hausdok

You are right; they really don't care. Caring what you do after the inspection is not really part of the gig; is it? The job is to inspect the home for indications of WDI and WDO and provide you a report. What you do after that is up to you. Sometimes buyers throw it all back at the sellers; basically, "If you want me to buy this home, you're going to have to find out how much of it is damaged and get that damage repaired. I don't want to buy a damaged home." Sometimes sellers tell the buyer to go ***k himself; sometimes they agree to do the work themselves (never recommended IMO); sometimes they agree to have someone else do the repairs (best if it is someone YOU choose, not them); and sometimes they give the buyer a credit toward getting the inspections and repair work done; hoping to low-ball the buyer so that once the home is closed on they are free and clear. Sometimes - very rarely - they'll agree to do an invasive inspection and then report the results of the invasive back to the buyer and will try to negotiate a repair or the sale without the repair based on what they've found out. You need to understand something about inspections - whether they are bug inspections or home inspections - the process is far from perfect. Inspectors are limited to what they can see, touch, smell and hear and easily uncover without damaging the home. There is an awful lot that can be hidden in a home that an inspector can't find no matter how good he or she is. An inspector seeks to help you limit your risk but can't eliminate all risk for you. I'm absolutely certain that every single home I've inspected over the past 16-1/2 years had some sort of latent issue that couldn't be found and I'm certain that some of them were probably major issues; that's just the nature of the beast. That knowledge is tempered by the fact that, without ever even trying, every single job seems to result in at least one issue that completely justifies my clients' fee. Understand that and adjust your expectations so that the inspection process won't be so disappointing for you. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

If we are smart, we point out that there is a high probability of more damage that can't be seen, and possibly even insect activity that couldn't be seen by us or the WDI guy, and we recommend an invasive inspection to determine the full extent of damage, repair it and then eliminate all pest-conducive conditions that led to the infestation and damage in the first place. If we're not so smart, we declare that all insect activity is probably gone and tell the client not to worry about it and we don't recommend the above. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, Phillip has pointed out that there are adapters that allow one to use the Ameri-Vent Product with the Dura-Vent product but I can't make out from that photo if there are adapters there, can you? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hmm, It occurs to me that you said that the bottom section is a Dura-Vent product and that the section above that Ameri-vent telescoping B-vent is a Dura-Vent product. That may be what you need there. I don't think the Dura-Vent and Ameri-Vent locking methods are compatible. If not, it violates the product's listing and labeling. Can anyone verify that the Dura-Vent B-vent product cannot be connected to an Ameri-Vent B-vent product? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Brad, I'm confused by the photo. Where is the single-walled product? The long smooth section on the bottom on the photo looks like it's an Ameri-Vent (4E12A) telescoping B-vent and the 90 deg. elbow above it is also a B-vent product. Can you label the photo showing the intermediate single-walled section you are concerned with? A garage is unconditioned space. If they are using an Ameri-Vent single-walled connector in the garage they are wrong because it violates the vent manufacturer's listing and labeling. From the manufacturer's installation manual: Single-Wall Connector Usage Single-wall flexible gas vent connectors connect appliances to double-wall Type B gas vent. AmeriVent gas vent connectors are used with listed gas appliances with drafthoods or other gas appliances listed for use with Type B gas vent. They cannot be used in unconditioned spaces. Then there is R101.6 Referenced Codes and STandards - where it states: "Where enforcement of a code provision would violate the conditions of the listing or the equipment or appliance, the conditions of the listing and manufacturer's instructions apply." Bottom line: if that is not a telescoping B vent, and is an Ameri-vent single walled connector being used in a vent system in a garage, which is unconditioned space, it violates the manufacturer's instructions and is therefore a violation of R101.6. http://www.americanmetalproducts.com/Li ... .sflb.ashx ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sure, You break at the acetylene torch and start cutting right above..... ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Air is a lot like a fluid in this case. Trying to force 300 CFM through an opening that will only accept 50CFM is like trying to push water from a 2-inch pipe through the ice supply line for a fridge - volume coming out of that little pipe will be greatly reduced regardless of the pressure behind it and overall performance is gonna suffer. That system will probably take four or five times longer than it used to take to heat/cool that house. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The angle is deceiving you. That back wall of the front roof plane probably returns to that front corner of the upper floor and doesn't go up the side of the back half of the house. It's still a very simple roof to get onto and walk. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Easy, Both levels. I'd use my 13ft to get to the upper roof from the lower. If I felt nervous about it, I'd use a cargo strap to anchor my ladder to one of those window casings. Knot one end, run the strap around both sides of the ladder and form a hitch on each side, come back to the window, knot it again and then close the window over the strap at either side. If your knees feel weak when you climb up on a 6ft. step ladder, don't bother. Get out the binoculars. Got up on this one yesterday without tying off. Longer ladder got me to lower roof, short ladder got me to upper. Just another day in the life of a home inspector. Click to Enlarge 45.67?KB Click to Enlarge 47.1 KB Click to Enlarge 61.12 KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

So, When that pump kicks on the bathtub drains OK? Then it's a waste grinder/ejector pump and its job is to liquify the waste and send it up to the city sewer. If it's outside a vent pipe with a goosneck on top and a screen on the inlet to keep out bugs is all that's needed. You'll want a vent on the tank. You don't want the thing causing the system to suck traps dry. There should be an alarm system installed on that sucker to warn them when the tank isn't pumping out so that they'll know to stop using the sinks, toilets and baths. Otherwise you end up with a tank like the one below that's clogged with - Yuk, condoms and sanitary napkins and such. Click to Enlarge 67.02?KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Are you sure that's not a waste grinder? Can't see any reason to seal a drainage sump but there's good reason to seal a waste sump and if it's a waste sump it should have a vent on it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

OK, Thanks, didn't realize they'd been around that early. Yeah, the mods my father built came out of PA. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

These last few posts go back to my initial post. The realtor called it a double-wide because the realtor doesn't know the difference between a modular home and a manufactured home. A steel beam down the center of a basement doesn't a modular make. You need to have marriage walls and other things unique to modular construction. It could simply be an ordinary little house with a steel longitudinal support beam instead of a wood longitudinal beam. Can anyone remember modular homes being built in NYS in 1979? I admit, I left NYS in 1975 but my father didn't and he didn't get involved with modulars until the 90's and I can't remember him ever talking about them before the late 80's. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hmmm, So all of the Hardie product out here that was installed in the early 1990's, hasn't had a problem and where the warranty is going to expire soon was garbage? Who'd a thunk it? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Les, I couldn't agree more. The course I described above would have lots of hands-on time in buildings where students actually got to put their hands on things, climb up onto roofs, get down and dirty in crawlspaces, etc. and see things the way they really are. Our state requires 120 hours of in-classroom education and doesn't allow one to teach the students anything not related directly to home inspections. By providing four times as many hours, that course provides time for plenty of "lab" work and houses and construction sites would be the labs. For example, bringing in industry experts to teach about modern state-of-the-art electro-mechanical systems could be included and wouldn't need to be approved by the state because they'd be brought in outside of those 120 hours for mandated curriculum and one can thus bring them in as needed whenever they are needed without waiting for a state licensing authority to approve their presentations. Only one guy has voiced what he thinks it's worth. I think he'd too light. Remember that the ITA long course used to charge almost that for a two week course just a few years ago. If you were to decide you wanted to go to college for four years and get a bacholor degree what would one have to pay? $50,000? This is investing in one's future. Getting a real start in t his gig instead of entering the field and then casting around for help with every minute issue for months even years on end; before you finally get yourself up to speed and start earning decent money again. We always tell folks not to get into this gig unless they've got enough set aside to tide themselves over for a couple of years. Tiding oneself over for a couple of years means expecting to lose a whole lot of money before you start earning a little bit and gradually increase that revenue. It can be years before you recover those lost funds if you start off flat broke and don't know anything and are feeling your way around this profession like someone in a game of pin the tail on the donkey. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

OK, So, I believe that I've described the ideal course to you above. If you had to do it all over again, and knowing what you know now, what would it have been worth to you to attend that kind of course, considering what you'd paid for a mediocre course a fraction of it's length and scope? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Speaking of monstrosities, I saw this house that's under construction - and looks like it's been under construction for a lot of years - in Ferndale over the weekend. What would you call this roof, Bill? Click to Enlarge 40.75?KB ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Re. the ASHI reviewers: We don't give two fairy farts what an ASHI reviewer squawks about - ours is a state SOP and as far as we're concerned it exceeds ASHI's standards by a longshot. I'd say that if the lint pickers at ASHI worry about that any ASHI guys that submit their Washington State compliant reports to ASHI for review should edit their reports to reflect the kind of mamby-pamby stuff the old checklist users are used to seeing so they don't gig you for it. Remember, in your advertising here if you claim to inspect to an SOP you had better state that you inspect to the Washington State Standards of Practice 'cuz ASHI's doesn't count here - neither does NAHI's, NACHI's or AII's. Also, if you have a Washington State license, make sure that your license number is is on your business card, on any advertising you use and on any website where you advertise your services. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Absolutely not. You're required to inspect certain key items and describe them or mention in the report someplace that those things were looked at, but you are not required to say anything affirmative. By inspecting and reporting on what you've inspected, the implication is that it was fine unless you report otherwise. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Devereaux412, So, you paid $3499 for two weeks of a school where it sounds like the instructors weren't very professional and you got little practical experience. Just curious, if you had the money, or financing was readily available, what would you have been willing to pay for a school that lasted, say, 90 days, had you in classrooms or out on inspection or construction site labs 8 hours a day for 5 days a week for a total of 480 hours of training? What would you have paid for a school where you didn't just learn the textbook stuff but were taught practical aspects of the business by seasoned inspectors who treated you like a pro and were pros, where you learned not only the inspection stuff but also about the business aspect of running this gig, where you learned to work your program of choice upside down backwards and forwards. What would you have paid for a course where 100% of your rooming was paid for and you got three squares a day - all paid for - and all of your books and whatever tools you'll need as an inspector - short of a vehicle - were supplied with the course and you kept them. What would you have paid for a course where on weekends you were free to take in the local sights or go fishing or hunting or hiking or whatever with your classmates and the staff and get unparralelled opportunity to talk one-on-one with those experienced guys and pick their brains about this new life you want to start - the pluses, the minuses, everything? What would you have paid for a course where you were guaranteed at least 40 hours of on-site inspection time one-on-one with a respected professional inspector? What would you pay for a course where you have a mentor you can go to 24/7 after graduation to help you figure stuff out? What would you have paid for literally two years worth of junior college courses and hours compressed into 90 days? If you have every been in the military, what would you have paid for a military style course setup with total immersion in what you're going to be doing - practical exercises, hands-on training, etc.? Would you have preferred that kind of training? What would you have paid for that experience? Now, don't answer as a cheap S.O.B. Think about what folks are paying for these shake-n-bake courses like you just attended and imagine a course where you leave with the knowledge that most of those shake-n-bake guys take three or four years to accumulate after they finish training when you say what you'd pay if you could afford it or it could be made affordable to you. What would that have been worth to you to change your life and give you a huge leg-up on all of the shake-n-bake inspectors you'll be competing with for the next few years while you try and survive long enough to get back in the black? Hmmm? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Kurtmit, Hope you're paying attention to this thread. We need to pick up our conversation where we left it last. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Not really, Can't say I've never used it, 'cuz I probably have at one time or another, but I generally don't even remark about stuff that works. The whole point of the inspection is to find the stuff that isn't working isn't it? I tell my clients - and their realtors when they're listening - that I'm not there to tell them what they'll like about the home, because they already know what they like or they wouldn't have made an offer - I'm there to tell them about the stuff that they're not going to like. So, my report isn't full of satisfactory, operational, functioning as intended, etc., it's full of stuff like: The roof cover is on it's last legs: The composition shingles are...... That sort of thing. Sometimes I'll have a house where I won't have anything to report about on the Roof, Plumbing, Etc.. I don't list every little plumbing component as working, or satisfactory, because I use a strictly narrative report - I just say something like: No roofing anomalies noted: This comment doesn't require any elaboration. That's as simple as it gets. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I see roofs all that time that were installed with completely wrong details that are nearing end of service life and have been functioning as intended - namely keeping the water out of the house for the expected service life of the product. It doesn't mean that the roof was installed properly, only that it managed to last for as long as it was designed for without going bad, despite the sh***y details. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Replace the water heater with one that has an immersed coil for the hydronic system. use the water in the tank for domestic hot water. Connect a plate exchanger with circulator to the immersed loop in the tank and the apollo system, another circulator and an expansion tank to the other side of the plate exchanger. Now you have a closed loop for the heating system and all domestic hot water comes from the water in the tank. This is an over-simplified explanation. Talk to a reputable HVAC guy about this suggestion. He'll be able to tell you what it will cost and what additional elements, if necessary, will need to be incorporated into the system. It may go over $6K one never knows. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I used to live right across the street from an electrician firm and used to walk across the street for advice every once in a while. A few years ago I asked them about their experience with Zinsco panels. They told me then that they'd just replaced every single panel in an 80-unit condominium building where the Zinsco product had been used and that they'd discovered during the process of the replacement that a "significant number" of panels had serious arcing issues in them. I don't know exactly what they meant by "significant number" but I should think even one panel with serious arcing issues in a condominium building would be a scary prospect for everyone living in the building. If it were my daughter, I'd get after the HOA to foot the bill to swap them all out now. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike