Jerry Simon

One thing I have always wanted to see clarified: "describe in detail", as for example: "the home inspector shall describe in detail the interior water supply and distribution systems, including all fixtures and faucets..." I don't worry about such minutia. Is there anyone here who is actually describing "all faucets in detail"? It's a absurd requirement - but as long as it's in the SOP, any of us could be disciplined for failure to do so. Like that would ever friggin' happen. I'm thinking someone would be disciplined for negligence...gross negligence - not for calling a fixed faucet spout a swivel spout (I can just imagine the *complaint* letter about that). Maybe I'm wrong, though. It is Illinois, after all. Perhaps the rolls are filled with fines and penalties for improperly using colons instead of proper semi-colons in HI reports. We ain't talking about a lawsuit here, where an attorney has the opportunity to pick apart a report. What's the chance the State of IL will subpoena a report of mine solely to see if I properly described a faucet? Again, I don't worry about such minutia.

Terry... That makes a lot of sense. I "bent" one of the fusable links to close one of the shutters. Thanks for the insight. I have to go back to check stuff that was locked-away, and now I might know of what I speak.

Keep learning and adding fuel to an appreciation of historic buildings and we'll see your name here soon: http://inspecthistoric.org/ My interest in old houses was piqued about 15 years ago when I flagged the approx. 3' drop off the side of the front porch as a safety hazard, same drop off down/onto to the driveway that led back to the old carriage house. The homeowner graciously explained why there was such a tall drop off. (House circa 1890) I know Bill K. knows why.

As I've pointed out before, not that anyone located elsewhere cares, but IL State Plumbing Code says the extension pipe must be "metal" - I can cite chapter & verse. (Heck, I know lots and lots of folk in IL who don't care.) Now, about those louvers no one seems to care about either...

A strange... This was on a 2002 commercial condo wall. A set of approx. 2' x 5' gravity louvers with metal shutters...shutters (three rows of) only able to be closed manually. The other side of the condo wall is an enclosed parking garage. When I got there, the shutters were all up, and you could easily push up the louvers and say hi to the gals and guys parking their cars. I talked to Mitenbuler, and he thinks it might be for make-up air for the garage ventilation system, and that the other condo units may have same, and if so, it's f****d up. I'm flagging it as a CO problem due to the auto exhaust unless someone tells me I'm a moron and shouldn't do that. (Can't just call me a moron...gotta give a good reason why.) Download Attachment: Louvers.pdf 131.11 KB

It wouldn't be inside the meter box would it? Looks like it might be. In your picture, I can just see the lower latch for the meterbox door. And what would the point of that be? So the fire department could kill all power before entering the house with hoses & axes a-blazin'. Such is required in at least a few local jurisdictions (about Chicagoland, anyway).

I'm very interested to hear the result. If they tell you that #14 is prohibited, please get them to send you the chapter & verse from whatever authority they're citing. - Jim Katen, Oregon I'll bet the authority is somebody named either Larry or Daryll.

I'm fairly certain Lake, DuPage and McHenry Counties require 100'. Chicago septic fields might be different (both of 'em). Not that we care, much. In Illinois, jftr, the seller has to pay for well & septic testing, and we HI's can't do such.

Well, yeah, but, that other stuff...

Hi Bryan, Just food for thought...per your post, how does the 100-amp breaker protect those #4 service entrance cables?

John Geiger out of Milwaukee, WI has been video-taping every one of his inspections for about the last 20 years. You can find him through the ASHI website, and I'm sure he'd be glad to talk to you.

I've read somewhere over the years that breakers lose sensitivity each time they trip, so that after several tripping incidents, they might not work. Is this folklore? Well, I heard the same (so it must be true). I was told the bimetal strip that trips some breakers "stretches" (the way metal stretches when it bends) during a trip, and this then-fatigued metal won't bend as quickly as it's designed to when again over-heated. Or some such crapola.

TY Brandon

This GFCI receptacle location is...? Click to Enlarge 21.81 KB

Anyone got any of these older-model Fluke non-contact voltage testers they would be interested in selling? I need this specific style. I'll buy three of four of 'em. Thanks! Click to Enlarge 31.87 KB

They upgraded to 3 prong receptacles. Seeing as how it's not allowed to individually ground receptacles to the nearest water pipe, it becomes pretty difficult to provide proper grounds. I guess GFCI protection would be the best option in this case. If it were my house, I'd still ground to the nearest water pipe, and then add GFCI protection as well. Thanks all. Hi Brandon, Grounding the house electrical system to a water pipe (or ground stake/stakes - depending on local requirements/type water piping), and grounding individual receptacles are two completely different things. Just going by your post, you might want to check up on the difference.

Hi Jim, If the casing isn't grounded, and you have a short-to-ground/casing as you say, what is it that is drawing the current - so much so - that would cause enough heat to be generated to make the casing you saw glow? (Sounds like you found a bad breaker, not a ground problem/lack of bond strip problem like you seem to be saying.) Also, if in your opinion old armoured cable isn't *adequate* to provide reliable grounding, do you think we should recommend re-wiring an entire house to address such a risk? Thanks for your thoughts.

But, but...what about slot-damage...? Youz guiz don't get hail?

Do the speakers on this garage/house wall breach the fire-separation between the house and the garage? Okay, how about the intercom? How about the phone jack? Thanks for any thoughts. Click to Enlarge 21.22 KB

I did Kerry Wood's house (the one he sold). (Cardinals suck)

Not sure how this is happening either? When I do format the textbox the arrows are still on my picture? I tried with wordwrapped and inline. I don't think there is anyway to format the textbox and the arrows at the same time as far as I can tell. Michael Brown DevWave Software Inc. Afterwards, any *new* arrows won't show up. I should have been more clear. Again, if I format the text box to not show a border, then add an arrow, the new arrow seems to also have been told not to show up.

When I insert a text box into a pict, and then format the box so it doesn't have a border (I don't like the look), then my arrows disappear, like I'm telling them as well not to have a border (but they just disappear). Can I format the text box separately from the arrows so the arrows aren't formatted as well?

Balance cords (chains if metal).

I'm surprised. When I use it with IR, the picture just drops in and the text moves out of the way automatically and wraps around the picture. I can insert pics as fast as I can click. I place the curser in the paragraph that I want associated with the picture, click on the "insert image" button on the PictureDrop toolbar, choose "word wrap file image", double click on the file I want, and it's done. I have the program set to align the image with the right margin of the document. If I then want to move the picture around I just click on it and drag it wherever I want it to go but that's rarely necessary. - Jim Katen, Oregon I may have to insert the picture as soon as I finish the paragraph. If I type another paragraph below, then insert the pict, the paragraph below moves. I'm used to IR software where I have to insert pictures after I do the summary, otherwise the summary screws up by pulling partial pictures with it. I'll give it a whirl.

??? I'm using Word 2003 with Picture Drop. I just timed myself. Once I set up the file destination, it takes me a little under 6 seconds per picture to place them where I want them in the report. It happens as fast as I can click. - Jim Katen, Oregon Yeah, but if you put a pict next to one of Cramer's (Intelligent Reporter) formatted comments, it moves the text around...the text next to the pict, the text below, etc. I played with PictureDrop and it's much more work than using Mark's picture-insert feature (and I bought PictureDrop 'cause I was spending too much time the other way). I think maybe I need to play with it more?