Tom Raymond

While you're right on the science I would be hesitant to flip that insulation. Unless the house is way north with an extremely long heating season, that vapor barrier is more functional as a critter barrier than it is harmful. Iknow, I know...it's wrong, but how bad is it? If it does get flipped it should still be covered based on the number of occupants in there. Tom

With the recent heat wave I was shopping for an Air conditioner over the weekend. Piled up on the 220v units was a selection of breakers for various panels and a 220 receptacle. I was horrified when the associate explained that all one needed to do to install one of these units was to change the receptacle and connect "the black and the white wires" to the 220 breaker, and that "it is really pretty simple".[:-crazy] I of course explained to him that he needs to stop telling consumers how to incorrectly rewire their homes, and that any other equipment powered on that circuit would be fried. He of course replied with a "who do you think you are" tone, but said he would stop. I'll bet dollars to donuts that all sorts of folks are still getting that advice. It's bad enough that the big blue and orange boxes are making easier than ever for home owners to screw up their houses, but now they are giving them explicit instruction on how to do it. Just had to share, Tom

Richard, Thanks for the panel pics, I'm sure they will prove useful to many of us here, myself included. I still don't quite get where the main disconnect is on the panel originally in question though. There are four double breakers in the upper bus; one empty, the lower left and upper right that are branch circuits, and the lower right that runs the split. Isn't the upper bus required to have a disconnect? I sort of cut my teeth on split bus panels, I grew up in a house with a CH split. This panel had three splits and a factory installed main. The main protected everything, the top split housed disconnects for the two lower splits and and two doubles for appliance loads. My experience with this panel may have me thinking that all splits have or require a single main. Tom

The AHJ is always right, even when he isn't. Perhaps you could ask him nicely (pay him) to inspect and sign off on the panel. He probably won't, but you could try. I see only one breaker, the 60 amp middle right-back fed from the upper busses, that will shut off the lower busses. Where is the main disconnect for the upper busses? If it ain't in that panel then the whole mess is wrong, because then it's a subpanel and the EGC's and GC's are bonded, not to mention all the multiples on the neutral bus. Tell your client that a service upgrade isn't that expensive, and will be well worth it for the convenience alone. If they still won't budge, suggest another concession they could ask for that will have a similar cost. That way the seller pays, and they get to choose the contractor. Might get further this way than with the AHJ. Tom

This might be a stupid question, but, any other indication of a high water mark? Since it's not probable that it's frost damage my best guess would be repeated soaking. Does that area flood? As for the rowlocks, the brick above the gap seem to be smaller than the ones on the ends, almost like they shrunk. Pretty odd. It also appears that the mortar joints were simply cleared of excess and never struck, and unless it contains Portland it will shrink away from the edges in some places. Tom

MSN just did a story on the odds of all sorts of wierd ways to die, shark attack, hit on the head by a falling coconut...Your client is likely going to increase her exposure by trying to find all the asbestos in her house than if she just ignored it. Advise her that it is probably present, that the exposure risk is minimal, and that if she can't live with it to have the popcorn ceiling removed prior to moving in. If she is really terrified of the stuff don't tell her it might be in her hair drier. Shame on you Mike O, alarming the alarmist. Tom

Most, if not all, of the "modular homes" in my area are sold by the same companies selling and setting up "double wides", probably built in the same factories. Every "modular" that I have ever been in has even had the same crappy components as the trailers, like trailer doors on a 2 wide modular or sub-standard windows on a 4 box (2 wide 2 high). I have even seen single wide trailers built to these so called modular standards,escentially a trailer built with 2x6's, they call them single unit modules. All of these units had the steel trailer frames still attached, resting on huge steel beams running accross the buildings width (think trailer with a full basement). While I agree that there are some really amazing modular systems available, unfortunately they just aren't around here. Until they are, I'd take a mediocre kit over a modular any day. Tom What's the difference between a modular and a mobile home? One is a vehicle! Badumdum!!

Sure looks manufactured to me, that subfloor is also a dead give away. Ceramic tile will also affect the road handling characteristics[:-crazy] If I were king, they wouldn't be allowed to call it housing until the building codes took precedence over the DOT regs. Tom

The flex pipe is being refered to as a "liner", does it actually line the masonry chimney or just dump into it? In the pic it looks like the latter in which case it's wrong. If it is a liner it needs to extend all the way to the vent termination (outside). Tom

You must have really spry retirees on the left coast. Around here all our retirement communities are built just above grade for accessabiltiy. Those steps would be tons of fun with a walker. Tom

Oops, I accidentally replied in a new post. Look for "Roof overs

All of the shingles I have seen with a warranty of 30 years or more do not consider shingles a suitable underlayment, and will not warrant "roof overs". Also of interest, all of the major US shingle manufacturers have announced a whopping 30% price increase effective in June. If you need a roof, better do it this wekend. [:-weepn] Tom

Not to mention that all abandoned wiring should be removed, including panels.

I would say that the lug is more of an evolutionary developement then one of intelligent design[:-angel] Tom Sorry, couldn't resist.

Some lawyers have gone further than that. I recently renewed my motorcycle registration by mail. The same day I received my new reg I also received a letter from a law firm specializing in bike related accidents including a handy keychain with their info on it so that in the event of an accident I can call while still laying in the road. That is almost as sleazy as the State selling them my info. Tom

Chad, I thought you were targeting professionals. In my area that demographic doesn't read the pennysaver, except the one community that has the local paper in the same publication. Do you find that route a good investment? BTW, I agree it is definately a better investment than the "seminar". Tom

Hey, look on the bright side. At least the EIFS is only on the chimneys. They will be way less expensive to rebuild that the entire house. Feel free to use that in your report. Tom

Sorry Brandon, Didn't mean to coax an embarrassing confession out of you.[:-paperba Just thought I'd share what I've seen happen when trees fall on buildings. Tom

Kurt, I think there is some confusion going on about these gutters. The left coast guys are thinking yankee gutters which definately don't work, while those of us to right of the Mississippi seem to be thinking of inlaid gutters. Perhaps some pictures could help those who haven't seen inlaids. This is a historic property we're talking about, those details should be preserved. BTW, anybody got a guess what the hack pulled off the flat roofs before he botched the "torch down"? Betcha it was copper or coated steal that was working perfectly. Tom

The best way to vent an attic is to not vent it at all. The current trend in building science is partially conditioned attic space with an insulated roof deck. This makes perfect sense if you think about it, it is virtually impossible to keep conditioned air out of the attic and similarly difficult to keep the built up heat in the attic from migrating to the conditioned space, so insulate the roof deck to prevent the heat buildup in the first place and use the lost conditioned air as a buffer - in effect using the total attic space as insulation. The problem with venting is that it falls on the roofing/siding crews to design the system when it should be designed by the architect/home designer. HVAC systems are designed for the building with consideration given to duct size and location, plenum dimentions, etc. The roof vents should be designed in a similar fashion. Gable vents do not work on every house. Soffit/ridge vents do not work on every house, and in fact do not work well at all on roofs over 30 square. Through in a couple of hips and valleys and you cannot adequetly vent without mixing systems. I say damn the vents, partially conditioned space is the way to go. Tom

OK, If the roof got wacked hard enough to break a chord, what else is broken? A damaged chord will distort the loads on the rest of the truss, and to some extent on the adjacent trusses. Also the force of the impact will be disapated through out the rest of the structure. I would look for; Loose and/or damaged roof sheething on the entire roof. Loose or damaged braces on the trusses. Loose connections at the top plates, truss-plate and plate -stud. Loose or damaged anchor bolts/sill plates. Carefully check for racking, both the roof and the walls. There was a similar incident a few years ago accross the street from my Inlaw's house. While it looked like a few sheets of plywood and some shingles would fix the mess, the AHJ said to tear it down to the foundation and start over, everything on the list above had occurred. It was a free standing garage so it wasn't too great a loss. The moral, I guess, is to not let the big broken "whatchamacallit" distract you from looking for the rest of the damage. Tom

That will be the day I upgrade to Linux[:-alien] I have both XP pro and home, home is better but not by much. Pro has serious issues with networks when not all pc's are running the same service packs, fun stuff like print spooler errors that consume all your resources so you don't have enough cpu volume to make any repairs. If you run a stand alone server you will likely encounter this and many other fun errors. Gotta love the business model of letting the consumer find all the bugs[:-censore Tom

Hey Jim, 5280 watts huh?.... but how fast is it in the quarter?[:-bigmout Tom

Just out of curiosity, aren't bamboo floors supposed to be installed the same as wood floors(perpendicular to the joists)? If so did the bamboo change directions or is it also installed the wrong way? Tom

It also only has 15-20% of it's original warranty. The only reason my home system isn't set up this way yet is that most manufacturers limit the warranty for radiant heat applications, and some will void it, I know 'cause asked every one of them at the IBS. If they can't stand behind their unit running the heating cycles for more than 3-5 years, then it ain't ready for my project. Tom