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In his Washington Post column, Barry Stone responds to a consumer who says, "Home Inspectors perform an inadequate service," and tells Barry that he, "Doesn't have a clue." To read more, click here.

This story in the Arizona Republic is about a homeowner who was advised to get a home inspection but opted not to. Now that large fissures have opened up in her yard due to soil subsidence, she's suing. you can't please everbody all the time - you can only please some of the people some of the time. To read more, click here.

HouseKeys is a free electronic newsletter about home building, remodeling, maintenance and design produced by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). This is a one-stop source for articles from renowned consumer authors and nationally syndicated real estate columnists; hints and tips on caring for your home inside and out; the latest remodeling trends; advice on working with home builders; house plan innovations; product information and more. To find out more and to subscribe click here.

Okay, You sold me. Mike Brown, if you're monitoring this, what kind of palm thingy gizmo do I need to run that palm thingy program and what other stuff, besides the palm thingy will I probably need? Cost? Oh yeah, here's another one for everyone in general, 'cuz I hadn't thought to ask it yet. How is TIJ displaying in Vista? Any difference? OT - OF!!! M.

I've always called it a condensate drain. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Yeah, I've seen them too - on duplexes, triplexes and fourplexes. The whole thing is designed for two meters. The only place there are two meter enclosures is at the front where there are two separate doors, but the rest is a single stamped/braked piece of metal with a single myers hub through the top and a pair of buses feeding the meter sockets and another for a ground connection. Most of the time they're sealed, but occasionally I find them unsealed and peek inside. OT - OF!!! M.

The APA-Engineered Wood Association is constantly producing new publications that are of inestimable value to serious Home Inspectors and Building Scientists, and can be downloaded free at their website. Most recently, APA has released an updated version of the Gluelam Product Guide - This updated brochure describes APA EWS trademarked glulam, addresses important design considerations, and includes a specification guide. It's available as a free 1.4Mb PDF download or for purchase through APA's bookstore at $4 per copy. The Wood Promotion Network has published a series of fact sheets on green building and environmental topics. These fact sheets are available from APA in print or as downloadable PDFs. Home Builder Guidelines discusses the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Model Green Home Building Guides and LEED for Homes, as well as various local programs offered by many individual cities. Form WP G335, no charge. LEED® vs. Green Globesâ„¢ discusses the similarities of and differences between these two programs. Form WP G330, no charge. The Role of Life Cycle Assessment discusses how wood compares to other materials over its entire life cycle and provides tools for assessing life cycle impacts. Form WP G340, no charge. Using Wood to Fight Climate Change discusses how the use of wood products fights climate change. Form WP G345, no charge. Field Notching and Drilling of Laminated Veneer Lumber, provides recommendations for field notching, tapering and drilling of LVL beams. It is available only as a free downloadable PDF file. Form EWS G535. APA has also revised some of its publications: EWS Technical Note:Field Notching and Drilling of Glued Laminated Timber Beams. Available only as a free downloadable PDF. Form EWS S560. APA Glulam, I-joist and LVL Publication Index, is a supplement to the APA Publication Index. Available in printed format or as a free downloadable PDF. Form EWS S400, no charge. Recommended Uniform Live Loads for PS-1 APA 303 Siding. Available only as a free downloadable PDF. Form TT-021. 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. An excellent site to spend an afternoon browsing and learning how to be better at what we do.

Atlanta, GA A new book from ASHRAE will aid users in designing and constructing homes and apartments that comply with its residential ventilation and indoor air quality standard. The User’s Manual is the first for ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2004, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, which provides the minimum requirements necessary to achieve acceptable indoor air quality for dwellings. The manual was co-developed by the Indoor Air Quality Association. “The 62.2 User’s Manual will provide HVAC engineers and IAQ consultants with practical information to ensure that ventilation positively affects the indoor environment,â€

Hi, Not really. Unless it's an on-demand water heater, the flue gases are kept warm and relatively buoyant by the pilot in the water heater. There is normally a momentary increase in CO around the draft inducer, until that first slug of pressurized air from the furnace hits the top of the flue, and then it levels out. If the water heater were shut off and the flue gases were cool, the duration of spillage would be greater until the flue gases had been warmed all the way to the top of the flue and then buoyancy would take over, assisted by the inducer. It's not dangerous unless/until you have a flue blockage or you're losing buoyancy due to something else - single-walled vent in unheated areas, improperly located/sized flue suffering from stack affect, insufficient make-up air for combustion, clothes dryer or return air intake nearby, etc.. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Check this out. Read down to mid-page: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml01/01069.html OT - OF!!! M.

I don't know if either of these is the same article that Chad is talking about, but there are these: JLC Article - Troubleshooting Common Chimney Problems JLC Article - Is This Chimney Safe? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Les, That's pretty kewl, Dude! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Chris, "The only thing I can think of is to increase venting with a continuous roof vent and installing venting in each rafter bay."id="blue"> Oh, so it's one of those with eave vents every other rafter bay? If they increase that by boring additional vent holes, make sure they install chutes so that the air can pass up the underside of the roof. You didn't say how old the buildings were or whether they're equipped with air exchangers and timers to remove the damp interior air that's been diffusing and leaking up into the attic. If they are relatively new, you need to make sure that the timer is actually working, connected to something and has been set to ventilate the home. You'll also need to make sure that any damper on any intake duct is functioning or that, if it doesn't have an intake duct, that the other intake source -usually slot vents at windows and doors here - are actually being used. Had a 4 month old home the week before last where the underside of the roof was all black and green with mold. The air changer wasn't working and there were lots of passages into the attic. The house sits in a draw with high trees all around it. Lots of shade. Lots of fungal growth! They can treat the underside of the roof and the framing with BoraCare® and it will knock back the fungi and make it impossible for it to grow on the wood, but with that much moisture you've probably got a gazillion air passages up into the attic in both units that should have been sealed. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I agree with Les. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, We get condominium row houses with those roof designs here. They typically line the valley with a single sheet of torchdown and put a little short gutter with a downspout at either end. Nothing but one long gutter from end to end. They get full of all kinds of tree crap and leaves. Silly is appropriate. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, Looks like they had to disassemble it to get it out of the basement and left some stuff behind. Got the second snow of the winter here last night. About 3 inches. I haven't turned on the news yet, but I'm sure that's all that they're going to be talking about all day, tomorrow and the next day and probably for the next week. They've probably closed every school and there will be gazillions of traffic backups as people who don't have a clue about how to drive in snow sit there queued up for miles with the gas pedal all the way to the floor spinning their tires and wondering why their car won't move. Glad I didn't book anything for today. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Mr. Cat, Don't know about where you are, but here those will only pull more moist air and fungal spore into the attic through the other gable end vent(s). I've gone up into attics where those are installed and found that the side of the rafters/trusses away from the end of the attic where the fan was installed was discolored and fungi was growing on the framing and underside of the roof. It's definitely not a good solution in this temperate climate with our long rainy seasons, and spore-rich atmosphere. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Rename the photo, remove the parenthesis and underscore the spaces between words and it'll post. OT - OF!!! M.

Simple answer: Yes, there's no prohibition against it in the 2003 IRC. OT - OF!!! M.

Hmmm, Not to get things off-track here, but I don't think a countertop can issue an insurance policy for anything. I'm sure the author meant to say ensure. I'll bet more than a few of us make this same mistake. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Not in 1980, but I remember cost in 1971 when at 19 years old I was the youngest ARCO station owner in the world. I used to sell my regular for 37.9 cents a gallon, mid-grade was 39.9 cents a gallon and hi-test was 41.9 cents a gallon. Sigh, I paid $2.89.9 cents a gallon for the premium I put in my tank yesterday. OT - OF!!! M.

Wait a minute! That is vinyl siding. OK, now I'm trackin'. He wanted to use wood or MDF trim to give the windows a more authentic look with the vinyl siding, instead of the J-channels. There was an article in JLC about that about 4-5 years ago. You have to very carfully mill you trim so that it covers the siding and J-channels. I don't remember all of the article, 'cuz I hate the stuff and really didn't want to learn the technique, but if you do a search on the JLC site for something like, "Using MDF trim with vinyl siding" I think you'll find it in their archives. Go here: http://www.JLCOnline.com ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I've been meaning to get one of those gizmos, so I could try out Inspect Express's new pocket PC type reporting program. I've just never gotten around to it. Check this out: http://www.tijonline.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=3739 OT - OF!!! M.

The framer was an idiot and the G.C. should have noticed that the roof detail doesn't jive with the roof detail at the eaves. The roof over that bumpout should have come down another 4 to 5 inches and had a small cornice detail so it matched the roof. Not as deep as the upper roof overhang, but the same idea. They can still salvage it by stripping the roof off the bumpout and redoing just the roof and cornice. As for the windows, if they're designed to accept J-channels they're just plain WRONG in my never-humble opinion. OT - OF!!! M.

Huh? I've never seen anything like that. Anyone else? OT - OF!!! M.