hausdok

Atlanta - January 16 Building operators and designers around the world face common issues related to thermal comfort, ventilation and energy, but these measures take on greater concern for buildings in hot and humid climates. In addition, areas with these climates, such as South Asia, are experiencing rapid construction growth. Design guidance on critical issues for achieving excellence and long-term sustainability in these climates is contained in a new book from ASHRAE. The ASHRAE Guide for Buildings in Hot and Humid Climates identifies and explains key issues for owners, architects, HVAC designers, contractors and building owners as they plan, build and operate air-conditioned buildings – in a sustainable way – in hot and humid climates. “All countries want to achieve high standards of energy efficiency,â€

Hi All, I was just perusing the Gastite site when I came upon a couple of documents that I think it would behoove every home inspector to become familiar with. The first document is the NAHB report: CSST and Concerns Over Lightening Strikes and the other is a Gastite technical bulletin #TB2007-01 01-26-07 that deals with electrical bonding of CSST and replaces the previous bulletin on the same subject. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Tsk, Walter, you're letting that little cloud of doom that follows your avatar around get to you. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Gastite is here: http://www.gastite.com/page.php?pg=tech ... link=link6 Tried to upload it to the library but it wouldn't go 'cuz it's 13Mb. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Bob, I didn't realize they had septic systems and did home inspections in Panaji, India. OT - OF!!! M.

Just 'cuz a connector meets that rule, doesn't mean it's not too long. I've found plenty that allow too much cooling to either establish and maintain a draft or are creating major condensation. I'm not disagreeing. I write vents for damage caused by excessive condensation all the time - almost daily. If I were in your area, had that basement, and it were unheated and had a single-walled pipe, I probably would write it up for that very reason. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I've seen connectors like that. See the way the corrugated section stops short of the fitting? CSST goes right up into the fitting. Well, there's the problem right there; the dearborn stuff is chock full of home inspector folklore and outright innacurate information. It's not the kind of text that a newbie home inspector wants to rely on without verything what he or she reads with some other texts. OT - OF!!! M.

A gate valve on the main sewer line maybe? OT - OF!!! M.

CSST has the yellow jacket. Some connectors also have a yellow jacket, but I've never seen one in sizes as large as the diameter shown there. It's obviously a supply pipe coming through the rim and it supplies gas to that down-pipe. Somewhere out of sight of that picture, that downpipe connects to the water heater and the boilder/furnace and there may or may not be a flexible connector at the end of that downpipe between the piple and the appliance. OT - OF!!! M.

No. That's CSST (corrugated stainless steel tubing). You're thinking about flexible connectors. They follow that rule. CSST can pass through walls and floors but uses rigid connectors - sort of like PEX. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I've never read that. It's 7X diameter of the collar max. If you ask me, you're over-thinking it. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Sure, the rule for an uninsulated connector is < 75% of the vertical vent and the rule for an insulated connector is < 100% the vertical vent, with a minimum of 1/4in./ft. toward the appliance. Buy yourself a CodeCheckComplete - it's worth it. OT - OF!!! M.

Barry Stone responds to someone's demand that he give interNACHI some recognition by giving them equal billing. Stone's response has showed up on Inman News and on Mortgage101.com so far. Both sites used heavily by the real estate/lending community. They'd have been better off if the writer had left it alone. Click Here!

Just click on 'upload a linked file', browse to the photo and upload it instead of using 'upload a visible picture'. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, There are all kinds of multi-fuel furnaces out there. Here's a sample of a few brands: http://www.yukon-eagle.com/ (Wood/gas) http://www.woodboilers.com/multi-fuel-furnace.asp (Wood/Oil/Gas) http://www.charmaster.com/about.html (All types) http://www.gsa-world.com/index.cfm?id=2 ... r%20burner (waste oil) http://www2.northerntool.com/product-1/200325990.htm (Corn & Pellets) http://www.harmanstoves.com/features.asp?id=30 (wood, coal & Oil) http://www.alternateheatingsystems.com/ ... oilers.htm (coal, wood, & Oil in any combination) http://www.firefix.com/Harmon_Multi-Fuel_Furnace.htm (Oil, coal, or wood) OT - OF!!! M.

I found this in my Code Check HVAC: Under gas appliance venting - No solid fuel and gas in same vent (IRC 2426.5.7.1/UMC 802.4) Under oil-burning appliance vents - OK to vent gas & oil to same chimney [iRC 2426.5.6.2/UMC 809.0) OT - OF!!! M.

Well, I'm not sure. The way that I read that code, they're talking about a combination fuel furnace, not two different furnaces. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I'm not exactly sure what kind of business you are describing. Would you please elaborate a little bit on exactly what the product or service is going to be and how you intend to fit into it, so I can respond with an appropriate answer. OT - OF!!! Mike

That's funny, I call 'em smoke pipes out here too and I grew up calling 'em smoke pipes. Bill's led a sheltered life in them thar Pennsylvania hills. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I think you misunderstood me. I'm not talking about water striking the glass and then draining to the outside of the surround, I'm talking about water hitting the inside wall of the surround, draining into the channel that holds the glass, and then, because some dildo caulked the inside horizontal joint where the outside wall of the glass meets the pan, water backs up inside the channel and then seeps around the screws securing the window channel to the walls at either side. From there, it drains down onto the floor under the molded rim of the pan and outward under the tile. Most of those manufacturers specify vertical and horizontal outside joints on the surround. Vertical and horizontal joints on the side and back walls of the inside of the shower, and then only the vertical inside corner joints where the side walls meet the glass and channel, leaving the horizontal inside joint free of caulk. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, I seem to remember something somewhere that said it's a no-no to discharge infiltration water removed by a sump pump (not a waste ejector) into a municipality's sewer system. Can't find the reference. Can anyone help? OT - OF!!! M.

Yes, Stay away from the mini-printers. I used to have the HP portable and it was a royal pain in the butt and waaaay too slow. With the time it took dinking around with that thing for one report, I could have printed half a dozen on my current on-site printer. Get yourself a decent color ink-jet printer or one of the new lightweight color LED or color lazer printers that's dirt simple to hook up and run on-site, and which will fit in a suitable container. Go with a cable device - it's more reliable and quicker. I have an Epson Stylus Photo 820 that fits perfectly in a 10-gallon Rubbermain Roughtote along with it's USB cable. The tone is about 9" by 16" by 24" and very convenient to carry. Onsite hookup is about 20 seconds; pull it out of the case, plug it into the wall outlet, plug the cable into the computer, put the lid on the container and set the printer on top of the container, and put paper in the printer. It spools reports off quickly and with much better quality than the portable printer ever did - and with a lot less fussing around. My printer is about 3-years old. I bet that since then Epson has come out with something that's faster and better which can fit in the same container. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Randy, Did you look to see how that shower surround is caulked? Those have to be caulked down the sides and along the bottom on the outside and only on the sides on the inside. If they're caulked along the bottom, water can't get out and usually ends up getting forced into the adjacent wall and finds its way to the floor. OT - OF!!! M.

In this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer the author expores the increasing importance of environmental conditions in real estate transactions and the relative importance of the home inspector's role. First President and one of the founders of ASHI, Ron Passaro, was interviewed for the article. To read more, click here.

In this piece in The Chicago Daily Herald, a reader boasts to Barry Stone about how he shopped around, saved $200 on his home inspection, and then asks why there is such a large difference in fees from one inspector to another. I bet the reader wasn't feeling so smug after reading Barry's answer.