hausdok

Yeah, that's probably true. What was that novel in the 60's? Joseph Conrad, I think, Leningen Vs. the Ants or something like that. Foot long carpenter ants would be waaaay too creepy to contemplate. One morning back in 1986 I went for my morning run on Ft. McClellan out on the range roads and witnessed a deuce-and-a-half run over a rattler. I figured that I'd swing by later, pick it up and show it to my platoon so they'd have an idea what a rattlesnake looked like from up-close. Well, by the time I got back there 2-1/2 hours later, fire ants had swarmed all over the carcass and completely stripped it to the bone. Even every bit of stuff from inside the skull was missing. It was as clean as if it had been soaking in acid for a week and there was nothing in sight except a few straggler fire ants looking around to ensure that nothing was left behind. Brrrr, spooky! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

To access the JLC archives you just use the search box on the JLCOnline home page at http://www.JLCOnline.com . However, if you aren't a JLC Online member, you'll only be able to download a limited number of articles and you'd need to get a JLCOnline membership to access the rest. You might be able to find some previous discussions about this stuff here in the TIJ archives. Go to the home page and use the search feature. I suggest word searching either "lugs" or "terminals". OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Chris, That's the thing about carpenter ant shavings; it always looks worse than it is. A number of years ago, a friend called me to tell me that he thought he had a carpenter ant infestation. I drove over to his place and asked him to show me where. He took me around to his back patio, pointed to the corner of the entry at the daylight basement, and said that he'd seen some ants coming and going from a narrow gap at the door casing. I sat down to watch and, sure enough, within moments a carpenter ant moving at full gallop crossed the patio and disappeared into that gap, and then another, and another. I said, "Yep, you've got a carpenter ant infestation." He asked how bad it would be and I said I had no way to know until we did some poking around. We went into his rec room and pulled off a piece of wood-grained paneling and found that the backside of the bottom 3ft. of it had a layer of frass about 1/2 inch thick behind it. We cut a hole in the drywall behind the paneling, looked into the first stud cavity and found nothing, and then the next, and the next, and the next, and so on, finding the backside of the paneling full of shavings each time. Finally, after we'd gone around 3 sides of the room, about 35ft. away from the door underneath a window we heard rustling coming from the bottom header beneath a window. I stuck one end of a screwdriver into the top of the header, pried upward, and the top literally popped off the header and the thing erupted with ants. As it turned out, the only actual damage was to the top 2 by 4 used for that bottom header, which was completely hollowed out except for about 1/8 inch at the sides, and it was packed to the top and from end-to-end with egg sacs. We grabbed his show vac and spent about the next hour and a half vacuuming up all of those ants and egg sacs before the ants could move them. When we swept up all of those shavings, I bet that, uncompacted, they would have nearly filled a wheelbarrow, so we were amazed at how bad the amount of frass made things look when there actually wasn't that much damage at all. Oh, by the way, there weren't any water leaks around this window and everything was dry as a bone. We found the main nest later that afternoon in a railroad tie retaining wall along one side of the yard. Apparently, those ants had never read the literature that says that creosote is a carcinogen! The pictures below are from another house with an itty-bitty carpenter ant infestation. Dry walls this time too. Lots of ivy around the house and shooters had gone up behind the clapboard siding and into the exterior walls. this is what was found when the siding and the wall sheathing was pulled off. Image Insert: 163.87 KB Image Insert: 166.28 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Oh, yeah, hee hee, Thanks, I probably never would have figured that out. OT - OF!!! M.

Just google "carpenter ant entomology" and you'll get a ton of info. OT - OF!!! M.

If you know you've got them, finding the nest isn't that hard. Just wait until you see some foraging. They'll be walking around and slowly looking in all directions with no apparent direction. Put some honey out on a piece of cardboard where they'll find it. They'll gorge and then make a beeline for the nest to feed the drones and queen, and they'll be moving at a faster pace and will lead you right to it. You can also find them late at night because their activity will pick way up in the wee hours of the morning. They usually have little pathways established between the main nest and the satellite colony and they'll be out there tending it in large numbers, removing any debris that will slow down their supply train. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I used to think that, but I've got personal experience that says no. That's a neat trick. How does an organism survive without moisture? Because when they nest in a home the nest is normally a satellite of the main nest where the queen and drones are located. They prefer the sun-warmed sides of a home and they use those areas for nurseries. Besides, they can't survive on moist wood because they don't ingest the wood. They prefer dampened wood, but they can mine dry wood when they want to. Workers that do the foraging bring back both food and water to the main nest. One thing that's pretty wild about carpenter ants is that they're like little dairy farmers. Workers will actually tend to aphid colonies to collect honeydew secretions from the aphids which they carry back to the nest to feed the drones and queen. True story. If you don't believe me, check it out with your state's department of agriculture. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Look here: http://doitbest.com/Flashing-Oatey-mode ... 449303.dib http://www.bestmaterials.com/detail.aspx?ID=16054 http://www.aquariusdist.com.au/media/Aq ... 20Aquaseal% OT - OF !!! M.

Hi Chris, Well, first, if it's substandard construction and it's that bad, I'm going to tell them that it's a mess, that it looks like the work was done by a non-professional, and that, even if I document everything I can see, there's bound to be other stuff that's just as bad that I can't see. Once I've done that, I just drive on and write up what I can. At the end I tell the client that they should check with the local code bubba's office to see if any of the slipshod work was done with permits and was final-inspected and, if not, to insist on getting the local code guy out for a visit to issue correction notices and get things fixed before closing. Codes guys sometimes have the power to order something torn down and rebuilt properly and, depending on jurisdiction, they can sometimes issue fines for un-permitted work. When the quality of the work is that bad, there usually aren't any permits, and the seller isn't going to want the code bubba sniffing around, so he or she won't agree to it. That's usually the end of it and I see the client on the next one. Sometimes, though rarely, the seller agrees to it and they do actually get stuff fixed and get the codes guy to sign off on it. Either way, I've done what they've paid me for - given them as accurate a report as I can based on what I was able to see. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Get rid of their source of moisture and they'll (have to) leave. Well, yes and no. There usually has to be some moisture or rot to make wood soft enough for them to get started on a project, but, once they get started hollowing out wood, they'll work even in dry wood. Unlike annobiidae, termites, and lictids, they aren't dependent on the moisture in the wood to survive. So, yeah, if they haven't got a good headstart on a nest, finding and fixing whatever has softened the wood is going to help but it isn't going to discourage them if they've already got a well-established nest. Most of the time, unless you treat the entire house at once, a chemical treatment only causes them to pick up and more to another location temporarily until the residual has dissipated. One or two more years and they're back again. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Jim's right. Chemical treatments for CA only last a while. Once the residual is gone, they return and just start borrowing again. You need to find out why they are there and fix that at the same time that you nuke them. Fix the condition that led them there and nuke the nest and they'll be gone for a while. That's why you need to periodically treat for them. When I find their frass, I just poke around in the areas nearby. If there's an active nest, a few soldiers will come out to the entrance pretty pissed off and reveal that they are still active. If I see frass without activity, which is common during winter months, I just report that and recommend that the clients find out whether there'd been an issue that had been dealt with. If there hasn't been a recent treatment or the homeowner claims that they have no knowledge of any ant activity, I recommend they get a pest guy out to treat for them. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, If I know, I tell them whether or not they have insulation above the ceilings, in the walls, or under the floors. I also tell them what type it is, and approximately how thick it is and I'll report when I find it dislodged or swept back, ruined by rodent urine and compaction, hanging down, etc.. Its pretty common here to find houses from the 60's or older without insulation in the walls or below the floors, so, when I know it's missing, I stick in a little blurb recommending that they consider having insulation added at those areas if they want to try and reduce their energy consumption. Except for when it's vermiculite or has been ruined by rodent urine or feces, people around here don't seem to care a whole lot about insulation. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, It's a main lug two-lug connector that's not being used for what it's designed for. It's designed to accommodate two wires only. For instance, a #6 and a 14ga together, but not that mess you've got there. Here's Hansen on the subject of two-lug connectors: "A common source of double tapping is at main lugs of a panel. However, note that the marking on the lug gives a minimum and maximum size: it is not properr to use the lug with a smaller conductor than shown on its marking." I just spend ten minutes word-searching two major electrical components manufacturers' sites and could not find them listed for use with more than one connector or anything other than main lugs. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, You're probably right, Kevin. One thing that home inspectors don't have is good fashion sense. [] OT - OF!!! M.

Yep, I bet there's three buttons at each knee and a frill. OT - OF!!! M.

Aw, Don't get your knickers in a twist over a little friendly ribbing. OT - OF!!! M.

Chad, Say it ain't so. Classic damage control technique; you've obviously been hanging around too many 'zoids. It's time for an intervention; somebody bring the jacks and the hot wax, I'll bring the used motor oil and the funnel, let's converge on Rochester and cure Chad before it's too late. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

For those of you who need a little bit of incentive to learn something new, even when it's a free seminar such as these, you might be interested in knowing that at certain locations for these seminars they'll be giving away a free Bucketboss toolbag to each attendee and, like John said, some locations are providing a free dinner. OT - OF!!! M.

Thanks for finding that. I think that's a pretty worthwhile seminar to attend. As you've probably noticed, I'm adding the dates individually to our coming events calendar. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, That's feeding a trickle of fuel to the pilot light, which means, at least in my mind, that you've got a furnace there that's probably well beyond the end of it's normally-expected 20 year service life. Did you take that galvanized puff shield off to look at the welds around the burner tubes? Weird place for that gas line to connect to the main line. Usually I think it connects to that upper orifice you see in the photo - the one with the rund cap that's slanted toward the camera. This one seems to have some other type of thermocouple device connected. When the shutoff valve on the line is turned off, will it cut off gas to the pilot as well as the control valve or will there be gas flowing even when the valve is off? If the latter, I'd call it for correction or at least a look-see by an HVAC guy. It would help if you'd taken some closeups of the control valve and the thermocouple arrangement. That angle makes it hard to see what's been plumbed around that control valve. When I get a furnace that old, I'm not shy about saying to the client - even when it's working fine - that it's so old that I wouldn't be surprised if it failed as I was driving home. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, I didn't go back and reread that article, but I thought that is what the article said - that they were burning propane but that the installer hadn't changed the jets from the installed natural gas jets because someone at the factory allegedly said that he didn't have to in order to burn propane. That statement alone shows that the installer was an idiot, but it sounds like the inspector still had his head up his butt. I wonder if the basement "bedroom" was ever a true bedroom. Perhaps it was just a storeroom with a suspended ceiling where the joists above it pass straight through to the mechanical room without any kind of blocking separating the air from that area from the air above the "bedroom." Guess the only way to know would be to contact the local investigators and ask them for some more details about this mess. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Surprisingly, this article by a contractor recommends that those who are intent on buying an old farmhouse have it inspected by professional inspectors. Could it be that some contractors no longer consider home inspectors demons? To read the entire article, click here.

This tragic story involves a boy who died in his family's brand new home when a municipal inspector failed to ensure that a direct-vent furnace was properly configured and installed. This has led to the State of Minnesota changing the training requirements for municipal inspectors. To access the article, you'll need to register with the Star Tribune, but it's free and it only takes a minute. They'll occasionally send you junk mail advertisements, but I've set up my computer to send them directly to the junk bin so that I never see them. To read the entire article click here.

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Really? I should think one would say "Changing your tactic." OT - OF!!! M.