Jerry Simon

Pretty sure he means the entire, rigid panel, can be wobbled back and forth three inches laterally either way. That's what I'm finding - or worse - and what I worry about. As far as a fix, an upper track isn't being used anymore, probably for aesthetics. Some sort of upper track should be installed IMHO.

Loosey-goosey (I used the words floppy & wobbly in the report).

Seeing a lot where the *fixed* glass panel next to the swinging glass shower door, large/wide fixed panels, are only held in place on one side and along the bottom. No upper track and no support at other side. I can wobble these suckers back & forth like all get-out, and I worry kids will lean on 'em, or someone will slip and fall against 'em, and the panel will crack/fall/shatter or some such. Anyone know what I mean, and any thoughts on such? Again, to me, this is a relatively new type of panel install. (Yes, I realize it's tempered/safety glass, but still . . .)

I'm with Les. Like Sam Kinison once opined about folk living in a desert: If you don't like the heat, and you don't like the fact that there's little water . . . MOVE!

Not that this at all applies, but many fogged-glass warranties are pro-rated, ten-year deals. . .

On a local note, I had a client call me the other day asking for a company to do a Level II Chimney Inspection. I told him to call that company in Lake Bluff. He told me he read and heard quite a bit about their unscrupulous up-sell tactics. Any local inspectors here hear such?

Sounds right. I don't have a gas fireplace, but I did something similar in the little nook where I keep a receiver and turntable. Holes in both the bottom and the top to allow for some ventilation. Thanks Scott & Jim; that's great reasoning. Jim - do you think any of the folk reading this are wondering what a turntable is?

This is a direct-vent fireplace, with a side-wall exterior concentric-type metal flue/chimney; one part of the concentric flue vents the gases, the other appears to feed the firebox with combustion air. In the picture below, though, above the firebox inside the TV niche, there is an open 3" round vent duct coming out of the base of the niche (it's behind the short black TV shelf). Cold air was coming out of this vent. It's not an HVAC vent, and it was about 25 degrees outside. What might this vent be for? Click to Enlarge 29.67 KB

I asked about a similar item a couple years ago here, but never did get a *good* answer. In Chicagoland, most every exterior door swings inward. However, while strolling up and down the Florida streets one day on vacation, I noticed most every - if not all - residential front doors swung outwards. Gotta be a reason. . .

That's some big-ass movement.

Whether or not it's legal, I've done probably close to a thousand commercial inspections over the years. Trained myself on the job (and milked my HVAC & electrical gurus several dozen times each). Kurt is correct, ASTM-something-or-another should be the basis for such, but nobody I've ever worked with wanted to pay for that; they're happy with a *visual* inspection, as my agreement differentiates. (Heck, as far as I can remember, that ASTM thingy wants one to investigate the building repair history.) All that said, just wondering; what's the difference between a commercial building and an industrial building? Far as I can tell, it's how the building is used. . .

Two stage. Switches are high, low, and differential. Three-wired thermostat, not four.

Never saw anything like this clear cover to the left of the inducer. . . Click to Enlarge 62.72 KB

Any opinion on this black splotching on the underside of the OSB sheathing in an attic? Click to Enlarge 49.56 KB

Exactly as Bill said. I've had this same thing on new home inspections. Checked the exterior hose bib and got 60psi. The county inspectors want to see the sprinkler system pressurized to a certain point. The check valve holds it in while on the house side the pressure is lower. That makes sense, but I can't wrap my head around why. If the pressure at the street is 60 psi or there abouts, wouldn't the fire suppression system flow at 60 psi after a short burst of high pressure? (I'm surely missing something here.) Any further help with this would be appreciated.

Exactly as Bill said. I've had this same thing on new home inspections. Checked the exterior hose bib and got 60psi. The county inspectors want to see the sprinkler system pressurized to a certain point. The check valve holds it in while on the house side the pressure is lower. That makes sense, but I can't wrap my head around why. If the pressure at the street is 60 psi or there abouts, wouldn't the fire suppression system flow at 60 psi after a short burst of high pressure? (I'm surely missing something here.)

The backflow device in your pic is a double check valve assembly (under the hanging instruction sheet) that has 4 test cocks sticking out the right side. Okay, thanks. But the location of the check valve doesn't seem like it would reduce pressure to the right of the water meter. The main water supply inlet is almost directly in-between the meter and the check valve (supply is coming out of the white-insulated foundation wall).

No. Went through four pressure gauges the first five years of biz, then quit using them. This is one case where I wish I still had one. What backflow device, Bill?

Where is the service entrance? In the picture, immediately left of the water meter, through the back foundation wall (where if you look close, you can see the handle on the ball-valve water main is turned slightly off). It "T's" to the left to the sprinkler system, to the right to the domestic.

The new-construction townhouse has a fire-suppression/sprinkler system installed, and the water pressure is 110 psi (as shown by the installed gauge on the suppression system). I recommended a pressure-reducing valve be installed on the house side of the water meter (but beyond/after the sprinkler system "T"); the townhouse appears to have the same 110 psi pressure, and I worry such can promote plumbing component damage. I've found a couple internet thingys that say 80 psi is maximum recommended pressure for a domestic water supply, but nothing I found can be construed as written in concrete. Any thoughts on this, or any source one might know of to point the builder to? In the attached picture, the fire-suppression is on the left side of the water meter, and I recommended the reducing valve be installed on the right side of the meter. . . (Or, can some type of water meter act/serve as a pressure-reducing valve?) Click to Enlarge 45.19 KB

Did you even read what you wrote in your earlier post? "It sure seems to me John that you could burn up some valuable time trying to get such answers. And no matter what they would be I'll bet that you'd make the same recommendation to your client - let the HVAC contractor figure it out." As Walter would opine, Good Gawd. . .

It sure seems to me John that you could burn up some valuable time trying to get such answers. Yeah, John, you moron. That would be like going to countless chicken dinner education classes, then bragging about how much more you know that the HVAC techs out there (not that I know someone JUST like that in my area).

50 years ago, my dad said not to touch the *thingy* on the camera, knowing dam well that you never tell a ten-year-old not to touch something. That old camera had one helluva capacitor. . .

Second time this happened to me recently. For reasons I won't go into, before entering a house the other day, I turned off all power to the house at the exterior meter disco. When the seller came over to open house, their overhead door opener remote wouldn't work. Never did get into the house that day; the remote was the only way seller could open house up. Just happened again; got a call after doing a house that the seller came home the next day and could not open the opener with their remote. I don't know if the opener worked at the control button inside, but I do know I tripped the GFCI that the opener was protected by. I don't know what else may be wrong there, but regardless: Will killing power to an overhead door automatic opener somehow screw-up the usage of the remote?

Does that mean if one clicks on the purchased website, your own website could open up instead?