hausdok

Hi, Sounds like you've got some poor drainage or expansive soils going on around that foundation. It's winter there right now and the ground is frozen and expanding next to the foundation. The basement walls might have been bowing inward and perhaps he prescribed wall bracing for the basement without having the cause fixed outside. If so, and he's not an engineer, he's got his head firmly hidden inside his backside and needs to go back to flipping burgers. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, I don't think it was necessarily a silly question but your first post does sort of force us to assume that you didn't physically look at those burners because you said that "it appears that only three of the burners were working," even though your IR photo clearly shows that only three were at the time that the photo was taken. Appears is a word that makes you look unsure of your findings. In this business there isn't a whole lot of room for unsure. You either know, or you don't know. If you are unsure then you don't know and need to say that. If it's referred because you know it's wrong, and someone calls you griping, it doesn't matter what some other trade says, you need to stand on your finding. If it's referred because you were unsure and someone calls you up griping because in that person's opinion you needlessly caused them a hassle - just tell them that it's the nature of the beast, go on with your life and don't sweat it. I think Jim's comment was as much a question as it was a statement. Did you actually put eyes on those burners or did you rely on an IR image taken through the housing? You still haven't come right out and said that you did although you imply that you did. If you did and airflow to the burners was unimpeded and the burner orifices were clear of debris, then the tech has to be wrong, unless something was causing that heater not to fire correctly while you were there and that's all you have to say to the seller. Did you wait for it to heat up to full operating temperature? I don't know a whole lot about pool heaters - I've seen a whole 6 pools in 10 years here - but I've seen some gas furnaces where not all burners kicked in until the stack heated up and began drawing well. It usually takes up to about 20 seconds. Although I'd love to have one of those cameras - especially for E.I.F.S. and stucco inspections - if I had one, I'd only use it for examining those areas where I wish I had x-ray vision and wouldn't break it out of my bag for anything less. Even then, it would cost the client a whole lot extra to get me to do that. Don't forget that there are certain basic skills and precedures one needs to know and use in this business without relying on gizmos. after all, doctors love MRI machines but they all still have to learn to diagonose illnesses without them. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, We'll have to disagree there. Sure, I see them used as planters all the time but the majority of the ones that I've seen are still in use. True, they just rob heat from a home but people still like 'em and still use 'em -most of the time in my experience, that is. Now, where the hell is that portal? Over there in the Saint whatever place or under Plywood Supply? Oh, I know. It's gotta be over there in Stupid Prices because that guy's definitely from another dimension if he thinks any of that stuff is bargain priced. OT - OF!!! M.

Huh? Nobody uses them? You and I must be on different planets. I see some type of gas or wood burning fireplace or stove in about 75 - 80% of the homes that I do and I'd say at least 75% of them are in use. I went back to edit that post that you've quoted and deleted it by accident (Haven't had my second cuppa yet.)so I posted something different. Where's that dimensional portal. I want to get over to that side? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, You're wrong. The SEC can come in top bottom or sides. Some panels can be mounted either up and down or on their sides. What determines whether it's rightside up or not depends on the labeling. Unless the labeling says that it must be installed the other way, I wouldn't write it up. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, If there's a flue that large with a damper it was designed for wood and is probably okay for gas. There are a lot of them here designed specifically for either. These have a little depression at the bottom back corner where a knockout is removed to run the gas pipe in for a log lighter or gas log set. Outwardly they look nearly identical to a gas fireplace but they're designed to be used either way. The bottom panel on those usually doesn't open and is fixed. It's a zero-cleance fireplace - not a pre-fab. Pre-fabricated fireplaces are entirely different animals cast in a factory off-site, brought in by truck and then lifted into place with a crane. The Seattle Home Show opened yesterday. Take a trip down there today if you've got time and talk to a couple dozen installers. I always learn so much down there that I think the organizations should give MRC or CEU credit for attendance. Personally, I wouldn't be concerned about a home burning down because of a ventless log set placed in a zero-clearance fireplace. The refractory walls in these are designed to withstand a lot of heat. I bet 99% of the folks who buy those press-logs at grocery stores never bother to read the instructions that tell them not to burn more than one at a time. I've found zero-clearance fireplaces with the fireboxes so badly warped from heat that they were pretty danged ugly to look at, yet they've held up. If they can sustain that kind of heat and stay together without burning down a house, I doubt that a little catalytic logset is going to do it. I'd be more concerned with the moisture and particulate matter that will be generated by the device and end up causing all sorts of ghosting and moisture-induced conditions in the home. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Go to "Resources" at the menu bar at the top of your screen to produce a drop-down menu. From that, choose "downloads" and then scroll down the list to the installation standards and other docs pertaining specifically to manufactured housing. OT - OF!!! M.

Yep, Felt up a whole lot of sills around here. Still didn't find any bolts though. Randy, it was up near Marysville/Tulalip or thereabouts. I didn't feel it either but folks up that way sure did. It was all over the evening news. It's amazing the number of quakes we do experience here that we don't know about. I once went to that website where UW records all of the local quakes, just to check on the date of one which I did feel, and found that there'd been about half a dozen over a two month period that I hadn't even been aware of. I guess the only ones that make the news are the ones which knock people about and such. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I don't know when it became commonplace. My guess, since I remember seeing my Dad putting them in as far back as the 50's and since I don't usually see them in pre-WWII stock, is around the mid 1940's. I educate clients about the fact that older homes in this region very rarely have foundation bolts. Since I'm in an active seismic zone (we had one last week) I generally recommend that from a common sense standpoint it's prudent to at least have seismic bracing added and point out that without it they probably won't be able to get earthquake coverage here. They can draw their own conclusions from there. When they want to know how effective seismic bracing will be, I flat out tell them that I don't really know. It's going to depend on so many variables that I couldn't possibly predict, and on just how far they go to brace the home. Some folks add just foundation bolts, others strap the floor platform down to the foundation, strap the upper floors to lower and add plywood sheathing over all of the basement cripple walls to stiffen things up. Others don't do anything and the house has stood up fine to earthquakes for up to a century, so there's no predicting it. It's my belief that nothing - not even tons of seismic bracing and least of all foundation bolts - is really going to do a whole lot of good when "The Big One," that seismologists on the west coast have been expecting for nearly a century, finally hits. Anyway, you weren't asking about seismic bracing, so I apologize for the ramble. I think adding foundation bolts after the fact in an older home is one of those things you can recommend but can be perceived as a buckethead recommendation - especially if the home is a nearly 100-year old bungalow that is as straight, square and tight as the day it was built and it has never budged an inch. I suppose it does make sense in flood zones though - ala Katrina's floating homes - but otherwise making such a recommendation might make it look like you are stretching to find something to write up. I say write them up if there is damage or shifting caused by their absence, or the home is in a flood zone, and recommend them simply as a common sense measure otherwise. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

My Subaru Baja. It's the second one I've owned. The first was OK, but I have a heavy foot. When I had a chance to get the turbo with zero out of pocket and the same payment after owning the first one for two years, I jumped on it. The turbo's a kick. It'll easily out-accelerate and out-handle the Toyota Supra that I used to have. Now I can park anywhere (even in those low-ceilinged inner-city parking garages), slip in and out of traffic easily, and go in style. Love the hell out of it. OT - OF!!! M.

Here's what Douglas Hansen has to say about Ufer systems. From Electrical Inspection of Existing Dwellings - 2001 Edition: OT - OF!!! M.

It looks to me like that T & P in the foreground goes straight back makes a dogleg and then passes by where the other connects to the same discharge line. The T & P (if it is a T & P and not a Watts 210) is supposed to be installed in the top six inches of the tank. Memory is fuzzy, but I seem to recall that if they both discharge through one line that it must be at least twice as large and that if it's a 3/4" line below that second valve it's a no-go. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Well, I think that unless specifically prohibited, the "line" is drawn where each individual inspector feels comfortable drawing it. No more no less. The initiator of the thread voiced his opinion. You disagreed with it and some others agree and disagree with you. There's no foul there. That's the way of it. I think you took Kurt's comment about 'functioning moron' way too personally and out of context. Read Kurt's comment again. He says, "I object to the role of "home inspector as functional moron" that the realtor-zoids try to rope us into." He wasn't naming you or anyone else specifically is one and, unless you are one of the folks who allows themselves to be led around with a nose ring by realtor-zoids, there's no reason to infer that he did. As for making recommendations that the client should verify something, I don't think anyone is saying not to do that either. If I look at documents that a client has on-site I always tell them to make sure they are careful to also have someone else who's smarter than me look at them as well and to ensure they do their due diligence. I don't consider myself the sharpest tack in the bulletin board by a long shot, so I'm not shy about covering my butt with a redundant recommendation (It's an Army thing.). A few recommendations I make with regularity, even when there's no basis for them, is to recommend that clients check with the municipality to ensure that a permit for an oil tank install or decommissioning was never issued for properties over 40 years old where there's no overt indication that there's ever been a tank; to get the sewer line between the house and the street scoped on all pre-1970 homes and to check whether their home is in an active slide or flood zone. These are recommendations that put me in my comfort zone and I'm sure there are probably some that you or someone else makes that I would feel are uncalled for but they are what put you in yours. If the realtor doesn't like it, too bad, I'm the one inspecting the home, not them, and I'm the one carrying the liability. It's just a discussion board. Nobody is condemning anyone else here for doing things their own way - just commenting about differences in their approaches. After all, if everyone did everything exactly the same way without deviation for the same reasons, there wouldn't be any need for places like TIJ, would there? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sure, The Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW) here in my state is the most powerful lobby in Olympia and contributes more money than any other faction to the coffers of politicians they like and will spend more than any others to fight legislation that they don't. We (home inspectors) are pretty darned insignificant to legislators with our paltry numbers and lack of capital to get their attention. About the only time a politician gives a hoot about poor construction or home inspections is when one of his friends or relatives is affected by a lousily built home or gets a lousy home inspection. Then they start baying like a pack of blueticks. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, that has to start with your state's lawmakers. They've got to make it a crime to perform negligent inspections or to hire under qualified so-called inspectors and then they have to put in place strict rules and punishments for malfeasance. They won't do it until enough consumers begin squawking louder then the building industry lobbyists who right now wish that inspectors needed to use white canes to get around. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Yeah, I always tell them to spread the word to everyone in the complex that they're supposed to all have access to the panel array and everything is supposed to be labeled. The only one's who seem to freak out over it though are the little old biddies that they normally choose to make the condo association president. They're usually on a power trip and don't want to give up that little bit of control. OT - OF!!! M.

To edit your post, just use the 'edit' icon in the top of the post that you want to change or add photos to. When the work box comes up, click on the paper clip icon below the work box next to the words 'upload a linked file' and follow the instructions from there. Make sure that the pictures that you want to post are less than 100KB. If not, resize them first. If you don't have a resizing tool, go to the windows powertoys site and download the resizing tool (it's free). When you upload pictures make sure that there are no symbols or gaps in the file name. For instance the file name "Bad Foundation (Brown House)" won't work. You need to have something like BadFoundationBrownHouse or Bad_Foundation_Brown_House without the parenthesis. Also make sure that the photo is in one of the approved formats for file uploads .jpg, .gif, .bmp. That's it. If I can do it, anyone can 'cuz I'm the supreme ultimate computer moron. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, I've revised the code chart to make it a little easier to understand and in the next day or two will be replacing the one linked above with the new chart and that one will show the grid lines better. In the meantime, I've had such a good response to this one that I've decided to try and do something similar for heating systems and I'm looking for help from everyone. What I need is pictures of serial number plates for various manufacturers along with an explanation, if you have one, of how they are coded. If you don't have photos but can write out the code like I did on the chart, say ****A95**** or something similar I'd appreciate it. If you're willing to help, send whatever you've got to hausdok@msn.com and I'll see if I can create a similar chart for HVAC systems. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Is it possible it's pole building construction with a concrete stem wall placed around the perimeter under the main floor to enclose it and keep out critters? If so, it would make sense that there really wasn't any load on the foundation because with those everything bears on the poles and on the beams bolted to those. It's a pretty popular method for seaside site because you aren't relying on the stem walls for support. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, If they've got the documents when I'm on-site I'll look at them. Otherwise, they'll have to do their own homework. I don't just do paint to paint. If I have access to the roof I go up on the roof. I also go through every public area in the building, utility room and electro/mechanical rooms, if I can get into them. If I see a bad roof, I'll randomly pick another building and check that roof too. If I find a rotting exterior deck, balcony or carport, I walk the entire complex and get a count of how many others look like they're rotting. If I find improperly installed siding, windows or doors on the customer's building and issues being caused by that, I'll look at a few more buildings to see if the issue is repeated elsewhere. If I find drainage and landscaping issues with the building in question, I'll walk the complex and see if they are indemic throughout. If I find a crawlspace with vapor barriers not installed properly, debris everywhere, water, etc, etc, I try to get into one or two others to see if the problem is repeated. Sure, I'm inspecting that condo, but the client might be buying into a whole passle of other issues. If I can give them the information that makes them aware of that, I do. I charge the same for a condo that I do for a full home. I've got one price for everything up to 1500 square feet and it goes up after that, so they're paying for it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, To answer Terence's question, I call it when I don't see flashings and weeps in full-face veneer in newer housing stock. I don't call it for the little bits of wainscot-high veneer applied to the front of a garage where there's a gap at either side for moisture to drain out of and I don't call it on older buildings where it obviously hasn't been a problem. Around here, the through-wall flashings are typically just the lowest layer of building felt placed under the bottom course - not steel or brick - and every once in a while I'll find a home where the weeps have become plugged and it's obvious that the felt has disintegrated because the moisture will be overflowing into the interior of the wall. I've found some where they built the house with a reverse step on the foundation ledge, placing the brick higher than the sills so that when this happened the water ran onto the sills and caused them to rot. Most of the time though, despite the volume of rain we get here in the rainy season, they're holding up well. This past week I had a large Federal style colonial built in 1929 where the entire exterior was original and done with veneer brick. There wasn't a weep hole or through-wall flashing seen anywhere - just steel lintels. No indication of moisture issues in any of the interior walls or basement to indicate it's ever been an issue. Go figure. I didn't even go into the through-wall flashing thing with the client. He's a flipper. Buys houses, fixes them up and flips them for a profit. He knows all about weeps because I'd educated him on a previous building. Pointing out the lack of weeps in this home wouldn't have made any sense because there's no way anyone on either side of the transaction would have been convinced after 77 years that they were necessary. Hell, in this case I couldn't even convince myself that they should have been there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I Agree, The standards are there and most muni guys are allegedly 'certified' to whatever standard the city they work for demands, but they just don't enforce the codes for whatever reason. Some because they're incompetent, some because the guys whose work they'll have to criticize and put a halt to are their drinking buddies, some because they're crooked and paid to look the other way, many because they're overwhelmed with too much work and their municipality won't spring for overtime and/or more inspectors. I think one could find a whole litany of additional reasons. I think it should be mandatory for every building contractor to have to complete a code certification course before obtaining his/her license, because sometimes it looks like most of the boners they make are caused by simple ignorance of the rules. The codes are a basic road map to how something should be built, wired and plumbed. If builders had to learn those codes in an official setting before they were allowed to build, instead of soaking them up as they go along and learning new ones by having their mistakes caught, I think we'd see an improvement in housing stock. Just my opinion, however naive. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I didn't see any indication in that post that the person had ever gotten a home inspection. In fact, someone asked that question in that thread. So why the comment about inspecting to minimums? What makes you think that a good home inspection wouldn't have uncovered those things? I haven't inspected a home to minimum requirements of any SOP for years and make a point of always trying to exceed them, but, you know what, that house sounds bad enough that I think any ol' buckhethead just inspecting to the minimum standard might have found some of that stuff. Don't know for certain, it just sounds like that might be the case. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

From the Illustrated Dictionary of Building Materials & Techniques by Bianchina: Soffit 1. The underside of a part of a building, such as a cornice, staircase, or arch. 2. A decorative boxed-in area, as over kitchen cabinets. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Don't know about your area, but around here the power company only owns the cable to the strike and couldn't care less if the strike is wrong. If a homeowner called them here to complain about a masthead like that, they'd tell the homeowner that the placement/configuring of the mast and lowering the weatherhead is not their problem. They'll only disconnect and reconnect here. If it's wrong when they arrive to hook up, they'll hook up regardless. I've found service drops literally lying on roofs; weatherheads that were split wide open by falling limbs and had been at the time the power company hooked up; next to windows and doors and decks within easy reach of anyone, including children; cables that extended completely over the roof of the pitched roof of a house before reaching the mast; hanging low over yards, decks, driveways and public sidewalks - you name it, they do it here. Call them to complain about it and they literally laugh at you for doing so. They say they only supply the power, they didn't install the electrical system and if if needs to be fixed they'll be happy to come out and disconnect power until an electrician has it ready for them to hook back up again, at which time they'll do so for a charge, that is. They couldn't care less if it's wrong - they're exempt. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike