Jerry Simon

Very nice. Very professional.

I think that's probably it. Thanks. Tony's nickname is Mycroft

As a homeowner, I'd be pissed you drew all over my roof. . .

Incinerator?

Grazie. It's amazing that after almost 20 years inspecting, and almost as much time building, one learns new stuff on almost a daily basis. Gratifing as well.

Water heater supply line valve shut-off. Got cold water flow to all sink faucets and to toilets. No hot or cold to tub or shower. Valve turned on, and flow everywhere. Why no cold flow at tub and shower when water heater supply line valve off? Is this a quirk of anti-scald devices at tub & shower?

"Oh, and I will damn forever the "appears to be". If one doesn't know, say "I don't know". If one knows, say what you know. " That moron who teaches IL newbies (the one who brags about having a really REALLY low license number) actually tells new guys to say "The water heater appears to be back-drafting. Recommend review by a qualified. . ." He told me that once. He agreed that even though a heater WAS back-drafting, he wants a *professional* say such, not just a home inspector. Friggin' moron.

He's in Yellowstone, probably doing weird stuff to beavers. ASHI sucks for so very many, many reasons. Too bad it would cost me more to remove the ASHI crap from all my stuff than it would be worth. I do get enough biz a year from them to, barely, justify staying a member, but I haven't been asked if I'm ASHI in years. I would never join today if I was just starting. . .

Thanks for noticing, John. My father & grandfather were builders, and that's where I got my start. This building was built in 1968 or '69, and again, I learned how to use sweeping compound back then as a 13 year old. The front upper right balcony is where Mario the funny electrician locked me out on one fine day. Real plaster walls, elevator, lobby with sitting area/furniture, party room; a nice building for the era. Not small units, either; the one my girl is buying is almost 1,600 sf Mike Lamb will recognize the building; right across the street from Brother Rice HS. Guess I'm gonna be replacing a panelboard, and sending a note to the HO Assoc. Click to Enlarge 43.4?KB

My daughter bought a condo the other day (and, unbeknownst to her, her grandfather built the building back in 1969, and I swept up during construction after the trades; way cool), and at the inspection I found the Zinsco panel. I pulled each and every breaker off the bus to check for corrosion or signs of over-heating (what I believe to be the potential problems with such panels). Zip, zero, nadda. Would you still worry about the panelboard?

Fill the trench with concrete.

Yeah, about double; 1.0 MB to 2.0 on average. I usually only include about a half-dozen picts in each report. That really a problem?

I was having problems with my picts in PDF formats, so I now send reports as protected MSWord documents. Picts are much better quality. Regardless: On my website, my sample reports are PDF formats, but twice now recently clients indicated they couldn't open the sample reports. I can, my wife can on her computer, but anyway, I changed the website reports to protected Word docs. Anybody see potential problems with that? As always, thanks for any advice.

Aren't they making copper-impregnated shingles now for this?

No

I'm not an appliance guy by any means. Regardless, at a condo the other day. . . When the refrigerator door was opened and then closed, it *gurgled*. The fridge didn't wobble, but each and every time the door was opened then closed, same momentary gurgle. Didn't do it with the freezer side door. Anybody?

The screen-cap on the furnace combustion intake-air vent is charred/scorched/melted. Once-blocked, perhaps (though same should cause the furnace to shut-down)? Cause for concern? Click to Enlarge 29.93 KB

For what seemed a good reason at the time, I switched from Verizon to AT&T about a year & a half ago. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I am now out of that personal hell (43,568 dropped calls) and back with Verizon. Wondering if this is true about the country?

Main cartridge disco

The right side appears to be a simple pull-out disconnect, maybe for an AC unit. I think the main disconnect is the far left pull-out cartridge fuse block, and service size is probably whatever size those fuses are, assuming panel and SEC's are rated for same (hard to tell latter from picts). (50 days 'till kickoff)

I'd probably soil my pants trying that. Really scary looking ©.

Wood burning fireplace's chimney had proper roof clearance until the second story was added. Chimney now terminates about 15' too low, and is about eye-level with and only about 6' away from new/nearby second level sliding door. A gas log-set is now installed in this wood-burner. Comments?

Be careful with the pry bar. Most of these are made from fiberglass and foam nowadays. Wow. Mine are made of steel. Probably a Chinese pry bar sold at Wally World.

"I would then explain that the only cure will be to replace the current ductwork with new ducting that is not in the slab." I missed this once, or there wasn't water in the ducts at the time. Six months after my client moved in, she had mold growing everywhere in what had been a freshly painted house (seller knew). Regardless, the water in the ducts acted like a humidifier times a thousand. Summa the worst mold growth I've ever seen Me and my plumbing bud found the low spot in the ductwork (easy; the deepest part of the water), trenched in about 8' of underground drain tile alongside and just below the level of that in-slab ductwork, tied the drain tile into a new sump pit we installed in her master bedroom closet, and as water seeks its own level, she never got another drop of water in the ducts. Never did come to lawyer stuff.

Saw a 1986 Federal Pacific panelboard with replacement Challenger Stab-Lok breakers installed, save the main disco being an FPE. Your sage thoughts? (FWIW, from what I googled, I still called for panelboard replacement.)