hausdok

I saw one last week and the thought occurred to me that it would be good for this gig. The primary reason that I'd consider it is that I live in a metropolitan area and I need something small enough to get under the height tell tale going into the parking garages where I can park it under a surveillance camera. Before I got my Baja, I used to get nervous as hell every time I had to leave either of the vans that preceded the Baja on the street or in one of those open downtown parking lots, 'cuz I worried that I'd come back and find it broken into and some equipment missing - I did lose a 17ft. L-G knockoff that way. The other part of that was I often had to park blocks away and then lug my equipment or drop my equipment on the sidewalk in front of the building and hope that the guy sitting in reception would be conscientious enough to watch it until I found a place to park and returned. So, if you're in an urban area, that's a few things to consider. I didn't know they has such an anemic engine. Around here with all of the steep grades we have, you really need something that has a pair of cajones. That's the reason I traded my 165hp 2003 Baja for the 215hp Turbo Baja in 2005 - the 165hp model was a standard and couldn't get out of it's own way pulling away from a streetlight on a grade until you practically red-lined it in first and then second. I never did try the 165hp in auto; it probably would have been fine but I just love the sh** out of the turbo 'cuz it's like a friggin pocket rocket. Those Nissans look like some badass trucks but I bet they too are too high to get into a downtown parking garage around here. Are there any stronger engine options for that little Ford van? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

You're on the wrong board for this. Go to The Wall at HeatingHelp.com and ask those guys. They eat and breath heating systems and system design. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I saw a statement once; I can't remember where but it must have been a pretty credible source or I wouldn't have remembered it, that maintained that for every 10% of wood that's affected by wood rot fungi the wood loses 50% of its strength. There's no way to save that. The roof and roof framing has to come off and be redone. Do not even suggest "sistering" as it won't work. I first learned about Poria about a decade ago. I found it, researched it, contacted Prof. Jeff Morrell down in Oregon and asked him what it was. He explained that it was Poria and told me to recommend they strip the roof off and rebuild it because it couldn't be saved. I related that in my report. That was the last I heard about the matter for about 9 months. Then one stormy February night I was on the ferry coming back from a job on Bainbridge Island when I got a cell call from the client, "Mike, it's raining in my bathroom." "Who is this," I asked. "It's XXXXXX XXXXXX, remember me?" she asked. I answered, "Yeah, I remember you. So, you've got rain coming in through the ceiling of your bathroom?" "No," she answered, "I don't have a roof over my bathroom and it's raining through a huge hole in the roof." "Where's your house," I asked. She answered, "You know, the house you inspected for me." Now she's got my attention, "You bought that house?!" I asked. "Yeah, why," she responded. "'Cuz that roof was badly rotted and needed to be torn off and rebuilt. Did they do that." "No, all they did was hire a Chinese guy, Victor Wxx, to patch a hole in the roof. He said everything was fixed, so I went ahead with the deal." "I'm on the ferry from Bainbridge Island. I'll be there as soon as I can get there," I said, and then I hung up. She'd had to leave the inspection to catch a flight for a business trip about fifteen minutes before I went up into the attic and discovered the lousy ventilation and rotten framing. Back then I still didn't have the computer smarts to send reports out email and was still delivering them by hand. I'd dropped her report off at her realtor's office, had explained the roof issue to him and had warned him not to let her go ahead with that purchase unless they tore that roof and roof framing off and rebuilt it. I'd known the guy for about four years by then and expected him to do the right thing. Things got pretty hectic - it was the summer months when this area was booming - and I'd completely forgotten to follow up. When I got to her house, I walked into her bathroom to find that a couple of rotten rafters had given away and that the drywall ceiling had caved in along with the rafters and all of that blown-in cellulose and I could indeed look up through a 3ft. wide hole in the roof. I ran to the truck, got the tarp I use under attic scuttle hatches, climbed up onto her roof with a few good sized stones from her garden and then spread the tarp out over the hole and weighed it in place with the stones, praying all the time that the roof didn't collapse under me and that the stones wouldn't slide off the roof and that the tarp would stay in place for the rest of the night. Then I climbed down to find out what she'd been told by her agent. I learned that at the time I'd inspected her house the agent and his wife were moving to Phoenix and couldn't hang around for the closing; so they'd turned the whole transaction over to another agent that did the closing. However, instead of giving the client the report and telling her what I'd told him, while she was still out of town her agent got together with the listing agent, who was the wife of the owner who himself was her broker, and they hired the notorious Victor Wxx to look at the house. He'd gone up into the attic, came down, said that he didn't see anything to be concerned about, except a little spot of rot, and he could fix it easily. They'd then had him patch it with a piece of plywood and the agent left town after passing along to the agent that was taking over for him that all issues had been resolved. She returned from her trip, closed on that house and that was that. A few weeks later, I got a call from an attorney who was representing my client. She explained that she'd contacted the agent, Carter Koxxx in Arizona, had spoken to him and that his exact response to her had been, "Why are you contacting me, O'Handley is the one that ****ed up. Go after him." In the end she told me that I was the only one that wouldn't be sued as a result of what had happened but that she did expect me to testify. Since I never received a subpoena, I assume that it was all settled out of court. Yeah, yeah, I know, too long a story just to tell you that your idea of letting things dry out isn't going to work, but I think it helps to put it in perspective, don't you? That roof needs to come off and be rebuilt. Don't let anyone tell you or the client otherwise. If you do, don't be surprised if you get that phone call someday. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Than that's what you say. It's not fair to the client to allow the client to assume that the inspection experience you refer to is with residential construction when it is not. Here in Washington State that would get you in trouble with the Department of Licensing. An inspector here with 10 years of experience as a roofer, 12 years experience as a remodeler and then 13 years experience as a custom builder with only the last five years as an inspectors is not allowed to advertise 40 years of experience. He's allowed to state on his website that he's had 10 years of experience as a roofer, 12 years experience as a remodeler, 13 years experience as a custom builder and 5 years experience as an inspector. I'm guessing that you don't want folks to know you are new to the business because you don't think you'll get work from folks who know that. To a certain extent, that's going to be true; but you'd be surprised at the number of clients who will hire you with little experience in home inspections based simply on the fact that you were in an obviously technically challenging profession before now. When you are new, you are liable to make mistakes. Hopefully, those won't be costly mistakes; but if you screw up and the client that had hired you because he or she thought you had a lot of experience, based on what was displayed on your site, finds out you were a rookie all along, you could find yourself the target of some pretty unpleasant publicity via word-of-mouth, Angie's List, or worse - a lawsuit. The lot of the public already has a certain amount of distrust of home inspectors based on horror stories they've heard from friends or co-workers or what they're read or seen in the media (Think Mike Holmes' constant trashing of home inspectors.). Many of us have worked a lot of years to try and overcome that stigma and we are gradually seeing progress being made. Here, we openly embrace and help new inspectors who are willing to listen and who we perceive as being credible. I hope you'll be one of those. Your credibility is the lynch pin that this business is built on; don't weaken it right out of the gate. Emphasize what you've done to learn the business and your commitment to continuing education. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, it was one of the Rocky movies that Stallone made. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Jimmy will know, but if memory serves Tiger Inspections is an outfit that has about 35 or 40 inspectors spread out through Massachusetts and other parts of New England. Last time I looked at them was years ago and back then they were known for getting in and out of the home really fast. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Rick, I don't know that there is a limit; as long as the flue is properly sized and they all enter the chimney on the same level, I don't see a problem. However, if they are entering that stack on different floors you have an issue. The rule is the flue has to be sized according to the largest flue and 50% of all others and all must enter on the same floor. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jerry, That's a column or post foundation. Go to library and click on 'File Downloads' and then scroll down to FM 5-426, put a whole lot of paper in your printer and print that baby off. You'll find all sorts of good stuff on that construction technique in that manual. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Mark, Just noticed that I never answered your second question. Kurt was talking about Xypex, a crystaline waterproofing material (CWM). Yes, you could use Xypex on that wall but you'd first want to fill all of those voids by wetting down the wall and packing them with hydraulic cement; then you'd wet down the wall top to bottom end end to end and coat it with the CWM using a masonry brush. It's a catalyst and will cause crystals to form in the first 3 - 4 inches of concrete from the surface. It will stop water molecules but it will not stop water vapor molecules. That shouldn't really be an issue though. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Looks like the mud was vibrated too much 60 years ago. On second thought, I don't remember ever seeing anyone using a vibrator that long ago, so there was probably an over exuberant fellow walking along the top of the forms with a 2 by 4 ramming it up and down more than was necessary. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Jerry, Go to the menu bar above, pass your cursor over "library" and then choose "file directory" from the sub-menu. Once you get to the directory, scroll to Structural and then choose "Construction Techniques" and then scroll the the Southern Pine Council's Permanent Wood Foundation Guide and download it to your computer. Besides making you really smart about wood foundations, if memory serves I think there's an inspection checklist for wood foundations in that. There's nothing wrong with a properly built permanent wood foundation. There are some places where they've been in the ground for hundreds of years. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Check out Federal Law, Under federal law, every owner of the property back to the time the tank was installed can be found liable for cleanup. Sold the property ten years ago? Thought you're home free? Nah, the feds can still come and get a piece of you for leaving that old UST there unremediated. Does the government exercise that right much? No, but it's there and someday I think they're going to be forced to use it more and more. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I have an app for that. I balance the barrel of my Maglite on the top of the pipe and see which way it rolls as I gently balance one end. Works perfectly every time and I don't have to lug anything extra around or fiddle with any digital gizmo. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

You're a little late to the party, Pete. Check the date of the last post to that thread. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

99 Thanks Mike. BTW, sorry for dragging mud into your home. ????? Don't sweat it, It couldn't have been too much mud if I can't remember what the heck you're referring to. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, Sort of. There's a fellow down in California that's squaring off against the code sellers and his posting every code he can get his hands on online for free. His site is: http://public.resource.org/ The Tennessee picking on the site are pretty slim. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hey Jeff, Good to see ya; long time no see. Where you been? Come around more often - bring a few buddies with ya. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

The third letter give you the year. H is either 1978 or 1999. How old does it look? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, The York units can be installed either way with air from outside or air from inside. As plummen has said and you've already noted, it needs combustion air openings. Keep in mind that it may not draw air from a bath or bedroom and that the openings must be properly positioned and sized for the BTU input of the appliance. Can honestly say I've never seen anyone use black ABS for exhuast vent material on a category IV appliance; around here they seem to prefer the PVC. I could see them using a two pipe system - one for intake and one for exhaust with a combi vent on the outside wall but they'd have to use a coupler on the inside similar to the combi vent that brings oxygen into the appliance from outside and they'd have to cap the combustion air opening on top of the burner chamber. I don't think I've ever seen that done here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Not sure what to suggest. I suppose that the stain might have permeated the wood enough to have something to do with it, but I'd be making wild guesses. Try this, look for a similarly built house in the same neighborhood and ask the owner if you can take ten minutes to conduct an experiment. Explain that your trying to figure out a little bit of building science relative to your working environment and that you won't harm his house; then check the siding of that house to see what you find. Depending on results, I might repeat the process at a few more houses to see if it's consistent or an anomaly. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

As long as the self-adhered stuff wasn't exposed to sunlight in any way I should think it would be fine. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi David, Yeah, I see readings a little higher in engineered stuff but not that much higher. Did you check it at the middle of a panel away from a penetration on the non-weather side of the house? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Dunno, Would it be here? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi David, If that trim is just nailed onto the face and you have no way to confirm whether the joint where the plywood meets that window casing is sealed, I'd believe it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Saw this late last night. Had a tough time restraining myself from responding in a way that I'm sure would have offended Jason. Do what Mark suggests. If, after reading all of those posts, you still want to be a mold-is-golder, do us all a favor and keep it to yourself; otherwise, the rest of us are going to have a hard time considering you to be an ethical, serious and credible inspector. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike