AHI in AR

A follow up: When the fellow called to ask if he could shadow me, I told him I needed to check with my insurance agent first. I asked him to call me back after a couple of days. His reply was "You've got my number; call me and let me know." That's not gonna happen. I politely told him that I had enough things to deal with that it would be better if he called me back. That was part of my hesitation anyway. If he wasn't interested/motivated/just plain courteous enough to follow up with me I certainly wasn't going to bend over backwards to help him. So he called back today. After nicely telling him that my insurance agent said there could be problems since he wasn't on my policy he became defensive, stating that he was a licensed inspector. Next thing I know he had hung up on me. Now I'm confident that I shouldn't have spent my time helping him. Thanks for the input.

I came across a toilet in a home today which would flush twice with one flip of the handle. The water would swirl and drain, looking normal, then refill again quickly and drain again. Two other toilets of similar design in the home didn't do this. Unfortunately, the sellers came home with a sick baby and I wasn't able to pull the cover off the tank and run it through a few cycles to try to figure out what was happening. It was a conventional toilet, not anything exotic. Anyone know what's going on?

I got a call this morning from a newly licensed guy wanting to go on a couple ride alongs for free. I'm caught between wanting to help and worried that I'm helping train someone who might become future competition. Realistically, though, a lot of new guys don't make it past the first year here. What do you guys think?

That panel looks amazingly fresh to be old enough to have aluminum branch circuit wiring.

Condensation. North-facing side stays colder. Coldest areas are low near eaves.

The responses confirm what I suspected. It's just a junction in need of a box... Thanks guys. So on a lighter note, here's a pic from the job with a note I added. Be sure to look at the bottom of the photo. Click to Enlarge 271.83 KB

Thanks, Marc, but I'm not sure what single conductors have to do with anything. We're looking at a splice here. And yes, I know neutrals and grounds shouldn't be connected together, but if you'll notice the two neutrals share the inner two openings, (out of four) and the two grounds sure the outer two. Similarly, the two hots are connected in the two outer openings in the connector. So for all I know the inner two openings may be one connection and the outer two a separate one.

I found these exposed connectors in the attic of a new home today. In fact, there were two other instances where the same type of connectors were just hanging out of the wall. They didn't have any brand name on them or other identifying markings for me to research them. The house had a certificate of occupancy on site so presumably the city electrical inspector passed this. Then again, it was in the attic and he may never have set foot there. But regardless of that issue I'm trying to figure out if this is allowable or if they should be boxed the same as a conventional junction with wire nuts. I am leaning towards thinking that a junction box would still be required but I don't want to misspeak. Has anybody seen these things, and should they be in a junction box? Click to Enlarge 65.83 KB

Is it typical there to build homes (especially high dollar ones) out of concrete block in Chicago? I thought that was strictly a coastal sort of thing, especially older low buck construction. Admittedly, I've never been to Chicago but I haven't seen it in other large cities where I have been. At least not since I've been old enough to notice.

John's right. The panel is simply an earlier version of the StabLok type. I've seen them just a few times. (edit) Why did this double post?

John's right. The panel is simply an earlier version of the StabLok type. I've seen them just a few times.

Thanks for the info guys. I just couldn't see that 4" was adequate on the ceilings. Yes, Tom, water heaters are routinely installed in attics. It just doesn't get that cold or stay cold here for long. In the summer tank-types barely have to run since the attics stay so hot!

I came across this insulation in a house today which was built in 2006. The insulation was used on the back side of the second-story walls common to the attic as well as on the ceilings exposed to the attic. It was also used on the foundation stem walls above the concrete block. It looks like icynene, but because it is extremely rare here I don't know for sure. In 14 years of doing inspections here this is the first home I've seen with this product. My questions concern appropriate thickness and whether there are any known problems with this. It was not sprayed on the underside of the roof deck. What is the R value per inch? It was only about 4 inches thick on the ceilings on average, and the thickness varied significantly. Click to Enlarge 62.46 KB

Well, it's not rock as you'd find lying about on the ground. It's man-made faux stone created from concrete and other components. The installation details are entirely different. If your installers are of the same caliber that I often see here it's likely that it's not installed properly and water damage will result.

I didn't enlarge the pic but it seems clear that the lower 3 breakers are of a different design that clearly should only have one wire. (and they do) The upper ones MAY be rated for two but the photo isn't clear enough for me to see the design clearly.

Beige handles look like Cutler Hammer. I don't think they are rated for two conductors, but I haven't researched it. Did you get any other identifying info?

Thanks for all the replies. I had pretty well already made up my mind that I was going to buy it, but I tend to be very deliberate and analyze things to death. I wanted to make sure there weren't any possible negatives that I had not previously considered.

The statute is a year here also, but I've no doubt that a decent lawyer could shred that in court. Just like they can blast away the contract provision limiting damages to the cost of the inspection.

I have been debating whether to purchase errors and omissions insurance. It isn't required in my state, and I have gotten along just fine for 14 years without it. But at the same time I realize that it's probably just a matter of time before I wish I had it. As we all know, even if you don't make a mistake there's always somebody willing to sue you. So what do you guys think? Would you buy it if it wasn't a state requirement for your license? I would NOT advertise that I have it. I carry well over the state-required minimum general liability insurance, but of course I realize that's a separate matter.

I think it would be appropriate to call the bottom edge of the flashing a flange. However, if I were trying to communicate to a client what the thingie-that-should-be-exposed was I would simply say the bottom edge of the flashing. I'm pretty sure that most people these days wouldn't know what a flange was if one bit them on the ass. Bottom edge? That's a simple concept.

I'm not generally a country music fan, but I love "The King Is Gone" yabba dabba doo, the king is gone.... RIP, George

We've all seen the electricians who insist on spelling "dining" as "dinning." They seem to be in the majority, in fact. I assume that we all have also seen "Jacuzzi" spelled as Jaccuzzi or with other errors. But this label I found today struck me as funny. I guess Sparky couldn't stand the thought of any form of "ac" in the tub... Click to Enlarge 17.7 KB

I've not seen that setup before but is it some sort of thermal expansion device?

Yeah. the inside component shown in the last photo should be the only thing blowing air of any temp that's related to the outside unit.

That's the same "E" type StabLok design that's problematic. Reliance bought at least some rights to produce the same defective designs that FPE made.