Tom Raymond

If the yard is flooded the foundation drain is already inundated. Creating a connection between the surface and the footer drain is pointless, leaving it open almost guarantees obstructions. The builder is a putz.

If there is water on the ground high enough to enter those pipes, where exactly would it drain to?

I work with that guy. He sells slidding windows and vinyl sideing.

Unless you know who manufactured the glazing the date codes are going to be useless. If you really want to know the age of the glass look for the 'bug' (the etching that certifies the glass is tempered) on the entry door. It should be relatively easy to judge 8-10 years of aging on commercial building components. A decade equals an enormous amount of abuse.

The water is hard enough here that all that glass would be etched to obscurity in no time. And, if you swap the tub for the kitchen island my nephews would be belly flopping into it within minutes of arriving.

I found a new panel with a similar sticker. There were so many defects I suggested my client not call the electrician who so blindly placed his name on his work.

You have an opportunity to enlighten us all. Remove a receptacle, look on the back to find the manufacturer and the model info, and call them up and ask. Let us know what you find out.

The wick or drum or whatever other such nonsense was designed to introduce water vapor into the plenum. As long as the water is disconnected, making that humidifier inaccessible is the next best thing to removing it.

I watched my step father and his brother fill a balloon with acetelyne to the size of a small beach ball. They tied a line on the balloon and pulled it over a lit candle they had placed on the front lawn. The kaboom nearly blew the windows out of the house. Jim, I think your experiments deserve a youtube channel. Please?

My system is hePEX from '05. I can see through the oxygen barrier. No trouble with the tubing but the Wirsbo manifolds suck. The bodies are very nice heavy brass castings but the sweat adapters and caps are thin machined pieces. Both manifolds leak at both ends and the mixing valve leaks at the sweat adapters and the packing nut at the start and end of the heating season when there are long stretches between firing cycles. There is enough variance in the expansion rates that the O rings loosen up and drip. Very glad they are in my basement and not in a wall. On a side note, how were you able to see the tubing layout in concrete? I have only been able to do this if the system has been off and I fire it. If the slab is warm I might be able to vaguely locate a tube every six or eight feet.

Morgan, you do realize those are roof trusses in the pics, right? I have only ever been in one house where the moisture in the crawl was contributing to the fungal forest in the attic. The most cost effective way to air seal it would have been to bulldoze it and start over. If this is how you inspect, remind me never to stand on or under anything you've engineered.

It's a walk up attic, essentially a partially finished third floor. The house was built to handle that load. I have been in dozens that have been finished of as family rooms, dozens more that have been converted into apartments, and several that were originally finished as servants quarters. As long as it hasn't been molested or neglected, it will be fine. If he does in fact want a basketball court up there he may need to beef up the floor joists, but the foundation will almost certainly be more than adequate.

I'm heading out shortly to assess the damage done by a slide yesterday. Broken window, downed gutter, smashed deck and railing. Ah, Spring.

I am going to send two sided copies and include a letter indicating that this is to aid the State in their cost saving efforts and they can feel free to dispose of them at the conclusion of their audit.

You need some big yellow latex gloves, a bucket, sponge, brush, and your favorite household cleaner. It's mold, clean it up. Honestly, I'd be more concerned about my child in the apartment for extended duration with cleaning product fumes than the mold concentrations your testing revealed. Flip a coin. One of you take the kids for a walk while the other stays home and cleans the pantry.

They appear to be in violation of at least 4 subsections of Article 12-B, Real Property Law, 7 subsections of our COE, and subject to revocation or suspension (and a fine of $1000/violation) under 4 of the 8 Causes of Action. No problem. Governor Andy did away with the council last year. It's a free for all. Then I won't be in a big hurry to complete the CE audit they sent me. Please do send me an email of where it came from. http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... ws5rSPVlEg It's from DOS/DOL. They have given me 25 days to send them original completion certificates for every CEU for the last 5 years.

They appear to be in violation of at least 4 subsections of Article 12-B, Real Property Law, 7 subsections of our COE, and subject to revocation or suspension (and a fine of $1000/violation) under 4 of the 8 Causes of Action. No problem. Governor Andy did away with the council last year. It's a free for all. Then I won't be in a big hurry to complete the CE audit they sent me.

NY SOP has windows in the Interior section. It can't be the only one that does, it's not an original document.

They appear to be in violation of at least 4 subsections of Article 12-B, Real Property Law, 7 subsections of our COE, and subject to revocation or suspension (and a fine of $1000/violation) under 4 of the 8 Causes of Action.

I take lots of pics. I use them to describe real defects. My clients are already fully aware that the living room needs to be repainted. I don't report cosmetic stuff, that's Big Hair Betty's job.

I never include any pics in the interior section of my report. Why would I waste my time rewriting the MLS listing?

Unfortunately, $3-350 is the going rate around here. Just ask any RE agent... I need to review the NY SOP and COE to see if there is anything actionable going on with this one.

Could be worse Joe. I sat down to read the local weekly rag and saw this: Click to Enlarge 41.01 KB The only good news is that these turkeys seem to have raised their prices. One of these guys was the butt head doing free walk and talks.

My house is 143 years old. The steel head flashing has a little rust on it, but is still far thicker than anything fabricated from aluminum coil, or even the steel stuff on the shelf at your local lumber yard. It will still be doing its job 100 years after the houses those modern counterparts are used on have fallen down. It is bent to a near perfect 90 degrees.

Almost as colossally stupid as enlarged bold font punctuated with parenthetical dancing monkeys. Almost.