hausdok

For the really brave among you, CompUsa is having a sale on high performance bare bones kits. If you have the ability to assemble $200 worth of components into a computer case, hook the wires up in the right places and then load an on-sale $130 XP operating system you can get yourself the equivalent of a $700 machine for about half the price. Here's the link: http://www.compusa.com/applications/cat ... e-PC-Kits& ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Depends on service requirements for the house, doesn't it? Did you swag an estimate of what it needs? I usually don't concern myself too much with that. The power company is responsible for sizing that and they seem to almost universally use 2/0 copper around here and it seems to work fine for everything. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Ooooh, That sounds naughty! OT - OF!!! M.

I can't agree with that. If it's a house for sale and the report is being prepared so that a buyer can decide whether the buyer wants to purchase the house or not, the client is the buyer regardless of who is paying for the inspection. To assume anything else just puts one between the rock and the hard place. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

After July 1st that would get an inspector busted here. OT - OF!!! M.

The client's a lawyer? Maybe it's time to call the client and express how just upset you are by being upbraided by the client's agent for telling the client what you're being paid to tell the client. Make sure the client understands that you're fully aware that your referral business will probably take a hit for revealing that to the client. Bet you'll get plenty of referral business from the client in the future. Hell, over the past four years I'll bet I've done at least 30 jobs for attorneys in a single downtown law firm where I'd tipped off a lawyer client that an agent was being way too agressive with me and was trying to tailor what I said about the home. I haven't even kept track of how many jobs I've done for friends and relatives of those attorneys. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Brandon, Were you inspecting it for the HOA or for the buyers of a single unit? If it's the HOA, I think I'd just tell them that in my opinion the brick veneer and the concrete stoops have been improperly detailed and this is channeling moisture to the structural framing and has caused extensive rot damage in the floor platform. Then I'd tell them that I believe I'm seeing just the tip of the iceberg, that there's a good chance that the rot has moved up into the exterior walls behind the veneer and that there's no way, short of tearing off all of the veneer, to know the extent of any hidden damage. Then I'd recommend they hire a competent and reputable contractor to determine the extent of any hidden damage, repair all hidden damage as necessary and then restore the exterior. I'd make sure that they understood that it is going to be very expensive; and, if done wrong or shortcuts are taken, will only cost them even more down the road. If just a single buyer who is purchasing in that condo, I'd probably tell him or her that the exterior is done wrong and has caused extensive damage to the structure; probably much more than I can see, and that the damage I can see is so severe that it's hard to believe that the owner and/or HOA weren't aware of it. I'd tell the client that if the seller or HOA indicate that nobody was aware of any damage that severe that the HOA certainly won't get any gold stars for proper periodic inspections and maintenance of that structure. I'd make sure the client understands that fixing any damage just related to the client's prospective unit is probably not going to be the end of it; and, if the client purchases, the client can look forward to periodic emergency assessments to react to hidden damage that's eventually going to reveal itself. I'd tell 'em that if they have any running shoes handy that they should probably consider putting them on and sprinting away, unless the positives about the place far outweigh their concerns about condition. Then again, that's just me. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, I think it's time for a call to the agent's broker to discuss how the agent is trying to control what you say to your clients. Point out that you don't tell agents how to sell real estate and ask what business his agent has telling you how to inspect homes and present those issues to your clients. Isn't Virginia a home inspector license or registration state? If so, I'd also pick up the phone and call whoever is in charge of home inspectors so that they can call whoever is in charge of real estate licensees and have a chat with them. That said, maybe it's just me, or maybe I'm not seeing it clearly enough in the photos, but I don't see a whole lot with that veneer that I'd be too concerned with. Compared to some of the veneer I see, that cracking is so minor as to be negligible. Was there anything at all, besides expansion and contraction cracks in the structure to indicate any major movement such as a settled slab or foundation? Are the damaged trusses due to foundation movement or did someone top-load the bottom chords with a bunch of stored property? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Moderator?? Sigh. Shucks, just when I thought I might have a reason to go back to New England and visit Vermont after not having been back there for 30 years. Oh well, maybe next time. OT - OF!!! M.

Well, T'ain't nobody applying anything with a bium on the end of its name to my thingy, thats for sure. OT - OF!!! M.

Hey Caoimhín, Didn't I just hear someplace that you and the mold lady, Sharon Kramer, are both speaking at some kind of conference in the coming days? It that's true, what's that all about; is there going to be a no-holds-barred bare knuckled cage match? Watch out, she's got a whole legion of followers ready to tar and feather and then impale anyone that takes issue with her views. You might need an armed escort or at least the Dynamic Duo to get you out of there alive. [:-batman] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Or Murray. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It's a crimped splice and splices are allowed in the panel, aren't they? I don't see an issue with it as long as the breaker will cut power before the maximum load on either conductor is reached, which it should. I don't think that the fact that it's a tandem breaker has anything to do with it; the breaker is still designed to handle the same load regardless. I think it would have been wrong if the electrician, in order to ensure that the combined two separate loads didn't trip the breaker had upped the breaker size beyond what's allowed for the conductors, but my non-electrician mind can't find a common sense logical prohibition against this. OK, Jim. You can spank my ignorance now. I really should keep my yap shut when it comes to electrical stuff. [:-bigeyes ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Here's some food for thought for the TREC. The attached letter is a letter from Dr. Pfallah to the committee that had been considering adding a requirement for inspectors to look for mold here in Washington State. After this letter was submitted, the Senator proposing the addition of mold to our requirements withdrew her bill amendment proposal stating that it was obvious that "a lot more work is needed," before any requirement for mold can be added to our law. Download Attachment: VeritoxMoldRebuttal.pdf 280.32 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Behind tub and shower surrounds, floors around toilets, window casings, walls beneath windows, floors in kitchens, laundries and bathrooms, floors in front of entrances. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

And still more as OAHI counters: http://www.burlingtonpost.com/news/article/251800

More about Holmes Home Inspections: http://www.burlingtonpost.com/news/article/251812

When the photo displays in a window look at the lower corner of the window and then choose zoom size and then click at the upper corner to go full screen. I can get that photo too completely fill my 21-inch monitor screen in about two clicks. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The rotten egg smell is hydrogen sulfide gas produced when the bacteria in the water inside the turned-off water heater reacts with the anode rod. The discoloration is caused by some kind of chemical reaction to something in the air that the copper is exposed to. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

If I forget my clothes in the washing machine, it takes exactly two days. - Jim Katen, Oregon Damn you, Katen! I just sprayed my keyboard again and it'll be hours before I can get all of that coffee out of my nasal cavity. I think I might have forced some of it up behind my eyeballs! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I checked on the APA site yesterday. They've been using resin-based heat-cured glues since the 40's and Exterior grade Exposure 1 is supposed to be waterproof. They used water soluble (caseine?) glues until the 30's. I should have realized that; during WWII my father built PT boats out of that early resin based glue plywood. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep, gray mud. OT - OF!!! M.

Saw one several weeks ago at a little more than eye level in an entryway on top of an exterior light. As I stood there talking to the client, the mama sat there on her eggs watching us carefully as we walked by. I suppose she appreciates how warm that thing gets at night when the light is on. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jim, You're right. I'm all wet (Pun intended). OT - OF!!! M.

Remains of a swallows nest? OT - OF!!! M.