John Dirks Jr

About those service entrance cables. It looks like they are not high enough above the low slope roof. I bet the cables were there first, then somebody built the addition on the rear of the structure which causes clearance concerns with the cables.

I remember Chad describing a foundation inspection he did where he actually observed the worker measure the foundations walls for square. Only problem is, the worker measured from the outside corner on one direction and from the inside corner from the other.

A flexplate is the part that goes between the engine crankshaft and the torque converter on vehicles equipped with automatic transmission. On manual transmission vehicles it's a flywheel. Some people call it flywheel on auto trans vehicle too. However, the correct name is flexplate.

Actually, not trouble with logging on to TIJ, but I'm having repeated trouble connecting to the site at all. I'm not having trouble with other sites. More than 50% of the time I get, "server not responding", or something along those lines. Anyone else having this problem? What might it be?

Which voltage sniffer do you guys like? I lost my Fluke which worked well. I tried putting a Gardner Bender one I have into service but it's too sensitive. It reads voltage even an inch away from a receptacle without even inserting the tool into the receptacle. No good since I cant use it to check for polarity in older two prong receptacles. My fluke was at the right sensitivity so you had to insert it to get a reading.

Marc, that Cummins engine is a good one. Is your truck automatic or manual transmission? Dodge automatic transmissions have a bad reputation. John, the dollies come in handy for sure. With a longer car like the wagon, the garage is not long enough to have two vehicles end to end with room to work. I can do it with two Mustangs though. Anyway, rotating any car 90 degrees and pushing it to the back gives tons of work space for the project car while leaving more than adequate space to park two other cars in the garage. Here's the cracked flexplate from the wagon. It was still drivable but making a noise similar to a rod knock. Imminent failure for sure.

I heat with a kerosene jet type heater. The building is not currently insulated in any way. It also has a ridge vent so most of the heat I pump in goes right out the top. If its 20 degrees outside, I can get the building up to about 50 degrees. 50 degrees is plenty warm when you're out of the wind and have plenty of Harpoon IPA in the mini fridge. Here's the current beast I'm tackling. My sons '79 Malibu wagon. Changing a cracked flex plate, installing new upper control arm bushings and upper ball joints, new front shocks and a heater core since I broke it by pulling on the heater hose to remove it.

Hi Jake, You came to the right place to get perspective about things related to the home inspection business. The members here helped me stay focused on important things when I first got started. I did it on my own and I must admit it scared me pretty good at times. It can still scare me but not as much or as often. Nonetheless, when I got scared I came here to this site not afraid to ask for advice. The members here were a priceless support base for me, even though I got beat up now and then. This business is mainly about communication, in person and more importantly, in writing. It's not just the house. It's also the people buying the house. Their concerns vary and you need to be able to read them and make them feel comfortable that you are protecting their interests, even when the news is not so good. General technical knowledge is good obviously. Also good is ability to search and find information about things you don't know. Wherever you want to do this work, study the governing requirements for that locality. Whatever those requirements are, they are a minimum for which you can build on. Use the minimum as the base and expand with your knowledge from there. Again, communication is key. That and, not being afraid to say, "I don't know the answer". "I don't know but I will research and find a conclusion" I made it as an independent from the beginning. I'm glad I did it that way. I believe that if you make yourself, nobody else can break you but yourself. If you let others make you, they will break you.

Thanks for the link Jeff. Now I know more stuff to talk about with clients.

Do the NM cable manufacturers use any light oil as lubricant in the manufacturing process? I saw a drop hanging off of a conductor in the panel at an inspection yesterday. It was a light oil of sorts. I could not figure out how it had gotten there.

I did spend some time in the garage this past summer. If you like to read excessively, you can delve into my progress thread on rescuing a 93 Mustang from the total hack jobs of previous owners. There's a a bunch of pics and a few vids too. >> https://www.stangnet.com/mustang-forums/threads/out-with-the-new-in-with-the-old.899295/ I see the discussion here on the dislike of Facebook. To make a long story short, I completely deleted my Facebook. The people who matter can find me if they want. Too much garbage for me in the social media.

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Hi everyone, Somewhere, somehow I fell off the Inspectors Journal bus. I don't really have an explanation that would matter much. I only know it's my new intention in 2018 to get involved in discussion here again. I hope you all are well and continue safely and prosper in both business and personal life.

I do this too. I've never told anyone to run away. But when I think people should, I make sure the report is seriously strong in explaining the big problems. To me it actually makes the report writing task easier. No tapping the brake on this one, it's full throttle all the way!

Thanks Bill. I understand the outer width of the Air Vent II is 12". Do you know how wide the actual vent opening is on the under side of the product? A double 2x4 of the modular home attic structure would be 3 1/2" wide if they were flush together. I was thinking one could cut a 1" slot in the sheathing on each side of the 2x4's. That would make a vent opening on each side of the ridge. Total span of vent covering opening would therefore need to be at least 5 1/2". I'm just not sure how the Air Vent is designed and if it can function properly over a 5-6" inch spread.