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Hi, Here're a few links with more information about asbestos or asbestos in building materials. The first is a link to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's search results for asbestos. The P-I has been obsessed with asbestos for about 4-5 years and is beating it to death. You should be able to find all that you need here. Seattle P-I stories Asbestos in Building Materials Link #1 Asbestos in Building Materials Link #2 ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep, That's a sure sign that it's time for that fellow to make his quarterly trip to the proctologist to get his head pulled out of his anus. OT - OF!!! M.

Nope, It's not the water, it's the minerals in the water. At least that's my understanding of it. OT - OF!!! M.

Nope, They tried to make it illegal and the asbestos industry fought it really hard. About 4 years after they tried to ban it the ban was lifted. After dinner, I'll see what I can find. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, I don't think water counts as it is such a poor conductor. No concrete sidewalks or driveways butting up to it with steel rebar or mesh in them? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Terry, I don't think they ever really stopped - at least not in many of the products imported from Canada. There were some US companies that voluntarily stopped using it, but a lot of others who just kept on trucking. Well, let me rephrase that, maybe for a little while between '88 and '92 while the asbestos industry was appealing an EPA ruling or some such production was halted, but as soon as that ban was overturned I thought they started right back up again. I'll have to look that up. (Danged brain webs are clogging up the memory cells again.) ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Aaron, I'll echo Rob's sentiments. There should not be a gap there and I'm guessing that whatever was there has fallen away or been removed. The ridge of most slate roofs is usually flashed with a lead or copper coping or covered with a saddle cap (or saddle ridge) of combing slates to cover that gap. Was the gap wide enough to have once held a vertical ridge backing block for a metal combing or did you happen to notice whether the top corners had been trimmed off the last course of roofing at either side of the ridge to allow installation of a saddle ridge? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Very kewl idea Jim! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It looks very much like the unloader used to drive the continuous cleanout chain for the drops in a dairy barn or the the heavy rubber dolly used under large sliding doors and gates. My guess is that the carport has, or once had a large sliding door and that the wheel protrudes through the surface beneath the bottom edge of the door and the door slid opened and closed by riding back and forth on top of that wheel. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Grandma obviously had trouble negotiating stairs, so she slides her down the plank to the street and they catch her below. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Mike, Did you get the serial number of the unit? The date code is normally there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Pete, Yeah, some old asphalt shingles have asbestos in the matting, but I'd always thought that the fiber in those was considered bound and not an issue. OT - OF!!! M.

The smart money says he opted out of the class action. That enables him to sue them separately, at any time within the warranty period, in which case he has a better chance of recovering more than he would in a class-action. The rich aren't immune, they just get better legal advice. The average schmoe will jump on the class action every time. Most of the class action claimants in the L-P siding debacle were unhappy with their settlement and the lawyers made tons. Now, those smart enough to have opted out of the class action are suing individually because the stuff was guaranteed for 25 years. Life goes on. I wonder who inspected the home for him? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Pete, I'm with Neal about the diverter and I'd have called that vent in a New York minute. OT - OF!!! M.

Okay then, Sounds like we're back to the elephants. Sure you don't have a pooch that likes to drink out of the toilet? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Pete & Howie, I've been struggling with the impression for several days that I might know what is causing this, besides the elephants, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. It was back there in the cloudy recesses of my mind, but I just couldn't reach it. Well, it just came to me. I remember reading an article in PM mag about a year or two ago, that I think was written by Dan Holohan, about trap/drain problems and odors. If I'm remembering this right, he got a callback that was driving him crazy, until he realized that the problem wasn't the plumbing, it was a newer high-capacity washing machine that had an extremely high volume discharge pump that needed a larger drain. How does that apply here? Well, you said that the toilet was farthest from the trap and I'm guessing you have a basement laundry placed between that toilet and the vent stack. When the washing machine pumps out, it pushes a high volume of water into that pipe for a couple of minutes. Is the trap in the bottom of the toilet then acting like an air admittance vent with the water being siphoned out? Try this, set the washing machine for 'large', start it and then advance the timer dial to the discharge point and watch what happens in that toilet as the washing machine pumps out. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Pete, Actually, Richard's surprise probably stems from the fact that ABS has been the overall favorite out here for 30+ years. I do occasionally see cast iron in new high-end homes where cost isn't a consideration and you know at those prices folks aren't going to stand for the sound of rushing water. I think I've seen PVC used here about 5 times in 8 years. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Fyrmnk, Were you able to determine whether there is a separate layer of felt between each successive course of shakes and whether there was any type of cedar breather or battens beneath the shakes? Re: The difference between plywood and OSB - OSB has an extremely low perm rate and actually qualifies as a vapor barrier. They perform about the same regardless. I occasionally see ply used beneath shakes here, but I've never seen them on OSB. I should think that there'd be some substantive drying issues involved with OSB, given the fact that it won't allow the deck to dry as easily as plywood will. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Heck yes, ASHRAE has this kind of thing in the bag and has probably already done the research and knows what sicknesses will be caused by what. OT - OF!!! M.

Man, don't you guys know anything? Pete's in New York. New Yorkers are famous for flushing baby elephants down the toilet. They then roam the sewers and look for conveniently low toilets to snake their trunks to for a clean drink of water. [] OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, To get bacterial growth in a water heater, you usually need to have had the heat in the water heater turned way down for an extended period of time. Bacteria in the water gradually takes over and produces hydrogen sulphide gas. That's why it's a good idea to flush out your faucets in the summer cabin for about five minutes before you turn on that water heater that's been dormant all winter. Otherwise, you have the potential for the water heater to do 'boom'! When I walk into a home that's been vacant for weeks or months on end with the water heater off to do an inspection, the first thing I do is go run water to flush the crud out of the cold water lines and hot to get the hydrogen sulphide and all of that smelly bacteria-infested water out of the water tank before I turn it on. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Thanks Mitchell, I've edited the first post and added them. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi Folks, This morning I took some time to dig through my bookmarks and extract all of the national and state professional HI associations that I've archived over the years. I'm posting it here. If any of you know of any others that have been formed, which are not sub-chapters of larger national organizations, please respond below with the name of the association and the URL to their website, if any. Thanks, ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Professional Home Inspectors' Associations National Organizations American Association of Certified Home Inspectors (AACHI) http://www.aachi.org American Association of Home Inspectors (AAHI) http://www.aahi.com/index.htm American Institute of Inspectors (A.I.I.) http://www.inspection.org American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) http://www.ashi.org Canadian Association of Home and Property Inspectors (CAHPI) http://www.cahi.ca Foundation of Real Estate Appraisers (FREA) http://www.frea.com/ Historic Building Inspectors Association (HBIA) http://www.inspecthistoric.org Housing Inspection Foundation (HIF) http://www.iami.org/hif.cfm Independent Home Inspectors of North America (IHINA) International Society Of Home Inspectors (ISHI) http://www.ishionline.org Michigan Association of Home Inspectors (MichAHI) http://www.michahi.org/ http://www.independentinspectors.org/ National Academy of Building Inspection Engineers (NABIE) http://www.nabie.org/ National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI) http://www.nachi.org National Association of Home Inspectors (NAHI) http://www.nahi.org National Institute of Building Inspectors (NIBI) http://www.nibi.com/ National Association of Property Inspectors (NAPI) http://napi.lincoln-grad.org/index.php National Association of Real Estate Inspection and Evaluation Services (NARIES) http://www.naries.org/ National Society of Home Inspectors (NSHI) http://www.nshi.us/ Organization of Real Estate Professionals (OREP http://www.orep.org/ Society of Professional Real Estate Inspectors (SPREI) http://www.sprei.org/ORG/index1.html State/Provincial Organizations Arkansas Association of Real Estate Inspectors (AAREI) http://www.ark-homeinspectors.com/ California Real Estate Inspection Association http://www.creia.org/ Connecticutt Association of Home Inspectors (CAHI) http://www.ct-inspectors.com/ Florida Association of Building Inspectors (FABI) http://www.fabi.org/ Florida Association of Professional Home Inspectors (FAPHI) http://www.faphi.com Georgia Association of Home Inspector http://www.gahi.com/ Kentucky Real Estate Inspection Association (KREIA) http://www.kreia.org/ Maine Coalition of Home Inspection Professionals (MeCHIPS) http://www.mechips.org Maryland Association of Home Inspectors (MAHI) http://www.mdahi.org/ Minnesota Society of Housing Inspectors (MSHI) http://mshi.org/ New Jersey Association of Licensed Professional Home Inspectors (NJALPHI) http://www.njalphi.com New York State Association of Home Inspectors (NYSAHI) http://www.nysahi.com/ Nevada Association of Certified Real Estate Inspectors (NACREI) http://www.nacrei.org/ North Carolina Licensed Home Inspection Association (NCLHIA) http://www.nclhia.com/ Pennsylvania Association of Accredited Building Inspectors (PAABI) http://www.webphilly.com/PAABI/Paabi_Frameset.htm Pennsylvania Home Inspectors Coalition (PHIC) http://phic.info/ Southern Nevada Association of Professional Property Inspectors (SNAPPI) http://www.snappi.org/ Texas Association of Real Estate Inspectors http://www.tarei.com Virginia Association of Real Estate Inspectors (VAREI) http://www.varei.org Wisconsin Association of Home Inspectors (WAHI) http://www.wahigroup.com/

This month we continue to present Matt Michel's Comanche Marketing tips and the special continuing series entitled "The Mousetrap Series" with marketing tips number 8 thru 14. the first 8 tips can be found in the Marketing Tips archives. PROLOGUE They were a tribe of warriors. They were masters of the horse and masters of war. Through their tactical brilliance, they overcame the inferiority of their numbers to drive the Apache out of Texas and beat back the Spanish. The Utes called them "one who fights me all the time." The Utes called them Comanches. The Comanche warrior was one who fought all of the time. The Comanche marketer is one who markets as fiercely, as brilliantly, and as relentlessly as the Comanche fought. The Comanche marketer is "one who markets all of the time." 8. Long Copy Sells by Matt Michel Advertising great David Ogilvy was a proponent of long copy. Ogilvy felt that long copy gives the marketer the ability to sell. The marketer can build a case for a product, can persuade. Ogilvy said, "I have never admired the belles lettres school of advertising. I have always thought them absurd: they did not give the reader a single fact." Many disagree. Their view is that busy consumers are bombarded by too much information. If you don't get to the point and get the point across very quickly, if not instantly, you will fail. A few years before Ogilvy offered the above quote, Margot Sherman of McCann-Erickson said, "We are definitely again in the age of the eye. We have less time to read, browse, meditate and muse. There is such a multiplicity of messages striking us from every side. that it seems sometimes that only the lightning message of a picture can strike deep and hit home when we have a moment to spare." In a sense, this mirrors the left-brained/right-brained debate. The left-brained school focuses on presenting facts, persuading, and making a logical case for a product or service. The right-brained school is more concerned with emotions, feelings, and imagery. The left-brained school is characterized by Helmut Krone, formerly of DDB and a member of the Art Directors Hall of Fame. According to Krone, "I think people want information. They don't get it from advertising. Say you're buying a tape deck. Well, you're up against it--especially if you read the ads. A double-entendre headline. Nice photo. But no real meat in the ad. Because the people who did the ad don't think you really want to know. Advertising people argue that it's good to make it simple. But that's not the point. People want to know. Advertising ought to give them the information they need." By contrast, Lou Centivre of Foote, Cone & Belding says, "If an idea makes me laugh, that's a sure sign it's a good idea. All commercials should be entertaining, no exceptions made. Somebody's making the business too rational, which is wrong. Advertising is an emotional industry." The debate is not new. It's been going on for 100 years. So who's right? Actually, the both are. We need to apply whole-brained advertising and appeal to both the left and right sides of the brain. Motivate people emotionally and sell them logically. Design your marketing to provide people with the information they need to buy, but also design the marketing for form an impression at a glace and to sell to the busy reader who skims. Can you always accomplish this? Unfortunately, no. Sometimes you must make a trade-off. As a rule, I would move towards short copy and the right-brained school for something inconsequential. For something requiring more of an investment, I would tend to stress long copy over short and left-brained appeals over right-brained appeals. As much as possible, however, you should give people the information they need. You should put effort into the graphic design and emotive elements of a piece. However, it's an insult to create an attractive marketing piece that encourages a reader to spend time reading it, and then leave the him or her hanging without all of the information needed to make a decision. About 10 years ago, to prove something to someone, I wrote a five page direct mail letter. I buried the response information in the next to the last paragraph. The letter was mailed to contractors, who are notorious for discarding long copy marketing pieces. It generated a 5% response rate (compared to a 1.5% to 2% rate for post cards). Recently, a four-page, well-designed, but copy heavy, direct mail letter similarly out performed an impression heavy post card mailed to the same group. Done right, long copy sells. NEXT: Focus Since it helps to "see" examples, you might want to download a copy of the "Build a More Profitable Service Business" notes by clicking on the link below. http://www.serviceroundtable.com/Freebi ... p?PCID=295 Source: Comanche Marketing. Reprinted by permission. Free subscriptions are available at: www.serviceroundtable.com -- click on the Comanche Marketing tab Copyright © 2004 Matt Michel

by Matt Michel PROLOGUE They were a tribe of warriors. They were masters of the horse and masters of war. Through their tactical brilliance, they overcame the inferiority of their numbers to drive the Apache out of Texas and beat back the Spanish. The Utes called them "one who fights me all the time." The Utes called them Comanches. The Comanche warrior was one who fought all of the time. The Comanche marketer is one who markets as fiercely, as brilliantly, and as relentlessly as the Comanche fought. The Comanche marketer is "one who markets all of the time." #9. Focus The Mousetrap Series Continues. Being the loving, thoughtful, and considerate husband I am, I frequently ask my wife if there's something I can pick up from the grocery store for her while on the way home. Despite what anyone else might say, the fact that these occasions often correspond to the times when we are running low on Sam Adams has absolutely nothing to do with it. Sometimes my wife will ask for one item, such as bread or milk. Of course, I handle this task with consummate efficiency. I'm so efficient that I usually pick up several things we need that I'm certain my wife would have mentioned, but forgot. You know, basic food staples like a large jar of hot Pace Picanté Sauce and Sam Adams. But sometimes, the list gets longer. "Well, we need bread and milk," she says. "No problem." "Oh, and we need some detergent. Get the Arm & Hammer with the chemical free label. It's in a yellow box." "Arm & Hammer, chemical free," I say, though I'm wondering how detergent can be chemical free. After all, isn't a box a detergent nothing more than a box of cleaning chemicals? "We also need some Bisquick." "Bisquick. Got it." By now I'm thinking that this is getting a little out of hand. I mean, bread is good enough. "And the kids want some ice cream." "Ice cream," I reply, knowing that it's smart to repeat things so I'll remember. Then I remember that we're running low on Louisiana Hot Sauce. Now THIS is critical. It's a basic food staple. I also remember that I keep meaning to write them about their false and deceptive tag line. It says "one drop does it all." That's a lie. One drop is not nearly enough. One drop might work for sissies and Yankees, but not for me. I wish they'd get rid of the shaker bottle and replace it with a pour spout. For that matter, why don't they sell it milk cartons? My wife breaks my train of thought. She's saying something about Modripicopan or something like that in the pharmaceuticals section. "Got it," I say, though I'm not really sure what it is that she wants. I figure I'll just go to the pharmaceutical section and look for something with a long, funny name. After all, how many things it the pharmaceuticals section could have long funny names? "You won't forget?" she asks. "Forget!" I reply, sounding offended and hurt by her lack of faith at the same time. "I've got a mind like a steel trap. Engineers never forget." I don't bother to write any of this down because I'm answering email while we're talking. I'm demonstrating efficiency by multitasking. It takes me about an hour to finish the email and I head out. At the store, I snap up the bread, but then my steel trap mind closes. Hmm. What's next on the list? I wander down the frozen food section trying to remember what it was that I'm supposed to get. I never do remember because I get distracted by a box of frozen crab stuffed shrimp. They look pretty good so I grab a box. In the pharmaceuticals section, there's about a million little boxes of stuff with long funny names. I can't remember what the name was that I thought my wife said, only that it was long and funny, so I lowest price box with a long funny name, figuring that if it's the wrong thing, at least I haven't spent too much. Next, I head for the detergent. I manage to remember the yellow box and that allows me to zero in on Arm & Hammer, but there's a half dozen varieties. I know there was something specific I was supposed to get, but what the heck. Detergent is detergent. I grab a box and move on to the important stuff. After picking up some Sam and a big bottle of Louisiana Hot Sauce, I smugly head for the check out line and home. When I get home, my wife is appalled that I forgot half the stuff she wanted and bought the wrong thing for most of the remainder. "How can you get this many things wrong?" she asks with exasperation. "Well, you had unrealistic expectations," I reply sincerely. I learned that this is not the best response, though it is accurate. It was unrealistic to expect me to remember more than three things without writing them down. It's also unrealistic for you to expect your customers to remember more than three things in your marketing message. In fact, it's probably unrealistic to expect them to even remember three things. After all, your prospects are far less motivated to remember your marketing message than I was to remember my wife's grocery list. This was tested in a consumer research study. A group of consumers were shown a car ad that stressed performance exclusively. Six percent of the consumers said that the ad persuaded them to switch to that brand of automobile. Six percent may not sound like much, but that's wildly successful. It's tough to persuade people to switch brands from a 30 second ad. A second, demographically identical group of consumers was shown a different ad for the same car. This ad emphasized performance, but also styling, choice of models, and efficiency. It persuaded no one. Zippo. Nadda. When you are trying to reach consumers, too many messages will confuse them. Instead of a single clear message, you end up creating a cloud of messages, swirled together. Your message becomes party mix. You may remember one or two of the ingredients, but nothing stands out. Even worse, you will seldom be able to command all of the prospect's attention. Just as my thoughts wandered when my wife was reciting her grocery list, the prospect's thoughts will wander. Just as I was distracted and doing something else while my wife was reciting her list, the prospect will be distracted and doing other things when your message arrives. Just as I waited a while before I was in a position to act, your prospects will likely wait before they act. Just as I got distracted by other products when I was in position to act, your prospects will be distracted by other messages and other products. On the other hand, when my wife gives me short, simple lists, I manage to remember them. Give your prospects short, simple messages and they might manage to remember them as well. Cramming multiple messages into marketing communication is a common problem. Marketers are so excited about their offerings and have so many things that they want to tell people about that they try to squeeze as much as possible into a marketing message, failing to communicate much of anything. Pick one or two things and focus your message on them. Focus. © 2003 Matt Michel Next: Parts 10 thru 14 - Graphics