kurt

We always use spun poly pad that breathes. The moisture barrier stuff turns to mold farm.

Yep. In fact, I usually just use the squeeze from the thinset for my grout; wipe off the excess, clean, done. It all goes grey or brown anyway. I think Fabry said he does the same thing.

Throw in the other fact that all the piping for the spa is plastic, and water by itself isn't conductive, and the need for bonding is arguably silly. Isn't it?

There's no such thing as grout sealer. It doesn't work. In fact, it's larger function is the opposite of the intended one; it holds water in the grout. You note that it looked good for about a week; that's about the time frame we see too. As we like to say, "there's no such thing as white grout". I will grudgingly concede there are some epoxy grouts that seem to work OK, but I still have my doubts about longer term maintenance of original color. I've seen several change color just like regular grout. Colored grouts are the idea of kitchen and bath designers and the manufacturers looking to expand their market. Throw in things like "Houzz" and all the other iterations of design/style publications, and it gets confused. Together, they have created an alternate reality separate from how tile and grout actually work. If you're married to the idea of salmon colored grout, try an epoxy mix. Otherwise, make life easy, and use grey grout or one that isn't going to show color variance (which means grey grout).

I've watched 3 times. I hate to say it, but I might get more use out of that thing than my IR camera. I'm a ladder, get on the roof and get up close kind of guy; sometimes, it's just not possible without a 40'er, and I can't single hand a 40'er anymore. There's definitely a practical application; it's not a toy. And, I suppose prices will continue to drop, just like every other bit of high-techery. Hmmmmm.......

Every Quattro I've ever seen is a piece of garbage. They were the standard of care for slumlords back in the 80's around here. I'd feel very comfortable canning it.

Ha! Yeah, that was a soaker. Amazing what happens when you ignore the code and use common sense. Vent the damn wall, stuff dries out. Bob's figured out the system, I'm just a sounding board.

Our OP went totally off the deep end and out of his mind in a couple posts that I just took down. I also trimmed some of the previous pushing and shoving to put a little intelligence back into the thread, and now it's locked. Maybe the remainder is useful for someone.

No, I think they're quite effective, as effective as any mechanical filter, none of which (imho) are all that great. One of the arguments for them is they don't restrict air flow like mechanical filters (Lamb's original question). Air flow restriction vs. filter efficiency/function is the conundrum. "Good" filters can badly reduce air flow, unless they are sized appropriately. There isn't any conventional filter that is going to dramatically improve IAQ, conventional meaning the common (approximately sized) 16x24 type filter. If you want appreciably improved IAQ without badly reducing air flow, continuous bypass systems seem to be a good alternative.

Yep. Oversizing returns to allow substantially increased filter size is essential imho. Also, unless the entire duct assembly is sealed and gasketed correctly, any restriction translates into dust getting dragged into the return, negating most of the beneficial effects of any filter. The only filters I've seen that improve IAQ are all HEPA bypass types, run continuously, and with engineered return location and size that allows moving the massive amount of air necessary to actually effect whole house air volumes.

There is some reasonable argument that filters don't do all that much to improve indoor air quality. Filters were originally intended to keep equipment clean; whether or not they keep indoor air clean depends on a lot of variables that the single factor of a filter can't address. I use a cheapo fiberglass after years of using a 3M model. I don't notice any particular difference.

I thought the pre filters also could go in the dishwasher. Pretty common filter here, although they are being supplanted by pleated media types.

It's frustrating that the insurance and medical industries are so screwed up it took government to come in and require a modicum of humanity in how policies are written (can't be blown out for pre-existing, kids get coverage, etc.), because we all know where government managed anything gets to. I can tell you what Chinese health care is like, and Canadian. It's not so special. We still got the best thing going. Mandated kids dental? Maybe it'll be good for some kids. I honestly don't mind chipping in so some kids can have a dental plan. If Americans believed and behaved like the Christian nation we're supposed to be, then in theory we're doing the right thing. (I hope I didn't just make this a political discussion....) I still think I'm just glad I can afford a policy. The ultimate winner of the birth lottery is anyone born in America. Even with all it's problems.

The cost of Horizon, or the equipment (iPad) isn't a significant factor, at least imho. If any system is really good, those amounts are the cost of doing business. As far as dropping a laptop, like one can drop an iPad, I guess I wonder why anyone would walk around with a laptop. My dislikes are how the information is scattered in several locations. There's a summary, then an appendix, and then there's other information scattered throughout the report. It's disjointed. Interspersed with the information are pictures that are informative, sometimes, but not necessarily related to the subject property. It's one of the examples of report creep, the filling of pages with....stuff. Communication gets lost when surrounded by lots of stuff. I can trace how the inspector is covered by all that stuff, but I've also found customers like a simple list of what to think about; they don't know how to tweeze all that info apart to figure out what's important. Then again, most customers don't care; they get lost in the real estate transaction shuffle. I understand why people like it. It makes the inspectors job easier in some regards. Fill in the blanks, a big document pops out. I've just taken a different approach.

I have looked over and tried the Horizon system, and honestly and unbiased as I can be, I think it's one of the goofiest messes of confusion I could possibly imagine. I know a few folks that use it that continually praise it, while at the same time lamenting the huge increase in time it entails. I have a couple attorney clients that send me Horizon reports to decipher; that kind of says something about it also. I remember when they came out with it. The principals put together one of the most accurate, focused, and right thinking descriptions of what a report system should be. I could hardly wait to get my hands on it to try it out; I figured someone that could so perfectly describe what a report system should be would undoubtedly develop perfection. When I got the sample, I couldn't believe it. It was nothing like the description. The believers sing it praises.

Chicago is the land of confused HVAC installs. We look at a lot of joints that were originally steam or hydronic, that were converted to condos or apartments a while back when no one cared; tech's stuffed equipment in any old place it would fit, even kitchen pantries with the return located in the kitchen. Ducts hidden in cheesey soffits, lousy air flow, vents into ventilation shafts, all sorts of crap. I'm betting this is one of those kind of places.

I agree completely on simple. Simpler the better. I've pared my reports down to bare essentials. If I could leave out the SOP mandated descriptive stuff, I could knock another 5-6 pages out of the equation. One of the big problems with current report software packages is the amount of creep that's occurred. I see 50-60+ page reports. I try to read these things and it's largely gibberish withe the important information hidden in dense turgid prose. It's insane. I used to want to be able to finish it all on site. I found that to be a major distraction also. Much easier to finish it up when there's not a bunch of people waiting for me to frantically finish. Taking the time to create a couple minutes space where I can think about what I just did makes all the difference. It's helped to reduce time, not add it.

Some thinking is helpful. I will propose that you're thinking incorrectly, or at least, thinking without the right experience. Mission critical software package experience aside, how do you propose using the iPad to take pictures in dark environments? Or anywhere else that requires a decent pic? FTR, I developed a very functional inspection package for use on my iPads. After trying it, I've abandoned it. Software is not the problem; it worked great. The problem was the limitations of the equipment.

Yes. Although, there are Special Ops units that do covert operations with iPads. They're military grade and heavily ruggedized though. I know some guy's that use the iPad. When you watch them inspecting, it's very apparent that large deference is applied to the equipment; you can see them operating within the equipment's boundaries. When I was walking around with my iPad, I was always thinking about the iPad, not what I was looking at. It's a distraction.

I built my own. It works fine, but it's a PITA walking around with a $500 delicate notepad that doesn't fit in my pocket. The camera is slow. It's not water/impact/dirt proof. There's no zoom feature. No useful macro. Yes, I see people using it; they are people that don't understand cameras, photographing, or using pictures effectively in reports. It may, in fact, be the future of reporting. It will be the future if the profession continues to have fascination with things that don't matter very much in performing good inspections. Choosing hardware, then software, is exactly the opposite of what any competent IT person would tell you how to operate. This is, of course, how most HI's operate. You are correct that all the software out there is lacking. It is. The entire "industry" is hamstrung by the fact software developers are leading the way and not someone involved in doing the jobs. It's a real problem. I've been operating on my Mac for several years. I couldn't go back to using MS products or OS's; once you get out and use something else, the advantages become very obvious.

I've always been in the high deductible programs; it's the only way I can afford a real policy. I've taken the outlook of feeling lucky I can have insurance that gets me access to real health care. I've visited some hospitals in China; it really makes one understand how incredibly wonderful America is. You do not, repeat, NOT, want to get tangled up in the Chinese health care system. I've got a few stories......

Same here. I can make my rates go up or down depending on a lot of things. Health insurance has been, and always will be, a haze of confusion. As I get older, rates have gone up a lot. That's due to my being older, and the crazy upward spiral of costs that we read about in the news.

Just a WAG.... The installer dweebed out and mixed up the intake and exhaust. I've been seeing installs where they've finally gotten smart enough to take the exhaust out the roof, but to save a penny they put the intake out the side. When the furnace went in, the guy never checked the pipes to see which was which.

Lsturibek/BSC's most recent article (sort of) addresses this topic, with the general recommendation for residential to go with a controlled ventilation system. So, it's additional reinforcement for the HRV solution.

Lsturibek/BSC's most recent article (sort of) addresses this topic, with the general recommendation for residential to go with a controlled ventilation system. So, it's additional reinforcement for the HRV solution.