AHI in AR

So you have to destroy a finished wall to replace the water heater or even gain full access? Smart... Any municipal guys look at this?

As Jim said, it will work just fine if the conditions he stated are met. They've built a truss. And not to put too fine a point on it, but it doesn't really put "upward" pressure on the rafter; it provides resistance to deflection at the center of the rafter.

A lot of newer units have the element under the floor of the oven.

Thanks for the replies. John, it's definitely not an ejector pump. While not common, I have seen those previously in daylight basements. This is just a garden variety open sump.

I found a sump pump discharging into the drain under the kitchen sink overhead. I'm not sure if you should do this at all, but if it's allowed shouldn't there at least be a check valve installed? True basements are extremely rare around here so I've never seen anyone do this before. Typically any sump pump I see in a crawlspace is piped separately so it discharges on the ground outside. So is this method Kosher or not?

Looks to me like what I'm seeing are countersunk nails/ hammer marks in the underlayment which the installer neglected to fill with compound before gluing the vinyl down.

I have seen the problem that Chris mentioned. Roofers using air guns shoot the nails completely through the shingles, leaving a hole.

It's obvious that you were hanging around in the wrong sorts of bars when you turned 21... []

Just to be clear, the post title asking "creative or not" applied to the homeowner's re-purposing of materials, NOT my post itself. In other words, was his drain work creative or just goofy? I got a laugh out of it, so I vote for goofy.

When you really need to be sure that your condensate drain slopes properly you should first insert a drywall screw near the end of the pipe. Then you measure the correct length of rope to hang a 5 pound weight from to ensure that the weight hangs just the perfect distance above the ground. It's probably best to use a nearly virginal weight from that weight lifting set you bought after your New Year's resolution from 2007. Carefully tie a knot and you're done! You'll need to repeat this every few years since the rope will deteriorate and the screw will rust. Or you could simply cut the pipe and glue in a fifty cent 45 degree fitting... Click to Enlarge 145.02 KB

Phillip might argue about Alabama being in Mississippi!

If I didn't know better I'd think that you create the things you post just for our amusement!

I just ordered the eBook. Oddly, I didn't get the 10% discount. No big deal, but I found it odd that there was an incorrectly spelled word in the paragraph describing the early-order discounts: The book will be available in both print (black and white) form and in an electronic edition (color). Pre-orders now recieve (sic)10% off on the electronic edition, or free shipping on the print edition. Admittedly, I'm pretty anal about spelling issues!

Actually, it was a deal-of-the-day that sold out so it's gone.

That's funny because the way I see it, they have no right to put themselves anywhere near a stature equal to us. The knowledge base alone, puts us on a level way above these highly paid order takers. All too true in many cases. I find it a little humorous that the mindset prevalent among "problem" agents like that is that they are superior simply because they stay clean and wear nice clothes. After all, no respectable person gets even a little (gasp) dirty at work. Right? But as Mike O made clear, if you do your job well -- never forgetting who your client truly is and the responsibility that goes along with the trust they have placed in you -- they will return the favor and your phone will continue ringing.

I inspected a house last week with Weather Shield brand windows installed. The windows were a hybrid with vinyl exteriors and sills but wood sash. Unfortunately, the bottom sash on several of the windows had rot damage. The sills were a type that acted somewhat as a trough to hold moisture. Added to that fact is the problem that the weatherstrip at the bottom of each sash didn't raise it out of the water and the wood wicked up moisture. Honestly, it's such a stupid way to build a window I couldn't believe a national manufacturer would do this. This is the first home where I have seen this window used, and I'm wondering if it is a known problem with this brand. While I am familiar with the brand from seeing advertising it has an extremely small local market share. Has anybody else seen this problem with this brand? Click to Enlarge 43.04 KB

Master control for old relay operated lighting system. It was tried in the 50's but never really caught on. Small gauge wire ran from wall switches to solenoids, usually in the attic.

Well, it's not something that's happened to me before but my first thought would be to shut the furnace completely off -- including the pilot light. Let it cool completely so the plastic hardens as much as possible. You might even try placing a ziploc bag of ice on it. Then try to scrape/lift it off with a putty knife. If the furnace was dusty or rusty it may not have bonded well anyway. You won't hurt the furnace with a putty knife. And if that doesn't work I'd try the opposite. Use a hair dryer to gently heat and soften the plastic while trying to scrape it off.

Thanks for all the responses. Once again I learned something!

Today's job was a large home on a ridge, and the home was equipped with a lightning rod system. I traced the wires down to ensure that they were still attached to buried ground rods. About 8 feet away from one of the rods at the end of the building was the gas meter. The meter had its original grounding rod and wire still intact. But the installer of the lightning rod system ran a jumper wire from his rod to the house side of the gas line, bonding them together. It is extremely rare for me to see lightning rods, but this strikes me as odd. It seems to me as though you're simply increasing the chances that you are going to electrify the gas piping, and even with its own ground rod I can't see that as a good idea. So am I wrong or is this a bad idea?

Anyone else find it funny that the "plumber" is wearing a carpenter's-type tool pouch and wielding a huge pipe wrench while standing in front of a toilet? Just what is he planning on doing?

There's no reason to go to a 2X6 if everything fits into a 2X4 wall.

I say something similar to what Erby does while pointing out that listing each individual defect would make the report ridiculously lengthy. But to make sure that they don't think I'm simply being lazy I add a phrase to the effect that "What you really need to know is what fixing all this will cost. I recommend that you get quotes from a few competent contractors after they look the (item/system) over."

Thanks for the replies. As Mike said, the plug-in air fresheners are a dead giveaway that someone is trying to cover something up. However,this home did not have any aromatic camouflage in use. In fact, they made no attempt whatsoever to hide any of the nasty conditions. That's why I was a little uncertain as to whether to mention the urine smell or not. When there are artificial means in use to cover up smells I always mention the likelihood that they are trying to cover up something unpleasant: musty smells, cigarettes, pets, incontinent Aunt Gladys, whatever. But despite the fact that this home was only five years old and in an upscale neighborhood there were scary carpet stains and easily visible rodent droppings in several areas. The piles of dog hair built up around the perimeter of the rooms would be sufficient to stuff several throw pillows should one be so inclined. The buyer said "We made a lowball offer, and to our surprise they took it." Imagine that.

I did a job this morning on a home with an extremely pronounced dog urine smell. Well, it was to me anyway -- it about knocked me over as soon as I walked in the front door. Normally this isn't something that I bring up with the buyer. I have always assumed if I can smell it everybody else can. However, I made a passing reference to it to the agent before the buyer got there. Her reply? "What dog urine smell? None of us smelled anything when we were here before." So it got me to wondering whether most of you guys say something about this issue in your reports or not. I don't deal with things that are strictly cosmetic, but this is more than just a cosmetic issue in some ways. My concern is that if they don't smell it now but they do smell it later ? such as when the weather warms up ? am I going to get an angry phone call demanding to know why I didn't mention it. Flooring replacement isn't cheap after all. What do you guys think?