Jerry Simon

Each time I read this, I'm brought back to my teenage years and some of my first girlfriends. . .

Why would a mid-1960's era house just have such for all of the exterior lights, but not for the interior lights as well?

We just moved last year and now have a wood deck for the first time. Our HO Assoc does not allow fire pits, barbeques, or the like on or near the decks (and the forest preserve is just a few feet from the deck; so, no real fires). My wife likes fires, though, so she bought some of those fake electric outdoor fire-logs. They look neat. Went out to the deck this morning, though, and smoke was coming up from under the log area. Electrical fire, right? Nope. Beginning of summer my wife put up a landscaping thingy with some sort of glass reflector disc next to the deck. Sure enough, months later, today the sun was at just the right angle, and just like when we were 10 years old using our magnifying glasses to start pieces of paper on fire, the dang glass disc used the sun and set our deck on fire. Looked like a frickin' laser beam it was so bright. Kind of weird to go out on the deck for morning coffee and wonder what idiot neighbor is burning stuff outside. That said, thank gosh for morning coffee; we coulda easily lost our home. One more thing to keep in mind when inspecting a house/deck, at least per moi. Click to Enlarge 26.98 KB

It's heat loss; no such thing as *cold* in physics.

Thanks, Barry 2006 Since I've never seen such in 23 years doing this, I figure it wasn't *right*. Now up to the Level II folk. I will be following up with client to see what Level II folk say.

Masonry fireplace with a throat constructed of pieces of clay flue tile. Is that okay? If not, why not?

Probably not related, but who knows. Anyway, been meaning to mention this. I check ovens/ranges for anti-tip brackets. My client smelled a lot of gas once afterwards. Seems I had broken the flex gas line connection behind the oven/range. (I can't recall if it was one of the old brass suckers.). Anyway, since then, I've been diligent about checking the area later for gas leaks. If my client didn't catch this, I could have blown-up the building.

You go, girl.

2x4's, 2-3' o.c. with no ridge rafter?

This. It even quotes a Seattle study on same. Hire this chap.

Could be a rough-in for a radon mitigation system; many jurisdictions around here want such for new construction.

By memory from yesterday, so bear with any mistakes: Chemetron heat detectors, and a wall-mounted Mirtone FA Signal in condominium. Is this a sole *set-up* to sound Mirtone signal if heat detector is activated? I've seen heat detectors before, but same always tied into a central alarm system, and this unit didn't have such. Tanks.

I get that email about once a month. When I saw the word *actually* twice in the first two sentences, I never read the rest of the message. I mean, gag me with a spoon.

I can make just about anything leak using a hose. . .

Seems it's not as simple as one would think. What Bill K said. Marc That sounds like something a home inspector would write. . .

New construction bath fan control; timed GE switch I believe. Switch would not consistently turn on and off. It would work in various timer positions as I switched from one to the other, but then the switch would die; I'd mash all the buttons repeatedly and it wouldn't do anything. Then, later, it would work. I'm pretty sure this was user-error as a couple such switches in the house did the same thing. Can anyone tell me the error of my ways? Click to Enlarge 12.16 KB

Any opinion on how well this product may or may not hold up in the Nashville TN climate? A condo complex there is considering using for their deteriorating asphalt parking lots. Thanks for any thoughts.

Up in the third floor condo, the electrical panelboard was OK (new Square-D). Down in the basement, all of the main disconnects were 100-amp Zinsco's (about 40 of 'em). How would you report this?

Hours and hours (and hours) to no avail. Finally *disabled* the router, my last step before I went out to buy a new one. That set-off some type of computer warning, and computer went to work. It re-set the router, and all is good. Jeesh.

I know this is a forum for home inspection, but without my router, I'm in a bit of a bind, and what with all the knowledge here. . . I burned out a ceiling light bulb last night when I turned the light switch on, and that also tripped the circuit breaker. Odd, but I figure it arced. Anyway: That knocked out my computer, modem, router, all such stuff. I now can't get any of my several routers to work. I re-set the routers and modem several times, and best I can do is plug cable from Comcast directly into CPU to get internet (I don't have a Comcast router fyi). Any help on this would be appreciated. And, any thoughts on the breaker tripping when turning on and burning out light bulb would also be nice

Highland Park? (It does look like Klinker brick. . .)

Almost didn't look at the picture. Caption made me think you drove through Chicago's south or west side last night. . .

"I use a small mirror and a flashlight to see etchings that are too subtle for me to see unaided." Please elaborate. "The other alternative is to use a BB gun." As I recall from my youth, sliding glass door panels make a nice *puff* noise with a BB gun. . .

Asian beetle, not Thai. . .

Steel expands when it rusts; that's what cracks/up-lifts the masonry work either end of a corroded lintel. 'Course, an under-sized lintel can sag (warp if you wish) and cause masonry cracking as well. . .