John Dirks Jr

Good quality asphalt may do fine without sealing, especially the stuff with finer aggregate. But if you get into the coarser aggregate stuff, and stuff that may have lower asphalt content or been poorly compacted, sealing can lengthen the life. Besides, it usually makes it look really nice too.

Did the HVAC system have a whole house humidifier? Usually when I find lots of mold in the attic, a humidifier is involved.

Even though the joists may penetrate the wall, I see what looks like a ledger of sorts above the joists. Is it possible that could be flashed well enough to prevent water intrusion?

If you're looking at water stains around skylights from the interior, be aware that the staining can be caused by condensation build up. They don't necessarily mean the skylight is leaking.

Look in the basement in the area around the stair structure. Typical 1988 construction in my area puts the GFCI receptacles that controls bathrooms and exterior on the wall studs under the basement stairway.

In reality, these type of issues happen. Water intrusion problems from bad roof flashing or other exterior details are everywhere. Many times, clear visible problems are missed by inspectors. Toadie inspectors who are looking for volume sales miss this crap all the time. Posts like this from the OP are an attempt to find out who to blame it on, when it happens. And it will happen again, 1000 times..... The real question is, what kind of inspector do you want to be? Warranty companies will send out affiliates who's job it is to find a pre existing condition to find them not liable. Thus, "your inspector should have caught that" I bet most home inspectors agreement says their inspection is not a warranty. Yet in their advertisement, some say they offer a warranty. Confusing isn't it?

1977 As I suggested earlier the flooring system you photographed was common in a prefab called a "Deck House". Check out some 1977 styles to see if they are similar to what you inspected. http://www.ncmodernist.org/deck.htm http://moderncapitaldc.com/2008/10/29/u ... -for-830k/ Interesting pictures. Thanks for posting the link. Many of the exposed beam interior features were similar but I did not see anything strikingly similar with regard to exterior shape or design. The one that I inspected had been modified and added to, at least once for sure and probably more. A large bump out for a kitchen and second floor bedroom was added. And I believe the lofty vaulted ceiling was modified to be utilized as another sleeping area.

1977

It may be a combination of species. I'll check that out further if I go back. If the top is hardwood and the bottom is pine, I'm sure I'll be able to probe and tell the difference in hardness.

When I pulled a register damper from the main floor I could see a cross section of the laminated planks. I should have took a picture because it was clearly three pieces of 1x6 pine laminated together with tounge in groove cut in to lock it all together. Sounds like a creative carpenter. If you stack and glue them you could just offset the center one to make both tongue and groove, no? I once had some pieces of flooring from an old academic building that was gutted and rebuilt inside. It used solid four by twelve pine joists spaced pretty far with 3X8 pine floorboards grooved both sides and splined. That's what it was basically. I'm pissed at myself for not taking pictures to share. I might be going back for follow up radon testing. If so, I take some pictures.

When I pulled a register damper from the main floor I could see a cross section of the laminated planks. I should have took a picture because it was clearly three pieces of 1x6 pine laminated together with tounge in groove cut in to lock it all together.

Sorry, I didnt not the brand.

Whenever the door closer does not work right I check the beams for obstructions and there was nothing. They did not appear to be bent out of alignment. Sun was shining in on them so maybe that was it.

I saw something for the first time today. Laminated tounge in groove pine planks that spanned between beams without joists of any kind. The laminated planks were three pieces of pine plank that totaled about 2 or more inches thick. There were three structural beams between the foundation walls instead of the usual one in the middle. That divided the distance from wall to wall into 4 spans. The floors were very solid. Anyone have information on this construction type? Click to Enlarge 35.73 KB Click to Enlarge 54.84 KB

In testing a garage door opener today I discovered the button needed to be held down to get the door to close. If you pushed the button and let go, the door would reverse to the opened position. I pointed this out to the owner and she said if you wait a while it will work without having to hold the button down. So I waited a while then tried and it worked as it should with one push and release of the button. The owner told me if you walk through the safety beam, you have to wait for it to work with one push. Any idea whats causing this?

Put your phone number under the title in the header. This way it shows up on every page without anybody needing to click on the contact link. Sometimes the internet is slow or peoples computers freeze. With your number in the header, it will more likely be visible when systems get botched up.

You say the patio does not slope away from the house. Fix that and any other negative grading first. Then remove the vapor barrier that's in there now and let the soil dry out really good before installing another vapor barrier. Test the home for radon. If it's elevated you should consider mitigation. The radon mitigation system will also help dry out the soil under the house and help control crawlspace humidity levels.

Ditto what Bill said. Run continuous blower, put a return low in the basement and one high on the top floor. Move the Tstat back to the mid level.

Some expanded explanation might be found here. https://www.inspectorsjournal.com/forum ... IC_ID=5166

I get that same email too. I have not acted on it.

I saw these screens in 2" furnace vent and intake openings. They sure do look like they would obstruct flow. In the winter here, it's common to see ice forming at the exhaust termination in longer cold spells. These screens look like they would allow ice to create blockage of combustion venting. Are these pieces standard for furnace vents? Do these look problematic to you? Click to Enlarge 48.14 KB Click to Enlarge 40.49 KB

All the efflorescence I've seen was on walls. I've not seen it on floors.

How could you tell? Yeah, the backyard is overgrown with bamboo. I had to 'swim' my way back there. Marc The folks next door here came from cali. They planted bamboo in their yard and its creeping over. I like the cover it provides but it takes over, literally! The roots are relentless. They're coming up through the shoulder of the road and the driveway apron. I snap them off when they first pop up in the spring since they're soft and break easy. I've got some stalks nearing 3" diameter. This stuff is established pretty good. If I saw the roots shooting under a house, I'd flag it.

Although the smaller downstream T is not code compliant, it probably will not cause a problem. Any sludge built up by the sharp transition will get washed down by the larger upstream line. Is that bamboo growing under there?

Those pipes are fairly large in diameter, usually 6" or more. The picture doesn't show the size of the pipe to well.