Jim Morrison

From Barry Stone: From Barry Stone "Mr. Morrison, The agent uses the home inspector to serve the interests of his/her clients. A good home inspector serves all parties. He serves the buyers by making sure that they know what they are buying before they buy it. He serves the agents and sellers by decreasing the likelihood that they will be sued for nondisclosure. Barry Stone"

No, he is a columnist, not a journalist and there is a gulf of difference between the two.

Real Estate agents sell houses. When they say they 'use' a particular inspector, what do you suppose they use him for? I've used that line (which I stole from the late, great HI pioneer Mel Chalfen) countless times since I first heard it and incorporated it in my response to Mr. Stone. If he responds, I'll post it here.

I have a deep appreciation for high quality porn, agree with Kurt, own a Mac, and don't worry about computer viruses. Jimmy

Mike, I'm hearin' what your hollerin' Cousin. I'm too familiar with that type of client and the impulse to want to shake a little sense in them every now and again. The thing is: I feel like I barely get paid enough to inspect a house; fixing clients costs extra. Jimmy

While that's probably true, it's pretty danged far outside the scope of a home inspection. I think I get the point you're making, but if you're going to say something like that in a report, you might as well include a local crime rate and background radiation summary in there as well. Where does it end? I am content with giving homebuyers a link to whatever the best and brightest at the EPA are saying at the moment when I see something that looks like asbestos. What more can a conscientious HI really do? Jimmy

Dawg, You need to spend a little less time in other people's houses and a little more time outside. You got enough firewood to feed that oak-munching hunk of boiler you got outside this season? If not, it's time you tuned the Stihl up and started making some sawdust. Jimmy

Whoa Charlie, you're right. I should have read the entire thread before responding. I think your Code cites are above. Thanks for another lesson Guys, Jimmy

Neutrals can safely share the same terminal as a ground wire, but two neutrals ought not to share the same terminal.

Dating easy women is way, Way, WAY more fun than Facebook. If it aint, then you've got one -or the other- terribly wrong. Folks, if you don't feel like you have a good grasp of security on the internet, then you ought not to be on Facebook under your real name. It's fairly simple: If you type it on a computer, you should be prepared for The World to read it.

You're right. FPE panels weren't designed for use with Challenger circuitbreakers. The panel should be replaced period.

No ZenOK sucks. ZenOK is a ripoff. ZenOK is a scam. ZenOK fails. Whatever you do, don't use ZenOK. For those among you who don't speak Katen, he said: [:-thumbd]

The odds are overwhelmingly against you.

I've seen live termites in live wood (trees, large bushes) plenty of times. I've never seen them eating living trees in MA, but in Kenya & in Mexico I saw them eating the bark on a live tree, though not the wood. 2 1/2 weeks in the Kenyan bush and I never once saw a stick on the ground that wasn't positively consumed by termites. Mounds as large as a small car all over. It's no wonder that the Earth's termites outweigh the Earth's humans. In one new home in Vallarta, I found live termites in a roof rafter six stories up, but I think they were drywood termites. I've never seen termites eating decaying wood.

Flat roofs are just plain dumb in Chicago (and Boston). They're leakers.

It's a little early in the season for this sort of taunt, but I shall allow you your fun while you have a small lead on us in the AL East. It won't last long, so I can afford to be generous. OK Yankees fans, this is all you're going to get out of me: Congrats.

John, I think the compatibility issue has been resoled, but an Apple Genius could answer your questions about specific programs. Jimmy

No you don't. There's specific reasons, all having to do with controlling the medium. Apple's control freakiness is one of the reasons all their stuff works. On one hand, no flash sucks. On another hand, how many times have other people had stuff hang up with varying versions of Flash? I've had it happen a lot. Most of the time, I shut flash off. It's another MS hairball pain in the ass AFAIC. If IBM & Microsoft combined couldn't kill Apple, than nothing can. After the global nuclear holocaust, there will be little else but cockroaches ravaging our corpses and emailing each other on Macbook Pro's. Flash sucks. It may impress webheads, but consumers hate it. It angries up our blood and more often than not, we turn it off ASAP. Don't you?

Once you go 'Mac' you never go back.

Uncle Kurt, You've once again brought up a good point that made me rethink an old practice. That's a useful exercise that I should go through more often. Feeling the love, Jimmy

Well, where plumbers are concerned, you're correct, but what about carpenters? They aren't licensed at all. What about roofers? Still, your point is well taken. I don't think anyone could successfully sue a Home Inspector because he failed to tell them to hire a qualified contractor ('But your honor, I figured I could save a bundle on a crappy contractor because my home inspector didn't explicitly tell me not to. Had he only told me to hire a qualified contractor, I surely would have, and thus avoided this entire disaster.') I think using 'qualified' contractor is a little better, so I use it. I guess I just think it's worth the extra effort, that's all. I don't think it makes me a better inspector than you. It's my winsome charm and razor sharp intellect that makes me a better inspector than you. []

Yeah, currently, when something ought to be done by a pro, I begin, "Licensed xxx contractor to... ", which I admit I'm not even happy with. That's a phrase I need to work on. Here's a tip I swiped learned from Inspector Emeritus Bob Peek of VA: I no longer write things like: 'The water heater is leaking and should be replaced by a licensed plumber right away.' I say: 'The water heater is leaking and should be replaced by a qualified plumber right away. If a particular job requires a license, sobriety, being bonded by the City, an IQ higher than that of a Rhesus monkey, a Master's degree, or any other credential, then the word 'qualified' covers it, where 'licensed' doesn't always. If the tradesman who does the work lacks any of these requirements (which I may or may not be aware of), then he is not 'qualified'. It's a relatively small point, but potentially meaningful and a change I thought was worth making in the way I wrote. Take it for what its worth. Over and out, Jimmy

That doesn't make sense. When I recommend to you that you do something, I am telling you that ought to do it. When I tell you to consider doing something, I am telling you to think about it. You criticize 'recommend' for being pitifully weak, but you have shown that is stronger than 'consider'. Words have definitions, -all of 'em. Lawyers and judges make their livings off knowing those definitions. I would submit that HI's would do much better to learn the already-agreed-upon right way to use words rather than try to argue that what they wrote really meant something other than what it means. Like Katen alluded to, HI's might know what another HI means when he writes something like: 'Recommend proactive replacement of the 18 year old water heater.' but sentences like that make litigator's pupils turn into tiny little dollar signs. If what you mean aint what you write, sooner or later it'll catch up to ya.

Just food for thought. In all the years I've been doing this, I've never used the word "recommend". I'm not against the word. It just never comes to mind. In fact, if you think about it, "Recommend" is a pitifully weak word. If I'm recommending an upgrade, I usually start with "Consider", which actually involves the reader.. "You consider this..." The nice thing about most of the words in the list is just that - they involve the reader, through the implied "YOU" do it... Funny, I find the reverse to be true. "I recommend that you drain some water form the base of the water heater each month. This will...." In this sentence you are promoting a good, but not necessary practice to your client. "Consider draining some water form the base of the water heater each month. This will..." In this sentence, you are proposing an idea without taking a side. I think it is quite clearly the weaker of the two. Consider upgrading the electrical service. I recommend that you upgrade the electrical service. Same thing again. Can you provide an example where 'Consider' is stronger than "I recommend"? I can't think of one. There are almost no hard and fast rules in HI Report Writing save this: no one does it better than Katen.

I don't know that I have anything to add to this thread. I'm not even sure I understand it. The dictionary is my word bank. I've probably used (and occasionally misused) every word in this thread. For HI reports, I say: just use complete sentences and make them unmistakably clear. An inspector should use whatever words or photos he or she needs to get there. Are there any words that should never be used in an inspection report? I can't think of one I'd ban altogether. I's also add that while Neal's "Go pound sand!" is inappropriate for most inspection reports, it's still a handy phrase for HI's. Customarily, I use it verbally as opposed to in writing, but that's just me.