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According to an article in the White Plains, NY Journal News a Nanuit, NY home inspector, as well as a real estate attorney, a real estate agent and a real estate brokerage are all being sued for $30M by a Suffern, NY doctor and his wife after their home became infested with mold subsequent to a home inspection. Read More...

Want another book source for your continuing education needs? Try the Architecture+Engineering+Construction Online Bookstore at: http://www.aecstore.com

If you want to get yourself up to speed on hydronic radiant heating systems, you will definitely want to sign up to receive PMEngineer’s new radiant e-newsletter. Radiant & Hydronics e-News is a FREE twice-monthly newsletter sent directly to your inbox. It is filled with all things "wethead," including industry news and events, as well as new product information and offers. To opt-in to receive the free newsletter and stay up-to-date with all hydronic happenings, click here, or visit the PM Engineer homepage and click through to the subscription form.

Q: Can sharing a home inspection report with other persons who aren’t his/her clients open an inspector up to more liability? A: According to Barry Stone, in an April 8th column in the Washington Post, it can. Read More… http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 00804.html

Hi, It looks like that was the original platform and was made of wood with a sheetmetal skin. Some rocket scientist probably decided that it worked better if he flipped it upside down and put the water heater inside of it it would work better. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Whoops! I just realized that I was using the BDP key for both of those and wasn't looking at the Carrier key. You guys are right of course its a 24,000 Btu or 2 ton and it was manufactured in May 2004 if that key is correct and it runs a 20 year cycle beginning in 1970. Sure would be nice if they'd just print the darned date and tonnage in plain English instead of encoding it. OT - OF!!! M.

I don't see a difference between fire escape stairs or regular stairs. If it's a stairway than the handrail on the open side of the stairs must not allow a 4 inch sphere to pass through. Anyway, it ultimately depends on what your municipality has adopted. If they're still on the old 6 inch rule there's nothing you can do except report that it's beyond what's allowed by the IRC or the UBC but it's what's accepted by the municipality. How old is the building? Don't try to retroactively apply this to an older fire escape or you'll come out looking/sounding like a pinhead. The rule is there for safety, in order to prevent kids from slipping through the railings and falling. That said, kids shouldn't be playing on a fire escape under any circumstances. If they are, the width of the balusters is the least of the parents' worries. You could point out that the openings are wider than what's allowed today and not make any recommendation, or recommend that they add a fence or interior latticework to make it safer. However, that might send a signal that it's okay to let kids sit/play/use a fire escape when it's not. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Steve, Chill Dude! I interpreted Mark's comment as tongue-in-cheek with a wink. Take your blood pressure medicine. Thanks for the insight though. My wife's sister lives in NJ and she's been hinting around that she'd like me to move over there from a state where there's no income tax and no toll roads. Yeah, like that's gonna happen. OT - OF!!! M. OT - OF!!! M.

I showed you how to figure that out in my post of June 28th Above. if you copied that evaporator model number correctly, the evaporator is a 2 ton unit manufactured the 18th week of 2000. However, I don't think you've copied it right because the last two digits are supposed to be numbers, not letters and the 3rd and 4th digits after the letter are the BTU's in thousands. Since 4 is in the 3rd spot after the letter, I think it's possible that the 4th letter might have been a 3 and thus matched the condenser. The condenser is a 43,000 Btu (Approx 3.5T) manufactured the 10th week of 2003. You were there though, you should know better than me. OT - OF!!! M.

Happy Independence Day Everybody! I know most of your are probably away for the holidays, so I'm just gonna try and send out some good luck karma to shelter you from the traffic idiots, the fireworks idiots and the drinking idiots. Have a great day, get home safely and take a moment to cast a thought toward our boys and girls in harms way, because I can tell you from experience that on this day in particular they feel intense pride in being there for the rest of us. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Happy Canada Day to Mike & Rose up in Victoria and to all of our Canadian members from TIJ!! [:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party][:-party] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Barry, Sorry I didn't answer earlier, I twisted my ankle badly yesterday and sitting up at the computer has been pretty painful until now. Anyway, when I saw your request my first concern was with solar gain. If you paint that roof with the wrong materials it could get unbelievably hot beneath it. I subscribe to Metal Roofing Magazine and tried to go to their site to snatch a coatings article I remembered reading a couple of years ago, but for some reason none of the previous issues are available online right now. I probably have that issue someplace, but finding it will be tricky. Just think of my office as a bookstore in one of the Harry Potter moview and you'll understand why. Anyway, as an alternative, I suggest you go to the Cool Metal Roofing Coalition's site and do some reading there, because once that roof's painted the only way to fix it will be to repaint it. Here's the link. If it's not too late and their archive comes back up, I can try and get to that article over the weekend and shoot it to you via email. Here's the link to the Cool Metal Roofing Coalition site: http://www.coolmetalroofing.org/index.htm. Check out their FAQ's. By the way, a subscription to Metal Roofing Mag is free and definitely worth the effort it takes to go online and fill out a couple of panels. I frequently read comments on this and other sites made by folks who're poorly informed about metal roofs, their longevity and how they're supposed to be installed, vented and maintained. A subscription to this mag will make you a better home inspector. Go to this site to subscribe: http://www.metalroofingmag.com ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Good Point Les, It's never made sense to me to insulate a gas water heater unless it's a direct vent type and then only the tank - not the control - valve should be insulated. In order for a gas water heater to work properly, you have to leave off enough insulation blanketing around the draft diverter to allow air in, you can't cover the control valve, the access cover for the burner plate or the air intakes on the underside of the tank or on the sides. Once you've left that much of the tank uninsulated, there's not much point in trying to wrap it anyway. My point to homeowners is that the tank manufacturers have figured out how they can achieve maximum energy savings with the way they've insulated their tanks. Adding more insulation might give one a warm and fuzzy but it's probably money wasted. OT - OF!!! M.

No, as I posted, from Home Tech. About a year after I got into this business, I took one of Home Tech's 2-day inspection seminars just out of curiosity, to see how it compared to the training I'd gotten from the franchiser. The training wasn't much - a waste of time and a couple of hundred bucks really - but they provided some handouts that have proven useful over the years. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I probably should have added somewhere in there that these codes also work for some gas furnaces(Lennox, BDP, Rheem). OT - OF!!! M.

Around here they're nothing but nesting places for rodents. I had one that was so bad a couple of years ago that I wouldn't get within 10 ft. of the thing. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, The date on the drywall says that the home is less than 8 years old. I doubt if it's PB. I don't think there was anyone in the radiant heating field that was still using PB in 1998. Don't let the color fool you Tom, PEX comes in a lot of colors, including gray. Robert, I think it will heat the basement but if it is as you say, without any insulation beneath the slab, they'll probably end up using more energy than planned to do so. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sigh, I just knew that was coming. Again, courtesy of Home Tech. AMANA: For tonnage refer to FLA & RLA. For age use the serial number and the "B-L-A-C-K-H-O-R-S-E" code wherein S=1969, E=70, B=71, L=72. B = 71, 81, 91, 01 L = 72, 82, 92, 02 A = 73, 83, 93, 03 C = 74, 84, 94, 04 K = 75, 85, 95, 05 H = 76, 86, 96, 06 O = 77, 87, 97, 07 R = 78, 88, 98, 08 S = 79, 89, 99, 09 E = 80, 90, 00, 10 ------------------------------------------------------------- Bryant:From 1964 to 1979 use the first two numbers of the serial number followed by a date code 1964 = R 1965 = S 1966 = T 1967 = U 1968 = V 1969 = W 1970 = X 1971 = Y 1972 = A 1973 = B 1974 = C 1975 = D 1976 = E 1977 = F 1978 = G 1979 = D Example: 27Rxxxxxx = 27th week of 1964 After Bryant became Bryant, Day-Night, Payne the system changed. In the new systm the first and second digits of the serial number are the week and the last two are the year (Applies to all BDP). Example: 2799xxxxxx = 27th week of 1999. ----------------------------------------------------------- Carrier: Age is incorporated into the serial number. Through 1969, the first digit of the serial number indicates the year of manufacture. Example: 3xxxxxx = 1963, 4xxxxxx = 1964, etc. 1970 and later, a letter followed by a number indicates the month and year of manufacture. Example: A1 = January 1971, B1 = February 1971, C4 = March 1974 etc. A = Jan B = Feb C = Mar D = Apr E = May F = Jun G = Jul H = Aug J = Sep K = Oct L = Nov M = Dec ------------------------------------------------------- Climatrol: No known age code ------------------------------------------------------- Climate Master: Serial number indicates age from 1972 on ------------------------------------------------------- Chrysler Air Temp: Age is shown by the first digit of the serial number and correspons to the last number of the year of manufacturer. Example 0C893745 = 1970. 1 = 1971, 2 = 1972, etc. Use common sense and visual observation to distinguish decades from one another. -------------------------------------------------------- Day-Night: (Prior to BDP in 1979) Age coded into the serial number. First letter is the month followed by the second letter which is the year. A = 1970, B = 1971, Etc. Example: AAxxxxxx = January 1970, BExxxxxx = May 1971. ------------------------------------------------------- Fedders: Through 1977, the last two letters of the serial number show the month/year of manufacture, beginning with September 1964. Example: xxxxAA = Sept 66, xxxxBC = Oct 68.(I is not used) -------------------------------------------------------- General Electric: Age is the last 3 digits of the serial number. First digit being the year and the second and third digits being the month. Example xxxxx241 = 41st week of 1982, 92, 02 etc., xxxxx533 = 33rd week of 1985, 95, 05 etc.. -------------------------------------------------------- Lennox: Before 1974 the first 2 digits indicated the year and the next digit the month. Example: 732xxx = February 1973. After 1973, the first two digits indicate the plant, the 3rd and fourth indicate the year and the 5th is a letter month (I is not used). Therefore 5598C = March o 1998. ----------------------------------------------------------- Rheem/Ruud: The age is coded into the last four digits of the serial number by week and year. Therefore xxxx2302 = 23rd week of 2002. ------------------------------------------------------------ Tappan: Age is the last 3 characters (digits and letter) of the serial number for the year and month of manufacturer. Example: xxxxx85C = March 1985. (I not used) ------------------------------------------------------------- Trane: Begins in 1971. Age is a number followed by a letter in the serial number. Example: 1C-xxxx = March 1971, 81, 91, 01 (Use common sense to distinguish one decade from the next.) Beginning around 1982 the date of manufacturer is stamped on the ID plate. ------------------------------------------------------------- Whirlpool: Begins in 1970. The letter indicates the decade followed by the week. G = 1970's, H=1980's, J=1990's, K=2000's Example: H416XXXXX = 16th week of 1984. ------------------------------------------------------------- Hope this helps, but I can't guarantee that all will, because I've never worked with most of these brands. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Courtesy of Home-Tech BDP (Bryant, Daylight, Payne): Tonnage is in the model number Example; Model# 324AC0042000B0 Model is 42 is size in thousands of Btu's. 42,000 = 3.5 tons. Carrier: Tonnage is the last 3 to 5 digits of the model number. 001 = 1.5 T 002 = 2 T 003 = 2.5 T 004 = 3 T 004-5 = 3.5 T 005 = 4 T 006 = 5 T. Climatrol: Model number shows size Climate Master: Prior to '72 model number showed size, Example: V/H33 = 33,000 Btu/Hr Post '72 the first two digits of the model number are the size Example: 10x = 1 T, 15X = 1.5 T, 20x = 2 T, Etc. Chrysler Air Temp: Model number shows size. Example: 1206 - First two number show type of system - 12 = split system; Third number shows manufacturer's - 0 in this example; Fourth and fifth number show size - 6 = 5 tons (60,000 Btus) 0 = 1- 1.5 T. 1 not used 2 = 2T 3 = 2.5T 4 = 3T 5 = 4T 6 = 5T Day-Night: (Now BDP brand) - Until purchased by BDP the size was indicated by hundreds of Btu/H in the model number Fedders: Size is the last two digits of the model number = Btu/Hr; Example: CF30 = 30,000 Btu/Hr or 2.5T General Electric: Size is the last 3 digits of the model number = Btu/Hr; Example WO048 = 48,000 Btu/Hr or 4 T. Lennox: Size is in the model number. The model designation is followed by size in hundred of Btu/Hr; Example Mod. HSX-311 = 31,100 Btu/Hr = Approx 2.5T Rheem/Ruud: Size is the last two digits of the model number. Size in thousands of Btu/Hr; Example AT38 = 38,000 Btu/Hr = Approx 3T. Tappan: Size is the last two digits of the model number. Size in thousands of Btu/Hr; Example 0024 = 24,000 Btu/Hr = 2T Trane: Size is the first digit of the model number; Example 3XXX = 3T ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Save your photo as a jpeg file and then make sure that it is less than 100kb and that there are no spaces or symbols in the name and then re-post it. OT - OF!!! Mike

Hi Les, That's a valid point. Most gutters one sees require one to remove some screws to open them. Around here, when old fuse boxes are turned into gutters or junction boxes, the electricians typically drill a couple of holes and use self-tapping screws to keep the cover closed and curious homeowner fingers out. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, [2] The SE cable looks smaller that what’s required for 100 amp service. It looks like a #4 copper. I'd assumed, since he didn't say differently, that it was. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, I'm not an electrician and I'm pretty weak in electricity but I'll take a shot at it. (Hope DH doesn't send me an e-mail spanking me for a dumb statement here. [:-scared]) Is it permitted to have an previous existing service panel with wires installed and black tape around wires? It looks like the original service entrance cables from the meter are spliced, inside the old panelboard, to those which now feed that new panelboard. The splices are behind that mass of wire. I can't see any "black tape" so I'm guessing that you saw it and that what you saw is conductors spliced with split-bolt connectors and then heavily wrapped with tape, which seems to be pretty common in retrofits. However, it does look like the service grounding electrode conductor has been spliced with that wire nut, which I think is a no-no. Splices are permitted in gutters as long as the overall amount of wire does not exceed 40% of the gutterspace. Although that looks pretty full, I don't think it constitutes 40%. With 40% fill you'd be hard pressed to find any space in there. I think if you had about 1-1/2 times that amount of wire and splices in there you'd be able to say it was more than 40% full. Shouldn't the installation of the new panel be directly in place of the old Panel? Ideally, I suppose, but what they've done is, as far as I know, allowed. Does this make the Service panel that was installed a sub-panel by the way it is wired? No. The old panelboard enclosure is joined by metal to the meter with a myers hub and the new panelboard is joined to the old panelboard enclosure by metal by a myers hub, therefore the electrician has turned the old panelboard enclosure into "gutter" space. The new panelboard is where the main disconnect is now located and is the service entrance. If the (Newer)Service panel is considered to be a sub-panel then does anyone know off hand if NEC or IRC allows sub-panels(Service panel) to have sub-panels? Doesn't apply since this is not a sub-panel but is the actual service entrance. As for the question, anything panel after the main disconnect is a sub-panel and needs to be configured as such. Okay, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Randy, Check these out. I just found this. You might be able to find something useful there. http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/pac_ctnt_ih ... =5&vid=790 http://www.hgtvpro.com/hpro/pac_ctnt/te ... 37,00.html ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, You've just answered the question. The ducting in the crawl is not insulated. If you've got an AC system with ducts passing through the crawl, all of the ducting in the crawl needs to be insulated if you want to avoid condensation. Otherwise, that cool duct is going to cause the ambient moisture in the air to cool to dew point and condense on it the same way it will condense on cold uninsulated plumbing. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike