what that something is.

What is it? Looks similar to the sensor on a thermal expansion valve Is there a TXV inside the evaporator coil housing? If so, I assume it should be in contact with the suction line? Click to Enlarge 56.69 KB

I was unaware that boilers were rated in units of horse-power.

New houses are not without problems, they just have lower risk. I've been in 3 crawl spaces (well after they were cleaned up) where the sewer never got hooked up properly during construction.

In Denver it would be called "ugly".

Definitely 2-pipe. Here's the return at the back. Click to Enlarge 73.71 KB Good info. That's what I was thinking. It's located on top the pipe elbow, just out of the top-left of the first pic in the original post. Well above the water level. Isn't a 10% improvement (or whatever the number is) actually more valuable on a '57 Buick than on a 2010 Prius? Let's go for the low-hanging fruit. Sometimes you don't have to guess. Click to Enlarge 62.53 KB

Steam systems are almost as rare as hen's teeth around here. This is the 2nd one I've seen in 11 years. I plan to tell the buyer that the boiler is at the end of its expected useful life and to have an HVAC contractor look at it to determine the need for short term repairs and tell him how much it will cost to replace the boiler and convert to hot water. Any other input would be appreciated. Boiler was Bryant, S/N 43457, Boiler No. 7-4. Looked original to the house (1928), but could be 1945? Is it normal for the burners to cycle off and back on (like on a hydronic system)? I expected the burners would stay on until the thermostat was satisfied. Is it normal for the pressure gage to stay on zero? I assume the stains, corrosion and drip are routine maintenance issues? Do the covers over the radiators make them significantly less efficient? What's the small, black gizmo in the third-to-last picture? (sorry, not the greatest photo) I'm also telling them the fill valve needs to be opened (it's bank owned) for the system to continue to operate. Click to Enlarge 77.15 KB Click to Enlarge 98.2 KB Click to Enlarge 43.64 KB Click to Enlarge 43.83 KB Click to Enlarge 33.45 KB Click to Enlarge 48.38 KB Click to Enlarge 51.5 KB

Since sprinklers are coming in the newer IRC, we'll all be getting more familiar with them (even if we disclaim them). I'm not an expert on these by any means, but I understand some systems are wet (water in the pipes all the time) and some systems are dry (air in the pipes holds the water back within the warm living space).

That's a stupendous way to bring automobile exhaust into the living space.

I reference SOP in the agreement and provide a link when I email the agreement to them (as soon as possible after booking). I've never had anyone ask questions and have never had to dig out the copy I have buried somewhere in my truck.

Not always. This happened on mine about 5 years ago. The HVAC tech I called said to lightly rub the flame sensor with steel wool to remove whatever crud on the furnace was interfering with the millivolts. It saved me a service call and it's worked fine ever since.

On a related note, I've heard that the furnace condensate is just acidic enough to eat away at cast iron drain pipes over time and that the solution is to install a "condensate neutralization kit". That sounds similar to what Bill just described, but I've never seen one. Has anyone heard of this actually damaging the pipes?

I believe the limit is 32, and that Word will simply chop off the extra characters if you try to use a longer name. My report system also relies heavily on autotext. I've used Word 97, 2003 & 2010 and have never experienced the problem John describes.

I've also had it happen while removing the screws (new house with factory-original, blunt-tipped screws). It does make for a memorable day. Took me several minutes before I could think about much of anything. Glad to hear you're OK.

That was my thought as well. I'd add "This can cause electricity to flow through other parts of the building where it was not intended (such as plumbing pipes, gas pipes, communications wires, etc.)." That puts it into a realm the average Joe can relate to.

Both the label and the venting would be found in the space under the floor (usually a crawl space).

Hmmm. There's definitely a moisture source. Ordinarily, air leaking from the living space would be my first assumption as well. But there's another possibility. Just thinking out loud here. I assume there would be snow tracked into a garage in Fargo (insert big smiley face here). Could a warm vehicle engine be evaporating the moisture into the air, only to have it condense when it hits the cold surfaces? If occupants were making many short trips each day (re-warming the engine) that could add to the effect. The air in my garage is always damp when we track snow in. We don't get as cold as you and not for as long, so I haven't see frosting like that.

I don't think they're proposing to raise minimum down-payments across the board. They're simply proposing that if the down is less than a certain threshold (30% I believe) then the loan originator must retain 5% of the risk. The loan originators are -of course- aghast at this concept, mainly because they've been operating for years under a system where they loan other peoples' money and retain no risk for themselves. Risk and reward can't be uncoupled without causing problems.

We got into this mess because someone sold the idea that we could separate risk from reward an a whole lot of people drank the Kool-Aid. Isn't it time for risk and reward to get back together again?

In 10 years of inspecting I've seen maybe 4 heat pumps. I've always assumed that it's because we have relatively cheap gas here. We certainly have periods of moderate colder weather where a HP could be effective. The cheap gas thing could change, of course. I'll be needing to replace my own A/C this spring, and I've considered a HP. What brands would you (Terry, or anyone else) suggest? More important, what questions should I be asking the installer to know that they're really familiar with how they work in my climate?

Mike's dissertation on biology makes a lot of sense to me. I've heard people making an issue of this for years, and yet I've only see worn shingles below a downspout once or twice in 10 years at this gig. In my dry climate I also rarely see things growing on roofs. Sounds like another case where regional differences abound in the way building perform. Great discussion.

Every enclosure I've seen that has combination meter & panel is bonded within the meter portion. You can see the neutral bar coming down from the meter in the detail picture.

Are you saying that manufacturers don't intend for shingles to be installed in valleys? The quantity of water is no different.

If you find yourself changing styles frequently, you can assign a keyboard shortcut to them. Office 2010 sequence to do that follows (older versions similar). Right click on the ribbon. Lower left corner click "Customize" button. Scroll down in the "Categories" list to Styles. Find the style you want and add an appropriate keystroke. Word tells you if that key combination is already in use. You can save this in your Normal template or in your report template (whichever is appropriate).