hausdok

Nah, That's just where the guy manning the blower hose allowed the cells to hit the underside of the roof. It won't hurt anything. In fact, the borate in the cells will probably protect that portion of decking. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, In case anyone is interested, it appears to be a legitimate site. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I'm looking at that photo and reading Randy's remarks and going, "Jeez, Randy, come on, that looks like cells with some blown-in FG in an attic. Then Jim did it too and I'm going, "What the hell," and wiping off my my glasses going, "No, that's definitely a top chord. Look at the press-plate gusset between the top and bottom chords." You two had me going there for a minute. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, I was looking at those stains and wondering whether they'd been caused by condensation forming on the cold underside of the floors when the AC system is running. Don't know enough about Florida to say whether that'd be a concern or not. I know it's a concern in North Carolina but those are mostly closed crawlspaces up there that get dripping wet with condensation - not open and well vented like that one. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

What you see is what you get. This stuff comes straight from the CPSC. If they don't mention Homeline breakers than they aren't included. OT - OF!!! M.

Huh? You make is sound like the Chinese hold the franchise on making poor products? Don't get me started on the number of things that I've seen made lousy in this country in my lifetime. It doesn't matter what nationality they are, manufacturers everywhere will always take shortcuts and get caught at it sooner or later. OT - OF!!! M.

It doesn't look "cocked" to me at all. That's a tapered vent bib. It doesn't keep water from going down the pipe, only out of the roof cover. The storm collar above the bib is what keeps water out. From the color, I'd agree that it's surface rust only. They probably took it up through the roof at whatever angle it crossed the area beneath the roof without adding an elbow below the roof. Looks lame, but I don't see the angle as an issue. The flimsy little steel struts are a joke. That vents high enough that it should be supported with guy wires. Those struts will only buckle under a good wind. They could add a 30° elbow below the roof, a set of guy wires, wire brush it and coat it with some barbecue black and it'll probably last another 10 years. OT - OF!!! M.

Washington, D.C./December 27, 2007 - Release #08-151 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with North American Breaker Co. Inc. (NABCO), of Burbank, Calif. , today announced a voluntary recall of approximately 50,000 circuit breakers labeled as "Square D" that are counterfeit and could fail to trip when they are required to, posing a fire hazard to consumers. The counterfeit circuit breakers are black, were made in china, and are marked as Square D products. They were sold through electrical distributors, and retailers nationwide from March 2003 through April 2006 for between $3 and $85. The counterfeit circuit breakers are black and are labeled as Square D QO-series models 110, 115, 120, 130, 210, 215, 220, 225,230, 235, 240, 250, 260, 280, 1515, 1520, 2020, 2125, 315, 340, 350,360, and 3100. Actual Square D circuit breakers have (a) the amp rating written on the handle in white paint on the front of the breaker; (b) the Square D insignia molded onto the breaker side, and; © a yellow chromate mounting clip with half of the top of the clip visible. If your Square D breaker does not match this description, it could be counterfeit. Inspectors finding these breakers should advise homeowners to contact NABCO to determine if the breaker they have is counterfeit and to arrange for a free inspection and replacement or refund if necessary. For more information, contact NABCO at (866)505-5851 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT, email the firm at recall@nabreaker.com, or visit the firm's Web site at www.nabcorecall.com - this is not a Square D Company recall. To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled product, please click here. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from more than 15,000 types of consumer products under the agency's jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $700 billion annually. The CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children. The CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters, and household chemicals - contributed significantly to the 30 percent decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 30 years.

To get the shortcut, back up to the active topics display, right-click on the post you want in the list and copy the shortcut. If you're talking about subscribing to a post, you do that by clicking on a subscribe to post icon, if there is one. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It looks like rising damp to me. They've parged the face of the block foundation but there's nothing stopping water from moving up through the parging through capillary action. It will alternately be damp and dry out forever. If they'd stopped the parging above grade it probably would have remained relatively dry; only getting wet during rains. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Go here. These guys will know: http://www.i-boards.com/bnp/wc/ OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Arthur, This is a site for home inspectors. We are interested in learning about how these devices work and what kind of performance our clients can expect to get from them. We are not interested in purchasing them. I've deleted all of your advertising posts except this one. I'll leave this one up if you're willing to answer questions about these devices. Can you, as a manufacturer, address questions that inspectors here have about the pros and cons of on-demand tankless water heaters? If you cannot, than your effort here is wasted. My first question - since I don't think the design that you're showing would be allowed to be installed inside of a tub or shower enclosure in any jurisdication here - is that device UL listed? Mike O'Handley Editor, TIJ

Hi, I'm not sure. It's not like I'm tracking those or anything. Maybe,...maybe, one in every 20 - 30 jobs. Two weeks ago, I had a recalled dishwasher; a week before that, an Insinkerator On-Demand water heater. Before that, nothing for a couple of months. Today, 3 recalled electric heaters all in the same home. I might go another week or another 10 weeks before I see another one. OT - OF!!! M.

It's there. Use the drop down and look under "files and resources" OT - OF!!! M.

HI, It's 83. I hit the wrong key. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It was manufactured the 29th week of 1993. Here's a tip. The next time you need some information about something, save yourself some time and do a search of TIJ first. It could literally save you hours of time. Just click on home, and on the home page put your search term in the search box and search all forums. If you'd done that in this case, you would have found this post: https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... ms=dunkirk ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, We actually have that in TIJ's library. It's here: https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... goto&id=67 All ya gotta do is look. OT - OF!!! M.

I'd say that I only inspect walkways, patios and driveways leading to entrances and the vegetation, grading, surface drainage and retaining walls when they are likely to adversely affect the residence and that I don't inspect or report on the presence or condition of fences or erosion control and that earth stabilization measures, and geological, geo-technical and hydrological conditions are likewise not inspected or reported. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

So what's wrong with that. It looks like a home inspection school needs a house for a test bed. In exchange for providing the house, the owner gets a free inspection report. I teach a home inspection course every fall. It's hard as hell to get people to open up their house so that 20 to 30 people can come stomping through poking into every nook and cranny; you have to provide them some incentive. I find a house, arrange for it to be used as a testbed and then I inspect it myself to make sure I know its condition. Then I provide the homeowner with the report free of charge. All that before I ever allow my students to set foot on the property. I'd say that both sides of that deal are getting what it's worth to them out of it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, thank you for clarifying that but I want to know only one thing - can hair clog the thing up? My wife has very long hair and so far the only way to un-clog drains that her hair has clogged is by disassembling them. I can imagine that axle thingy becoming all bound up with long hair in no time. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, I've had that happen. I've been in attics where the old K & T is cut at either end but my ticker went off because there was a piece of NM running close by parallel to it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Primal65, This is Jim K's forum, but I'm stepping in here. There aren't many things that are more dangerous for a do-it-yourselfer than attempting to wire his/her own shop without having studied, and understood, every single requirement needed to do so beforehand. The questions that you're asking here demonstrate that you haven't done your homework and you're out of your depth. Sub-panels can be dangerous. Browse the archives here and read about them and you'll learn why. Somewhere in the archives is a post from Jim Katen and one or two quotes that I've placed in there about some of the dangerous things that can happen when you improperly wire a sub-panel in a detached structure. I'm not going to allow any of these gentlemen to place themselves or TIJ at risk of liability, or help you injure yourself, by answering do-it-yourselfer electrical questions on this board. Sorry. You can try Electric.net or one of the electricians boards, but I seriously doubt that anyone there is going to want to go there. If you really want to do this yourself, go down to the library and borrow some books about wiring and do your homework first. Better yet, HIRE AN ELECTRICIAN!!! Mike O'Handley Editor, TIJ

Hi Brian, I agree with you and Kurt - it is easy. However, most of the traps I see use slip rings that almost never get installed correctly by do-it-yourselfers. I find them leaking so often when installed by folks that think they're competent, I have to wonder if the average homeowner could do it without screwing it up. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Michael, FWIW, I'm the fellow who edited your post today. It was because your comment strayed beyond just deploring the state of construction skills and was bordering on political. I think this is an interesting discussion but I wish folks would remember that, unless your lineage is American aboriginal, you are the decedent of immigrants. Me, I'm a first generation American. My Dad is an immigrant. He came to this country during WWII as a teenager and built PT boats in Ipswich, MA for our Navy. The issue with the construction business isn't centered on nationality. It's centered on a system that no longer fosters a tradition of excellence and pride in the trades. A system where we allow builders to hire untrained labor and don't require that contractor to ensure that the new employee is competent before sticking a hammer in the employee's hand. Can it be done right? Hell yes. A few years ago I had the privilege of spending a couple of weeks working around a crew of Ukrainian siders - you know, some of those folks who used to labor under the boot of the commies - and they did some of the best work I've ever seen. I remember when my father's brother-in-law visited New York from Switzerland back in 1973 when my Dad was in the process of finishing up a 3000 square foot raised ranch in upstate New York. His brother-in-law asked what it cost to build that house. My Dad responded that it cost him about $42,000. Then his brother-in-law remarked that the same house in Switzerland, at that time, would have cost about $1.5M. When Dad asked why, he explained that builders there were very skilled and had gone through many years of formal training and then worked as apprentices before becoming journeymen and eventually moving up to master builder. They belonged to a guild and were well paid for their work. The system is ordered and it's hierarchal. Sure, they have unskilled immigrant labor in Europe, but it's the hard labor that doesn't require an artisan's skills, and that's where they stay until/unless they go through formal training and work their way up the ladder. Nobody walks up to the guy mixing sand and aggregate at the tub and asks him to go inside and help the plasterer. If they tried it, the trained plasterers, who'd earned their bones the hard way, would walk off the job. What a concept, huh? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, but let's not go there, Brad. Those have been discussed plenty of times in other threads. I was just wondering if anyone had seen any of these yet or are they still too new. In any event, I can see some buyer asking me one day whether the things work or not or are a violation some plumbing code. OT - OF!!! M.