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Have any of you guys ever planted one of those miniature wireless nanny cams in a house to monitor what happens to those cannisters after you've left the premises? Bet if you did you could get some good stuff for America's Dumbest Criminals or some other kind of quasi comedy/reality show. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Oh my god, There's "toxic" water vapor in my home. I heard that it can feed fungi and cause dark stuff to grow on the walls of my home and that people can die from it if there's too much of it. What shall I do? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Dan, You're right, fungi does break down old abandoned homes; but it isn't the "mold" that people freak out over that's doing most of that work - it's mostly woodrot fungi. The little bit of mold that folks run to lawyers for is years, maybe even decades from destroying a home while unseen and undealt with woodrot fungi can do it in a couple of years. When folks use the M word they aren't envisioning woodrot fungi or other fungi that are commonly associated with breaking down the organic materials in a wood framed structure, they are envisioning the terrifying "black toxic mold" that's always mentioned by the media but never defined and they are never told in media stories that those same "toxic mold" spores are the same ones that we breath 24/7/365 and have been breathing our entire lives. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

We bought a new SM a year ago. Occasionally it goes on the fritz and Yung brings it over to me to complain about it. I usually hold both buttons down for three or four seconds and get the thing to do a hard boot and it clears right up. Note: I have no idea whether it's actually doing a hard boot, but it seems to work. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, you completely missed the point of the thread. It's a poll. We're not interested in what brand of software you use. That's irrelevant to this thread. We wanted to know what type of reporting methods folks are using and figured the follow-on discussion would shake out the reasons why folks use one method over another. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Kenmore, WA/January 10, 2012 Washington State DOL has just announced the tentative dates for all board meetings for the year 2012. Full board meetings will be held on March 15th, June 14th, September 13th and December 6th 2012. Locations for the meeting are based on availability and the meetings are not always held at the same place. Those wishing to attend the meetings should check to see if the location and agenda have been published on the DOL website well in advance of the meeting. Individual sub-committee meetings and locations are not locked in at the beginning of the year. Sub-committee chairmen usually determine during formal meetings when/if sub-committee meetings will be necessary and are required to announce sub-committee work meetings about two weeks in advance via the DOL website. As of this writing, there are no sub-committee meetings scheduled yet for the first quarter 2012. Those inspectors interested in attending meetings to voice concerns and offer suggestions for improvement for the Home Inspector Licensing Program in Washington State are encouraged to attend. If inspectors send their questions/concerns/opinions in writing to DOL early enough in each quarter, they will usually see those issues addressed at that quarter's meeting. However, board agendas are locked in about two to three weeks before each meeting; so sometimes issues are not placed on the agenda if the agenda is already too full. In those cases, the issue submitted will be addressed the following quarter. Inspectors interested in knowing about sub-committee work tasks should contact the program manager and monitor the DOL website frequently for sub-committee meeting announcements. Those inspectors who've submitted material to DOL, and want to be present during the discussion to offer input, should check with DOL in advance of the meeting to ensure their issue(s) are on the agenda prior to traveling to the meetings. For more information, contact Rhonda Myers, Program Manager at 360-664-6487, or email her directly at rmyers@dol.wa.gov, or visit the DOL inspectors' website at http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/homeinspectors/ . ****

Ah, Now that you've posted the second coil and I've looked more closely at the first I think I see what's been done. It used to be a system that used a tankless water heater. He removed that tankless water heater and hooked up the system directly to a new tank type water heater (Now I see the minifold array on the left wall). My guess is that the sytem that had been used had a tankless water heater that utilized a closed loop system with a plate exchanger. When he stripped out the tankless, he took the plate exchanger with him. However, instead of hooking up the water heater to the potable water on one circuit, and the heating loop portion of the system to the in-tank coil on the other circuit, he's plumbed them all off the potable water side of the tank. Is that a whole lot of disconnected tubing protruding from the floor and walls? If so, that means that those disconnected portions are no longer in use and only part of the in-floor is actually heating the home. Is the floor heat even hooked up? The way the tank is configured, the temperature of the water leaving that tank is controlled using the tempering valve at the top of the tank. The point of that is one can crank the temperature of the tank way up, in order to have water temps that will allow the floor heating system to actually work, while still maintaining domestic hot water at a safe 120?F or less. If he's hooked the hydronic heating system directly to the potable water side of the tank and isn't controlling the temps of the two systems separately, the only way the floor heat will function properly is by cranking the water temperature way up on the tank and cranking the tempering valve all the way over to the hot side so that temps reaching the hydronic system are where they need to be. That works fine for the floor heat, but he'll end up with scalding hot water at the fixtures and be running the risk of third degree burns. Then, if the hydronic system is hooked up, there's the issue of constant circulation through that system. They aren't supposed to be plumbed so that they constantly circulate because then you run into issues with pipe scour. That floor system needs to be configured to circulate through those two nipples on the side of the tank and the pipes coming off the top of the tank need to be connected to only the DHW circuit so that DHW temp can be kept at 120 or less by the tempering valve. Contact Northwest Mechanical and talk to Buzz and send him some photos. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Rob, What's the manufacturing date on the water heater? Are you sure he didn't simply strip out a tankless dual-purpose wall-hung water heater along with the circulators and manifold array and then cobble in a new tank-type water heater? I still don't see how that water heater is connected to the floor heat. Are there pictures from another angle? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, to expound on what I said earlier; the photo doesn't tell us anything because I believe that the system that had been there was removed and the water heater you see in the photo is what's been used to replace the wall-hung unit that was on the far wall. If that unit were still there and the photo was larger, I'd be able to tell whether the water heater was heating the water in the system directly or whether the heating loop was closed and heated by some kind of exchanger external to the water heater. Since all you have is the remnants of the tubing without the water heater, manifolds or controls, it's like looking at a pro-stock racer with the interior and dash stripped out and wondering, without talking to the owner, whether the original car had A/C or not. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Back to the OP, David, I don't know about the minis, but I had an LED bulb in my regular double D-cell Mag for years and it provided, as far as I'm concerned, all the light necessary to do the job right. I've never needed to create sunlight where sunlight isn't needed. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Robert, I think I was the very first person to view your post. I didn't respond because there's really not a whole lot anyone can tell from the picture. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

DES PLAINES, Ill., Jan 09, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) The American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) announced Marvin Goldstein as its new president at InspectionWorld, ASHI's annual conference, held this year in Phoenix, January 4-7. Goldstein, CEO of Building Inspection Service, Inc., is a Charter member of ASHI and was instrumental in its inception. Prior to assuming his role as president, he served in a variety of leadership roles, including member of the Board, chair of the legislative committee, director, secretary, treasurer and president-elect. He is dedicated to encouraging innovation and teamwork within the home inspection community. He strongly supports setting and promoting standards for property inspections and providing educational programs needed to achieve excellence in this profession. "I'm honored to lead ASHI in 2012 and I look forward to collaborating with this skilled and enthusiastic group of professional home inspectors. This is our year to realize ASHI's potential; together, we can achieve great things," Goldstein said. ASHI members elected a number of officials to other influential roles within their organization. Bill Jacques, American Inspection Service, Inc., Ravenel, S.C., is now the president-elect; Bill J. Loden, Insight Home Inspection, LLC, Madison, Ala. is vice president; Alden E. Gibson, R.H.I., Inspections by Gibson, Inc., Breslau, Ontario will maintain his position as treasurer; and Scott Warga, ACSI American Construction Specialists & Investigations, LLC., Gilbert, Ariz. is secretary. Kurt Salomon, Advocate Inspections, Salt Lake City, Utah, will continue his tenure at ASHI as immediate past president. ****

Jan 9, 2012 Up until the first of the year, buyers in the D.C. area and in Virginia had a reasonable expectation that, even without an inspection, the heating, cooling, washer/dryer and anything mechanical or electrical was working properly at the time of move-in. No longer due to a recent change to real estate contracts for all homes sales in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia. Under the new contract, houses are sold as-is and sellers have no obligation to fix anything - now it's all negotiable. To read more Click Here

It's just regional differences. I'm sure there are things in Kansas that I'd never see out here in Washington state and I'm sure there are things out here that you'd never see in Colorado. ON TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

These are typically direct-vent gas appliances so the code prohibition re. combustion air doesn't apply to them. They are installedi only in master baths so that children and guests don't use them. The glass used is safety glass and the electrics underneath are GFCI protected. Gas fireplaces are like gas stoves - they don't require a hearth in front. I see a couple of dozen a year in new construction. Everything the O.P. needs to know is in the installation manual for the fireplace. The manufacturers know that folks put these at the head of tubs and they address it in their manuals. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It can be done. Walt Jowers used to write reports onsite with a partner; I've done it myself. Key is deciding upfront who writes the report and who does the inspecting. The guy writing the report needs to detach himself from the inspection process and concentrate on organizing the input as it comes in from the guy doing the inspection and then putting the input into the report and customizing the content to the house. The other guy's task is to stay to the inspection sequence they've agreed upon so as not to jam up the guy who is writing the report. I cut time down by using an FM intercom. That way I didn't have to wait for my partner to bring me the results, I could hear them and jot them down as my partner went through the house. He and I knew by heart the sequence that the report flowed. As he went around the house with the client he'd intentionally describe what he was seeing to the client. For example, he might say something like, "Well, I see you've got cedar clapboards and wood trim with this nice brick veneer on the front of the house," and I'd key that date into the exterior cladding section of the report program. Then he might say, "See this earth-to-wood contact over here at the northwest corner of this ground-level deck? This is a pest conducive condition," and then he'd go on to explain it to the client. Listening in, I'd key in an Earth-To-Wood Contact header and quickly write a comment about how the earth-to-wood contact between the underside of the deck and the ground was not a good thing and tell the client to get the grade adjusted. Before we began, I would walk around and through the house to spot stuff that I knew he'd be talking about so I could get a jump on the report. If he stuck to sequence, I was able to keep up and sometimes I was able to even get ahead of him a little bit. Key is to be able to type very fast and to keep your thoughts organized and the process in sequcnce so you aren't constantly going back through notes and going back to do report sections over again. He was being mentored by me, so when he was finally able to solo I was able, via the headset, to know what he was seeing and know what he was saying to the client. If he stumbled or wasn't sure what to say, I was always there to correct him via my mic or tell him what to tell the cleint. He could hear me but the clients could not. Then he decided he'd make more money fixing doors and windows on houses that are for sale than he would inspecting and he went off and pursued that business model. Now when inspectors write up windows and doors for something and realtors are looking for someone to fix those things so that the sale can move forward they call him. Oh well, it worked great while it lasted. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I first saw them in Germany nearly 30 years ago; they're nothing new. In Europe yards are so small with some tract homes that this is a way to park the car on the "lawn" without damaging the lawn. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

There's an exhaust gas bouyancy issue. Single-walled connector in cold space, too many bends in that flue, wrong-sized flue pipe, etc. - something that's causing those gases to cool too quickly, lose bouyancy and stall as they leave the vent. The acidic steam settles around that vent and strips the galvanizing. It also degrades the vent, causes so much mineral salt to form and fall out of the base of the vent that it looks like it's snowing inside the appliance and it can trash the exchanger. If there's an elbow directly below the roof plane, as there often is, there's probably condensate dripping off the elbow onto the insulation. Or,.......it's just old as hell and wearing out. When I see those I'll normally walk over to the vent and feel the pipe to see if it's still got a substantial amount of steel left or if it's already paper thin and cracked or about to crack. Often find cracks. Sometimes holes. Sometimes the entire outside of the vent will be eaten away and what you can see from the ground is the liner. Drive down a city street and look at the condition of those vents and you can identify from the street those houses where furnaces or boilers have an issue with weak exhaust gas bouyancy and could have vent or H.E. issues. Got a phone call from an HVAC firm a couple of months ago after I'd called a vent after seeing this and checking the vent. Thought he was calling me to argue with me about something. Nah, he was calling to tell me that he was taking the unusual step of calling a home inspector to compliment him for being the first inspector he's ever known that's savvy enough about furnace vent issues to recognize this as an issue. Told him he should get out more; this is inspector 101 stuff. He disagreed, said it can't be or he'd get called out for it more. Says it's HVAC 101 stuff but the majority of folks in his business don't get it or they ignore it. That explains why I find so many new furnaces with vents that look like that and when I get up on the roof to check them out I find them cracked, holed or ready to fail. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

She clearly expressed an intent to commit fraud and solicited your help to do so. If something goes wrong and she gets caught, don't be surprised if she throws you under the bus. Worse, if something in the house turns out not to her liking, don't be surprised if she sues you for as much as she can wring out of you. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Without any kind of drainage at the sides of that driveway slab and with it draining toward the garage apron, you've got soup under the slab that's being displaced by the heavy slab and cars parked on top. As it pushes up and out at the sides it tends to crack stuff. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, Vinegar is acidic as hell. I use it all the time to descale the coffee machine. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Jan 2, 2012/Kenmore, WA Bruce Barker, 2012 Standards Chair, is seeking A.S.H.I. volunteers to serve on the A.S.H.I. 2012 standards committee. In order to get some geographic diversity, he is particularly interested in recruiting someone from the mid-Atlantic, south or northwest regions of the country. Those interested, should contact Barker via email at bruce@dreamhomeconsultants.com.

It could be worse; they could have filmed it in Arkansas. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike That's not exactly a fair comment; some of the things you other guys find are far worse than what I see. After all, idiocy has no geographic boundaries. And besides, contrary to public opinion we've had indoor plumbing since 1983![]Nothing personal, I was just responding to Mr. Rodger's dis of Canada. Since my Father was Canadian, and some of the nicest and smartest folks I've ever met were Canadians, I get a little defensive when folks start dissing Canada. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It could be worse; they could have filmed it in Arkansas. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

You haven't been keeping up-to-date. We got licensing in 2008 and were separated from the bug guys. Licensing requires proof of 120 hours of training, 40 hours of ride-alongs, 5 inspection reports done, pass the National Home Inspector Exam and a fee and you're licensed. THERE IS NO LONGER AN E & O REQUIREMENT FOR HOME INSPECTORS. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike