hausdok

Nope, not damaged. OT - OF!!! M.

By TARA E. McLAUGHLIN From lead-based paint to radon gas and mold, homeowners in Florida have signed their fair share of disclosure forms when buying and selling real estate. Now, Realtors throughout Southwest Florida are taking steps to add Chinese manufactured drywall to that list. “We have a lot of disclosures but we want to make sure the public knows what’s going on,â€

Hi Jerry, I don't know for certain why Senator Spanel didn't have an E & O requirement in the original bill that became law but I can tell you that when WHILAG - the coalition that fought her for two years - was deliberating what to push for in the bill and what to get eliminated, the group had quite a debate about E & O and ultimately voted in favor of it being left out and allowing business owners to decide on their own whether they feel it is necessary or not. Personally, I think forcing an E & O policy on folks doesn't make sense because most deductibles equal just about what the limit is for small claims court and because most "claims" are at teh small claims court level so an insurance company won't pay them anyway - the inspector must if it's determined that he's screwed up. Besides, at what you pay for an E & O policy, if you're a good inspector and don't have any claims at all for, say, 10 years, that's about $40,000 that you've essentially thrown away. Even if you get one $10,000 claim, you'll still have to pay the $5k deductible, thus pushing the cost of the iinsurance over that decade to about $45k and now they'll raise your rates. Lots of other professions are doing fine without E & O and nobody calls those professional irresponsible business persons, why is it that everyone seems to think that home inspectors are any different than other business people and one must have additional protections? Guess you can see which way I voted at WHILAG. I once had a lady make a frivolous claim against me. I investigated, discovered that it was completely bogus, and then I reported it to my E & O carrier, figuring that they'd tell her to take a hike and I'd be home free. They agreed with me 100%, refused to give her a dime, and then promptly billed me for the entire deductible. "What kind of bullshit is this," I asked. "Oh, that's the way it works. Didn't you know?" was the answer that came back. In otherwords, they made a big chunk of money on my phone call and my bank account became shorter by the amount of the deductible. That's when I figured out that E & O is nothing but a scam. Oh sure, a mandatory E & O requirement will force a few folks out of the business, so there aren't as many competitors, but it won't do a whole lot for most folks who've got a complaint with an inspector. Anyway, like I said, you'll have to ask Senator Spanel. There is nothing preventing you from placing a limit of liability in your contract if you want to; it's been upheld in this state by some judges and hasn't by others. Talk to your lawyer. One thing you do need to understand is that a limit of liability isn't going to protect you if your contract looks like a one-sided contract of adhesion that doesn't give the consumer any other alternative except to agree to a refund. That will only end up landing you in a courtroom being sued. You'll stand there protesting the fact that you're in court, because you have a LoL in your contract, and the judge will point out that you're there because you didn't give the customer any other option and it will cost you one way or the other. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That might be the problem right there. The stuff I see is always applied horizontally, beginning at the bottom where it overlaps the footing, and then each successive course overlaps the top of the first in single fashion. If they've applied that stuff vertically, they've now got a whole lot of vertical joints for water to come through. How did they terminate that stuff at the top to make sure water didn't get behind it? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I suppose it could be Omniwood with a Stuccato Panel. OT - OF!!! M.

OK, Well, looks like we can use some of that to update our own charts. Thanks, ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!!! Mike

By Carrie Alexander SPECIAL TO THE AMERICAN-STATESMAN Sunday, February 08, 2009 When Hurricane Ike swept through the Texas Gulf Coast last September , the storm threw a knockout punch to the Bolivar Peninsula. Much of the coastal town of Gilchrist was devastated. Still standing, however, were nearly all of the homes built in Audubon Village, a community less than two miles east of Rollover Pass in Gilchrist. The reason: They were built to standards set by the Fortified for Safer Living program, which specifies design, construction and landscaping guidelines that increase a home's resistance to hurricanes and other natural disasters. Homes in Beachtown, a 260-acre community on Galveston Island's East End, also came through Hurricane Ike mostly unscathed. Those homes, too, were built to Fortified for Safer Living standards. To read more, click here.

USA TODAY - February 9, 2009 Question: Is there anything in this massive federal economic stimulus plan for small business? — Rick Steve Strauss responds: Yes, lots. First a little history: While FDR's New Deal helped soften the worst blows of the Great Depression, the fact is that the Depression did not end until World War II began, due to the massive amount of spending and building that the country undertook to wage and win the war. That spending kick started the economy and finally ended the last vestiges of the long economic downturn. To read more in USA Today, click here.

Hi Les, We can fix that; write an article about it and we'll get it up on TIJ's front page. Need the links too! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Frank, It will if one does his homework and sizes it right. It's hard to size them for new construction because a builder is going to try and save as much as he can but at the same time the builder doesn't want complaints from the buyer. The problem is that unless a builder knows how the family will use hot water and tailors the system for that family, it's impossible to be successful in calculating which size to use for maximum bang for the buck. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jimmy, There isn't a whole lot of difference from one to the other; the technology hasn't changed a whole lot over the years either. There are six manufacturer's making more than 105 brands of water heaters in the US and these are basically a tank, two off-the-shelf heating elements, and two off the shelf thermostats/controllers. I suppose there might be some slight differences in tank thickness and quality of metal and welds but I doubt that makes a whole lot of difference. If you decide to go with a tankless, you can save substantially on your electric bill and the copper and/or stainless steel heat exchanger will last longer than a conventional tank type water heater, so it will probably pay for itself a couple of times over during the first decade you use it. However, it will cost you substantially more in up-front cost and if you don't size it correctly, according to the way you use hot water, you'll find yourself running out of hot water despite all of the claims that they make about "endless hot water". Based on what I've read, I think that Stiebel-Eltron is probably head and shoulders, quality and technology-wise, above the other manufacturers of electric tankless water heaters. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Looks like EIFS; not a control joint or accessory joint anywhere to be seen in that photo. Then again, there aren't any large areas visible where you'd need such joints with 3-coat. OT - OF!!! M.

Missing from the news You're a 19 year old kid; critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the La Drang Valley, 11-14-1965, LZ Xray, Vietnam. Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 to 1, and the enemy fire is so intense from 100 or 200 yards away that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the Medevac choppers to stop coming in. You're lying there, listening to the enemy machineguns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is halfway around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day. Then, over the machinegun noise you faintly hear the sound of a helicopter. You look up to see an unarmed Huey but it doesn't seem real, because there are no Medevac markings on it. Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medevac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machinegun fire anyway. Even after the Medevacs were told not to come, he's coming anyway. And he drops it in, and sits there in the machinegun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the waiting doctors and nurses. And he kept coming back...... 13 more times..... and took over 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out. Medal of Honor recipient Ed Freeman died recently in Boise, Idaho at the age of 80. Oh yeah, Paul Newman died that day too. You've probably never heard about Ed but you knew all about Paul, didn't you? Some are considered heroes because of what they are perceived to be; some are heroes because it's what they are - the first are worshipped the latter quietly forgotten. Goodbye Ed, thank you for the fathers you saved and for their children, grandchildren and those yet to come. Click to Enlarge 13.41 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Nope, except for a soundbite of Obamalangadingdong telling a bevy of reporters yesterday that this country is in a crisis (D'oh, do you think?) I haven't watched the news for days. Where'd this happen? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Which was exactly the point of my response. OT - OF!!! M.

Fires? Did you read the same article I did? OT - OF!!! M.

Um, Shouldn't the question be how hot does a hot water heater re-heat hot water? It only heats cold water once; from that point onward it's re-heating hot water, unless you've got a teenager and then it's a water heater at least twice a day and a hot water heater the rest of the time. [] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Tuesday, 10 February 2009 Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, has predicted the heat wave in South Australia will place extreme pressure on many homes that are already suffering cracking due to extended drought and water restrictions. Jim Jovanovic, Archicentre SA State Manager, said Archicentre’s pre-purchase home inspection statistics show an average 34% of properties across Australia have been damaged by drought, the estimated annual bill likely to be around $1 billion and rising. “When the soil beneath a building dries up and shrinks from lack of water, it forces the property to move. If the house or apartment is built of brick, it is highly likely to crack,â€

Hi Jimmy, More important than that, what should be the minimum education and experience one should have before one opens up a school teaching home inspectors how to work the mold rush. There are folks out there teaching this stuff that have probably opened a book in their life. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Oh yeah, huh. John Wayne in that move about oil well fires, right? I've got to pay better attention. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Tom, Heck, I missed it too. I'd pruned the thread and moved a bunch of stuff into a holding cell while I pondered whether to delete it or start a separate thread with it, and the fellow went off like Christian Bale. I guess a few folks got to see it before it got taken down. It wasn't hard after that to decide what to do with the non-relevant stuff or with his access for that matter. Sorry, Red. Ian, if you go to the National Association of Realtor's site and search their archives for inspection or inspector I'm fairly certain that you'll find several articles there that were written by prominent real estate folks about the subject of listing inspections. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, Think about it; if it is slated for a hearing with the mold requirement in there, and a bunch of folks show up to protest it, they're liable to be pushed into a situation where they have to pull the mold stuff out before they can send the bill to the senate for a vote. On the other hand, if they pull it out before the meeting and more people show up demanding that mold be included than protest it, then they'd be compelled to add it back in before sending it to the senate floor. It's politics and the way that pols get things done. It's one of the reasons there are so many lobbyists paid to hang out in capitols around the country and constantly monitor this type of thing; if there weren't, can you imagine the kind of mischief politicians would be up to? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, My bollard is my garage gage. I have to put my front bumper right against it and lock the emergency brake. If I don't, I don't have enough room to close the danged door with the ladders strapped on. [:-bonc01] Around here, most of them are 4" steel pipe welded to a steel flange secured to the floor with four 1/2" mollys. Obviously, like the barricade in the picture above, it's not going to stop anyone hellbent on hitting the equipment, but it's enough to seriously damage the front end of someone's car if they come into the garage too fast and prang that thing. I think it would probably stop me once if my foot accidentally slipped off the brake and I lurched forward. After that, I'd probably be putting in another but my equipment wouldn't be damaged. That's the point, isn't it? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Window? I can't see that one. After reviewing the installation instructions and diagrams closely, it does not appear that any gaps directly to the building paper will result if the keyways line up. This is in contrast to this defect occurring in a shingle installation. Thus my concern about water intrusion may be over-the-top. I do think it would void the warranty if James Hardie was called out on a claim. Look right of center in the top photo. They've got 3/4 of those shingle panels lined up one above the other with the joints at either side aligned. It looks like when someone pulls out a window but then doesn't bother to stagger the claps or shingle joints around the window to disguise the outline of the window that had been removed. Of course there never was a window there but it still resembles that. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Oh! I missed that. What are you thinking; they never bothered to bond the gas pipe and the equipment ground at the furnace is kaputt? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike