chrisprickett

Looks to me like air pockets in the form when the wall was poured. Its hard to tell from that picture, combined with the paint.

(Sorry, late to thread) What he said. I took it one step further because I have kids, and they can't grasp the phrase "Don't touch the #$@^**& switch!" I simply disconnected and bypassed the wall switch and use the remote in the cradle. The fan is a Hampton Bay and its two years old. The remote has had constant use and (so far) one touch is all it takes. ***Remember*** In the summer, set the fan to draw the warm air down from the ceiling. With virtually all fans, this is counter clockwise. This will provide a breeze and make the room feel about 5 degrees cooler. It will also keep the air circulating and minimize “hot spotsâ€

I guess... he has appealed, but it's hard to fight a machine like that.

Kurt (and others) makes a great point, and I suspect there was a bit of dismissiveness on the part of this inspector's keepers. I also suspect that that had something to do with the escalation by the PO'ed buyer. My motto has always been "friends don't sue friends". So far it's worked- I haven't been sued as a contractor, inspector, Realtor, or private citizen. I just hate to see a little guy get chewed up by the legal machine. In the end, the inspector pointed out the problem, albeit not perfectly. For his trouble, he's being glued and screwed.

Kurt & Randy, Let me try to answer both questions: (Please understand that I'm recalling this from memory) Randy- The guy worked for a big company and had E&O. The provider found the claim to be without merit, and told the buyer so. The buyer went to our state licensing board and filed a complaint against the inspector. Between these two events, the inspector left the big company and went out on his own. He gets a letter from the state, saying his report was not compliant with the standards (basically ASHI). The state said they were fining him between $3-$5K (I can't remember). He's fighting that. Buyer took state's findings and went after both the company and inspector. He has to fend for himself, or hire an attorney to try and force the company to represent him. We last spoke in August, so I'm not sure what the deal is as of today. When we talked, he was both exhausted and depressed. Kurt-Best I know, the story is pretty much what it is. The guy did prepare a report that was not up to snuff- no arguement there. He did, however, make it very clear that there was a rot issue at a specific location and recommended a roofer look at it during the inspection period. All- I am not a "don't breathe-you'll get sued" kind of guy. Just the opposite. I try to do the right thing and hope for the best. My whole point, when I got into this thread, is that (at least in my opinion) there is no one perfect method for detecting rot, that guarantees zero liability.

I think that's about right. What are the differing results if one says 1) "There's rot in the eave; there might be more; here's a picture". Or, 2) "It looks like a lot of rot in the siding/fascia/soffit; have a contractor open the wall up see how bad it is and what it costs to fix". I think #2 lets the HI walk away clean, but maybe it's more complicated than that. We can split hairs and Monday morning quarterback all day long. I think the basic question is: Does a good (not great, not perfect, not genius) inspector deserve to have his life (and wallet) turned upside-down because he left a little wiggle room for a SOB homebuyer, with an axe to grind? (For the record- there was no rot in the wall, it was limited to the roof sheathing) If the "typical" inspector is only qualified to say "Looks like rot to me, better get that fixed.", (I agree with that observation, BTW) that's what this poor sap said. He even took a few pictures of the rot, put pretty circles around it, and gave out copies to the buyer and agent, who both attended the inspection. For his advice, and $300 fee, he's lost his livelihood, spent 3 years dealing with courts, and will either end up paying out north of $20K or leave the state and pray there's no reciprocity. I'm all for inspectors getting the proper education, writing bullet-proof reports, and charging accordingly. I'm also all for agents being 100% honest and forthright to all parties involved in the transaction. I just don't see either happening in my lifetime.

I'm glad I'm out of the inspecting-houses-that-are-for-sale business. That HI had some bad fortune. Even so, if there were obvious rot, he had no reason to probe. If he'd kept his hands off of the punky T111, he wouldn't have even gotten the "master carpenter" argument. Most likely, the carpenter would be paying for the repairs... WJid="blue"> Hindsight is 20-20. Wait until licensing comes to your state and pin-heads are in charge of picking apart inspection reports.

Xavier, If they're custom, they're just that. I've built cabinets of all shapes and sizes to accommodate various requirements and whims. I've built sink base cabinets 28" deep to accommodate an antique farmer's sink. It's a common design practice to build cabinets of different depths to make a style statement. If a wall is uneven, I'll build an extended side panel to scribe to the wall. Did you give, or did the carpenter supply, a set of plans that included dimensions? Unless he did not build them to specific provided specs, I don't think you'll find any standard to base your complaint.

If anybody thinks for a minute that there is a black & white answer to this, I've got a ski slope in Phoenix for sale! I've seen real life examples of it going both ways: A: (In '04) Inspector sees rot at the eave of a roof. Reports it, takes pictures of it, says there's probably more that he can't see, and recommends repair by a roofer. Doesn't poke, prod, or probe. That was three years ago, and the buyer is still suing him for under-disclosing the problem. The BTR (our licensing poobahs) get involved and throw the guy under the bus. They say he didn't properly describe the problem because he said "eave" and not "sheathing, fascia, and soffit". They also picked the rest of his report apart and found some other minor reporting violations. Still fighting a stiff fine by the BTR and still dealing with the lawsuit. He is considering moving out of state so he's not slaughtered financially. B: (Last summer) Another inspector sees what looks to be an obvious cover up of extensive T-1-11 rot. Pushes his thumb in to see if it's soft. The brand new coat of latex paint is the only thing between his thumb and a bunch of air. Makes a hole. Reports rot to buyer, along with picture of hole. Seller calls me (she states she's a minister and never lies-Ha!) Say my inspector damaged her property. Goes on to say that a "master carpenter" performed all repairs on the home and would NEVER cover up rot. After several calls and letters to our company, we rolled over and paid her around $500. I am so glad I'm out of the business!

The mud looking stuff is rust flaking off (look above the burner). I think you're spot on with the spider egg-sack theory.

A 2" difference in depth will definitely make installation a pain. The guy doesn't know what he's doing if he built them like that. That being said, a good installer can probably make it work, but you may have issues when it comes to counter tops- especially if you're buying off the shelf post-form laminate. Another concern would be overall quality. If the guy can't figure out how to read a tape, he probably didn't make the square and true either.

There is no standard, per se, but 24 is the guideline. When I had my kitchen biz, we rep'd for three different cabinet companies- and all had at least a couple lines. Widths run in multiples of 3" (9-12-15, etc) but depths could be off by as much as 1/2"- usually smaller than 24", but one was 24 1/4". Frameless can be different as well. It really depends on the way the the shop is set up.

This year was the first in 7 that I didn't attend the ASHI conference. The first year I knew no one and learned a lot. At the last one, I knew a bunch of people, many that I now consider friends, but learned very little. All in all, well worth the plane fare all six times! I went to two ITA conferences in Vegas. The first one was ok, but the last one I went to, in '06, was a very bad experience. It seemed more like a 60's Shriner convention and I was embarassed to be there.

Must've been a slow news day in Benton. That piece sucked so bad I wouldn't let my parrot (if I had one) crap on it.

I just shot my evening Bosco all over my keyboard.

I have The Weather Channel local forecast on my homepage. I was told there might be rain this weekend, so I took a look. Here's The Official Weather Channel weekend forecast for the Phoenix metro (Maricopa County) area: Friday: Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High near 65F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Saturday: Mostly cloudy. Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 50s. Sunday: Clouds giving way to sun . Highs in the mid 60s and lows in the mid 40s. id="blue"> Pretty harmless, huh? Here's what the National Weather Service is forecasting for the same time period: "SEVERE WEATHER ALERT" A MAJOR STORM SYSTEM CURRENTLY OFF THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA COAST WILL MOVE INLAND OVER THE WEEKEND...BRINGING WET WEATHER TO SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. A STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD OF THIS SYSTEM WILL TRANSPORT SIGNIFICANT MOISTURE NORTHWARD...INCREASING THE CHANCE FOR RAIN FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE REGION SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. DUE TO MOIST SOIL CONDITIONS FROM EARLIER STORMS THIS WINTER...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL LIKELY RESULT IN AREAS OF FLASH FLOODING AND ROCK AND MUD SLIDES...ESPECIALLY OVER NORTHEAST MARICOPA AND SOUTHERN GILA COUNTIES LATE SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. I don't know if I should carry a sweater or build an ark!

Regrettably, you don't need to be a suck up for some unreasonable home buyer to perceive that they've been screwed. Even a frivolous lawsuit can kill a working guy. My last year in the biz ('07), our claims rate jumped big-time. It was very often BS. I'd love to see one of the major HI orgs or E&O carriers crunch the numbers over the last three years.

Magic! Unless there's some hidden super-duper engineering going on, I'd say that homeowner is screwed.

Vinyl windows have heat welded miters that mignt look just like that. If it's wood, it looks like it's applied on top of the panel siding. That would mean that the trim is pretty thin. - Jim Katen, Oregon The OSB butts to the top of the brick mould. At least that's what it look like to me. I guess we'd have to get Checkitout to confirm, or fly out to NC. I have a trip planned out that way in a week or two, maybe I'll pop by.

Jim, can you cite that? The reason I ask is, if that is the case, there are about 30,000+ homes that use Decora (rocker) switches for disposals, in my area. (big surprise, here in the land of "Slam & Scram") There's a difference between using a switch as a disconnect and using a switch to control the disposal. If the switch is the disconnect, it's got to be of the indicating type. The cite is 422.35. In many cases, the switch isn't the disconnet though. If the disposal has a cord & plug connection, that is the disconnect. If the disposal circuit breaker has a lockout on it, that can be the disconnect. In either of those cases, decora switches are fine. - Jim Katen, Oregon Gotcha-thanks!

Nah, it's brick mould. I can see the lousy miter joint at the upper right corner.

Jim, can you cite that? The reason I ask is, if that is the case, there are about 30,000+ homes that use Decora (rocker) switches for disposals, in my area. (big surprise, here in the land of "Slam & Scram")

The trim is wood (or some type of composite) brick mould. No doubt about it.

So, does that mean that all "rocker" type switches need to be marked as well. I've never seen one that had any indicator other the position. Image Insert: 8.36 KB

I'm willing to bet Mike O's Nordic-Trac that that's a leaker. Even if the windows are flashed properly, the connection between the brick mould head trim and the siding is just caulk. The pic shows the first floor windows. I'm guessing the caulk job at the top of the 2nd story windows is spotty, at best. Water will find a way in, and then it's just matter of time... I'd also be willing to bet that the shutters were installed before they caulked, which means that there's a nice, long, hidden crack for moisture to hang out. $50 worth of metal drip edge would have made all the difference in the world.