Jim Morrison

Thomas, To get information that is relevant to your area, I suggest visiting the web sites of national HI orgs like ASHI, NAHI, NACHI, AII and the others and sitting in on some local meetings (which in your state could mean a 2 hour drive one way). Sitting at a table-ful of local HI's discussing their business' and telling war stories at a few meetings is the most cost effective way of learning about our business in my opinion. Home Inspectors are opinionated blowhards, it's true. But it's also true that there is not a more generous group of people out there when it comes to sharing experiences, business practices, and knowledge. Ours is a relatively new discipline with many regional peculiarities. I could tell you all about what a typical inspection would include and cost in the Boston area, but that probably wouldn't resemble the way it's done in your neighborhood. That said, you have stumbled upon an unbelievably helpful web site peopled with very knowledgeable and friendly folks. If you have a more specific question, post it, sit back, and watch the replies roll in. Best,

Dan, I'd just like to go on the record saying I'm not a liar, not a total moron, but I do hope you're dumber than I am.

Ouch. I'd put it this way and I think my Uncle Kurt would agree. Carrying and working with just about any piece of equipment you aren't real comfortable with isn't smart. I think any inspector who "tests their limits" on a roof is essentially risking their life for a little coin. And I agree...that's just dumb. You know the sticker you see on the top of a stepladder that reads in big honkin' letters "DO NOT WORK OR STAND ON THIS PLATFORM"? My Dad used to tell me whenever I saw someone standing on that sticker to stop what I was doing and be very quiet. "You are about to witness the process of natural selection first hand." I don't mind big ladders and high heights, but none of us belong where we don't belong. You gotta make those calls yourself. Paul and Mike make an excellent point about educating buyers. That has been my most effective marketing tool, by far... End of sermon.

Crusty, I believe you are correct, but that isn't what he said, is it? And that's my point. Terry, Excellent point. But you could also tell your client that the drain pipe was "challenged" and might require further investigation by a qualified professional too. Or... You could simply say: The first floor bathroom sink is leaking and should be repaired by a plumber now. Could a client screw that up? Could a real estate agent get her knickers in a twist over it? Could an attorney hang a big sack of liability on your neck because of the lack of clarity and direction in a statement like that? Unlikely. That's all I'm saying.

Brian, I don’t mean to get all semantic on you, but: We can only observe and describe things like: black rain clouds, lightning flashes, arse-puckering and testes-retracting thunder booms, drops of water spattering our fiveheads, weather reports, and a neighbor building an ark big enough to house and feed two of every species under heaven, but we should be clear that it is our analysis of these observations that leads us to predict it will soon rain. To all: I don’t know him, but Michael Leavitt is by all accounts an honest and intelligent man. However his “dirty words" list was ultimately either written by or for real estate agents, not us. It’s overall message is semi-apparent, but many of its particulars should be ignored. e.g. Water pressure doesn’t equal water flow. And so on. Some houses “need workâ€

Ouch. As of a couple weeks ago, I've been a home inspector for more than 1/2 my life. It's no wonder I like Guinness so much...There's got to be an easier way to make a living.

Kurt, As city dwelling ladder monkey, you see more old chimneys than I do. But, yes, I'm talking twisting a la Chubby Checker as opposed to leaning a la Tower of Pisa. Aerodynamics is another theory bearing exploration. What kind of mileage to Chicago area chimneys get, anyway?

I've seen a plenty of leaners too, and it may be that the twisted ones look like they're leaning from the ground, but if you get up close and personal with a bunch of really old chimneys, I suspect you'll see what I'm talking about. A whole bunch of them are twisted slightly from the roofline up. I wondered if there was a generally agreed upon, factually based, and scientifically backed up reason for this phenomenon, and if I ever find one (or make up a really good one) I'll post it and attempt to take credit for it's discovery by calling it: "The Morrison Effect" Stay tuned...

I expect that most of us have probably noticed that old chimneys (over 100 years old) are often twisted slightly at the top. I've always heard (and believed) that they twist in the direction that the sun travels (east to west). This morning I inspected a home built in 1850 and my egghead client wanted to know exactly why and how this occurs. I couldn't tell him, but I thought I'd see if any of you folks know.

My great grandmother used to tell us we had to eat a peck of dirt before we died. Turns out she underestimated a little, but the result is: her little Jimmy ain't afraid of no mold.

They replace some of the aggregate in the concrete with vermiculite -that's the main difference. Anyway, this outfit did a presentation at our local chapter and I've been all over their web site and I just wanted to know if anyone ever saw it in person. The reason I ask is because you just have to be suspicious of a product that megahypes up a pseudo-problem just before advertising itself as the cure. This stuff is essentially a spray-in crawl space floor. They are currently capitalizing on it's mold-reducing powers, but also promote it as a radon barrier, moisture barrier, rat and bug barrier, and rubble-wall-stabilizer. It's kind of a Gromicko-esque marketing foray, but that's why I don't pay attention to the marketing department, I want to hear from folks who have crawled over it.

www.neutocrete.com This stuff has been around for a couple of years and is supposed to be "all that and a bag of chips". Has anyone ever seen it installed? What kind of track record does it have in real life?

I was at the same lecture as Paul and have been Sure-Testing ever since. I still have my plug bug, but almost never use it anymore.

It's something else. With all due respect, many people made their decision to stay or go based on rumors and abhorrent communication from HQ before the actual contents of Branding were known. Life after Branding is virtually indistinguishable from life before, except the web site improvements have resulted in a few more inspections for us this year.

Personally one makes a quantum leap from reality if one assumes that what goes on in a court of law (especially with respect to home inspectors) is anything but silly, IMO. Sad but true. No one said it was fair. Often, the reluctance to take the necessary action to provide a good legal offense in our report writing is one of the major causes that your E&O carriers are so ready to roll over and settle rather than spend the money to defend. The end result…… You pay the deductible and everyone's rates go up.[:-banghead] Referencing the building code is a tool, like any other. Misuse it and trouble will follow. Re: Chris' original post... I'm sure I wouldn't even have noticed.

I rarely mention the Building Code in my work because it just isn't relevant to most of what I do. However, I believe it's the misuse of the word Code that gets people into trouble. The idea that using it in your reports once allows clients and their legal counsel to assume you did a Code inspection is just silly. Using it properly is the key. It's our job to communicate clearly in writing to our clients just what we did and what we found. Poor writing gets you into trouble faster than poor inspecting (ask anyone who has done a lot of expert witness work) and "Code" is just one of many words and phrases that can land you in the hot seat. My personal favorite is: "further investigation by a qualified professional may be required", but there are many others.

Bill, Sounds to me like the pump is leaking somewheres and no one will know where till they haul it up out of the ground and do an autopsy. If you find out, post the answer so we can all learn something.

Too true. And anyone who is dumb enough to paint a chimney deserves to have silly stories made up about them if you ask me.

The chimneys on a fair number of homes in my hometown are painted white with a (roughly) 8 inch black band at the top. A local broker swears this is what Loyalists did to express their displeasure with the fact that the Colonists had won independence from Great Britain -similar to wearing a black armband. It almost sounds plausible until you remember that Loyalists with any sense beat feet to Canada or England after the war. Can you imagine how Colonists (especially those who had fought or lost a friend or family member in the war) would have reacted to such a display? I think it's absurd, but there are enough of them around to warrant the question: Does anyone know why chimneys were painted this way? Jimmy

Just wrapping up a fantastic holiday weekend here, and I was looking over the paperwork for my inspection tomorrow. It seems the buyer is concerned with some sloppy tile work in the bathroom of this brand new condo and she wants to know if there are standards for tile work. So I googled for some standards. Unfortunately, nobody publishes them for free. I did find one book, but the title on the cover (in bold white letters) read: "American National Standard Specifications for Ceramic Tile" followed in bold black by "Not an America National Standard" Which brings me to my questions (listed here in order of importance): 1) Are there nationally recognized standards which are indeed nationally recognized, or at least ones that don't disclaim themselves in their very title? 2) Where can I find them? Thanks in advance my friends, Jimmy

I'm sure that rumor is false (Gromicko is fully occupied getting into trouble under his own name), but I wouldn't be surprised if they were all related. Scott Patterson did recently post something about Napadow possibly using Holland as an alias.

Around here, gas fired water heaters typically fail after 5-10 years, and only very rarely last 10 years or more. Electric water heaters usually go no more than 15 years. Every once in a while I see a 40+ year old copper unit still in use, but they are usually spilling combustion products into the basement at alarming levels. When was the last time anyone had a water heater serviced?

Ouch!! Weasel words are for brokers and lawyers. Why not just tell clients what you find? If you don't understand it, tell 'em that too (I do), but weasel words? I want Chad to come over my house and punch me hard in the throat the day I start weaseling. Weasel words don't cover your arse, they enlarge and expose it. Give it to them straight. They can handle it.

When the leaching trench is coated with the gelatinous film of nastiness, the pipes stay filled with effluent and the camera picks that up too. It's cool because if you have a 20' long trench and the camera splashes after 2 feet, you know the system is pretty far gone.

There's a guy out my way who has a camera on the end of a snake connected to a TV monitor and he actually snakes and videos the leaching trenches out during a septic inspection. But that setup costs a couple grand and he's getting $500.00 for a septic inspection.