hausdok

The method that was used is money wasted, unless they trench around the foundation and seal the entire foundation wall and footer and ensure that the footing drains are working fine. If I were your clients, I'd be suing them. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I was once blamed by a rich homeowner for damaging the pool heater for an indoor pool. I had never even physically touched the thing. I didn't have to. I walked around the thing, noticed a scorced housing where the heat exchanger was cracked and wrote it up. The pool company confirmed that the heat exchanger was cracked, replaced the heater, and handed the rich lawyer a bill for $6K, wherein he called me up demanding I send him a check and threatened to sue me if I didn't pay him. I called the client and selling agent. They called the listing agent and explained that I hadn't pysically touched the thing and had nothing to do with creating the old-age-neglect crack, and smoothed everything out. I think this situation is very easy. The wires are badly corroded and scorched. Obviously, something has caused them to get hotter than they are supposed to get. What that something is doesn't concern me. I just write it up and refer it to a licensed electrician for correction. I could ultimately turn out to the something with the heat pump, but I'd simply punt it to the electrician and let the electrician pass it on to a heat pump guy if it's something to do with the actual pump. Don't get in the habit of trying to diagnose everything unless you plan to do only one inspection a day, because you'll find yourself running out of time between job. Just show them the issue, tell 'em why it's not good for the house, suggest how they might remedy it and move on. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I wouldn't call the drip loop. The conductors droop downward from the weatherhead before they climb to the pole. That's what a drip loop does. There's enough slope there to ensure water can't go up those wires into the masthead. I think the explanation is a crock. That looks like it's been there for years. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Just go to the home page and do a search of the site for "software" and you'll find many, many past discussions of this topic. I'm sure that you'll find what you need. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

How about a faulty breaker that's not tripping when it should? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Walter, Yeah, I can take a swing at that I suppose. However, for the record, I don't have a college degree. I barely made it out of high school, and, like most others, I backed into this from something else. So, I probably don't have a whole lot of room to talk. I just feel strongly that there's a certain class of inspector in this business, a small minority perhaps, that, although also under educated, believes that it's time to push the average age of this profession downward if things are ever going to change. That said, I think the existing class is average - probably about a 5 - as it pertains to the inspecting aspects of the job, but below that - about a 4 - when it comes to being able to coherently present their findings simply to their clients; and about the same when it comes to being able to document and report their findings competently. However, that's in a situation where practically anyone who can walk, drive a car, carry a clipboard and shine a flashlight into a dark area, can get into the business - anywhere. If there had been a true bar set for this profession years ago, I think that those numbers would both be far higher. Very few folks that I've met in the business support the idea of anything more than the 5-10 day model of training, let alone a college level education for home inspectors. Remember, though, that most of the current class of HI's that you've asked me to comment on is someone who's backed into the profession from somewhere else and has no interest in going back to school. They're intently focused on being around for 15 years - maybe 20 on the outside - doing as little as they need to, in order to make as much as they can, and then they plan to pull the plug. Most inspectors I've met don't want to see a degree required and don't want to see a high bar set unless they'll automatically be 'grandfathered' and won't have to do anything to step over the bar. They almost universally certainly don't want to see the business taught to young folks in colleges, as with other disciplines, and I hear all sorts of reasons why it just can't be done. I'm not sure why there's so much resistance to the idea; unless it's because teaching the business to young folks fresh out of school, like other professions are taught, might hasten the speed with which the demographic of this profession changes, and these same folks are afraid that they'd find themselves sitting around staring at the phone while those with a degree got most of the work. For the past few years, I've been teaching a fall semester at a local community college. In general, I've found that today's community college student - at least the ones that I run into, although not exactly a towering intellectual beacon - is capable of comprehending the building science aspects of what we do, as well as the electro-mechanical and structural aspects. I think that the profession can and should be taught to young folks and that we in the profession should encourage it and get behind it by establishing some kind of formalized apprenticeship and certification program like other "professions." The bottom line is that, and you know this because you've heard me say it before, I think that if we ever want to see this business become a true profession, we're going to have to start teaching it to younger folks and let them gradually implement changes that raise the bar, because there sure doesn't seem to be a whole lot of will in the business right now to do so. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Walter, Good post. No, I don't think you're wrong; you're just being bluntly honest with folks. That's something that I wish I'd had more of when I was first getting into this business. As you know, I'm firmly behind the idea of a college curriculum that's centered around home inspection and building science that could be the springboard for those interested in getting into this business, municipal inspections, environmental inspections, new construction inspections, and building science/forensics; to name a few. Keep it up. We need more folks to hear this. We need more voices. Until more folks are interested in something like that, and willing to speak out about it more, we're never going to see things start to change. We really need to keep this idea out there and bring it up frequently. If anyone is interested, John Bouldin, an inspector from Maryland, has been accepted into the PHD program at Virginia Tech. He intends to work on developing a 4-year college curriculum for home inspectors. If anyone is interested in sending him input on the subject, I'm sure he'd love to hear from you. You can reach John via email at: johnbouldin@comcast.net . Myself and a few others have been kicking around the idea of a 2-year college for home inspectors for years and I'd sure be interested in what ideas readers have about should be included in the ideal 2-year curriculum for home inspectors. If anyone is interested in providing that input, please email your thoughts to me at: hausdok@msn.com . ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Everyone, This morning I want to introduce to you Gill Stuart's new Insurance Q & A column. Gill is with the Pickett Insurance Agency in Vancouver, WA and is fairly well known by home inspectors all over the state of Washington. Although his firm deals primarily with customers in Washington and Oregon, Gil's knowledge of the insurance industry can be applied most anywhere in the country. Best of all, he really knows about this business and he's the only insurance guy that I know of who cares enough about the profession to have shown up at hearings pertaining to home inspection licensing here. There are a lot of inspectors in the state who will credit his advice with saving them from financial ruin. When you've got questions about insurance post them here. Gil will automatically be notified via e-mail that a question has been posted here, and then he'll respond as soon as he's able. I think that Gil and TIJ are going to be a good fit, so please give him a hearty welcome and let's kick some questions his way. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Alex, Until you mentioned it, I'd never heard of it. I had to google it to find it. Then I tried to print sample copy of the report, in order to see what it loos like, and the link didn't work. Were you able to get the sample copy of the report to print out for you? Warning; these all look good on their websites, and most are pretty slick to use on-site, but if the report presentation is too cluttered, full of icons, and fluff, it's going to be a chore for the client to read and understand. Make sure that you get a copy of what the report actually looks like when it's printed and then pass it around to a few folks you know, along with samples of other reports; in order to see which one folks are comfortable with. Don't indicate which report you're primarily interested in. If the majority of them don't favor the sample from the software that you're considering, don't waste your money; keep looking. If Automated Inspector is a new software provider, be very cautious; it's not exactly the best time to get into the profession and it's likewise not the best time to try and introduce a new software package, because the market is already saturated with home inspection software and the inspection profession is about halfway into a slump. If the software developer doesn't have staying power, down the road you could find yourself left high and dry without any software support. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It's more than likely tucked up the bottom of whoever installed that setup. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Lewis, Well, if memory serves, the gentleman that you've quoted is a former military clerk who has been in the home inspection business about 4-5 years. That's certainly not a job that provides one a whole lot of background to jump into a new discipline and overnight become a credible source. As far as I can tell, about 98% of his contributions to the site where he's been idolized have been non-technical and don't have a whole lot to do with actually inspecting. I'm not sure that anyone who really takes this business seriously considers him a credible judge of what the business is or needs. It's simply amazing to me that with his limited experience he considers himself to be a "Master" inspector, when there's no criteria in place for the profession to bestow such designations, and when he's never undergone any sort of actual peer review to prove that he actually is what he claims to be - competent. Let's get real; I grew up in construction, have a solid background and educating in electro-mechanicals, had formalized training in construction in the military, as well as years of experience as an investigator and with report writing. I've been in this business more than 11 years and I certainly don't consider myself any kind of "Master" inspector. I don't think that I have any right to, since I also haven't undergone any sort of peer review testing to prove my own competency. Sure, I've been in the business a long time, I've done thousands of inspections, and I actually teach this stuff. Still, where's the beef? There are folks in the profession that I do consider "master" inspectors. Those are the folks who've been through the old ASHI peer review process, or those who'd undergone the ASHI Great Lakes chapter peer review evaluation process. Not because it was ASHI, but because it was a peer review process. I'd also consider those in Canada who've undergone voluntary peer review in their own national certification program to be 'certified' as competent. The rest of us, including the so-called pundit you've quoted - are basically winging it. We're like doctors practicing medicine who've never been through peer reviewed training or internships. Maybe we can do it competently; but we really don't have a right to call ourselves "Masters" when there is no profession-wide criteria for "Master." Sorry if that offends some, but it's the way I feel about it. I agree with Scott - what's needed is an independent certifying body that establishes true criteria that requires much more besides simply sending in dues and taking a bare-bones test. However, in my opinion, without peer review any attempt at establishing such criteria is without merit. As far as the second part of your question - Why do they hire them? - I can't answer that; if I had to guess, I'd say that maybe it has something to do with union requirements. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, The post about greywater over on the Net News forum seems to strike an information nerve. Clearly, knowledge about private water supplies, greywater systems, and cisterns is wanting in the business. The site that I've linked below is from Purdue University. Although the site is extremely difficult to navigate and poorly mapped out, it's got a lot of really good information and graphics that will help you understand private water supplies - whether groundwater or surface water originated - and ways to make better use of water. The only tip I can give you for how to find information quickly on the site is to click on every hot link. In your quest to find your way to what you actually want, you'll learn a ton of stuff along the way. Here's the link.

Hi Scott, My first thought when I read "steel" S.I.P.S. was that these walls were skinned with sheet steel panels, because traditional S.I.P.S. have OSB panels that provide them their strength. However, in this system, the "panel" is a metal stud wall with a top and bottom channel for strength and EPS infill to provide insulation, thus creating a large "panel". Looking at those photos, I had to ask myself whether thermal bridging across studs would cause ghosting on the interior walls and make the interior look like one is living inside a jail cell surrounded by bars. The reason I started this thread is that I think very few home inspectors understand or actually consider the building "science" behind what they're seeing in these new systems. If one studies the texts available for the market today, it's very obvious that the profession's trainers are seriously behind the times when it comes to building science. The basic traditional construction techniques are taught and the basics of the electro-mechanical systems, but most texts are decades behind current technology. Some of these texts don't even show common techniques that have been around for decades, such as plank and frame construction. When you consider that literally thousands of new cutting edge building technologies are tried every year - many of which are adopted - it looks like technology is fast outpacing the profession's capacity to learn the new technology and pass it on to the inspector masses in a timely manner. If this keeps up, I can see a collision looming in the future between cutting-edge builders and home inspectors who're still thinking 1960's technologies and techniques and haven't a clue. Nowhere is this knowledge gap going to be more evident, in my opinion, than it's going to be with "green" homes. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

There's some good information on this topic at this Canadian site.

It's not exactly a "new" article, but this free article from JLCOnline.com will give you some insight into exactly what's done to differentiate a "green" building from the typical traditionally-built home.

Seriously Kurt? I mean, according to him, he's been inspecting homes for 40 years and he is, after all, a nationally known and syndicated inspection guru. Surely, if anyone knows their stuff, this guy does. [:-graduat ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike P.S. For anyone that's wondering, the statement above is made with my tongue planted so hard in my cheek that I think I dislocated my jaw.

Steel structural insulated panel systems; is anyone teaching inspectors about these systems? Heck no! Could these soon be the next best new green technology that home inspectors will soon start to see? Maybe. To learn more, click here. To learn more about this particular SIPS product, click here. Or here if that doesn't work... click here

Are professional certifications really worth the paper they're printed on? That's the question posed in a July 16th Post to the HGTVPro Blogs. To read the comments and add your input, click here.

This story from the July 20th Gloucester Daily Times Online is about a new law that a legislator is trying to push through in the State of Massachusetts that would require sellers to disclose environmental hazards within a half mile of their homes. Does this mean that if this bill is passed and becomes law that inspectors in Massachusetts will need to become trained in how to conduct environmental assessments? What do you think? Read the entire article here.

In this article from the July 22nd issue of the Currier Press, a seller asks home inspector and Q & A columnist Dwight Barnett whether an inspector made the wrong call when stating that the seller's home, which was built without weep holes in the veneer, should have weep holes added after the fact. Barnett's response may surprise you and leave you wondering whether Barnett is a real inspector or just another toady pandering to the real estate folks. For the whole story, click here.

Hi Folks, Back on subject, I did a little digging around and found some other links about greywater systems. Apparently, it's a very, very commonly done thing in Australia. Here're the links: http://www.thenaturalhome.com/greywater.html http://www.graywater.net/ http://www.greywater.com/ http://www.cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_m/m-106.html http://www.ext.colostate.edu/pubs/natres/06702.html http://www.wbdg.org/design/conserve_water.php http://www.deus.nsw.gov.au/water/Greywa ... ywater.asp http://www.wateruseitwisely.com/toolsLi ... x.shtml#US

Hi John, Are those systems down there set up so that only some of the fixtures supply the greywater, as in the article? Do they make any effort to capture the rain? Yeah, I heard that there wasn't a whole lot of rain this year, but how about those years when there is? I guess I never realized how much the snowbirds impact Florida. My parents have both moved down there. My father is in Palm Coast and my mom lives in Duneeden (sic). My mother and a couple of her sisters moved down there and live within a few miles of each other. My dad and stepmother do the snowbird thing. Here's his summer project back up in New York - a new picket fence. Over 80, and he was out there in 100+ degree heat putting up that fence on his own (He built the house himself 3 years ago - its a modular that came as a shell with the insulation and rock in. It's for sale if anyone is interested.). Talk about stubborn! My stepmother says that he did a good job and the townsfolk like it so much that they're driving by in the evening to look at it. Small town - 1100 people - something like a new fence is kind of a big deal. Image Insert: 74.59 KB Image Insert: 114.61 KB Image Insert: 70.38 KB Image Insert: 114.61 KB

Wow, If that's the case, they would have taken a roof that can last 100 years and stuck a 20-year product on top of it. What a shame. OT - OF!!! M.

Well, It's supposed to trip if you exceed its rating, but how likely is that going to be with most homes that we do? Yeah, like I said, one too many. OT - OF!!! M.

Huh, I had a roof with no less than 6 layers of asphalt on top of a 3/8" plywood deck and there wasn't any sagging like that. OT - OF!!! M.