Tom Raymond

A little sunshine does the same thing. IIRC Dr Joe measured air film temps as much as 20 degrees higher than ambient. Add some more baffles and blow in 8-10 inches of cellulose. That should be dense enough to seal things up. Blown glass is almost useless as insulation.

The only reason to insulate those pipes is to lower the boiler room temps.

I'm not sure I could resist inspecting an elevator if I ran across one. I live in the sticks and Bing found 4 elevator inspectors within 30 miles. first hit. Punting to a Pro should be pretty after my curiosity has been satisfied.

If you can't find a reputable contractor to look at them contact Velux. They have factory service reps in most areas.

So it's their own gas and not the neighborhood's.

Look again Bob. EPS and fiberglass around the perimeter. Wouldn't be my first choice, but it'll do.

How about Auburn? http://automobilemuseum.org/

I'm in.

Guarantee? Who offers a guarantee? I don't. My contract specifically states that the inspection and report are not a guarantee, warranty or insurance of any kind.

Before HardieZone the woodgrains were different, but I would need a known sample in hand to tell which is which. Very little of either around here. The new Hardie is much thicker in my zone. What I have seen fail had all been installed wrong; too close to the ground, in contact with a sidewalk, panels ripped into fascias, etc. The only exception was a short lived cement trim product. I only used it once and don't recall what it was called, Hardie bought me Azek to replace it.

Your fortunate it only took 3 hours to find that.

That makes two of us, but I've never inspected anything newer than '91.

That's the problem with those cameras. You can't steer them, just bang them into stuff until they go where you want them to or you give up in frustration.

Holmes fixes lots of stuff that isn't broken because it looks good on TV.

Kind of ineffective as a deterrent.

Experience tells me that exterior building products, particularly windows and doors, begin being replaced in new developments at right around the 12 year mark.

That's old growth timber. It's more robust. The windows are drafty enough that the dew point is several inches outside the house until the glass temps dip below 30 and condensing vapors skip the liquid phase and go straight to ice. And, when the sash exceed their carrying capacity they shed their paint so they can dry. When we run out of white pine and start making windows out of plantation trees you can cut my service life estimates in half.

It was a "run what you brung" event.

Most of that damage is from condensation, but that doesn't mean there isn't more damage you can't see. First, look at the 'gasket' around the glass. It's called a marine glazing boot and it's a U shaped channel that goes around the edge of the IG (Insulated Glass) unit. To keep condensation from pooling in it and degrading the IG seal it is perforated along its length and has big gaps where it is cut to bend around the corners. All of the condensation that occurs at the edge of the glass either spills onto the surface or is dumped into the groove plowed in the sash rail to accept the glass. All the water dumped into the sash has to migrate through the wood to dry and vapor drive takes much of this to the back of the cladding. Marine glazing is cheap and easy to manufacture so it is prevalent on builders grade windows. Think Malta, Crestline, Craftline, Vetter, Caradco, LP, etc. Second, look at the glass. The airspace is thin. They might be low E, but they would be made with cheap old tech coatings, and the slight airspace means little or no argon. Or they might be plain old Insulated Glass. Either way they are inefficient by today's standards, which means there will be more condensation. Now look at the weather seals. You can't see any in your pics but there are typically two in windows like that. The one around the perimeter of the sash is called a dust shield because it's primary function is to keep debris out of the concealed hardware. It provides very little in the way of draft protection. The second is on the frame and it is typically a very small hollow bulb or a tiny vinyl fin. Neither is very effective and there tends to be large gaps at the corners. They seal just well enough to allow water vapor to condense on the glass rather than escape to the outside. Some small condensation events can actually be resolved by simply unlocking the windows, loosening the weatherstrip enough to allow the moisture to escape before it condenses. Finally, look at the cladding. On most of the windows I mentioned above the cladding is roll form aluminum (think seamless gutters, but much thinner) that gets clipped onto the wood sash rails and held in place with adhesive. In order for the rails to fit together the corners of the cladding are loose enough to slide past one another, which is loose enough to let wind and water and other stuff in too. The adhesive is a vapor retarder and we all know what vapor retarders do. When you see one of these windows with loose cladding it's usually because the wood has rotted out from behind the adhesive, often long before they look like the windows in your pics. Now you understand why thy look like they do. Use that information to identify builders grade products and advise your clients that these things have a life expectancy of 15 years or so. They can spend lots of time on maintenance or replace them at regular intervals. Premium wood window products have much better water management details and may last 20-25 years.

So does that make you slower, or less geeky?

You would have better luck matching colors by treating the rest of the floor with toilet bowl cleaner. If that sounds ridiculous, read post #5 again.

It could be far worse Rob. You could be in a place where nearly everything was built after 1980. Those are the places that wear me out.

Well, finally a good reason to live in WNY. No termites here.

Where's the action shot?

That's far from scary, it's just plain sad.