DonTx

Thanks Mike, Now, 1 more question. Since the wires are connected by inserting the copper splice and the aluminum branch wire side by side, is this an acceptable method? (see my pics above) All the connections I saw in this condo were made that way. I noticed the CPSC illustrations have the copper splice coming in at one end and the aluminum branch wire coming in at the other end of the connector. I also did not see any inhibiter or anti oxidant paste. (you could look into the open end of the connector and and see the co/al wires side by side) Thanks,

Did a late '70's condo yesterday with aluminum wiring. Feeder and branch wires had been "pigtailed" (well not really, read on) at the breakers and at the outlets. I've never seen this type of connector used to connect copper & aluminum. Can anyone tell me what type of connectors these are and if they are designed for use connecting copper & aluminum? Download Attachment: IMG_3461.jpg 52.81 KB Download Attachment: IMG_3463.jpg 43.66 KB They appear to me as the type of connector used to splice 2 wires into one or to splice two smaller wires with one larger one. Thanks,

That's good stuff Barry, thanks! Do they have anything about how the stringers should be attached and supported?

I'm glad I'm not the owner....I wonder what the owners reaction was when she came home and found this. Download Attachment: IMG_2802.jpg 80.56 KB

I have several sites on different host. Just make sure the package you get is a Dedicated IP. www.acehost.com www.ev1.net/english/hosting/index.asp www.xiwebhosting.com www.globat.com This should get you started.

You can find them here: www.americascallcenter.com

Like the others above stated, I believe this MIGHT work if you had a large educated, web savy, Client base. I tried an online schedule a few years ago and found that people wanted to talk to someone live or they did not fill out all the information properly. You'd get to the inspection and find they didn't tell you about the crawlspace or EIFS thinking they'd save a few bucks (which is kinda true, I never go up on a Client at the inspection). However, I did find something about a month and a half ago that I wish I had from day one. It's Americas Call Center. I've always been against call centers because the people sounded like they were reading from a script or strung out on drugs. With all the calls my wife was taking, plus filling out the contact sheets and emailing the Agreements, she'd be working as late as 8 or 9 at night. She (and I) needed a break (if Moma's not happy, no ones happy). This business was running our lives. I chose ACC because they only answer phones for home inspectors and because they have a performance based pay system. I hired them so I could lighten my wifes work load. I secretly hoped we wouldn't lose too much business (because my wife or I were not answering the phones). We had some wrinkles to work out, but I could not be any happier with them. It's been one of the best decisions I've ever made business wise, plus they cost a helluva lot less than an assistant (we've went through 3 this year). If they've cost me any business, they've made up for it by getting the calls that would have rolled to voice mail while my wife was on another line. If anything, they've helped streamline our business and most importantly, gave us or lives back! For example, while typing this I'm eating a bowl of fresh Peach Cobbler my wife just made. She hasn't had time to cook like this in a long, long time! Another huge bonus is that they upsell all of our services. They take away the emotion of booking an inspection. When my wife or myself would book a home, there'd be many times we wouldn't charge for the add ons because we were afraid we'd lose the inspection. Not ACC. They charge what we tell them to and have a list of all our add-ons. For example, they booked my first 4 figured fee for a residential inspection on a home this week! When I looked down the list of our add-ons, they sold every one that was applicable for that home. I know that if I had booked that inspection, I wouldn't have charged for half of those add-ons! They have defineatly added to our bank account! It's nice to do the $600 2000sf homes! I've had a few inspector friends call in and "test" them (none from my area though!). They've received great grades from all those who've called. We've been keeping track of Customer Satisfaction since we've been using them. Everyone except one person has been extremely happy. (the one person has a very strong accent and is hard to understand, she was a little miffed at them when they didn't understand her) If you try online scheduling and find it's not for you, give Paul at ACC a try.

In that case, I'd bet you'd like a little place just North of here called "Cut N Shoot". Farther North of there is a town called "Gun Barrel City". Unfortunately, they don't show up in the Tourist brochures.

These were for small lights that outlined cabinet openings and to backlight glass faced cabinet doors. This was new construction and it did look like a DIY job. The Electrician used a 1/2" hole saw where a much smaller hole could have been used to run the Romex through the cabinet.

Can anyone ID these transformers? I found them installed in cabinets. There's a sticker on them that says "General Transformer Type I Enclosure" There's also a sticker on them that says something to the effect of "Do not install where the enclosure can entrap heat" Download Attachment: IMG_2587.jpg 50.6 KB Download Attachment: IMG_2584.jpg 42.96 KB I'd like to have the installation instructions. The Romex was not in conduit, there were no grommets or strain relief where the Romex entered the transformer. I'd also like to know if they can be installed inside wood cabinets.

Hmmm.... Help me decide...do I get the yellow hardhat or the 16 Gillette Mach 3 Razorblades or go all out and get the Vulcan griddle with the nice bake oven... Geez Chad, I thought I had some STUFF laying around!

You know, that's just about what I'd expect from them. I can't say I'm surprised by their comments. I also get that SPAM newsletter and other junk mail from NACHI. I can assure you, I never signed up for it. I've been reporting it to my ISP as SPAM. Sooner or later they'll get put on a SPAM list and many ISP's will block them. All it takes is for everyone to report every email from them to their ISP.

Wiggy I find a handfull each year that are wired wrong.

I've seen this before. The night lite has a dim light on the far right side. The SureTest indicates a non-grounded outlet. (If you only go by the three light tester, it's telling you everything is okay because the two yellow lights are lit) So why is the right light dim? Leakage? (it looks like the red light on the tester is lit, but I believe it's coming from the middle light, not the bulb itself) Edit: You know, the more I look at this photo, the more the red light does look like it's lit...hmmm Didn't seem that way in the home....go figure... Download Attachment: IMG_2955.jpg 19.4 KB Now this is an outlet on the other side of the room. Perfectly normal. Download Attachment: IMG_2956.jpg 20.6 KB Comments?

We have a PayPal merchant account. If our account totals over 10k per month, our fees are 2.2% + .30 per transaction. Ken, nice move with the affiliate link!

ROFLMAO! []

Yesterday, Mark one of my inspectors, shows up at a Townhouse complex to do an inspection. As he pulls up to the gate, he notices another inspector pulling in. He thinks that this inspector is probably going to another unit. But no, he pulls up in front of the one Mark is suppose to be doing. Mark calls the Buyer who is on his way. The Buyer knows nothing about another inspector. The Buyer gets there and the other Inspector proceeds to tell him that he'll be doing the Inspection. The Buyer then tells this Inspector that he never spoke with him before! The other Inspector told the Buyer that he'd already called the Listing Agent and his Agent and had set the appointment up with them. The Buyer said "I don't care, I hired VIP to do my inspection." Apparently this set the other Inspector off and he told the Client that he was "Obligated" to have him do the inspection since he set it up with the Agents. The Buyer said "Look, all I did was fill out a quote request on your website and you guys never called me back or responded. I hired VIP to do my inspection. I don't know you and I never spoke with you." Mark said then the other Inspector got in the Buyers face and said "The least you should do is pay me $100 for my time to come out here" To which the Buyer responded "I've told you, I never spoke to you and certainly didn't schedule an inspection with you!" At that point, Mark said the other Inspector jumped in his pickup and took off. Mark said the other Inspector never spoke to him or even looked at him the entire time. This is what we figured happened. The Buyer sent in a quote request on the other Inspectors website. Now having the address and both Agents names and numbers, the Inspector called them and set up the appointments. Marked called both Agents who said that, Yes, someone did call and try to move the inspection up to 10 a.m. (our inspection was scheduled for 3 p.m.) but that they thought it was us and that 10 would not work. I guess he figured that he would show up and wrestle the inspection away from us. I encourage Mark to either have the Buyer file a complaint with TREC against this other inspector or do it his self. By the way, this inspector has been in the business less than a year. What kind of marketing tactics are they teaching now!

George, I sometimes believe that Inspectors think it's cheaper to market to Agents (which, in the short run it probably is). For a lot of new inspectors, being a home inspector is their first business. Many have no idea how to market or don't want to spend the $$$ it takes to market directly to the consumers. They just don't understand that marketing is a long term investment. It doesn't cost money to advertise, it pays. We've all thrown money at marketing ideas that didn't pay. That's just business. It happens. I suppose for many HI's who rely on Agents to feed them, it's like Crack, they just don't want to kick the habit bad enough. By the way, the avatar is annoying! It's also out of focus....lol Is there suppose to be subliminal message in that?

I can't find it either. However, my guide says that Snyder General is now Mcquay International. Their phone is 800-377-2787

Here's my take on it George, (by the way, thanks for bringing it up, Marketing is one of my favorite things about this biz) 1. I actually started off with the same mind set you have and had to change it over time. I had to define who my Clients were and then design ads that would target them. 2. I've tried most of those except TV, Radio, Mall displays (Mall ads here are too expensive for the return) and Billboards. -Billboards located in good to prime areas will cost you $1200 to $2100 per month. Small billboards out in the boondocks average around $800 per month. -Cable TV and Radiio. Haven't tried it, but it's next on my agenda. -Truck lettering. Had little response to it when I tried it, plus my insurance guy wanted a lot more $$$ for have a "commercial" vehicle. -Lions Club, Rotary and the COC was a decent source of referrals. However, making the meetings became a chore and interfered with my inspection schedule when I was a one man show. Now that I have a few guys working, I'm considering picking that up again. -Sponsorship of Little League team. Tried it once. Don't know if I ever got an inspection from it, but it gave me a warm and fuzzy feeling watching those kids play ball and seeing my companies name on the jersey's. The Sponsorhip fees are getting ridiculous though. I might as well buy a minor league ball club! -I've tried newspaper ads including ads in the local Thrifty Nickel and Penny Shopper. Wasted advertising but you have to try. I believe that if you're going to be independent of the Agents, you'd better know your Clientele and know how to target them. For example, it took a while, but I realized that the Penny Shopper/Thrifty Nickel was reaching the wrong clients. The general readership of those papers (at least in this area) are not the ones buying $500k homes and willing to pay $500 for an inspection. Now if I was advertising brush hogging or dozer work or $125 inspections, that would be a great readership to target. Just look at the other advertisers in those papers. You don't see high end landscapers advertising in them, but you will see the guy charging $20 for a lawn mow. I've had very little success with print advertising. I've tried the RE rags and newspapers plus a couple of HOA newsletters. I do get some return with a couple high end magazines in Houston (again, know who your Clientele is), but it's nothing to write home about. The web and direct mail marketing works wonders for us as well as referals. However, now that more and more web savy inspectors are coming along, it's getting a little crowded at the top. They keep me on my toes trying to stay near the top. Yellow Pages and BBB book suck and are too expensive. George, you ought to have some T-Shirts made up. "Women want me, Real Estate Agents Fear Me" [:-scared] I'd be interested in seeing how other inspectors in smaller markets market their business.

Oh, there are some Committe papers here also; http://www.foundationperformance.org/co ... apers.html

In our area, trees next to the foundation either means there is bad news, or there will be. Check out this site and browse through their PDF's. This is a think tank of Engineers located here in Houston. This association specializes in slab on grade foundations. One of the papers had some good pictures of trees vs. foundations, driveways, sidewalks and a garage. http://www.foundationperformance.org/te ... apers.html

It's a trick question. What a homes "worth" and what it's priced at are generally two different things. Just look at the 900 sf homes out on the West coast that sell for 700k to over a million bucks. Those homes are not "worth" that, but people will give that kind of money for them. They're paying for the dirt the home is setting on. Who chooses the inspector? The show or the contestants?

Marks got it. Most of our "tile" roofs are actually concrete tile. This is one of the few clay tile roof I've seen lately. Thanks everyone,

Funny that question should pop up. I surfed over to NACHI last night to see how much 'tougher' the entrance exam was, that question was on the first page.