hausdok

Yeah, that's how I do it too; I've found it to be a LOT easier than opening the thing all the way up, bracing the bottom against something and then walking it up. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Sorry to disagree with my esteemed North Carolina colleague, but I think you're wrong. When our board was trying to decide which SOP to use, we found that in unlicensed states, and in licensed states that don't specify the current ASHI SOP or an older version of it as mandatory, inspectors were using SOP's from opposing associations, or no SOP at about the same percentages that they were using the ASHI standard. In order to be able to have a legally enforcible law we felt that we needed a single consistent standard that didn't favor any organization over others and we opted to develop our own SOP. Our SOP borrows elements of all other SOP's but when we did a side-by-side comparison of the SOP's off all of the "national" models we found that, compared to some, the ASHI SOP is a weaker document. It was our consensus that of the association SOP's the one that was the most fair to consumers and to inspectors was the NAHI SOP. The associations need to get over themselves and stop crowing about who is best and simply focus on what they can do better than anyone else - provide education to inspectors. If the associations were to stop bickering about who is better than the other and simply focus on educating inspectors to the most stringent and most current practices the whole profession would benefit. I agree with the others, a logo change means nothing to anyone who is not an inspector. In more than 15 years I've never relied on a logo of any sort and my business never suffered for it. I can count on two hands the number of times in 15 years that someone has asked me if I belonged to any specific association. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I dunno, there are plenty of "clubs" in play here but none of them has had any influence on the board. When the law was passed here and the board was initially appointed, I think one of the local club chapters thought that they were going to get a leg up, because the board chairman, who is an independent, is married to an inspector who at that time was chapter president. They'd even allowed their lobbyist to assist with modification and passage of the bill in it's final form. You should have heard some of the bellyaching I heard when some of the folks from that club discovered that the board doesn't play favorites and had developed a state SOP instead of adopting any of the club SOPs. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I think that the guy/gal writing the instructions was having a little bit of fun that day. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Why would the lack of an E & O requirement stack the deck? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

According to an article in yesterday's Naples Daily news, home inspectors in Florida who aren¡¯t licensed by today will be performing illegal inspections. The current home inspector licensing law was signed in 2007. The article went on to state that after today unlicensed inspectors face fines of more than $1,000 and/or up to six months in jail. Today new inspectors in Florida must complete a 120-hour course or show that they were licensed in another state. Inspectors who were in business before the law went into effect were able to be grandfathered prior to March 1st if they could show that they have three years or experience as an inspector or a certificate showing that they'd completed at least 14 hours of home inspector education. The process requires a background check, a $300,000 commercial general liability insurance policy and the applicant must be of good moral character. The article states that according to the Florida State Department of Business and Professional Regulations there were no licensed home inspectors in 2009 but by January 2011 there were 938 licensees and as of this month there are 4,199 licensed inspectors in Florida. 4,199 inspectors! Wow! It sounds like one couldn't swing a cat around by its tail and not strike another practicing home inspector; talk about your competitive and tough work environments.

Sure they were energized? Did you check them with a tester or did you detect them with a volt stick? You have to be careful with a volt stick because it will detect current in dead wires that are running near live wires. I've found it time and again. Imagine finding an old ham radio antennae in an attic that's simply a loop of wire, knowing that it's completely disconnected from anything else at both ends, but having your volt stick going crazy near it because it's been captured by the field given off by some live wiring somewhere else in the attic. It's a good idea to always have a secondary means of verifying what gizmos are telling you; it doesn't matter whether it's electrical related, gas related or moisture or whatever - always use a secondary means to verify. It can save you some embarrassment later on. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Around here, AC systems are tied into the forced hot air heating systems. Turning off power to the furnace shuts down the thermostat and when the thermostat is off the compressor/condensing unit outside, which is on a separate circuit from the furnace, shuts off. Yeah, maybe that furnace should have it's own dedicated circuit, but as long as the combined load on the circuit doesn't exceed what's necessary to trip that breaker, having it sharing other circuits might not be technically correct but it isn't a red light and siren issue. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Is there really any remote chance of a contractor being able to "properly" install this siding? Given the number of flaming hoops in the manual and having absolutely no control over how it's handled once it's shipped from the factory to the retailer and their yard help, it sure seems like the deck is stacked against them. The do's, don'ts, shall's, shall not's, the number of men required to properly transport it, and all of the rest of the warnings, are enough to convince me to find something else. There's just too much. When a contractor has to baby sit every piece of any product they're installing, they're losing money. I see it installed correctly quite frequently. Even when it's not installed correctly, it works just fine under practically any condition. I can mostly agree with Jim on this. I am seeing it installed correctly in more and more new developments, but I have to admit that for years I've been forced to write it up for numerous minor oversights. Many of those errors were not errors in previous generations of the product and one could almost pin the installation method to a particular set of Hardi instructions. When it appears pretty clear to me that the installer is using a previous set of instructions that have been superceded, I let the client know that. I've pointed out many times on new homes when I've written up a particular issue on the product that years before I had not written that same issue up because at that time it was allowed by the manufacturer. I think it's important that buyers of newly constructed homes understand that construction processes are always in flux and that they need to be flexible and willing to do some homework and learn everything that they can about the products used in their new home - not just about how it's installed but how it must be maintained and how often. A couple of years ago, I began attaching a copy of the most current set of JH instructions along with a copy of the best practices manual to every report where I found errors. I encouraged homeowners to share those documents with the site supers so that site supers could point out to their subs that they obviously weren't working off the most current set of instructions. Many of them did just that and every once in a while I'll get a call from a site super or a siding sub that wants to bemoan the fact that JH keeps changing their instructions. I simply point out to them that if it's possible for me to keep current on the instructions for the product, I'm sure they can too. I think it's either been working or these large builders have been changing their subs; because most of them seem to be coming around and more and more new homes are either perfect installs or damned near perfect installs. Now, if we could just get word to the remodeling market. It's a good product and it performs very well in Washington's very damp climate when the installer pays attention to most of the traditional rules for installing flashings, grade clearance, concrete-to-siding contact and weather during installation. On the other hand, it is necessary to pay attention to some of the rules for the product lest the job go to hell and I have seen it installed very poorly time and again - usually by someone who's only defense is, "I don't need to read no friggin' instructions for how to install this siding; I've been installing siding for 30 years. Nobody can tell me anything I don't already know." ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The doors have nothing to do with it. Read the words: "Overcurrent devices shall not be located in the vicinity of easily ignitible material, such as in clothes closets." It doesn't say, "unless there are doors over them," or, "unless such & such a clearance is met." Breakers don't belong in clothes closets. I think one could also make the argument that they don't belong in any closet. I think that the code writing body used a clothes closet as an example but didn't mean to say that other types of closets are OK, because it's not just clothes that are easily ignitable. If one were to open the storage closets in the homes of most of us, I bet those have a plethora of easily ignitable items. There is a requirement for clearance around these things for a reason, so they are easily seen and easily reached in the event of an emergency and so there will be plenty of room around them for an electrician to work safely. Let's face it, a closet stuffed with crap - ignitable or not - makes it harder to find these things and makes them harder to get to. When you are explaining this stuff to a client, that's what they need to understand, 'cuz most of them are going to be thinking, "Shit, I've got all that crap piled in front of my panel at home." ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Like Mike Homes?[:-dev3] You've got to be referring to those bib coveralls. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Pick up the phone, contact a few local home inspectors. Ask them how long they've been in business and how many metal roofs they've inspected. When you find one you think has sufficient experience with metal roofs, hire him or her to inspect. Yes, there will be a fee; whatever the inspector decides to charge you. By the way, nice job dropping that link. I nixed it though. Sorry. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

George, I'm looking for a way to monitor and coach a helper wearing a cigarette camera via a wireless video feed. I'd need to be able to talk to him via a headset and he'd need to be able to respond. Got any ideas? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Meant to do this last week; even put it on a to-do list - then promptly forgot it. Anyway.... Laars Mascot II - http://www.laars.com/MascotII.aspx Smith GC 160 Condensing Boiler - http://www.smithboiler.com/html/gc160-c ... boiler.asp Heat Transfer Products - Phoenix Evolution - http://www.htproducts.com/versa-series.html Navien Combi Condensing Boiler - http://www.navienamerica.com/product/co ... n=combi_01 ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Erby, Yeah, I thought it was kind of ironic that a website owner that has made her reputation by providing a place for people to sound off about lousy service was apparently paying an off-shore company to sow links about her site all over the net. Maybe, instead of simply deleting the link what we should do is change the link to a competitor's link so that when one clicked on it one got Craig's List. If everyone were to do that, the practice might one day stop. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Nah, probably not. Most of us here in Washington don't have year-round indoor plumbing yet. Still have to get up mornings and empty the slop bucket into the privvy. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Sean, Welcome. Hope you find the site useful. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Agree with Richard, Center is best, but if a torsion spring is properly balanced side to side you can connect them anywhere and it really doesn't make that much difference. The opener doesn't really lift much weight because the door is supposed to be neutrally balanced by the torsion springs. I'd bet that door broke because the down-force is set to high, the door encountered an obstruction and when the door stopped the opener continued to push, causing the top of the door to flex and the glass to shatter. Get the down-force and close/open limits properly adjusted, add a stiffener along the top, replace the glass, adjust the torsion springs to accommodate any additional weight, and it will be fine. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Kurt, Don't know how credible they are, but I've sent you a few articles from JLC that might be of some use. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, They usually are. By the name, it sounded like the potential client might have been Asian. About 90% of my clientele are foreigners and about 95% of those are Asian. For whatever reason, Asians seem to like to haggle about price more than Americans or Europeans. I think it's a cultural thing. (Now before you all start talking about how I'm a racist and am making bigoted comments, keep in mind that I've been married to an Asian for more than 31 years.) Just stand firm on your prices and most eventually give up trying to whittle you down. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Fox News states that by making buildings more airtight, building owners increase "indoor-air contaminant concentrations and indoor-air humidity," and "stir up hazardous material ranging from asbestos to harmful caulking." Climate Progress takes issue with the report, while TreeHugger's Lloyd Alter says the argument has some validity. To read more, click here.

Hi All, Sorry for the late notice, but I just stumbled onto this. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Technical Assistance Program (TAP) for state and local officials will present a webinar TODAY, about geothermal heat pumps, one of the fastest growing applications of renewable energy in the world today. In addition to describing different system configurations, including horizontal trenches and vertical holes, as well as open loops that use well or lake water, the presentations will outline steps for implementing policies to take advantage of geothermal energy and provide links to helpful resources. The presentation will take place June 23, from 3:00 to 4:15 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. So, in about another three hours, if any of you who think you'd be interested in geothermal heat pumps has about an hour and a half free you might want to check it out. The notice says that one must register in advance in order to obtain a URL for this webinar, so I have no idea whether it's still possible to do so. For those interested in trying to participate, try clicking here to register. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Tom, Sadly, you and Chad still don't seem to get it. Critics of licensing always seem to think that a licensing law needs to set the bar so that those coming into the profession are performing at a very high level of skill upon entry or they shouldn't be allowed into the business. Then they complain that not doing so creates inspectors that are all equal. That's not the case; and that's not the point of licensing. The concept of a perfectly trained home inspector level license is like the idea of a perfectly trained automobile driver. In other words, lets not allow anyone to have a driver's license unless/until he or she can drive at the level of Bob Bondurant or Dan Gurney. Well, if that were the case, licensing would not just level the playing field, it would create home inspectors that are probably in many cases more qualified than the existing inspector base that precedes them. Nobody automatically assumes that just because someone has a license he or she does whatever it is at the highest skill level possible. If they did, long established pros in all fields would be going out of business in huge numbers. That doesn't happen because licensing doesn't set a high bar, it establishes a minimum level of competence for one to legally practice a profession - that's all. When a medical student finishes school he's conferred an MD but he still doesn't get to practice medicine, does he? He must serve an internship under the guidance of more experienced doctors and then he must eventually take and pass exams before he receives his license. When that brand new doctor finally completes all that and receives his license, does everyone trust him? Hell no! He doesn't get to walk out of the issuing office and immediately have the trust of everyone one the street just by virtue of his license - he has to find a position somewhere and he has to work at the profession and build his own reputation for years before he starts garnering a patient base that respects him and recommends him to others. It's exactly the same way with home inspector licensing. You can call it worthless, but those rules which you so readily scoff at are discouraging folks that before licensing would have been opening up companies on every corner without giving it a second thought. Your rules require inexperienced folks to either sit in a classroom for 140 hours or work under someone else for 100 inspections and then take a test before they can get a license. That tells the guy flipping burgers that he's going to have to make an investment in time and effort, and then sit down to take a test - one which he has no idea about how difficult it will be - before he can legally enter the trade. It is a discouragement to a lot of folks who are only looking for quick easy money and that in and of itself is worth the effort it took to put the rule in place. People need to stop thinking of licensing as something that should create and license the Captain America Inspector and understand that licensing is only going to create the Peewee Herman inspector and that once Peewee enters the profession he'll have a lot of years and hard work before he can garner the respect and the same client database as the experienced inspectors that he hopes to one day emulate. Do I wish we had the perfect Captain America Inspector? Oh yeah, it's long been a dream of mine to start a college that would take in eager young persons and then put them through a very demanding couple of years to create such inspectors. In my dream model, those inspectors would leave training better educated about homes than 95% of the existing inspector base and they then they would remain in the business for the next 30, 40 or 50 years, molding what we do into a more professional discipline, instead of the current model where we are a temporary stop for middle-aged guys backing into the business 'cuz they got tired of doing something else. Instead of being intent only on feathering a nest for 10 to 15 years and then bailing out, these inspectors would look at it as a lifelong calling, not just a career and eventually we'd see them commanding truly professional fees instead of the slave wages that some markets in this business limit inspectors to. The rules you have are a starting point. Just because the law gets passed doesn't mean that the work stops. Now inspectors in your state need to get interested in what your board is doing. They need to provide input to your board and when they think your board is screwing up they need to make their voices heard long and loud in Albany. You and Chad and others need to apply for board positions and lobby for those positions, so that you can eventually get in there and begin to improve things. If you get turned down, apply again, and again, and again and encourage others you feel are qualified and who are interested in the profession to do the same. Don't allow the board to become populated by white washers or toadies and make your voices heard when you think board members are white washing or sucking up to special interests. If you don't, don't complain when/if the board does become and remain populated by zoid-friendly nincompoops. If you can look past what you see as a screwed up system, focus on the positives and work with your board, eventually you should see the system improved. However, if you just dismiss the law as something that's useless and has just 'leveled the playing field' and allow the folks running the program to get away with not enforcing it, it eventually will degrade the profession there into exactly that model which you guys despise. The work to improve licensing never stops - until you fully understand that you guys are never going to get it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

State's do not attempt to manage business through licensing; they attempt to derive revenue stream while masquerading as consumer activists.That sir, is one of the most intelligent statements I've ever read on this board (I'd lay claim but I can't manage to find a post where I've said it before). Well said that Kurt. Well, As much as I love my buddy Kurt, I can't agree with that statement; at least where we are concerned here in Washington. Licensing doesn't provide any extra revenue for the state here; the law here required a revenue neutral program - one where the revenue taken in paid for the cost of the licensing, testing, and contributed to the salary of those involved. If the program hadn't been set up to be revenue neutral, our legislature never would have passed the licensing law. The target was to cover the cost of the program - just - not to turn a profit. I've heard for years about how our program was designed to raise revenue for the state. Phooey! That was never the case; I know, I was as deeply involved in crafting this thing as anyone and nobody ever considered profit. From the getgo we were worried about whether the program was going to be able to repay the legislature for the initial funds temporarily allocated for ramp-up lest it be shut down. I can understand how vehicle driver licensing and registration might be a moneymaker, I can understand how property taxes and sales taxes might make revenue, but programs designed around the licensing of a few hundred individuals don't make money - they[re lucky if they break even - and that's one of the reasons that our state's budget office's projections made it very clear to the legislature from the beginning that this had to be a revenue neutral program or it shouldn't be passed. As it turned out, the original money allocated to start the program by the legislature was based on an estimated 1000 licensed inspectors. Revenues collected were supposed to reimburse the legislature for cost of ramp up, licensing printing, cost of website and the salary of those persons who manage the program and from that point on it had to support itself with renewal fees. As it turns out, the final number looks like it's goint to flatten out at about 600 inspectors; and the initial fees fell short of what was needed. Consequently, several persons assigned to the program were reassigned to other programs at DOL and the inspector licensing program was left in the charge of one person who also manages another program at DOL. The program is so tightly funded right now that it's come very close to being shut down at least twice due to insufficient revenue from fees collected. I suppose in some states these programs might have been able to make a profit for the state, but I'd be hard pressed to understand how. Given the relatively paltry fees some of these states have been collecting, it's my guess that most of these programs are losing money and that would certainly explain some of the budget shortfalls we keep hearing about in the news. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, it's been about 47 years since I tore one apart, but most of the time it's just dirt or broken springs. I used to completely disassemble them, take fine steel wool and polish them back up, sand and repaint the dinged up areas and reassemble and adjust them and it was pretty rare that I couldn't get them working again. The old Coronas are (at least were) pretty plentiful and once you have one or two for spare parts those parts can go a long way. It used to be a lot of fun dinking around with those things; maybe it would make a nice hobby in my old age now that typewriters are basically a thing of the past. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike