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ROFLMAO ! Good one Les. Is it true that you're old as dirt? You sure didn't look that old when we met at Inspection World. Was it petrification or putrification that helped you age so well? [] OT - OF!!! M.

Yes, It's an anchor, ergo its name - Super Anchor. The roofers attach their arrest gear to it when they're working on the roof and they leave them behind. Maybe "required" is too strong a word. Maybe I should have said common as white on rice on new houses around here. It's basically a big steel strap that's folded in half smf bent to fit over the top chord of the truss. There is a big hole punched in the end that projects above the roof, which you can't see because it's concealed behind the cover, then there's another hole and a bolt and ferrule through the other end. They install them on the top chord of a truss or over a rafter. The roof decking goes on and then when the roof is shingled the rubber boot is woven into the cover just like the vent bibs. That black cover you are seeing is a black vinyl cover that is anchored to it with a snap tie so it doesn't get lost. The cover should always be over the top of the rubber seal because the seal gets distorted and doesn't seal tight to the anchor. If there's no cover over the anchor, water running down the anchor drains through the boot to the rafter chord, soaks into the wood and over time it causes the top chord of the truss to rot. So, cover must be on or they might end up with a ruined rafter years down the road. I find the viny covers off and hanging upside down by the snap-tie filled with water all the time. They don't stay on very well at all. Here, this is what they look like: http://www.superanchor.com/home.php ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

From that angle it's hard to tell, but it kind of looks like a Grundfos circulator. It's got the right color too. If so, it's probably supplying water to a radiant heating panel someplace - wall of a bathroom or floor of a foyer - or to a fixture far off somewhere else in the house where they wanted to get hot water quickly. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, It's a SuperAnchor. They're required on new construction around here. Remove the vinyl cap and you've got a big strap with a hole in it there to hook your arrest gear to. Leave the cover off long enough and water gets past them and rots the trusses they're attached to. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, Hopefully, you all received a copy of this month's TIJ Update via email by now. Did you all notice that our sponsor, Devwave, now has a palm type computer version of their program Inspect Express, making it easier than ever before to do on-site data collection? Check it out at http://www.inspectexpress.com OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Scott, There have been cases in 37 states so far. Go here for more info: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hant ... oindex.htm OT - OF!!! M.

Carle3 If you took the cover off the furnace without turning the thermostat down and the heat off first, it will usually do just that as soon as you put the cover back on the air handler. Pulling the cover off the air handler with them still on and calling for heat screws up their little digital brain and then they act a little weird until they reset themselves. However, turn the stat down, let it cool itself and shut itself off and then kill power to it and take the cover off and they start up with a normal cycle of inducer, glow-wand or igniter, gas valve/ignition and finally the blower comes on. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hmmm, It looks like two of those link addresses have changed. I'll have to check them out and try and correct them later on today. Thanks for the heads up. ONE PEOPLE - ONE PLANET!!! Mike

It's very commonly done. There should be a layer of building paper behind it though. ONE PEOPLE - ONE PLANET!!! Mike

Hmmm, Like you, 99% of what I see is gas, forced-air furnaces. In fact, the boiler I looked at yesterday was #10 in just under 10 years. Can't remember ever seeing one where the blower came on immediately. Exhaust inducer, ignitor, etc., but never the blower. Suppose I could be mistaken and just didn't notice that the blower came on with some. I'm wrong a lot I fear and the wife never lets me forget it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! (or is it two?) Mike

Yep. OT-OF!!! M.

Hi All, Anyone done the math on this? If there are 25,000 inspectors in the U.S. which was the figure usually bandied about a few years ago, that means the average inspector grosses about $43,680 a year. If there are more - perhaps the 30,000 that I've heard estimated recently due to an influx of new burger flippers and such - then we're talking about an average annual gross of $36,400. No wonder most home inspection companies are one man shops and 80% of new guys fail. There's not a whole lot of corn meal to spread around. Comments? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, I call it tin-coated copper wiring. Real common here on houses up to the 60's. I suppose it might be nickel but I think the term tin-coated comes from the fact that one is coating or 'tinning' the wires with an exterior coating. I've never seen a corrosion problem with it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Mike, If you want to change the subject of the thread to aluminum wiring, please do so in a new thread so we can keep this on track. Oh yeah, you might want to do a search of TIJ's archives for "FPE" and "Aluminum wiring." This has all been hashed out here before. OT - OF!!! M.

What does it matter if it's 50% or 65%. Do you want to be in the position of knowing that a customer's home burnt down because you were interested in getting an "official" finding that doesn't exist? I've spoken with dozens of electricians about these things. Most of them agree that they are hazardous and none of them replied that they'd live in a home that had one. That's good enough for me. By the way, if you saw those arguments on the ASHI board, you probably saw my arguments that there had never been a recall and they weren't any worse than any other panel, because that was the position I used to take. I've changed my mind. There's just too much evidence out there that they are trouble. So much so, that if I were sued tomorrow I'm sure that a lawyer could haul in an army of electricians and inspectors to prove that I'd ignored warnings from other experts in my field. I'm not willing to lose my home because I was afraid to make a strong call on an FPE panel. It just isn't worth it. If you don't want to call them. Fine, don't call them, but if you ever end up on the tail end of a lawsuit remember that it was you who put yourself there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

by Matt Michel We start practicing the art of persuasion before we can utter a single word. Infants can be very persuasive. Persuasion can be used to convince someone to buy goods and services. It can also be used to convince someone change behaviors, to adopt a belief system, and so on. Persuasion can be used for good or ill, depending on the morality of persuader. Following are 15 persuasion techniques. Practice them for good and beware of their ill-use on you. 1. Seek Another’s Perspective When I was persuading Janet to join the Service Roundtable, she mentioned she was tired of her commute. The Service Roundtable World Headquarters was about the same distance, but we telecommute three days a week. This became a major factor in her decision. People act for their reasons, not yours. Try to get inside the buyer’s head. Try to understand how he sees the world and what motivates him. Implicit in understanding is listening. Ask questions and listen. LISTEN! People will tell you what motivates them. 2. Find Points of Agreement If you are selling air conditioners and a homeowner makes a comment about the price of electricity, you should jump on it. Say, “Boy, I agree. Electric rates are out of sight.â€

All homes need ventilation — the exchange of indoor air with outdoor air—to reduce indoor moisture, odors, and other pollutants. Contaminants such as formaldehyde, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and radon that may cause health problems can accumulate in poorly ventilated homes. Inadequate ventilation allows unpleasant odors to linger. Excess moisture generated within the home needs to be removed before high humidity levels lead to physical damage to the home or mold growth. VENTILATION STRATEGIES To ensure adequate ventilation, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. (ASHRAE) says that the living area of a home should be ventilated at a rate of 0.35 air changes per hour or 15 cubic feet per minute (cfm) per person, whichever is greater. Natural ventilation — uncontrolled air movement into a building through cracks and small holes (infiltration) and through vents such as windows and doors—is the traditional method of allowing fresh outdoor air to replace indoor air. Nowadays, because of central heating and cooling, as well as the desire for privacy, people tend to make little use of windows for ventilation, so infiltration has become the principal mode of natural ventilation in homes. Unfortunately, a home’s natural infiltration rate is unpredictable and uncontrollable because it depends on the home’s airtightness, outdoor temperatures, wind, and other factors. During mild weather, some homes may lack sufficient ventilation for pollutant removal. Tightly built homes may have insufficient ventilation at most times. Homes with high infiltration rates may experience high energy costs. Also, infiltration may allow contaminated air to enter from a polluted area such as a garage or crawlspace, or may not ventilate the house uniformly. Whole-house ventilation — use of one or more fans and duct systems to exhaust stale air and/or supply fresh air to the house—can better control the exchange of indoor air with outdoor air. Energy experts often quote the axiom, “seal tight, ventilate rightâ€

Hi Erby, I see a ton of these every month and normally pass them by. The thing about this one, and the point of the post, is that this fellow is laying out, for all to see in his local press, what inspectors have been braying loudly about for years within home inspector circles but never really come right out and say to the public. The article is a shot at boosting his business. He'll get it published once and might be able to get one or two similar in the future, but it's not likely that publishers are going to give him a free bully pulpit forever, so it will have limited affect unless he follows it up with big expensive advertisting that conveys the same message and repeats it day after day, week after week, until he's made those in his local market believe it and remember it. Will anyone remember the article or its message two weeks later? Will his business pick up or go into the toilet? Will business pick up or go into the toilet for other inspectors in his area? Could this kind of thing change the whole dynamic in his area or are things likely to stay the same? What's the likelihood that listing agents are likely to tell sellers to adopt a "take it or leave it" attitude with any buyers that use him when word gets around? Are sellling agents then likely to tell their clients, "Use the guy if you want to but don't blame me if the seller absolutely refuses to negotiate a thing after the inspection?" Is it likely that real estate folks in his area will make a concerted and coordinated effort, by word of mouth, to drive his business into the toilet? Lots of questions and lots of possibilities here. When we broach this subject, folks always begin expounding on how much integrity they have and how nothing affects the way they inspect or report, yadda, yadda, yadda, but it goes beyond that. If the dynamic of how we are perceived and utilized by consumers is to change, what will be the short and long-term affects on the profession? It's worthy of discussion. What say you all? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

There's more info here. http://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/Resourc ... houses.pdf It's not just parking. There's no power. What about water and what do you do with waste? In the old days they dumped it into the ocean and there were outhouses on the rampart that emptied directly into the bay. Do that now and you'd get arrested. Those are tricky. There were 4 similar ones sold last year in Chesapeake Bay. Not sure what they went for but I'm sure the GSA knows. Here's more info: http://home.hamptonroads.com/stories/st ... &ran=17003 OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, Thought some of the brethren could appreciate these: http://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/Propert ... rtyID=1468 http://propertydisposal.gsa.gov/Propert ... rtyID=1467

Close, it was Gloeocapsa Magma. Here's a link to an article where a fellow maintains that the bleach-based solutions are not good and he suggests some alternatives: http://www.naturalhandyman.com/iip/infxtra/infroo.shtm OT - OF!!! M.

Has anyone looked at or listened to any of the news clips that I've linked to the two posts above yet? If not, you really should. There's some very interesting dialog there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jim, I usually go in and grab a bottle of either high concentrate swimming pool chlorine or a bottom of deck wash. Never really paid much attention to concentration. I did notice that common household bleach seems to have a short term affect - as if it didn't knock back all of the spore that is the algae but the stronger stuff lasted longer. Folks don't think that algae eats a roof but it does literally eat the limestone used in fiberglass shingles to give them weight. I forget, didn't I post something about the variety of algae that does this not too long ago? OT - OF!!! M.

Sourcewire - March 3- Buying a house is said to be one of life’s most stressful experiences. Buying a property in Spain that is a 2 -3 hour flight away can only add to the stress, but when Roy Howitt bought a Spanish property it created a business providing professional home inspections (snagging services*), for new build properties, to avoid the dream of owning a Spanish home turning into a nightmare. The service was originally launched in The Costa Blanca, to provide an inspections (snagging reports) for property investors and due to demand is now available to private buyers and has expended to cover The Costa Calida, Costa Almeria and Andalucia areas. The company was formed by Roy Howitt after his experience of buying a new apartment in the Costs Blanca, on an urbanisation of 193 properties, and when he discovered some major defects, could not find a company that could provide a snagging inspection, or advice and discovered that some Estate Agents really do not provide any after care. Buying a property is exciting and you arrive expecting to be able to move into your new dream home. The agent will normally request that you inspect on a one day and complete at the Notary the same or the next day which allows no time to get the builder to repair any defects. Emotionally you want to get moved, you may need to get rental income, you possibly have organised furniture delivery and installation of an alarm so often complete regardless of how many defects the property has or even if the pool isn’t finished, or the property isn’t quite finished. Roy’s own experiences demonstrates what can go wrong. "We arrived on site to snag the property, and were horrified to find the pool not completed, no paths or access, and no water & electricity connected to the property, a 3 bed roomed apartment. We had been assured that everything was finished, and that we would be able to move straight in. With no lighting and a bathroom and kitchen without windows it was difficult to check. I arrived without any tools, torches etc. but I found 36 defects - mostly tiling and decoration, and stupidly completed. The following day, when I was given unlimited access and the electricity and water was on, I could see lots more problems and luckily, via a local builder, found a contact with home inspection experience, who snagged the property properly and found 117 defects including, water outlets not connected; loose window and door frames; 8 sockets and switches not working; no vent in the bathroom; and a large solarium area that needed relaying because the tiles were loose and lifting. 20-20 hindsight is a great thing but I definitely would not have completed on the property with these problems, and now knowing how long it can take to get defects fixed, I would not have completed on the property if I had been able to get the information from a professional home inspection." Roy felt that the developers took advantage of buyers’ ignorance of the process and their legal rights on standards, and took little responsibility for spotting any defects themselves. "Plus the language barrier didn’t help when I was asked to sign off on a snagging list in Spanish," So InspectaHomeSpain was launched to provide homeowners with the expertise of an industry professional and to take the stress out of what is already a highly traumatic process. The news of the service spread and they checked 56 properties on the same urbanisation and identified more than 7000 individual defects. InspectaHomeSpain provides new home inspections in The Costa Blanca, Costa Caliida, Costa Almeria and Andalucia areas and has a team of freelance snagging inspectors from backgrounds including site management, surveying, architecture and civil engineering and provides help and advice to buyers via e-mail telephone and their website, www.inspectahomespain.com which includes a guide to DIY snagging, help and advice plus examples of the most common defects found in Spain. Reports are provided in English & Spanish within 72 hours of the inspection, and prices start from €150 - less than the cost of a typical airline ticket For more information and advice see www.inspectahomespain.com or call (34) 965 31 97 43 *Editor's note: A "snag" is the British slang term for a new construction defect. "Snagging" is the British slang term used for new construction inspections.

Good News - 2005 was the first year that we can be certain national Home Inspection revenue exceeded One-Billion Dollars!!! Good Job Guys! The total number of detached single family residences sold last year was 6.18 million. Add to that condominium, and other types of cooperative housing sales of about 900,000, and the number of residential real estate sales slammed past 7 million.** I realize that 80 to 90% of resale homes sold have a home inspection, in some markets. But on a national level, factoring in rural markets and the fact that condo sales generate only about one home inspection in five sales, the actual number of homes sold with a home inspection performed is about 60%.* To arrive at an average fee, I used the following data*: On the low side, 1. In Las Vegas, Nevada, the average fee is around $220.00. 2. In the state of Texas, the fees average about $260.00. 3. In Oklahoma, the average fee is about $250.00. On the high side,4. In the Bay Area of California, the average home inspection fee is $480.00. 5. In the Virginia and Washington D.C. area the average fee is around $420.00. 6. In Seattle, the average fee is about $385.00. Therefore, using simple math, (Not statistical calculations), the average fee used to arrive at the One-Billion Dollar estimate is a Home Inspection fee of $260.00. I realize the math is conservative, but I wanted to be prudent and sure any numbers we brag about are certain to be true. So, 7 million homes sold x .60 = 4.2 million home inspections last year x $260.00 each = $1,092,000,000.00 in home inspection fees earned last year. Think about it, that’s several hundred thousand dollars of fees in each market every month. What’s your marketing plan to be sure local agents know about your professional service? Let’s open a dialogue..... * This is an educated guess. There is no unbiased data collected on a national basis. ** Based upon phone surveys and statistics of the National Association of Realtors®. Dr. William P. (Bill) Ball, the Professor of Home Inspecting, is a real estate consultant, author and publisher of books and newsletters. Phone: 800-347-2455 Email: HomeInspector1@cox.net Website: www.BillBallOnline.com Inspector’s Field Notes - This article is drawn from a newsletter for Home Inspectors published quarterly by Positive Press. For Advertising rates or Subscription,($32,00/year), Email: HomeInspector1@cox.net or phone 800/347-2455. Permission to reproduce will be readily granted, just contact me by the Email or phone. TIJ is grateful to Mr. Ball for sharing this article with the TIJ community.