asihi

I have a quick question. I did a vacant house today where a section of 3" cast iron sewer pipe was replaced with PVC. Instead of using any kind of connector, the plumber leaded the PVC into the cast iron hub. I've never seen this before. I would think with the expansion and contraction of the PVC, the lead wouldn't hold very well. Is this allowed and will this work? Thanks for your help. Tony Click to Enlarge 32.51 KB

Les it sounds like you would be helping that babies long-term health if you evicted them. For the life of me, I can't understand how people can live like that.

Like Jim said, it shouldn't be buried under the soil and terminate at a weep screed. Here's a pretty detailed installation manual for this stuff http://www.culturedstone.com/literature ... Veneer.pdf

It's a great cause. My mother is a breast cancer survivor. My 14 year old hormone-crazed son is even getting into the mood. At least that's what he said when he came home from school wearing one of these. Click to Enlarge 26.28 KB

I really have nothing to add that the other guys haven't mentioned. I just want to comment on your writing style. Years ago when I first got started I came across Walter Jowers website. After I read some of his sample reports, I told myself that's how I want to write. I sent Walter an e-mail asking for some advice and he wrote back with a simple statement. He said write like you're having a conversation with the reader; write like you speak. And that's how I felt reading your report. This is the type of writing style that I strive for on my reports. I try to stop every once in a while and read a paragraph and ask myself "would I really say that to someone". Your report is simple to read and understand and to the point. I especially liked the WAG after age of the roof A quick word about the "glamour shot". The reason I put a picture of the house on the front of my report is more for me than the buyer. I"ll forget names as soon as I meet someone, but I remember faces. The same goes for houses. I'll forget the address, but remember a house that inspected years ago. I've had past clients call and ask questions about their building and even though I had the report in front of me, I had a hard time visualizing the building-until I starting putting the pics on the front of the report.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with this type of water softening system http://www.easywater.com/ . Mine old water softener is starting to go and I'm looking into this system. It would be nice not to ever add salt again. Thanks for your help. Tony

What's strange is that the numbers of inspectors in IL have been steadily growing all year. We're upwards of 2100 guys now. My guess is that unemployment is making people look for alternantive ways of making money and inspections is an easy target. [:-banghea

One other argument for raising them is for keeping the screens clean. I feel like I'm constantly sweeping my garage floor, especially in the spiring when my neighbor's Cottonwood trees bloom. That would clog those screens screens in a second, which could cause the flame to over-fire and burn out the temperature sensor. Like Jim said, if that happens the water heater would have to be replaced. Tony

I had a job today where when the AC unit operating, there was a fairly loud hissing noise. The refrigerant lines ran exposed through the open attached garage ceiling and into the building. What I found was that a section of the suction line was crushed to the point of almost being flat. My question is; can the refrigerant line be spliced back together or does it have to be replaced completely? I've heard or read somewhere that these lines are very difficult to be brazed together. Is this true or is my brain playing tricks on me...again. Thanks. Tony Click to Enlarge 50.91 KB

A few years back, I had a house that had about 7 to 10 cats running around. They had one big litter box called the basement. The smell slapped you in the face when you opened the basement door. I put on my mask, walked to the bottom of the stairs and turned around and went back up. The only thing that would save this place was a match and a gallon of gas. I mean this place was a disaster. The garbage through out the building was knee high. After everything we talked about and everything we've seen, my client still wanted the house. I directed him to a company that does crime scene clean up similar to this company http://www.acceleratedbioscenecleanup.c ... p#homicide By far the worst house I've ever seen.

Just to close out this thread, I was at the building yesterday. These were 2-75 gallon Rheem water heaters. I called Rheem and they told me that the water heaters should be removed and replaced, not repaired. I guess that they were worried about the integrity of the tanks (water getting trapped in the insulation around the the tank causing corrosion) and of course the burners and controls.

From what I understand it's an unfinished basement. Also they're not sure if the sump failed or if the sewer backed up. My only concern with the burners is being able to clean out the silt or whatever debris got in there.

Over the weekend we had some torrential rains, upwards of 7" overnight on Saturday. I just got a call from a client canceling an inspection that we had scheduled for tomorrow because the basement of this house he's looking at was flooded. He didn't go into details and couldn't talk all that long, but he did say that there was at least 8" of water all the way around the basement and he wants to re-schedule for later in the week after the clean up. Here's my question; this is a large home with at least 2 boilers and multiple water heaters. If these systems were buried under water, do they need to be replaced or can they be dried out? I would think at a minimum, the burners and control valves on all of them would have to be replaced. Thanks for your help. Tony

One of my favorites from my dad when we were kids; "knock it off or I'll smack you so hard your kids wll be born dizzy"

I agree with the others about replacement being the best way to go, but on small areas where it's not practical to rip everything apart, we used to use Bondo. Sets up quickly, sands very easily and accepts primer and paint very well. Tony

I did a new construction townhome today. At the water heater, instead of finding dielectric fittings at the supply lines, the plumber used brass compression fittings. Is this type of fitting allowed or is this a new type of fitting? Thanks for your help. Tony Click to Enlarge 25.57 KB

I found this on Hardi-Planks website http://www.jameshardie.com/pdf/best-pra ... -plank.pdf Look at page 10. I don't know when they started requiring kick out flashing, but I'm not sure why it matters. Kickout flashing is a fairly essential part for keeping water out of the building.

Jerry, what did it look like inside the house near the fan?

Kurt, a couple of quick questions; is this something that you're going to incorporate into your everyday inspections and if so, how much time does it add on? Is it easy to download the pictures to your report? Everytime I think about getting one of these, I talk myself out of it. Then I see the pictures and it gets me thinking again. Plus I completely agree with you that this tool can be a great marketing device and separate you from other inspectors. Tony

I'm looking to see if I can get a little advice about upgrading my inspection software. Here's a little background on what I have; Back in 2001 I bought the ReportPlus 2000 software. At the time, they allowed the software to be installed on only two separate computers. After those two computers died, I called them back and the company sent me out another disk to be used on another two computers. Well, these computers are now on life support. I called AHIT, who now owns the software and was told I would have to buy the full version of their current reporting system. I don't have a problem with that. The two things that are making me a little apprehensive are; 1. They may not be able to transfer over my boilerplate library that I've adjusted and added over the years. 2. I would only be allowed to pre-load 50 reports at a time. Once I get to 5 reports on the computer, I could go on-line and get another 50. So if they can't transfer over my boilerplate library, I'd have to re-write everything, so why not look at other reporting systems (I do like IR. It's Word based and lays out similarly to ReportPlus). Plus, if the company goes under, I'll be out my money and be looking for another system..again. Does anyone have any experience with AHIT and their software? How about IR? Thanks for your help. Tony

Is this house slab on grade? If so, were the ducts in the slab? I would be looking for ducts that are filled with water if this is the case. Tony

Erik, your link was broken. This looks like the installation manual for that unit http://www.boschhotwater.com/Portals/7/ ... 2_2007.pdf

It's an interesting idea, but in my opinion, I don't think there's a lot of fence sitters because they're worried about declining home prices. Home prices have already been drastically reduced. I think there's a lot of fence sitters because of employment or I should say unemployment. There's so much uncertianty. Stabilize the job market and people will be buying again. But to answer the original question, yes, I think this could definitely help the inspection industry. Tony

Got me on that one, Bob. I give up you win

Rob, I'm not doubting your knowledge or your experience with this stuff, but when you say white joint tape is not allowed on gas lines are you talking about the manufacturers specs or is it code? What about this stuff? http://www.sealtape.com/ptfe_hdwhite.html Its description sums it up. "It is widely used by plumbers for General Water Plumbing applications." Also have a look at the compatibility chart bottom right corner. Different applications require specific thread sealing tape designed for that purpose. Look around the site, you'll understand what I mean. Bottom line, not all tapes are equal. The white tape, regardless of thickness, is not designed for hydrocarbons, if you have natural gas you need to use the correct tape (UL Yellow Gas). Back to the original question: "Am I missing something or is he making this up?" He's not making up anything. He recognized the white tape but failed to explain why it was wrong. I wouldn't fault him for that. Rob I don't fault this guy for anything. I have no interest in this place, but I still would never call this out. It may technically be wrong, but the day I have to check compatibility charts for everything in the building is the day I quit. BTW, natural gas is on that chart.