mgbinspect

I love my Gerber all in one tool, but the blade on the thing is, indeed, scary sharp. I imagine one could accidentally do some serious damage without even feeling it at first. I'm always extremely careful when it's open. Ah, this is, of course, more about the folly of attorneys than the blade.

I number mine. Todays last one of the day was 107334 the 10 is the year and the rest is the successive number since I started on my own. I did 2800 under a national chain before breaking out. That way I always know where I am in my career and they're easy to find. So, I file it under that number system, but send it to clients referencing the inspection address.

That's what I'm talkin' about, Terry. When it comes right down to it, the two things that I am the least worried about are: 1. Being "right" 2. Being the know all / be all. And, when I find myself in a room full of guys that seem to suffer from that need, I just want to find the closest exit. "Can't we all just get along?"... Having said that, today I spoke in front of a crowd, as I often do, about the home inspection process and how valuable the national associations are to every home buyer. I truly do appreciate all the good things the associations offer. I just have always had little tolerance for heady people. It's my shortest fuse... Being self-employed during half of the 80's and ever since 1992, I guess I too am a lone wolf. And, stints, through second jobs working for the corporate world, serve to drive that fact home. All I can see, when I work for others, is: bad attitudes; inefficiency; waste; lost opportunities: etc.

“Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteenâ€

belonging to any "clan" gives me a rash. I suppose these two statements pretty much sum it up for me and always have - especially Terry's. Being around a gang of home inspectors in the same room for very long becomes kinda like nails on a chalk board - too much testosterone I suppose. I'm usually ready to claw my way through a wall in pretty short order.

I have the opposite opinion. I like insulations that act like moisture banks far better than non absorbent insulations like fiberglass for existing structures. So do you think that this insulation which has been saturated can be dried after the water intrusion issues have been resolved and be effectively left in place? Even if it could be, there are still extensive void areas in the wall where the insulation has settled or been compacted through the wetting process. Not taking into account what Chad or Tom have said, and merely addressing your question regarding moisture, I would guess that it would dry and be fine, because it is apparently an expanded (possibly through a heating process) stone - pretty inert material. Unless someone can make a case to the contrary My guess is that it would be find. I have mixed emotions about the pros and cons of Perlite and moisture: When I was still doing disaster restoration work, it was interesting to observe that typically moister would dribble right on down through fiberglass batt insulation with very little consequence, due to the lack of density of the insulation, until it hit the sill plate, where it finally then became a problem. Perlite, on the other hand is also used mixed with potting soils for either moisture retention or dispersion (not sure which). I can see Chad's point if the Perlite prevented the moisture from pooling and slowly promoted evaporation, but can adequate evaporation occur in a frame wall system? It's an interesting concept which is worth discussion if anyone had some good input.

Well, it sure looks like Perlite, blue or not, having poured 1000s of bags down block wall. The size seems about right and Perlite is a decent insulation. We were pouring it down school walls in the 70's. I imagine the blue color could have been taken on by what moisture picked up from other materials along the way? Is it wispy light, as if you could accidentally inhale it? Perlite was light as a feather, when dry, and swirled all around us in the air as we poured - so light it almost appeared to defy gravity. One had to be patient in pouring so as not to overwhelm a block core and waste a ton of it. Yet, if there was a hole, of any size, down at the bottom of the wall, it would all sift out in an hour or so like sand in a sand clock - funny stuff...

Actually, I think idiots is a bit strong, but just like politicians, they forget: 1. who sent them 2. that they used to be, and really ought to remain, just one of the clan 3. what the folks back home wanted. It Animal Farm...

I'm confused. It LOOKS as if it is a granular loose-fill material that has merely become clumpy through exposure to moisture. Is that an accurate assessment or not?

Well, Les, I share your frustration. I've been a Member of both ASHI and a CRI with NAHI since 1994. I was the second CRI in the state of Virginia. I traveled the Seminar and Convention circuit on weekends for several years as a vendor and came to the conclusion that these associations are very similar to "Church" - the closer you get to the center, the worse it begins to stink, because it gets thick with the power hungry. I thought is was rather funny that during all the time I traveled, officers changed, but the attitudes were always the same - they were too good, too important, too high and mighty to find time for anyone other than the royal family. At first, it was annoying to realize that you were merely an underling -a peasant, but then I was actually glad I was outside of that rather cold and deceitful circle. I've never done "pompous" very well. Since that experience, I am thankful to be a member, but I honestly don't vote or do such things as the polls. The only thing I don't miss about traveling the circuit, is being constantly snubbed by officers that had never even met me and didn't really care to. It's a bit ironic that apparently, the struggle to get to the top creates the same personalities over and over again. I learned more than I ever cared to about the good ole' boys and couldn't be one under any circumstances. I pay the royal family absolutely no attention whatsoever... In fact, I suppose other than holding the membership cards, I'm more like Jimmy - Since I haven't, and had no intention to, open up or fill out the poll, I'd be my normal "unapologetically unaffiliated (in spirit) and unconcerned" self too, if Les hadn't struck a nerve with me... [^] That's my two cents.

Expanded Perlite - like what was used as a core-fill in masonry? http://www.perlite.net/

Did you, per chance, locate him through EDI?

I struggled with the same temptation...

On a lighter note, the last home I lived in used the entire space under the foyer steps as a central return duct. That space backed up to our half bath in the foyer, which was also under the stairs. It had a through the wall vent fan piped through that same space with flex duct, which used to fall off the fan unit all the time offering a whole new spectrum to air conditioning... There have been several very serious fires here due to clogged dryer vent pipes.

Some of the old batt fiberglass insulations were adhered to the paper backing with something that looked a bit like tar - bitumen based Im guessing. And, some of those paper backings were jet black. I've see a lot of both.

True story, Previously on this forum I have told about the time I noticed moisture in the front wall of my friend's house, mapped it out and then the contractor said that I was full of it. Bottom line, I bet him I wasn't and he cut into the wall and found a bunch of rot. That was ten years ago. About 6 weeks ago, I was inspecting a million dollar home in Kirkland and saw all sorts of mistakes in the EIFS lamina which I pointed out to the client. The 'zoid was worried about her commission so she got on the phone to the builder. Within an hour, the EIFS contractor shows up to dispute my findings. Guess who? The same guy from ten years previously. He gets out of his vehicle, shakes hands all around, looks at me and says, "I think we've met somewhere before." "Sure have," I respond, "At Leo Such-and-such's house in Lake Forest Park. You told me I was full of sh*t and I bet you the cost of the repair that the front wall of his house was full of water. Remember that?" His eyes went wide, he looked a little bit stunned and then he quickly recovered, slapped his forhead, and said, "Oh yeah, what a mess, huh? Well, can you take me around and show me what you have issues with." I did, he didn't argue. Again, he got caught flat footed and ended up going back over his work. Ten years. I can only imagine the amount of damage that guy has done to people's lives in the past ten years. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Ya gotta love moments like that... [:-thumbu]

Read the MVMA guidelines book (liked above someplace). It's essentially a stucco applicator's application manual with the words stucco replaced with masonry veneer. Same rules for termination beads, weeps screeds, double layer of paper, wire lath, flashings, 6" clearance from grade, 2" clearance from hardscaping, etc.. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike You know, Mike, the part that bugs me the most about the stone systems is meeting windows and doors with such a chopped up surface. It is a real challenge to construct a proper transition with backer rods and sealant. But I agree, all the same stuff applies, and if I were going to have it on my home, I would definitely have a drainage plane behind it.

That's a good bet. Heck, how many times in your career have you seen an EIFS install that you were 100% comfortable with? I can't think of one time, in my case...

You might check out www.eifshotline.com (Exterior Design Institute). That's where I was trained as a Third Party EIFS Inspector. (It was quite an education, which led me to not to become one - way too much uncertainty and liability, unless your Superman. [speaking of which, one of my trainers was the infamous Spiderman. That guy's nuts.] Sooner or later, as a Third Party EIFS Inspector, someone's going to reach out and touch you, no matter how good you are, and one of my fellow students, just did get whacked. It's not a matter of "if", it's a matter of "when".) At any rate, EDI keeps a list of who, around the country, trained with them.

“Substitute "damn" every time you're inclined to write "very"; your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should beâ€

Nor have I (in my mind). The installs I see look so vulnerable. I don't like them. I'm surprised that no one has ever come out strongly against present methods and proposed systems akin to those for synthetic stucco. The last time I was up in PA at a seminar, I visited a company that develops flashings and vapor retarder systems to go behind exterior finishes, and spoke to one of the owners about this very subject. He readily admitted, as a moisture intrusion specialist, that synthetic stone installations are every bit as disastrous as the old synthetic stucco installations were. He showed me a system in their shop that he felt was suitable, but it doesn't seem that anyone has risen up to blow the whistle on how bad the "dry stack" synthetic stone system really is. In my mind it's basically worthless - kinda like how a failing cedar shake roof is suddenly relying on felt paper to perform... Heck, sometimes on those synthetic stone systems you can actually SEE the felt paper, and felt paper fails pretty quickly when exposed to the elements. Bottom line, every time I see a "dry stack look" synthetic stone application, I tell the home buyers to contact the manufacturer and make certain that everything has been done according to the manufacturer's recommendations before they own the place. And, if it hasn't, understand that there is probably ongoing moisture intrusion and structural damage. As a home inspector, this system scares me every bit as much as synthetic stucco does.

Apparently so...

After laying up stone for quite a few years, I'm not crazy about synthetic stone to begin with, but I've never seen a simulated dry-stack synthetic stone install I liked. It seems to me, that in such an application there really ought to be a drainage plane behind it, like with a lot of synthetic stuccos. These set ups are bound to result in future moisture intrusion problems.

In all honesty, Kurt, I set out a year or two ago to go down the path you have with Word, but the learning came too slow for me, which says more about me than the program. I learn much better "hands on" with a tutor than I do with manuals. I would be ecstatic to be where you are with Word for a lot of good reasons, not the least of which is the ability to crank out print ready articles. That's a nice skill to have under your belt. Wish I had it...

I believe HomeGauge has an add-on graphics package, that appears to be pretty similar, in detail, to the ones on CD you can purchase at seminars and conventions. I'm betting, based upon what little of the surface I have scratched so far, that one can build their own graphics library as well. It seems to be able to do anything you wish, and the online instructional videos pretty much walk you click by click through any operation as close to real time as you can get. Telephone support has also been outstanding as well. During my first few weeks they actually logged on to my pc and showed me a few things right then and there, which was very helpful. So far, I can't think of anything that I wish was different. Of course, I'm not out to sell HG. It sounds like a lot of folks here have found a system their satisfied with, which is all that matters. Of the four programs that I downloaded and seriously considered, I'm glad I chose HG. [:-thumbu]