hausdok

I don't think you getting it. There is rot in the wood behind that brickwork and that rot will spread to the framing of the house; no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The horse has already bolted and it's too late to close the barn doors. It needs to be torn down. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I wish there was a picture of the brickwork, the crown and the chimney-to-house transition so I could see what's going on there. On going problem? Tell them that the longer they dink around arguing about what caused it, the farther the rot is going to spread into that structure and the more money it will ultimately cost them to fix it; get it torn off and all of that rotten wood yanked out and replaced now before it's rebuilt properly. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I doubt he wrote anything near what I suggested; you stated you "answered 3 recent request letters"; that tells me all I need to know. I never suggested the house was re-inspected I said 'Not being an attorney, I do believe I would have won the case against Mr. F.' If I did represent that client, then I would have had it re-inspected; twice. Mr. Ferry, I'm not on a high horse, never was nor will be. I'm just a normal guy trying to do the best I can for my clients. However, if I were on a high horse, it would take a BETTER man than you to knock me down. If I erroneously jumped to the conclusion that you were on a high horse, I apologize. Your post however is illustrative of a point that I drive home to the inspectors who attend the seminar. Many inspectors are in thrall of putting a provision in their arbitration clause that the arbitrator must be "familiar with the home inspection industry." I tell them you never want a home inspector as an arbitrator for the very reason that your post so convincingly validates. No home inspector can possibly be as good an inspector as the inspector who is the arbitrator. In fact, there has never been an inspector as good as the arbitrator. He's the best. Just ask him. In the military, courts-martial must have an enlisted man on the panel if the defendant is an enlisted man and he so elects. Every attorney with any experience with military justice tribunals counsels the defendant not to avail himself of this "privilege." The reason is you always get some grizzled E-8 or E-9 with 30 years of service under his belt who is going to vote to convict regardless of the evidence. That is why you never see an enlisted man on any court-martial tribunal. if the client insists on having an EM on the tribunal, the defense has to waste its sole peremptory challenge to get that lifer off of the panel. Additionally, there is no need to have or any advantage to having someone "familiar with the home inspection industry" as an arbitrator. Why? Because every single day in this country in courthouses in virtually every county in the nation, juries composed of laymen and women are rendering verdicts in cases far more complex than a home inspection. How do they do that? They hear from expert witnesses who tell them how to interpret the dispositive issues in the case. One side's expert says one thing and the other's says the polar opposite. Who to believe? The one whose testimony stands up to cross-examination. Now imagine the critical issue in the home inspection revolves around whether or not the inspector followed the SOP. The plaintiff's expert HI says that had the inspector done something "extra" - exceeded the SOP - the problem would have been discovered and reported but he didn't and he SHOULD have. That testimony and that expert is easily impeached when your attorney hands him the SOP and says "Tell the arbitrator where that is in the SOP". Homina homina homina. Your guy comes in and says "Nobody does that. It's outside the SOP." He can't be impeached. Now, there's a legal principle having to do with the credibility of witnesses. Falsus in unum, falsus in omnia. If you have ever been on a jury, you have heard that phrase because it is part of every jury charge in every criminal or civil case. It means that if a witness is lying about one thing, he's likely to be lying about everything. You can't believe anything he says. And jurors are told that if they find that a witness is lying they are entitled to disregard the whole of their testimony. They don't have to. But they may. Well, guess what? They always disregard the witness's entire testimony. They have to. You can't have witnesses coming in and giving false testimony and getting away with it. Our entire legal system would break down, if that were not severely punished. Juries do not like being lied to. And neither do arbitrators. Truly neutral arbitrators, that is. But your arbitrator is the BEST HOME INSPECTOR IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD. Never been anyone like him. And he ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS exceeds the SOP. Because he's THE BEST! So . . . you think you've impeached this lying expert BUT THIS GUY AGREES with the lying SOB. Now you're screwed and you should have been exonerated because you were not negligent. I would probably agree with most of that, if an SOP was meant to ensure that the absolute best inspection that could ever be done on a home was done every single time. However, that's not the case; every one I've seen and even on the one I've had a hand in writing, all that the majority of the folks who decide what is included and what stays in the SOP seem to want is all it takes to do a barely, just scraping over the top of the threshold, adequate inspection of a home. Our history in this business is that inspectors who go the extra yard for their clients regularly discover major issues that the guy who refuses to exceed the SOP's misses all the time. For instance, some folks interpret SOPs to mean that they never have to get off a ladder and actually go into an attic and inspect it. The guy who refuses to get off the top of a ladder and actually go into an attic to see what's concealed around the corner out of sight is going to miss stuff. When that stuff eventually presents itself and another inspector hops up in there easily, just like the alarm system guys and the HVAC guys and electricians do all the time, finds the stuff and presents that fact - how do you reconcile the fact that the jury will perceive the guy as lazy? I just can't wrap my head around this; do we encourage our kids to learn as little as they can, to only be second string, not to try and get good grades so that they should go to college? Do we want to purchase the products that we know are made with shortcuts and with the bare minimum standards or do we want to purchase quality stuff. Don't we want contractors working for us to do the absolute best job they can so that we won't have to pay to have it done all over again? I was a cop for nearly 21 years and 10 of those were spent as an investigator; should I have been less careful at collecting evidence and maybe not have taken the extra effort that I did on many occasions to run down one last seemingly useless lead that ultimately proved to be the one that I needed to solve the case? If this is how we raise our children and what we expect from "professionals," why do we tell home inspectors not to ever exceed the SOP if they don't ever want to lose in court? Seems kind of counter-intuitive to me; but maybe there's something to it, I dunno. If I did the bare minimum, I suppose I'd get more referrals from the 'zoids and could do more inspections and make more money, but would I still have as many happy past clients? After nearly 13 years of constantly going well beyond any SOP for my clients, I've yet to have even sat down to an arbitration and have never been sued, though I've heard horror stories from folks who have and that have complained that they'd stuck religiously to their SOPs. Do I really want to screw with what seems to be a winning formula? Nah, I'm going to keep right on inspecting like Mother O'Handley (the most critical female on the planet) is the client. That way, I can be reasonably assured that I won't find myself sitting down to a table in a conference room paying a lawyer to explain to the folks on the other side of the table why it wasn't necessary for me to make that tiny bit of extra effort to do the best job possible. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Do you think this crawl space drain will work very well? The picture is hard to get a feel for scale but the distance from the earth to the bottom of the drain is about 2 feet. This was in a newly constructed 1.5 million dollar home. Maybe that's where the swimming pool was gonna' be! Many thanks to: Scott Wagar Inspections LLC. Hillsboro, OR

Hi, Those are Davinci slates. Compare the pattern on the bottom-center slate in picture #7 here to the pattern on the full slate pictured just under that lifted slate in your picture and you'll see that they are identical. You can download the specs for those right there on that site. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The iNACHI message board is also a free site. You apparently are an habitué yourself. There is no paid advertising anywhere on the iNACHI site.On the contrary, It's clients pay that firm $289 a year to promote their companies; therefore, they are paying to maintain the soap opera. That hardly makes it a free site. TIJ, on the other hand, is free to all home inspectors; all I require is that folks register and that costs them nothing. Sure, the firm's owner doesn't charge vendors to advertise on his site; instead, he apparently charges them for extra promotions that he does for them beyond what's apparent on the board - or so he admits to in the long contentious thread on the subject that I referenced in my previous post. I'd say that means that they are paying him one way or the other. The benefits supplied by that firm? Let me see; he claims between 6,000 and 9,000 members at $289 a year so that's a gross of $1.7M to $2.6M per year, not counting what the vendors must pay for stuff beyond basic access to the membership by being allowed to peddle their products on the board - stuff like extra promotions, spots on the TV show, etc. Since the firm is filed as a non-profit, it's supposed to make zero profit after paying expenses, no? So, deduct salaries of it's corporate members and expenses - such as its legal fees, etc. - and the firm still needs to ensure that the balance is given back to members in the form of "bennies" in order for it to still be entitled to non-profit status. That's the way it works, no? Most of the "benefits" that I see when I read through the lists are discounts from vendors. If, as a vendor, I choose to, or am forced by circumstances, to make 80% less profit when dealing with a public relations firm, in order to gain access to that firm's client list, it isn't the public relations firm that's supplied the "benefit" it's me, the vendor. Walmart uses the same tactics with vendors in order to force their competition out of business - COSTCO too, I imagine. Don't get me wrong, I understand it; it's just business, but please, don't come on here and try and peddle it as anything else. Spin it any way you want; nothing over there is free. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Only iNACHI members get a discount because iNACHI wants its members to hear this valuable information and gives them a $100 subsidy. Are you sure it isn't because that public relations firm has told vendors that they will charge its clients less than they charge members of the home inspection associations, or else the firm will duplicate their products and then provide those products to its clients for free, thus putting those vendors out of business? I ask because I noticed a thread over on the soap opera that deals exactly with that topic that's received nearly 850 responses; most of them chiding the firm's owner for that policy. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi John, Well, I guess if I collected $289 a year from everyone who uses this site, like interNACHI does, I could afford to do that. Until then, since this is a free site and membership here is free, and it's paid advertising that keeps this site in existence, I'm just going to have to do the best I can with what I make from the folks who are courteous enough to pay to advertise their gigs to the members here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Exactly! I grew up about 40 miles from there and I'd bet money that's where the bluegrass band sets up for the ho down. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Why didn't they show the bathrooms? I can't commit until I see what kind of thronerooms they've got. Wonder what they're trying to hide? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Kewl, Let's buy it and make it TIJ's headquarters. Lemme see, if we collect $12 a year from each of TIJ's subscribers we should be able to raise the downpayment in about 50 more years. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Marni Leff Kottle, Special to The Chronicle Sunday, January 18, 2009 Barbara Johnsen spent her entire career helping other people design their dream homes. After three decades as an interior designer, Johnsen finally took a crack at her own - inside the skeleton of a barn that dates to the 1840s. The barn was hauled from New Jersey to Sonoma in hundreds of pieces on a flatbed truck and meticulously reconstructed. Still, somehow, the barn feels as if it has been on the property forever. That, according to Johnsen, is exactly the point. The style is kind of rustic Americana, Johnsen said, the kind that blends patched-up, mismatched floor boards from the 1800s with a gleaming new Viking range. To read more at the San Francisco Chronicle, click here.

Source: MSNBC.com LAS VEGAS, NV - State Continuing Education, Inc. (StateCE) obtains effectiveness of its Nevada State Registered Offering for the sale of $1 Million shares of common stock at $1.00 per share. StateCE plans to file with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to become fully reporting and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to become publicly traded on the over-the-counter Bulletin Board (OTCBB). Nevada's State Registered Offering allows companies to raise up to $1 Million by offering securities to residents and qualified guests in the state of Nevada. Bob Beers, CPA and former Nevada State Senator, will serve as StateCE's agent of the issuer to assist the company in self-distributing shares of its stock. To read the rest of the article on MSNBC, click here.

Yeech, That was nasty. Readable and correctly formatted, but the contrast and colors aren't as nice or as polished looking as in IE. Don't know why you guys like it so much. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, I have to admit, that's pretty tough on the eyes. That's almost exactly what I'd envisioned. In IE the background is a very light blue with darker bold text that stands out from the background. I never use Firefox, so I'd never realized that. Come to think of it, I probably should take a look at what this site looks like in Firefox. I've got that browser on here someplace; guess I'll check it out. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, Well, I got this in an email this afternoon and thought you guys would find it mildly interesting. When I saw the statistic about doctors and college education I immediately thought about home inspectors and the present state of education in this business. OT - OF!!! M. THE YEAR 1908 The year is 1908. One hundred years ago. What a difference a century makes! Here are some statistics for the Year 1908 : ************ ********* ********* ****** Click to View 1137.17 KB 1908 Ford Model R In 1908: The average life expectancy was 47 years. Only 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub. Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. There were only 8,000 cars and only 144 miles Of paved roads. The maximum speed limit in most cities was 10 mph. The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower! The average wage in 1908 was 22 cents per hour. The average worker made between $200 and $400 per year . A competent accountant could expect to earn $2000 per year, A dentist $2,500 per year, a veterinarian between $1,500 and $4,000 per year, and a mechanical engineer about $5,000 per year. More than 95 percent of all births took place at HOME . Ninety percent of all doctors had NO COLLEGE EDUCATION! Instead, they attended so-called medical schools, many of which Were condemned in the press AND the government as 'substandard. ' Sugar cost four cents a pound. Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen. Coffee was fifteen cents a pound. Most women only washed their hair once a month, and used Borax or egg yolks for shampoo. Canada passed a law that prohibited poor people from Entering into their country for any reason. Five leading causes of death were: 1. Pneumonia and influenza 2. Tuberculosis 3. Diarrhea 4. Heart disease 5. Stroke The American flag had 45 stars. The population of Las Vegas , Nevada, was only 30!!!! Crossword puzzles, canned beer, and ice tea Hadn't been invented yet. There was no Mother's Day or Father's Day. Two out of every 10 adults couldn't read or write. Only 6 percent of all Americans had graduated from high school. Marijuana, heroin, and morphine were all available over the counter at the local corner drugstores. Back then pharmacists said, 'Heroin clears the complexion, gives buoyancy to the mind, regulates the stomach and bowels, and is, in fact, a perfect guardian of health' ( Shocking? DUH! ) Eighteen percent of households had at least One full-time servant or domestic help. There were about 230 reported murders in the ENTIRE ! U.S.A. ! Now I forwarded this from someone else without typing It myself, and sent it to you and others all over Canada & U.S.A Possibly the world, in a matter of seconds! Try to imagine what it may be like in another 100 years.

I dunno, When I read bills comment I envisioned something like a Navy blue background with blue text on it, but when I clicked the link I didn't find it to be so objectionable. Heck, I broke my regular glasses and have been wearing an old prescription for the past couple of months; even with these, I was able to read it easily and my eyes didn't give me any problems. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Well, I wasn't going to say anything about it; but this has gotten to the point where I guess I should. In all fairness to Tim, I don't know where he got his comment, but it looks to be word-for-word the language that I've used time and again in reports and have posted here and on the JLC building science forum when the question of how to install a barrier properly comes up. If I had to, I could backtrack it and come up with very solid sources for all of it. Generally though, they started with Dr. Joe and went from there. When I first got into this gig back in 1996 crawlspaces and vapor barriers were a curiosity to me; I'd only ever been in a very few in my days helping my father and those I didn't like, so I didn't know a whole lot about them. When I moved here to Washington State and realized that I was going to be in them about 95% of the inspections I did, I decided to learn as much as I could about them and how they should be properly detailed. One of the very first sources I went to was the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Site where I found a Moisture Control Handbook free for the downloading. That book was authored by none other than Dr. Joe L. and it's been my bible for more than a decade. When I have a question in my mind about why something moisture-related is behaving the way that it does in a building I go straight to that book, do some reading and then follow the trail of references that Dr. Joe used to get my answers. Dr. Joe's section of Vapor Diffusion Retarders has a pretty good list of references at the end. I went on to research as many of those other references as I could find. One of those was a paper by Home Energy Magazine which I still have but the link no longer works; another was a paper by Jeff Tooley on Pressure Differentials that helped me understand stack effect better, and that paper led me to JLC where I read some of Tooley's other articles on how to properly install and detail vapor barriers (Dr. Joe likes to call them Vapor Diffusion Retarders 'cuz he says there's no way to absolutely stop the moisture diffusion - you can only slow it down.). in crawlspace. Tooley, and another Tooley (a brother, perhaps?) in turn, did a lot of work with Advanced Energy Corporation to figure out how to best seal crawlspaces under various conditions. It was those references - Dr. Joe's writings, Tooleys, the articles from Home Energy Magazine and a few more references, where I came up with that method and I'll stand by it. I don't care what climate you're in; if you install a barrier that way and detail it properly, diffusion of soil gases/moisture into the building are no longer going to be a problem. Now, whether or not you'll need to control air movement into and out of the space above that barrier is another question entirely. Around here, as long as the floors and pipes beneath the floors are insulated, there's almost no situation where having too much ventilation to a crawlspace will hurt a home; regardless of the season. However, if I were in North Carolina with it's extreme summertime humidity, I'd do exactly the same thing with the vapor barrier but I'd have to take an entirely different approach to foundation vents, because that very warm/humid exterior air is going to naturally want to diffuse into a cooler/drier crawlspace where it's going to condense all over every cool surface under the home. In a situation like that, I think mechanical ventilation controlled by a humidistat, or no ventilation at all, work best. Yeah, I know that there are hundreds of folks who've found uncovered soil under homes and those homes didn't have any problems; I've found a few of those myself. However, those are the exception, not the rule, and I think any home inspector who isn't recommending that 100% of the soil under a home be capped is looking for trouble that sooner-or-later, is going to find him or her. Bottom line, a proper barrier should cover 100% of the soil under the home. Dr. Joe says that a barrier that is covering 90% of the soil is going to be 90% effective, but that even that 10% can cause issues. That's good enough for me. The floor issues that you're describing can just as easily be controlled by adjusting the amount of under-house ventilation and interior environment to achieve proper equilibrium. Keep the soil capped, and there are ways you can consistently control those issues, uncover the soil and the amount of moisture migrating upward into the home will constantly fluctuate, depending on season and the amount of moisture in the soil surrounding/beneath the home, and there'll be no way to consistently control that movement. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Jerry, Check to make sure that spiral baffle inside the center flue pipe of the water heater is still there and hasn't completely eroded away. Those are supposed to slow down the gases as they rise up through the center of the water heater. Sometimes they just flake completely away. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hey Guys, Here's a tip that'll save you the spelling lectures most of the time. Go to "powertoys for windows" and download the iespell program. It takes about 40 seconds to load at average speed. Then, before you post your responses, right click the composition box and click, "check spelling" and it will find most of those little typos. It won't find errors made with homophones, and it won't spot common typos like spelling "form" when you mean "from" but at least it won't set Walter off. If anyone's interested, this comes in handy if you print it out and study it when contemplating the universe in the throne room. acts/ax ad/add ads/adds/adz aid/aide ail/ale air/heir/err aisle/isle/I'll all/awl all ready/already all together/altogether allowed/aloud alter/altar ant/aunt arc/ark assent/ascent assistance/assistants ate/eight aural/oral away/aweigh aye/eye bail/bale bait/bate ball/bawl band/banned bard/barred bare/bear baron/barren base/bass bases/basis bazaar/bizarre be/bee beach/beech beat/beet beau/bow bell/belle berry/bury billed/build berth/birth bite/byte blew/blue bloc/block boar/bore board/bored boarder/border bode/bowed bolder/boulder born/borne bough/bow bouillon/bullion boy/buoy bread/bred brake/break brewed/brood brews/bruise bridle/bridal broach/brooch browse/brows but/butt buy/by/bye cache/cash callous/callus cannon/canon canvas/canvass capital/capitol carat/carrot/caret/karat carol/carrel cast/caste cede/seed ceiling/sealing cell/sell cellar/seller censor/sensor cent/scent/sent cents/scents/sense cereal/serial cession/session chance/chants chased/chaste cheap/cheep chews/choose chic/sheik chilly/chili choral/coral choir/quire chute/shoot chord/cord cite/sight/site clause/claws click/clique close/clothes/cloze coal/cole coarse/course colonel/kernel complement/compliment coo/coup coop/coupe core/corps correspondence/correspondents council/counsel creak/creek crews/cruise cruel/crewel cue/queue currant/current curser/cursor cymbal/symbol dam/damn days/daze dear/deer defused/diffused desert (abandon)/dessert dew/do/due die/dye disburse/disperse discreet/discrete doe/dough/do (musical note) done/dun draft/draught dual/duel earn/urn ewe/you/yew eye/I faint/feint fair/fare faun/fawn faze/phase feat/feet find/fined fir/fur flair/flare flea/flee flew/flu/flue flour/flower flocks/phlox for/four/fore foreword/forward fort/forte forth/fourth foul/fowl friar/fryer gait/gate gene/jean gild/guild gilt/guilt gnu/knew/new gored/gourd gorilla/guerilla grate/great grease/Greece groan/grown guessed/guest hail/hale hair/hare hall/haul halve/have hangar/hanger hay/hey heal/heel/he'll hear/here heard/herd heed/he'd hertz/hurts hew/hue/Hugh hi/high higher/hire him/hymn hoard/horde hoarse/horse hole/whole holey/holy/wholly hoes/hose hold/holed hostel/hostile hour/our idle/idol illicit/elicit in/inn insight/incite instance/instants intense/intents its/it's jam/jamb colonel/kernel knap/nap knead/kneed/need knight/night knit/nit knot/not know/no knows/nose laid/lade lain/lane lay/lei leach/leech lead/led leak/leek lean/lien leased/least lee/lea lessen/lesson levee/levy liar/lier/lyre lichen/liken lie/lye lieu/Lou links/lynx load/lode loan/lone locks/lox loot/lute low/lo made/maid mail/male main/mane/Maine maize/maze mall/maul manner/manor mantel/mantle marry/merry/Mary marshal/martial massed/mast maybe/may be meat/meet/mete medal/metal/mettle/meddle might/mite mince/mints mind/mined miner/minor missed/mist moan/mown mode/mowed moose/mousse morn/mourn muscle/mussel mustard/mustered naval/navel nay/neigh none/nun oar/or/ore ode/owed oh/owe one/won overdo/overdue overseas/oversees pail/pale pain/pane pair/pare/pear palate/palette/pallet passed/past patience/patients pause/paws pea/pee peace/piece peak/peek/pique peal/peel pearl/purl pedal/peddle/petal peer/pier per/purr pi/pie plait/plate plain/plane pleas/please plum/plumb pole/poll pore/pour pray/prey presence/presents prince/prints principal/principle profit/prophet rack/wrack rain/reign/rein raise/rays/raze rap/wrap rapped/rapt/wrapped read/red read/reed real/reel reek/wreak rest/wrest retch/wretch review/revue right/rite/write ring/wring road/rode/rowed roam/Rome roe/row role/roll root/route rose/rows rote/wrote rough/ruff rung/wrung rye/wry sail/sale scene/seen scull/skull sea/see seam/seem seas/sees/seize serf/surf sew/so/sow shear/sheer shoe/shoo shone/shown side/sighed sighs/size slay/sleigh sleight/slight slew/slue/slough soar/sore soared/sword sole/soul some/sum son/sun staid/stayed stair/stare stake/steak stationary/stationery steal/steel step/steppe stile/style straight/strait suite/sweet surge/serge tacks/tax tail/tale taught/taut tea/tee team/teem tear/tier tern/turn their/there/they're theirs/there's threw/through thrown/throne thyme/time tic/tick tide/tied to/too/two toad/towed toe/tow told/tolled trussed/trust vain/vane/vein vale/veil vary/very vial/vile vice/vise wade/weighed wail/whale waist/waste wait/weight waive/wave want/wont ware/wear/where way/weigh/whey ways/weighs we/wee weak/week we'll/wheel weather/whether we'd/weed we've/weave wet/whet which/witch while/wile whine/wine who's/whose wood/would yoke/yolk yore/your/you're you'll/Yule ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, I think that the link that Bill K. posted is the clearest explanation of the issue. The question is flawed. The question really should have been two questions and should have been something like, "In the context of the building code, is gypsum wallboard considered a non-combustible material? In the context of the mechanical code is gypsum wallboard considered a non-combustible material?" Answers would have been Yes and No respectively. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Brad, I agree, sounds like you nailed it. the walls of their house are acting like a cold coke bottle and all of that moisture they are creating is condensing at the coldest parts of those walls, the plates and corners. I often see the same thing in closed off sections of houses where elderly folks have been living alone for years. Hope you told them that the money they're saving by keeping the heat so low is probably going to cost them later in condensation issues. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Have you been flushing that puppy once a year? If not, the lower element might be immersed in crud and not heating as well. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The Certainteed Master Shingle Applicator's manual shows covering the flashing at a sidewall where it overlaps a shed roof by using some mastic to adhere a trimmed course of shingles to conceal the flashings. The very next page shows a vent application and says that the lower apron of the installed flashing should be exposed below the vent where it rests on top of the shingles below. I've blown that photo up as far as I could get it to go and still have decent resolution and have studied it at length. It looks to me like it's completely underneath all of the shingles around it's entire perimeter with a layer of goop sealing it on all sides. I'd call it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I'd wean her off the dole and make a list. The list would be the things that I'm going to stop paying for. It would begin with the most expensive bill I was paying for her and continue with the next least expensive and so forth. I'd give her a two month warning that in 60 days I will no longer be paying for that first item, that 30 days after that I would no longer be paying for the next item and so forth. I'd tell her that when the list was completed that she'd be expected to pay me room and board at the prevailing local rate and I'd determine that rate by figuring out what it's costing to feed her a month, pricing what local boarding houses are getting and totaling the two. I'd tell her that once the room and board phase begins that the first time she was 5 days late with her room and board it would cost her an additional 10%; that the second time it would be 20% and that the third time I'd permanently raise the room and board rate by 25%. I'd tell her that the first time she was a month overdue she'd get a formal eviction notice and would have 30 days (or whatever is legal in your state) to vacate. I'd have her agree to it all in writing. If she refused, I'd give her 60 days notice to move out or she'd come home on the 61st day and find all of her belongings parked on the front lawn, new locks on the doors and my office would be enjoying it's newfound larger space in her recently-vacated room. I'd tell her that I'm doing it because I love her and need her to learn to become self-sufficient, 'cuz one never knows when something bad is going to happen and I won't be there for her anymore and I don't want her to turn into a welfare leach. No matter how she responded, I'd ensure that my wife and I were steadfast in our resolve to see it through and if she couldn't accept it and ended up hating us for it that was just the way it was going to be; she'd either come around someday or she wouldn't, but it was being done for her own good. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike