hausdok

You Don't, Paul is a licensed electrician. He can get away with that sort of thing. We can't. If you're smart, you'll always make the absolute best recommendation that you can think of to the client. That way, if the client agrees to allow them to use less of a fix, you're in the clear. However, recommend a halfway measure and then it goes bad who do you think they'll all be glaring at? I never recommend the Yugo fix. It's always been the Lexus fix. The 15th will mark 11 years for me. I don't get callbacks and I've never, not once, had to sit down to an arbitration or been the subject of a lawsuit. I can't believe that it's because I'm the perfect inspector - 'cuz I'm not - so I have to believe it's because I don't make wishy washy recommendations that raise doubt in anyone's mind about who I'm really working for. Wanna know something? As soon as you resolve to make calls that way, and stop worrying about what someone else will think about your call, half of the weight of this job is off your shoulders. No more wondering whether you did the right thing or whether what you said will cause you to lose referrals, 'cuz you made your call the way you wanted to and did it based on your own conviction - not what's going to get you future referrals or what won't upset the seller and agents involved. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, An article in this morning's Seattle Post-Intelligencer painted a pretty bleak picture for home buyers in the Seattle, King County area. The gist of the article was about how Seattle is too expensive now, even for folks with relatively well-paying jobs. To buy a home in the city, you either have to be very low income and have housing assistance or you'd better be well-heeled. According to the article, the median 2006 home price in Seattle was $450,000, but a single person making the U.S. median salary of $52,000 can only afford a $200,000 home and a family of four with a median income of $74,300 a year can only afford a $280,000 home. It went on to state that 51% of the people working in the city of Seattle don't live in Seattle and that the high cost of real estate is pushing folks farther and farther out of the city to find affordable housing. Pretty pathetic. I don't know what they're talking about when they say that folks are finding affordable housing outside of the city, 'cuz I'm not seeing much of that. This is a house I inspected yesterday in Bothell, just over the King/Snohomish county line and about 16 miles from downtown Seattle. Price was $511,500 with a just over a 1/4-acre lot. That article will probably put a damper on home sales, and thus inspections, around here for a while. If there's an article in the P-I about falling interest rates, 3 weeks later I'll see a surge. If there's an article talking about the excessively high price of homes, like this, one, 3 weeks later things get really quiet until the next positive article. Don't know why it always takes 3 weeks, but that seems to be the pattern between real estate prognostication and how it plays out on the street around here. How's it looking in other parts of the country? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep, Did that once. Never heard from her again. Saw her at a home she'd listed once after that. As soon as she saw me get out of my vehicle, she walked over to her car, got in and split. Don't know if it's because she knew it was pointless to try and manipulate what I was saying or 'cuz she was still miffed for my having congratulated her for a forthcoming parenthood that wasn't actually pending. Oh well, I've told myself not to dwell on it. If she really cared about her appearance, she wouldn't have developed a beer gut (Hmmm, come to think of it, neither would I, for that matter. Buurrrrp.). OT - OF!!! M.

Aw hell, Let's just book an Alaskan cruise out of Seattle and put all of the TIJ'ers on board. That way, the crew can just throw us overboard when we start acting like our cumudgeonly selves. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, it's busy, but it doesn't look like it violates the fill limitation. Hope they've got one or two screws securing that cover in place. A little quibble with the wiring attachment, though, The NM needs to be secured within a foot of where it enters that box, so there are quite a few wires where they screwed that up. Then you've got the large number of wires under that clamp on the upper right. Because it's out in the air and can cool readily, I'm not sure whether that violates the 'no more than 4 bundled' rule. Jim? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sure, On the menu bar above, click on "Help FAQ" and then on "General FAQ". It should be in there. If not, just remember to place the word quote between brackets, these are brackets - [ ] - at the beginning of what you want to quote and then place /quote between brackets at the end of each portion of the quote. Don't forget to preview your responses first. That way, you can correct your mistake before it gets posted and then someone else replies to it with quotes and causes the error to snowball. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Guys, Please, if you don't know how to use the reply with quotes feature properly, just cut and paste the post you want to respond to into your answer and then use quotes around the portions that you are quoting. First dpec attempted to quote osofprev and forgot to use the code in one spot. Then osofprev quoted him, and then osofprev quoted the quotes, causing the whole thing to snowball. I just spend 45 minutes cleaning up this thread, so that anyone reading it could follow each responder's train of thought. I know it wasn't done intentionally. The reply with quotes feature is there to try and make it easier for everyone to answer someone else directly. However, if you don't know how to break up someone's quote and insert your own answers, so that the person's words are clearly quoted and your words are your own, it's extremely hard to follow each person's argument. Let's try to be a little more careful. Preview your thread before you post it and use spell check if you've got it. If you need spell check, you can get a free spell checker program by going to the Powertoys for Windows site. Thanks, I'll now return you to your regularly scheduled and pretty interesting discussion. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Very nice Denis, Wish I could drive my Subaru down to that cool looking Subaru dealership for service. It must have been pretty tough doing that job in all that snow. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Oh Yeah! Hey Les, I just realized, it's tulip festival time up in Arlington! That place will be hip deep in folks coming to tour the fields for a couple of weeks. I'm not much on plants and stuff, but all that color sprouting out of the ground in one location really is pretty grand to see. I'll have to try and remember to take a day to drive up this year. The last couple of years it slipped my mind. You oughta try to make it one of these years. [We now return you to your regular "Who do you market to?" thread.] OT - OF!!! M.

Who do I market to? Everyone that sees me work and reads my report. I don't go to real estate offices, I don't send real estate professionals cards and follow-up thank you's and I don't sponsor open houses with them. Did once, as part of a franchise - stopped about 9 months later when I couldn't stand to do it any longer. Since I left the franchise in 2001 - not once. They're always saying figure out who your target audience is. Well, I figure it's whoever's at the inspection and watches me work. Most of the time that's going to be a buyer but sometimes it's the seller or the buyer's relatives or friends. Sometimes it's other folks who wander in with their agent to look at the house in the middle of the inspection (I always drop 3-4 cards on the nearest flat surface to the entrance when I walk in, so anyone who wants one can pick them up.). It might be a real estate person, if that person bothers to watch my work and listen to what I'm teaching the client and recognize that I'm ignoring their (the agent's) body language and hints and am taking care of my true client and am not sucking up to them. I don't pander to them or give them even a hint that I'd like to get referrals from them. I figure that if I'm doing that, the client is going to sense it, the same way I could sense it when a victim, perp or witness wasn't giving me his/her full attention when I'd be interviewing them. If an agent is not interested in learning, and only wants to manipulate my time or what I say, and are going to be a royal pain in the ass during the entire inspection process, I can usually sense it within the first couple of minutes of meeting them. From that point on, I make sure they understand that it's me who's in charge of the inspection process, not them, by being as cold to them as any felon I'd ever caught and seen jailed. That way, there's less chance of them following me around and trying to put words in my mouth and I won't have to constantly rebut everything they try to interject into the presentation while they attempt to do damage control in the middle of the job. In the end, it's the happy client, the client's spouse, the client's friends and relatives, the agent who has integrity, the house hunter, the nosy neighbor, the seller who end up telling others about me and those others call me for work. The agents? If they like my work they'll tell a few other agents, but not many. If they don't like my work, they'll tell a few other like-minded agents about the asshole of a deal killer they'd met and warn them to stay clear of me, which is fine with me, 'cuz I'd rather not have to deal with that kind of agent anyway. Sometimes, but not often, when the 'zoid doesn't know the other agent well enough, it will backfire on them and I'll get a call from an agent I've never met who will tell me something like, "I just heard about this really anal inspector from one of the other agents in the office. He said you were a real deal killer and that you write really detailed reports and don't seem to realize on which side your bread is buttered. That's just the kind of inspector I need for my clients, what's your next availability." Two days ago, my wife and I showed up to do a job and the agent and agent's wife, who's also an agent, turned out to be Koreans from my wife's church. My wife had a conversation with the agent in Korean out of earshot. That evening, she told me about it. He told her, "Gee I didn't realize that your husband was a home inspector or I would have been referring him to my clients all of these years." She responded with, "Well, maybe not. He's a really, really picky inspector, he's going to be here at least 3-1/2 to 4 hours and he's going to tell the customer everything he sees. Is that the kind of inspector you are looking for?" His response was something like, "What, 3-1/2 to 4 hours! What for? Why does he need to be so picky? All the client needs to know about is the big-ticket items. The rest is all part of owning a home. You know, we agents have to make a living. No matter how good he is, we don't want to refer our clients to inspectors like that, because all the work it took to get the customer to this point with this home will be wasted and we'll have to start all over again. If the home doesn't sell, we don't get paid. If I have to work twice as hard and twice as long to sell one client a home, I'll make commissions from fewer houses a year and I wont' be able to pay my bills." My wifes response was, "Yeah, I know, I've told him that many times, but he's too stubborn and won't listen. He says he doesn't care about the agents because the buyer is his customer, not the agent." The agent than told her, reluctantly, "Well, that's too bad, because I'd thought I would refer work to you and your husband in the future, but, if that's his attitude, I can't afford to tell my customers about him. I hope you understand." Koreans are pretty pragmatic. She does. One more 'zoid added to my list of who I won't accept referrals from. Conversely, there are two other Korean agents from that same church that refer work to me all the time and who couldn't care less about how much time I take or what I put in the report, as long as I do a good job. Other than doing what I do, as best I know how to do it, I've never "marketed" to any of them. Like Gary and the others said, you can be a 'zoid's stooge or you can be your own man. It's up to you. If we're ever to garner the true respect from others that we deserve as "professionals" we need to cull the former from this business and cultivate and mentor more of the latter. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, that too. They are pretty good predators when they want to be. I watched Poe pick off a field mouse once. OT - OF!!! M.

Washington, D.C./March 29th - Release #07-143 The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. Name of product: Heat Recovery Ventilators Units: About 75,000 Distributor: Venmar Ventilation Inc., of Quebec, Canada Hazard: The motors in these units can overheat, posing a fire hazard. Incidents/Injuries: Venmar Ventilation has received four reports of ventilator motors overheating resulting in fires causing extensive property damage. One incident in Michigan reportedly resulted in about $1 million in damages. Description and Models: Heat Recovery Ventilators are designed to exchange air between the inside and outside of a home in order to provide fresh air. The recall covers units made from 1991 through 2001, and have the following brand names and model numbers: Brand: Models Venmar: AEXX, EARC, 1XX, 30X, 40X, 40XXX Venmar: AVS 1.X, 2.X, 30XX, 55XX Flair: 30, 30XX, 55, 55XX, 85115 Vane: 10, 1XX, 100X, 20, 20XX, 30XX, 90 Conformax: 300, 350, 400 NuTone: NUTR130 Carrier Bryant:VXXXXXXXXX, ERVXXXXXXX or HRVXXXXXXX Payne Day & Night: VXXXXXXXXX Heil: HEILXXXXX York: 5263554XXXX Sears Brand: OPTIMUM Guardian by Broan: 100X, 200X Rheem, Ruud, Protech, Weatherking: 84-ERV100, 84-ERV200, 84-HRV100, 84-HRV200 The model numbers are written on a silver or black label on the outside of panel. The "X" digit used in the model numbers can be either a letter or a number. Sold by: Heating, plumbing and building supply distributors nationwide from January 1991 through December 2001 for between $700 and $2,500. Manufactured in: Canada Remedy: Consumers should immediately turn off and unplug their ventilators, and contact Venmar to receive instructions on how to participate in the recall. Venmar will provide a free safety device that will shut off the ventilator if the motor overheats. Consumer Contact: For more information, contact Venmar Ventilation toll-free at (866) 441-4645 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, or visit the firm's Web site at www.venmar.ca 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.

cartess3, Hope you're wearing your Dragon Skin 'cuz you've probably just pulled the pin on a frag. This board is about as anti-toady as you can get. Incoming! OT - OF!!! M.

It also looks like it's just about the right size to bury Aunt Ethyl standing up. Don't suppose you pocked down in that dirt a little bit to see if he scalp was just below the surface? [:-bigeyes

Hi Rich, Either they're hiding stuff or it's a group of fledglings. I had a pet crow for a couple of years. They have a very strong instinct to horde stuff and will hide it virtually anywhere. Shiny stuff, pieces of meat, a jeweller's burr, doesn't matter, they're going to hide it. It's weird, they'll keep returning to the same place to save the same kind of stuff - mostly food - but mostly won't eat it and simply accumulate it, so I'm guessing that they forget that they've horded it. When they're fledglings, the nest will hang out together and their curiosity is insatiable. It's not unusual to see a group of 4 or 5 start picking at something like a knot in a piece of wood or a nailhead and keep it up for hours until the next thing catches their fancy. They can do a bit of damage when they really fixate on something. OT - OF!!! M.

Yep, As much rain as we've had the last week, it's a wonder that didn't flood the house. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Richard, I've been seeing the sheath encapsulated stuff for about 10 years now and have never found it holding any moisture, regardless of brand used. Whatever the stuff is that they cover it with, it's able to release vapor and that's always a good thing. OT - OF!!! M.

Huh? King of facts? waddayubensmokinboy? Thanks for the compliment, but my perception has been that I routinely embarrass myself by getting stuff dead wrong. [:-paperba As for how many inspectors have ever lost their licenses, I don't have a clue and I don't think anyone else does. I suppose I could try to come up with a figure, by calling all 30+ states that have licensing and asking whether they keep records on such things, but odd are that whatever figure I come up with won't be that accurate. Enforcement is sketchy in some places and others, like Texas, have had licensing for so long that some of their records might have been purged by now. However, even if I did that, the information won't really be relevant, unless it includes length of time each state has had licensing, the reason that a license was terminated, the number of years the inspector involved had been in business, etc. Thanks for the project idea, though. I don't have time to tackle it right now, but I suppose I could during the next slow season. If anyone else with more time on their hands wants to take that ball and run with it right now, please do. I'll be happy to help you flesh your results into a finished article and then publish your findings here on TIJ under your own byline. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

There's a waterline on the side of that box, so I'd guess that it was for a pump or simply a place for water to collect and gradually disperse. OT - OF!!! M.

Hmmm, Looks like they're mining TIJ for questions and answers to seed their site with. Not sure if I should be flattered or ticked off. Hmmmm. OT - OF!!! M.

Aaaaannnnnnnnnd they're off! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, That sheath on that encapsulated information is not a vapor barrier. It's permeable, so you've only got the original barrier. Nothing to worry about. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Thanks OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, I found these in my photo archives. I didn't take them and I don't have a record of who sent these to me. I'd like to know whether it would be ok to share them with Martin. Does anyone recognize them? If so, please email me with your permission and particulars about yourself and the photos. OT - OF!!! M. Download Attachment: SunlightDamagedVinyl_Small.JPG 46.8 KB Download Attachment: MeltedVinylSiding.jpg 59.56 KB Download Attachment: ReflectionHeatedSiding.JPG 34.4 KB Download Attachment: ReflectionHeatedSiding2.JPG 52 KB Download Attachment: ReflectionHeatedSiding3.JPG 35.49 KB Download Attachment: ReflectionHeatedSiding4_Small.JPG 56.07 KB

Hi, I see them every once in a while equipped with what are essentially ship's ladders. They're usually playrooms for children but I had an A-frame house the other day that had been built that way with a ship's ladder to the sleeping loft. Around here, the local code guys seem to approve them for such limited applications. OT - OF!!! M.