hausdok

Hi Walt, Chris, I too did one hitch with the BBB. When I found that nobody cared whether they listed me or not, I dropped it and saved myself the $400+ a year. However, back in the day when the BBB was about the only game in town, not a whole lot of folks were checking people out. Think about it, the BBB had been around for decades before the internet came on the scene and how many times had you ever checked out a company using the BBB. Speaking for myself - never; I never saw the need and it was too much of a hassle. So, maybe you have a client who was ecstatic with your service who'd recommended you to a co-worker. In the old days, that co-worker probably put complete trust in the word of your former client, never bothered to check with the BBB, and then called to hire you, completely oblivious to the client you had 2 years ago that's completely pissed off about something you did or didn't do. However, with the advent of the internet, the BBB is only one of a long list of the online places where people get to spout off when they're unhappy about service. All it takes is a Google search today to pull up all of that dirt. Now, even though he or she might completely trust the former client, it's very easy for the potential client to type your name, or the name of your company, into Google and in the blink of an eye pull up just about everything anyone anyplace knows or has ever known about you; the good, the bad, and the ugly. Complaints from unhappy customers are the ugly. Even before the internet, a client who was pissed about a $200 item had it within his or her power to cost you, just by virtue of talking bad about your company to friends, relatives, and co-workers, literally thousands in future referrals. Now add in the dynamic of the internet and dozens of tattle-tale sites, and former clients with a grudge have the ability to reach literally millions of people within days and can practically cripple a company in some markets. This is why we inspectors need to work real hard at responding quickly and in a very positive manner whenever we're faced with a callback issue. Sometimes, all the customer wants to hear is that an inspector is sorry that the customer is having a bad time, and the customer has no intention of suing anyone, let alone the inspector. However, then they call the inspector and the first thing out of the inspector's mouth is a parroting of the disclaimer language from the inspector's contract and a declaration of innocence, as if to say, "Hey, don't look at me, I'm not to blame for your troubles." At the point where the client, right or wrong, gets pissed at the inspector, the inspector has missed the chance to turn lemons into lemonaide; that's all I'm saying. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Arthur, Thank you for your response but you still haven't answered my question; is that device UL listed? If it is not, I can't see any reasonably intelligent person in this country wanting to purchase one. How about telling us about the UL approvals you have, or, better yet, direct us to the UL testing reports. OT - OF!!! M.

Hmm, Hadn't realized that Nick had appointed a new one. Correction made. OT - OF!!! M.

Many thanks to James Simmons (User name Mr. Electric) for this morning's smile.

Hello Everyone, In the days before the internet, if a company screwed up a job, or even if the job wasn't screwed up but a customer perceived it as being screwed up, it was pretty difficult for a disgruntled client to trash one's reputation, without resorting to full-page ads in papers and magazines. Well, those days are gone. Now we've got the internet and Angie's List and Ripoff Report, and it's just as easy for a potential client to find out the bad things being said about your company as it is to find your company on an internet search engine. Sure, one can also post positive review of a company on these sites, and business owners are allowed to post rebuttals, but once a poor report about your company goes up, the damage can be crippling. Consumers know this and today customers are voicing their displeasure in open venues like these for all to see. It ain't pretty. During a recent search of Ripoff Report for the keyword "inspections" I got a result of 33 different complaints about companies that do various types of inspections. Of these, 14 (42%) are complaints against home inspection firms - one complaint even alleges that an inspector who is the President of one of the professional home inspection organizations had defrauded his client by doing a sub-standard inspection, and that the issue that he missed will cost the client over $7,000 to correct. Ouch! Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that any of these companies actually did anything wrong and deserve to have their name and their company name trashed in this manner. After all, I don't know the facts and these reports are kind of one-sided. However, once this kind of report makes it's way onto the net, the overwhelming response by consumers (not inspectors) is going to be, "Yeah, figures, I've heard that all of those home inspectors are......" What, I asked myself, did these inspectors not do, which they could have done better, to avoid this kind of brutally open and one-sided type of blemish against their companies. Well, if you read these complaints, some folks are complaining that the inspectors involved displayed very poor attitudes and weren't very helpful. One of the first rules when dealing with a callback is that you must respond as quickly as possible to the customer's complaint and all experts advise that when doing so one needs to be as polite and as calm as possible. I think that being responsive to a customer's complaints, and doing whatever it takes to help the customer resolve them - including openly admitting one's mistakes and taking responsibility for them when necessary - are key to preventing this kind of customer lash back. All inspectors should visit this site, read some of these complaints, and take a very careful look at the way they're handling customer callbacks. To read more about these cases, click here

Hi All, For those who are interested, one of our sponsors, Home Inspector Essentials, is currently selling the TIR for $4299.99. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

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Use the Fluke TiR1 and TiR Thermal Imagers for applications including: Roofing Surveys: Detect wet areas in roofing systems quickly and efficiently. Find wet portions of the roofing structure and repair or replace before the entire roof is damaged. Energy Audits: Perform infrared energy audits for residential and commercial applications. Increase the thermal efficiency of a home or building by scanning for thermal heat loss, air infiltration or exfiltration, or air delivery problems. Moisture/Restoration: Accurately detect moisture issues located behind exterior and interior walls, in ceilings or under carpet-covered floors. Mold Remediation: Control mold by finding unknown sources of moisture that would otherwise go undetected. Fluke IR Fusion TechnologyIR-Fusion technology (patent pending) facilitates real time pixel-for-pixel merging of infrared and visible light images together on a single display. Providing five viewing modes – each designed to add greater clarity, accuracy and a valuable frame of reference to infrared images – IR-Fusion is the only technology to allow users to manipulate images right on the camera’s display and is designed specifically to allow users to find problems not commonly detected with similar infrared imaging cameras. IR-Fusion captures infrared and visible light images and simultaneously displays the images fused together, adding a new dimension of detail that saves time and money and best conveys infrared information of each specific application and environment. Viewing modes include: Full Infrared – high-resolution standard infrared images. Full Visible Light (this mode available only in the software of the Fluke TiR1 and TiR models) – a visual (visible light) image like you would get with a digital camera. Picture-in-Picture – an IR image portal surrounded by a visual (visible light) frame for reference. 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Pricing and Availability Part of a growing line of Fluke test tools designed specifically for building diagnostics, HVAC/R and indoor air quality (IAQ) professionals, the Fluke TiR1 and TiR Thermal Imagers are available immediately for a suggested US list price of $6,995 for the TiR1 and $4,495 for the TiR. For more information on the Fluke TiR1 and Fluke TiR or the full range of Fluke thermal imaging products, visit www.fluke.com/thermography or contact Fluke Corporation, P.O. Box 9090, Everett, WA USA 98206-9090, call 800-760-4523 or email fluke-info@fluke.com. Fluke Corporation Fluke Corporation is the world leader in compact, professional electronic test tools. Fluke customers are technicians, engineers, electricians and metrologists who install, troubleshoot, and manage industrial electrical and electronic equipment; and calibration processes for quality control. ####

Hi Kyle, Good going. However, with respect, it's "cite" not "site." Cite = Citation ; Site = Location. You've got to pay attention to those homonyms. Before submitting something like that to a paper, I suggest having someone else read it over first. I have a habit of doing them unconsciously. I know the difference between their, there, they're but when I'm typing rapidly I tend to mix them up all the time. It seems the brain makes the finger type whatever is the most convenient. OT - OF!!! M.

Holy Mackerel Annie! It's a bright sunny day here in the Seattle area. I just drove over to my wife's church to check their roof out for a suspected leak and discovered that it was 47 degrees in the shade. I was literally sweating by the time I got off that roof and out of that attic. Had to shuck my jacket. Wasn't comfortable till I got down to my polo shirt. If this is spring, I think it's freakishly early this year. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Chris, Well, without reading the data at your link, Chris, I can tell you that they're not a very smart option in my climate at all. So far, I think the best option that I've seen in this climate is full-length ridge vents combined with eave vents under the entire length of the eaves and without gable end vents. Around here, those attic fans tend to pull moisture-laden air into the attic and cause mold to develop on the sides of rafters facing away from the fan. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I thought that looked a little odd too. I wish I could see a photo of the entire property from all angles so that I could get a better idea of the site - those are called "establishing" shots, John. With such a limited view of the foundation to make a determination, it's hard, but it looks to me almost like you might be dealing with a portion of the home that's been converted from a garage to living space and that concrete is where they added a little concrete stemwall to support the front wall where they filled in the overhead door opening with studs. I see those all the time around here. If that's the case, there very well could be some settling issues; I've seen settled garage floors many times. There are all sorts of possible causes for a garage slab to settle but the most common one I can think of is impatience. Some builders will store all of their crap in the garage on the dirt floor during a build and don't bother to place the slab until the very last thing. When that happens, if they're impatient, and don't take the trouble to carefully compact the soil that's going to be beneath the garage floor slab, the slab can settle. My mother just moved to Florida from Virginia Beach last year after living in VB for about 15 years. Her sister and my cousins have lived there for half a century. The first time I visited VB, I noticed that once you are through the top soil the soil beneath is very sandy - almost like beach sand. Once, i noticed a pipe projecting from the yard in my mothers back yard and asked her what it was about. She said it was a well pipe so folks could hook up a pump and use groundwater to irrigate their lawns. Apparently, the water table is so high there that it's possible to do so. Compared to some of the drainage and erosion issues I see around here, what I see in that photo is a cakewalk. I think you have to be more concerned with what the footer has been placed on and what kind of drainage exists immediately next to the footer. My opinion, worth what you paid for it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, This issue gets re-hashed here at least a dozen times every year; it's wrong and there aren't any if, ands, or buts about it. I tell folks that they may encounter resistance to getting it corrected, but point out that it's wrong now, it was wrong ten years ago, and it was wrong 50 years ago, so it's not like it's something that I made up. Then I point out to them that there aren't any non-electricians writing electrical codes - it's electricians who make those rules - so they can expect to see it written up in my report regardless of whether or not any electrician say it does or doesn't need to be corrected. Charlie makes a good point, there's usually more than one issue to bring out an electrician for anyway. You could also take Jim Katen's approach - tell them that it's wrong but not to get wound up about it and have it corrected the next time they've got an electrician out there for some other reason and then have him kill two birds with one stone. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

After a deck at a casino collapsed and injured more than 80 people, one of the victims sued the casino owner for $4M plus $75K for her medical bills. The jury instead awarded her 10 times the amount of her medical bills in damages. Yet another reason for home inspectors to pay very close attention when inspecting decks. To read the entire story, click here.

Aaaaaauuuuuggghh! I'll never forget the first time I tried to check one of those. I wasn't familiar with them, flipped the handle the wrong way, and soaked myself from head to foot. I won't go near 'em now. OT - OF!!! M.

Here: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Re ... gle+Search

Update: SB 6606 just passed the Washington State Senate floor on a vote of yeas, 39; nays, 8; absent, 0; excused, 2. Now it's on to the Washington State House of Representatives for hearings. OT - OF!!! M.

Editor's Note The previous post may seem out of context and unrelated to the discussion. That's because it was made in response to a member's inquiry as to why ASHI was in favor of the PA law in 1999 but now is not in favor of it because there is no requirement for the NHIE in the Pennsylvania rules. Still, though the member never made clear why he posed the question, I attempted to answer him and then asked him why he'd brought the question up. He chose not to answer, and then, for whatever reason, the member apparently decided to delete his post after I'd responded. Perhaps he didn't like the answer or perhaps he felt his question had been answered. Regardless, it's clear from the example at the link posted in the comment above that Pennsylvania's licensing procedures and enforcement, such as they are, leave something to be desired. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Strange, what are the odds that someone in Panaji, India and someone in Island Lake, Manitoba have the exact same IP address? Don't bother trying to answer, I've locked this thread. Very un-kewl Mr. Plumber. OT - OF!!! M.

Well, Could it be because EBPHI came on line somewhere around the end of the year in 1999 and the NHIE, as promulgated by EBPHI was in its infancy and EBPHI was still taking baby steps? I don't think anyone was sure in 1999 whether EBPHI was still going to be around 8 years later and I don't think there were that many folks who were actually convinced, even in ASHI, that the NHIE was going to survive and become the standard by which other tests would be measured. However, now that it's been around for 8 years, it's kind of a proven product. But lets not forget the NAHI CRI exam. Both of those tests have been put together using procedures that are advocated by the best educational minds in the country and both have been around for quite a while now. The difference between the two is that EBPHI is an independent entity that puts together its test using inspectors from all over the country, regardless of affiliation, while the NAHI CRI test is linked directly to an association. Don't get me wrong though, I believe that either might be a good choice for a test of the basic knowledge that a home inspector needs in order to be barely competent at this thing we do, but neither proves that an inspector can actually do what he claims he can do - inspect homes; for that, you need peer review. Without peer review, all one has proven is that one can remember stuff in a book and correctly answer questions about the stuff in the book . Why do you bring up ASHI and the NHIE? Is it because if the NHIE isn't used then there won't be any way to at least show that every single one of the guys and gals being licensed in PA, regardless of time in the business or number of jobs completed, at least know the bare basics of how to inspect a home; and you wish there were more stringent requirements? Or, is it that you don't consider EBPHI's test difficult enough and think ASHI should not be endorsing it and should be recommending something even harder? Is there something wrong with the NHIE. Is it too easy? Is that why interNACHI doesn't want ASHI to advocate it? If it's too easy, would the NAHI CRI exam be more appropriate? If not, I know your an interNACHI fan, does interNACHI have a better test than the NHIE that could be used instead - one that's also been psychometrically validated and does a better job of gauging an inspector's competence than either the NHIE or the NAHI CRI exam? If so, does interNACHI also have peer review? Heck, if you've got all that, sign me up! If you're concerned that PA doesn't do enough to check the qualifications of the folks that it issues licenses to, I guess I have to agree with you. Take a look at this case where this fellow, who was licensed by the state of Pennsylvania, according to the judge in the case cheated his clients for years and placed many of his clients' health at risk. http://ehb.courtapps.com/corpus/04-27-2000.98199.html ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yes, Dan actually commented in that thread. If you search the last 30 days or so for FPE you'll find it. OT - OF!!! M.

Or, instead of dumping that last trough load of washed out tailings on the ground they dumped them into the fresh mud. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Sure it would, if it wasn't plugged in - you can't see where the plug is. OT - OF!!! M.

Well, There are two of this site's sponsors, OREP and BRP and then there's FREA. If you meet certain requirements, you may qualify for some initial discounts. I don't think there's any such thing as a fair market price when it comes to insurance. You can be sure that, whatever policy you get, the premiums will consistently go up once they've got their hooks into you. I started out at $1500 a year, within two years it had gone up to over $2000 and by the 5th year I was paying nearly $4000 a year. OT - OF!!! M. OT

That's where a board that has the power to attach assets screws people over. If he'd gone to court in a lawsuit, at least if he'd lost he'd be able to appeal the decision and it might have been overturned, as so many of them are. Can he sue the BTR? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Bonnie! Hey Teach, how's it going? We've missed you in here. Sorry I can't help with your overhead fan question. Truth is, I don't see many of those things here, so I'm not as familiar with how they work as I'd like to be. Chris Prickett - the guy in the funny pictures on another thread - is from your area, though. I bet he knows. OT - OF!!! M.