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Last year I had a couple walk on a deal, then a couple weeks later they called me back to inspect a larger house, by about 1500 Sq/Ft. They asked me about the fee, I told them it would be the same as the first house. Side tracking; just last week I had scheduled an inspection in the afternoon, and the weather was windy & storming. I tried to make contact with the clients to see if they could reschedule for the next day, but both are school teachers and the seller is also a teacher and their schedules during the day are a little full. Anyway due to the weather & nightfall, there was no way to check the roof & exterior with a deck. So I told the guy I would come back the next day and finish. He looked at me a little funny, and I said that I wouldn't charge him extra, but he will have to refer me to all his friends and colleagues. Well when he got the report he e-mailed me saying he would refer me. So I think that's worth the extra fee for a return trip, about 25 miles from my home. Frank

Just wondering what is the significance of the different color balloons. Frank

Cost! I think about switching to tankless sometimes also, but I stop myself everytime when I think Cost. As Kurt pointed out, I would install 2. I can't remember why, but for some reason I'm stuck on thinking that electric tankless will not supply an average residential house demand. Did those guys at Watts mention that? Frank

Personal choices for me are AO Smith, State Water Heater(I think they are the same now a days), Rheem, or Lochinvar. Except for a poorly manufactured dip tube issue which I think AO Smith has corrected, I have installed thousands of them, (Gas & Electric) and never seen any major quality issue. These brands are available in supply houses around me, I'm not sure about your region. Frank

Check this website, it might help. First Co - Dallas, TX Frank

Are those drain lines for roof drains? I have seen roof drain lines going into the combination sewer system in Chicago. They had a big cast iron catch basin, before the line left the building. Those catch basins (usually 36" deep) were always filled with gravel/pebbles from the roof. Frank

How old is the unit? Do you have hard water there? Frank

Thanks to the TIJ Family. Just starting my 3rd year in the biz, and this place has helped me greatly. I have found so many answers to my questions in the archives from former posts. Plus I find it so easy to use. When people recommend inspection tools, this place should be at the top of the list. Frank

That's why you need the ShamWow, to clean up all those coffee spills. (Are you following me?) After all, we all spend $20 bucks a month on paper towels, right? [:-bouncy] Frank BTW, I just booked my first inspection for the year. Hopefully this will start a trend so I won't have to watch those irritating commercials.

Mike, Are there answers to choose from here? All I see in your opening post is: When you inspect forced-hot-air gas furnaces, what do you do/look for? Then I see others saying 1-4. Did I miss something here? I've been away for a few days, how do these polls work? Frank

I use a "pointy stick" (without the epoxy) as well as a screwdriver. For a while I did have an awl in my bag, but I lost that. Frank

In my young career, I've gone into every crawl space except for one. Although it was not the opening that was the problem, it was another obstruction. Around here a lot of brick foundations for older homes and modern ones commonly have block foundation, so I try to inspect the whole perimeter of the crawl. Frank

I have used Primo PDF for 2 years. No complaints, and haven't paid a cent. Frank

Les, Do you anything leftover for Thanksgiving Day Dinner?

Where do you set the Sherry Meter?

Unless the manufacturer designed it that way, (I can't see why), I bet they pulled the cartridges to sweat in the fixture and someone fudged it up and didn't put it back together correctly. Frank

An old plumbing contractor I use to work for up in Chicago, told me some numbers when we roughed-in plumbing fixtures. For a mixing valve/shower valve for a tub was 36" from the sub floor, or 40" for a shower. The tub filler (spout) stub out , 4" above the tub deck. I can't quite remember the exact height he wanted for the shower head stub outs. Now I'm 6'5" and I would stand in the tub and put the stub out right about my head height. With the average shower arm and an average shower head, it usually dropped the level about 4-6 inches. On all of my installations like that , I never had a complaint that the shower head was too low. As for the original question, it appears that there is no actual required height for a shower head, I always keep in consideration, especially during the rough phase that the stub out, and the finally height of the shower head itself, will be a good 4-6 inch difference. Frank

There has been a few different restaurants in this building. That vent didn't come through the present finished ceiling. Frank

I haven't had the chance to do many low pitch roofs. First of all I think this roof is EPDM. Secondly, what are these square marks showing through. Some are rigid in the middle like a bolt head. Could not see underside of roof. Image Insert: 68.28 KB Image Insert: 52.49 KB This picture is the roofing material stretched over something. It is very spongy in the corner. Image Insert: 62.23 KB This patch, by the stack is a different material, maybe PVC? It has bumps on it. How is this sealed on the ends, torched down? Image Insert: 60.07 KB Frank

Walter, What did your house smell like after that experiment? Burnt flowers? Frank

Steven, Geberit is a nice toilet.(2nd pic) I like the sledge hammer laying next it.... How will they finally support the cast iron for the sinks? Will they just keep those 3-2x4's there? It seems like the whole thing could just twist, and fall apart. Frank

I have, quite a few too. From what I get from this application, a Wall mounted toilet will be just more work. Kurt is right, once you break the floor and dig you can do just about anything you would like. As in offset the main line to accommodate the proper configuration for your new toilet, if it absolutely has to be in that exact spot. Who knows, you might even be to get a vent in there. At least it's not Clay or Cast Iron. Frank

I was thinking about that movie when I first saw this picture. Frank

I would think some kind of exterior drainage system, with a pump somewhere, but from the picture the ABS doesn't look supported adequately to hold the amount of water that is trapped there. Maybe like Bain suggested, they're trying to connect an old septic connection so any gasses goes into the main sewer and could vent through the house DWV System. Frank

Point well taken. I will take that into consideration. Frank