hausdok

Hi, Agreed, just make sure that you are venting them all the way to the outside and not simply hanging the end of the exhaust duct connected to that fan under one of the jack vents or aiming it at one of the intake vents in the frieze blocking between rafters at the eaves. Make sure you install a rain cap with a male extension through the roof, use insulated ducting and then securely clamp that duct to the extension on the rain cap so that 100% of that moist air gets to the outside. If you don't do that, in this climate you can expect mold/rot trouble with the roof plane in a year or two. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yeah, ensure that you don't have any insulation in the attic touching the underside of the roof and blocking airflow into the attic. This will cause moisture-laden air moving up through the insulation to condense on the underside of the roof and then drip down onto that plate. You know the rest of the story. Also, make darned sure that there isn't any Morning Glory, Wysteria or English Ivy climbing that wall or pushing shooters into it. When that happens, the stuff turns the wall cavity into a sweat box. Carpenter ants here seem to have an inate instinct to follow the stuff and will exploit the presence of moisture to begin mining. Their climbing isn't unusual. This past summer I found a trail of them climbing up the chimney outside of a house and then entering the attic under the fascia. I went into the attic and found them moving down along the underside of the sheathing and then into a wall cavity below where they went all the way to the basement cripple wall before they nested. To an ant, there's no such thing as the straightest possible path is the shortest distance between two points. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

ROFLMAO!! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I routinely recommend upgrading unprotected circuits with GFCI's where they were originally not required by code. It's a no-brainer. You can purchase 3 of them for about $25. and it takes a good electrician about 15 minutes apiece to install 'em. Considering the fact that they've saved literally hundreds of thousands of lives since they were first invented, they are cheap insurance. If they weren't required when the home was new, I just tell the client that and recommend the client install them anyway. Personally, I don't care who installs 'em. I just recommend 'em and if the client wants to be petty enough to demand the seller install them, it's no skin off of my nose. If the seller does install them in a circumstance such as that and is pissing and moaning about it, I just say, "Shame on you for letting yourself get bulldozed, 'cuz I never told the client to demand you install them." If they step up to the plate and do it and don't gripe about it, good for them. If a client comes to me demanding that I give him something in writing telling the seller that they need to be installed, and they weren't required when the home was new and there haven't been any remodels or upgrades that would have required them, I refuse and tell the client to get a grip. After all, they're typically spending over $350,000 on a home. Why are they nit-picking about $25. buck worth of material and half an hour of an electrician's time when there are more pressing matters to be concerned with? As far as those splices - splices in the panel are permitted as long as they don't take up too much gutter space. Those don't. In fact, compared to most panels around here where the old panel has been replaced and remodels have been done, that panel has very little fill. Mr. Hansen says: As for the split bolt and all of those EGC's - that's just plain dumb. All this electrician had to do was install a ground bus horizontally under the main bus instead of splicing everything together like that. If it were me, I'd have recommended just that and wouldn't have been concerned with the spliced grounded (neutral) conductors. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Somebody call the Chitown police. Mitenbuler's been kidnapped by aliens and replaced by a pod-person. OT - OF!!! M.

ROFLMAO Damned near swallowed my tongue on that one. OT - OF!!! M.

Huh, What's going on? Is a Michigan feller tryin' to one-up a Massachusetts feller? Does Les mean that Massachusetts doesn't get cold in the winters and those Massachusetts fellers don't know how to install hydronic heat so that their boilers don't go out? !!!! Straighten that guy out Jimmy! (Once was stationed in MA for more than 4 years. That place get @#$%ing cold and snowy in the winter. Rivals Buffalo I tell you! I can say that comfortably, sitting here in Western Washington in these oh-so-frigid 55 degree days with a little bit of rain and no snow. Hah!) OT - OF!!! M.

Hi all, I'm doing some research for an article and I'm interested in getting some facts about current or past lawsuits against home inspectors that involved suits initiated by homeowners who were not clients of the inspectors. Specifically, I'm looking for instances where the homeowners had managed to get their hands on copies of an inspector's report done for buyers who'd walked away from the home that litigants had bought. The basis for this process is, I believe, a concept known as "subrogation." I'm also interested in knowing about inspectors who'd lost suits involving this or those that had to spend large amounts of money to defend themselves because of it. I'd prefer known facts where you can provide me solid paper trails or URL's to follow, but I'm not fussy. If you know of someone who's mentioned this in casual H.I. conversation, I can still attempt to hunt that person down and confirm whether it was an actual situation and whether it is inspector folklore. If anyone can help me out I'd appreciate it. Please send your information/tips to me by email at: hausdok@msn.com ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I inspected a house with hydronic radiant floors about 9 years ago that had one of those little WM boilers. I seem to recall reading at the time that there'd been a recall and that fellow ended up getting a new boiler out of it. You might go over and check out Recalls.gov Kurt and see if there's anything there. OT - OF!!! M.

Think about it, There are maybe,....maybe, 30,000 inspectors in the US and Canada - most of whom have already selected a program and grown comfortable with it. Being mostly old farts (like me) they don't want to try and learn anything new and will probably never buy another program unless it is infinitely easier and quicker to use and does everything that they perceive their present program does for them and a whole lot more with no effort. Hell, I get upset every time the software maker does an upgrade and I have to learn how new features of the program act. Better or not, one gets comfortable and resists change. In fact, I'll probably never try another manufacturer's product unless it doesn't require me to type, talk, draw or use longhand and I can complete the report using thought processes only. Yeah, like that's gonna happen. So, of that possible 30,000, who is left for the software companies to sell to? Mostly only the inspectors brand new to the market, and then only those who haven't already been convinced by some old hand to use a particular kind of already-established software because the old hand likes it best. So, what's that? Guess at maybe,...maybe 10% of the field or 3,000 inspectors with a choice of at least a dozen software programs out there? I'm no accountant, that's for sure, but it doesn't look like there's a whole lot of money in it for anyone just gearing up because the established brands will have a huge lead. So, how are you at developing thought-reading software? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I wish you'd taken a wider establishing shot of that. It's hard to tell what the heck is going on there without being able to see more of what you are describing. I've seen meters wired into services that way when a larger service was brought in and they didn't want to tear up the house for a new mast, but those were always a lot cleaner than that mess. The description of the shop makes me think that they're trying to steal electricity but no seller in his right mind is going to leave that for you to discover. Maybe the seller isn't in his/her right mind. Anyway, calling for an electrician was the right call - maybe even calling for the utility provider would be. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Fires kill and having a death on one's conscience is something none of us want, so I don't pussy-foot around with egress windows. This is the actual comment from one of my reports earlier this week. The home had been advertised as a 3 bedroom - 2 on the main floor and one in the basement. The buyer was purchasing the home to use as a rental: My response to realtors that squawk about this - "Fire kills, what more do you need to know?" ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I've written about Zinsco panels till I'm blue in the face and tonight I just don't have enough energy to go through it again. It's too bad my software won't let me search back for more than a year. If it did, I'd be able to pull up all of those old posts. Here's what I suggest. Go over to Brian's board at http://www.inspectionnews.com and do an advanced search by word and author, using Zinsco and O'Handley. Brian's board will search waaaaaaaay back and you'll be able to pull up one or two of my tomes about the Zinsco quest. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

This response originally posted in another forum by Paul Burrell and moved here by the editor. Can you cap this. I went into a crawl that was so low my butt was rubbing the floor joists. The furnace was in a hole that I was inspecting. All of a sudden I heard noise beside me and it scared the %#&(* out of me. I looked in that direction and the lady that owned the home was lying beside me! She said did you find anything wrong. She also would not let me remove the main electrical cover because It was painted to wall and she said I just painted and don't want the paint scratched. The buyer was there and said ok we don't want to upset her so leave it. He called me back after he bought the house and wanted me to come back and open and inspect the panel for free. You cam imagine what I told him to do with the panel cover. Paul Burrell[:-banghea

This response originally posted in another forum by Hausdok and moved here by the editor. Yeah, They're really nasty. He's right about that but I can't even begin to estimate the number of times over the past decade that I've found major issues going on in crawls that weren'te evident from inside the home or even from a glance inside from the access port. If I had to add up the cost of repairs for rot, insect damage and faulty structural issues, I bet it would easily run into the millions. Hang discussion of any dimensions. If I can extend one arm up over my head and get my head and one shoulder through the opening, and there's at least 12 inches under the joists, the rest of my body is able to follow and I'm going into them as deep and as far as possible. One thing is for sure, I'll never end up like that guy over any crawlspaces or attics. OT - OF!!! M.

This response originally posted in another forum by Les and moved here by the editor. "Don't you get dirty when you go into these filthy confined areas? I would just look at the doors and windows and siding alignment and give it my best guess what is going on in those holes. There would be doors if I was supposed to be in there. If I can't see it by the light of the flashlight (candle/Bic lighter), then it don't matter. My client will never get in there." All phrases, more or less exact quotes, from a recent trial of a home inspector. Oh ya, he also cited the MIOSHA safety standards for confined spaces. He is gone and so is the house - flattened!

This response originally posted in another forum by Jeff Remas and moved here by the editor. Access to crawlspaces: If I fit, I go. 90% of the homes in the Poconos are crawlspace homes. Very few and far between it does not happen and always for darn good reasons. Mr. 2020 Jose Colon: You are a NACHI member, unlike your claim that you are, nor have ever belonged to a HI association.

This response originally posted in another forum by ScottPat and moved here by the Editor At 6'1' and 255lbs, I happy when I can fit into any crawl space! Truth be known, I can fit into an 18"x 24" space.

This response originally posted in another forum by InspectHistoric and moved here by the Editor Mike wrote: "Inspectors are NOT required to enter...the under-floor crawl spaces or attics which are not readily accessible". The definition: "Readily Accessible: Available for visual inspection without requiring moving of personal property, dismantling, destructive measures, or any action which will likely involve risk to persons or property" At 5'10" and 155 lbs, everything is pretty much accessible for me, including doggie doors when the agent can't get the lock box to open. I feel a strong obligation to inform folks about conditions in spaces that contain critical structural elements that no one has seen for a century or two.

This response originally posted in another forum by Paul Burrell and moved here by the Editor Mike, So do I if there is enough clearance. I have been in crawls that could not be entered at several areas where the floor joists were practically touching the ground. That is why I have a monkey working for me.[:-slaphap He does not speak english very well but I take his word for his evaluation anyway. Problem is to get his banana I think he is telling me what I want to hear instead of the facts.[:-crazy] Paul Burrell

This response originally posted in another forum by Kurt and moved here by the Editor Hard & nasty fact of life in the biz is going into ratholes. If I fit, I go in; that simple. I don't like it, even a tiny bit, but I'd dislike someone else going in & finding something nasty & having to explain why I didn't when "they" did. I remember, almost like a past life, when I relished going in; macho kind of thing. "You're actually going in there???

This response originally posted in another forum by Hausdok and moved here by the Editor Hi Paul, You're wrong. It's in Section 13.2E and states: Inspectors are NOT required to entere: 1. any area which will, in the opinion of the inspector, likely be dangerous to the inspector or other persons or damage the property or its systems or components. 2. the under-floor crawl spaces or attics which are not readily accessible. No 24 inches mentioned anywhere. Maybe you were thinking of the NAHI SOP, which states in Section 4.3.1: The inspector is NOT required to: Enter subfloor crawl spaces with headroom of less than 3 feet, obstructions, or other detrimental conditions. or the TAREI SOP, which states: Specific limitations for foundations. The inspector is not required to enter a crawl space or any areas where headroom is less than 18 inches and the width of the access opening is less than two feet, or where the inspector reasonably determines conditions or materials are hazardous to health or safety of the inspector. I routinely enter 'em with less than either. It's just a fact of life around here. Sometimes you'll get underneath the the joists will barely make the 19 inches above grade and the only reason the girders do is because they rest on piers set deep into little swales so that they'll still have their 12 inches of clearance. I always know when it's time to go on a diet. When I'm less than 220 I can squeeze under those 12in. high girders. At 221 I'm not getting under it without a struggle. OT - OF!!!

This post originally posted in another forum by Paul Burrell. It and any posts related to it have been moved here by the Editor If I remember correctly ASHI has standards for height of crawl to be entered. Without looking it up I think it is 24". I have seen crawls so low to ground I could not enter. I state this in report and state I could not enter or inspect because of low clearance from ground. Correct me if I am not correct on this. Paul Burrell

It looks jury-rigged to me. If it were a manufacturer's accessory you wouldn't see the welding burns on the steel. OT - OF!!! M.

I can imagine some kid getting his hand caught in that. OT - OF!!! M.