mgbinspect

New Construction - foreclosure: I think I'll just refrain from expounding. The pics pretty much tell all in horrifying detail. I just told the buyer to consult with the largest and most reputable Synthetic stucco and stone installer in town. Be prepared to to spend a chunk based upon what the expert says and plenty in the future as well, because most of the damage can't be undone without tearing it all off and starting over. It's pretty from a distance though... Click to Enlarge 58.3 KB Click to Enlarge 48.77 KB Click to Enlarge 49.34 KB Click to Enlarge 63.58 KB Click to Enlarge 43.44 KB The photo above - that's good ole' 15 lb felt paper. Sigh.. that ought to be good for a season or two... Click to Enlarge 33.52 KB [:-sick] [:-banghea

I suppose, in the real world, to think that one can maintain first page position on an internet search, with millions of folks aggressively jockying for those positions, is just plain unrealistic - pie in the sky. The notion simply defies math and odds, without someone monitoring and tweaking your site by the day (or at least week), which would have to cost dearly. With that in mind, is it a scam or practically an impossibility?

I'll second that. If you can dream it, you can make it happen with HG. When I first got the software, I tried it a few different ways, wasting a lot of time and effort going down dead end streets thinking I'd save time. The good news: it all led me to a system that flows well and I can pretty much tap out on a pocket PC - to later merge onto my netbook. If you can bite the bullet, John and go for HG (or another like it) in the end, you'll never look back.

Here's a second hit on a building permit search. Home built in 1996/1997. It's just a second example of the Build/Fax service, which indeed has its limitations, which have been discussed above. But, I think I'm going to stick with it for a while and really consider the its usefulness to me. Being able to get the info at a time convenient to me - 5:00 AM, was nice. Download Attachment: 117595 Building Permits.pdf 78.12 KB The fee (discussed above) for the service rendered, seem to be in line, to my way of thinking - an imperfect form of delegation. Being able to insert it into the report as a PDF, in a couple clicks - a DEFINITE plus.

Yes indeed.. Richmond is Goodman country (not saying that's good or bad, but probably one out of every five heat pumps here is a Goodman). They seem to hang with the pack. But, as has been said here, there is usually only about a two to three degree offset between "heat pump" and "Aux heat". One thing that has changed over the years, which is kinda cool - it used to be that when the Aux heat came on, the condensing unit shut down. Nowadays, the condensing unit tends to keep running, so the electric resistance heat has truly become supplemental heat and not a separate backup heating system, unless the condensing unit craps out. At least that's how it appear to me. I'm sure if I'm wrong I'll hear about it momentarily. Heat pumps have come a long LONG way in the last twenty-five years or so. Funny thing regarding brands - if you ask ten HVAC guys which brand they hate, you'll get answers all over the place. I used to ask, and had to stop, no consistant answer came up. It was wierd.

Oh, I think we old farts were pretty much done singing the praises of an old school daytimer, or reasonable facsimile there of. That sure looks like a rewarding and beautiful form of work/hobby. It's always nice to have something that you can stand back and admire. That's why I used to love masonry.

When I was in sales, I used to listen to endless tapes and CDs from the greats like Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Tom Hopkins, Tony Robinson, Brian Tracy, and others. A story comes to mind about writing, that I always thought was both funny and insightful: A Writing and Composition student handed in his term paper to his professor. The next day he got it back. On top of the page the professor wrote, "You can do better than this." So, the student poured over the term paper, making corrections and re-wording things. He then turned it back in. Again, the teacher returned it the next day, with the words across the top, "You can do better than this." The student was furious, but took it home and continued to tweak, correct, re-word, etc. The next day the student hands it to the professor and says, "Look, I'm frustrated. You keep handing it back, and I keep making it better, but I assure you this is the best I can do - right here." The teacher calmly looked up at the student and replied, "Well then, I suppose it's time for me to actually read it." [:-eyebrow

I just do this: door(s), etc for ones that I know could very easily be either. So, it would go something like: adjust the door(s) to properly close and latch, at the following locations: X, Y and Z

I'm just getting around to addressing this post Mike - I'm sorry for the slight detour. Please do not use the term "wet line". Air Conditioning components have distinct names and terms. When we stick to these terms we are all on common ground. The suction line is always a "wet line" under the right conditions. A liquid line, under the wrong conditions, could also be a "wet line". Please, let us all agree to use industry standard names. Get a Carrier or Trane refrigeration manual Mike and commit it to memory. It's pretty easy to relate certain AC tonnage to piping size once you know the basics. If you feel that something looks fishy then it most likely is. For Boilerplate. The home is X square feet. This dictates an X amount air conditioning unit. This air conditioning unit needs X diameter piping to operate properly. I believe that the refrigeration piping is improper, x liquid line, x suction line and x hot gas line. Call a licensed/qualified HVAC company to verify and repair as needed. Aye, aye, captain. Thanks for the heads up.

Jim, My web site has been with Verio since I first opened it. mgbpublications.com and the old pitifully failed inspectorsreference.com were with verio too. I can honestly say that since I went with them in 1997, they have never once been down - not once. (I suspect they're one of the original big boys in the industry kinda like the IBM of computers or XEROX of copy machines.) They're facility is here in Reston, VA with a bunch of other IT big boys, kinda like the east coast silicone valley. Twice, over the years, they've moved my site to new servers, and let me know ahead of time that: while I would never be down, which I never was, I might not have access to the site dashboard for a day or two, which I never felt. Bottom line: they're impressive. www.verio.com Well golly, as soon as you hit the link, there it is in big bold print "VERIO: The leading global provider of Web Site Hosting, Domain Name Registration, Hosted Microsoft Exchange, and more." How about that, my suspicion was right. There you go. And, they're rediculously AFFORDABLE. Just as a for instance, the hosting of my site is a whopping $19.95 a month and I hardly scratch the surface of the storage at my disposal (up to 50 pages). My site is pretty modest in size - just a billboard, not a resource. Good luck!

Sheesh - that's just plain bewildering. Logic? What's that?

For anyone that's remotely interested, I finally hit the Jackpot on a BuildFax search. Here is a sample report. This one confirms that the sellers actually pulled a permit to install their gas logs - impressive. It also reveals that they didnt' pull a permit when they changed out the Heat pump in 2000 - interesting. The Rep from Build/Fax offered several plans and I took a $49.00 per month plan, which gives me endless searches and ten actual reports before there is an additional charge. (Yeah, I'm a hard head, Chad, but I'm going to check it out for a bit.) I can quit at any time, and since I tend to write reports into the wee hours, it's nice to just search it when I want. Eventually, I'll conclude that it truly is or isn't worth the $50 bucks... Here's the report, which I was able to insert directly into my reporting software as a reference document: Download Attachment: BuildFaxReport_20110130094518507030-H0X39O-997649.pdf 118.57 KB

A pound is a pound the world around. Suction line, liquid line, expansion valve/capillary tube and hot gas line. It's this statement Marc that makes zero sense: ???? I'm not even sure where to start.... I'm trying to make heads or tails out of the statement but it's difficult to say the least. Sub-cooling is the temperature below the corresponding pressure/temperature relationship for the given refrigerant. Are you saying that when the sub-cooling is reduced to zero? Then yes, that would be an undercharged condition. But not something that could be traced back to an undersized liquid line. The liquid refrigerant wouldn't immediately boil right after the expansion (constriction) device. If the refrigerant boiled right after the whatever device then there would be frost at the outlet and the superheat would be way high. Back to the original question though, can you even purchase a line set that is less than 3/8 on the liquid line? I don't think so. Do most HVAC technicians roll their own in the field with regards to the line set - no, I think not. Anyway.... awkward pause.... how about those Steelers? Well, purely for my sake, the one thing you haven't done is clue me in on if there's anything at all to say about the situation. I'm beginning to conclude, based upon recollections of the previous thread and this one, that the answer is most likely: no need to go there.

As Zig Ziglar used to comment about his southern drawl, "Just keep comin' back, and I'll have you speaking normally in no time." [] Another great thing about hanging out here is being challenged to actually question the things you do and why you do them, even if it means the conclusion is that it's right for you. Carry on, bro.[:-thumbu]

Being a single chief cook and bottle washer, I'm on a never ending mission to find ways to make running a business easier. I just bought a Neat Organizer (portable scanner), which comes with a program called NeatWorks, and I've got to say that the thing ROCKS! It scans and reads anything, entering all the fields to save the image as a receipt, document, business card, etc. You can create as many folders as you need. It even keeps running totals on your receipts. It will export the data into Quicken, Quickbooks, etc. If you keep it in "Quickscan" mode you can intermittently feed it stuff and it just goes into an image inbox to be filed whenever you find time. It even has a nifty PDF button, which when pressed opens ann exporer window that simply asks, "Where ya want the PDF saved?" The thing is like having a office manager hidden in a little piece of equipment the size of a ruler. It's $200 and worth every penny. They also have one for you guys with a big office, that has a document feeder and will scan a bunch of documents. Hope this helps someone.

When it comes to MS Word, I don't get around much - a total ADD Neanderthal. But, I just stumbled upon a site with great short videos on how do do just about anything in Word - pretty exciting! If you have a better one please leave the link here. I know a lot of you guys are big Word users and I pretty much lost, as soon as I open it up. I just finally learned how to change the default template and line spacing - a real triumph.

That is flat out awesome! I want one...

Good for you, Marc! You will never ever regret learning to type. It's a definite time and money saver. Not to mention, it's nice to get to the point that thoughts can just flow onto the screen. Yes!... [:-thumbu] I've been typing since college - 38 years ago - and I am probably up to about 50 words a minute, which certainly isn't blistering, but it really makes life easier.

What you talkin' 'bout, Willis? You're one of the classic hot sauces in the TIJ recipe. [:-thumbu] [^] [:-hspin]

Bain, I'm not questioning - I'm asking: Do you think the line to the left of the drier is 3/8"? It looks TINY to me.

OK, I'm sitting down to write up this morning's inspection. we've been down this road some before, but it's come up again, and it's high time for me to actually hammer out a good boilerplate comment about this condition: If we think back to our basic geometry days, we'll recall that a small change in diameter results in a huge change in volume. It's that truth that always has me worried when I see a new condensing unit hooked up to a line set that doesn't match in diameter to the unit. I don't know if they just re-used the original line set or just threw in what they had on the truck, but the wet line is easily 50% smaller than the line coming out of the condensing unit. Click to Enlarge 68.61 KB Click to Enlarge 40.61 KB So, I"m teeing this up for the braintrust to chew on, while I write up the rest of this report hoping that some of you HVAC sevants will chime in and offer specifically what you would write about this. I'm going to say something, but it would be nice to have some qualified help in putting together a good permanent statement about it. Thanks in advance for your thoughts. Shoot! Oh, BTW, don't ya just love the way the master HVAC contractor left the new system literally sucking in unfiltered and unconditioned air from the crawlspace? This kind of conscientious workmanship always gives me an especially warm and fuzzy feeling. [:-irked][ It really demonstrates just how much the guy cares about his customers, eh? V] Click to Enlarge 45.73 KB

Yeah... outside of a wealth of wisdom, knowledge, combined experience, insight, advice, all seasoned with a lot of humor, entertainment, and comradery, there really isn't much to write home about going on in here. I wouldn't hang out, if I were you. [] Honestly, I was a Design/Build contractor and mason before this gig. And like you, I thought my experience gave me an automatic free pass into the home inspection profession. I was even tempted to skip the whole academy deal. BOY, was I wrong! The first thing contractors usually have to get over is the great big egos they have, which prevent them from realizing just how much there is to learn. Tragically, that all too typical attitude can truly cause an engineer or contractor to really suck at inspecting homes - especially regarding presentation and documentation. I've followed behind such inspectors wondering how in the heck did he miss this? I find that just one of the many cool things about hanging out here is getting to sit at the feet of truly brilliant guys from specialized fields and ask them questions like this. Truth be told, the schooling never ever ends, and the sooner we realize that the better we become. [:-graduat

OK, my son did jsut show me one really cool application for my Android: You can download a program for $6.00 that makes your camera become a business card scanner. You snap the picture hit the import button, it reads the card and puts all the info in the right places and saves it to your contacts. That's a plus, but I'm still a leather notebook with to do post its guy. WorldCard Mobile Randy.

What?!.. There are people here that have an ego?... [] Nah.... [:-snorkel

I think your estimates are off, but let's set that aside for the moment and say that your estimate accurately reflects the time for a worker to complete the job. From the perspective of a *worker* looking at a *salary*, it might be a good deal to collect, let's say $175 for that job. However, if you shift your perspective and look at it from the point of view of a *business*, that kind of fee just won't cut it. Businesses have billable time, unbillable time, overhead, and profit to be concerned about. The billable time has to fund the unbillable time, the overhead, and the profit. It can't just pay the salary of the worker or the business will go broke. Lots of contractors never understand this equation. They go along for years thinking that they're doing fine but not understanding that they're earning McDonalds wages because the *business* is sucking their *salary* dry without their knowledge. In your example, you have to charge a high enough fee to pay your worker a decent wage, but you also have to charge enough to cover things like the cost of your vehicle, tools, computer, advertising, insurance, continuing education, and professional library (new code books every year, Journal of Light Construction Subscription, etc). That fee also has to cover the cost of unbillable hours including those you spend answering the phone, working up bids, doing bookkeeping, travelling from job to job, and otherwise just generally running your business. On top of that is the cost of a few weeks of vacation that you deserve each year as well as a yearly contribution to a retirement fund and a medical plan. And after all of that, the fee still has to be high enough to fund some profit each year. The business needs profit so that it can grow. Oh, wait, I forgot taxes. The fee has to cover the business's tax liabilities each year too. When you add all of this up, you'll find that the bitchin' fine salary you thought you were making is really slave wages -- and you didn't even know it. Stop thinking in terms of a worker earning a salary and start thinking in terms of a healthy business model. - Jim Katen, Oregon Here's a pretty good example, Eric: I used to be the general manager and estimator of a three crew (and sometimes four) masonry outfit. We did high end custom home masonry to medium sized commercial work. Masonry is EXTREMELY labor intensive - not a lot of variables other than how fast your guys can reasonably get the material in the wall. The cold hard reality of masonry is: money is coming in or going out by the minute. Because masonry estimators know this, the bidding is particularly tight and fierce in that industry. And, because wise general contractors (there's an oxymoron there, because probably eight out of ten general contractors are living on the float, but we'll press on) know this, they are very reluctant to take the low masonry bid - especially if it's real low. Here is what, over the years, we came to understand regarding our business: If we established our real field labor cost and DOUBLED IT, we'd be in the ball park to cover all of the associated costs of doing business including a meager but acceptable profit. To the guys in the field, who were quite production minded, that formula seemed shocking, but in the real world, it was a struggle to make it even at that. I think the most important thing that Jim and Kurt are touching on is this: You MUST NOT think in such short-sighted terms as minutes or hours. That's deadly. You must think in terms of days, at the minimum. The smart thing to do is: 1. Establish your raw field labor cost. 2. Arrive at a multiplier that reliably meets your associated costs of doing business including a reasonable profit. 3. Establish an annual amount needed to stay in business based upon that understanding. 4. break that down into a daily amount needed, and then never, Never, NEVER make less than that, or you're going backwards. That's why small jobs MUST be pricey. If you do small jobs, you need to have a minimum charge of: a day and get it done in a day; half a day and commit to getting two done a day; or a third of a day, with a commitment of getting three done a day. ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, you MUST bring in that figure per day or loose money. There is a reason that four out of five businesses fail within five years or less - they don't get all of this until they're in a hole so deep that the only thing left to do is jump ship. I can assure you that almost every home inspector on this forum knows what they must make a day, a week, a month and a year to keep afloat. Those are manageable mile posts.