ozofprev

Alex, I'll take, "Things I don't care about" for a hundred please.

In NY it depends on the locals. In Rochester (Ogden) I was required to have a keyed valve within a few feet of the fireplace and the key had to be chained to the valve so it was readily available. Here in Buffalo (Amherst) there is no such requirement.

That is so friggin' cool! It's how parent-child relationships should all be.

It's true in every walk of life. Remember the lady who sued McDonald's because of the hot coffee burning her private stuff? Her initial requests from McDonalds were quite modest and not legal - she just wanted some help with bills and to recommend they set a limit on beverage temperature. The huge legal team immediately descended and said, "Nuh-uh, we claim no responsibility whatsoever." They basically said, "We are big, you can go to hell." Had they said, "We are sorry, let's look at this," then it would have been a non-story. How many times have you had someone do something asinine while driving, only to see them throw you the bird when you honk at them? All you're looking for is an acknowledgement from them that they realize they made a mistake. We all make mistakes. Too few of us take it with style.

You're not necessarily in left field, but a picture (or 3) of the icicle and roof layout would be most helpful. Are you saying there are no eaves at all? Do other townhomes in your development have the same issue as you are experiencing? The prevention of ice dams by proper insulation and ventilation are better solutions than rigging up some eaves - which aren't likely to help and may just make matters worse.

Yes, just look at post #23 again. Clearly, the wood is rotten. The screwdriver is cowboy. We have all seen this 'look' around windows and doors. We write it up without probing. Probing -> perhaps it's a 'guy' thing. [:-cowboy]

There has always been too much strong-arming in NY. Construction, waste management and unions have been prime targets. Good news:Cleanup

When I started out, I followed what the best of the best had done. I used Intelligent Reporter and had great success with it. In that reporting system, there are main sections for structural, basement, siding & trim, garage door, insulation and so on. They are easily found because there is a table of contents. Within each section are Major Repair, Minor Repair, Safety Concern, Maintenance, and Investigate Further items - along with ramifications of the problem and recommendations for what to do next. Pictures with arrows, circles, the occasional citation, and comments were sufficient to confirm the main text. A summary is simple to produce and I found it very useful. The summary was the last page or two of the report and looked something like this, but generally with more items: Safety Concern The electrical outlets along the kitchen counter are not ground fault protected. Major Repair The rear basement wall is bowed horizontally at its middle by approximately two inches. Minor Repair Chronic leakage from the upstairs shower has destroyed the gypsum ceiling in the downstairs laundry area. The summary allowed the client/seller/lawyer to recognize quickly that there are x number of major repairs, y safety concerns and z minor repairs. They really liked it, so I kept doing it.

Well, while we're at it. If any of you are using Carson's Home Reference Book for reporting, I have ten that you can have cheap! (Still in the box.) My email is in my profile...

Like Les, I appreciate the presentation but don't agree with all of the thoughts - it would be disappointing if everyone thought identically. There are degrees to which a person views his vocation as a "business" or a "service." The two concepts do not have to oppose each other, but they often do. Personally, I tend toward the Brian camp. As a result, I was not very successful as a businessman, but every customer loved me and recommended me. I thought that would make my business successful, but alas, many jobs went to franchises and prostitutes. I do not believe I ever came close to getting sued; still, I feared it. The book, Zen Golf, says you produce what you fear. Think about hitting the ball into the hazard, and you will. Close examination shows that the author does not mean "you produce what you fear" so much as you produce what's on your mind. At any rate, what was on my mind was doing everything for each client. For the money, I did too much. I don't regret my experience, but it is in my past. Les, half of the falls is on the American side. The pretty half is on the Canadian side. Taking the "Maid of the Mist" boatride close to the pounding falls is an awesome experience of nature's raw power and a person's insignificance. Archie, the man!

Don't apologize for being long-winded. We all know someone here who tends toward long posts. I appreciate the well-written summary of your experiences. Success stories are good to hear. Thanks!

Sal, I agree with Chad - your Masters degree in English is working for you. You do four inspections per day, run an HI school, a mold certification course and an online store? I'm impressed. Which pays better - home inspection, or home inspection/mold training? For your reports, do you use the 8-page checklist/narrative that you sell online? To what are you referring when you write that you are a partner with, "one of the most prominent testing laboratories in America?"

Nope, it's not realistic today. I'm imagining a future world with a majority of competent, caring realtors and inspectors. (Yes, I chuckled and wet my pants a bit while I typed it.)

Two issues are entangled here - the law, and pre-listing (seller) inspections. I'll leave the law to the lawyers, but... Since the pre-listing inspection is not for the buyer, the buyer will/should get his own inspector. Hey, it works for attorneys - buyer and seller each have their own. If pre-listing inspections did take off, it would double the number of inspection jobs [:-thumbu]. Hell, it could even improve the quality of inspectors by encouraging a healthy competition. An unqualified inspector who repeatedly performs a poor pre-listing inspection could be driven out of business as the buyers' inspectors reveal, time and again, all the important stuff that was missed. Of course, not all of the competition would be friendly.

Gotta go with Scott and Walter on this one. Hey, more power to you if it works in your market. Aside from the legal issues - if I'm buying a car, it means nothing to me if the seller says, "My mechanic checked her out and she's purrrfect." In fact, my antennae go up. (Yes, I have big antennae...)

Yes, Office 2007 is a completely redesigned product. If you expect a new product to be just like an older product, then you are bound to conclude that the new product "blows" and you shouldn't have purchased it to begin with. If you buy Office 2007, get a book that explains it's new interface and feature set (Like Que's Using Office 2007 by Bott Leonhard.) Same with Vista (Windows Vista Inside Out by Bott, Siechert, Stinson is pretty good.) Same with Linux, OS X, or any new technology. Books are good.

Yeah, all of you who write for a newspaper might want to stick with XP.

As you know, I installed Vista on the machine I built. I also have Office Professional 2007. I like both better than their previous versions and have not had a problem with either. The interfaces are slightly different. If you don't like change, keep sending your old stuff in for repair and never buy new. The rest of the world will continue to move - somewhat awkwardly - forward.

Can't imagine how. Most aren't even implemented in terms of grades, so failure is not an option.

Yeah, but when you and I were in 9th grade, they had no idea what was coming. I wonder how long it will take to move the general population away from qwerty. Electrons move a bit faster than those mechanical bangeroos we knew. No need to slow us down anymore with qwerty, but I really can't imagine typing much faster than I do now on anything else.

Cycle of life. Cramer, Hansen and several others were/are great, but the future depends on new blood. People have to be given a chance. Kurt's right - some people have the luxury of walking away (guilty). I applaud Chad for his contribution to teaching. I'm sure he provides a very high quality experience. Out of curiosity, why don't more of today's experts get involved in teaching? Might that be why folklore persists? If there are no experts in the classroom telling students the truth and opening their eyes to the foolishness preached by incompetent slobs, whose fault is that? And those who are getting too old to deal with a class, why don't they write books to help those who are in the classrooms? Don't tell me that there's no money in books, because someone really interested in contributing cannot be so self-serving.

Yes, the course will get you ready for the test but that's not saying much. Don't feel that you've accomplished anything significant after that. Read the books Katen recommended (do everything he recommends wrt HI). Also ENJOY reading articles in rags like Fine Homebuilding. If you're young enough, consider doing handyman work instead of HI work. When will there be a real HI exam; one that makes a good list of books required reading in order to pass?

Best of luck Les! Consumer protection is the most important role the HI plays. That's why I respect Walter's publishing history, TIJ, and the true grit of the best of the best (and we all know who they are).

Is there a preinspection agreement or contract???

I think he means email.?? His is computerized.