hausdok

Hi Tom, Having grown up in upstate New York and knowing what kind of mineral content you see in water up that way, I can understand why you'd say at 12 years she's toast. Out here, 10 to 15 is a good range. 10 years if you've never flushed it or replaced the anode - 15 or better if you have. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Jeez, IE's looking kind of slick. Maybe I should upgrade my 2003 version. [^] OT - OF!!! M.

#19 is a really good example of a California school box bungalow - it might even be a kit house or a copy of a kit house. Prominent barge rafters and brackets, deep overhanging eaves, low to the ground and spreading with a wide deep veranda. Les, if you want a good read, get a copy of The American Bungalow 1880 - 1930 by Clay Lancaster. Once I started reading it, I couldn't put the damned thing down. You can order it through the bookstore at American Bungalow Magazine. If you've got bungalow fever and feel like hanging out with other bungalowmaniacs, you can do so at the forums over at Ambung. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Get a comb binder punch, a bunch of comb bindings of various widths, an economical and fast black and white printer, a case of paper and then clear a place about 3ft. wide on a bookshelf. Then go to "Library" on the top menu bar of TIJ, click on "File Downloads" in the sub-menu and start printing off and binding all of the stuff you'll find there. You'll find a ton of free stuff in there that can make you really smart about this gig. Then go to "All Forums" and choose the "Free Downloads" category, scroll down through the old posts there and follow the links in there to free resources all over the net and do the same thing with anything that you find there that isn't in the TIJ Library. If you're not taking advantage of all of the free resources on this site you're missing out on the best educational resource for home inspectors that can be found anywhere. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Get a copy of The Roofer's Handbook by W.E. Johnson (Craftsman books). It's got a whole section on T-lock shingles. I don't know if they're still popular there, but when I lived in Colorado in the mid 1990's those were the shingles of choice around Colorado Springs because of the high wind conditions. There's a company in the mid-west that still produces them and installs them. http://squiresroofing.com/interlock_shingles.htm ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I'd guess that the bottom of the tank is covered with a layer of mud that's preventing it from heating up properly. Get them to flush the tank and then see if that makes a difference. Also, it's in that date range where it might have one of those polypropylene dip tubes that's fallen off and needs to be replaced and the tank flushed. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

For anyone that's interested, CompUsa has three computers - two laptops and one desktop - that are pre-loaded with the starter edition of Windows 7 and are on sale right now for less than $400, including free shipping. This might be the perfect opportunity to replace that old beat up laptop and start to experiment with Windows 7 without screwing up the office rig. To learn more, click here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Wow, That is one helluva nice project. What do you reckon - $1M to $3M to completely restore it? OT - OF!!! M.

Here's the ultimate project for you eastern seaboard DIY'er types. It'll be disassembled for the buyer and loaded on the buyer's truck and then all the buyer needs to do is reassemble it on his/her own foundation, wire it, plumb it, re-roof it, install HVAC systems, install sewer or septic systems, and maybe a well - depending on location - and re-plaster all of the rooms and rebuild the fireplaces and chimney. Just what the bored home inspector is looking for to fill those long boring winter weekends. [:-bonc01] Click here!!! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, You are in completely the wrong venue for this question. I recommend you go over to HVAC Talk. They guys over there eat and breath this king of thing. http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/ ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Joe, That's fine but it takes a whole lot of wiring and splices to fill a box to 75% of the cross sectional area of the space and I don't think that adding a splice or two, so a couple of circuits can be doubled up on a single breaker, is going to be that big a deal. If it were, I think all splices would be prohibited in panels. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

A non-load-bearing support pier? What is that? The fact that it's a support pier means that it's load bearing. What are you fishing for? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That means that you've already voted. OT - OF!!! M.

I don't get it; why would anyone really care about looking at the data plate on a dryer? A dryer is an accessory that's not even part of the house or it's fixed electro-mechanical systems, so I'm only interested in the circuitry. As long as the cables are compatible with the breaker and the breaker is adequately sized for the typical load for a dyer (30-amps) I couldn't care less about the dryer data plate. What am I missing here? Should we now be calling ourselves Home and Appliance inspectors? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike and

Hi, The software is set to delete w*nk and w*nker. Don't ask me; apparently it is some kind of cuss word across the northern border and on the continent. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I'm liking it, it kind of grows on you. Front page looks pretty kewl! Still miss the traditional TIJ logo though. OT - OF!!! M.

It's obviously a case of a mildly retarded installer. I'd call his boss and insist he get his butt back there to correct it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Joe, Well, since we're not all electricians, couldn't you just explain it and break it down to terms and concepts we can easily understand instead of pointing to a code cite? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Aw, I'm missing our old logo already. Couldn't we have kept it and changed it to blue? [:-brokenh ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Dave, It really doesn't matter whether it's a 20, 30, 40 or 50 amp breaker; just look at the size of the conductors connected to the breaker and make sure that the conductors can safely carry at least the amperage of the breaker without being toasted. So, if it's a 240-volt 30-amp breaker, #10 copper/#8 aluminum or larger is good but smaller is bad; if it's a 40-amp breaker, #8 copper/#4 aluminum or larger is good but smaller is bad, etc. As long as it's properly sized and installed correctly there isn't anything to report. Now, if I had a dryer running off of a 30 amp breaker with 12-gauge conductors, and the breaker wasn't tripping and the conductors looked fine, without any sign of overheating, I'd be mildly curious as to whether or not that dryer was pulling less than 20-amps but I wouldn't waste my time trying to find a data plate, I'd just write it up as having undersized conductors and I'd move onto the next item. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It's urethane. You need acetone to get it off. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well there's no easy way to say this; the GC has his head up his ass. Fire the GC - he's incompetent - and hire a contractor that knows what the hell he's doing. Why do I say he's incompetent? Well, if he's going along with applying all of that goop to the outside of the structure to try and stop leaks that would have never occurred if the walls had been properly detailed in the first place, he's incompetent. Then strip the stucco system off and detail the walls, windows and doors correctly. 15# felt? Gimme a break - how about two layers of 30 minute paper or one layer of 60 minute paper.? This is basic stuff that the GC should have known. Go online and order yourself a copy of The Stucco Resource Guide from the Stucco Manufacturer's Association and then redo all of those exterior details correctly before anyone puts trowel to mud. It's not the stucco contractor's responsibility to properly detail the windows and doors and wall penetrations, it's the G.C.'s. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Wouldn't it make more sense to disclaim it based on the fact that it's all full of organic material or because of the fact that the exterior temp is below 60°F? It is, cold there today, isn't it? I just got a bunch of photos emailed to me by my stepmother. They just had their first snow of the season in Dutchess County New York. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Figures, if I'd said I hated the color, he'd love it. [:-gnasher Reduce the font size or use a font that displays less boldly for the front page. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, the term is "post-frame building" or "frame building" for short - not pole-barn, and it's a perfectly legitimate construction technique; just not one that's been used a whole lot for residential construction over the last hundred years or so or that a whole lot of home inspectors are familiar with. The technique is coming back though because it's a cheaper way to build a pretty solid home. If you have a lot of post-frame houses in your area you should get subscriptions to Rural Builder and Frame Building News. I usually learn one or two things every issue. Yeah, you need a J-channel around the windows. Some of the new artsy-fartsy condos here in Seattle are wood framed with metal skin applied in rain screen fashion. Those have deep ribs and deep J-channels around the windows and doors. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike