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Not bad for a member of the darkside. To read more click here.

Mike Holmes, a sort of Canadian fix-it guru, who has a popular TV show wherein he rescues homeowners from all sorts of ills, says that home inspectors are basically untrained and inexperienced. Instead of hiring a home inspector, he recommends that buyers spend the few thousand that it will cost to hire a licensed specialists in specific trades to check out their potential new home. To read the full article click here

The free wind inspection program begun by the State of Florida several years ago will has nearly met its goal of 400,000 free wind damage prevention inspections and will stop taking applications soon. To read more, click here.

This short JLC Q & A about finger jointed studs explains how and where they can be used. To read more click here.

BOSTON, Massachusetts FLIR Systems, Inc., announced today an opportunity to save on registration for InfraMation 2008, which will be held November 3-7, 2008 at the Peppermill Reno Hotel & Casino in Reno, Nevada. FLIR’s early bird registration special offers three free hotel nights if registered by July 30, 2008. Register by visiting www.inframation.org or call 1-800-254-0632. InfraMation, now in its 9th year, will feature many customer/end-user presentations on a wide-variety of infrared camera applications including building sciences and diagnostics, manufacturing and industrial automation, predictive maintenance, research and development and much more. The conference will also feature several clinics led by FLIR’s Infrared Training Center (ITC) instructors and industry experts. “More than 250 attendees have already signed-up for InfraMation 2008. We are pleased to see that InfraMation continues to grow and attract those in the industry who realize the almost endless applications for infrared cameras,â€

The International Code Council is developing an Inspector of Green Building Technologies certification exam to demonstrate a code official’s ability to understand the application of green building technology and assess adherence with green building programs. The new certification will help provide assurances that green and sustainable buildings also are safe. “The International Code Council and its members are proud of their support to protect the public through responsible and innovative green building technology that is safe, sustainable and affordable,â€

With weak buoyancy caused by a cold or deteriorated vent, exhaust gases can under certain conditions backdraft into the home, establish a draft into the home instead of up the flue, and kill people. Read the article that I emailed to you separately. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Gary, I'm not sure why you feel you need to go to such lengths to "cover your butt." You didn't create the situation; all you need to do is report it. If you told someone about it, fine, but you're not required to go to such lengths to document everything you said and did. Just write something like, "There's a live current carrying wire coiled on the ground at the southeast corner of the patio behind the house. The wire has exposed ends and is dangerous; it can kill you - get an electrician to remove it immediately." ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I think we can all agree that legaleze, by it's very nature, is designed to confound readers. That doesn't mean that we should use legaleze or inspectorspeak in our reports. Write like you speak. You don't say to the client when you come out of the crawlspace, "It was observed that the vapor barrier needs correction by a crawlspace guy," we say something like, "I found the vapor barrier all dinked up under there, that's not good because blah, blah, blah. Get someone in here who knows what he's doing to straighten it out." If that's what you tell the client, and it's the truth, why wouldn't you write that instead of writing something that doesn't even sound like you speak? We must write so that the person who's paying for the inspection, the client, will have no question in his/her mind what's wrong, why it's not good for the house, and what we are recommending. All that inspectorspeak does is confuse the reader and it often gives realtors the opening they need to initiate their transaction damage control by insisting that what we mean is what the realtor wants it to mean instead of what it actually is. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I suppose a chemist might call it some kind of salt but it's what you get when you mix nitric acid with the zink in the galvanizing used to coat the steel. The byproducts of that burning gas are mostly water, nitrogen, sulphur and various other crud - basically nitric acid. Ever see the stuff that builds up on the zinc battery posts of a car? Same stuff. How much you get depends on how well the furnace is venting. If it vents well, you'll get almost none; if it's not venting well, you'll get a lot because there's more condensation occurring inside the vent and you've got more acid there. That looks like a single-walled vent. Is it? If so, is it located in an unheated area or inside. If it's located inside in conditioned airspace and you're getting that much condensate residue you've definitely got some venting issues. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I've resized them. PLEASE when you make the mistake of posting such large photos, use the edit button and go back into your post, delete them and then post re-sized photos. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

This is wrong with your furnace; this is why it's bad for your house; hire a qualified HVAC tech to repair it. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I think this whole discussion is over-thinking the situation and is going out-of-bounds. We observe and report and we can't predict unless we know. The intial poster reviewed the units operating instructions and didn't find anything to prohibit it; then he checked with the manufacturer and confirmed that it's within the manufacturer's parameters. That's all that's necessary to report to the client. We aren't hired to be HVAC designers and engineers and provide the client a list of what-if's or unproven theories based on unrelated data. If we don't have a deficiency and the item is installed to manufacturer's specifications and there aren't any safety issues involved, we need to move onto the next item. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Mike, I don't think it's the clean-out. You can see it lower down on the wall. OT - OF!!! M.

That's because it's an old oil burner thimble that's no longer used and that's where the smoke pipe from an oil furnace used to enter that stack. Some creative fellow figured out that flue gases would condense in there and cause rust stains on the wall under that cover, so he's fitted the cover with a little condensate drain. When they take an oil furnace and tank out of commission in your area, does state law require them to obtain a permit and have it decommissioned a specific way or is it kind of wide open? If there is a law requiring a permit, you can make a phone call to whoever is responsible for those records and find out if a permit was ever issued for that home. If no permit was issued, you've got probable cause to report the possible presence of an abandoned oil tank on the property and should instruct the client to demand proof that it's been properly decommissioned. Lacking proof, the client should demand a survey to see where the tank is and determine if it's still got oil in it and/or has leaked, and then have it decommissoned if one is found. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Go to page 27 of this catalog. http://www.brasscraft.com/pdf/0303_Gas_ ... atalog.pdf ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Regularly finding stuff that one knows had to have been purposely overlooked by an electrician, or stuff that's purported to have been done by an electrician, or stuff that's been ignored by a previous home inspector is just part of the job. Yesterday's 1969 condo had a 100 amp sub-panel wherein there was so much overspray inside the panel that it was hard to tell which wiring was white, black, or green and even the slots on the bus screws were full of paint. The concentric knockout was broken out around the Myers hub leaving a big open gap and every one of the equipment-grounding conductors were held together with a single little brass crimp ring and then another crimp ring had been used to crimp them to the unused bonding strap so that they'd be grounded to the enclosure. It was pretty obvious that the knockout and the jury-rigged grounds are from 1969 but it's possible that it was painted during the most recent paint job, which is white, because the underlying paint is pale yellow. You'd think that at some point in the past a home inspector would have seen this and written it up. Maybe one did, because the breakers all looked pristine, looked new, and are free of paint; but I was left wondering what pinhead agreed to replace all of the old paint-covered breakers instead of pointing out that the panel had multiple issues and needed to be replaced because there's no way to satisfactorily repair that broken knockout or clean up all of that paint contaminating the panel - let alone fix the EGC's. Then there's the other nagging thought; maybe every panel in the entire complex is also filled with overspray and the EGC's have been similarly incorrectly configured. Some days, all you can do is shake your head and wonder how some folks can sleep at night without guilt keeping them awake. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I took care of it. John, Brian is right, in today's world of free downloadable resizing programs, fast processing speeds, and easy to use photo editing programs, it's actually sort of rude to not resize photos for a forum like this. Sometimes one forgets - I know, I do it too - but we need to try and remember. K? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! M.

Hi, Yeah, I see them all the time. Can't tell from the photos but there are companies that make those specifically for water heaters. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I remember when our home in New York State was hit when I was a teenager. We were all having dinner when the storm passed over and the house shook like a truck had hit it and the noise was deafening. We went outside to see what had happened and found the corner trim blasted off the corner of the house and split. No charring of any sort. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Around 1992 but I can't point you to a specific document that can verify that. OT - OF!!! M.

No. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Yeah, here's some other stuff about these systems that will help: 1. The Washington State Energy Code Builder’s Field Guide - Chapter 8 – This chapter of the energy code describes the various types of ventilation systems required in the home and how they are supposed to be configured. http://www.energy.wsu.edu/documents/cod ... 8_2004.pdf 2. The Washington State Energy Code 6th Edition – This is the state law that defines how various energy-saving measures must be incorporated into new construction. The field guide at #1 is based on this code. http://www.energy.wsu.edu/documents/cod ... c_2006.pdf 3. Ventilation System Operating Instructions for a Whole House Ventilation Systems Integrated with a Forced Air Heating System – This is a handout that explains how this system is supposed to work and provides tips for tweaking performance. http://www.energy.wsu.edu/documents/bui ... t_9_19.pdf 4. Indoor Air Quality Fact Sheet – Keeping Homes Dry – This handout provides general tips for other lifestyle measures that can be used along with the WHVS to reduce interior humidity. http://www.energy.wsu.edu/documents/bui ... ms_fct.pdf ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I just came from doing a 1-year warranty inspection on a Cam West built home over in Redmond near Trilogy. The WHVS was nothing but a timer hooked up to the furnace with an intake damper tied into the return air. When the timer kicks on, the air handler comes on and the damper opens and allows fresh air into the system. That's it, nothing pulling the old, moisture-laden air out of the house. I guess they figure that they'll put the house under positive pressure and force the old moisture-laden air out of the house. Kind of dumb if you ask me; I typically find the timer tied to a second floor exhaust fan and the intake damper. In those, the timer kicks in and the damper opens at the same time the ceiling fan comes on at the second floor but the air handler isn't running. The fresh air comes into the home through the return air system to replace what's being sucked out by the ceiling fan on the second floor. Todays house had some beautiful hardwood floors on the first level that looked like a washboard. The house is well insulated and was cool inside - even in todays heat without AC - but you can feel the stickiness of the humidity inside the home. The interior drywall shows between 12 and 14% moisture content measured with my Protimeter when I typically find it about 9 to 10%; kind of high for drywall around here. So one would suspect moisture in the crawl, right? Nope, the crawl is dry as a bone and the vapor barrier covers about 95% of the surface. The underside of the floor in the crawl is 9.5% and the air in the crawl is cool and dry. There's no question that the way that the builder set up the WHVS just isn't working very well. Hope the builder steps up; however, if they go by that NAHB Residential Construction Standard they might not - that requires more than 1/8-inch cupping over 3 inches. It's probably not that bad but it's bad enough that it was all I could focus on when I first walked in the front door. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Brad, I think that it won't hurt to deactivate the WHVS and close any intake sources when the A/C system is turned on; but, since that amounts to about a week at the most around here, it needs to be on the rest of the time. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike