Mark P

Inspected a empty home for a guy I know about 2 blocks from me this morning - outside temp around 15. The house is all electric with a heat pump. I understand that at these temps the backup electric heat on the heat pump is doing the work. My concern is that the outside unit is a frozen block of ice from where the gutter leaked and the fan cannot move. Under normal heatpump operation the fan has to operate, but I'm not sure when its in backup mode or defrost mode. It was making sounds, but I don't know if it was the fan motor or something else. I turned the breaker off to the pump thinking it may save the fan motor from burning out, but with no heat in the house, pipes might freeze, (I could not budge the main water shut off valve). Do you think I should turn the breaker back on, since that is the way I found it, even though the fan motor might burn-up, or leave it off and have the guy get a contractor out to look at it asap. ????? Download Attachment: 1.jpg 65.11 KB

I do not know Ray Hogan.

I performed my 1st and 2nd inspections almost a year ago on 27 Feb 2006 and today I will perform my 171st inspection. I spent maybe 6 months before that getting everything set up. I have refered maybe 5-6 inspection for loghomes, earth homes, trailers, and a few times when I've been too busy. So far this year business has been pretty good, for the past 2 weeks I have had 8 inspection each and I have 4 lined up so far for this week (as of Monday morning). If I did not have my military retirement pay and some other sources of income I would not have made it, but I do and I did, and the future is looking bright. I really love this profession, but my wife hates it cuz there is not a steady pay check. I see your only a few hours west of me, I work the MetroEast area just outside St. Louis in Illinois, around Belleville. Good luck.

Thought I'd pass along that tauton press has the code check books on sale tiil 2-15-07 http://www.taunton.com/finehomebuilding/

I do not make a habbit of looking at county records, but I knew for this county everythng is online and it only took me 5 minutes. It did in fact state the house was built in 1986. I only wanted took confirm, since Kurt thought the furnace was made years before the house was built. It is still a mistery.

Thanks, this has been an educational day.

Thanks Jim for the help. Where did you find their serial number guide? I've searched the web and the list I maintain with no luck. I've e-mail the company in Australia to ask them to confirm the date. According to the online county records the house was built in 1986. Seems odd that the a/c unit is 5 years older then the house.

Humm, that is confusing, I think I'll try and search the county records online to see if I can come up with the year the house was built. Now that would sure be something to report to the buyer - that the house is 12 years older then he was told.

I'm usually pretty good at determining the ages, but need some help on these two: I can't find them in my usual sources. What is confusing me is the house was supposedly built in 1986, and these appear orginal, but there is nothing in the number that looks like 86. Electric furnace:Climatrol Model #:945125115C Serial #: LJ745117 A/C: Model #: CL24-1EB SR# 910709230 Download Attachment: elec furn.jpg 54.33 KB Download Attachment: ac.jpg 77.82 KB

What a bone head and sloppy repair job of recent storm damage. Owner probably got some insurance $ and figured he pocket most of it. The edges are stapled with really small staples that are all rusted and backing out. The bottom edge is not sealed down and will blow off the next big wind we get. I'll recommend it be repaired. This did raise a question for me. What is the max slope roll asphalt can be used on. I usually see it on 2/12 or so. This house was around 8/12. Download Attachment: P1030213 (Medium).JPG 90.33 KB

Did an inspection this morning on a house built in 1986 where the owner has recently finished the basement, but he has a toilet and a sink in the same room as the electrical panel, electric water heater, and electric furnace. I told my customer that the panel cannot be a bathroom, but was not sure about the furnace and water heater. I know that since 1993 electrical panels have not been allowed in baths, and since this is a new renovation it can't be grandfathered to 1986 codes. My recomendation will be to seperate the bath from the panel, but I do have a few questions for anyone who can help. Is this for only full baths or also 1/2 baths, like in this case? Since there is no shower excessive moisture should not be a problem. What do you think about the elec furnace and water heater being in the same room? Not ideal but I don't think there is anything that says it is a no no, or is there? What if it was a gas furnace and water heater in the bath? Would that make a difference? Download Attachment: 1.jpg 23.62 KB

RUDD 1984 gas water heater. The external temperature of the unit close to the bottom, near where the heating chamber is, was frying hot. I'm not talking about the flame shield, but actually the side of the tank. I'm guessing this is due to inadequate insulation or the insulation has deteriorated over the past 22 years. There is also what appears to be a scorch mark above the drain valve. I'm recommending the unit be replaced before if fails or causes injury or a fire from contact of close by combustibles. Just thought I'd ask if anyone has run across this sort of thing before? And can you offer any additional words of wisdom. Thanks in Advance Mark Download Attachment: 1.jpg 54.09 KB

A garage door opener plugged into an extension cord, the cord is neatly fastened every 2' to the ceiling and down the wall where it is plugged into a wall outlet. I know the door should be on a dedicated outlet and the extension cord should not be used as permanent wiring. Can someone take a minute to explain to me “whyâ€

Does not seem very hot to me. I inspected one of these over the past summer, then on the first cold day we had in the fall the home owner called complaining his family was freezing and what was I going to do about it. The first thing I asked was if he had checked the breakers - he assured me he had and they were all on. I agreed to drive the 30 minutes out to the house and check it out, but it would not be for 3 days. So the family froze for 3 days and when I arrived at the house he was pissed and ready for a confrontation. On the inside I was thinking “oh-shit did I screw up, am I going to have to buy this guy a heating system?â€

I know one Broaker/Realtor who tells her clients that if it has passed the city inspection don't bother with a HI. Others give the customer 3-4 brochures or a list of names and let the customer pick an inspector, still other realtors say if they want a HI they, the realtor, will schedule it for them and call whoever it is they work with. Not every township around this area has city occupancy inspections. I had to get one recently on a house I'm flipping. The city inspection took 20 minutes and consisted of sticking the 3 prong outlet tester in every single outlet in the house, looking under sinks for leaks and looking inside the main electric panel, that was it. And I know from experiece that not all city inspectors even remove the panel cover. I'm having to get a county occupancy inspection tomorrow on a rental property I have, $100, should be interesting.

Carrier Blue Book says that model was manufactured in 1997 and 1998.

I know my flash light is 11.5" long and I have a line painted around it at 6", this is often a quick measurment tool for such things as insulation depth...

I can't list the homes amperage as 400, when the two main breakers are 100 and 200, or I might be spendig a couple of hundered bucks having the smaller panel replaced if the buyer were to get nasty.

Thnak you, I'll list it as two seperate services and not as a grand total. The house is around 3500 sqft + an unfinished basement with nothing special at all, except that it has seperate furnaces and a/c for each floor. I don't know what it was wired this way - room to expand I guess. Oh, the pictures are sideways for some reason not the boxs.

This should be an easy question, but for some reason I'm double guesing myself. New construction single family home: 2 electrical panel boxs next to each other 1 is 200amp the other 100amp and is not a sub. So this means the house has 300amps, right? Also new construction should have AFI for the bedroom breakers right. Download Attachment: 100amp.JPG 89.03 KB Download Attachment: 200amp.jpg 89.58 KB Download Attachment: outside.jpg 44.39 KB

Can anyone tell me what year this natural gas boiler was made? Hydro Therm Serial: RA-1824 Model: R-180B

I pushed opened the access to the attic and someone's porno video collection fell on my head, I thought it was hilarious, but the two ladies (realtor, buyer) were not as ammused.

Interesting, thanks for sharing.

This may give you an idea on some common materials, it is a large chain of stores throughout the U.S. www.homedepot.com/

Yes, I check for lose tabs. What is "shiners in the attic"