Chris Bernhardt

Lately around here a lot of the installers have gone to installing metal flashing behind the butt joints. I like the method. It looks better long term. Dam caulking almost always splits at the butt joints then Johnny home owner comes along and smears some more on and makes your nice little $500k house look like crap. Chris, Oregon

Well, I thought that 90 degree bends are only allowed before the trap in the tail piece sections between the sink basins and the trap inlet. Also many traps are sold as a kit with the trap arm and maybe I am just assuming that the proper configuration is to have the trap arm connected directly to the trap outlet. Chris, Oregon

Image Insert: 77.36 KB Can you put a bend between the trap outlet and the drain arm like this? I would say not technically but it would be easy to disassemble and clean still. Chris, Oregon

My dream is a wiki pedia of home inspection. Where we could build a living specification and then invite all those to contribute and peer review the contributions. If there are errors in information in linked sources we could comment on those too. Chris, Oregon

Metal plate for a footer? I have never seen that done here in my region. Interesting. Chris, Oregon

You got to be kidding. Is that a pre-cast footer that they bolted to? I guess they are not concerned with roll over or up lift. Maybe they just want to resist some drift and scoot in moderate conditions. Chris, Oregon

How does that go? One ounce of prevention is greater than a pound of cure? I can't imagine how the interior treatment could be guaranteed to work. What a waste of money. Treatment combined with collection makes some sense but treatment alone is ridiculous. Chris, Oregon

Seems like I remember earlier this year or maybe last year (time flies) that there was an article in Forbes or whatever giving honest advice to not waste to much money on college and just focus on learning what you need to know. I remember this lesson from my mentor when I was an engineer newbie. I would come to him with all these questions about how this worked and that worked and I had gotten my self so confused trying to find the answers in the books. He told me to forget the books and get a couple of handful of transistors and start playing with them until I figured out how they worked. Chris, Oregon

I believe the winter is not going to be as bad as everybody around here fears. Just the same I'm stocking my freezer and pantry. My goal is 6 months worth of supplies and food[] Lending is so tight around here the realtors are squealing! Chris, Oregon

Do you differentiate between siding soft to probing on the basis of decay fungi or moisture swelling? I know that surfaces sunken are likely due to decay fungi and surfaces raised are likely irreversibly damaged from moisture. How do you report on siding that is soft to probing with a tool but not necessarily soft to probing by your fingers? I am convinced from my experience probing siding that if the siding is soft to probing with a tool even though it's not quite detectable by finger pressure that it will worsen. Chris, Oregon

Our Oregon wood destroying organism SOP states that finished surfaces are not probed. How can I say this… uh there’s this other inspector I know who does probe painted siding. I.., I mean, he uses a thin blade of a box cutter to do comparative probing because it causes the least amount of damage say compared to an ice pick or a screwdriver. How many of the brethren probe painted siding with a tool? If so how do you report areas soft to probing if your SOP and maybe even your contract said that you don’t probe painted surfaces? When an area is soft to probing would you describe it as rot damage, moisture damage or just it’s soft to probing? Would you describe what you used to probe the siding so that others could confirm your findings? For example a broad tip screwdriver might not detect softness that a thin blade box cutter will. How do you identify in the report siding whose damage is only found thru comparative probing with a tool? For example T1-11 plywood and all of the composition siding products can appear solid and undamaged even to probing by thumb but yet yield under a tool. In order to demonstrate that the siding is damaged one has to probe it. For example “I found the siding under the window soft to probing. Siding soft to probing most probably will continue to deteriorate regardless of attempts to seal it. Have a siding contractor replace all siding soft to probing.â€

If you can't put it in a pocket or carry it by hand then your haulin to much stuff trooper. Travel light. Don't worry about going back out to your rig to get something. Believe me any savings you think you made in being efficient will be blown as soon as you open your mouth and start talking to your client, any agents or the seller etc. Chris, Oregon

Attaching a stigma to the house? The report is confidential. If there is a perceived stigma they created it so why don't they go sue themselves! Chris, Oregon

They (listing realtors) usually tell me that I killed their deal. On one occasion the listing realtor went out of her way to call me to say that the house (an old farm house in the country) recently sold on an inspection that passed with flying colors. I would have liked to know who the inspector was. Chris, Oregon

Here in Oregon its written in the preprinted earnest money agreements that if the sale fails because of the Home inspection that the buyer will provide a copy of the report to the seller in a timely manner. The report is suppose to remain confidential and the seller is not suppose to share its contents. Yea, right. Chris, Oregon

The number I heard was no more than 4 seconds from a gas fireplace technician but I don't recall why or what the source of the 4 second limit was. Mr. Katen might know he was there too. Chris, Oregon

I don't believe you have to stick to any order of OCA or even OCA each finding. The function of the inspection report should be to provide information, a snap shot of the condition of the house at the time of the inspection. That being said items that are significantly deficient should follow OCA by most SOP's but it could be ACO, AOC, CAO, COA etc. which one you might use in writing anyone finding would be a matter of how you wanted to tell the story I would think. Chris, Oregon

In the IRC what does this stuff fall under: Exterior Plaster or Stone and masonry veneer? If it is indeed stucco then shouldn't it terminate 2" above the pavement? Chris, Oregon

Once in a while a lender will get ahold of an inspection report, for example on a VA loan, and require a "clear inspection report". Clear of what? The function of the report is to present information and it doesn't have as a purpose to be a punch list. Chris, Oregon

What I am wondering is if say on Kurts list or Jims list of findings if there's a recommendation to repair everything down to even the most mundane deficiency? Chris, Oregon

Don't worry you won't have to try. Just follow the advice of the TIJ crew and it will happen. Chris, Oregon

Has anyone noticed a recent trend in pre-listing inspections? Do you think that the type of market (buyers market or sellers market) affects calls for pre-listing inspections? Does anyone do a different report for them? Now I don't mean an altogether different report but what I mean is the narrative tone different in anyway? Chris, Oregon

Yeah, I meant drain pipe not perf pipe [] Chris, Oregon

I have had a few agents tell me right to my face that the reason they recommended me was that the client was being picky. I don't think they realize what they are saying when they say that...Oh well maybe they do. One of the techniques to soften up a report that some of the guys around here use is to break the findings into two groups. Those that realtors approve of and those that they don't. Then the realtor will indicate to the buyer that only the items in the first group are ones they can negotiate with the seller and the ones in the bottom group are for them (the buyer) to do. They don't like mine since I make it all one list. A few weeks ago an agent, who has called me once or twice a year for years, acted shocked when I told her the cost of the inspection (which was only $20 more then what she was use to) and she told me sorry that was too much and she was going to have to find someone else. I thought good. She was a pain in the ass anyway. Chris, Oregon

Hmm, interesting. But is that something in the NEC or some other standard? Chris, Oregon