mridgeelk

The county in which most of my inspections occur has no building department. (or even any zoning) Issues that are usually sticky are tempered glass, fire rated walls & ceilings and the proper rise and run of stairs. I usually try to apply the standard of "done in a workmanlike manner" and the following of manufacturer's instructions. The concept of done to industry standards doesn't carry much weight here. I recently inspected a two-story detached garage with a MIL apartment above. No sheetrock on the ceiling or walls of the garage. I said that they were not fire rated and were a safety issue. How do you inspectors in like circumstances handle the situation when you have to back your statement up?

Jim, that sounds like a better way than the blocking, the snag with that is that the staples used to install bamboo t&g protrude about 1/2". This is a new home built with no regard to manufacturer's instructions or to the concept of "done in a workmanlike manner". Many other issues, I think my client has backed out.

I found this today in a crawlspace. The joists changed direction but the plywood didn't. According to the APA rating chart this reduces the strength by about 75%. There is a bamboo T&G floor installed (with no vapor barrier in the crawlspace). Does anyone know of a fix from the under side? The APA sent me a detail showing blocking 24"oc between the rim and the first joist that could be used throughout the floor. It shows nails through the flanges with no joist hangers. Has anyone seen this be effective? There is about 800 sf of plywood installed in this manner. Image Insert: 285.62 KB

Tim, I tried to send this as a private message as it is a bit off topic but couldn't figure how to load the picture. I found this dishwasher, possibly designed by a former Evinrude engineer, in a state of the art 1957 kitchen just west of Hotchkiss. It was the only thing in the kitchen that didn't work. Image Insert: 320.02 KB

I understand the condensation problems associated with using a hydronic system to cool, but I looked at a home yesterday that the owner believes the in-floor heat is responsible for the amount of condensation that is occuring on his windows and exterior doors. Any opinions? I can understand it in the first season as the slab is still significantly curing but the home is four years old. The home is on a mesa with a very low water table level.

Jon, I spoke with a local electrician, he calls those panels " a range and four" and as you said those center lugs are panel feeds not an appliance feed. He said that if an appliance had the same rating as the mains it would work, otherwise the appliance would be overfused as is the case here, however the problem with that is that any other electrical usage is monitored by those same main fuses and would cause the fuses to blow.

Jim, This is the schematic. I believe that it shows that the range cable can be connected to the side lugs. Is the power totally disconnected to those side lugs by pulling the range fuse block? Image Insert: 330.25 KB I'm pretty sure that those terminals are protected by the main fuse block. Did you take a picture of the schematic on the door - I can just barely see it in the second picture. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Is this range cable that is attached to the side lug in the box protected by the fuses in the main disconnect or is it a direct tap? Image Insert: 289.67 KB Image Insert: 305.74 KB

Does this brick chimney (with issues of its own) location in relation to the furnace vent represent "a vertical wall or similar obstruction" as in G2427.6.3 #2 of the 2006 IRC and should be terminated two feet above the chimney? I told my clients that it was short but I wasn't sure how much. Thanks for any replies. Ed Image Insert: 342.2 KB

I just purchased a Sperry Sensor which in the "cautions" part of the operating instructions it says for use at altitude up to 2000 meters. What's up with that? I live at 7000' and it seems to work fine. It may have said that in other sensor's instruction but I have never noticed it before. Ed

Acetylene generators were used about 100 years ago for gas production for lighting systems. They are now abandoned and usually contain some gray goop. Is that goop hazardous and is there a specific manner to dispose of the tank and its contents? I think that carbide rods were inserted into the tank that had water and/or another liquid. The tanks resemble a Russian sputnik.

jameshardie.com will answer all your questions.

Are you sure you found all the (sub)panels?

I went back to home I inspected last week a couple of days ago and zoomed in on the yard light. I was glad that I had recommended that all the exterior wiring be removed as many of you had also said. The power supply to the yard light from the house appears to be coaxial cable MSHA-taped to the light. The neutral is taken directly from the service neutral on the pole. Image Insert: 290.61 KB

I was being somewhat cynical about the use of the 12-2 wg wire. There is quite a bit of electrical work that is never seen by an inspector. The power company uses contract meter readers that are not very observant. In one instance I found the romex serving a pump at a farm gasoline tank pump outside that that white insulation was gone and some of the individual wiring insulation was also missing. The pump was in daily use. I What is an "exterior rated" cable? Some UF cables are listed as sunlight resistant, but they still can't be used like that. - Jim Katen, Oregon I'm not sure how they can get away with that since NEC 334.10(B)(1) states "..for normally dry locations..." The 2008 NEC bans type NM cable with in such cases with an addition to 334.12(B)(4) "..shall not be used...in wet or damp locations."

What Jim says, I believe, is correct especially if the cracks are not vertical. The consistency of the width of some cracks in unreinforced concrete may be caused be the "surge" of expansion as water migrates under a structure, especially if the water does not always come from the same direction or source (surface/subsurface). The transitions in the soils in our area can be from expansive clays/shales to stable soils to collapsible silts at the same site.

What I meant by that is the local standard here is to use 12-2 romex meant for inside use for nearly any situation. The wire in question is not of that nature. What is an "exterior rated" cable? Some UF cables are listed as sunlight resistant, but they still can't be used like that. - Jim Katen, Oregon

TJI Macmillan is now owned by Weyerhaeuser you can go to ilevel.com for their site. TJI has field reps that will at no charge, at least in this region, come and evaluate an installation of their products. Better yet they will design any portion of a structure using their products at no charge. I wish more local builders would use this service. Your local lumber yard should have many manuals on installation of these and other I-Joists (LPI,BCI etc.). It is important to determine the height, series number, spacing and span of the joist of the joist to see if the installation is correct. Along with that the location of any holes and necessary blocking. The field manuals on installation should be of great help to you. Ed

The cable from the pole to the house is the standard service triplex. The cable wrapped around it is exterior rated. I haved raised two lawyer sons which may have something to do with my lack of ability to explain things without the use of an interpreter. So there's a triplex cable from the meter pole to the house. There's another cable, maybe, wrapped spiral-fashion around the triplex cable? If so, that's a mess. Not that it makes a difference, but what kind of cables are they? - Jim Katen, Oregon

Yes, you got it! Thanks for interpreting for others my version of the English language.

Jim, I will try again. The cable that supplies power to the yard light comes from the house wrapped around the cable that supplies power to the house from the box below the meter. Is this acceptable? I can't understand what you're trying to describe. What's to evaluate? Just recommend replacing the whole mess. - Jim Katen, Oregon

My question about all this relates to the feed for the yard light which comes back from the house, wrapped around the feed from the box below the meter which goes to the subpanel in the house. Is it proper to do so? The service cables from the power company are spliced to the REA -era (1930s)cable at the top of the pole which then goes down the pole to the meter, the same vintage cable then goes back to the top of the pole and spliced to a new service cable to the house. The violations here are to numerous to mention here, my client was informed of them and advised to have an electrician evaulate this mess. The panel with the bird's nest was powered up, I shut the power off to it as was, at best, it was a fire hazard. It was supplying nothing. Image Insert: 308.73 KB Image Insert: 321.39 KB Image Insert: 308.1 KB Image Insert: 357.18 KB Image Insert: 298.19 KB Image Insert: 308.88 KB

Your suspicions are correct. Oddly enough just that one joist with deterioration. As far as the trap/code issue I think they are like boots, no need to print directions on the heel to empty the boot of water, it is a given. Image Insert: 182.62 KB

The exterior walls are cement blocks and the joists rest on them. It is not a sill. I think it was a board nailed to the joists to hold them as the blocks were laid.

This home has R-Panels for exterior walls with conventional stucco. The horizontal crack is where the walls meet the slab which has in-floor hydronic heat. This home is about 6500' above sealevel with temperature extremes 100 to -30 F. The south and west faces are as usual the worst. The amount of cracking seems high. Is this typical of R-Panels and stucco? Image Insert: 360.15 KB