mgbinspect

There don't appear to be any tracks on the cable suggesting a water path along the cable. Could the connection be loose? Where's the anti-oxidation solution? (Oops, I see now that Mike mentioned that.) My guess is that a combination of a connection that is not as tight as it should be and oxidation are causing some major resistance and overheating at the connection.

Amazing... I've seen that on little bugalows where the work was done by the home owners kin, but never new construction. That's scary. Don't hold back Brian and Jim, tell us what you really think. []

Conversely, in most cases, if you serve your companies best interests from a liability standpoint, you will have served your client's best interests as well. Why? Because if your client never needs to call you in the future for clarification or to complain you have nothing to worry about. This is one of the basic principles put forth in The Zen of Home Inspection.

Hmmmm... When I went to a Pro-ASHI Seminar a while back one of the speakers was an attorney that specialized on mold cases. He pretty much encouraged us to: 1. State that we observed was an unidentified form of fungal growth assuring us that it's ALL fungi of one form or another. 2. Refer it to an "Industrial Hygenist". (There is actually an engineering firm here in town that does testing and makes recommendations.) 3. Lean toward it's potential to be a threat to structure and not over-emphasize the health implications. 4. And leave it at that. That's 2 - 3 year old info, but that's what I do. It's pretty rare that I see fungal growth that requires that kind of action. Most of the time it's the normal low grade run of the mill crawlspace crap that pest companies have sprays for. It's got to be pretty bad for me to refer out.

I see that stuff now and then too here in Richmond. It's definitely some form of fungi. It doesn't usually coincide with structural damage, and is typically seen in old houses with no vapor barrier here. I call for any fungal growth on floor framing to be treated. It's kinda funny how framing on old homes almost seems to become petrified and impervious to decay.

Awww... Shucks.... Our pleasure (I'm sure.)

Dang, we're good!.... [] [:-party]

Boy, that's always a sticky wicket. I have moved appliances, but I avoid it like the plague. About six years ago I tore the h&*l out of a kitchen floor moving a refrigerator. Fortunately, the buyer was gracious and planning to replace the floor anyway. Ya gotta be prepared to repair or replace what you damage moving appliances.

There's also a hole in the roof. You can see the ray of light coming down from the left at about 20 degrees.

Yup, What Les said. Most likely, the reason the sheathing is dark is: Due to thermal mass, the rafters don't allow frost to form as quickly as will the sheathing and top surface of the insulation. This attic is screaming for ventilation.

More than anything else that simply looks like a severely underventilated attic and a poorly sealed hatch of stairway allowing moisture and dust to condensate on the surfaces. Certainly, it could be treated for fungi as a precaution, but I don't think I'd go strongly down the mold path.

In Leesburg, VA we built the foundations under a relocated train station, huge mill and several other buildings which all became a downtown shopping and restaurant attraction called Market Station. It was fascinating watching it all come together and a bit freaky working under all of those temporarily supported buildings. The mill, which is now Tuskarora Mill restaurant, required a lot of co-operation. All utility lines had to be taken down in the middle of the night.

If it were fire damage the wood would be charred and the smell of carbon (soot) would be unmistakable. Typicaly, the tip-off for fire is framing that has been painted with Kilz because that is the only way to seal in and eliminate that smell. We had an Ozone room for furniture, furs, etc.. We'd pump the room full of Ozone which bonds with the Carbon to become Carbon Dioxide. That would completely eliminate the smell. If the furniture or garment cleaned up, it was fine. But, it's kinda tough doing that to an entire house. Disastor Restoration was my business between 1989 and 1994

Yeah, I just chuckled. I have that same agreement with snakes, Paul. Now, Opossum, that's different. I don't like 'em or trust 'em. I think it's those snaggly teeth and beedy eyes... One time, while inspecting a furnace in the crawl space, I heard what I thought was water dripping on the vapor barrier behind me. It turned out to be the clamping jaws of a momma opossum and her babies all curled up in the rungs of an extention ladder about 5 feet from my head. She could have torn me up, but just kept clamping her teeth as a warning... Message delivered and message received. I vacated promptly. [:-crazy]

Well, I just experienced another first. I just came out of a crawlspace in which a mouse jumped out of the floor insulation, bounded off my shoulder and dashed off into the dark.

I see it fairly often too. Today an electrician made a big deal about it. So, I'm just kinda feeling you guys out. He was explaining something about that one breaker having the potential to max the whole panel out. Frankly, it was a bit over my head, but it has me thinking anyway. As, Jim said, it's a pretty cheap fix and not worth the potential trouble to let it go, I guess.

Yeah, this is an area I've been pretty tolerant in. I may need to change my thinking on this matter.

I'm curious to learn what you guys write and call for when you find breakers from a different manufacturer than the panel? I have a Murry panel with some GE breakers in it which seem to be good and tight?...

Just food for thought... If it's a particularly long and oversized masonry flue the gases could be cooling and becoming heavy before exiting. This can cause all the same problems as a blocked or restricted flue. A draft inducing fan may be necessary. Also, old brick masonry flues usually were separated by simply a brick shiner stacked up the chimney, which I've never understood. It's a really bad idea because eventually they tend to fall into the flue to one side or the other blocking the flue.

"Budget for immenent replacement." is my canned recommendation for one of those old timers. Oddly enough, I usually get pretty good splits off those units.

FWIW, I'm on a new home construction inspection out in the country. The HVAC guy was putting the finishing touches to the upper level Heat Pump air handler. He was even sealing all air leaks. I asked him about miss-matched coils. His exact words, "I always try to match things up because I don't want the problems down the road. But, on a cooling system, you can have a larger evap coil by a 1/2 ton, no problem. But miss-matching coils on a heat pump will be a big problem on one mode or the other."

Also,if your photo quality is too good (too large) it won't upload. Change the property of your photo. scale it down to about 640 x 480 Max. in .jpeg You can do this in your photo editor under properties.

Steven, Posting pictures on this site is easier than any other. While in the "New Post" or edit mode, look at the bottom of the edit area. You'll see a paperclip and text that reads "upload a linked file" Click on that and then click on browse. You then have the option to search your hard drive for the photo you wish to upload. Double click on that file and then click ok. If you wish to attach multiple photos, just keep repeating the same proceedure.

Chow, Steve. I recall that the mix for concrete is: 3, 2, 1 (3 parts gravel, 2 parts sand, 1 part cement) The aim is that each component being in a finer state progressively fills in all voids creating a completely dense end result. The mix for a tile flooring "mud bed" is 4 parts sharp sand to 1 part Portland cement (no lime. The main purpose for lime in mason's mortar today is as a plasticizer. That is, it makes the mix work easily with a trowel. Straight sand and cement is impossible to spread.). This is mixed just like stone mortar, just damp enough to clump if squeezed. So, obviously it isn't self leveling. "Sand Mix" from HD or Lowes, etc. is already mixed to that ratio and merely needs water. Speaking from years of experience, DO NOT ATTEMPT TO MIX ALL MATERIALS AT ONCE! You'll work yourself to death and the mix will be poor. Mix the sand and cement THOROUGHLY dry. Then add the water. The ideal way to do this is in a mortar box with a mason's hoe. But, if you don't have one you can mix it in a wheel barrow with a shovel. Turn over and chop the mix like turning over soil until thoroughly mixed. Then add water sparingly turning over the mix until quite clumpy. Keep chopping into the mix with the end of your shovel to keep it from becoming too clumpy. When you can finally reach in and grab a handful and squeeze it tight and it remains together, the mix is ready. Using a mortar box, put the sand and cement to one end of the box and keep chopping off a portion of the mix toward the other end of the pan and fold it back and forth until mixed. Pull this portion high against your side of the mortar box. Then, drag in another portion and mix it in the same procedure. Perform this operation back and forth across the pan until thoroughly mixed. Then, add water and mix in the same manner until the finished product is, again, pretty dry, but clumps when squeezed. http://www.ontariotile.com/deckmud.html Have fun.

Kurt, I was just checking out DeGruchy's web site. I'm glad to see someone else really adamant about the proper way to restore masonry. I performed my first masonry restoration project in Bluemont, Virginia to the exact same standards DuGrouchy spells out. I worked with the Chemists at the Lab of the Riverton Corporation in Front Royal, Virginia to develop the mortar used on that project. The night before I would begin repointing, I would soak the area I was going to repoint in the morning so that it would not dry my mortar too quickly. I used mortar mixed to the consistency of a damp stone mortar so it would not smear badly. At the end of each day I would mist the work before leaving. Within a few weeks I was contacted and asked to consider a restoration in Georgetown (Washington, DC) and Annapolis, MD. That was 23 years ago (1983) I truly wish there were more like DeGruchy out there. You have no idea how much it bugs me every time I have to do a home inspection and watch an alleged mason working on the home next door destroy it. The techniques that I used (and DeGruchy describes) I had read in a book back in the late 70's I believe. Some of my understanding came from a very old retired ceramics engineer and brick plant owner. Unfortunately, even when I was a mason back in the 70's and 80's, "Masonry" to 95% of the trade was all about a "paycheck" and nothing more. To me, the paycheck was a given. Masonry was to a fascination, an obsession and an art. Before I left that trade I could have walked onto any site and performed any masonry task that was before me with no further instruction necessary. I was able to make my own jack arches by hand with a brick hammer. I would actually use a radius line secured within the window opening so that every edge of each brick pointed to true center (simple compass work; engineering science). Most masons would try to put in arched chimney rakes by hand and they'd look like it, a mess! Again, I'd use a radius line with two knots tied in it, one knot for the cutting edge of the face brick and one knot for the top edge of the brick rolling over the rake (again, simple compass work that insures perfection every time). I loved the trade and learned and read all that I could about it. In the end, there were guys that had been masons for two and three times longer than I had that did not know a 10th of what I did simply because they had no interest. They lived by the old saying, "Brick, block and four o'clock." So much of the art, science and skill of masonry is truly lost. I had the good fortune to have take engineering science in college which was very useful in masonry. I used to lay wagers with fellow masons that I could create 90 degree angles with the aid of two common sticks that would equal or surpass anything they could produce with a carpenters angle or a folding rule with the aid of the 3'; 4'; 5' triangle layout method. (It was simple compass work learned in engineering science.) I made a lot of pocket money doing that trick. I would double check foundations for true square through triangulation and most masons would look at me and go "huh?" They had no clue how I figured out what the third leg of the triangle should be!? But the point is, these were skills that any Mason of decades before would have been familiar with and used regularly. They understood math and geometry! At any rate, it was good to see Mr. DeGruchy's site.