hausdok

For those of you who've always wanted to see Alaska but thought you couldn't afford the price of one of the cruise lines that are based out of Seattle (The first cruise ship of the season just arrived in Seattle the other day), you might want to investigate the Alaska Marine Highway System. It's a series of ferries that travel from as far south as Bellingham, WA all the way to Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. There are four travel routes. According to the website, the Inside Passage/Southeast route "treats you to spectacular natural beauty, an unmatched variety of wildlife, and a rich mixture of Native, Early Russian, and Gold Rush history. For those coming from the "Lower 48" or Canada, the trip north to Alaska on AMHS most often begins at Bellingham, Washington, or Prince Rupert, British Columbia. At the northern end of the route, Haines and Skagway link visitors and residents to the Alaskan Highway. The inter-port ferry routes connect the smaller communities of Southeast Alaska with each other, with the regional centers of commerce and government, and with connections to other transportation systems." id="maroon"> According to the website, the cross gulf route: "From June through September the M/V Kennicott makes bi-monthly trips from Prince Rupert, Ketchikan and Juneau to Whittier, with stops in Yakutat. This is the trip of a lifetime for those who like comfortable adventure. This route connects the Inside Passage/Southeast and Southcentral routes."id="maroon"> According to the website, the South-Central Alaska route: "The coastal communities of Southcentral Alaska are the outdoor playgrounds for more than half of the state's population. The Southcentral ferry service takes you through beautiful Prince William Sound and into the Gulf of Alaska and Lower Cook Inlet. Ferry travelers thrill to spectacular views of ice-blue glaciers, tranquil fjords, lush forests, and unbelievable concentrations of seabirds and marine wildlife. The Southcentral route connects to the Southwest route through scheduled services from Homer and Whittier to Kodiak."id="maroon"> According to the website, the Southwest Alaska route: "Remote, beautiful, and mysterious best describes Alaska's Southwest. See it for yourself on the Alaska Marine Highway. The Southwest route provides ferry service from Kodiak to Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, with stops at several communities along the Alaska Peninsula. From gentle coastal grasslands to rumbling, snow-capped volcanoes, Southwest Alaska has a character and charm all its own. This land of mystery is home to numerous national wildlife refuges, hundred of species of sea birds, fur seal colonies, walrus and other wildlife."id="maroon"> Folks who are using the system can book cabins on board or they can even bring a tent and sleeping bag and set up their tent on board the ferries and do the trip on the ultra cheap at a price that's a fraction of what it would cost to go being pampered in a rolling living room/casino where everything costs a fortune. No, there aren't any spas, indoor swimming pools, no rock-climbing walls or driving ranges, no plush suites, and you don't get your selection of 4-star restaurants, but they do pick up the trash from cabins in the morning and will provide clean linen upon request, some of the boats have movie theaters on board, there are showers on some ships, and there are telephones. Besides, It's the sightseeing - whale watching, and scenery - that most folks take these cruises for, and passengers generally have a pretty good time. Think of it as going camping or renting a camping cabin where the campsite is constantly moving. There are lots of options, and, with airfare being so cheap right now (I saw a fare from Miami to Seattle the other day for $166), it's a good deal for those who prefer the everyman's cruise. Check it out! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Nolan, He was asking specifically about the spray-on radiant resistant paints. They are formulated with microscopic ceramic beads. Apparently, the ceramic slows down the convection process so solar gain during the day is supposed to be slowed, so the home won't gain as much heat, and at night when the air cools the heat that leaves the home is retained longer. I guess the idea has some merit in hotter climates, but I think it would kind of suck in a heating climate where we depend on solar gain to help reduce heating bills. I remember an article a few years ago from Metal Roofing Magazine about new paint formulations being used on metal roofs to reduce the amount of heat gain in homes. I suspect that was something similar. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, That's a perfect example of what I'm talking about. Mine is very similar except there is a slight dark spot in the center because it isn't perfectly focused and that prevents the temperature from getting hot enough to actually melt the vinyl. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Scott, I thought they already had a requirement there that required everyone there to be ICC qualified. Maybe it wasn't a license I'm thinking about and it's the local inspector's association requirement I'm thinking of. So, what are the salient aspects of the law? Who put it through? OT - OF!!! M.

Do a google search for Florida Solar Research Center or some such. They had some information on their site years ago that dealt with those new slow-conducting ceramic paints used for attics in the hot part of the south. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Oh, Well, you should know better by know. I'm not the sharpest tack stuck in the bulletin board and most humor just goes over my head; kind of like the Pisa water heater post the other day. [:-dopey] OT - OF!!! M.

Yep, Exactly right, no felt between layers on a shingle roof; if you re-read my post near the top, you'll see I was referring to shakes. Felt isn't needed under a shingle roof. OT - OF!!! M.

Jim, I love ya, Bro, but recent shake roofs up here are lasting about 13 to 16 years in the shade - even when neglected - and about 16 to 20 years in sunny areas. Shingle roofs here are lasting close to 40 years when properly cared for; about half that when neglected. The ones that look the worst when not cupped and curled are neglected shakes; the ones that look the worse when cupped or curled are usually shakes and are nearly always installed over solid decks. One shake roof I inspected here was 45 years old, was the original, and had never had more than routine cleaning and maintenance. Of course, the owner, who was the original, told me that the stuff he dipped the shakes in back in 1957 had been outlawed by the EPA long ago. No dead vegetation or 3-headed squirrels running around his house though. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep, Unless it's in a very dry climate, a shake roof or cedar shingle roof really needs to be installed over skip, battens, or some type of cedar breather material. Go here and download the full roof manual. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, From that angle, they look like wood shingles where the maintenance has been neglected. A proper HVLP cleaning and oiling will probably bring it back but if it's over solid decking it's never going to be able to breath properly and I doubt that it will last nearly as long as the roofer said it would. By the way, the reason that I suspect solid decking is the drip edge at the eaves. With shakes applied over skip, there is normally an inch or two of overhang before that first piece of skip and no reason to use a drip unless you're trying to protect the edge of an OSB or plywood deck. That moss is quite literally eating those shakes, by the way. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jodi, That's hard to say. If I had to rely on the first photo, I'd say there's no way that cover is only 4 years old and it's rotting. However, it doesn't look nearly as bad in the second photo; although it's still hard to say, since it's too far away and it's not a very good angle. Was the cover over a solid deck or skip sheathing? Were there felts interwoven into the shakes that you could see from the attic side? Is it possible that only one slope was redone and the other is older and rotten? Are these certa shakes with any kind of warranty? If you're going to take photos and ask folks to try and gauge wear, the best thing to do is to take some establishing shots that show the perimeter of the house and then the entire roof and then smaller areas, moving from the general toward the spefic, taking several shots as you move in. You also need to take shots from several angles and even straight on so that we can get a better view of the shakes. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, at our age, most of the time we bark and try to gum them. OT - OF!!! M.

Certified at what? OT - OF!!! M.

Hmm, Well, since I don't have time to scroll every government database looking for changes every morning, maybe what we need at TIJ is to get one reporter in every state who will faithfully check their state government's site every day, catch stuff like this, and shoot it to us, so that we can get this out in a timely manner. Any volunteers? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Inspectors who are struggling with their reports that wish to improve their writing skills will be happy to know that a paperback version of Bonnie Trenga's book, The Curious Case of the Misplaced Modifier, will be available as of April 15th at a price of $9.99. Ms. Trenga has been moderating a writing skills forum and teaching writing skills classes at The Inspector's Journal for the past year and has helped many inspectors improve their report writing skills. To learn more about Ms. Trenga, click here.

Hi Scott, So, how do Kentucky inspectors feel about this? I don't think we've heard much about this before. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Not sheathing the gable end walls of an attic is very commonly done and siding can be installed directly to studs as long as there is a moisture resistant barrier behind it and the nails are (obviously) driven directly into studs. It sounds like you are describing a one-story home. Insulation is only required in the exterior plane of the living envelope; floors, exterior walls, ceiling. It wouldn't make any sense to insulate the exterior walls higher than the ceiling. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Kurt, Just imagine the typical sub-panel that you usually see. Now look at this one and strip away the heavy bare wires and replace them with metal conduit connected to the box. Now, take that orange length of NM cable, strip away the insulation projecting in the box and replace the bare equipment grounding conductor on that NM cable with the metal conduit you're used to. Now the ground path is carried completely on the conduit and the enclosure. Blow the picture up and you'll see that there is a bonding strap and green screw connecting the bar to the enclosure, so it's obviously not isolated from the panel and the fact that an EGC is connected to it is also a no-no because this is a sub-panel You wouldn't have that though if this were done with conduit; with conduit the bond strap connecting the neutral bus is the no-no. With your conduit the ground path is carried on the conduit, so you probably see neutral bars but not ground bars, no? There should have been a separate ground bar installed in the panel to accommodate that EGC you see there on that orange NM. There should have been another conductor, a grounded (neutral) conductor, in addition to the two hots you see connected to the breakers and the ground path (bare wires). Those grounded conductors would all meet on that bar and all of the grounds would meet on the separate ground bar that would be connected directly to the panel. Maybe the following diagram will help. Thank Mr. Electric, he passed them out last week at a class he gave. Click on the photo to blow it up. Image Insert: 250.55 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Updated

Hi Ezra, I've got some links to it here. This is the original bill introduced on October 9th of last year: http://www.lbo.state.oh.us/fiscal/fisca ... 0257IN.htm This is the substitute bill introduced two days ago: http://www.ohioinspectorlicensing.com/127_LB_0207_7[1].pdf This is a site put up by someone in Ohio with verious analysis of the bills: http://www.ohioinspectorlicensing.com/ ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Washington, D.C./April 3, 2008 - Release #08-241 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with A.O. Smith Water Products Co., of Ashland City, Tenn., today announced a voluntary recall of approximately 1,500 natural and propane gas water heaters because the water heater's flue gas temperatures can exceed safe limits and produce excessive temperatures in the venting unit, posing a fire hazard. Also, the water heater's exhaust can leak into the surrounding room, posing a carbon monoxide hazard. To date, no injuries have been reported. This recall involves 75 gallon natural and propane gas water heaters. "A.O. Smith" or "State" is printed on the side of the unit and the model and serial numbers are printed on the water heater's rating plate. These water heaters were manufactured in the United States and sold by independent contractors and plumbers nationwide from November2007 through January 2008 for between $1,000 and $2,500. The A.O. Smith brand units that are involved are the model FCG-75 300 and FCG-75 301 and the State brand units that are involved are the model GS6 75 XRR S and GS6 75 CRR S, with serial numbers ranging from L07A071460 through L07A144966 or M07A009387 through M07A072884. Home inspectors are in a unique position to spot these units and make people aware of these issues. Inspectors seeing any of these units should advise the homeowners to immediately stop using the recalled water heater and contact A.O. Smith to arrange for a free repair. For more information, contact A.O. Smith toll-free at (866) 880-4661 between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT, or visit the firm's Web site at www.hotwater.com. To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled product, click here.

Hi Bill, Way Kewl! I've marked my place. Thanks! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Don, Yeah, I know, much to my sponsors' chagrin, TIJ is the best kept home inspectors' secret on the internet. Welcome to the TIJ family. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Uuuuuh, Must....resist.........urge to.......pickup.....phone.....and.......pull.......out.....credit card......Heeeelllllllppppppppp! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Jim, Haven't a clue. I'm sure someone in the class probably asked but I don't remember his response. Maybe Kurt knows and has met the guy; he was from Illinois, spoke with an Irish brogue and is an instructor at University of Illinois or some such. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike