hausdok

No, it's exactly what I said it was, a crank type screwdriver. It's got an offset handle, like a brace and bit, and it's very fast. OT - OF!!! M.

Here's a trick, Find out who the largest corporations in your area are and then get your satisified clients to post a glowing recommendation for your services on their company's message board. As an example, around here, we've got Boeing, Microsoft and Starbucks. My name is regularly mentioned on those boards. OT - OF!!! M.

I tried a variety of powered screwdrivers but finally dumped them all for a crank-type screwdriver that I bought at an electrical supply store. It's got a 1/4 inch magnetic hex socket and holds whatever type of bit I want to use. I have a bit cube that holds a few hundred bits plus various sized nut driver bits. Way faster than a regular screwdriver and no bulky battery-powered driver to haul around. OT - OF!!! M.

Why push at all. Just write it up and go onto the next one. Explain it to the client, report it to the client. That's the job. What the client, client's agent, seller and listing agent do from there on out is their business. You've done your job. You have to learn to write it and then let go. You can't stay married to every inspection. Do the inspection, turn in a truthful report. If the 'zoid gives you a rash of s***t, then tell the 'zoid that you don't him/her how to sell real estate, so what gives him/her the idea that it's alright to tell you how to inspect homes. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It's certainly nothing I'd lose sleep about not mentioning. The only reason I would, is that someday they'll sell the house and you know that if you don't say anything about it the next guy will and they'll be dissing you over it. Better off to write it. I'd say that the installer got lazy, installed a duct 2-1/2 to 3ft. too long and that it was bent practically double. At the same time, I'd point out that it was the toe warmer register, that it had a reasonable amount of air going to it and that if it's corrected the increased air is liable to cause someone to complain about the thing being too]/b] hot, so you're damned if you fix it and damned if you don't - sort of. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Uncovered, that soil will evaporate nearly 4 gallons every 24 hours. By capping the soil, you've stopped that and now it will reach equilibrium even faster. Find out who the inspector was and email him a link to the Building Science site or my forum over on JLC. He sounds like he'd be a fun one to screw around with. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Back to the topic... id="blue"> A real feature of this BB is that we hear from persons all over the continent (and beyond). Regional issues can be a real source of entertainment and education. Chad and I live just 80 miles or so from each other, but he sees mostly concrete block foundations in newer construction while I see almost 100% poured in place concrete (Union power?). Where I grew up in Dutchess County, NY, about 100 miles north from Noo Yawk, block foundations are rare. We poured ours. Until two years ago, my 80+ year old Dad was still putting in placed concrete foundations and digging the footings by hand and setting up most of those forms on his own (stubborn, stuborn, stubborn). Most of them out this way (Puget Sound) are placed concrete as well. It's pretty rare that I run into CMU foundations except for in trailer parks. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, You know, Jim. Come to think of it, I have seen CMU columns - in the same place you have under manufactured homes. It's kind of comical seeing someone refer to wood posts as cheap ass and lazy when I routinely inspect 100 year old bungalows with the original posts still in place and doing fine. Hell, and those aren't even pressure-treated. Oh well, I guess it's a regional thing. OT - OF!!! M.

Aw, You're a home inspector. Don't you know that you have powers of levitation? Jeez, how lazy can you get? All you have to do is get it to hover in mid-air for a few minutes. What's so hard about that? Some people! M.

Hmmm, 11 years next monday, I've never seen a CMU column. I've seen a few (very few) steel but 99.99999999999% are wood out here. OT - OF!!! M.

Hmmm, Don't know if we've still got cigar chomper but, if you like, I can switch it out for pin-cushion faced guy. Brian G. will really like that one. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, You tell them that for many things in a home there is no single yes or no answer, that houses aren't mathematical equations with only one correct answer, and that not all perform the same way. That's when you point out that he/she has hired you for your experience, that you'll do your best to give them as thorough an inspection, and provide them with as accurate report as you can, but there are some things where they're just going to have to trust your judgment, because there won't be a playbook for those things. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, we figured that out when we saw your avatar, Gary. [:-bigmout

Hi, It doesn't sound, to me anyway, like that engineer is very familiar with the area he's working in. Where I grew up, it wasn't unusual to get 40 - 50 inches of snow per winter. Rafter size and spacing there is substantially larger and closer than I see here in the Puget Sound region where we only get the occasional snowstorm. About 50% of the inspections I do are on older homes. Bill, for this purpose, I'm referring to stuff that's older than 40 years and hasn't got engineered trusses in the roof system. About 98% of those have 2 by 4 rafters and ceiling joists and 99.9% have rafters that are 2ft. on center. Probably 50% of these are craftsman era bungalows with 4:12 roofs that have no crib or pony walls supporting their rafters at mid span. If we're lucky, they have 1 by 6 rafter (collar) ties nailed in place (in the wrong place near the ridge) and a 1 by 6 or 1 by 8 ridge board, but a lot of the time they're just mitered and butted together at the ridge. Most are sagging under the combined weight of the original cedar shingle roof and additional layers of comp - sometimes 2 or 3, but I remember one 1910 house with 6 layers of comp. I have a spool of carpenter's line in my bag. I used to string it from eaves to ridge, in order to demonstrate to the clients how much the rafters have sagged over the past 50 - 100 years. No more. What's the point? It'd be like telling them that it rains in Seattle. Yeah, after the occasional heavy snow we'll have a few roofs with one or two split rafters, but generally they hold up well, and you'd be surprised at how springy they can be when a chubbette like myself walks across them. If an engineer started following home inspectors around Seattle and began condemning the old housing stock as being underbuilt, he'd be a laughing stock, 'cuz everyone knows that it's underbuilt. Oh, by the way, yesterday's 1926 bungalow was done for a client who is a structural engineer. Wanna guess what size and spacing the rafters were? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Press Release - March 26, 2007 Protecting their companies and their clients has just become easier for home inspectors thanks to Home Warranty of America, Inc.â„¢. Home Warranty of America, Inc.â„¢ announced today the release of two fully licensed home inspection warranty products that are comprehensive in coverage and available for immediate activation after the pre-sell or pre-purchase inspection. “While our new products offer extensive coverage and competitive pricing for the home inspector, buyer and seller, more importantly they are licensed products. This means HWAâ„¢ has set aside reserve money to pay future claims in these states. Home Inspectors should be careful never to purchase home warranties from a company without applicable licensing. It can open them up to additional liabilityâ€

By Mike O'Handley, Editor Although we don't necessarily want TIJ's family members to go to other sites to get their information, we know that getting the correct information from home inspectors can sometimes be an exercise in trying to discern inspector fact from inspector folk lore. When you need to know what's what with engineered lumber products - I-joists, glulam beams, engineered rim board materials, etc. - folk lore can get you in trouble, so it's better to go straight to the horse's mouth, so to speak. That's why we're excited to tell you about the new APA-Engineered Wood Association's Blog. Sponsored by APA's Professional Associates Program, this is a free blog moderated by employees of the APA's help desk. Bottom line, it's going to be pretty hard to get more accurate or current information about engineered wood products from any other source. Check it out! While you're visiting the APA's blog, you might consider signing up for the APA's Professional Associates Program. According to the APA site, "The Professional Associates is an APA technical program geared toward design and engineering professionals. It is intended as a forum for the exchange of information and ideas for architects, engineers, building officials, members of the academic/research community, and manufacturing experts involved with engineered wood products." There aren't any annual dues to be an APA Professional Associate, but you are required to pay a one-time initiation fee of $25. For that, you receive a reference binder containing APA technical publications and research reports and are signed up for APA's periodic e-newsletter, The Engineered Wood Connection, which examines a broad range of current engineering/design topics. The newsletter also contains links to the latest literature updates, which can be downloaded as pdf files or ordered through the Association’s online publication store. APA Professional Associates also have access to e-mail and fax information hotlines, where inquiries receive priority response from APA technical staff. You can sign up directly on-line or for more information, contact the Program Coordinator or write directly to: APA - The Engineered Wood Association 7011 So. 19th, Tacoma, WA 98466 PHONE: (253) 565-6600; FAX (253) 565-7265 ####

Aw Come-on you guys, You're gonna ruin the credibility of this site with all of this voodoo stuff. Next thing you know, we'll have posts about house whisperers. Oh, wait, we've already had posts about house whisperers. Never mind. [:-paperba

Hi Richard, The talk of a four wire cable has to do only with the need for a sub-panel. According to Hansen, if it's only a single circuit and there are no other metal pathways between the two buildings, a 3-wire cable, using the neutral as the EGC, is fine. However, if there are any other conductive pathways, even something as small as a telephone line, then it should have it's own grounding electrode. That's why Hansen says the use of a 4-wire cable is preferred. OT - OF!!! M.

This month's APA publication revisions of interest to home inspectors are: Panelized Roofs - APA’s new brochure, Panelized Roofs, covers all you need to know about the hybrid and all-wood panelized roof systems, including key roof components and wind uplift requirements. Available as a free downloadable PDF or for purchase through APA's bookstore at $3 per copy. Glulam Floor Beams - APA’s recently updated brochure, Glulam Floor Beams, contains span tables for glulam floor beams in residential construction, tables for substituting glulam for steel beams, and design details. Available as a free downloadable PDF or for purchase through APA's bookstore at $1 per copy. Glulam Connection Details - This updated brochure discusses shrinkage, moisture accumulation and connection examples that illustrate both correct and incorrect connection details involving glulam. It's available as a free downloadable PDF. Condensation: Causes & Control - Explains the where and how of how condensation forms in structures and provides some good examples. Available as a free downloadable PDF. To download any of these publications online, users may need to register as a 'member' at the APA site. This is a painless, 2-minute process and they do not blanket you with spam or sell your information to third parties. Enjoy! Ed.

Okay, I've made a few additions: Ontario Association of Home Inspectors (OAHI) http://www.oahi.com National Association of Real Estate Inspection and Evaluation Services (NARIES) http://www.naries.org/ National Society of Home Inspectors (NSHI) http://www.nshi.us/ Michigan Association of Home Inspectors (MichAHI) http://www.michahi.org/ International Society Of Home Inspectors (ISHI) http://www.ishionline.org Professional Organization of Building Examiners (PROBE) http://www.probenetwork.org If anyone knows of more, let me know. NOTE: I'm not interested in chapters of the major organizations. They should be stand-alone organizations. -- Thanx

Exactly. See my previous comment. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I was looking at it and noticing a bunch of omissions - one being the P.R.O.B.E. network, which is one really worth having there. One of these afternoons, I need to do a little work at updating it. OT - OF!!! M.

Chad 'ol Buddy, Your sick. You need help. Please visit your nearest gin joint for professional counseling. OT - OF!!! M.

Okay, Now I think I understand what you're talking about - you're talking about an exterior outlet cover. D'oh! OT - OF!!! M.

Looks like FIHI went bye-bye. I've removed it from the list. OT - OF!!! M.