hausdok

Jeez, Waddueyegotta do to find out who the horse's ass with teeth is? Call Douglas? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

If the z-flashing is right it doesn't need to be caulked. The problem is you have no way to know whether it's right or if it is even there because you can't see it. OT - OF!!! M.

Exactly right, Marc. A furnace guy is liable to come out and say it's perfectly normal. Look at the flue pipe. Is it double-walled or single walled where it leaves the appliance? Does it have sharp 90-degree bend in it anywhere? Is the furnace installed in a garage or other 'cold' areas? Above the roof is the end of the flue so rusted it's the color of a dark brown shoe? If it is, there's a good chance if you go up there you'll find vertical cracks in the outer shell of the B-vent or even big tissue thin areas you can poke your finger through. I often know when there is a flue issue the second I get out of my car, if the flue is visible from the driveway and I can see that it's badly rusted. When I see that, I know that something is causing the exhaust gases to cool too rapidly; so they lose buoyancy and are barely rising as they leave the end of the vent. The warm air carrying those acidic gases hits the cold air and if it is already too cool it immediately settles around the end of the vent and over time eat away at the outer shell. When that corrosion gets bad enough, the continued expansion/contraction of the vent causes those vertical cracks to appear. Virtually every time I see a vent like that above the roofline I enter the garage to find that the furnace has been replaced but not the vent or I find an older furnace - sometimes not too old - where there is a vent issue. The vent should have a double-walled connector all the way from the collar to terminus to keep the exhaust gases as hot as possible and maintain exhaust gas buoyancy. The code used to say that a connector in a 'cold' area had to be double-walled; it doesn't say that anymore. Somewhere around the 2006 code, just as it seemed HVAC guys were finally getting the message and had learned to install double-walled connectors on any appliance installed in cold areas, the code stopped calling for a double-walled vent in 'cold' areas and everything went backwards again. Combine the single-walled connectors with the 2, 3, or 4 90-degree bends they configure in those vents in contravention of the code, in order to route them out of the way of furnace filter holders, and you have a situation where exhaust gases are losing so much buoyancy that they are struggling to rise up the vent and in the process lot of that white mineral salt is produced by the reaction between the acid in the exhaust and the zinc used in the galvanizing. That stuff is corrosive. Unless the furnace is due for a service or there is something else wrong with it, the call should be to have the exhaust vent throughly inspected, reconfigured with fewer bends with less angles, and any sections badly corroded replaced as needed and then clean the furnace. If the vent configuration is fine - even with a single-walled connector - and there's just a little bit of that accumulated after 8 years the vent is probably going to be fine. Just show the owner how to open up the furnace and properly close it and recommend he/she vacuum/blow all of that mineral salt out of the burner tray area annually. Make sure they know to be really fussy about getting it off any electronic components, soldered terminal ends, control valve etc. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

When that gas burns off 70% of the exhaust is water and the rest is particles of sulfur and other junk. When you start up that stove cold the sudden burst of moisture inside the stove in the exhaust cools to dew point and condenses on the glass door. It takes a few minutes for the stove to warm up enough to evaporate that moisture. In the meantime, sulfur particles in the air cling to the moisture and remain after the water evaporates. Over time, the buildup clouds the glass and if it is ignored long enough the sulfur will eventually etch the glass. Part of the annual maintenance on that stove is to clean that glass. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

There should have been a Z-flashing and spacers behind that horizontal trim and the upper and lower panel should have been a quarter or an inch apart with the z-flashing bent to drain. That enables you to have a 1/8-inch gap between the top of the flashing and the bottom edge of the upper panel and the spacers allow the water to drain out.

OK, I just finished uploading the HardiPlank installation instructions from 1999 through 2012. Beginning with the 2008 instructions pay attention to the region you are in because these are region-specific. You'll find them under the library menu choice "new files" or you can go to the library file directory and find them under "exterior claddings - fiber-cement." ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Kurt, I agree with the fact that the ventilation and shingle life issue is bogus. That's not my point. Manufacturer's are belt and suspender types. They'll use whatever they can to insulate themselves from liability. Since they continue to hang onto this ventilation requirement, he needs to accommodate that. OT - OF!!! M.

I always thought it was, "I be the smart one."

We have get installed a new gaz propane furnace. We also have a little unit of gaz propane heater in the addition room. But, we used two little infrared heathing units to cut the energy cost last year. Not the year that I was talking about for the $200. a week cost. We have a new wood stove but this is for when we are there of course... Unless that small propane heater vents directly outside, get rid of it. Those catalytic propane heaters work well but about 70% of that exhaust is water so it will literally pump moisture into the interior of the home. Check the flue and damper of that wood stove. When you are not using it, is the damper sealed tight or does it leak air like a sieve? Is air leaking out around that flue where it passes up through the roof plane? Is the propane furnace equipped with a backdraft damper that closes that flue when the furnace shuts down, or does the flue suck interior air out of the house through that furnace as soon as it shuts down and continues to do so until the furnace kicks on again? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

'Cuz you have to ventilate a roof plane in order for the roofing manufacturers to stand behind their warranty. If not for that, I would have said shoot direct. The chutes go in easy. Lap em shingle fashion, top first then the second, etc. so any water thar blows in at the ridge drains all the way to the vents behind the gutter. Foam the hell out of it. I'm assuming the roof is fine. If not, I'd recommend foaming directly, stripping off the cover, applying a layer of vented foam nail base and then install the new cover with a baffled ridge vent. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Rob, Per the NEC, not for the mast - only for the conductors. As Jim said, the mast height will be spec'd by the service provider. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Install behind-the-gutter eave vents, a baffled ridge vent and vent chutes from the eaves to the ridge and then spray foam the underside of that roof with a nice this layer of closed-cell foam. Then install an air exchanger on a timer or couple it to a humidistat to activate whenever humidity in the home reaches 45% or better. Insulate the pipes everywhere in the home, make sure the underside is closed and pipes there are well insulated. Install vents in the toe kicks at under-sink cabinets to allow warm interior air to circulate into those areas. Set the thermostat to keep the place at 55 degrees. Consider using Dow Wallmate and trim to increase the thickness and insulation in the exterior walls. They are probably only 3 inches thick and are allowing a lot of heat loss. Put a skirt around it to prevent most wind from blowing underneath but still leave it minimally ventilated. What are you using for heat? Oil? Gas? Electric? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Darren, No, I'd been so tied up with the spring buying frenzy that it has slipped my mind. Shoot me your email address and I'll send you a copy of that one published 12-05. After I've completed this report I'll see if I can find some time to sit down and get those all uploaded to TIJ. OT - OF!!! M.

Aw nuts, Mom and Dad are fighting again and I can never figure out which one is Mom. [:-sonar]

Hi Rob, It is a tempering valve. It mixes cold water with the hot to deliver water to the house at the temperature chosen by the user with that little temp control. On the water heater it controls temp of all water going to the house. Around here, there are one or two plumbers installing them on the master bedroom pipes only. The bigger builders here use them as a way to make folks think they are getting a great water heater. They are able to crank even a 40-gallon water heater up to full temperature so that it cycles more quickly and deliver a lot more hot water to the house at a safe temperature. The problem with installing them under the sink in the master bath like so many do around here, is that when you crank the temp way up to deliver what seems like unlimited hot water to the master bath, the water delivered to the powder room is at 145 - 150 degrees. Imagine that you have one of those and your best friend comes over with his wife and four year old son for dinner. Before dinner, your friend tells his son to go and wash his hands for dinner like Dad taught him. The kid dutifully complies and a minute later they hear a gawd awful shriek coming from the powder room. When they go to investigate they discover the 4-year old with severe third degree burns on both hands because he'd been scalded by the hot water. There goes your friendship. When you see those, make sure you explain to the customer that he or she must test the temperature of the water at the powder room when taking possession of the house and ensure it is never more than 120 degrees. Once they understand the device's purpose and how dangerous they can be when the temps are run at higher-than-normal temps to make the tank recover more quickly, they often ask me to show them how to adjust the temp to 120 and set the tempering valve to neutral. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I've always liked caulking placing them onto a horseshoe bed of bath caulk, settling them into the wax and then snugging the bolts, wiping the excess and letting them cure for 24 hours. Once that stuff cures nobody's butt, I don't care how big and heavy he is, can cause that thing to start sliding around and loosen up again. Always leave a little opening at the back. If the danged seal goes out I hope to see the water coming out. It's also a quick path for the water to drain into the crawlspace if the bathroom floods. I'd rather have to pump out a crawl sump than deal with the drywall and floor repairs from a flooded bathroom. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Water getting in that trim from someplace. Might be edible! They might have their own salad garnish! OT - OF!!! M.

About that time, if I were the buyer, I'd be bringing in an exorcist to get rid of whatever malevolent spirit was cussing at me. Anybody die a violent death in that house? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Brandon, I could be wrong, but since you do have customers come - only later - I don't think Kurt was referring to you I think he was referring to the O.P.. Note where he says, "At all." OT - OF!!! M.

Really, the public wants it? How do you know that? Are there studies? Why didn't they want it 15 years ago? The molds that they are calling toxic have been around for thousands of years. Why is it that we never heard about this before the mold-is-gold mongering? The answer - because it's the mold-is-gold mongers like Howard that convince the public they need it. If we as a profession did more to debunk the mold myth I bet the whole thing would quietly go away. Instead, everyone tucks his head between his shoulders, calls anything that could even remotely be construed as mold - soot, dirt, shoe polish scuffs, sweat stains - mold, and refers the client to a "mold specialist" who ultimately will inflate the thing and inevitably recommend full abatement. I spend a lot of time explaining to folks why they shouldn't hire mold mongers and why, if they are concerned, why they should seek out real scientists and not inspectors when following up on a mold issue. I explain to them how the whole mold-is-gold myth has unfolded and I encourage them to spread the word to their friends to avoid the mold-is-gold mongers like the parasites they are. If we all did that, I'm certain that in just a few years this whole mess will quietly become no news again. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Kansas was registering them if they met appropriate criteria and nothing more. Maybe it gave one or two persons pause when considering home inspections as a profession; but I doubt that it turned dishonest inspectors into paragons of righteousness overnight. In fact, I'd venture to say it has zero impact on "unscrupulous" persons. If laws actually did that, we'd have no need for a police force. No law requiring someone be registered or obtain a home inspector license can stop unscrupulous behavior any more than a realtor's license stops some realtors from being 'zoids, or a vehicle registration stops folks from driving drunk or breaking any other law in their cars. Laws aimed at regulating inspectors should be aimed at ensuring an inspector can do what he or she says he or she can do - inspect homes competently - nothing more. That's how those laws protect consumers and inspector alike. Any law that doesn't ensure competency is pablum. According to the article, registration in Kansas ensures that home inspectors are certified by national home inspection organizations - big whoop. That means they've joined a club; it doesn't mean the inspector is competent. According to the article, registration ensures inspectors have financial responsibility like surety bonds and liability insurance. That still doesn't do much to protect consumers; it's just another "requirement" that is nothing more than a minor speed bump. It was probably dreamed up by someone that thought it would prevent some folks from entering the profession and becoming his or her competition. It doesn't do any more to protect the consumer than errors and omissions insurance protects the consumer. If E & O actually protected consumers we wouldn't be reading articles like the one elsewhere on this site where some guy is moaning about how his inspector did a lousy job. That Canadian province has an E & O requirement; no? According to the article they are being required to maintain continuing education. OK, now at least there is finally something meant to help the consumer, but unless you've tested every one of those inspectors and identified those among them who are already practicing as incompetents, it's like closing the barn door after the horse has bolted. Yeah, eventually the guy/gal should become more competent after attending enough continuing ed, but that can take a lot of years - what about all of those homes he or she is "experimenting" on in the meantime? According to the article, registration makes sure that they are not felons. Hmmm, current felons, as in suck up artists conspiring with realtors to whitewash a house for a nice kickback in the form of guaranteed future referrals or felons such as a convicted rapist? By the way, what's this about anyway? Who says a past felon can't be a perfectly capable home inspector? There have been thousands of persons who have been felons who cleaned up their act and went on to become law abiding citizens; why is home inspections so sacrosanct that a felon can't do this gig? I guess I can understand a former crook not being allowed to be a cop or a banker or a stock broker, because there's the potential for huge temptation in those types of jobs but there isn't a whole lot about crawling around in attics and crawlspaces and risking one's ass climbing on ladders and going into homes laced with parasites and ringworm that a former felon can't do. The bottom line is that if someone is going to be a crook he or she will be a crook regardless of whether or not there is a licensing or registration law. From my own experience; I know that here, where we have licensing, not registration, the law requires: 1. mandatory minimum education specific to home inspections 2. mandatory testing of every inspector to ensure that the inspector at least has minimal competency; and 3. mandatory minimum mentoring by a licensed inspector to ensure the inspector knows how to at least write a report to the standard. These requirements were all designed to ensure that consumers could be reasonably confident that the inspector hired is minimally competent. Even inspectors who were grandfathered were forced to take the NHIE or they were denied a license. Those practicing inspectors who couldn't pass it, regardless of how long they'd been in the business, found themselves forced to either leave the business or go back to school to get minimally trained so they could pass it. That rule doesn't guaranty that an inspector will be the best inspector on the planet, or the most honest and ethical inspector on the planet, but it does weed out those who aren't minimally competent - none of those Kansas requirements do that. The mentoring and report writing requirement exposes an inspector to the profession and what he or she is going to be required to do as an inspector. Some folks find the mentoring easy; some find it tough. If the person doing the mentoring is doing so conscientiously the new inspector will learn quite a bit and has to prove to the mentor that he or she knows how to write a report that meets the state standard. I've mentored about half a dozen inspectors so far. Only one of them went on to become an inspector - the others decided just in time that they weren't cut out for it. The guy who went on to become an inspector went on to spend thousands to go to school in Utah. Then he returned here, opened up his doors and a month later called me to turn over his client "list", saying he was getting out of the gig because he couldn't put up with the realtors' bullshit anymore - granted, that was before licensing, but I'm not sure that if he'd gotten his license today he'd still be in it. I think he'd thought it was going to be easier than it is. There is a little wrinkle in this rule; if the mentor writes a lousy report, he or she is probably going to certify a lousy report. That can come back to bite the mentor. If an inspector's report ever comes into question because it's not complete, the inspector's mentor is probably going to end up getting his or her reports audited to determine if they meet state requirements. If that investigation determines the mentor's reports don't meet the minimum standard, both inspectors are probably going to receive some kind of notice of correction from the Department of Licensing and may even be required to undergo additional training or have their license suspended. That rule is aimed at consumer protection; but it too cannot guaranty honesty or ethical behavior. In fact, it can't guaranty a good report either. There are hundreds of inspectors who were grandfathered and only required to take the NHIE. Nobody audited their reports to ensure they meet requirements. Still, if those inspectors write a lousy report DOL has the teeth they need to take corrective measures, whether that be to fine the inspector, suspend the inspector's license or force the inspector to undergo additional training. Our law also has a code of ethics that is codified. It prohibits an inspector from specific types of unethical behavior that unethical inspectors are known to perpetrate; but like any law it can't stop anyone that is bound and determined to break the law. The COE is important because without it DOL's disciplinary options are limited, with it, they can take action against those behaviors and in extreme cases close an inspectors company down completely. That's consumer protection. It's not perfect but it's a heck of a lot better than the Kansas registration rules. I think the Kansas folks should get serious and go back to the drawing board. If they want regulation they need to develop something that will protect consumers and they have to prove to their gov that it can - to a point. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

[utube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYspUTKU6Ss" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344"> Home Inspection Nightmare in B.C.

Wichita Business Journal Governor Sam Brownback has vetoed Senate Bill 37, which would have repealed the July 1 sunset of the Kansas Home Inspectors Professional Competence and Financial Responsibility Act, which created the board and the registration system in 2008. In a news release, Brownback said he found little evidence of unscrupulous home inspectors to warrant government involvement and fees on private industry. He said the state attorney general?s office is better equipped than the board for investigations and assistance. To read more, click here.

Gee John, You're getting cynical in your old age. [] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

He calls it the "Property Wars" - the process of negotiating, reaching a deal, getting an inspection and then being forced to re-negotiate based on an inspector's findings; and says buyers wield inspections like a bargaining chip - a deal breaker. To learn more, click here.