hausdok

Here's one for the brethren. The issue was discovered by a client who'd been in his new home doing some of his own painting. When he removed the switch covers from the dual fan/igniter switches on a gas fireplace, in order to paint, he found that only the fan switch was enclosed in box and the other switch, the one that ignites the fireplace, is not inside of a box and is simply secured to the backside of the switchplate and projects into the wall cavity. When he informed me of this, I looked behind the switchplates on the other two fireplaces and found the identical setup. Now, I don't customarily pulls switchplates, and neither does anyone else here, but can any of your electrical gurus tell me whether this is the way it's supposed to be with gas fireplaces? The wires on the switches that aren't inside the boxes are 16-gauge or smaller, so I'm assuming that the fireplace ignition system is low-voltage and this has something to do with why these aren't inside the same box as the fan switches. Can anyone explain? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sorry Charlie, but I can't make out anything from those photos. Could you describe the product to us? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Chris, No, you aren't wasting anyone's time, especially your own, by being here. We're happy to answer any question from any inspector when we can. However, your post did sort of come across as saying exactly what I implied. If you had recommended Brandon visit the BIA site or one such as that, and then had said to take pictures at the inspection, if he'd seen anything that site didn't help him understand, and tnen post them here, I wouldn't have said a thing. I think you ask very good questions. Keep it up, we need more folks asking these kinds of things here. By the way, there's no need to feel embarrassed, we're all friends here. Heck, I'm always doing or saying something that makes others lift an eyebrown, I don't let it bother me. Life's too short and there's too much to be learned. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It was determined that, through no fault of his own, and having been subjected to years of abuse at the hands of techno-jargon babbling engineers, that Mr. Bernardt liked to write in inspectorspeak. It is recommended that he keep practicing. OT - OF!!! M.

Looks like a 30-40 year old panel. Yep, sparky was definitely trippin'. Must have been out in the car tokin' and listening to Cheech & Chong records during the lunch break. Good call! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Bonnie, You've got quite the mystery there. 2000 gallons a day is a lot, that's for sure. However, I once got a call back from a couple that their water bill was high and they insisted that I must have missed a water leak under their home. I went back, checked the meter and found it spinning like crazy. I crawled under the home and found it dry as a bone. I then walked the front yard. It too looked dry and was very firm. I did notice a slightly darker area of the yard, though, and suggested that we find out whether there was a water leak there. He got a couple of shovels from the garage and we commenced digging. About 5 minutes later and at a depth of just over two feet, we still couldn't see any leak and were about to give up. I said, "Let's just go another shovel or two," and took one more shovelfull of dirt out of that hole. That's when a small thin stream of water shot about 6ft. in the air. We'd been within 6 inches of that leak and still hadn't detected it! To this day, I think it was just dumb luck that we found it, because the yard wasn't really that much darker - certainly probably not dark enough to have caused a water detection pro to have suspected a leak. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I'm not sure that I agree with Chris' approach. One should be conversant enough about houses that they can intelligently answer questions put to them at the time of the inspection, without replying, "I dunno. Let me take a picture and post it to the inspectors' forum I hang out on, so that more experienced inspectors can tell me whether or not anything is wrong here." Brandon, have you done any research on the BIA site? They have a pretty exhaustive technical library over there, perhaps there is some discussion there about what to look for in aging brick foundations. Barring that, shoot of a message to Kurt M. He's the undisputed vintage masonry guru here. (Hmmm, that didn't come out right. Oh well, he is kind of old too.) ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Simply put, it's classic inspectorspeak gobbledygook. Plus, you don't say how far the connections are from the weatherhead. They can be above the weatherhead if they are within 24 inches and you've got a drip loop. Say something like: The service conduit above the electric meter at the (cardinal direction please) side of the garage isn't securely attached to the house. It could be damaged or might short out in the event of a storm. Have a licensed electrician correct this now. If it's more than 24 inches from the connections, say something like: At the (cardinal direction please) side of the garage, the point where the service conductors attach to the house is too far away from the weatherhead and the service conduit above the electric meter isn't securely attached to the house. This is a concern because, by regulation, the attachment point must be within 2 feet of the weatherhead and the conduit must be secured to the house at proper intervals. So this won't be damaged in a storm, have a licensed electrician correct both of these issues now. Paul, I think you meant to say "undue" alarm. I think inspectors need to stay away from worrying about whether what they say is going to cause alarm and should stick to the facts. OT - OF!!! M.

Thanks Scott, Meant to mention the meter triangle thingie (technical term) but I'd forgotten it. Seem to be forgetting a lot of stuff lately. Must be catching CRS. OT - OF!!! M.

Antidi....? Great, now I gotta go buy a dictionary. Jeez!

Hi, Around here, water pressure is often higher and the the plumbers set it to no more than 80psi. It sounds like you have a busted main line between the meter and the house. Get a leak detection expert out to find it. They have specialized audio equipment that will help them pinpoint the place where the line is broken below grade. Then you can excavate to it and repair it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Bonnie, This is some good stuff. I'm sure you can teach us old farts a thing or two about how to improve our writing. Want your own forum topic area? I can throw it up in about 10 minutes and make you the moderator. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I don't even know what a modifier is. Here's what I'd say. Don't ask me why, I really wouldn't have a clue. Guess I need to buy the book. "The recommendation of Internal Affairs was that the department suspend the cop because she ran out of gas during the high-speed chase." Internal affairs recommended that, because she ran out of gas during the high-speed chase, the department suspend the cop. "Questioning the witness led to information that the crime occurred while preparing some chocolate-filled delights." During questioning, the witness revealed that the crime occurred while _____?____was preparing some chocolate-filled delights. (If you're trying to say that the "witness" was preparing them when the crime occurred, I'd say:) During questining, the witness revealed that the crime occurred while he was preparing some chocolate-filled delights. "Lovingly baked by her husband, the officer brought some delicious cookies to the party." The officer brought some delicious cookies, lovingly baked by her husband, to the party. "Its nice to finally meet a police dog that does not chase it's own tail." It's nice to finally see a police dog that doesn't chase its tail. "The officer found herself waste deep in a quagmire; luckily the suspect was stuck in the mud too." The officer found herself stuck waist deep in a quagmire. Luckily, the suspect was stuck too. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hey Guys, Martin is good people and there's nobody better to have hanging around here and chiming in on building science issues, so let's do what we can to help him find what he needs. Kurt, could you or one of the other ASHI guys re-post his query to the ASHI board - you've got my permission to cut and paste it directly off of TIJ. That board is where I first learned of this phenomenon and where I got the photos that I've got archived. Since I guit ASHI.... Could some of you NAHI, NACHI and A.I.I. guys do the same thing on your respective boards. Again, you've got my permission to cut and paste Martin's query to those boards. If anyone has photos, how about posting them here? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Cost-wise, a piece of drywall or plywood for a hatch is negligible. However, it sounds like she thinks that the inspection she was provided was also a homeowner's warranty, in which case, fixing this with the idea of promoting good will with the customer could backfire. Fix one thing, and she may call you every time a light bulb burns out or something wears out. How about when the dishwasher breaks or the water heater reaches end of service life? Nope, time to put your foot down. You've stated it in your report. It was up to her to have it fixed, or not, before close of escrow. It's not your responsibility. Actually, it doesn't sound like the hatch missed her - it sounds like it hit her square on the head and knocked her common-senseless. This kind of thing can be prevented if you are very careful during the pre-inspection phase to make sure that the client understands that you are not a warranty company and that they should not bother to call you to demand correction of minor issues, because minor issues are not what they hire you to find. When I go over the PIA with a customer, I tell them that, in order for me to accept responsibility for an issue, it will need to meet the following criteria: 1. It must be something that must be inspected under the NAHI or ASHI standard of practice. 2. It must have been exposed to view and apparent on the time and date of the inspection. 3. It must be something that a reasonable person must have been expected to find. 4. It must be a major issue. This is the one I explain the most clearly to them. I make sure they understand it must be something like a bad roof, bad plumbing, bad heating system, bad framing, serious electrical issues, bad foundation, wood rot, insects or structural issues that weren't reported, etc.. In other words, things that will cost them significantly to correct, not things that can be corrected for less than a couple hundred bucks. I cite examples like loose doorknobs and hinges, cracks in drywall that have nothing to do with structural issues, worn-out faucet washers, appliances of any type and age, etc., and tell them, "Don't even bother to call me for things like that, because I won't even come out." They don't. You found it, you reported it to her in writing and now she's hassling you about having it fixed. Clearly, she didn't understand the terms of the PIA, or she wouldn't have called you at all. You did have a PIA, didn't you? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I've seen it here Randy. In fact, I had it on a home in Issaquah within the past two weeks. The house in question had a little bumpout that was added at the back center of the house to form the dinette. It projects from the house with the walls of the bumpout oriented 45° to the back plane of the house and has windows on both sides. The back of the house faces dead south. The bottom 3ft. of siding at both the southeast and southwest corner is melted and deformed for about six feet from the outside corners. It clearly isn't caused by a barbecue grill and when you examine the houses at either side, which don't have the bumpout, they are fine. The following week, in another part of that development, when we did a house that had the exact same configuration and also was oriented south, the same thing, on a lesser scale, had occurred. The sun strikes those windows on the east side of the bumpout at a downward angle in the morning and is reflected onto the bottom of the siding at the southeast corner. In the afternoon, it strikes the windows on the west side and is reflected down onto the lower-west corner. There's nothing fancy about those windows. They were cheap Alping-brand spec-grade vinyl units and I didn't see any obvious concave deformation. Months ago, in a similar thread on the forum I moderate over at JLC, some contractors posted pictures of similar damage. One of these, was a builder here in Washington State. So far, in every instance that I've seen this, or have seen photos of it, the siding was a sort of light to medium gray color. Martin, I'd previously told you that it was tan, but after going outside and looking at some siding of the same color, it's without-a-doubt gray in color. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Rich, In the second photo, it looks like that stoop has settled relative to the brickwork and that it was poured against the brickwork without a capillary break. See the line of concrete on the bricks about an inch above the surface? When I usually see that, the shape at the edge of the slab perfectly matches the concrete line on the bricks. If that's the case, the overdug area wasn't properly compacted when they backfilled it. Do you really think that this is soil that's being "forced" through the hole? There's old dirt there that's dried and newer moist there on top that's recently been deposited there. The OSB is rotting, so I'm guessing you've got a bunch of ants mining out a nest beneath that stoop that're depositing that dirt in the most convenient location - the crawl. Either way, stoop has to come out, veneer has to come off and repairs have to be made. The only question - who's nickel will it be on? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

By Ellen Rohr Thirteen years ago Hot Rod and I went shopping for an accountant. Hot Rod’s buddy and partner Richard Yox had just died. Yox had always done the books and filed the tax returns. Yox took an aggressive approach to the IRS. He was cross-hair-focused on making sure that Uncle Sam didn’t get one extra penny from Hot Rod & Yox Plumbing and Heating. They got audited once in 1981. The IRS wrote HR&Y a check for $11. Since then we’ve never been audited. I’m crossing my fingers and knocking on wood that I don’t ever have to go through an audit. I suspect, however, that after dealing with Yox, the auditor stamped “DON’T GO THEREâ€

According to a February 27th entry in PM Engineer newsletter, on Feb. 5, the Sacramento Business Journal reported that, beginning in 2008, California's new building code will incorporate international building and fire standards with state-specific rules. This will be the first time California has updated its building code standards in 10 years. The new codes are scheduled to be published in July and will take effect on January 1st, 2008. These will include portions of the new international codes, as well as the 2005 National Electrical Code, 2006 Uniform Mechanical Code and 2006 Uniform Plumbing Code.

By Mike O'Handley, Editor That Morrison guy is at it again. However, this time he's got an accomplice - Charley Woods. Their bags were barely unpacked, and the ink on their new business cards barely dry, when Jimmy Morrison and Charley Woods, well known veteran home inspectors who'd recently relocated from the U.S. to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to open a property management/home inspection firm - Casas del Mar PV Property Services - began giving back to their new community in a big way. Morrison and Woods have pledged to donate $20 from each home inspection they perform in 2007 to the children of a non-profit shelter for abused, neglected or abandoned infants and children under the age of 14 - Refugio Infantil Santa Esperanza (R.I.S.E.) A.C. in Puerto Vallarta. This is not the first time Morrison has opened his heart to children, TIJ readers will remember that last year he established a fund to help raise money for school uniforms and books for school children in Africa. What Morrison and Woods are doing is commendable and sets a shining example of what true caring and community service is all about. Good-on-ya, Boys! Keep up the good work. To read more, click here.

Here's more of the same.

In answer to a writer bemoaning the lack of ethics and the flaws in the disclosure process for purchasing a home - especially the flaws in the home inspection profession - inspection pundit Barry Stone lays it all out for everyone. To read more, click here.

BOSTON, Massachusetts Flir Systems, Inc., has introduced the BCAMâ„¢ SD, a new and enhanced model of its popular BCAM infrared camera used worldwide by building professionals to monitor and diagnose the conditions of buildings. The BCAM SD generates high quality thermal images, stores up to 1,000 JPEG images with its removable SD/memory card and features dew point and insulation alarms specially designed to detect excess moisture and insulation defects. With its removable SD/memory card, the 1.25 pound BCAM SD can house up to 1,000 images in standard radiometric JPEG format. These images can be inserted into email and MicroSoft® Word, Excel, and PowerPoint from the SD card and shared with others in the field on the camera’s bright 3.5â€

This article in the Contra Costa Times looks at how some industries are being severely impacted due to the slump in home sales. To read more, click here.

For the past 5-years, builders, mortgage lenders, real estate agents and professional "surveyors" have railed against a new law in the U.K. that will require that a home information pack (HIP) be prepared on all properties put up for sale in England and Wales beginning in June 2007. The special interests have been successful in getting the government to withdraw from the law the requirement for a mandatory home condition report (HCR), which is essentially a home inspection report similar to what we have in the U.S., but they have not been successful in getting mandatory energy audits taken out of the package. Now, the special interests in the U.K. are trying a new tactic - they're claiming that inspectors will be, essentially, defacto assessors, and that, following preparation of a HIP, homoewners will be hit with new taxes. For an American home inspector's perspective, it's pretty comical reading. What will they think of next? To read more, click here.