StevenT

Should I not report... "There is exposed Asbestos in the basement. It should be removed and disposed of properly or encapsulated by a professional Asbestos remediator". I want to include... "Asbestos is a great product as far as fire resistance but it can be harmful if it gets in your lungs. If you don't disturb it, it's ok". But I feel a bit apprehensive about putting "it's ok" in writing. I started out with "...it's safe", but changed it. I've been told "never to say the "A" word", and to give a real "inspector speak" remark... since we are not "qualified" to determine what is and isn't asbestos. Due to it's appearence, along with the age of the building, I believe it is asbestos. I feel I should call it as I see it. Image Insert: 48.44 KB Any opinions?

What is it connected to?

Without looking at everything else (or the plans), it's difficult to determine from the picture exactly what the plumber has in mind. Did you open the pit and look inside? is the pipe tied into the pit? I'm don't understand why there would be a separate pit for the French drains, unless it's a local thing to install two pits. If it's plumbing for a future bath, I would expect to see a floor flange or at least 4" (or 3") pipe for a floor flange. The pipe on the left appears larger than the other pipe. Is it 3"? If it is and if the pipe on the right isn't connected to the pit, I would think there are plans for a future toilet/sink in that location.

I'm not sure, but the first thing I would look at is the way it is piped. What size pipe supplied the valve? 1/2"? What size was the valve? 3/4"? 1/2" copper fits INTO 3/4" threaded valves and can be sweated together. It is faster and uses less fittings than using a felame adapter. I don't know if internally a 3/4" valve is larger than a 1/2" valve... but it probably is. If so, there would be a bigger drop in pressure. What was the flow like? I would also be concerned about the 160lb. pressure.

There are a multitude of things to look for and do when inspecting a fire sprinkler system. They range from checking design aspects such as piping size and the number and location of sprinkler heads to inspection and/or operation of of the water flow switch, flow alarm, check valve, pressure gauge, test/drain assembly, etc. This is covered in NFPA 25: Standard for the Inspection, Testing, and Maintenance of Water-Based Fire Protection Systems. Section 4.1.2.3 states that "These tasks shall be performed by personnel who have developed competence through training and experience". Unless you have that training and experience (which you may have, I don't know), I think you're doing the buyer a disservice, and taking on unnecessary liability by doing a partial inspection. It seems to be the same as a commercial system, but in NY you have to be a licensed plumber with sprinkler system certification (NYC at least)to perform the REQUIRED inspection. This brings a whole new set of questions to mind... number of heads:size of main. I can't see how an average main can supply adequate water necessary.

When I first looked at it I thought it was low voltage too. Not because of the screws, but because the prongs are males. After thinking about it I decided that even if it were low voltage, the live end would still be female. So I believe it is either some type of antenna connection or to be connected to something that would put power into it, maybe for speakers?

Ok, so next time , if I get the same results, I'll dig deeper and figure it out. .. maybe. In this situation, when I manually tripped the outlets, they did lose power. I'm wondering if I bought more than I needed to put on a "horse and pony show"? Well, lets see how it goes.

I know that in commercial sprinkler systems, there are certain "rules" that have to be followed. Such as, extra heads & wrench on site, osy valve locked in open position, yearly inspectionsetc. Are there such regs for residential? I guess that is a local question.

Where I am "Gem Caps" are quite common, but they are illegal to use for clean out caps. There should be a tapped fitting with a screwed in cleanout cap. On a personal, what I see in the picture wouldn't really get my goat.

The home had newer wiring. I did press the button twice. I think I got the 6500ms reading, but don't really recall. So, If I'm understanding you correctly, the meter is probably working correctly and for some reason, probably a grounding reason, the outlet did not trip and should be flagged. Since it was my first time using the meter, I didn't have confidence in it. If I didn't have it, all I could have done was test using the test button, so I didn't flag it.

I did wait while it was testing and the tester seemed to go through a testing mode. It gave some numerical reading at the end but didn't say good, bad or anything else. I was expecting the outlet to trip and as I said it didn't. I guess there is a chance, slim as it may be, that both outlets were bad and did not trip when tested, although they tripped when manually tested. I also have to suspect the possibility of a bad tester.

I finally got a Surtest to replace my 3 light tester. When I used it to test GFIs it did not trip the GFIs (2 were tested), but when I manually hit the test button on the GFI, the outlet tripped, shutting off the outlet. I will probably test a few more to see if this persists, but before I go through the trouble, I'm wondering if I have a bad tester, I tested wrong, or bad GFIs. The tester did give me some readings that made no sense to me. Am I wrong in expecting the tester to trip the outlet or is this what it is supposed to do?

You have separate fuses. Generally in the age of fuses there was no such thing as simultaneous trips. - Jim Katen, Oregon So isn't that a problem/defect? Since someone may not realize that a piece of equiptment is still energized, even though one leg is "blown". Kinda like Jim's humming saw and blown lights. Additionally, the two bare copper wire that are lugged together... are they "grounds that have been energized? Or, are they insulated wires that have been stripped too far? I know 1/4" is the amount of "casing" that should enter a panel, I don't recall how much/little insulation should be stripped at points of connections/splices.

I don't see any picture or details either. I did at first but now the pic is gone.

If the white wire is one leg of a 240 circuit, isn't that the same as a 240 circuit in breakers not tied together? How do you handle that in a fuse box?

Your time would be better spent looking for causes, rather than symptoms.

Is any of the "lichen" on the trees?

Where I am, it is the responsibility of the homeowner (their plumber) to set the meter bars.

I've seen stuff like that growing on trees. I'm not a hornyculturist, but I remember being told that it is some type of disease that will spread to all the nearby trees. The only way to kill it is to remove the tree. Is there anything that looks like this on the surrounding trees?

Why don't you call Tamko now? What do you think is going to happen in 3 months?

The diagonal "ziz zag"... stair step is so perfect, do you think different lot #'s would have caused that? A Hummer Limo? That is so kool! He must really love us![^]

Bring bail money.

I am on the same page as Rich, as far as improper spacing. It could be an oversized tab... it could also be that the roofers simply didn't install the "tabs" tight together.

Hey Bob, Are you really going to bring your guitar and sing all night long?

I've always thought that a boiler heats water and a furnace heats air. According to wikipedia, a furnace can heat air, or water (or other things too).