hausdok

Hmph, Thought I'd responded a second time to this in the morning. Guess not. I'd noticed it was on a power-vented water heater the first time I saw it but by the time I'd responded to the thread I'd forgotten and was tracking wrong. Still, it looks like ABS plastic. I thought I read someplace that ABS is good up to temperatures of about 450°F. OT - OF!!! M.

That's a fire hazard. The CPSC has been trying to make people understand since 1997 that using corrugated ducts for dryers is foolhardy. They did a survey of fires from 1994 to 1997 and discovered that there were over 17,000 house fires in the U.S. that had been started by lint buildup in corrugated plastic or aluminum dryer ducts. I used to have a copy of their 1997 consumer product safety alert which explained this really well. Probably still do, but can't find it. It's in one of these stacks of documents I'm sure, but it'd take a day of searching to locate it (Need more space and more filing cabinets.). I tried to find it on their site but the closest thing to it I could find was this, which isn't as strong as the original document. In the original, they condemned the use of any corrugated ducting material and recommended using a square box vent at the back of the dryer combined with smooth-walled metal pipe. That doc is gone now and this is the closest thing to it I can find and now it says "rigid or corrugated semi-rigid metal duct." I'm wondering if they withdrew the original because dryer manufacturers began ballyhooing? Bottom line, it should be smooth-walled metal from the dryer to terminus with no screws at joints (They can be sealed by taping them with high-temperature resistant foil tape). ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I'm kind if in Brian's corner. I've gone down to the local hardware store, looked at the labels of panels and then pulled out the approved breakers made by the various manufacturers that had the same model/type number. I couldn't really see much difference between them and they were UL rated breakers and would fit fine in the other manufacturer's boxes and were, according to the label, approved for use. To me, one brand of HOM (I think that was the type) breaker looks like any other manufacturer's HOM breaker. I just don't know what possible benefit a manufacturer would gain by insisting that someone use their own product if other products are built to the same specs and are specifically designed for use in that panel. I mean, it's like the manufacturer of a lamp insisting that you purchase only their brand of light bulb when any light bulb will fit. You know it's got to be that they just want to sell breakers. It's my understanding that as long as the connection between a breaker and a bus bar is correct and clean that the 'reliability' of the panel lies with the breaker because it is the only mechanical device in the panel. Has anyone ever heard of a bad thing that happened from using a breaker designed for use in certain panel that wasn't made by the manufacturer of the panel? Isn't it possible that a breaker made by another manufacturer today might be better than the original? As an example, the Connecticutt Electric breakers for the FPE panels come to mind. Hell, if someone's going to be contrary enough to keep one of the damn FPE panels in their house, I should think that the new C.E. breakers would be superior to the FPE product. Connecticut Electric UBI FPE Replacement Breakers Or that new CE breakers would be superior to the original Zinsco or Pushmatic breakers. Connecticut Electric UBI Zinsco Replacement Breakers Connecticut Electric UBI Pushmatic Replacement Breakers Then again, it might just be my crotchety side acting up. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Uh John? Picture?

Hi All, This has absolutely nothing to do with home inspections but I thought you folks might enjoy these pics. They were e-mailed to me by my dear Aunt Teresa, who recently got a computer for her birthday and has been having the time of her life exploring the internet from her nursing home. Leave it to the Germans to come up with something that is as equally amazing as it is "out there." Enjoy! Download Attachment: GermanTruckIllusion1.jpg 54.05 KB Download Attachment: GermanTruckIllusion2.jpg 43.79 KB Download Attachment: GermanTruckIllusion3.jpg 59.27 KB The caption on this truck reads, "Going the wrong way? or perhaps metephorically "Is yours the correct path?" Download Attachment: GermanTruckIllusion4.jpg 52.65 KB Download Attachment: GermanTruckIllusion5.jpg 50.95 KB Download Attachment: GermanTruckIllusion6.jpg 53.49 KB Download Attachment: GermanTruckIllusion7.jpg 43.5 KB

Hi Jim, Always like to hear your sage advice. I agree, it's a bone-headed thing to do and I agree that there is an expectation that home inspectors should go above and beyond the playbook. I agree with that expectation and I go beyond it every single day. However, boneheaded or not, this isn't something that I'd personally go to battle over. I'd simply tell the client that I thought it was a dumb installation, make him/her understand that with that vent there he/she can never close the porch in for wintertime use and then I'd move on. Here's the bottom line with me as regards these things. Screens pass air and screened porches are, well, porches. They're outside. Unless they're putting up windows and closing the porch in, the vent is still "outside" and is being diluted more than the family gas range that's boiling the water in mom's kitchen. Whether it's under a roof or not, smoker or not, I think you could stand next to one of these all day long outside or on a screened porch or deck and still not accumulate enough CO in your system to do you any harm. Lastly, I'm not taking cheap shots at Mark or saying that he's a kook. I'm just imagining how writing something like this could be perceived and whether one would be doing his/her client any good by writing it or would end up making the client look like he/she's being unreasonable and "out there" by demanding correction. I'm perfectly happy to write up stuff which seems stupid and knit picky, and be perceived as a kook or be accused of trying to justify my existence, when I have some solid argument against the thing that I've branded as being a deficiency, but I'm not willing to get pulled into an imbroglio over stuff where I don't have that solid argument and my only justification is to say that it's a dumb thing to do. Then again, maybe that's just me being me. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Wrong orifice? OT - OF!!! M.

As long as the vertical distance to the ceiling/roof of the porch is in compliance with the manufacturer's clearance requirements for the outlet, and the distances from windows and doors is in compliance with applicable codes - absolutely nothing. One would think that common sense should prevail but what's common sense to one fellow is idiotic to another. That's why there are published rules. One can argue that someone is more liable to be burned by the outlet or someone is more liable to place a flammable object next to it, thereby increasing risk of fire, when it's inside a screened porch. But, since these things are usually within reach of anyone, including kids, and since people will store property next to them regardless of whether they are inside or outside, that's not a very strong argument. You'll lose the argument on the basis of possible CO poisoning if it's a screened porch. After all, when it's cold enough for the fireplace to be used, there's nobody out there on the porch anyway and the amount of air dilution eliminates the threat anyway. The only time that argument will hold is if it's turned into a 3-season porch and the owner closes it off in wintertime with window panels. Naturally you're concerned about safety - that's one of the things we do - but some issues, like this one, can be over-thought and will make it look like you're grasping at straws to make a case about something in order to inflate your own importance. You want to be perceived as a building systems expert - not as a kook or a Chicken Little who makes calls based on folklore, poor information or illogical thinking. Be careful how you pick your battles. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Betcha there's a blocked flue there! OT - OF!!! M.

When I have stuff like that I say, "It's working now. That's all I can tell you. It's beyond the end of it's expected service life so it could fail at any time. I'll guarantee it for as long as it takes me to get in my car and reach the end of the driveway. After that, don't be surprised if it fails before I get home. If it does, don't call me, call a scrap iron dealer." Drives the 'zoids nuts! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! M.

I just checked the status of these today. The auction is apparently still open on the lighthouses. The bid on the Sandy Shoales Lighthouse is up to $35,000 The bid on the Baltimore Harbor Lighthouse is up to $50,000 The bid on the Reserve center in Indiana has been frozen at $125,000. I think that one is closed but hasn't been updated. Not bad. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Bill, The memory of how I did that is fuzzy. I suspect you'd already had a photo used in that category and I simply edited the post by pasting in Jim's stuff when I updated the home page photo. If it's buggin' you, I'll be happy to delete it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Possible uses: 1. Stand up bidet [:-bigeyes 2. Pre-treatment of spots on laundry before tossing the clothes into the washing machine. [:-graduat 3. Industrial-strength eye-wash [:-scared] OT - OF!!! M.

Yep, It's clearly printed there on the label - Maximum wire size No. 1 AWG so the cable has to go too. OT - OF!!! M.

Assuming that's 2/0 copper cable and not 2/0 aluminum, and you've carefully studied the label and are correct, the panel is not being used according to it's listing and labeling: You can either: a. Have the main breaker replaced with a 100 amp breaker (if that's possible with 2/0 cable) or b. Have the panel upgraded to a 200 amp panel. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, there is step flashing present under that counter flashing. You can see it at every other shingle peeking through the tab slot. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It's asbestos board. See it used for foundation skirting a lot on post on pier around here. Someone must have thought it would make great siding, which it does, except for that slight, uh, er, asbestos problem, that is. It costs about $35. to get the stuff sampled around here with a 2-day turnaround. I usually tell the client that I'll be happy to take a chip and drop it off at a lab and forward the results to them by email for $100. or they can drop a chip off at a local lab and get it done without the middleman for about $35. Most choose to do it without the middleman. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's weird, I've never heard that one before about Allen. When did they start that? OT - OF!!! M.

Never heard of 'em. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, That's a little hard to make out. Are those weeds growing up in the center of that thing? OT - OF!!! M.

Hmmm, That amount of moss probably wouldn't qualify as an appetizer here in the Northwest. I've had roofs that were literally carpeted with that stuff from eave to ridge. OT - OF!!! M.

My handwriting is so bad that I can read it for about a day after an inspection. After that, even I can't figure out what it says. Saving it to a gizmo like that probably wouldn't help me but there're probably lots of folks who could use one. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, You could write to these guys and see what they're using: http://www.tijonline.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2881 OT - OF!!! M.

Let me correct my earlier post, Early central "radiant" heating system. The fire Burns and hot gases pass into the brick foundation through a maze of galleries and rise up through the chimney and out the roof. The thing you thought of as a cistern radiates heat up through the house. The romans had 'em, the Koreans still do, my first hooch in Korea was heated that way. You definitely have to keep a window cracked or you're liable to croak from CO that seeps up through the bricks below. OT - OF!!! M.

Hmmm, Who woulda thunk it? Those things are lethal! I remember seeing years ago the air rifles used by pioneer game hunters in this country but I didn't think anyone made anything with that kind of power anymore. When I think of pellet guns I think of Crossman or Daisy and the B-B gun battles we had as a kid and Russ Sharpin's Crossman pellet pistol that would leave a welt on you the size of a fist. They have problems with flickers around here. I hear that hanging tinsel off the eaves will keep them from coming near the house but who the hell wants christmas tree tinsel hanging off of their house year round? Have you tried one of those plastic owls you can get at a gun shop? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike