hausdok

The My Safe Florida Home program has finally ended it's pilot phase and is kicking into full gear. Over the next two years, the State of Florida expects to have more than 100,000 homes inspected for hurricane durability by specially-trained home inspectors. To read more, click here.

This article in the Nashua, NH Telegraph explores how a bill to regulate home inspectors has stalled because competing organizations are squabbling over qualifications. To read more, click here.

Only his hairdresser knows for sure. OT - OF!!! M.

This short (2-1/2 minute) video presentation by HGTV-Pro explains the advantages of balancing humidity using a whole-house dehumidification system. To read more click here.

In this letter to the editor of the Joplin Independent, Jim Bushart, NACHI chapter president and outspoken critic of state regulation of home inspectors , speaks out against a proposed Missouri licensing bill. To read more, click here.

Being built "to code" in East Hempfield Township, Pennsylvania might not mean a whole lot for some folks. In this story, a pair of Pennsylvania municipal inspectors came under fire for multiple defects left uncorrected in some D.H. Horton homes. The inspectors involved retired from the township and received warnings from the state. To read more click here.

Wow, Look at all that stuff to hang onto. Kewl! It's all a matter of individual perspective and abilities Joe. I could easily work up there, but if you told me to work up there while trying to sold a mathematical equation I'd probably start shaking too and it would have nothing to do with heights. Jimmy makes an excellent point. Search the archive for "ladder" and you'll be reading for hours. There's no need to start a new thread for this kind of stuff and to go through it all again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and a................. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I think the lock on an exterior door is significantly different than a lock on a bathroom door. Hell, I've inspected homes where they didn't even have a door on the bathroom. A homeowner's security goes hand-in-hand with their safety. We check windows and window latches don't we? That's because they're part of the exterior envelope. When that exterior envelope can't safely protect it's occupants - either because there's a hole in the roof or because the front door can't be locked, it makes sense to report it. Think of the car example. You wouldn't care if the glove compartment lock was broken, but you would care if the hood latch was defective or the doors wouldn't lock, because if the hood flew up while driving or a door flew open while going around a corner yourself or somone in your family could be injured or worse. What possible harm could come to someone because the bathroom door will close and latch but can't be locked? Oh, wait a minute - I suppose it would be a good idea to have a working door lock on an outhouse. One wouldn't want a grizzly wondering in while one is sitting in that two holer. [:-scared] By the way, why did they make two-holers anyway? [:-boggled OT - OF!!! M.

I guess I'm wondering why I would even care. If the door was missing, the doorknob was missing or the door lacked a lockset I'd write it up, but as to whether there was a lock or not? No, don't care - not even if they are required by code. There's a whole lot of stuff in a home that's more important than whether or not a door has a lock, so I don't concern myself with stuff like that. Here's an analogy I like to use. Think of the house as a car. Now think about what the mechanic will look at when you bring that car with 100,000 miles on it to him for a checkup. He'll check the compression and look at the plugs for fouling, listen for motor noises, check the cooling system for leaks and the coolant for traces of oil or water, maybe examine the oil that comes out of the pan for metal filings, check for wear on your brake pads, disks and drums, bearings, steering linkage, transmission, and U-joints and examine the exhaust system for leaks, but he won't be looking at the condition of the upholstery and carpeting, worrying about scratches on the paint, the condition of the headliner, whether or not a radio pulls in a certain station strongly enough or whether the fuzzy dice hanging from the mirror are the same size or whether one is slightly lopsided. He especially won't worry about whether or not the lock on the glove compartment door works. In short, he's only concerned with what makes the car work right and he couldn't care less about the accessory items. Buyers need me to point out that there isn't a GFCI in that bathroom, explain why that's significant and recommend a course of action to correct it. They need me to point out when a light fixture of the wrong type is too close to the tub, explain why that's significant and recommend a course of action to correct it. They do need me to tell them why that soft floor around the wobbly toilet isn't correct, tell them why it's significant and recommend a course of action. But buyers don't need me to notice that a bathroom door doesn't lock. They can do that themselves. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

On that one, I'd use one to get to the lower roof. Haul the second one up and then straddle the ridge of that middle roof. Done the same thing off the gable roofs of porches dozens of times. OT - OF!!! M.

No, one leg on the slope of either ridge on the inside of the valley. OT - OF!!! M.

Have you tried putting it between the two with one leg on the slope of each? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I don't see them that often either, but I don't see why this would be an issue. If the flue is drafting properly, I should think that the heat will be concentrated on the back wall of that firebox and not on the area behind the lintel. The fiberglass itself is not flammable and you'll never generate enough heat with a wood file to melt it, so why would it be an issue? OT - OF!!! Mike

Hi David, That's correct. The Department of Licensing (DOL) has been tasked with conducting the sunrise review. As of last Friday, DOL still hadn't assigned the study to a specific caseworker, but as soon as they get it the clock starts ticking and then they'll start soliciting input from home inspectors and anyone else they think the proposed regulation will impact (stakeholders). The sunrise review is a study to determine whether the proposed legislation is justified and is done only at the request of the chairs of the legislative committees. Basically, it's the intent of the state legislator that all individuals have the right to enter into any business profession, unless there is "an overwhelming need for the state to protect the interests of the public by restricting entry." Enhancement of professional status alone is not enough to justify regulation. You can find out more about this at The DOL website. It will explain that the a business profession should be regulated or its scope of practice expanded only when: Unregulated practice can clearly harm or endanger the health, safety or welfare of the public, and the potential for the harm is easily recognizable and not remote or dependent upon tenuous argument; The public needs and can reasonably be expected to benefit from an assurance of initial and continuing professional ability; The public cannot be effectively protected by other means in a more cost-beneficial manner. That said, if they decide that a profession must be regulated, it's policy that they implement the least restrictive method of regulation that's consistent with the public interest. So, let me give you the Reader's Digest version of what's going to happen: DOL will assign it to a caseworker That caseworker will be responsible for researching laws in other states That caseworker will collect input from stakeholders, special interest groups and others. That caseworker will figure out what regulation will cost and whether there is sufficient number of inspectors in the state to pay for it. The caseworker will turn his/her results over to his honcho and then the honcho will decide whether he/she feels the proposal is justified and there's a way to pay for it, based on the data the caseworker collected. If DOL decides that regulation isn't warranted. or the benefit doesn't justify the cost, it's sent back to the committee chair with a recommendation to kill it. If DOL decides that it's necessary and there are sufficient numbers of home inspectors to pay for it, but that the law is too restrictive, they'll send it back with a recommendation for modifications. If DOL decides that it's not too restrictive and it's necessary, and the program will generate enough revenue to pay for itself, it will get sent back with a recommendation for passage. From there, it's back in the legislators' hands. They can still kill it if there is overwhelming opposition and they're afraid it will hurt them politically (Not likely, home inspectors as a demographic have about as much power as a gnat on a bull's ass). If they don't think it will hurt them and could do them some good politically while still benefiting the consumer, they'll probably pass it, in which case, it's sent to the governor for signature. If the governor approves it, it becomes law. If not, and there aren't enough votes to override a gubernatorial veto, it dies. So, everyone keep your ears to the ground and, if you're really interested in this thing one way or the other, write to your pols and talk to influential friends about it and ask them to write to their pols, because the sunrise review is all about gauging interest one way or the other. For more information about the process, go to: http://dol.wa.gov/about/sunrise.html ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Figure about 20ft to the eaves, that 21' gorilla ladder will just barely reach. With those, I usually go around to the back and set it up on the deck. Or, if it's higher, I look for a lower roof to get up on with one ladder and then set up the second from that roof. A few times, I've backed my Baja up close to the house and stood the 21'er in the bed to make the height. I'd like to purchase a 26'er, but the things are so heavy I don't know if I could handle one alone. Like I said, except for those danged 3-story townhomes with the tiny balconies to shallow to set up a ladder on, I'm able to get up on most roofs using the 21'er and the 13'er. The others I just do from the eaves when I can or from the ground with binos. When they're just too danged high to see anything decent and get up onto them, I exclude them. That happens maybe a dozen times a year. Now, if Chad would just invent a levitation machine and sell them to home inspectors, we'd be all set. OT - OF!!! M.

Wow, Three posts about I.E. in one day/ The sponsor is going to love you! I had to check your IP address to make sure you weren't Mike B. in disguise. Glad you like it. I've been using it since 2002 without problems. Of course, I haven't screwed up the courage yet to try to do it on one of those palm thingamajigs. OT - OF!!! M.

Hey Gary! [%|]

Hi, When the slider is mounted on the exterior it makes it pretty easy to get into the home. I've had a few homes where the realtor forgot their supra device or forgot to link up and download the daily code and it was pretty simple to lift the door out of the back track in order to get in. I report it as a security risk. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, naturally, we'd all like people to think that we never cuss or swear but most of us do. Having come up in auto-mechanic shops, on construction sites and then having spent nearly 21 years in the Army as a cop before I began this gig, it's pretty much an involuntary reflex with me. To tell you the truth, it's harder for me not to cuss than it is to use pristine language. Besides, it makes for such an effective way to vent! [:-timebm] That aside, you might hear a tongue cluck or two if you cuss someone out, but if it's something that they'll allow on the FX cable channel I'm not going to kick you out for it, as long as you aren't aren't using it to flame another member. We don't need any of that here - there's too much of that taking place on other boards. [:-paperba I've got zero tolerance for dope peddlers. If I'd found that growing station, I would have pulled out my cell phone and called the local narcotics task force and finished my inspection while they dropped by with a warrant to arrest the scumbag and tear the house apart. [:-gnasher ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep. OT - OF!!! M.

[:-bigmout[:-slaphap[}]

Hi, We've got them here. In Washington, there are buyer's agents and listing agents. Agents can do both if they desire, but if they agree to function as a dual agent on a home that they've listed, they can get in a heap of trouble if they don't go to the mat for the buyer and the buyer can prove that they didn't. It's the "proving it" that's hard. Among the buyer's agents, you have two categories. The one's who will fight tooth and nail to get their clients the best deal possible, and the one's who will do whatever it takes, short of appearing complicit, to get the house sold for as much as possible - including trying to manipulate the inspector in any way, shape or form, pulling shenanigans with reports, etc. and telling the clients that so-and-so inspector is incompetent but those on their "list" are - which is often simply not true. I get repeat referrals from the first category all the time. The second category I usually see when the client learns about me from one of their friends or relatives, or when the agent has previously met me on an inspection years before and is now purchasing a home, or when their client is an attorney, a celebrity or just someone who's so stinkin' rich that they can ruin the realtor in a second. Then they call. I did an inspection on a FSBO yesterday. The person who referred me to the client is an agent who's been referring work to me for years. She isn't getting a dime out of this transaction and knows it, but she has this attitude that what goes around comes around, so, if she does right by someone, they'll tell others and that means more business for her. Heck, she even went over there to the house to introduce me to the owner, because my client couldn't be at the inspection. As soon as she'd made the intros, she left. Definitely not one of the 'zoids. The agents who refer me repeatedly are all pretty much like that. I used to track their numbers and found that the ratio was about 6 to 1 buyers agents who were 'zoids versus buyer's agents who were true real estate professionals. Since I do zero marketing and am still in this gig after 11 years, I've become convinced that all you have to do to survive in this business is do what's right, regardless of the consequences, and the agents that end up referring you will only be those who are similarly inclined. Do it long enough, and it will more than support your business. I fervently wish we could convince more of the brethren to take that approach. Sadly, there's the other side of the coin. We have this class of inspector who is only in it for the money, who doesn't do what's right, and worries more about the consequences to his or her business of what they write, and whether it will quash their referrals. They focus on not being an "alarmist" and doing whatever it takes to give the buyer a warm and fuzzy without "technically" crossing the line, even if it means that they might be just slightly less than diligent in their recommendations. These are the folks that the 'zoids love. The 'zoid "list" is usually populated with half a dozen of these types, so the 'zoid can be relatively certain of the inspection outcome. If they've managed to survive without being sued out of business, those inspectors have work backed up the yazoo and, a presume, a fatter bank account that I suppose they need to defend themselves against callback. I've also noticed that it's the 'zoid coveting inspectors who've been in this gig for a long time that seem to squawk the most when it comes to any discussion about raising the bar or putting home inspection laws into place. It might be my imagination, but I think their number is increasing, because, around here, they've practically overrun this business in the past few years. Still, as Les has shown, the tortoise can get there,...eventually. It's just a slower, more difficult slog. Someday, someday. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It's fine. That's what it's designed for. Check this: http://www.ilevel.com/literature/TJ-8100.pdf OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Yeah, that's why I asked the questions that I did. I have the same 21' ladder plus the 13' model. Still, there are some vehicles that my 21' might be a tight squeeze even when collapsed. He did say he has a van though. The only houses that I haven't been able to get up onto are mostly those damned 3-story townhomes but there has been the occasional four-square without lower roofs to climb up onto and use the second ladder. However, most of our homes seem to have a lower profile than some of those I've seen back east and I'm not very familiar with what the typical house profile is in Tennessee. OT - OF!!! M.

Aw, shucks. [:I] OT - OF!!! M.