mthomas1

Hey Kurt, where can I pick-up a can of that locally? My telescopic is in need. I tried the McDrive-through on Howard St., but I didn't see it on the value menu. Laser Supply ar 2112 Jackson in Evanston (was Hudland Marine) 847-866-7765 usually stocks it - they are out, but will have it again in a week - 10 days).

SEO attempt, here's the provider: http://www.articlesnatch.com/

Hum... 1981... that would have been around the FIRST time I gut rehabbed the 1887 POS construction house I'm living in... in 2001 I gutted it AGAIN to do it over right... [/url] ... as you can see, historic preservation ain't my thing.

Cherry E. of Green Bay and W. of ridge.

Thanks, it certainly looked like vitrified clay tile in that pic by the water meter but I'd never before seen VCT without a "ribbed" surface, and large unit size and slightly curved edges in the pic by the dryer left me wondering if I could be looking at some sort of cast concrete block.

Can anyone enlighten me about this foundation wall material and style of construction? House is Winnetka IL, and per tax records was built in 1917. - Thanks Click to Enlarge 52.28 KB Click to Enlarge 69.42 KB

What is the rule for sizing a service drop and SECs serving multiple service disconnects? For example if three service disconnects, each with 100A OCPDs, are powered from a single service drop, does the drop and/or the conductors to meters require the capacity to supply 300A, or is there a rule that establishes a lower requirement based on the assumption that a 300A total draw is unlikely? (And , yeah, I know what they ought to do with this entire service, but I want to understand the concept... ) Thanks. Download Attachment: multiple_service_01.jpg 38.45 KB Download Attachment: multiple_service_02.jpg 35.56 KB Download Attachment: multiple_service_03.jpg 41.86 KB

Defect? That is a "recuperative energy efficiency feature". And a nice catch.

Why did you get so so upset when I tried to reach into the box? I just wanted to point sometime out to you.

Does anyone have a link to a discussion of best practices / standards for vapor retarders and insulation at the interior of single wythe CMU walls in general, and split face block in particular? Thanks

The length of time for backing up when you start the service is normal with all of the Internet based backup providers. Once the initial backup is done everything is done behind the scene. I use Carbonite and the original backup I started on a Friday night and it was done by mid afternoon on Sunday. Now I don't even notice when it is backing up the files that are changed. 1) I'm syncing on a 1000 Mb net at home and a 10/30Mb cable modem to net, it takes half a day for an initial sync to a new PC, but then it's essentially transparent. 2) I suspect that your "endless loop" might have something to do with your directory set-up on various PCs, I have all my critical data in separate c:\criticaldata directory structure identical on ALL PCs and laptops, and I've never had a problem.

I have Homeguage loaded on a laptop, a PC at home and a PC at my home office (which is in a different building), have Homeguage set to backup work in progress every five minutes, and use Syncplicity to keep everything synced up and also to keep automatic backups of the last four versions of every file in my critical data directory mirrored out to the Syncplicity site. ---------------- 1) With Syncplicity, the selected directories (folders) on any computer which is connected to the Internet and set up with Syncplicity are synced up in something close to in real time, otherwise when I boot up synchronization takes a minute or two. For example I can start work on a report at a restaurant or coffee house on the laptop, and if there's WiFi available and my other PCs are connected to the Internet, the report information is being updated on all connected PCs at the office every time Homeguage saves a backup or when I close the report from within Homeguage, and I can come home and finish the work on my primary desktop PC. Or, I can start work on a desktop PC and finish up on the laptop. 2) If no other PC or laptop is on-line, as long as I have a internet connection, files on the PC on which I'm working are being uploaded to the Syncplicity server (which serves as backup), and as soon as the other PC/laptop(s) have a connection to the net, they will be synced as well. 3) If there is no WiFi at the coffeehouse I just plug the laptop on my home network, and in a minuet or two everything is synced / backed up and I'm up and running in Homeguage. Best, this is all completely automatic, once it's set up (easy to do) it reliably happens without me having to remember to make it happen. 4) I also have an arrangement with another small business owner in a suburb about 15 miles away, we synchronize the critical data on our office computers, and if one of us goes down, we can continue working on the others computer. 5) The final layer is the backup on the Syncplicity server: absolute worst case I could drive to Best Buy, pick up a PC or laptop, connect to the Internet, and while Syncplicity was restoring this year's reports in the background I could download and install Homeguage, open a report in progress as soon as it synced, and pick up within five minutes of where I left off. (I use a different backup package to image my entire hard disk about once a week, so that I could restore my entire primary PC including all applications and settings, if I experience a disk crash). -------------- I've used Syncplicity for about a year and though I haven't had yet to recover from serious data loss I know the product works because I constantly use its ability to sync multiple computers and occasionally to pull down a previous version of a file (THAT'S saved my bacon a few times). It works flawlessly, and the price is incredibly reasonable: $99 a year to sync/back up 100GB of data - I have the last five years of reports, all my (encrypted) accounting data, my huge library of reference material and archived photographs, and a whole load of other stuff up there and mirrored out to all three computers. About the only downside is that files may not be backed up / synced if they are currently open, so you want to set your reporting software, word processor, spreadsheet or whatever to auto-backup every few minutes, this backup file is what is synced, then your final version will be synced when you close file from within the application. For years I screwed around with various other kinds of backup products and stratagems - including a quite expensive RAID NAS - and nothing has ever come close in terms of functionality and ease of use - this product is the cat's meow.

> Or, send it anonymously. It's a very angry letter... Dude, that's me being laid back and polite in the presence of bureaucratic incompetent and idiocy, THIS is me set to "angry" in the presence of bureaucratic incompetent and idiocy. I've got another one around here where I'm set to "outraged", but I can't post that one as the matter is in court, where the perpetrator of that piece of bureaucratic idiocy and incompetence is in the process of getting their 'nads presented to them on a plate garnished with facts, likely at considerable expense to said bureaucracy. And yes, if it's sent it will be much improved, that's what "quick first draft" is about.

A quick first draft: ---------------- Department of Financial and Professional Regulation Attention: Craig Cellini 320 West Washington, 3rd Floor Springfield, IL 62786 Dear Mr. Cellini As an inspector who makes a good faith effort to abide by the Ilinois reporting requirements (and I know, based on reading reports by others, that I come much closer than many) I have always been extremely frustrated by the vague nature of the various requirements to “describeâ€

One thing I have always wanted to see clarified: "describe in detail", as for example: "the home inspector shall describe in detail the interior water supply and distribution systems, including all fixtures and faucets..." Is there anyone here who is actually describing "all faucets in detail"? It's a absurd requirement - but as long as it's in the SOP, any of us could be disciplined for failure to do so.

Snopes says "True"

"Close enough for government work."

Piece O' Cake with a 32' ladder and step-through safety bars....

I use Syncplicity - also provides remote access and off-sire backup: http://www.syncplicity.com/

One thing to keep in mind if you make your own probes for the Protimeter: per a phone conversation with GE, even if you calibrate against the built-in pins or the OEM extension probes, your results may not be accurate anywhere other than at the calibration point - readings are still useful as relative indications of moisture content, but IMO should be reported with the caveat that they may not be as accurate as absolute readings as those obtained with OEM probes.

Looks like Homesafe has filed a suit: http://dockets.justia.com/docket/cou...case_id-28810/ If so, this is the standard technique: file a suit in a friendly venue, win a judgment, and then use the precedent in other suits.

Randy, I use Photoshop Elements, there's a steep learning curve to get started, but one you understand it you can do just about anything you could want to/with a photograph. I probably spend about 10-15 minutes on each of the more complicated annotated diagrams I construct from manufacturers documentation (less, probably around five minutes, if I'm just taking a picture of a page in the manual, and labeling it). However the ones I spend significant amounts of time on are the ones I expect will be reusable, these days I get almost no callbacks from clients asking me to explain things further, and I get a lot less static from builders, developers, and tradespeople - it's a harder to argue with the manufacturers instructions than with "that idiot home inspector". I find this to be a major stress reduce or as I have some control over when I'm writing reports and constructing material for use in them, but no control over the timing of subsequent customer and vendor queries. ----------

Been there... part of the problem is that the manufacture's installation instructions may show direct metal to deck contact, cantilevered decks, etc. NOTE: Because every sunroom design installation has unique requirements, job-site specific materials such as lag bolts, wood headers, flashing, caulk, etc., are not included with the sun room/screen room kit. Your local home center or hardware store can provide you with these materials and is an excellent reference source for information on building and construction. SunPorch Inc. Installation

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I have reassembled it, here's a link to the James Hardie "Best Practices Guide", installation ionstructions for the Chicago area (Northern Section of the US) as a single document for home inspectors. Be aware that this is a 34Mb download.