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One thing that I do with frost free bibs is warn clients never to leave hoses attached to them once cold weather arrives. Last winter we arrived at a house the morning after a snow storm (December 23rd or 24th, I think) to find the first floor and crawlspace flooded. They'd left the hoses attached to these with the spray heads attached to them and the water turned on. We don't see much snow here and folks often still use their hoses in the winter during the day to wash the car or rinse off the garage apron, etc.. Every once in a while, some dunderhead will leave the hose connected with water in it and forget to disconnect it when the temp drops overnight. I don't think I've ever seen one of my clients so pissed off. Months of looking for a home, lots of back and forth on the negotiations and finally getting a house only to find it trashed the morning of the inspection. The listing agent should have been bullwhipped for not going over a list with that seller to make sure dump crap like that didn't happen. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

What standard do you inspect to? If you inspect to a standard, is there a requirement in your standard to point out every hose bib shutoff for the client? There certainly isn't such a requirement in any standard that I've ever seen. You can only inspect and report on what is visible and you should not be responsible for guessing what is, or isn't, behind walls in a home. It sounds like this buyer has unreasonable expectations. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well yeah, unless they're doing something like this: Click to Enlarge 79.86 KB or this: Click to Enlarge 34.81 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

They seem to do a really good job of collecting roof debris on top of the gutters until it builds up to the point of forming a dam and causing other issues. There just isn't any good substitute for cleaning the gutters properly. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Just google "gas fireplace brands" and you'll end up with one or two of those comparison sites that lists all brands. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Kurt, dunno when it came out. Scott, it could be 15lb. I was going from memory and I'd rather recommend 60-minute paper before 30-minute paper. I'll look it up when I get some time. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I agree with Jim; we see low-slope roofs covered with modbit all the time here and plenty of them aren't vented and we're known for our somewhat less-than-dry climate. I call 'em B52 ramblers because the pitch is about equal to the wing droop you'll see on a B52. I've squeezed my butt into a lot of those 12 inch deep 50 year old roof cavities and inch-wormed my way along the entire length of those things and only found moisture issues in a few circumstances. Don't know why. Like Jim said, performance isn't predictable. A peek above the drywall in a couple of places might be in order but unless you can identify an issue you might be making a mountain out of a molehill. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Marc and Matto are both right. Dr. Paul Fisette at U of M Amherst has done a lot of research on solar drive and it's affects on various building material. Matto, You said two layers of a "vapor type retarder." I think you meant to say that there should be two layers of WRB - 60 minute paper. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It seems that the switches change depending on whether it is a unit that has a remote control or is one that can't be equipped with a remote. Heatilator's is: Off - Nothing works On - It works with the wall switch Remote - It only functions with the remote The screens are for decoration to simulate the look of a spark screen. You have to remove them in order to open the front in order to clean the glass. The blast doors are normally heavy pieces of steel that are hinged to the top of the firebox and have a layer of very dense fiberglass insulation bonded to their face. The weight of the steel keeps it closed.There are only two positioned - opened or closed - you want them closed so that CO isn't being vented into the home. If too much gas accumulates in the firebox and you then light it, they pop up momentarily to release pressure when that gas ignites so that the glass won't shatter. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sure, go for it, but give credit where credit is due - The Stucco Resource Guide from the Stucco Manufacturer's Association. OT - OF!!! M.

It'll absorb vapor diffision and release it slowly. Otherwise, you might end up with rivulets on the plastic barrier. With no way to drain that 4 mil into the shower pan you wouldn't want that. Did you consider closed-cell foam with a barrier for that exterior wall? Fiberglass doesn't provide the most consistent wall you know. OT - OF!!! M.

What kind of surround are you talking about? Tiled or pre-fab fiberglass? One piece or 3 to 5 piece? Regardless, I'd probably use a barrier and then a layer of cement backer board OT - OF!!! M.

It must be a Mike thing. Just about every day, someone says to me stuff like, "Smile, it can't all be bad," or "What happened? Lose your best friend?" or "Smile, tomorrow will be a better day," or other crap like that. I just tell 'em, "Hey, don't blame me for this mug; my parents put it together." [:-grumpy] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

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Remote switch/off/on - Pretty simple The gas control valve has a temperature setting valve (left) and an off/pilot/on valve just like a water heater. Turn it to pilot, push it in and hold it, hit the igniter button a couple of times until the pilot lights, continue to hold it in for two minutes, release it and the pilot should stay lit; if it doesn't, repeat and warm it up longer next time. Once the pilot stays lit, turn the control to on and turn on the wall switch to light the fireplace. Then adjust the height of the flame with the left knob on the control valve. Turn the fan knob clockwise until it clicks - that's the high position. Dial it all the way clockwise for low speed position. Wait for the fireplace to heat up and the blower will eventually come on when it reaches its set point. Unscientific temp recommendation: Tell the client to let the fireplace heat up for about 15 minutes and then place the back of his hand against the surround above. If he can't hold the back of his hand there because it's too hot, reduce the fireplace temp and test again until he can. That will be his maximum setting. Tell him to remember not to exceed that setting. Show 'em how to open it up and clean the glass once a year, make sure the front is sealed properly, that the logs are properly positioned so that they don't impinge the flame and make sure the blast doors on top are in position and sealed. Tell 'em to keep the dust and animal hair out from under that sucker or when they turn it on in the fall and that blower comes on the house will smell like a crematorium. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

UPDATE: I just spoke by telephone with the King County Medical Examiner's office. Their investigation is still ongoing and they haven't issued an OCD yet. They are awaiting the results of lab tests and other investigative results and it looks like they won't have an OCD until sometime in December. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, You can send it to G.E. (Protimeter) and they'll repair it. The last time I called Protimeter, the guy on the phone quoted me $125.) I took it to a local TV repair shop. The place was full to the ceiling with 20-year old analog TV's that were broke and had a fog of cigarette smoke so thick that I could still smell it two days later. The guy took two minutes to figure it out and it cost me $10 to get a transformer wire soldered that had broken and was barely making contact. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

To me, the damage looks like it's too close in to that inside corner to have been caused by refracted sunlight from either window. I think the dryer could have done it. Look at the pattern of the dark heat stain on that piece of unfinished trim and look at the direction that it goes - up and to the left. Is it possible that dryer duct outlet isn't installed very well and a bunch of that hot air is flowing up behind the siding to that corner? Some testing that CPSC did in the beginning of the decade found that dryer exhaust can be anywhere from 61 to 79°C and that the heater box of a gas dryer can exceed 800°C. I don't thnk that there's any doubt that if the air from a clothes dryer was wafting into that corner it could melt and distort that vinyl. On a side note; what kind of numbnuts installed a rain screen product on the diagonal like that. Find out, go into Word, print out a bogus Darwin Award certificate for him/her and drop it in the mail to the moron. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

This article in Warranty Week, a newsletter for Warranty Management Professionals, provides some insight into the concerns and attitudes of three separate warranty providers toward the home inspection profession.

This story has some other Canadian inspectors seriously spooked. OT - OF!!! M.

Very Kewl, Ezra, Your dad was a mensch! You've got every right to be very proud. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hmm, That kind of sounds like some recycled inspectorlore to me. Can you cite a single court case where a judge rendered that as a legal opinion? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

All joints on stucco walls need periodic inspections and maintenance. It's not a question of outlasting, it's a question of staying flexible so it can handle the differences in range of movement of the vinyl, trim and stucco; that means that one must use backer rod or the caulk will be defeated by the movement regardless of what it is. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, even I quit reading it about 1/3 of the way through and I'm infamous for my tomes. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, According to this article, users with Windows 7 Starter Edition are not going to be completely happy with their netbook unless they upgrade the software or go with XP. OT - OF!!! M.