sepefrio

That is under the kitchen sink. Every P-trap in the house was this way. In fact I don't think anything in the house was newer than 30 years old (the water heater is 33)

Just wondering about this, um, P-trap. One thing that may be of importance, in this house, in the medicine cabinet was a bottle of caster oil that expired in 1948. This house has been vacant a Looooooooong time. Image Insert: 165.98 KB

OK, I'm not very savy at this but thought I would throw it out there anyways. I use the Web Site Grader to help me improve my website. One thing it grades on is the number of bookmarks you have with places like Delicious. So, I was wondering, since there is nothing really involved except a short registration, what can it hurt if we all did bookmark swapping? You bookmark my page, I bookmark yours. From the way I understand things, since it's not an outbound link form our web pages themselves, it doesn't hurt our web page. But since it is an inbound from a popular site it helps. Especially the more people that bookmark it. So, what ya think? Shall we swap or is there some secret evil I'm unaware of?

OK done as suggested. A few things. For Mike and Jim, I changed the Plumbing section to reflect what Mike said so we can see the difference between the two. Maybe by actually seeing it an opinion will change. The comment Numbers - I put in three samples. In electrical there is no box around it. To me that makes it look like a misplaced number. In Plumbing, I did a thin line, the one I like the most. And in Heating and Cooling I put a thick line, the way it was. Again to visually display the difference. The font should now be the same through out the document. California FB. Oh and Brandon, thanks for your reccomendation! LOL Download Attachment: Beta V0.21.pdf 754.54 KB

WOOPS. Actually, 99% of those reports numbers won't be seen. I just have them visible so I am sure each table is talking to each other properly and it all linked up right. Just forgot to turn the visibility function back off. Randy, Yes the pictures will be marked with circles, arrows and maybe even small comments on the photo itself. One thing that I think is being misunderstood is the Report number all over the place. Like I said above, I used it to make sure everything was talking and linking up right. In the section header, that won't be visible. In the description it will be what it says, Service capacity isn't 19990101-A, again that was for me to make sure it all talked and set up right. The Observations and Comments are also not 19990101-A. That will be replaced with the observation and recommendations I make. So ignore those numbers. and record numbers, yeah they can be a bit smaller. Oh and Font, thanks. didn't see that.

OK maybe I'm dense, a glutton for punishment or just plain crazy but I'm back for round two. I hope most will realize the suggestions I have actually implemented as a sign that I do listen to input. I also put my house and kids (about 5 years ago) on the front in a desperate attempt to gain sympathy! But in all honesty, I would rather good constructive feedback. And so we get off to a better start this time, the opinions I'm looking for strictly concern the format of the report. I see no point in proofing it for spelling or grammar until the format is complete. I have an editor standing by to do just that for me. Also, I added an appliance section because the warranty I offer covers appliances. The company says I have to at least show I inspected them to meet their qualifications. I'm still kind of wishy washy on this section though, as in there may be a better way i.e removing the pictures and just listing them like in the Summary section. I also left out most of the photo's this time so it will load faster. But each comment has the ability to have up to three pictures. The "No Image" is only shown in the first spot if there are no pictures. That gets replaced if there is at least one picture. Lastly, I blatantly admit copying portions of others peoples reports and implementing them into this one. If you see parts of your reports here, it is a sign of respect for your opinion, not theft. But if you do have a problem with it, please PM me and I will remove it. So, what ya got to say? File updated, see post below for new file.

LOL, I said it up above. On my buddies advice about the mixer valve, the owner removed the handle, found the washer installed backwards (thus the handle would only turn half way). He flipped the washer back around, the handle completely turns now and plenty of hot water everywhere. So it was a washer in backwards on the shower handle. Repair time about 15 minutes, cost $0.

Ahh, but the master bath sink ALSO did not have hot water until primed by the hall bath. BTW, this is what really confused me. I could understand how one or the other would not work, but both? But anyways, Mike was right in there. The handle in the shower was actually installed improperly. When I called the home owner and told him what it might be, he took the shower handle off. With the handle off, the handle itself would rotate from the 12 o'clock to the 6 o'clock position. Previously when installed, it stopped at the 3 o'clock position. He said one of the plastic "washers" was in backwards. He flipped it around, the handle rotated just fine when installed again and now both the sink and shower have nice hot water. To be honest, I still don't understand how this problem would cause the sink to not have hot water. I guess it is plumbed to the shower then feeds the sink so it passes that mixing valve. Anyways, I learned something and the client is extremely pleased. So a win win situation for all involved (except their agent who they first asked for help but was to busy to bother).

I got a call back by a previous client today. Seems no one else would help them except to say "call a plumber" and have a nice day. They seemed at wits end, and I remembered them as a nice couple. I was close with free time so I agreed to come by and take a look see. Anyways, here is what I found. Single story ranch style house. If you were outside facing the front door, the water heater is in the back left corner and the master bath is in the front right corner. The hall bath is about 20ft to the left (closer to the water heater) than the master bath. The problem. No hot water in the master bath. There is however, plenty of hot water in the guest bath and kitchen. But, if you first run hot water in the hall bath, then there is somewhat hot water in the master bath. So, by itself, the master bath has only roughly room temperature water (not hot and not cold). But if primed via the hall bath, the sink has hot water and the shower has luke warm water. All supply piping is copper and what cold be seen, it was not excessive. The master bath has a two handle faucet sink, and a single handle shower. The water heater is a 50gl 2001 model that looks to be operating just fine. Just prior to the sale, the master bath had been remodeled. It was originally a handicapped equipped house. The shower is a stall type that you could roll a wheelchair into. During my first inspection, I did the hall bath first. So when I got to the master bath the sink had hot water. But I did notice the shower was barely warm at best. I went back to double check the water heater. Next to the water heater is the electrical panel. Thats when I heard the panel buzzing, and got temperatures of about 110 degrees on the breakers. (yes this is the same house where the panel blew me on my butt at a later date). It was decided by the owner to secure the power. So now the water heater had no power (All power was secure prior to the inspection too, so the water heater had been on maybe 20 minutes total). At the re-inspection the panel blew up, so we never got to follow up on the hot water issue. I told them to make sure and run the hot water at closing to see if it was OK. I never heard a thing so I assumed it was OK or being taken care of. That is until this phone call. Anyways, I was stumped by this whole thing and the wife was frazzled. The husband called one plumbing company, explained the problem and they said they could come out and look. It would be $90 just to show up and then they suggested either the master bath would have to be re-plumbed or the water heater replaced. They further suggested the water heater may be too far from the bath. I didn't like those answers and I liked these people so I asked them to give me some time to see what I could dig up. Well luck was on my side, I got a hold of a plumber buddy of mine and described the situation. He nailed it on the head after he got all the information (same as above). Well he thought about it for several minutes then it was like a "You know what, I just bet it's.........." I had never heard of this situation causing this problem. I felt I should share it so maybe it helps someone else as well. But before I tell, lets see what the guess are. Why was there no hot water in the master bath?

From a programming standpoint, how are you managing to connect to your bank and compare it with your books? What programming language are you using? Even for us to setup credit card processing for home inspectors using our software involved us signing lots of contracts to get an API to work with. To be honest, every bank is different, requiring different info to connect to them. The reason no inspection software vendor would touch this is it would be a huge amount of work for little return (remember there is a very small amount of inspectors worldwide). It makes much more sense for an inspector to use Quickbooks (which is made by a billion dollar company, 100x the worth of all the inspection software companies combined) which will do more than any inspection program could ever do. You don't want inspection vendors writing accounting software for you! The best thing for inspection programs to do is to provide an easy way to get information in and out the program and in to Quickbooks (or another accounting program) so you don't have to duplicate info. I know there are good inspection packages out there right now that will do this. Honestly, ours isn't one of them, but it is something we hope to get added into a version in the next few months (other features to add in first). The impossible part, and the reason most people don't do it is the vast amount of banks out there. You need security information for each one. So Instead of actually talking to the bank itself, I download my report from the bank then import that to my database. That way they can talk to each other. I actually made it in two parts, one where I copied the banks exact format so everything matches. Then the information gets duplicated (yeah I know that increases DB size) and put in a format I want to work with. From a programming stand point, it is very sloppy. But for my personal use, it works.

Another question for everyone, model and serial numbers, who does and who does not include them in their report? I see on Jim's sample he does not. If you don't, how do you account for multiple units? In reality, the numbers themselves are rather useless they can only prove the unit you actually inspected if someone were to dig that deep. I'm not talking about information gained (BTU, age) I'm referring to the actual numbers themselves. At my school and with multiple inspectors I trained with, they all said yes. Of course those inspectors were in different states (not required here) so they may have been answering for their locations. To date, no one has ever asked for, about or in reference to such information. But I'd just like the general "Onion" here. Also Jim, I noticed in your heating and cooling section, you only listed a furnace. Would you make a separate Description section for other parts of the system? Yes it's almost 5am and I'm still at it. The wife and kids are enjoying life at our beach house in Spain. I'll be going myself next week. So I'm burning the midnight oil to get things done that I've always wanted to.

Jim, I see a fundamental difference in our comments style and I like yours better. I was simply stating the problem. You have the comment broken into two sections, identify the problem, then the recommendation. First it makes a statement, that leads to the reader having a question, then you promptly answer that same question. So when your done reading it, you have full understanding. As for the sorting the input. I knew I could be doing this one of several ways, so I built in 6 different ways to sort each comment: Room, System, alphabetically, comment number, comment title and miscellaneous. Further I can group and sort, so I can group by system and sort by comment number or any combination of the same. So for the program itself, I only have to change the report layout, not the code. What I can also do is make a separate report for my re-inspections. A room by room checklist just for me so I can follow along in order vice jumping around. BTW, do you use a PDA on site? I'm kind of scared to myself. So far I've crushed the LCD on two cameras from crawling and contorting into spaces.

Michael, lol no problem and I'm not insulting yours either. I checked out your program and I kind of like it. Actually if I fail in my efforts, (which I refuse to do) unless convinced otherwise, I will probably give it a go. But I'm also a bit gun shy of buying a generic program from the horrible experience with my current. BTW, I know it's a lot more than just a word document, I'm writing this in VB. Oh, and the format of the printed report itself is not what I don't like, it the whole package. It's just that 90% of that package is my own personal use. I'm not asking for thoughts on the majority of the program because I'm the only one who will see/use it and I'm the only one who needs to be happy with it. The printed report however, is what will be seen by others. Thus I can't put Buccaneer logos, rude comments, little personal reminders or other stuff like that on it. As was mentioned before, everyone likes their own thing. Neither of us can make a program that 100% satisfies everyone. But if I can put out a format that maybe people don't like but can tolerate I'm close. I'm here now for the comments like Jim's where he mentioned to clarify the meaning of clearance or corrections like how do you heat hot water. Again folks remember, this is not a little word document. If I put a lot more time into it I could sell it like the others. I'd also have to change a lot of things so anyone could use it instead of hard coding my personal information into it. But I'm not trying to have a conversation about what program is better or worse. David, You suggested exactly what I don't want. Does your reporting program talk to that intuit program or are you having to input the exact same information several times? None of the programs that I know do. Thus in both the Report Plus and Quicken you have to input things such as Name, Date, amount etc. Some don't care about that and thats cool, I think it's working harder not smarter. Call me picky if you want, but thats the way I feel. Bain First, I actually asked for Onions not opinions Anyways, your right I asked several questions in my first post. And none of those were answered. It's like taking a test, the teacher tells you you got a 85% but won't tell you what you got right or wrong. Frustrating. And if you notice, my reply was before his thought out responses and after the one that merely stated it was amateurish. And it doesn't sting at all. I respect everyones opinion here otherwise I wouldn't ask. But that doesn't mean I'm sending you a Christmas card. Jim, Now that we are having a good talk about this lets keep it up. I have already incorporated or am working on previous stuff talked about but we appear (or at least I am) stuck on the order. Again, I did this format as a start, copied in the same format of my current program. It was just the starting point. So lets talk that a little bit. BTW anyone can add their two cents here too. Order of the Beta version I posted. TITLE PAGE OVERVIEW SYSTEM DETAILS DETAILED COMMENTS (Room order) SUMMARY (Type of comment order, Major, Safety etc) Well I think we can all agree that the TITLE PAGE comes first and some sort of OVERVIEW should follow that. What I'm leaning towards now is replacing DETAILED and SUMMARY with one section such as CONCERNS NOTED. Maybe even two copies of the same section, one in room order, the other in system order. No longer declare something as major or minor or whatever. Just list everything as equal value. I'm also thinking about adding a GLOSSARY section to define things such as AFCI. I know it doesn't add a ton to the file size, but you think adding a copy of the SOP would be good? Or maybe attach the SOP to the contract and just refer to it? I don't want the report 97 pages long. Actually Jim, would you mind sending me a blank copy of your report format so I can actually see how you are doing it.

Jim, not exactly childish whining and if thats what you think it is, then you have other problems. But the simple fact is your first reply criticized the report with out giving any whys. Thus your comment was just a negative feedback, not constructive feedback. Maybe I should have been more clear that I was looking for feedback instead of just "it's amateurish". So back at ya big guy, spare me your childish whining. That being said, your latest post is what I was asking for the first time. Your points about some of the information like clearance are VERY valid and thank you. The summary part, I consider that a bad thing not a good thing. A top ten would be even worse. I don't want them coming back and saying, well that information was in this section vice that section so we didn't think it was important. And no matter which section it's in, someone could/would make that complaint. Same with the look too. All the comments should be in the same place. My experience has shown that people are lazy. Unless you try and make it idiot proof, the idiot is going to burn you. By splitting up the comments into different areas, the idiot will miss this. Would I be covered legally? Sure, but I still have a client that isn't happy and not passing my name around. As for the programs you mentioned, I don't think so. I even went to their websites to confirm, not a single one of them will download banking information and compare it with my information to balance my books. Most of them are also multiple programs that you have to buy separately, like Report Plus. (I use Report Plus and not only do I think the program is garbage, but so is the support. I found a major error in their program called them to fix it and they still haven't, almost a year later. Oh but since I had to use Customer Support I was signed up for their support plan at $10 a month on the sly. The only thing Report Plus has done for me is realize that I need to stay away from their products and service) Yes, most inspection programs have schedulers included, but then I also have to use the inspection program to schedule everything in my life, and it's not set up for that. When my calender pops up, I want to see I have an inspection scheduled tomorrow morning and that my daughter has a soccer game tomorrow night and it's my turn to bring the juice. What you are seeing here is only a small portion of what I want to accomplish. But alas, this is not important to this conversation. This conversation is dealing with the format of a report. Lets keep it to that.

Bruce, thank you! You confirmed some things I was thinking and dispelled others. I'm reworking the format now taking into account many of the above suggestions. One area I need some help though, is page two, the overview. Like I said above, that is simply a cut and paste from the canned program I currently use. It is horrible and set up the Major, Poor, marginal stuff. Is the fact that the house is on fire a "Safety Concern" or a Major Concern"? So I need to come up with a complete re-write of that. I think I may just list them all as something like "Concerns Noted". I've seen in other reports online they are broken down as Repairs and Further Investigation. I worry that the client may think, or the agent will convince the client that "Further Investigation" means they don't have to worry about it for now and not get it looked at before they buy the house. I do like the idea of numbering and I have already put that into the report. I also like the idea, since it's no extra work after I finish the programming, and it's minimal programming at that, to make basically duplicate sections. One in order by room, another in order by system. Although it adds pages to the report, it doesn't add much size to the file. This is only the first step. After I take my beating here, I'm going to take it to family and friends and see what they think too. Especially since they only think as a client not as an inspector. They are the ones that can really tell if it's easy to read and understandable. Again thanks and Beta v0.2 should be out in a day or two

Jim, see the post above. So to answer your statement, no there aren't a dozen programs that will do what I want. There isn't even one. I'm not doing this for a money standpoint, I'm doing it because I'm not happy with the products offered. I'm not into settling when I can have better. I can do better, for me, with some help of course, so I'm going to try. As for the information scattered around, I assume your talking about the initial systems such as HVAC, Electrical etc. I was thinking about that too. The first few sections are merely informational, "Whats in the house" type of thing. Then there is the comments section. So we could have the "defects" scattered in different sections as you may be implying, and thus again the customer has to flip through the pages to see whats wrong. Or this format. My thought is this, the customers, at first look, want a quick summary of whats wrong so they can make their initial decision about their deal. Then later, usually after the contingency was submitted, they go back and read everything in the report. So I separated the systems. But if I fill in information about the water heater, with no comment of anything wrong when there is, the customer may "Assume" nothing was wrong. So even though I separate the sections, I feel it is needed to make at least a "Look to" comment to indicate a problem was found. As for your comments about it being "very amateurish and the tables are hamfisted", that doesn't really help. Anyone can say they don't like something. What I'm asking for is your input as to why? How are the tables "hamfisted"? Adjective: ham-fisted ham'fistid 1. Lacking physical movement skills, especially with the hands - bumbling, bungling, butterfingered, ham-handed, handless, heavy-handed, left-handed I just don't see what you mean? Is it the the format of the table? The color? the terminology? Anyone can criticize something, but few stand up to be criticized.

Erby, I know you can change headers in HomeGauge and other products, but none of those products to everything I want in the manner I want. This program doesn't just print out my report it is also.. My Scheduler My Accounting software (That can talk and compare with my bank) My Historian (for marketing) my document printer (contract, personalized note cards, warranty, and other) The biggest problem with most canned software is they have to be generalized to meet entire market needs. Sure some are customizable, but I have yet to see a true all-in-one, personalized for MY needs and wants. And again, since I can, I am writing the program. Of course, it's so personalized that no one else would be able to use it, but thats not my goal. BTW I do agree, why keep changing the headers? That wasn't my point. Once I start using this program, like you, I can change the headers too, but I won't. But I need to get it right the first time no? I hate doing work more than once. I think it is such a waste of time having to copy the same information into 5 different programs.

Actually folks, I agree on the major minor part. I more or less copied the section titles of the canned software I currently use. And when using it, the word "Major" and "Safety" did get to me a little, just like you mentioned Bruce. That's the thing I like about doing this myself, where you now see "Major" it would take me 30 seconds to change to "Ice Cream" if I wanted. I've actually considered just flat re-naming the summary to just "Summary", or make it look like a table of contents. Then let the customer decide which items are "Major" Les, trust me bro, your words over time have sunk in, especially as I gain more and more experience. The only use I see for boiler plate comments is "Yes, 'No" or "N/A" and things like that. Currently I don't have any installed boiler as I intend to write the comments as if they are a letter to the customer. Again remember, the comments in this sample are just for viewing purposes and maybe a little comic relief. I mean, how many of us actually inspect Sofa's? In fact the sofa comment is written like that to show just how much information you can fit in each section. Hrmm, Water heater Aye. Air Handler aye, thats a simple fill in. Again, I know a lot of this is style and personal taste. I personally don't like reading book style reports with information hidden inside. I always hated doing Essays (except in history) in school and a lot of reports remind me of those. I think a lot of home buyers feel the same way. Sure you can't please everyone, but I'm looking to display the report in a clean, concise manner that the reader doesn't say "ugg" when they open the cover. Keep the info/comments coming as I do some more work on it.

Can you be a little more specific?

OK folks, to start I know I know, there are lots of inspection programs out there all ready, but to date, none of them do what I want. Most do some or most of what I want, but not all of it. And since I can, I did, I wrote my own. Thus, thats not the topic here. I have my first draft of how an inspection report would look. DON'T critique the comments or other information (except maybe the second page that I wrote up quick and haven't proofed yet). I'm asking opinions on format. All the information in there is just to fill space to see how things would work. I also used odd pictures of whatever just to fill space. So the pictures mostly don't match the comments or other information. Oh, and these pictures aren't highlight or red circled or such to better identify the item but they will be in a real report. Also, I know a report could have a lot more comments, but I only put in a few, again just to see the format. Section titles, banners or other information that does not change from report to report is up for critique too. Image this report with your pictures and comments. Is the report easy to read? Does it provide all the needed information? Is there some junk that should be removed? What would you add to make it better? Overall format grade? Thanks for your opinions. Download Attachment: BETA Inspection Report.pdf 454.92 KB P.S. I know I said "Onions" needed. That was my little trick to get the grammar police to pop in and give their thoughts too. [:-bonc01]

I was just wondering if 100's of crickets in a crawlspace was a sign of something else. A few of the crawlspaces I've been in around here have crickets all over the place. In fact when I see them, it's either 100's or none. So, if you open a crawlspace cover, peeked in and saw crickets all over the place, does that set an alarm off to look for X? Thanks.

Thanks, that laugh did me good.

OK thanks bud, just wanted to be sure.

Mike, OK and I may again just be putting to much into it. The door was installed post 1993, but the operator, which was already in place prior to the new door, is pre 1993. So, is that saying, that since the door is post 1993, and when it was installed, and although it was hooked up to the older operator, the sensors are required? Or is it based on the installation of the operator?

BTW, I can already write this up as a discrepancy for water trapping. Where I placed the red circle, that is the low point. From there it goes in a upward slope to the next elbow that goes into the wall. Image Insert: 176.85 KB