John Dirks Jr

My first smart phone was an iPhone 4s. I'm still using it. It's sluggish but get me by

Extend it fully and rub ivory soap on the rails

Insulation issues? Maybe temperature differential causing the finish on the siding to wear in that distinct pattern. Which direction does that wall face? Was there similar patterns on other sides of the house?

If I suspect vinyl siding is nailed too tight, I grab a piece at a seam and attempt to slide it back and forth. It should move without too much effort. Although a piece with a penetration may not move. Or a piece that is butt ended in the corner is sometimes intentionally nailed tight just at the corner. So I do the test on a piece within the field somewhere, one without a penetration.

Less than 4 risers? I don't call lack of handrail. Door swings in? I don't call lack of landing. If the door or storm door swings out and there's not a landing at least 36" in depth, I call it out.

This might be folklore, but. . . I heard of a high radon level in a skyscraper condo. Supposedly gases were coming up through the elevator shaft. ('Course, why one would ever test a high-rise condo for radon would be a stretch IMHO.) I heard that in a CEU course I took for radon testing in schools / larger public buildings etc. They claimed it could travel up a utility chase and affect units higher up in the structure. Lots of other weird and complicated legal warnings in that CEU course. Since I took that course, I decline doing radon testing in anything other than single family homes. I recently had a nursing home near D.C. contact me about doing radon testing. I passed.

49 pCi/L is my highest here in Maryland.

No, I don't. But I've seen some missing the anchor bolts. I've also seen the chincy straps without fasteners or incorrect fasteners. They wont pull the wood frame down if the footing falls. They just open up and let go.

But doesn't the wood framework/exterior wall framing also rest on the foundation, and if the foundation moved, the brick and the wood wall would both move, regardless of any wall-ties (ties keep the brick from toppling & bulging). Not, at all, unusual IMHO. Many times, a foundation will sink and leave a gap at the sill. The wood frame structure will kind of hang there as a boxed unit. I just think to see that much movement in the brick veneer caused by the foundation movement, there would be many other indicating factors throughout the structure. The OP did not mention any other indicating factors. That's why I'm curious. Am I correct in the idea that the foundation can move and the wood structure hang unsupported without much corresponding movement?

That looks like brick veneer, not structural brick. Were you able to see actual foundation problems and correlate them to the movement in the brick veneer? What year construction was that building? That brick veneer should have ties that hold it to the wood framework of the building. If it was installed correctly, that kind of movement would be unusual. I'm not saying movement cant happen in brick veneer, but that looks like a botched job of retrofit or refaced brick veneer on an older building. Maybe the brick veneer did not have proper load support at its base or lacked wall ties, or both.

I don't inspect pools but I do check for and report on any obvious site related safety concerns when there is a pool. I point the same concerns out when it comes to fish ponds. It's safety concerns for small kids mainly. Whether they live at that house or somewhere else in the neighborhood.

Keep an eye on the grade in the area too. Over time the stump will rot and the grade near the foundation may sink. This can cause a drainage concern. Poor drainage can cause foundation and moisture problems.

Welcome Grant. I go over the top of ladder. When descending my approach to getting back on ladder is to crouch low and lean with majority of body mass over roof supported by right hand planted on the roof. This way if I or the ladder slips, I'm falling onto the roof rather than down the ladder. I'll extend right foot onto a rung near the gutter, transfer some of the weight, place left foot on next rung down and transfer the remainder if weight to the ladder. The only thing I've learned to pay attention to and avoid is getting pants leg of shorts hung up on top of the ladder rail.

Phillip Smith would smell that and write it up.

The air volume was more than adequate so blockage is not the issue.

I actually saw that in a Baltimore row home. There was gas supplying the one I was inspecting. The meter had been removed and a pipe was coming through the wall from an adjoining row home.

The under slab stuff I see in my area usually runs close to the perimeter. I can imagine its gets exponentially less efficient when the ground freezes up in the winter.

There were two zones. However, the second was installed when a second story was added and it serves the upstairs only.

At an inspection the other day I measured a 30 degree difference between registers near the furnace and ones farther away. I thought it best to let it run for a while too. I ran it for at least an hour. It was really toasty at one end of the house and somewhat chilly at the other and it wasn't even cold outside. After one hour of run time in 70 degree outside temps, I measured 95 degrees near the furnace and 64 degrees at the other end of the house. You could feel the temp drop as you walk from one end of the house to the other. Aside from the other concerns with Transite, do any of you measure this temp loss and report on it? I did on this inspection and think I will on others.

Yep.. when threatened they curl up into an almost perfect little ball. Not true. Yesterday I saw one and told it, "out or I'll kick yer ass". It didn't even break stride. Although you projected your intentions, it did not feel threatened. I think you need to stand in front of the mirror and practice your tough guy act some more.

Yep.. when threatened they curl up into an almost perfect little ball.

I dont think a quality sealing job is useless where its needed. Crap jobs of sealing, just like crap jobs of anything are useless. And as we know, there are crap jobs of everything....everywhere. Edit: However, if a driveway is in bad shape and a home inspectors recommendation is to seal it, rather than replace it, well there's a crap recommendation too.

I have not seen it. I guess they want to make sure you see it when condensate comes out.

I was wondering if the retrofitting of uffi could increase the concern of K&T.

Did a 1940 structure that still had some active K&T. The home had also been retrofitted with UFFI in the exterior walls. A ton of it had spilled into the crawl space and cured in a huge mound. Seriously, a pile the size of a big sow. Since I saw live K&T coming up from the exterior wall and into the attic, is it a valid concern that UFFI may be encasing K&T somewhere in the exterior walls? I thought K&T was no longer being used by 1940. It was still in this house.