mthomas1

Kurt, Last condo I sold the Realtor (Beth Morgan, FWIW) worked *very* hard to get this difficult vacant unit sold, starting with furnishing it. If you have an ideal unit in a hot market sure, Craig's List works - a message dropped in a bottle in Lake Erie would probably work. In a over-saturated market segment and geographic area does a good realtor help? I think so. Sometimes substaintially. Should real competition prevail? Absolutely! Will the Realtors disappear... I doubt it. But they are sure ain't gonna' be happy working for what we do...

“ARMA Residential Asphalt Roofing Manualâ€

BTW, the technical name for that baffle is a "turbulator" - it functions by increasing exhaust gas velocity at the surface of the tube enclosing it, which increases heat transfer and reduces sooting.

That shrouded opening at the bottom (second pic) makes we wonder if it's some sort of draft inducer.

The thing that really ticks me off is knowing that a client spending an extra $150-300 for "mold testing" would almost always get a *much* higher payback spending the same to have their inspector on site for an extra 30-45 min and then writing a somewhat better report. But then, I'm becoming increasingly convinced - especially as I see a lot of older homes layered with generations of modifications and updates - that the marketing niche I want to occupy is "One inspection a day, done right". Meanwhile as for mold testing itself, I keep a copy of the contract from one of the larger outfits handy, and point out to clients the fine print at the end of the fancy three-color fourteen-page computer- generated screed where the lab disclaims the use of the report to evaluate health risks.

My opinion is that within a few years the HI industry will be on the receiving end of a considerable amount of unpleasant publicity re: "The Great Mold Scare".

Kurt, Who do you recommend for brick foundation work in the Chicago area?

With those counterweights ya' almost gotta' ask: concrete stairs?

Here ya' go... I knew I had this bookmarked somewhere: http://www.wsoctv.com/action9/10519469/detail.html

No pics. I did have this bookmarked: http://www.cardinalcorp.com/data/tsb/ig/IG15.pdf

Do you have a wider shot of the stoop and the area to the left? If you look around the corner to the left in the third pic you can see the foundation, the height of the vent establishes the likely highest elevation of the foundation wall, and it looks to me like the landscaper has raised the grade at the front of the house 2-3' above the foundation. What I can't tell is where the grade at that wall sits in relation to the stoop (and threshold and finished floor height) - does it drop down considerably from the center of the wall toward the entrance area? If so, runoff could be undermining the stoop - there's a gutter above, but the downspout appears to be disappearing into the landscaping (to a french or foundation drain or similar, or did the landscaper just bury the downspout extension?) - there's going to be a *lot* of water directed down that valley toward a point above the edge of that stoop, and ideally you would see a downspout at that end. In any case, I would want to take a *very* close look at the interior areas along that wall, both from the crawlspace and below the front windows in the living area.

http://www.1stchoicechimney.com/documen ... fetime.pdf http://www.maconline.org/tech/construct ... imney.html

Randy, For future reference, this was recently posted over at inspectionnews.com ------------ "From the Design Manual produced by Marble Institute of America. Residential Stone Counter Top Installation - 2.17 Spans & Overhangs - 2.18 Stone counter tops under 1-1/8" thick should not span more than 2'-0" between support centers. Spans should always be minimized. 3/4" counter tops should be installed on underlayment. - 2.19 Unsupported overhangs shall not exceed 6" on 3/4" counter tops or 10" for 1-1/4" counter tops. In an overhang condition, the supported area must be firmly secured and properly anchored to insure the unsupported area, when loaded, will not cause failure of the setting material. Mechanical anchors and gluing are recommend for overhang supports. If overhang exceeds the maximum amounts, proper brackets, legs or other rigid support must be added by the cabinet maker of builder" http://www.inspectionnews.com/ubb/Forum ... 00469.html

http://joetedesco.org/GFCI_INSTRUCTIONS.pdf 404's for me.

Do the requirements for return air separation from a furnace change if it's a CAT 4 drawing combustion air from the outside? Saw one yesterday in condo conversion, in a small mechanical closet off them main hallway, with a small return grill in the return plenum just ahead of the furnace (there was an additional main return elsewhere.) This seems wrong to me - for starters even if back-drafting is no longer an issue with this arrangement the return has opening GOT to be depressurizing the closet, so any leakage at the exhaust vent would still be recirculated throughout the house irrespective of the fact that there is (should be) no combustion air draw from within the structure. BUT... the darn thing apparently passed city (Chicago) inspection - is this now kosher, at least in Chicago? Kurt?

No instructions, but I do have this article about the recall bookmarked, for the great quotes. For example: "At first, hardboard siding had trouble gaining a foothold in the residential housing market. Paul Fisette, director of the building and wood technology program at the University of Massachusetts, said that when he owned a construction company 30 years ago, it was used mostly on low-priced homes. Expectations were low, Fisette said, and few people complained when it fell apart in the rain. "I think there was an attitude about it that was like, `Oh, it's that crap,' " he said." http://www.nationalpropertyservice.com/ ... ystems.htm

Bookfinder turns up three copies: http://www.bookfinder.com/search/?ac=sl ... 669_1:5:13 With luck you can find some of the more esoteric HI related publications there for a fraction of the cost new, a while back I scored copy of the SMACNA Architectural Sheet Metal Manual for $5.00

New to me. A quick GOOGLE tyrns up" "Definite Purpose (DP) Contactors are application-specific contactors for repeatedly establishing and interrupting an electric power circuit for application on electric motors used in compressors, fans, andpumps, and resistive heater loads as part of the motor protection system and may be either an integral part of an air conditioning or refrigeration unit or mounted on the control panel for such a job." "Typical Installation":

Generally, a good source for wood shingle/shake information: http://www.cedarbureau.org The felt is required: http://tinyurl.com/2638c9 http://www.cedarbureau.org/installation ... -fig-4.gif Spaced sheathing is recommended: http://www.cedarbureau.org/faq/installation.htm If installed over solid sheathing (not recommended by most manufacturers), best practice is to elevate the shakes above the sheathing on sleepers. In the suburbs north of Chicago there are places where the shake roof of every other Cateau-To-Go is deteriorating before they are occupied because of improper installation.

I found that newsletter a few years back when I researched acceptable counter-top spans, the DSDM is one of those things I keep looking for used, but have not run across yet.

The MIA standards for span and overhang are referenced here: http://tinyurl.com/2zflsk http://www.marble-institute.com/members ... Nwsltr.pdf Go to page 4, "Monthly Quiz", and the answers on page 11.

A larger version of the Hardiplank illustration: http://imgs.ebuild.com/cms/REPLACEMENT% ... 1082L2.jpg

This is the one I use to explain this sort of kickout flashing - it's for stucco, but also IMO gets the general concept across clearly: http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i247/ ... etail2.jpg

In some cases it's a clear case of "is/isn't" a defect, I lump identical defects together in a sentence: a sentence for the missing GFICs, one for the open grounds, one for the polarity, etc.. I call out the locations of each (and mark then with a 1/8" plastic self-adhesive dot) but also note that I didn't test every receptacle (unless I did - which is unlikely). In the case of things that are less "binary" - say, the condition of a few dozen old double hung windows in various stags of decrepitude - I'll call out a list of the *sort* of defects I encountered, but not their individual location unless I observe a safety issue.

As far as I know there is no limitation for steep roofs, the minimum is usually listed as 2/12. Typical installation instructions: http://imgs.ebuild.com/xCat/ebuildWebA/ ... t=Original