hausdok

Interesting to see that those are approved for NM. OT - OF!!! M.

Cantchya jest feel da luv?

It's someone's idea of a hot water loop so that someone at the far end of the house doesn't have to wait for hot water. Looks like it was engineered by someone's granddaddy who was a depression child and didn't want to spring for a plumber. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Chad, Beats le hell out of me. I've never seen it before. Can't find anything like it in Douglas' book, Cauldwell's books or in any other references I have. It looks like it would be more appropriate for bringing two MC cables together into the box instead of NM. OT - OF!!! M.

Oh, Okay, now I understand. You were referring to the little triangle-shaped spinner. Yes, I look at that sometimes, but only when there's some other overt clue that something is amiss. The water companies here are really good about warning folks when they have odd-ball water usage. I'll leave it to them to inform the owners because I can't see what's below grade anyway. OT - OF!!! M.

Walter sounds off as only he can about report writing systems. Ya gotta love a guy who believes in speaking in unvarnished terms! OT - OF!!! M.

I don't see what useful information you'd get. It wouldn't reveal a pin hole or a pipe with oozing scabs and a pipe with a pinhole leak probably won't have a whole lot of temp difference so what's the point? OT - OF!!! M.

Okay, Thanks, I've fixed it. Someone sent it to me as an Email attached file. I couldn't figure out how to fix it so I googled the guy and found his site. Jeez, if I only had that kind of talent. OT - OF!!! M.

Here's another one that'll make you dizzy. Pretty kewl! OT - OF!!! M.

Well, Junker? Of course it's going to be a junker. Houses this old and this close to major highways like the Mass Pike will not have been favored for residences. They get ignored a lot. This kind of house is a major project for someone with more guts than common sense, because the only person that could ever be able to bring it back is someone who will refuse to listen to the voices of "reason." It's back up for grabs. Don't know what's transpired, but the original link disappeared for months and now it's back again with some more specifics here: http://www.historicproperties.com/detai ... y=Nefra017 OT - OF!!! M.

[:-paperba

I thnk it was the late 80's. I talked to the Goodman folks today and the guy said that the previous serial numbers followed a different pattern. OT - OF!!! M.

Uh uh, Amana was bought out by Goodman and the code is the same as the Goodman and Janitrol code. The first two letters of the serial number is the year and the second two is the week. In this case, that furnace was manufactured the 3rd week of March 1990 so it's 16 years old. [] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Somebody's been smokin' too much ganja!

Quick! Steal that boilerplate! [:-eyebrow OT - OF!!! M.

Medic!!!! Gasp! Can't breath....moving...toward....the.....light. M.[xx(]

Hi, Yeah, I've heard the concerns about the PB mains before, but since I can't see the stuff to confirm that's actually what it is I don't really concern myself too much with it unless it's in new construction and I'm able to examine it before the trenches are closed or the slab is poured around it. It's the in-house tubing stuff I'm primarily concerned with because that's what I can actually see. I don't know if I can state with absolute conviction that there are "numerous" concerns with PB out here. It's my understanding that the tubing hasn't got any issues and that it's the fittings that break down when exposed to certain types of water and the cheesy rings at connections that leak. Most of the stuff I see has the compression fittings like you'd see with a Manablok setup. In fact, the only place I've ever seen any of these crimp ring connections was in manufactured homes. Many of the homes I see that have been built over the past 15 years have copper plumbing with PB compression stops and supply tubing under the bath vanities and kitchen sink. Asked a plumber about it once. He said that unless specified otherwise he does every home that way and hadn't ever found an older PB stop here where there was any sign of scouring damaging the valve. What's the water like down Vancouver/Portland way? Lots of chlorine or alkalinity? Do you know anyone that's seen this stuff actually fail out here? Msr. Katen, what say you? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep, Agree about the need for expansion relief. I've seen more than one home where the city came in and added backflow prevention but the homeowner never upgraded their water heater. Either they blew out old galvanized pipes, damaged selenoids or the TPR was dripping. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I dunno Randy. Seems like a home without a backflow preventer is going to fluctuate with any increase/decrease of a municipality's pressure, but by the same token the backflow preventer would allow increased pressure in and then hold it there when the plumbing is in static mode, but really won't have anything to do with actual "pressure." Pressure is going to be relative to the source's means of getting the water to you and whatever type of pressure-reduction or pressure-increase devices you've got on the system. My take anyway. Don't take it as gospel. I'm not much smarter than a trout after all. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Les, I couldn't agree more. The weekend before last I attended one of those free all-day Zero-down home buying seminars in order to get the latest information on what's going on with the home buying processes. Learned a lot about the HUD/FHA stuff that I'd not known before and got some pretty good insight into what lenders are requiring during transactions. That was the upside. The downside is that the seminar's speaker told the group that none of them should every pay more than $450. for an inspection, regardless of the size of a home, and told them that only ASHI and NIBI inspectors were "certified," which just about made me swallow my tongue, being an independent and all and knowing that no true "certification" exists anywhere in this country. 450? That's in the upper end of the lower third of my price ranges. I asked him why not more than $450 and his response was that more money doesn't get you a better home inspection, it's been his experience that the cheaper guys are just as good as the more expensive guys. I didn't argue with him. Hell, I didn't even tell him who I was until the noon break because I wasn't there to promote home inspectors, I just wanted to know more about the current state of the selling industry. Kind of disappointed though that this 'guru' was so ill informed about our business. I kind of felt like asking something like, "Now that you've pretty much told prospective clients for home inspectors what home inspectors should be pricing their services at, how would you like it if home inspectors went around holding seminars teaching people to always refuse to pay a real estate agent's standard commission and advised them to negotiate hardball for a reduced commission from the pretty-much standard 6% to, say, 1% of the sale price of a home?" Oh well, that's a topic for another thread. Let's not let it get off track. Start another thread if you want to continue discussing that. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, if that's the case, I think he can find everything he needs in the downloads section and can refer it off to a PE. I've got these HUD publications in there that I think will be useful: 1. A Guide to Foundation and Suppport Systems for Manufactured Homes 2. A Review of Manufactured Home Installation Standards and Instructions 3. Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards - 24CFRCh.xx(5-1-01 Edition - The Hud "Code") See page 130 - 3280.306 (Windstorm Protection). OT - OF!!! M.

Well, It's either that or I do it and I've kind of got my hands full right now. Sorry, M.

Maybe, I'm not sure if that's still the case or not. I heard that all of the rules have recently changed for FHA approval and that they've dropped a lot of the knit-picking requirements of the past. If you do a little research on Google you ought to be able to find out what those changed requirements are. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Scott, I don't know that I can agree with that. I certainly wouldn't have ponied up for a pressure-related issue because I don't test for it and I'm not required to test for it by any standard that I use. I don't mind exceeding the standard for some things but this is one that I think is fraught with liability. Pressure can vary from town to town and neighborhood to neighborhood. Pressure in a neighborhood can be less than 80psi this month and four months later, after they've made repairs to the system, can be over 100 psi. There's no way that I can predict how/when that will happen so why try? Most of the homes that I have inspected over the past 10 years don't have pressure-regulators or restrictors on them and haven't suffered any ill effects. I'm not saying that a regulator isn't a good thing, I'm just saying that I think that they're optional, unless required by current codes, and testing pressures delves into technical analysis that is beyond the scope of even your own association's standards. Remember, we're supposed to inspect installed systems and components. If there is no regulator on the system and it isn't required, than it most certainly isn't part of the installed system whether desirable or not. Excerpted from the ASHI S.O.P. 13.1 General limitations: Inspections performed in accordance with these Standards of Practice: are not technically exhaustive. ---------------------------------- 13.2 General exclusions: A. The inspector is not required to perform any action or make any determination unless specifically stated in these Standards of Practice, B. Inspectors are NOT required to determine: 3. the strength, adequacy, effectiveness, or efficiency of any system or component. 6. future conditions including, but not limited to, failure of systems and components. C. Inspectors are NOT required to offer: 2. or perform engineering services. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Plumbing System 6.1 The inspector shall: A. inspect: 1. the interior water supply and distribution systems including all fixtures and faucets. 2. the drain, waste and vent systems including all fixtures. 3. the water heating equipment. 4. the vent systems, flues, and chimneys. 5. the fuel storage and fuel distribution systems. 6. the drainage sumps, sump pumps, and related piping. B. describe : 1. the water supply, drain, waste, and vent piping materials. 2. the water heating equipment including the energy source. 3. the location of main water and main fuel shut-off valves. 6.2 The inspector is NOT required to: A. inspect: 1. the clothes washing machine connections. 2. the interiors of flues or chimneys which are not readily accessible. 3. wells, well pumps, or water storage related equipment. 4. water conditioning systems. 5. solar water heating systems. 6. fire and lawn sprinkler systems. 7. private waste disposal systems. B. determine: 1. whether water supply and waste disposal systems are public or private. 2. the quantity or quality of the water supply. C. operate safety valves or shut-off valves. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't see anything there that requires pressure testing. Do you? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, That depends on what you're asking. If you simply want to know what the federal construction requirements are for manufactured homes, then you download the HUD references for manufactured homes. If you're wondering what is required before FHA will grant a loan on a mobile home, or want to know what the FHA loan limit fee is you'll need to go to the FHA site. I think you've confused FHA with HUD. The FHA only insures loans. When someone gets an FHA loan they are getting a loan from a private lender that the FHA guarantees. If the buyer defaults, the FHA pays off the bank, takes the home and then sells it to recoup their (our) losses. I think what you means is that you want to know what the construction rules are for manufactured homes that are bought with a loan underwritten by the FHA. Since HUD determines the rules for construction of all manufactured homes, virtually any manufactured home sold in the country qualifies if it was built after 1976. If it's a home that is purchased as part of a low income public housing program, it will need to comply with all of the other HUD guidelines for anchorage, etc. However, if it's simply a home being bought by someone who's having the FHA underwrite their loan - not necessarily under a low income or public housing program - I don't think HUD has any power to enforce anything and you have to follow local code requirements for manufactured homes. Some jurisdictions around here, manufactured homes are placed on stacked (and poorly at that) concrete blocks and held down very flimsily. Other jurisdictions the HUD guidelines are followed to the letter. OT - OF!!! M.