hausdok

Do a search for moisture meters and you'll probably find a dozen discussions on that topic - one of them within the past few weeks. There's a lot of stuff in the archives here. That's the first place you should go when you want to get info and the search feature works pretty nicely now. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike (Sometimes Editor of this joint)

Hi, Well, what WJ says is true. However, it can go the other way too. See this thread from last year and read my comments. By the way, the offending tree was cut down last fall right after that hellatious windstorm we had. He still hasn't replaced the Woodruf cover and it's been like 9 - 10 years now, but that's another story altogether. https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... erms=roots ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

OMAHA, Neb. National Property Inspections Inc. has launched a reformatted website making it easier to connect residential and commercial clients with inspectors. "We know clients are looking online to locate home and commercial inspectors in their area," NPI Vice President Bill Erickson said. "To help connect them with an inspector, we have added a zip code search." Visitors can determine the distance around a zip code to search, or search by state. Canadian customers have the option of searching by province or postal code. The new site, www.npiweb.com, offers more consumer information and safety tips. In just a few clicks, visitors can download an inspection checklist to help them compare similar properties, check out articles about the home inspection process, and learn more about home and commercial inspection options or specialty inspections like infrared, radon and water quality testing. The Inspector Newsletter, a monthly snapshot of maintenance tips, inspection answers and safety information for property owners is also available. "The website allows us to provide people with timely, accurate information about property inspection and our franchise network whenever they need it," Erickson said. "NPI has built a reputation as a well-respected inspection company providing inspections you can trust. We want our website to be a reflection of that standard." NPI, founded in 1987, has nearly 300 franchises across the United States and Canada. NPI inspectors have performed nearly two million inspections on commercial and residential properties. Services include: home inspections, pre-listing inspections, commercial inspections, builder's warranty inspections, field services and other specialty inspections.

Washington/June 8 The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced yesterday that multifamily builders can rest assured they are complying with all applicable accessibility requirements when following the 2006 edition of the International Building Code (IBC) and the 2003 edition of the International Code Council (ICC) A117.1 Accessible and Usable Buildings and Facilities. HUD's safe harbor endorsement was announced by Kim Kendrick, HUD's assistant secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity at the National Association of Home Builders' (NAHB) Spring Board of Directors meeting. "This latest endorsement is a result of HUD and NAHB's ongoing commitment to providing accessible housing," said Brian Catalde, NAHB president and a home builder from El Segundo, Calif. "By building to these codes, multifamily builders are assured they are providing accessible housing while complying with HUD's Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines." NAHB has long advocated for Fair Housing accessibility requirements for apartments and condos to be included in the building code because HUD's guidelines were unclear and unenforceable by state and local jurisdictions. In March, NAHB met with Kendrick to express concern that the 2006 IBC was being adopted by state and local jurisdictions without the safe harbor endorsement, and urged the agency to expedite the process. This critical compliance tool first came about with the 2000 edition of the IBC, after years of cooperative efforts by NAHB, ICC, HUD, and other industry groups. Most multifamily construction is built to some edition of the IBC, which is why the safe harbor endorsement is crucial, Catalde explained. NAHB championed the incorporation of federal accessibility requirements into the building codes as a way to ease the confusion that surrounded HUD's original guidelines and as a way to ensure compliance. ##### ABOUT NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 235,000 members involved in home building, remodeling, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. Known as "the voice of the housing industry," NAHB is affiliated with more than 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct 80 percent of the more than 1.56 million new housing units projected for 2007.

In this June 9th column at Ohio.com, the online edition of the Akron Beacon Journal, Robert Bruss recommends that a home buyer sue the company that provided the warranty on the home he recently bought. To read why click here

This article from the June 10 Washington Post describes some of the advantages, and unique challenges, of purchasing as-is properties. Though the article is more real estate related than home inspection related, it does stress the importance of not foregoing a home inspection when purchasing as-is property. To read the entire article click here.

This article in the June 10 Seattle Times employment features section showcases the home inspection and building inspection professions and pretty fairly represents to the uninitiated what both are all about. To read the entire article click here.

Oooooooo'k OT - OF!!! M.

Make sure that you resize it to less than 100Kb and that there are no blank spaces or special symbols, like parenthesis, in the name of the file. If you're on firefox or netscape, once the box tells you that it's uploaded, copy the URL out of the pop-up, close the window and then paste the URL into your post so that it will display. If you want it to display in line with the post, place img and /img in brackets where you want the photo to appear and cut and paste that portion of the URL that begins with "uploads" between the brackets and submit your post. Hope that helps. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Walt, I fixed it. Sorry about the delay. I usually go over posts and try to fix the really egregious stuff, but this week my whole inspection rhythm got screwed up and I ended up getting about 17 hours of sleep from Sunday to this morning. Just woke up after sleeping through the day and I'm feeling a whole lot more lucid and ready to get back into it. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It's a brass line. They crack and they were all recalled back in 1997. Go to www.recalls.gov and search by product and you'll find it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Washington, D.C./June 7th - Release #07-207 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with GE Consumer & Industrial, of Louisville, Ky, today today today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using the recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of product: Thermador Brand Ceramic Cooktops. Units: About 2,000 Manufacturer: BSH Home Appliances Corp. of Huntington Beach, Calif. Hazard: The cooktop can come on by itself when switched off, creating a fire hazard. Incidents/Injuries: None. Description: The cooktop has electric and induction heating elements with a black ceramic glass surface. This recall involves model numbers CIT302DS/01 and CIT362DS/01 with date codes between 8606 and 8612. The model number and date code can be found on the underside of the cooktop. Sold at: Appliance and specialty stores nationwide from October 2006 through March 2007 for between $1,800 and $2,200. Manufactured in: Spain. Remedy: Consumers should disconnect the cooktop at the circuit breaker when not in use, and never leave anything on the cooktop when it is unattended. Contact BSH Home Appliances for a free in-home repair. Consumer Contact: For more information, contact BSH Home Appliances at (800) 758-1001 between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at www.thermador.com To see this recall on CPSC's web site, including pictures of the recalled product and a table of brands, models, and serial numbers affected by this recall, please go to http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07207.html 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.

Atlanta/June 7th - The 2007 version of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) residential indoor air quality standard is now available. ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2007, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the only nationally recognized indoor air quality standard developed solely for residences. It defines the roles of and minimum requirements for mechanical and natural ventilation systems and the building envelope intended to provide acceptable indoor air quality in low-rise residential buildings. Changes to the standard from the 2004 version include application of exceptions based on climate map zones vs. degree-day based, making it easier to apply the standard; inclusion of a new technology of condensing dryers that do not have an exhaust flow like traditional dryers; and a change in requirements for testing and rating ventilation fans. The cost of Standard 62.2-2007 is $39 ($32, ASHRAE members). To order, contact ASHRAE Customer Service at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or 404-636-8400 (worldwide), by mail at 1791 Tullie Circle NE, Atlanta, GA 30329, or visit the ASHRAE.org Bookstore. #### ASHRAE, founded in 1894, is an international organization of some 50,000 persons. ASHRAE fulfills its mission of advancing heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration to serve humanity and promote a sustainable world through research, standards writing, publishing and continuing education.

The following is the text of an email message sent out by Bruce Chunn, DOL, to home inspectors in Washington State. Home Inspector Public Hearing Stakeholders, In order to ensure we hold the upcoming Home Inspector public hearings as efficiently as possible, we would like to provide some information to you about the format of the meeting and some suggested topics you may wish to address. If you have any questions about the hearings after reading this, please feel free to contact me, Bruce Chunn (contact information below). We've had quite a lot of interest in the topic and we expect a large turnout at the hearings. If you can be present, that would be great. If you cannot make either hearing, please note that you can provide any statement you'd care to make in writing and sending it in. Written comments will be given equal importance in the compiling of the report DOL will complete. Please ensure you include your name and contact information on the written comments. Both hearings will be conducted in essentially the same manner. We'll outline the basics: 1) There will be a sign-in sheet and the order of speakers will follow the sheet (#1 is first, etc). 2) The sign-in sheet will be available at the hearing location for one-hour prior to the scheduled start time at 1:00 PM. 3) At the start we will spend a few minutes giving a short talk about why the hearing is occurring, what prompted it, and what DOL's role is in the process. 4) The time allowed per speaker will be approximately the time allowed divided by the number of speakers. 5) We will have a single speaker at a time in front of the audience and will try to allow his/her comments to be presented without interruption. 6) We have a few suggested topics to consider that we think are pertinent to the process. · Would regulation of Home Inspectors be beneficial to the industry? · Would regulation of Home Inspectors be beneficial to the consumer? · Are Home Inspectors consistent in the services provided to consumers? · Is self-regulation of Home Inspectors working sufficiently to protect the consumer? · What do you see as the least intrusive method to ensure quality performance by Home Inspectors? · How does the Home Inspector industry, or membership associations within it, handle complaints? To prepare for the hearings, please plan on presenting your view in a very short time frame (1-3 minutes). We'll try to allow each to get their point across, and ask that you be mindful so that others can get an opportunity. If you wish to provide extensive testimony, please submit written comments and use your speaking time to summarize key points. We ask that everyone remember that these are public hearings and we'll certainly do our best to allow anything reasonable to be presented, although we do have time constraints. We will make every attempt to follow the above plan, however, in the interest of hearing a broad perspective on the issue we reserve the right to modify the order, the time allowed and topic for testimony. Thank you, Bruce Chunn Department of Licensing 1125 Washington St. SE PO Box 9030 Olympia, WA 98507-9030 Mail Stop 48027 Phone (360) 902-0119 Email: bchunn@dol.wa.gov

Just curious, Did you bother to send an email, along with those attached photos, to your local dept. of ag's pest control office? OT - OF!!! M.

FLIR Announces Final Call for Early Bird Registration for InfraMation 2007id="size4"> BOSTON, Massachusetts (June 6, 2007) – FLIR Systems, Inc., today announced that the early bird registration special for the InfraMation event, which will be held on October 15-19, 2007 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, will expire on June 15, 2007. Participants who register for InfraMation by June 15, 2007 will receive 5 free hotel nights between Sunday, October 14 and Thursday, October 18th, a free guest/spouse pass valued at $325, and the choice of a $100 Home Depot® Gift Card or a Kestrel 3000 Wind Meter®. Conference registration is available online, or by calling 1-800-254-0632. InfraMation, now in its 8th year, is designed to optimize infrared camera ROI and educate users on the latest application techniques through IR clinics, practical workshops, user-led sessions, and relevant exhibits. InfraMation attendees will learn new and better ways to use their infrared cameras, find more problems, save more money, improve worker safety, avert production downtime, and satisfy insurance auditors. This year’s conference will also feature new sessions on Business Marketing for the IR Consultant, Marketing and Building a Thermal Inspection Business, and Managing IR Programs. In addition, ITC Certified Thermographers can qualify to recertify their ITC Certification by participating in infrared clinics at InfraMation. For more information, click here. *All prices shown in US dollars. About FLIR Systems: FLIR Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets thermal imagers and infrared camera systems worldwide for a variety of applications. FLIR's thermal imagers are used in such diverse applications as public safety, defense, navigation, electronic news gathering and search and rescue, as well as for electrical inspection, commercial and residential building inspection, indoor air quality and home energy monitoring applications, non-destructive testing, medical science, research and development, and manufacturing process control. For more information on all types of thermal imagers, please call +1-800-464-6372 or visit www.goinfrared.com. For FLIR Canada, please call +1-800-613-0507 or visit www.flir.ca.

Hi Gary, That's true, but the daubers I see here encase pupae in those tubes and when the tubes get broken there's an organic shell left behind. That doesn't seem to be what I'm seeing here. It has the coloring and the texture of termite frass and the efflorescence around it says that there's some kind of moisture there, which subs would need. What's weird is that it's going on in Arizona. Perhaps this is a drywood termite infestation and that's what the frass from those looks like. Since we don't have drywood termites here, I haven't anything to go by. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Interesting. Around here, the color of termite tubes resembles that, but mud dauber nests around here are light to mid gray. Guess it varies by what they've got to work with. OT - OF!!! M.

Souldn't be a problem as far as I know. OT - OF!!! M.

It looks like a subterranean termite tube. Did you see anything similar at the foundation wall? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It's an old pre-breaker FPE. Did you get any pictures of the interior? I would have loved to have found that sucker and been able to get a look inside. OT - OF!!! M.

By Alan Carson Home inspections have traditionally been for the benefit of the purchaser. Pre-inspected listings benefit all parties - purchasers, vendors and Realtors. Deals Won't Fall Through Home inspections, performed as a condition of the offer, can kill deals. Sometimes this is because the purchaser gets cold feet; sometimes there's a big problem no one knew about. Sometimes it is because the house has been mis-represented; sometimes it is because the home inspector scared the purchasers by not explaining that minor and typical problems are just that - minor and typical. If the home inspection is performed prior to the house being listed, all parties will be aware of the physical condition of the house before an offer is drawn. There will be no surprises after the fact. Deals will not fall through. Pre-inspected Listings Avoid Renegotiation In a buyers' market, most houses have to be sold twice. It takes a lot of work to get a signed Agreement of Purchase and Sale. Then the home inspection is done and the purchaser wants to renegotiate. If all parties know the condition of the house prior to the offer, there is no need for renegotiation. As most real estate agents know, renegotiation is very difficult. Vendors have already mentally sold the house; purchasers are suffering buyers' remorse. Egos, pride and frustration can muddy the already emotional waters. A vendor who pays for a home inspection will be further ahead than one who has to renegotiate. He of she may even sell the house faster. Unrealistic Vendors An inspection at the time of listing can also help a Realtor deal with a vendor who has unrealistic expectations. The inspection report is good ammunition for explaining why you can't ask top bucks for a house which is not in top condition. Repairs Prior To Sale Sometimes, the home inspection will reveal items which should be repaired immediately. A pre-inspected listing allows the vendor to repair the problem prior to putting the house on the market. If the inspection occurs after the Agreement of Purchase and Sale, the purchaser could walk, renegotiate or, depending on the inspection clause, the vendor may have the option to repair. A repair done by an unmotivated vendor may not be the best repair and may not meet the purchasers' expectations. This has caused more than one deal not to close. Peace Of Mind For The Purchaser There is no doubt that part of the value of a home inspection is a guided tour of the house for the prospective purchaser. The inspection company can return to do a walk-through with the purchaser, if requested. Reputable Inspection Companies Pre-inspected listings will only have value if the home inspection company is perceived to be reputable, qualified and properly insured. Prospective purchasers will have little or no faith in a report done by someone they perceive to be in the vendors', or Realtors' pocket. Summary We believe that the future of home inspection lies in pre-inspected listings. Offers are cleaner and deals are less likely to be renegotiated or fall through. Pre-inspected listings afford purchasers, vendors and Realtors the information and protection they all deserve. #### About the Author: Alan Carson is a Principal in Carson Dunlop, one of Canada’s largest home inspection firms (founded 1978) and Past President of ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors). Alan can be reached at carson@carsondunlop.com. Carson Dunlop is the distributor of inspector training and report writing materials. For more information on Carson Dunlop call: (800) 268-7070.

Our plumbers NEVER install the screws. Click To Enlarge Many thanks to Charlie Sessums (User Name "charlieb")Alpha Inspection Brandon, MS

Those are soldiers. Massive head. See how they stand facing outward in all directions with their antennae forward ready to do battle with whatever is threatening the nest? Bet that within minutes the drones in that nest were scrambling to move the eggs to another location. OT - OF!!! M.

Go back and change the name of the photo to Szofran_124 and then go back, click the edit icon on your post, remove the coding for the attachment and then attach the renamed photo and it will display. OT - OF!!! M.