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If the vibration from the guy upstairs or the washing machine is causing this to happen, I think you've got a loose connection arcing somewhere. When you had the cover off, did you check to ensure that the grounded (neutral) conductor was tight at its lug? I've had panels in brand new homes where I've found that the electrician hadn't even bothered to tighten down the lugs. If it's tight in the sub-panel, it might be loose at the main disconnect, though it sounds like it's in the house since the vibration is causing it. Did you call the landlord and pitch a b***h? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Did you check to see if the water meter was spinning at full speed? It sounds like you've got two issues; underground water (either from a broken pool circulator or a pool leak or from a broken supply line between the meter and the house) and a clogged/overflowing drainpan under the A-coil that's allowing water to drain into the ducting. Of course, my mother and sister lived in VB for about 18 years and I know that the water table is very high in the ground there; has it been raining a lot lately? If it's in a neighborhood where the homes are fairly close together, check the meters at the properties on either side to see if those meters are constantly running. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, If you see an old fuse box still being used as a panelboard (not an individual disconnect) you need to tell folks that the system is, in all likelihood, more than 40 years old and is considered obsolete. They are rarely sized to accommodate the number of circuits in a modern home without overcrowding and they're usually undersized. Recommend they upgrade and increase the size of the service to one which will be more than sufficient to handle all current loads and anticipated future loads. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, when the system is truly blind nailed you don't see the nails...period. I had two houses last week like that. I see them all the time. I also see the ones that are meant to be blind nailed but where the installer can't get the stuff to lie flat and resorts to face nailing here and there. The trouble with this system is that lots of folks don't bother to install a starter strip behind the bottom course and somewhere on the wall they'll end up with a course that's a fraction of an inch too low. This causes the bottom edges of the low course, particularly at the butts, to lever away from the face of the underlying clap and the only way that they can get them to lie flat is by face nailing the bottom corners on both side of the joint. Some guys drive a single nail in between the two claps at the butt to hold them flat instead of using two. When the stuff is installed right it will either be all blind nailed or all face nailed. It wouldn't be necessary to do it both ways if folks would bother to read the instructions and install the proper thickness of starter course at the bottom of the wall. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Heh, heh, About 6-8 years ago, during the non-compete after I sold my franchise, a lady I did work for asked me to haul away a cabinet full of 33rpm albums and reel-to-reel tapes and a reel-to-reel tape recorder. She didn't want them and said they were taking up too much room. I hauled it all away, alright, right to my storage bin where they're waiting for the day that they become as valuable as old comic books. Someday. OT - OF!!! M.

Ah, Don't hit yourself; after all, the guy who wrote that rule didn't say 3 nails one course below butt joints of face-nailed siding. [] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Unlike wood siding, where, due to expansion-contration concerns, when you face nail you want the nail to miss the top of the clapboard being overlapped, with fiber-cement siding when you face nail it each clapboard is penetrated twice - once near the top and once just above the drip edge - sort of like how the top 2 inches of a correctly-nailed comp shingle gets secured. Face nailing should only be done in high-wind areas. You see the face nail on the bottom of the clap and that nail is the second nail that secures the top of the one that clap overlaps. Image Insert: 13.67 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Isn't that as simple as looking on the listing and labeling for the panel and saying, "Show me on this label where it says that it's ok to install that transformer in here, or point me to the specific code reference that says it's ok to install such devices in this panel?" OT - OF!!! M.

It's offering an incentive for a referral any way you look at it and I just don't see it as being illegal or unethical. It would be unethical if one offered someone money to write a false review about one's services. I didn't know much about Angie's List other than the fact that I know folks are terrified of being criticized on it, so I just checked it out. I saw that a consumer must pay $40 to be a "member" but the companies that they praise or skewer on there don't pay a cent. So, I guess for my evil suggestion to work, one would need to offer the client a $40 discount to make it worth the client's time and effort, then the client would get a full year of being able to review reviews on all sorts of other company's services as well. Here's my view of unethical: Bill: Hey Lou, do you know what Angie's list is? Lou: Sure, but I'm not a member. Why? Bill: Well, times are tough right now. I could sure use some help getting the word about by company. Do you think you could write a favorable review about my company on there? I'll pay for your $40 membership fee plus another $25 to do so. Lou: Well sh**, Bill, you've never even done a home inspection for me; I have no idea how good a job you do. Bill: Ah, nobody'll know the difference; do it for me 'ol Buddy. Lou: OK, what the hell, at least I'll get a free lunch out of it. Here's my view of ethical: Lou: Bill, that was a great inspection. I'm really happy and I'm going to tell everyone I know about your company. Bill: Thanks Lou, I really appreciate it, but you know what would really help me out? Lou: What's that? Bill: If you could spread the word about my company to an even larger audience by telling folks on Angie's List about me. Do you know what Angie's List is? Lou: Yeah I do, but I'm not a member. Bill: Well, tell you what, if you're comfortable with it, I'll discount you $40 off your fee so you can sign up on Angie's List so that a lot more folks will hear what you have to say about my company. It'll be a win-win situation for both of us; with that $40 discount, you can get a year's membership on Angie's list, and the $40 less that I charge for your inspection - which is one-tenth of what I'd pay for a small one-time quarter-column ad in my neighborhood paper - gets me an endorsement from a happy customer on a well-known referral list where people who are actually out there trying to find a good inspector will learn about me from a happy customer. Waddaya say? Lou: Well, would I have to read from a script or say anything specific? Bill: Nope, just tell folks on that list whatever you as a happy customer were going to tell your friends, relatives, or neighbors about my company before I suggested this. I'm not asking you to lie or exaggerate, I'm just trying to get a little more exposure for my company. (At this point the response might be either..) Lou: Sure, that's easy. You did a great job, I'll be happy to help you out. Bill: Than I guess you'd better void this check and cut me another one for $40 less. (or..) Lou: You know what, I'll pass. I'll be happy to spread the word about you, but I really don't feel comfortable doing that Angie's List thing. Bill: No problem, like I said, I really appreciate your business and your spreading the word about my little company. I'll see you on the next one! Saw Sally Fields doing a paid commercial for Boniva on TV the other day. I wonder if she and other paid spokespersons feel like they are prostitutes? It seems to me like the client would be getting something for free along with the inspection - well, not really free, because the client would be endorsing the company in exchange for the discount that's paying for the client's membership on the list - but it's kind of like the restaurant gift certificates some guys give out to every home inspection company and advertise on their websites - and I can't really see where it's much different than tossing in a 90-day home warranty along with an inspection, except that it's done with the assumption that the client will tell others the truth about your company. That's prostituting? The poster asked for suggestions on how to hang on during these tough times. I see nothing wrong with offering suggestions as long as they aren't suggestions to do illegal or unethical things to gain business. Spending $40 to help a very happy customer, who fully intends to spread the word about your company, to spread it to an even broader audiance, versus blowing $400 on a one-time ad that will buried in the back of a neighborhood rag, just makes a whole lot more sense to me. But then again, I'm a strange bird. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Got other pictures? That photo doesn't really explain a whole lot and makes it hard to put the picture in context despite your explanation. When you take photos of something in a house, you should first take establishing shots of the whole area - in the case of an attic, of the whole section of the attic viewed from well back - so the viewer can gain perspective into what it is you're trying to show them in the photo. Then, move closer to the object in question and take more pictures moving from a general picture of the object to specific shots of what it is you're trying to focus the viewer's attention/concentration on. They might be site-built trusses, or not. Certainly, if that's supposed to be the splice between a truss chord and a web it's dicked up but one can't possible tell you more than that from looking at that close-up photo of...what? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, for the record, I only turned 57 last Thursday and I'm younger than a lot of the rest of you. I think I was just born in a unique time and place where a very small hick town was just beginning, because it was post WWII and the middle of the Korean war and more and more people were buying cars, to spread its wings a little bit and pull itself into the second half of the century along with everyone else. I don't ever remember seeing those horses and wagons again after we moved to the apartment behind the Akelman's and the milkman bought himself a milk truck that year with a funny rounded nose on it that I recall looked kind of like the hood on a Citroen 2CV. That was the year my mom got a washer and clothes dryer and I put my little brother in the dryer. I never did get to spin him though; I still couldn't reach those danged knobs! I still remember what that whuppin' felt like. [:-weepn] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Cute! OT - OF!!! M.

Well, I'm old enough to remember the tall horse-drawn milk, vegetable and ice wagons that used to stop in front of our apartment building when I was a toddler. I suspect the only reason was that we still had those then was that it was a farming community and was (and still is) more of a hamlet than a town. We had a big brown icebox with a metal lining and the ice guy used to come in and put big blocks of ice in it a couple times a week; or so it seemed. Still, we had a TV set; a big black box that stood on high steel legs. The knobs were at the two top corners of the set - too high for me to reach (I tried - I was able to reach the vertical and horizontal hold and brightness knobs though). My father used to spend a lot of time fiddling with a set of rabbit ears on top of the thing trying to pull in the one clear station that we got so that he could watch Perry Como. I still remember the day my mother walked us down the street to Dr. Larkin's office to get booster shots and when we came home the set was out on the front lawn with smoke pouring out of it and a big red truck and a bunch of fireman standing around. Man, was the old man pissed! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hell, I've already had yuppi homebuyers who've bought older homes, saw those in attics, and had absolutely no idea what they were. OT - OF!!! M.

Sure, and also that during a blind taste test 4 out of 5 fires surveyed preferred the taste of manufactured homes over that of conventional homes. [:-dev3] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Joe, That works too...better. But I don't see anything wrong with offering incentives and I don't consider it a bribe. Remember, I said that the client should only do it if he/she is happy with the service. A "bribe" is where you offer money to someone to do something that they normally wouldn't otherwise be inclined to do. An example of a bribe would be offering a cop money to not write you a ticket; offering the guy who'd going to tow your car away money to unhook your car and ignore the fact that you were parked illegally and that it's his job to tow the car; offering money to someone to lie about your service; offering a home inspection board member money to form legislation the way that you want it, etc. All sorts of companies offer incentives to clients for referrals. As an example, Vonage offers two free months of service to any existing customer who is happy with their service and refers a new customer to them; Comcast does something similar; some apartment complexes offer a month's free rent to any tenant that refers a new tenant to them, every self storage place I pass in my daily travels offers a free month's storage to customers that refer new clients to them, etc.. Sit back and think about it for a minute and I bet that you can think of a couple of dozen referral incentives that you've seen over the years - you might have even participated in one or two at some time or other. The poster wanted suggestions; I see providing customers an incentive as being a whole lot more ethical than looking past problems and showering gifts on realtors and becoming their toadies in order to get their referral business. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, That depends on what your version of a "French drain" is and where you plan to place it. However, if they're already getting water in the basement you sure as s*** don't want to be discharging that pump anywhere close to that basement; get it well clear. Frankly, I don't understand why any home that's been properly built would ever have water in the basement. My old man built homes in NYS for nearly 60 years and put in hundreds of the damned things and none of them ever had any flooding issues. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I wouldn't do that in Oswego, NY. Besides the fact that it will add to the likelihood of pressure from frozen soil next to the foundation that water is liable to end up right back under the basement floor again and the pump will run forever. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Chad, Well, you're in luck because the documents archive here contains a Code Comparison Summary Between the CABO One and Two Family Dwelling Code and Model Energy Code - 1995 Edition and the Federal Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards. Yeah, I know it's a little dated but I can't imagine the rules have changed that much, if at all, since the IRC became the dominant model code. Exits, Doorways and Egress CABO Requires no less thanone conforming exit, with no requirements on the location of the exit MHCSS Requires no less than two exterior exits, and limits the distance from any bedrom to the nearest exit to 35ft. CABO Conforming exit doors no less than 3ft. wide and 6ft.8in. tall. Hallwyas no less than 3ft. wide. MHCSS Conforming exit doors no less than 2ft.4in. wide and 6'2"tall. Hallways no less than 2ft.4in. wide. CABO Not addressed MHCSS Egress doors not to be located in a room with a lockable interior door. Includes several other provisions relating to required hardware for interior and exterior doors. CABO On windows designed for emergency egress, sill height no more than 44in. high. CABO does not limit height of operating hardware, or require operating instructions posted on the window. MHCSS On windows designed for emergency egress, sill height must be no more than 36in. high, with operating hardward not more than 54in. high. Operating instructions must be permanently posted on the window. Each bedroom must have an egress window or an exterior door. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

In his column, Barry Stone responds to a real estate agent that takes issue with Stone's many stories about agents who refuse to recommend "deal killers" to their clients. To read more click here.

Hi, Be careful, you don't want to simply add an expansion joint between floors, you need to have a weep screed too because you're transitioning between two different structural systems behind the stucco veneer. OT - OF!!! M.

I report that on virtually every home I do that's less than 20 years old. I contacted James Hardie Corp and got it from the horse's mouth - flashing behind the stoop or not, it must be 2 inches above any steps, stairways, decks, or anyplace where water will pool. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Something I should have suggested yesterday but forgot; the next time you do a house for a client, ask the client whether he or she knows what Angie's List is. If he says that he does and, in fact, uses it, tell the client that you believe in putting your advertising dollars where they'll do the most good and offer to rebate to the client $25 if the client will post a review of your work and a recommendation to use your company on Angie's List - provided, that is, that the client turns out to be happy with the inspection and report. It'll net you more for $25 than any other kind of advertising there is. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I'd say it depends on how the cover is installed and the type of deck it's installed over. As much as I hate to see folks go to other forums to get their answers, sometimes there are certain building practices that are so foreign to most of us that you can't get a straight/authoritative answer here or on any of the home inspection forums; I think metal roofs is one of those areas where we're still testing the waters as far as inspections goes, so, whenever I have a question about metal roofing products I go to the Metal Roofing Alliance Ask The Experts Forums for the answer; they have a "ventilation" category here with about five pages of questions and answers about ventilating various types of metal roofs. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I haven't marketed, or even attempted to market to a realtor for many years. I made a conscious decision, about 9 - 10 months into this gig that I would no longer do that and that I'd make it on customer referrals or I'd die on the vine and do something else. Well, now, for me it's been consistently steady through the spring, summer, and into the fall. In the good times, the numbers I do usually earn me some kind of a remark from the realtor toadies that goes something like, "Jeez, Mike I could never make a living if I only did that many inspections a year. Well, now the chickens have come home to roost; when you put your eggs in only one basket, you're in deep kimchi if that basket gets knocked off the table. I'd suggest doing something else to tide you over. Then, once sales start to pick up again, begin doing very careful, detailed, and thorough inspections and write a very carefully worded and complete report. Ignore the 'zoids when they protest, concentrate on the client only, and just keep plugging along and ignore the folks that tell you you're taking too long with the client, that you don't need to exceed the standard of practice, etc.. Then, the next time the realtor referral well dries up, you'll find yourself working when others around you are complaining about how slow it is. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike