hausdok

I wouldn't use any clear finish on it, I'd paint it. I've seen a lot of wood trim around skylights that's been sunburned black because it was left unprotected from sunlight for years and years. Leave it long enough and it will look like someone took a soldering iron and intentionally browned the wood with the thing. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, Pick up the phone, call the listing agent and ask him/her to ask the homeowner what it is. OT - OF!!! M.

Looks like an old version of a line thermostat. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Is the end of the pipe open or capped? I can't tell from the picture. If it's black pipe, did you consider the possibility that it might be a gas stub-out for an outside barbecue? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jon, With respect, I disagree; we need to grow our base of knowledge in this profession to encompass new technologies. When this stuff we do was formalized back in the 70's, the solar stuff was still trying to take off, and the folks trying to make it work were for the most part considered to be just a little "off" by most folks in construction. I seem to recall hearing my father use the word "hippy weirdos" a lot back then whenever anyone mentioned a homeowner building a house where they were planning to use solar or wind to power, heat, or heat water in the home. That was the era when that first SOP was written and those disclaimers have pretty much stuck for the past 3 decades. However, while solar technology has progressed, we inspectors have not. We (the profession) largely still stubbornly refuse to expand our scope of knowledge to included inspection of solar systems, radiant heating systems, and the like. If we can thoroughly inspect hot air, electric, and hydronic heating systems, we can thoroughly inspect hydronic systems; it's just a matter of educating ourselves about them. We inspectors need to break out of this mindset. Our clients expect us to be the experts about houses. They want us to be able to not only spot deficiencies in their systems but to also educate them about their homes and they don't want to have to hire half a dozen other "experts" after we get done with our inspection. And why should they have to; because we as a profession still refuse to recognize the reality that alternative systems are no longer the province of "hippy weirdos?" Along with a couple of dozen other trade journals, I subscribe to Plumbing & Mechanical magazine (Everybody should - it's free) and over the past 5-6 years I've watched as the plumbing industry has slowly and methodically embraced new technologies such as solar hot water and heating systems, radiant systems, etc. Any of us who attended the Watts Radiant training at Warm U in Missouri last year can tell you that the radiant systems we saw being turned out there were anything but a new age flash-in-the-pan fad. These systems are now mainstream and we inspectors need to start working on integrating them into our repertoire and stop running away from them. There was a very good article about solar appliances by John Siegenthaler, P.E. in this months PMMag. Siegenthaler has a monthly column in PMMag that is primarily about hydronic systems - conventional and radiant - and virtually every other month he explains some new concept in a way that even Bubba Asscrack can understand. On May 1st at 1:00 PM ET, Siegenthaler is hosting a webinar - Active Solar Heating: New Opportunities for Hydronic Professionals ($79) that should be a good chance for inspectors to get some good basic training about solar systems. You can learn more about this webinar here. I think if you take it, if for no other reason than to peek a little bit outside the typical home inspector's SOP-limited box, you'll come away from it a better inspector. Maybe, if other inspectors in your area are also limiting themselves, you might even find yourself become the "go to" guy in your area for home inspections where solar systems are installed. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

What I mean is, write it the way you'd say it if you were talking to the client in person. Hint, nobody uses the term "it is recommended" when speaking directly to their clients. Check out Bonnie Trenga's forum here on TIJ and you'll eventually be able to pull yourself away from the mangled inspectorspeak that so many of us have used for so long. OT - OF!!! M.

Not bad, Kevin, Now, could you rewrite that in active voice, please? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Jodi, ND has an HI registration law that sets certain standards that was passed in 2005. I'm just wondering if there has been anything new to report with that law. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Jodi, There should be a main for each unit outside of the building (or in a mechanical-electrical room within the building somewhere) and a sub-panel at each unit. A sub-panel may or may not have it's own primary breaker but it still needs to be set up like a sub-panel with the neutral bus isolated from the panel with one grounded conductor per terminal and with a separate bus for the EGC's that is bonded to the panel and to the ground cable leaving the panel. I rarely see a single main breaker for an entire complex. When I do, it's typically in an old converted apartment building downtown. On another subject: If you've got licensing in ND is there anything to report about same? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Nope, It won't be the radiant heat causing it. More than likely, his whole house ventilation system is all dicked up. How old is the house and what method are they using to periodically swap out the air? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, There's no reason to freak out when you see that stuff. It's butt-ugly but it's practically bullet proof, it is insect and woodpecker proof, and it holds up really well to the weather. I think the asbestos in that stuff is almost impossible to breath. I bet you'd have to pulverize it to the consistency of ultra find sand and then wash it and dry it before you could separate the asbestos fibers from the cement enough to get it airborn and be able to breath it. The silica sand that's used to make those shingles is probably a more immediate hazard. GAF corporation makes fiber-cement shingles that will be a perfect match. Call them up and ask them to send you a free siding sample kit. You'll receive five little 3" by 5" by 3/8" boxes. Each box will contain a different pattern sample along with diagrams of the the series of shingles and dimensions of the shingles the pattern applies to and the colors that they are available in. When I got my packet, I just called their 800 number in Wayne, NJ, gave them my address, and they arrived a few days later. Since then, they've merged with ElK and the lady at that number will refer you to your local sales rep and the sales rep will have to order them for you. I just put in a call to the local rep. He's going to see if there's a new central number that people can call to get a packet. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, The 1 x 2 only increases the distance that water has to move to reach the actual house. If it's a nice neat install, the water will hit the 1 x 2 and run down the face of the 1 x 2 and drip away without reaching the house. If it's a sloppy install, water is just as likely to continue moving until it hits the house. Drip edging is cheap insurance; I don't understand why anyone would omit it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, first of all, this isn't the place to come for legal advice. Home inspectors are notoriously bad at offering legal advice. I'd get the nearest James Hardie rep out to evaluate it and provide you something in writing about what wrong and what can be done to fix it. They might be willing to accept a report from a competent home inspector along with photos but you'll have to ask them about that. Once you've done that, I suppose that, depending on how much it will cost to correct it, you can either take the siding installer to small claims court or get legal representation and sue the installer to force him to correct it. Either way, I bet it's going to cost you something out of pocket to reach some kind of resolution. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, It says right there on their site that Crosley is a non-profit and that the appliances are manufactured by other manufacturers to Crosley's specs. If you want to know who makes their dishwashers, you'll have to call them directly and ask them. Reading, it's a beautiful thing. [] OT - OF!!! M.

The owners of water heater companies are changing constantly. The chart that's on this site was based on manufacturer information from the diptube recall site and is about 8-10 years old. If your water heater is prior to that era and had been owned by another firm, perhaps Bradford-White or Lochinvere, it could have a letter date code system. OT - OF!!! M.

Joke or not, I kind of like it. OT - OF!!! M.

I'm watching it. So far, nobody has gone viral zealot and begun haranguing anyone else, so there's no reason to don by jack boots. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Whether they are hooked up in series or in parallel depends on what you intend to use them for. Click here for information straight from the Rheem/Ruud horse's mouth. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Holy Pixel Envy, Batman, it's huge!!! [:-batman] Wow! She came a couple of hours ago. This things dwarfs my 19" wide screen monitor. I've got her up running and adjusted and it's pretty sweet. Thanks again to all of you who chipped in to buy this behemoth, and especially to Rich Moore. I can't say enough about you guys. Sometime later this week my friend will pick up another video card and install it for me and set the two of them up for me. Once that's done, I'll take a picture and post it. Now I guess I have to be careful to sit back far enough so that I don't get a radiation burn from this sucker. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yeah, a hairline crack had been my guess. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Gary, I've seen a number of those and, FWIW, though I agree it wouldn't have killed them to have adjusted the vent over a few inches before cutting that hole, I doubt that it will leak. None of the one's that I saw were leaking and some looked like they were as old as dirt (just slightly older than me and slightly younger than Les). That metal retaining ring used to secure the bottom of the flange is pretty soft and maleable. It's pretty easy to bend it to fit the pattern of the roof exactly. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Up to 6:12 it has to be a minimum of 1ft. long as long as there aren't any vertical obstructions within 8ft. It looks like it's just about a foot to me, so I wouldn't have called it either. I agree with Brian about the bib flashing. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Kewl avatar! Think I'll keep it. Mike, can you say, go pound salt?

Ahem, Image Insert: 58.86 KB OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Jerry, Frank is right, I transposed my last digits on the two numbers when I typed them in, I should have said '77 or '98.