AHI in AR

If I remember my HS chemistry, (it was a long time ago) sulfur dioxide and water make sulfuric acid. A coil with condensation on it combined with sulfur dioxide outgassing from the drywall could be the problem. I'm not sure it's a deliberate plan by Chinese manufacturers to ruin our economy, but it's clear in light of ALL the defective/unsafe/downright deadly Chinese products that they don't care about anything but profits. And we thought that was a mindset limited to capitalist countries...

See! I told ya I didn't know anything about climate zones. I was using the maps about plant growing zones, not the right ones. Seems that the numbering system is sorta inverted. To set things straight, it appears that my wife's feet would more properly be labeled as zone 7. Maybe a 6 at best. Does that make my answer more nearly correct? I guess not. In all seriousness, I don't do phase inspections -- and certainly not in your area. I still think it's a matter for the AHJ. As I said, I was just guessing -- although I was trying to apply some small amount of rational thought/analysis to the issue. Temps don't vary nearly enough around here for this to be an issue that the muni's look at closely.

Just for fun, and as a learning exercise, I'll take a stab at it. Like a lot of nights lately, I've got too much time on my hands. But as a disclaimer, I must state the following: 1. We don't do basements around here. What VERY few I see are partial, and most are still a mess. I have no clue about how to insulate ducts in one. (Nor would I know how to assess the condition of an oil-fired furnace like you have in Yankee-land since we absolutely don't have those here either!) 2. More importantly, I am in zone 8, not 5. We don't get real cold around here. (My wife's feet are in zone 3, but that's another topic.) I don't have a clue about the requirements for zone 5. However, applying what little common sense I may have in assessing the overall effectiveness of your stated installation, it would seem to me that the efficiency shouldn't be significantly compromised if the proposed installation is properly done. But then, this is a WAG and I could be totally wrong. Shouldn't the plans outline the required installation details? In any case, it seems like a call for the AHJ if there's a variance.

I think we should give John special credit for working the terms treacly, maudlin, wretches, and pedantic into the same post. Perhaps he has some Brit in him... I was involved with a gal from London for a couple of years. I suppose I'm the victim of a little osmosis. She was spectacular, and she still flutters through my mind from time to time, always when I least expect it. Treacly gave it away. But it appears I had it backwards. There's no Brit in you; you were in...ummm.... Nevermind.

I think we should give John special credit for working the terms treacly, maudlin, wretches, and pedantic into the same post. Perhaps he has some Brit in him...

Randy-- I can't tell quite what I'm looking at in the bottom pic. It looks like insulated glass so I'm betting on a vinyl frame. If that's the case, I can't tell what the material is that looks like rust bubbles on the lower photo--unless that's an interior shot and it's drywall dust. If it's a vinyl slider, the bottom tracks will collect water. That's why they have weep holes on the exterior. Unless they are plugged, there should be no problem with water getting inside. I have seen a lot of well meaning but uninformed home owners who have dutifully caulked the weep holes. (Insects also sometimes build nests there, so some manufacturers put a screening material in the holes.) If the owners deliberately plug the holes water can overflow out on to the interior side since the sill height is typically lower there. Also, some times the installers put them in upside down. If that is the case, there are weeps at the top and not the bottom. Brilliant!

To check for heat exchanger leaks of course....???? 'splain, please. I've never heard of using fish oil to detect heat exchanger problems. But let me guess...you apply it inside the HE and see it you get an awful smell inside the home?

Nice flashing work. I suspect that the zebra stripe pattern was an attempt to use surplus shingles or otherwise discounted materials.

Fish oil???

When I go in the crawlspace, I empty my pockets. Every so often, there are a few dollar bills so I stash them in one of the pockets of the toolbag. I use them for: * Testing the tightness of weatherstrip sweeps on the bottom of doors -- you can just use a piece of paper, but dollar bills don't tear as easily. * Emergency cash for when I *absolutely must* have a Heath bar. * Theatrical moments -- as when a seller bitches about how I'm running up his electrical bill by filling the whirlpool bath, running the AC or turning on the lights. I reach into the bag, grab a fistful of ones and toss them on the table. "Here you go," I say, "If you need more, just help yourself." I happen to like snakes but I find that most other people don't. So no one minds when I tuck them into the pillowcase, tie it shut & toss it in my car. When I get home, I let them go in under my porch or under the plastic mulch in my garden. We have a bit of a problem with mice, voles, shrews, weasels, moles & gophers in my yard and the snakes, along with the cats, help to keep things under control. It's also useful when I emerge from a particularly muddy, filthy crawlspace. I can toss stuff into the pillowcase before tossing it into the crawlspace bag. It keeps the crawlspace bag cleaner. - Jim Katen, Oregon Not meaning to hijack this thread further but I have to admit that I love the cash use! Fortunately, I don't usually have pesky sellers hanging around. The worst are retired engineers who want to follow me around. If they get too annoying, I gently let them know that it's not a good thing to get on my bad side since a lot of what I write up can be a judgment call. Most figure out the underlying issue pretty quickly. As far as snakes, I like them myself. Those that aren't venomous, anyway. We live on about 3 acres where snakes are not uncommon. There is a covered deck off my office at the rear of the home, and I know there is a nest of black racers (at least that's what I think they are) about 50 yards behind the house. I have seen them a long way from there; it appears that they range a pretty good distance when looking for eats. I also know they move really quickly when you get near them. I can't catch one to save my life. The photos were taken this summer. The deck boards are 2X6's. I figure this guy had to be 42" or so if stretched out fully. The first shot was taken through the door; the second one was taken closer to the snake after I opened the door and went on the deck. He got away pretty quickly after that. He had to climb up and down a smooth 4X6 (I routed the edges) to get on and off the deck. Click to View 45.71 KB Click to View 54.77 KB

OK Jim-- I can see a use for almost all your listed items at some point. But I have a couple of questions about the following items: 1 fistful of dollar bills Ummm, I won't ask about strip clubs, and parking meters don't take bills. Well, not around here at least. Pillowcase (for snakes) Do you perform snake relocating services also? I usually just look at them and "ugly" them away.

Richard-- The depth of your knowledge indicates a degree of personal involvement not shared by most of us. You obviously have the benefit of deep personal experience. Please expound upon the floppy dork-nozzle issue that you refer to. Current evidence suggests that lithium is only marginally effective. Straight Vodka works better. Please explain your comments since inquiring minds want to know.

I rarely see freestanding stoves either, but based on my experience in installing a couple different ones, your install is all wrong. Typically, the side hearth extensions need to be larger. The rear clearance is also seriously inadequate -- especially without any heat shield either on the stove or behind the stone. Keep in mind that while the rock won't burn, with extended run times, heat soak will occur and the paneling behind it could ignite. Also, I can't see that loose stones would qualify as a noncombustible hearth extension since embers could make their way down between the stones to a combustible wood floor below -- if that's what you have. That may be a vintage unit with no manual available. Even without one, there are a lot of obvious issues and referring it to an expert would be prudent.

Seriously, though, I admire anyone who has any functioning creative ability. I am definitely lacking in that area. Good luck with it. Also, My grandfather truly accomplished a tremendous amount, despite only having a formal education that ended after the 8th grade when his father died and he had to go to work to support his family. I admire him greatly.

That could be a scene in a Tarantino movie. And while the perv is tending to his nightly business in the attic, he witnesses the woman in the house next door--whom of course the perv thinks he's in love with--get executed by her boyfriend. The perv can't call the cops, 'cause how does he explain how he saw what he did? So he sits in the attic, watching the crime scene being worked, and decides he should mete out justice all by himself . . . But then one of the cops notices the glow of the perv's cigarette through the gable louvers and his house is searched. The perch in the attic is discovered, and the perv is suddenly a murder suspect. As the perv is led from his house in cuffs, he recognizes one of the cops milling around outside. The two lock eyes, and the perv realizes the cop is the person he saw murder the woman next door. Or something like that. John-- I'm concerned about you. That story seemed to pour forth from your fingertips waaayyyy too easily. 'Fess up. Which one were you: The perv or the cop? Or maybe you simply have a better imagination than I do.

The funniest thing I found in an attic was a set of steps up to a high louver in a gable wall over a garage. The top one was actually a small platform. There was also a little shelf attached just under the louver. Not seeing an immediate reason to build steps to a louver, and being the curious type, I climbed the steps and discovered that you could see down through the louvers straight into the 2nd floor bedroom window of the house adjacent to, and slightly below this one. Since there were no windows on the side of the home I was inspecting, the occupant of the home beside it probably didn't bother to close the blinds when in the bedroom. My guess was that some perv used to sit up there trying to catch a show. I assume that the small shelf he added was for binoculars or a camera.

Before it was enlarged I thought it was a doll horribly trapped under a board...

Me either.

They have been running the AC.

I've come across my share of grounding rods (OK...electrodes for you perfectionists) that have been obviously cut short. When you can see the saw blade marks, or excessive rust on top of a newer rod, it's a dead giveaway. We do have generally rocky soil around here and it can be a bear to get a rod all the way down. Not surprisingly, altered rods are common. But this takes the cake. I always grab the clamp to check whether the connections are tight. At least half aren't. When I checked this, there was a really excessive amount of play in the rod itself. So I did what we all would do and gave it a gentle tug. It came right out of the ground. The entire length was just a hair under 17"! The "buried" section was about 6"... and that was mostly through gravel, not even actual soil. Quality work. The only more egregious thing I've found in a grounding system was the brilliant lightning rod installer who deliberately clamped his conductor to the gas line...[:-dunce] Click to View 105.71 KB

Jim- The electrician is a very down-to-earth guy. I can't see it as being in his nature to embellish the story and I've known him about 20 years. As for writing it up, I have absolutely no intentions of making a big deal of it. It will be mentioned, but described in such a manner that most people will leave it alone. But there's always that small percentage of obsessive clients who demand that everything be corrected no matter how trivial. More significantly, there are those less ethical ones who rewrite my report and amplify things in the process to aid in their attempts to squeeze out more repair money from the seller. Though small in number, they cause me the most problems. And now for you, Mike-- Be careful using words like "peckish" since some folks might believe you are "jerry-rigging" your wording to make a point...

That's a vintage European style kitchen. Everything is done to save space. And notice the exquisite French Provincial details. Is there a large base of Kentuckians of French descent?

To begin with, let me categorically state that I accept that the fusing practice is wrong, so this is not an attempt to continue any debate. I'm only half kidding when I say that the real problem is that now there's yet another issue for me to write up on virtually every job. I really didn't want to see that since it will undoubtedly waste more of my time when I get the angry phone calls from the electricians. And then there's the code enforcement guys you occasionally run into on new home inspections. Unbelievably enough, some of these guys seem to have an attitude regarding we private guns who oversee their work. [] On a more important note, I had another conversation with the electrician today. He reiterated that it had been required around here since before he was even an apprentice -- and he started in 1977. Before that he remembered seeing them as a kid helping out on the jobsites in the summer. That's the thing that threw me. I can't wrap my head around the idea that all the various local AHJ's during 40 years or so would not merely allow it, but indeed require it. It's important to understand that this wasn't an idea the electricians dreamed up; they were made to do it. Sure, you'll get a goofball code officer every now and then with his own ideas and interpretations. But 40 years' worth? I have no idea how many enforcement guys that would amount to who have been out in the field, but it's got to be a lot. Even the chief inspector count would likely be 3 or more during that time. How does something like this continue under those conditions? To make the issue weirder, the electrician related how one of the more recent field code officers had told him that there were talks regarding amending the requirement to mandate type-s fuses. The status of that idea is not known as that electrical inspector left the department and is now teaching continuing ed classes for electricians. And now, just for your entertainment, here's a pic from this afternoon's inspection of a 9 year old home. Enjoy. Image Insert: 251.36 KB

Ok... Maybe I'm wrong. I admit I've never dissected a transformer, so I've never known that they had any sort of internal fuse. I've also not looked inside the chime housing in so long I don't recall a fuse mounted there either. So it seems that we have a totally superfluous fuse. But if it's replaced with a larger fuse by the homeowner, no real harm will come of it. And if it's replaced with a light bulb, no real harm exists either. The worst thing that will happen is you get a frustrated resident when his light won't work. But I'm still hard pressed to believe that this is totally unique to the local area. (And one home in Illinois.) No one has ever seen it anywhere else?