Jerry Simon

I believe the unmarked white hots are okay. They're for 240-volt circuits and are in non-metallic sheathed cable wiring. Aside from the other problems, this is an often-seen 400-ampere service. Meterbox-type outside should tell.

Whadda ya mean maybe?

Here you go. Good luck. http://www.usadata.com/

Your biggest clue as to the presence of rot...fresh caulk & paint/stain.

I don't damage rotted wood. I *discover* damage. That's my answer to any homeowner who complains. That being said, I try to do as little damage as possible, but I do probe.

I find wearing a vest extremely useful when doing an apartment building. Moisture meter pouch, extra flashlight battery, cell phone, tape measure, etc. Ain't gonna lug around a tool bag to each apartment, especially when I can't keep my eye on it. If I look like a wiener, the tenant can bite me.

Ty, Ty, Ty, Bill. Copied to my file for the next time I have to rely on memory. Goodness, 52 tomorrow. Does it keep getting worse?

I can't remember what the required working room clearance should be in front of and to the sides of a main electrical panelboard...three feet? Thanks for any help.

When the kids are visiting, keep them away from the floor grill.

Got a name & address? ...Would be much appreciated.

When I sent a half-baggie of the stuff to a lab, taken from the attic in the house my daughter rents for college, the lab said they needed four time the amount to do a *proper* test. Bad lab?

I hope he knows if he was there or not...

Chris... I recommend repairing safety hazards only; it's prudent to fix 'em, and ya can't say I didn't warn ya. Other items I list as deficient, why, and perhaps what it might take to fix. I also break those secondary items down into Major or Minor Repair items (typically hundreds versus thousands).

I ran the service department for a high-end builder for years and did hundreds of pre-close walk-throughs. Honestly, that ain't too bad, bordering on average. Took a while to get used to it, though. Found out later the painters usually just removed the tape afterwords and touched-up only the really obvious spots.

This doesn't say exactly why, and of course they're selling something, but it does claim tinning copper wire makes soldering easier. Perhaps it ain't entirely a myth. http://www.smallparts.com/products/descriptions/a32.cfm And then there's this... http://www.cast-lighting.com/art-tin-coat.html

Yeah, might have been persnickety.

Walter's memory must be failing, or he just chooses to pick on someone or on what suits him on any given day. Couple years back on the ASHI board, he chided me for saying a defect *presented* a hazard. He told me in no uncertain terms that the defect *posed* a hazard versus *presented* a hazard. I thanked him for the correction, and have used it ever since. He's done this to me a couple times on this board lately. Last month, it was how a defect *needed* something. He defended saying such here recently, but in fact chided me years back about same, stating how an inanimate object couldn't *need* anything. I truly value his help, but wish he would be consistent instead of being *crotchety* (his own words here last month to explain his inconsistency).

How about...The deck rails are loose, posing a falling hazard. Have a carpenter fix or replace the rails as needed. You can certainly keep the other stuff as ammo if ever needed.

"This inspection was not intrusive, so not all boards were individually inspected; only visually from an adequate amount of safe view angles." What? Really...what?

Haubeil, That CYA statement sucks. Why not just say "Keep your wood well-painted/stained and well-caulked or it will rot."

What Kevin said. You'll also never have to drive home again regretting something you may have written in haste, or comments you may have forgotten to include.

Any comments on *sacrificial* parging, a term I often hear?

Russ...sounds exactly like what I went through. Still am. I like to turn out quality reports, as you do. Gets me business. One thing I did...I raised my prices (admittedly gradually...with much prodding by Kurt) by about 75% to compensate for my time. People pay for quality. (Hey....I just did a job at 2931 Pine Grove...can ya stand it!?)

Sure they need attention. That's why we write them up. No reason to write them up if they don't need attention. They surely don't need inattention. If there's a better phrase than "needs attention," let us see it. It might be useful. WJid="blue"> I thought you'd remember the time back on the ASHI board where you chided me for reporting an item that needed attention. According to you, inanimate items can't *need* anything. Which story you wanna stick to?

Heck, you could even ditch the passive voice and redundancies and go with something like this: In my report, you'll see that some items need attention. I recommend that you have these items repaired or replaced; the sooner, the better. WJid="blue"> Really? Items *need* attention? How do they do that?