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Tom Raymond

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Everything posted by Tom Raymond

  1. It's from spillage at the extrusion plant. Pellets the size of grains of kosher salt come in bags the size of refrigerators. They get dumped into giant hoppers, dropped into screws and forced through dies into what ever part is being made that day. Lots of pellets get spilled. They can either be scrapped or made into odd colored parts. Everyone should visit a vinyl extrusion plant at least once. There is a fog of fine vinyl particles in the air, the stench of melting plastics, the screech of the cut off saws, and watching the parts extrude is as much fun as watching paint dry.
  2. I was hoping for an establishing shot.
  3. The dude got sued because the lawyer thought the more parties involved the bigger his pay day. I hope the plaintiffs realize they scarred his (the HI) life as badly as this tragedy scarred theirs.
  4. The legal definition of 'lifetime' is 25 years. That's considerably closer to the actual useful service life of comp shingles manufactured today than the previous 30/40/50 year designations. The roof in the OP needs to be stripped. Got a pic of the built in gutters? I can't imagine what that looks like on such a low slope.
  5. It's shiny like a new penny, it's painted steel or aluminum. Even brand smacking new copper sheets would have some patina on them and a less than uniform color.
  6. I was wondering the exact same thing, but I was thinking BUR.
  7. I have a Sony cybershot. I generally deplore Sony products but my wife got me this for Christmas last year and I love it. Image size from VGA to 16mp at 16:9 and 14mp at 4:3 and 720p HD video. It's smaller and lighter than a smart phone and the automatic features are intelligent and highly functional. I hope I never find out how durable it would be in a drop. I highly recommend it.
  8. Yup. Glued to F5 drip edge snipped to follow the curves.
  9. Besides ruined by the brick veneer, and the sloppy roof install, and the two story CMU addition on the back that can't see in the pic. The soffit and fascia are stuccoed and flow into the wall coating. The foundation is straight between the two bays on the end and there are three 12" glass block skylights set in to a low slope stucco bevel to light the basement. The other end is the same. The interior that hasn't been remuddled is very mid century minimalist. square shapes, white paint, little or no trim, strip oak floors. My best guess for a build date is the later half of the 50's. Click to Enlarge 69.24 KB
  10. Bonus! Pink paint and carpet for Marc!
  11. The formula is very simple: 1. Choose a high quality public. 2. Charge whatever the public will bear.
  12. If it ran for an hour it's broken. Neal, boilers didn't require backflow preventers 50 years ago. The zone valve arrangement is comical. When the vinyl sheet flooring under it ignites it's efficiency will increase, but only briefly.
  13. That was a pretty cheaply built modular, most wood windows would have been clad at that time. That window would have lasted longer if they had bothered to paint it - some of the primer is still visible.
  14. Here's a real mother for ya! Sorry it's a day late, I should have bought my wife a new router for mother's day.
  15. I nearly wrote an article for the local paper about the "value" of free, but instead chose to share here. I don't want his clients, and that's exactly what I'd get. I'm not getting rich, but I book over 80% of the calls I get and no one pushes back on my fees unless they walk from the first house and want me to do the next. I gladly give them $50 off, happy clients and referrals are my marketing plan. Slow and steady wins the race.
  16. The builder omitted the flashing. Nailing fins are not flashing. You can see the water streaks concentrated at the corners of the windows. Bad detailing directs water behind the tyvek and soaks the OSB. They need to pull the vinyl off the whole house and see what else is FUBAR.
  17. I don't think it's illegal. The law clearly defines what a home inspection is, and it regulates only what it defines. There is nothing that expressly prohibits 'walk and talks'. I wouldn't hesitate to do a walk and talk inspection for an appropriate fee, but my agreement would clearly state what the client was getting and that it came with a 'tail light warranty'. I'm over the shock and I've vented my frustrations. Now I can leave this poor sap to be pecked to death by the cackling hens at the brokerage. He asked for it.
  18. Jimmy is spot on. It is sad, and I was offended. I've vented and feel much better now. Gary, I won't gain anything reporting him to DOS. I'll leave that up to his clients. This poor schmuck is circling the drain, but the really sad part is that he'll be the low baller in his next venture too. He clearly hasn't learned anything.
  19. In a brilliant marketing ploy, the lowest priced inspector in my area is offering to do 'walk and talk' inspections for free. If you need a written report to renegotiate your deal you pay his regular fee of $199. But that's not all! The report is yours to do with what you wish, even resell it to another prospective buyer should you walk from the deal. Can't find your report? No problem, he'll provide you another copy for free. He spewed this drivel at a home buying seminar sponsored by one of the local RE offices. As you can imagine, the agents love him. Fortunately I got this info second hand, had I been there I'm pretty sure I'd have been asked to leave.
  20. If the cricket and the valley it creates are covered in IWS and that is a real W valley pan with edge dams it should work just fine. If not it's screwed, the cricket looks way to shallow a pitch for standing seam without a membrane under it. An open valley with soldered flat lock seams would be better, but it would be just as ugly. Even a custom pan would look goofy, and most roofers wouldn't be able to fab it anyway.
  21. That's an argument against unions, not radiant ceilings.
  22. If the upstairs doesn't cool, go to your local big box store and get a little window a/c unit. 4-5000 BTU units are under $100. You could cool your whole 900SF area with two of these.
  23. Observation, but cellulose is like anything else. You get what you pay for. We use the same cells for loose fill, dense pack, and new work. I would imagine the glue in it contributes to the air sealing properties, humidity activates the glue and the density clamps it in place until it dries. We're also using lots of material, R49 is 16" loose/14.5" settled.
  24. That's cellulose insulation. Properly installed cells has virtually the same air sealing properties as spray foam. Look for big holes in the insulation and bath fans or drier vents that exhaust into the attic. Seal and insulate the attic hatch, and lower the humidity level in the living space. Then install a properly sized ventilation system.
  25. I take offense to being subjected to an ad for insurance so that I can receive a free publication that I didn't ask for. I'm equally offended by the birthday cards that my wife and I get from our car insurance agent, I'd prefer he keep his phony sentiment and lower my premiums. I pay nearly as much for insurance as I do for everything else that I own, and receive no value for that expenditure. Sorry if I'm a little jaded.
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