hausdok

There was an article in Fine Homebuilding about 14 or 15 years ago about vinyl windows. Apparently, according to FHB, there are more than 3000 vinyl window manufacturers in the US and less than three dozen make a good product. Don't shoot the messenger; and, no, I don't know what companies those are. I'm an old fart. I can't remember stuff five years ago, I sure as heck can't remember those companies after 14 or 15 years. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Not unless you cut the notches in the sides deeper. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I had the same experience with my first SM. I called them and asked what it would cost to get it repaired. They told me, "It probably needs a new transformer. Send it back and we'll repair it for $125." I thought, "Transformer? That doesn't sound too bad," opened it up and gently disassembled it and found a broken wire at the corner of a transformer the size of a pencil eraser. Took it to the local TV repair shop and they soldered it for $10. In later years when it would break again, I had to re-solder it on my own. Very difficult - the wire is about the thickness of a human hair, or so it seemed. After a while I figured out that Yung was breaking it by constantly slapping it against the wall for her readings. I fixed that, I took some toilet paper and very loosely wadded a piece and placed it where it would be against the transformer and then screwed won the circuit board. That loosely-wadded toilet paper had just enough spring in it to function like a shock absorber and stop that transformer from breaking loose. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I've had a Protimeter SM since 1999. I think it gets the job done in fine fashion. I've experimented with others but Yung - my wife and interior inspector - rejected them within hours. She's better at finding moisture than I am - who am I to dispute her judgment? If you've got the old style SM and you want to sell it let me know, Kurt. Yung seems to like that old boxy style more than the new sleek style and she's been bugging me to get on ebay and find another. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Can't disagree with that. OT - OF!!! M.

No, It's still a Category IV furnace. It can draw combustion air from the interior if there is enough for the appliance. As I said, this is probably a situation where you have two appliances in a small area that wouldn't normally provide sufficient combustion air. They've equipped it with a Cat IV furnace that gets its combustion air from outside and they've equipped it with a power-vented water heater to ensure that there won't be any accidents caused by backdrafting associated with interior exhaust fans, fireplaces, etc.. Those water heaters seem to get the job done. Any backdrafting that overpowers the fan shuts them down. If the fan breaks down they won't light off. What's so hard to understand about this setup? It's really very common out this way. I do think there is an issue with the proximity of those vents to one another though and I think Rob made the right call. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

There are fan-assisted natural draft water heaters that work very similar to how a Category 1 furnace with a draft inducer works. Google it. However, I think Rob is referring to a power-vented natural gas water heater. Those are pretty common around here. They use a large PVC vent that passes out through the wall of the house. There is an exhaust fan on top that's interlocked to the burners. It pulls it's combustion air from the interior. It's a good option for a location where there are two appliances close together and there's not much combustion air. He says the furnace was a category IV unit. The photo shows that the intake and exhaust pipes for that furnace are right next to each other and then the power vent from the water heater is discharging right over those. I think it's likely that the Cat IV furnace is pulling in a lot of exhaust from that water heater whenever the water heater burner comes on and the fan kicks in and that's affecting how the furnace burns. I think he made the right call. I've lightened up that photo below. Click to Enlarge 61.74 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

In Georgia? Probably between $200 and $300. OT - OF!!! M.

I can see their point but it would work in hot areas too by shading the window from direct sunlight. Still, it's a matter of taste isn't it? If a homeowner likes the look of the windows on the outer plane of the wall versus recessed, that's where they'll want to put it unless you can concince them otherwise. Some folks like those extended inside sills. They make nice shelves or a place for the cat to sit - or in my case, a sub-miniature dog. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

He's talking about a rain screen, so there's going to be a need to move them outward in the wall plane. That can be done, they just need to fir out the rough opening, extend the window casings and then install the windows and flash the whole thing accordingly. Extending window casings has been regularly done for years; usually when a builder strips the siding off an older house with 2 by 4 studded walls and wants to apply foam insulation on the exterior before installing the siding. It's done exactly the same way for rain screen walls over 2 by 6 framing. I suspect it will require installing some foam insulation around the extended casings before flashing them, in order to prevent condensation occurring between the inner and outer walls on the window casing, but with careful flashing it should not be an issue. Do a search for "extended window jambs" or "how to extend window casings" and I bet you'll find what you need, Randy. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

1994 - it's 19 years old. OT - OF!!! M.

I guess it has some application if you own every moisture meter on the market. Otherwise, it's just another piece of paper taking up space. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Can't use NM as a utility cord by putting a plug on it. 400-4 or thereabouts. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

They are nothing special; just framed lighter with no attic and usually a crawl of some sort. Take your time to write the first report in word, save it and then use it as a template and overwrite it for all additional manufactured home inspections. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

that's what I was trying to say above. I think some folks still don't get that it isn't an extra fee. A client can always opt to eliminate a component of an inspection and have the price reduced by whatever we think is fair, but we are required to do the entire house unless it's specified in the contract what components the client does't want inspected. The OP says that the pest contractor said that another inspector charged extra and that the customer didn't want to pay that. If there isn't any home inspections laws there requiring a complete inspection unless it's excluded, I guess they can get away with that but the only way it would fly here is if it met one of the reasons for being excluded or if the client asked that it not be inspected. When it comes right down to it, nobody is charging extra for the crawlspace; they are charging for the additional time it will take to do it and document it. OT - OF!!! M.

It's part of it here. Inspectors are required to enter and traverse crawlspaces. They can exclude the crawl if the access opening is less than 18 by 24 inches or there is less than 18-inches below joists and 12-inches below beams, or there are obstructions, inadequate clearances or conditions which in the inspector's opinion are hazardous to health and safety of the inspector or will cause damage to the home. Inspectors can still charge for doing crawlspaces. Why not? It doesn't mean that they don't do them; it just means that they build the price around the configuration of the home and that's what it costs the client. There's nothing wrong with that if that's the way you want to price them. Obviously, folks with houses built on slabs or without an attic will pay a little less but then again one doesn't have to spend all of that additional time inspecting those areas and then documenting what's in them and the issues therein. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's a nice crawl. Pull the weeds, remove all of the organic crap, hit the soil with some Roundup and put the barrier down and he'll have a little Lexus of a crawlspace compared to the friggin Yugo's I have to crawl through all the time. Don't recommend putting a vapor barrier on the underside of the joists unless you want to turn those joist bays into petri dishes. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Check the neutrals at the panel to see if they are tight. I routinely find them loose and snug them up. Takes less time to do that than to write it up. Sometimes go back inside and someone says, "The lights in here were kind of dim. Now they're bright? What's up with that?" ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Chinese drywall? Chicago? I didn't think it got that far north. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Depends on how long I'm into it and whether they need a written report. If I'm less than 90 minutes into it and they come to me and say they have changed their minds, I ask them whether they will want a written report. If the answer is no I rip up the full home inspection contract and we execute a limited inspection contract and I charge my limited inspection fee. If we've been there over 90 minutes and/or they want a written report I charge my regular fee but will cut them some slack on the next one, if I do another inspection for them. Sometimes they call back for the second inspection and they are on some pretty ridiculously short timelines and I can't help them, in which case I refer them to another inspector I trust - some of those are on here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Looks like a through-the-wall vent. Were they one in each bedroom and maybe one or two in the common areas. Little cover on the outside of the wall? You dial them closed or open/close them with a pull string? Don't see the string there. You open them up and use the interior ventilation fan on a timer to remove excess humidity from the home. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The place has been vacant for 8 years. When homes aren't occupied all sorts of things happen that we wouldn't normally expect to see - heavy corrosion seems to be one of them for some reason. I wouldn't see it as being suspicious as all. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

They'd probably kept some scouring powder that contained bleach under the sink. Clean 'em up with some SOS pads and they'll be fine if they store the bleach-containing stuff somewhere else. That escutcheon will probably crumble if you press it with a fingernail. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

What the hell?!!! I thought it was my job assignment to piss Bill off. Who the hell is in charge of assigning all of the work around here? Man o man. Well, since Kurt is a lot taller than I am, I guess I'd better back off or I'm gonna end up with a bloody nose. OK, so I'll go find someone else to piss off. Danged bureaucracy; always confusing things. OT - OF!!! M.

I agree with everything Jim has said, You'll get folks from up north and the east coast recommending that you build up a beam because large dimension lumber is not that available in those parts. I'm originally from NYS, if we'd wanted a 6 by 12 beam we had to lay it up from planks 'cuz we couldn't buy lumber that large at the local yards. Do as Jim says, scrape off the vegetation. Do not just lay poly over it and call it a day or you'll end up with a house that smells like an old open-pit haylage silo. Besides, the IRC forbids any organic material under the house in the crawlspace - it's a no brainer - remove it. What's the height going to be from that soil to the underside of that 4 by 8 girder? Are you going to have at least 12 inches? If not, you'd better start digging or when you go to sell some smartass home inspector like me is going to come out of there and comment about how some looney tunes put in an addition with only 10 inches under a girder that's inaccessible for complete inspection. If you have a buyer with a HUD or FHA loan in a case like that the buyer is liable to walk 'cuz they won't get approval until it's rectified? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike