chrisprickett

What he said...material type, age, condition, ventilation, etc, are much more relevent (to the buyer) than the precise architectural description.

On a 2500 sq ft home, I'm $75 higher than the closest "other" guy in my market. I'm turning business away. He's hustling his butt off to make ends meet. I do very little agent networking. He's always buying agents dinner, sending broadcast (spam) email, and generally sucking up. I work with the most honest, ethical agents in town. He's on the "inspector of the week" merry-go-round with several other low-ballers in my market. I ride my HD (Harley Davidson), paid cash, on weekends. He gets hours at the local HD (Home Depot) on weekends. Any questions?

I'd go with lighter colors.

I call it out all the time. It's just a zip tie for criminy sake! Tell the super to produce the manufacturer's installation instructions. Here's one from GE, which is similar to the units in most tract houses in our area: Download Attachment: GE dishwasher install.pdf 259.4 KB Look on the right side of page 6 for an illustration.

Not to turn this into a B-ASHI thread, but I've gotten exactly 1 referral from the "national service feature", and I was one of the first to activate my info about 18 months ago. This is in an area where ASHI is very much known. As far as Servicemagic, you can do a lot better for your $11 per referral money. You could take that $11 and buy a dozen Krispy Kremes. Leave them at a local real estate office with a stack of brochures. Probably get yourself a nice fat agent! I've wasted good money on referral services, over the years. There's one called "inspector locator" The price ain't bad, about $2 a referral, and as long as you keep at least $10 in you account, it stays activated. Problem is, of the 20 or so referrals I've gotten, not one has generated an inspection! Most contacts I get request being contacted by email. If I was the suspicous type, I'd swear that they were just feeding me crap every month or so to keep me on the hook. Fool me once... I don't spend a lot of money or time marketing to agents, about 60% of my business is construction related. What little agent marketing I do is face-to-face. If you want to get noticed by the general public, write articles for the local weekly papers. Every time I write one, I get 3 or 4 calls.

I write up incompatible breakers, in most cases. We have mostly Square D panels out here, and the panels say to only use Square D components. Most panels have a sticker saying something similar. I've seen some jerry-rigged breakers that have no business being in the panel, and until I can find a cross-referencing breaker guide (if one even exists) how do I know the breaker will work, long-term? One exception I make is a Cutler Hammer breaker in a Square D panel. A smart electrician once taped the Cutler breaker instructions in a Square D panel, where he had added the Cutler Hammer. It said the breaker/panel were compatible.

Jeff, I'd also be happy to help, if I can. I do a lot of work in Peoria, but there's plenty to go around. I'm not as smart as Scott, but I'm much prettier!

Did you do the "tongue test" to see if it was hot?

I do a ton of inspections in Surprise. Because of the location of the crack, it's likely from a combination of a stress crack from the corner of the window, and vibration of the coolant line. If I saw that on an inspection, I'd check for signs of moisture intrusion, and if there was none, I'd recommend sealing it. If there's no active moisture issue, and there are not a bunch more like it, it's no big deal.

Thanks Mark, that makes sense. Is there any distance from the pool, where this becomes irrelevant? Not to beat a dead horse, but in the case that I was looking at, the heater was a good 50 ft (and around a corner) from the pool.

Yeah, I just read where 3,000 people a week are killed by unbonded gas pool heaters.

Aha! That is my point! You have some inspectors going around saying that not bonding a gas pool heater can result in DEATH! While others, including myself don't see the big deal, and can't seem to find definitive documentation that not bonding will result in a horrific and imminent demise. I guess I have a bit of a bug up my butt, because, in my neck of the woods, we have had an epidemic of "puppy-mill" inspectors that are calling out minor (if not irrelevant) stuff as clear and present danger. The gas bond thing was one of them. I am, in no way, a minimalist inspector. I just think it's irresponsible to your client to make mountains out of molehills. Noting an issue is one thing, making it out to be on the same level as a meth lab, is another.

No it doesn't. Equipment grounding provides a path for fault current to return to the transformer via the service neutral, enabling enough current to flow to trip a breaker. Bonding of interior metal piping (such as gas piping does exactly the same thing. Bonding a swimming pools does what you describe below, almost, but it's my understanding that you creating potential equal to the earth at the pool, so that stray current flowing through the earth doesn't shock you when you are standing on the earth touching something metal with your bare wet feet, or when sitting on the concrete deck with your feet dangling in the pool. So... do you or don't you need to bond a gas pool heater?????

Same here in AZ. Some builders have been adding "jumper" ducts that equalize pressure. These are registers that connect to each other by ducting, one being in the hall, and one or more in the bedrooms.

I can only speak for myself, but I have found doing new construction inspections quite rewarding from both a financial and professional standpoint. Here are some reasons: Very clean work Pays well (better than regular HI by about 10%) Advance scheduling No agents Helps me be a better inspector A new challenge Less competition More variety Almost zero liability Feeds my HI referral base I am branching out into investigative work is for many of the same reasons. IMO, "comfort and security" are two of the quickest roads to complacency and failure. "Discomfort and risk" have always worked for me! I, personally, ALWAYS have the itch to learn more about my profession!

Well, almost all. It doesn't answer the question, "Why on God's green earth would a home inspector need one of these things?" - Jim Katen, Oregon You wouldn't for daily HI work. For construction inspections, and defect investigation work, they're pretty darn handy!

I'm having trouble understanding why, in most situations I see, the need to bond a gas pool heater. The unit sits on a concrete slab. The pool piping to and from the heater are plastic. The gas piping is plastic underground. G2411.1 (310.1) Gas pipe bonding. Each above-ground portion of a gas piping system that is likely to become energized shall be electrically continuous and bonded to an effective ground-fault current path. Gas piping shall be considered to be bonded where it is connected to gas utilization equipment that is connected to the equipment grounding conductor of the circuit supplying that equipment. The above code reference (emphasis mine) seems to say that it is bonded by being connected to equipment that is grounded.

From the OSHA website: Current transformers can be used to supply information for measuring power flows and the electrical inputs for the operation of protective relays associated with the transmission and distribution circuits or for power transformers. This is one we should all bookmark: http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/electri ... ml#Current

I was gonna say "hair".

My X&C is almost two years old. It occasionally sticks when being extended, more user error and poor maintenance than anything else. Other than that it's been bulletproof. I have found several ways of diversifying it's use that make it indespensable!

I'm on my second cord, this one is only about 4 months old.

I'd definitely go with the chair. The user would stop and maneuver the chair to go to the bathroom, hence the heavy stains near the bathroom door.

Maybe a little thread drift (sorry) but I'm not all that thrilled with my 61-155. Had it about a year and a half, and it is giving me "phantom readings". Usually "Error-No Ground" comes up, and when I re-test, it tests OK. I've pretty much retired it since last week, and am using my "nite-light" tester until I decide what to go with next.

I actually sent you "cash". It came back because the letter was too heavy for a .37 stamp. It went back out yesterday with adequate postage.

Here are Metal-Fab, Duravent, and Amerivent's installation docs, if you need the ammo. Download Attachment: Simpson Vent.pdf 978.41 KB Download Attachment: Ameri-Vent.pdf 587.24 KB Download Attachment: Metal Fab B vent Install.pdf 455.91 KB