hausdok

What kind of water heater was taken out and what kind replaced it. Were the Btu's the same? Was the one that came out a coil-in-tank? Is there a chance they hooked it up backward? Did they check to ensure the circulator wasn't air locked and cavitating? Did they know what the hell they were doing?

I think the first digit was a 2 and you wrote down Z - Furnace built 21st week of 2001.

How big is the room where the tankless is installed. Has it got a combi vent or does it get it's combustion air from that room? If it's got a combination intake/exhaust (combi) vent, removing that vent won't hurt anything. However if it's only got an exhaust vent and gets its combustion air from that room and you don't have another way for fresh air to get into that room, you might want to leave that vent there so it can supply fresh air to that room for combustion.

An emergency use generator setup and a standby generator setup are different. We have tons of houses around here with generators but very few of them are standby generators - the majority are emergency generators. You are looking at the code for a standby generator. Was it installed as an emergency generator or a stand-by generator? It doesn't sound like it was the electrician's fault at all. If they sized the generator for emergency loads only and the homeowner was dumb enough to try and run the entire house despite the fact he was overloading the generator it's on him, not the electrician. If it's only wired to sustain a 30 or 40 amp load you have to be careful to use the right language when you describe it in your report; because if you call it a "standby" generator in your report you are giving the customer the idea that it's meant to power the entire house when it is not. If the homeowner jammed a piece of wood under the breaker - you have a clear sign that he was forcing the unit to exceed it's capacity. What kind of knuckle-dragging idiot does that? All-electric house or not, Christmas holiday or not, as soon as that breaker tripped he should have realized that he couldn't run the full load on that unit and he should have shut down all non-essential circuits and limited use to only what was needed until all power was restored. That means no big screen TV, turn off the pool filter, turn off the breaker to any hot tubs or whirlpool tubs. Turn off the water heater and only turn it on when necessary and don't use the electric stove at the same time that the water heater is turned on. It also means not using the clothes dryer until power is restored and only heating one room where everyone congregates versus heating the entire house. It means turning off Christmas tree lights and not running the microwave, etc.. Once power came back on he could have used all that extra stuff and then contacted the electrician to complain if it was supposed to have been a standby generator when it was installed. It sounds like you have a case of a homeowner being an ignorant dickhead - not a negligent electrician. However, you might have a case where you misidentified it in your report and have left yourself wide open to liability. If that's the case, the fact that the homeowner was stupid enough to try and force the system to exceed it's capacity might cause a judge to rule that the homeowner must share replacement costs.

Is the house on a well? Are the drains properly trapped? Hi levels of hydrogen sulfide gas coming in with the water maybe? The fact that he'd using a C.O. detector during a routine inspection says that he's got some learning to do. Tell him to learn to inspect without the meter. The meter should only be pulled out when his training gives him cause to suspect there could be something pumping C.O. into the house. If he uses it for every job he's going to find himself constantly chasing false alarms.

Wow, Two years to the day the thread got randomly re-opened. I wonder what the odds are of that happening? There are commercial products designed specifically for softening ceiling texture that painters and drywall guys used. Spray it on, wait and then walk a 12" wide knife along the ceiling and it comes off like butter being scraped with a hot knife. Keep it wet down so it can't become friable, bag up the residue and toss it in the trash. OT - OF!!! M.

I dunno, A few years ago I was standing in a kitchen with my client and his buddy. The client had just handed me the check and I was packing my tools and answering a few questions the client had. The buddy got tired of standing on his feet I guess; and since there wasn't any thing to sit on decided to sit on the countertop. He put both hands on the counter ledge, did a little bunny hop, hoisted himself up while turning in the air, and planted his butt on that island with his butt over the cabinets and his legs over the overhang. Suddenly there was a loud pop. We all looked down at the countertop which had cracked between his legs. When I left, the client and the client's realtor were busy still yelling at the buddy. The supports under that overhang were about 30 inches apart. The friend had landed dead center between two of them. I was pretty happy that I'd already been paid when that happened. If it were going to be my granite countertop I'd listen to the guy who knows what it takes to crack one of those countertops before I'd listen to the woodworker who built the cabinet. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

This is a new home. There's no better time to get it corrected than right now and at the same time you are taking the opportunity to educate the builder or site super on something that might not have been on his/her radar. The residential code requires a "rough opening" size of not less than 22 inches by 30 inches for an ordinary attic access opening, which means the finished hatch - assuming 1/2-inch drywall - would be 21 inches by 29 inches, which is still longer than what you've described. However, your attic contains HVAC equipment and that means the mechanical code applies - not the residential code. The mechanical code requirement is that the passageway to the opening must be large enough to bring the equipment through if it requires replacement and there needs to be sufficient headroom above the opening to be able to tip the equipment up and angle it through the opening. Then the finished access opening needs to be not less than 20-inches by 30-inches or at least large enough to remove the largest piece of equipment. I'd simply write something like: The last time I looked at the mechanical code for HVAC equipment installed in an attic, the code stated that the finished access opening had to be a minimum of 20-inches wide by 30-inches long and at least large enough to accommodate removal of the largest piece of HVAC equipment installed in the attic. The finished access opening to the attic in this house measures 21-1/2 inches by 23-1/2 inches, which is obviously smaller than the smallest opening allowed. I recommend you bring this to the builder's attention now. Ask the builder to have someone measure the equipment installed in the attic, to determine what is the smallest hatch size that can be used, and then have the opening modified to meet that requirement while not being smaller than the minimum finished size of 20-inches by 30-inches that's required. That tosses it back in the builder's lap without a specific code cite. If the builder has a thimble full of brains he/she will look it up or call the local code guy, who will look it up, and they'll arrive at the truth and make corrections as needed. Maybe I'd get a phone call from the client complaining that I was wrong, that the builder showed him the latest version of the code and it allowed a smaller opening - or maybe he'd state that the builder checked with the local code guy and the local code guy confirmed that the smaller opening was fine. In a case like that I'd remind the client that I am not a code guy and that I didn't base my remarks on the latest version of the code as held in my hand. I'd tell him/her to personally double-check with the local code person to ensure that the builder has the facts straight and at that point I'd wash my hands of the issue and let the client work it out, or not, with the builder. No report creep involved. Simple statement of the truth as I saw it and let the chips fall where they may. If the builder gets obstinate advise the client to double-check with the local code official. If I do less and it gets ignored, and five years from now the furnace goes toes up and can't be removed from the attic without major costly modifications, it won't be the builder that gets blamed - it'll be me for not pointing it out when it could have been easily fixed prior to the client taking possession of the home. FWIW A few years ago I squeezed through an access opening that was 14-3/4 by 14-3/4 inches and about 17-1/2 inches on the diagonal. Anyone that's ever met me in person is saying to himself right now, "No friggin' way O'Handley; you're lying through your teeth," but I assure you it's true. The agent yelled up to me, "Mike, are you going to be able to get out of there?" I yelled back, "Don't think so. How about calling my wife and have her stop by about twice a week to bring me some sandwiches and switch out the slop bucket." I got out easier than I got in. Pretty sure I couldn't do that today. The "large" jacket I put on the other day felt like it was designed for a midget. I think it's time I started working on my weight again. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Mark, I've been writing every installation up for years. It was only last Wednesday that I found an installation where the installer had done most of the things recommended by the MVMA guidelines. It was the first time I'd found flashings used at the vertical transitions and a wide back-rod packed joint tooled with flexible sealant between the veneer and trim. The guy used horizontal flashings between the veneer and the wood above it and every penetrations through the veneer had head flashings with end dams. It wasn't perfect; he didn't leave a gap at the bottom - he put the veneer right on the hardscaping - and he didn't use any sort of weep screed, but it was better than anything I'd previously seen or had written up. I've written up a lot of houses built by that particular company. I couldn't help wondering whether the guy who'd put on that veneer was a new guy or a guy I'd written up in the past who has started to change his techniques. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

3-phase?

Just a guess....world domination. [:-skull]

Troublemaker [:-bonc01]

You're thinking about the wrong type of SOP, Marc I'm referring to Standard Operational Procedure - not Standard of Practice. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Write an article for Old House Journal when you get done, Chad. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

required

It's obvious your home is perched near an entrance portal to the bowels of hell. If you don't want your home and family to get sucked in, you'd better move. Alternative, try wearing some garlic cloves around your neck. OT - OF!!! M.

We have subs in the Seattle area but we generally only find them in West Seattle. Not sure why; maybe they can't qualify for an exit visa. When it comes to termites the Pacific Dampwood Termite is the big dog here but I'd bet death watch beetles and carpenter ants do more damage than termites here. OT - OF!!! M.

There is a guy there who claims he can completely seal a crawlspace and install a humidifier in an hour and you pay him $10K? Yeah, right; when pigs fly. Go here: http://www.crawlspaces.org/ Download their information on sealed crawlspace research. Read it all and then read it again before you commit $10K to any of those guys. I was in one today. Quiet, dry and warm. Thick white fiberglass mesh reinforced liner about 20 mils thick. It was raining cats and dogs all day here today and the wind was howling. It dang near knocked me off the roof at one point. Inside that crawl, it was a snug 57 degrees and quiet and dry as a bone, Every ten minutes or so the silence was interrupted by the sound of the pump coming on for about ten seconds. Very professional job. They'd removed all the pre-existing insulation from beneath the floors, closed and sealed all vents and the mud sill and rim at the perimeter. Removed the old vapor barrier and all debris, leveled the floor, added a layer of pea gravel, installed a deep sump and then installed a really heavy vapor barrier over the floor, pier pads and up the walls to about an inch from the top of the foundation wall. A very professional sump pump installation sunk into the low spot in one corner pumped out to a bell receptor next to the foundation. The pipe that receptor is connected to runs underground to the property line and then empties into a long stone drywell at the back of the property. The sump pump was completely sealed and the vapor barrier was integrated into the seal. There were several one-way drains in the barrier to allow water to drain through the barrier in the event they have a plumbing leak or a washing machine overflow. There is an 8-inch long probe that extends into the top of the sump well. If water rises to the end of that probe because the pump isn't working it will sound an alarm. Several more of those probes were sunk through the barrier at the other corners and are integrated into the alarm system. There is a large industrial grade dehumidifier that comes on automatically if the humidity goes beyond the threshold they have it set for. That dehumidifier drains via a pipe to the sump well. Every probe, every wire, every pipe that passes through that barrier is carefully sealed. It was truly a thing of beauty. I always do the crawlspace last because I dread the filth and the crawling and scooting and knee walking and general discomfort and effort that it requires. Usually when I come out of those I feel like I've had the snot kicked out of me by the Seahawks. Not so today. Came out clean dry and actually not smelling foul for a change. I can't wait till this becomes SOP around here and stink hole crawls are a thing of the past. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi all, I've been doing a little side business over the last few weeks with some friends in Australia. It was 110degF in the shade there the other day. Then I saw these comic strips and got a chuckle. http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbefore...3#.UroTo7CA29I http://www.gocomics.com/pearlsbefore...4#.UroT67CA29I

Release oil residue. It gets washed off on the outside but it remains inside.

Wouldn't warrant much more than a passing comment here. Don't know about your neck of the woods.

Click to enlarge any picture.

The MK Lewis general store in Wassaic, NY - a sub-borough of the hamlet I grew up in - Amenia, NY. Probably 1860s to 1880s. Love the detail in this photo. Click the photo to enlarge it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

There's nothing wrong with Teflon tape as long as one knows how to install it properly - lots of folks have no idea and they screw it up, causing bits of tape to get in the system. Do it right and there is no way the tape can get in the system.

Grrr, Math. I thought we'd banned anything beyond second grade math from this site. [:-banghea ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike