Nolan Kienitz

Do you have a Home Owner's Association? Sometimes they have requirements about what can / cannot be done to the exterior veneer of a property.

Similar 3-wheel format as the CanAm Spyder products ... CanAm Spyder

If you do us the LP product ... just be sure to keep it well sealed ... IE: primed and painted thoroughly. Over time the bottom course (near grade/ground level) will still likely absorb moisture and crumble. Maybe not so much as the older product in the similar lineage. Click to Enlarge 77.18 KB

OK, OK ... here it is ... Thanks for the setup Kurt [:-slaphap Click to Enlarge 25.54 KB

Click to Enlarge 7.03 KB

Y'all count your lucky stars ... you don't have an SOP like the Texas TREC SOP and report template. We have a new SOP that goes into effect on 01/01/2014. I posted PDFs of it (the final/approved version) back in May.

That is nothing but "pure marketing" ... certainly doesn't add any real credibility. [:-crazy]

And to think I just spent ~4 hours yesterday emptying our side-by-side refrigerator/freezer. This also included removing all the trays and bins and giving it a thorough scrubbing as well as turning it off, laying it on its side, removing the bottom and rear access panels so I could vacuum and thoroughly clean the coils of 8+ years of collected lint, dog hair and such. The clue was the wet/stale dog hair smell that was wafting through the kitchen when the fan was running. DUH!! Well ... it is clean now and the foodstuffs with excessive freezer burn is now in the trash. Back to basics ... [^]

And ... to the point of some comments ... Whisper Reporter does not provide any pre-built comments. They do software for an application ... they do not write comments that we inspectors are supposed to write. As I noted above you can make their software do whatever you want for any type of report presentation. As many have noted ... you need to learn the software and how to work with it. Please don't expect any software to "write your report for you"! .

I use Whisper Reporter and also do testing for them on new features. I started out using their first release called Whisper PI and started using Whisper Reporter when it was initially released about 5+ years ago. They often due multiple upgrades each year for new features. No charge for such or support. One time purchase price and that is it. Customizable to whatever type of report template you want/need. It is NOT "Texas Only"!!! Whisper Reporter

Nolan, are you sure it is not coming on in the middle of the night? Maybe the lever is just slipping down a little bit and SNAPS back when you enter the room! You know ... I've been hearing some strange noises, but I think there is a damper controlling the the return SNAP noise. []

Actually I installed one like that in our kitchen sink about two years ago. So far ... it is still working.

Consider a "rubber band" around the top of the handle and the faucet spout. Of course the band would have to be replaced periodically. [:-slaphap

Saw this on a news feed this afternoon from BBC News: BBC News: Skyscraper Melting Cars

IRC recommended water pressure is to be between 40 and 80 PSI. Pressure over 80 PSI is to be regulated by a PRV (Pressure Regulator) to keep it within the required levels for safe operation. Extended high pressure will cause undo wear on all valves and seals and they can and will eventually blow out and cause the associated water damage. Case in point: My brother lives in a retirement community in Central Texas (aka: Del Webb). Original water pressure on his new home (~6 years ago) was right at 70-80 PSI. A couple of years ago he sent me a message that he received from the local city and the notice that they were switching over to a new water tower supply for their community and that the new system would be providing a new static (give or take) water pressure of about 120 to 130 PSI and that they strongly recommended that all homeowners contact the approved plumbers (those approved to work in the community) and get PRVs installed on their incoming water lines. My brother put it off to save the ~$250 for the installation and PRV. Well about six months later the line for the master bath toilet blew out at 2:00AM. Thankfully he knew where his shut-off valve was and handled it immediately. After that ... he put on anti-burst lines for the toilets, sinks, clothes and dish washers AND he contacted the plumber for the PRV installation. He told me of several homes who had some serious flooding with burst lines (due to increased pressure) where the residents did not install the PRVs. Just FWIW ...

Many arborists down here call the topping of the very common Crepe Myrtle trees: Crepe Murder They don't like it and do not endorse it for the reasons noted by Chris. Link below is for an article at Texas A&M about the "crime". Texas A&M article about "Crepe Murder"

1) Weight 2) Insurance company may not cover (err ... no pun intended) Just a couple that come to mind.

I've been digging through my Haag Engineering materials (used for the certified roof inspector class they have) and the images I noted in those books seem to indicate a manufacturing defect. Again, it could be a combination of things, but I would lean toward the defect approach.

All primary condensate drain lines for HVAC systems (usually located in attics in Texas) route to a bathroom sink drain (first or second floor ... depends on house style) and is always "above" the P-Trap. Biggest hiccup I see is that the HVAC installer will often use a thick radiator type hose from the PVC in the wall penetration to the drain line connection and they end up "crimping" the hose which block the condensate flow. Click to Enlarge 24.47 KB

You mean you don't use gutters for electrical cable runs?? [:-bigeyes

I guess they have not completed the final tensioning then. I assumed that they had to before the framing could begin. The pt cables are still exposed and stick out from the foundation about 2 feet. Should I be concerned that they began framing 4 days after pouring? Thank you for your response and insight. Typical and common when builders are in a hurry to get the structure built and closed and move the tax liability from their books to the buyer. In a perfect world it would be nice if things were done in a proper sequence of events and timing, but that is not the norm. I've seen framing starting as close as one to two days after the pour. Once the PT cables are fully tensioned they will be trimmed just under flush of the slab and covered over with a mortar mixture.

Tensioning of the cables happens at two intervals. Once within 7 days to put a slight tension in place and then at about 28 days they put the full tension on the cables ... once the concrete cures. That is when the PT cable ends are secured, cut and covered with a dollop of mortar. Often (far too often) framing starts with a day or two after the pour. Tensioning times are set out by the Post Tensioning Institute (PTI) and there should be documented reports of what was done when. Such documents are supposed to be signed off by people certified/trained by PTI.

My wife and I took one of our grandsons to Corpus Christi a couple years ago to tour the USS Lexington ... a great aircraft carrier. [utube] " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344">

In our realm (or maybe 'my' realm) down here it is either stucco (traditional head-coat) or EIFS. I don't get into "type of texture" ... as it were.

That is assuming he has insurance.[?]