mgbinspect

Wow, Italy used to be known for its masons! Where'd they all go?

There are some unbelievable masonry building here in Richmond and in Washington, DC. Actually, if you've ever been to the Pro-ASHI seminars there is some incredibly intricate and ornate multi-story buildings in Pittsburgh, PA. I saw one there that had a cornice that corbeled out probably three feet into arches about five or six feet tall. Truly amazing stuff. It kinda made you jittery walking the sidewalk under it. At any rate, I've been flying around on weekends seeing America for about three years and Chicago's on the list... (Travelocity.com last minute deals. Flight room and car for unbelievable prices. You just have to be ready to GO... Went to Atlanta for two night room, flight and car $306.00 In fact, I went to Inspection world and NAHI's convention back to back 5 nights in a hotel, car and round trip flight... $600.00 Ya can't beat it!)

Being a journeyman mason, I think you should fly me out to Chicago as an assistant expert witness. It's on my list of MUST SEE cities and I haven't made it there yet. []

I was trying to preserve as much of Kurt's style as possible. [:-angel] How about "unsuspecting"? [:-idea]

My pleasure, Kurt.

Try this Kurt: "This building was designed & constructed with lime mortar which is considerably softer and more permeable than the mortars used today containing Portland cement. Lime mortar tends to refill small cracks that may occur due to settlement. It also was compatible with the permeability of the bricks so moisture was absorbed and evaporated equally from both materials. This system permitted potentially damaging moisture to easily exit the building. Almost all modern “tuck-pointingâ€

That is a good point, Brian. I whole heartedly agree with you! Talking about "not having a clue", even rust streaks down the side of the house from the auxiliary pan don't tip a lot of people off to the fact there's a problem.

Gosh, I took three years of High School German myself. It was a requirement to enter Lutheran Seminary. I'm only catching tiny bits of these conversations. I'm way beyond rusty. There's simply no opportunity to ever use it. But, I'll never forget my teacher, Frau Harrison, and her favorite phrase that plagued us all: "Noch ein mall?"

Wow, one thing that is curious about this thread is that the general Realtor attitude in a lot of your areas is one that we passed through years ago. I remember it well. Now, most Realtors here don't want ANYTHING significant missed. If they get a call from the home owner after possession, you're pretty much history! It's only when inspectors go beyond thorough to ridiculous that they suffer in this part of the country. There are about ten inspectors here that are all in the 8 - 15 years experience range and probably 5000 - 10,000 inspections performed range. We all stay slammed. Between us, our pricing ranges from average to obscene. I am confident that in each of our cases that the only reason we each stay so busy is that very little gets by us. I guess I really need to be thankful.

For what it's worth, I was an agent in the mid to late 80's and it's pretty hard work. Lot's and lot's of shaking the bushes and the most successful agents... their phone rings and must be answered from 6 am to 12 midnight 7 days a week. I was only a part time agent and a full time salesman and additions and renovation designer. The salesman in me knew that I could not serve my real estate clients on a part-time basis so I got out. You couldn't pay me to be an agent. I like having a life.[:-bigeyes Gasp!... Mike... Blue Collar?.. We're professionals! Pull yourself together, man! [] The grass is always greener and what we do ROCKS! [8D]

I agree and won't repair anything or even recommend those who do.

It's pretty much the same here. Prices have practically doubled in 10 years and new construction is out of control. Kids are buying the older and smaller homes in speculative neighborhoods needing work.

I suppose what you say is dead on, Steven. The only reason that I coined that little phrase was because, as a disastor restoration contractor, I was constantly being sent out to the homes of little old ladies, young ladies, and new home owners to learn that a chimney sweep or roofer had convinced them they had an expensive problem that the insurance company would fix. Quite often there was no problem at all and the client was in the process of getting taken for a long expensive ride. Gosh, How does someone rob an old widow of thousands of retirement dollars and sleep at night? But, you are right. My exposure to those two contractors was through insurance. They're everywhere for sure and in every trade. Ehhh... except of course ours, right? []

"When installed in attics, they are normally suspended by cradles that are attached to the rafters of the structure itself" - Residential Construction Academy - HVAC - In partnership with the Home Boulders Institute. I do see air handlers on very dense Styrofoam about the size of modular bricks. They appear to be made for the purpose, but I don't know. It seems they'd offer a bit of sound dampening. It is curious, though, that no one ever says anything about an air handler or furnace standing up on metal ductwork in an attic directly on the floor framing. What's the difference? I don't get it? We each must choose our battles. I typically leave that one to the HVAC installer and the county. But, that's just me. With new home construction I tend to stick to the rediculous stuff like: Waste lines draining up hill; gaping holes in air handlers and ductwork; missing GFCI protection; top wall plates not lapped at corners; missing nail plates in framing; or that front porch I posted about a month ago, etc. Things that are dangerous, terribly inefficient or aren't going to function as intended. I don't try to re-design the house. To my way of thinking, a good New Construction Inspection even serves the builder. It's really an exercise in making sure that even he got what he paid for out of his subs! In example: The plumber reduces the flexible central return duct volume by 30% to accomodate his waste line and doesn't inform anyone that he had to do such a thing. (Now, there's a real case for the value of Design/Build construction. When you have your roofer and mechanical subs at the table with you during the design and pricing phases, a lot of that kind of silliness is avoided!) I suppose I'm in the minority on the subject of new home construction inspections, but I feel pretty strongly about it. When I begin, I make it clear to my client that cosmetics and preferential stuff belong on their punch list. I'm going to make certain that the construction and installations are acceptable. And, for what it's worth, in probably 800 or so new construction inspections I've NEVER received a single complaint. Is it possible that we are sometimes too hard (picky) on builders? I have always liked suspending them in attics and eaves and that's what we did in our homes for sound purposes. And, for the same reason, we DIDN'T suspend them from the floor system. But we were doing Custom Design/Build homes and you paid dearly for just about everything we did throughout the house. (We even back primed all of our exterior trim and mitered and scrolled every trim joint throughout the house. Our floor joists were always on 12" centers and often a size up from what was required. You NEVER see that stuff anymore and the fact is building that way IS EXPENSIVE! When one of our homes was re-sold the listing agent was always sure to mention that it one of ours.) It's pretty hard to make a tract home Builder on a tract home budget make a primo custom quality home. Homes these days seem expensive, but it's all relative. If a tract home is going for $375K a Primo Custom home's going to cost $425K+ for the same square footage and what we're talking about right now is one of the reasons. These big "expensive" tract homes are simply glorified VW buses! They are a far cry from the Cadillac. I suppose it would be nice and helpful to recommend it be suspended for sound and vibration purposes. (Whew! I'm thankful not to be in the home building industry today. I'd probably be running a lot of home inspectors off the property with a shotgun.)

Cleaning up the mess Les eludes to used to be big business for me back in the Disastor Restoration days (probably 30% of my volume). You must chemically clean, seal and paint all the walls and ceilings and pitch the furniture and furnishings. It's one heck of a soot nightmare.

That's a pretty typical installation here except for the lack of access part. It really can't go anywhere unless someone pushes it and the ductwork serves to keep it in place to some degree as well. I can't imagine that weight would require a load bearing bottom truss cord, but I could be wrong. I certainly wouldn't loose any sleep over it. We always suspended our air handlers to minimize interior noise and vibration.

Consider addressing the specific areas requested in your report and be very clear about what you were asked to do. I regret that the two photos don't offer me enough to guide you regarding the mason's decision, but in most cases, a proper masonry repair is entirely possible. If you have other concerns, mention them as a post script in a cover letter. "Please be advised that in the course of providing the attached report the following condition was observed: Etc." That's probably the most sensible way to mention a concern regarding an area you were not asked to inspect. Just my two cents. Good luck.

Well, for what it's worth, I'm totally unfamiliar with this material and installation process. I've never worked with paste-it stone. But, if masonry surfaces are adequately cleaned and moistened (roughed up if necessary) and the new work properly cured (which is the critical key) there is a high probability that the materials will indeed successfully bond. On occasions where I thought it necessary, I've made and applied a cement paste about the consistency of paint to the old surface immediately before applying the new work. But again, days of curing is paramount.

The Lament of a Brand Name Junkie Though encouraged to purchase a knock-off I now own my first little giant. To all who encouraged I save my bucks, forgive me for being defiant. It's just that I have this idea, I constantly put to the test, that when one buys something important, they might as well spring for the best. I did see the HD Gorilla. It's very nice, that's true. But, it proved a wee bit weighty. The little giant's quite heavy too. You see, in the purchasing process, a quirk haunts me till I'm a wreck. A look at my tools and equipment reveals I have trouble buying brand X. Names like Chraftsman, Snap-on, etc. turn me on! What can I say? Not to mention that grand ole' phrase, Made in the USA But, thanks to the HI's who weighed in, as I agonized over this buy. You've all been ever so helpful. To a man, that's truly no lie. [:-eyebrow

Oh, yeah, Kurt! That reminds me. About probably six years ago I was doing an inspection down in the "fan district" (downtown rowhouse district) and a couple of guys from the Richmond Symphony were practicing. (Cello and violin) I didn't recognize anything they played, but it was grand, as well. And, get this. Bcck in my Design/Build Construction days in Middleburg, VA we worked for a mega-rich old man. He sold the last farm within Washington, DC for 93 Mil. He bought a little rancher and added a music room onto it that was as fancy and ornate as a small stone European Cathedral complete with a built in pipe organ and a man living on the premisis to play it for him. We worked to Bach almost daily. You just never know what a day holds. Some days you even get the cherry on top. [8D] Scott and Brian, Zig Ziglar calls that a "Cat Kickin' Day"

I was first introduced to the system in the mid 80s. A whole housing develpment used them. So, is there a projected life span for a wood foundation? One would think sooner or late some part of the moisture protection system would give up the ghost and rot would begin.

Bummer about your inspection, Scott. I usually have to deal with that crap maybe 5 or 6 times a year. Yeah, I don't think I could have handled that either, Jim. [:-crazy] I'm still hummin' Hymns on 2nd inspection [:-thumbu]

I don't either. I'm with Les. Got my hnads full already.

The very nice seventy-plus home owner elected to stay and is playing old classic Hymns on a perfectly tuned baby grand piano non-stop. [^]

I share your concern yet have never seen a wood foundation in bad shape???? I wouldn't own one either.