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By William Bronchick, Forbes.com Sales of new homes rose unexpectedly in September--2.7% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes. Good news, right? Not so fast. The median price of a new home dropped 9.1% from a year earlier to $218,400, and September sales were still 33.1% behind the numbers posted a year ago. In Depth: How To Squeeze More Money From Your Home If you're a homeowner looking to unload your property and finding few buyers, there are alternatives to dropping the price below what's palatable. To read more at Forbes.com, click here.

Hi, Don't junk it; save it, find a home inspection school that wants it as a training aid and ship it off as a donation. When Douglas Hansen was teaching at the College of San Mateo, I sent him a Zinsco Magnatrip panel. He wired it up and used it as a training prop . An old fuse box wired up with a half dozen screwed up items would make an excellent training aid for inspectors. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Which is probably why it was called "grammar" school. OT - OF!!! M.

October 29th, 2008 FreeConveyancingAdvice.co.uk Home Inspector (HI) and Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) training has had claims attached to it of large potential earnings for those qualifying and practicing in this field. In response to a high levels of comments left on the article (at time of writing nearly a 100 comments) ‘Should I train as a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA) ?’ we felt it would be beneficial to specifically explore the Home Inspector (HI) qualification and its potential further. The Home Inspector qualification was designed to fulfill the Home Condition Report (HCR) requirement within the Home Information Pack. Initially, it was planned that the HCR would be a mandatory component within the HIP though was in fact made an optional document. Professionals within the industry and none more so than those that qualified as a Home Inspector near its’ inception will tell you that there has been very little to no demand for the HCR due to it being made voluntary. To read more from the HIP-Consultant UK blog, click here.

By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN and JESSICA HOLZER, The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government's latest plan to aid struggling homeowners could move as many as three million people into more-affordable mortgages, according to people familiar with the effort. The proposal, which has been designed by the Treasury Department and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., is close to being finalized. Estimated to cost between $40 billion and $50 billion, the plan would have the government agree to share a portion of any losses on a modified mortgage offered by lenders. To read more of this Wall Street Journal article click here.

By Shannon Quesnel, The Elliot Lake Standard Homeowners and commercial property owners can take advantage of government rebates when upgrading buildings and making them energy efficient. Both groups can recoup thousands of dollars if they take the necessary steps before and after upgrading a home or commercial building with a better furnace, new windows, more attic insulation, etc. About two dozen business owners, homeowners and members of Blind River, Spanish and other town councils learned about the possible cost, energy savings, energy producing techniques and technology at To read more from the Elliot Lake Standard, click here.

Hi, Thanks Tom, I hadn't realized that he had a page like that up; folks here like Caoimhín a lot. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I'm bothered by the fact that you don't actually say what's wrong with the EIFS lamina. Perhaps you'd already told her in your report or in person, but it's not clear to the reader. Is there actually water behind the lamina that's causing problems or are you making your recommendation because you simply expect it to fail at some point? It's not clear. Of the 13 paragraphs you spent six of them leading up to the the revelation that her system is a barrier type lamina. I'd eliminate paragraphs two through six, actually explain what each of her defects is, why it's bad for the house, and then make a clear recommendation without beating around the bush. Even if you did nothing else, just re-writing it without the passive language would be a big improvement. If you don't understand what we mean by passive voice versus active voice, here's an example. "The failure of the sashes are due to a combination of sealant failure and environment, this is a maintenance issue." Try "The windows are leaking because of poor maintenance." Sorry, you did ask. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

NAHB Nation's Building News The three-year-old slump in the nation’s housing industry could be entering its roughest stretch yet if policymakers in Washington don’t soon find a way to end rising foreclosures and the ongoing downward spiral in real estate values, analyst Ivy Zelman, of Zelman & Associates, told NAHB’s Housing Forecast Conference last week in Washington. Unlike most of the panelists at the conference who predicted that housing is gearing up for a slow turnaround early next year and that the financial crisis will soon start to wind down, Zelman said that “it’s going to get ugly.â€

This report is one in a series of research agendas prepared by PATH to address needs relative to a specific system or issue affecting housing. Its focus is on residential roof systems. The objective is to identify the main areas for research and development (R&D) and related activities that can lead to improved performance, increased function, or decreased environmental impact. Through this process, new technologies and additional research will be generated as the strategies and activities in this report are implemented. Industry Participation This report draws on a broad base of expertise and experience to help identify potential advancements related to residential roofs. The approach included identifying and convening appropriate members of industry, academia, and government to develop a research agenda that will influence both private and public-sector R&D efforts. The effort began with a brainstorming session in January 2005 to identify the key issues surrounding residential roofs. A second working session was held in April 2005 to identify specific activities necessary to address the key issues. A follow-up web conference was held in May 2005 to further explore specific activities. To read the entire report click here.

Hi, Yes, there should be a space between the window casing and the termination/accessory bead around the window and that space should be filled with foam backer rod and then tooled on the surface with butyl sealant. There should also be a head flashing above the window. Go here to find an expert with the Stucco Manufacturer's Association that can help. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Vancouver Sun, October 29, 2008 Buying a new home is scary enough without worry that it might have a criminal past, especially when prospective homeowners are operating at the outer limits of affordability. As we've seen in the past couple of months, future risks can be significant. The housing market can cool and prices decline, eroding your equity to the point where you could end up owing more than it's worth. Your mortgage could come up for renewal at a time when interest rates have gone up, rendering your payments unaffordable. But, historically, over time those risks have been less important than the risk of hidden defects, such as we've seen with leaky condos. A home inspection can reduce the risk, but even trained home inspectors may not spot any physical signs that a house was previously used as a marijuana growing operation, leaving it with hidden damage that can require tens of thousands of dollars in repairs. To read more click here.

Brad, Were there any outbuildings, signs, or underground pumps there? Maybe one of those is the main and the rest are disconnects for other stuff downstream from the main. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I used to write those up all the time until I noticed that particular threaded copper end sweated on pipe after copper pipe connected to steel without ever showing any evidence of a reaction when I've seen a reaction with other types. I'm not sure what's up with that. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Fellow Inspectors, One of my pet peeves is when I hear someone refer to a manufactured home - one that has a steel chassis and a wheeled truck and was literally towed to the homesite - as a modular home. Inspectors, please, STOP referring to manufactured homes as modular homes! Home inspectors need to use the correct terminology when describing things to their clients - especially when it comes to a type of structure. Imagine what would happen if an inspector, that doesn't know the difference between a modular home and a manufactured home, were to continually refer to a modular home during an inspection as a "manufactured home." In the minds of many, the term "manufactured home" cues up mental images of double-wide trailers; that inspector might actually cause the potential buyer to run away from a home that's built better and stronger than a stick-built home as most modulars are. Conversely, calling a manufactured home a modular home during an inspection only perpetuates the idea in the mind of listeners - particularly real estate folks - that a manufactured home and a modular home are the same thing. Agents are liable to continue to go around mistakenly calling manufactured homes modular homes after that, because they heard the inspector - who's supposed to be an expert - call a manufactured home a modular home. As a profession, we really need to ensure that we are clear about the differences and that we don't confuse them in the minds of buyers. A manufactured home has a full-length steel chassis beneath it and its own wheel systems (trucks) as well as it's own draw tongues. It's towed to the homesite on its own wheels in sections, just like a pair of trailers, it's set on the supporting foundation - whether it's just block piers or something more elaborate - and then the trucks and tongues are removed. A modular on the other hand is built in a factory in the form of heavily reinforced boxes known as "modules" and then those modules are individually trucked to the site on flatbed trucks, lifted into place on a permanent foundation by a crane, and then the home is completed. Are there similarities between the two? Sure, both are built in a factory setting, both have restriction on section size that's dictated by what can be legally carried over the highway system, both are pre-wired and pre-plumbed and might be complete when they leave the factory, but that's where the similarity ends. Manufactured homes are intentionally built lighter to a manufactured building code, not conventional building codes, so that they'll be lighter and easier to tow over the highway. Don't confuse the two and don't perpetuate the myth that a modular home is akin to a manufactured home and is therefore inferior to a stick-built home when the opposite is more often the case. You might be reading this and thinking to yourself, "Ah, O'Handley is off his nut, nothing bad can happen if I have a slip of the tongue and call a manufactured home a modular home." If you believe that, I've got the deed to the Brooklyn Bridge and will be happy to sell it to you. Just imagine for a minute a buyer who has heard that a modular home is built stronger and better than a regular stick built home, but knows little more than that. The buyer goes to his/her realtor and says, "I want to buy a modular home because I've heard they're pretty good." If the realtor thinks that manufactured and modular homes are the same thing, the realtor is liable to try and dissuade the buyer and might say something like, "Oh no, modular homes are not as well built; you're misinformed. You really don't want to buy one of those." Worse, what if the realtor thinks manufactured and modular homes are the same thing and hasn't the least idea how a true modular is built? The realtor might take the buyer around to look at nothing but manufactured homes; and, if those manufactured homes are like some around here, there's liable to be very little outward indication that the home is actually a manufactured home. The buyer, not really knowing the difference, might make an offer on a manufactured home under the misbegotten belief that it is a modular home. This kind of identify mixup is not as far-fetched as if sounds; I know that because I personally was involved in such a mixup. I did a home years ago that from all outward appearances appeared to be a stick-built home. There was even a two-story addition added. As I commenced the inspection and did the exterior, nothing seemed out of the ordinary - it looked like an ordinary one-story ranch with an addition. However, when I got on the roof I could clearly see a slight change in the roof plane near the eaves that looked like the roof overhangs had been extended. Inside, I began to notice things in the one-story part that told me that it was probably a manufactured home that had been placed on a permanent foundation and had the eaves extended to look like a normal ranch; things like thin drywall, a thicker than normal center wall that ran end-to-end, polybutylene plumbing and smaller-than-normal bathroom fixtures molded from fiberglass. I mentioned my suspicions to the client, at which point the realtor interrupted me and insisted that it was not a manufactured home but modular home. She explained that the owner had advertised it as a modular with a stick-built addition, and she opined that I must not know the difference. I pointed out to her that I had grown up building houses and that my own father built modular homes, so I definitely knew the difference. Nonetheless, she insisted that I was wrong and she clearly was slightly angry with me for suggesting that the home was most likely nothing more than an altered double-wide. Since it was obvious to me that the realtor actually believed what she was saying, I decided to deviate from my normal inspection routine and inspect the crawlspace before I inspected the interior or the electro-mechanicals. That's when I found the trucks, the steel chassis and tongues beneath the one-story part of the structure. When I came out of the crawlspace and told the client, who'd flown in from the mid-west to see the home had made an offer and then flown back home, only to return for the inspection, that it really was a manufactured home, the client went ballistic. He verbally lit into the real estate agent like Mike Tyson into a speed bag. I went about packing my gear - it was obvious that the client didn't want me to go any further. Sure, I did my job and got paid, but the whole unpleasant mess could probably have been avoided if the homeowner hadn't called the manufactured home portion of the building a "modular" home, thus giving the agent the wrong information. Plus, what if I hadn't known the difference between a modular home and a manufactured home and had told the client that I thought that the one-story portion of the home was a modular home? The agent would have stepped in to confirm that and I would have come out of that crawlspace and said, "Yep, it's a modular just like she said?" The agent would have assumed that it was a true modular based on my say so and the client might have bought that home. Can you imagine the fix I would have been in if later if the client, now the homeowner, discovered that the home wasn't a modular at all, and that he'd spent easily twice what the home was actually worth because I'd used the wrong terminology? I probably would have been sued out of business by now. So, the bottom line here and the message that I'm trying to convey with this long ramble is THINK before you open your mouth to describe something or put a pen to paper to report something; and fer cryin' out loud, use the correct terminology. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yeah, that's the stuff that I meant when I said DryPly - I'd just reversed the terms. This reinforces what I said earlier; this stuff is meant for manufactured housing - not modular. Sorry, but this is a pet peeve of mine; we need to use the correct terms when describing stuff, particularly a type of housing. Calling a modular home a manufactured home makes people immediately think "trailer home" and could cause them to run away from a home that's actually built stronger and better than code requires. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Mark, I sincerely hope that you didn't put "aggregate" nasal passages in the report. I'm sure you meant to type aggravate. However, if you did intentionally type aggregate, please send me a photo of what someone looks like after their nasal passages have been aggregated. [] OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Is it a modular or a manufactured home? It looks like Vaporstop 398 which is made by Fortifiber and is typically used as underlayment on low-slope roofs where insulation is applied to the underside of the roof deck (as with manufactured homes - doublewides). It's supposed to minimize condensation. There's also a type of plywood used for manufactured home roofs that has a layer of this bonded in the center. One manufactured home builder that I talked to about it called it Dryply. Here's a link: http://www.fortifiber.com/vaporstop_398.html What's the pitch of the roof? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I might be wrong, but I'd be willing to bet a coffee that the handle on the large box below the gutter at the lower left is the main disconnect for the whole shebang. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

By Pat Mertz Esswein About one-third of the $2,000 that a typical U.S. household spends each year on energy goes toward heating and cooling the great outdoors. And as the price of fuel climbs, that wasted energy takes a bigger bite of your budget. This winter, the Department of Energy forecasts, the cost of natural gas will increase by some 18% compared with last year, and residential heating oil (most commonly used in the Northeast) will rise by 23%. Electricity rates will rise 10%. One easy way to keep utility bills in check is to do a home-energy audit. Although an audit's scope depends on the age, size and design of the house, To read more click here.

Someone screwed up; if that's really a return air chase it shouldn't have been insulated at all - at least not with FG. Closed-cell foam or surface sealed foam, such as Blackore would have worked fine. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's a lot of weight, A gallon of water contains 231 cubic inches and weighs 8.33lbs. A 10ft. by 10ft. by 1in. pond contains 62.34 gallons weighing 520lbs, which is all added to the dead weight of the BUR, gravel and deck. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

OK, I made a mistake; it was Mark that made the initial post, not you, Randy. The houses at Snoqualmie Ridge had registers and boots at one end of the joist bay and the supply stubout from the plenum at the other with nothing in-between. Air was pushing through that insulation and pushing fiberglass particles into those houses for years. The occupants were experiencing nasal discomfort, itchy eyes, etc.. When they finally discovered that for years they'd been breathing air laced with fiberglass particles, harmless or not, they were po'd about it, got a lawyer and sued. Quadrant fixed most of them but some homeowners opted to get out of those houses and Quadrant bought them back. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Nah, I just happened to go over there to see if I'd missed anything and found out that the subscription alert that I've had for years hasn't been alerting me to squat for at least six months. So, I busted butt all day to catch up. Phew! Don't want to do that too often. OT - OF!!! M.