Tom Raymond

At the IBS last year there was a resin based system that worked with aggregate ranging from coarse sand to brick pavers. It was pretty cool, except that it initially made everything look like it was made of plastic.

It can't be gas, the code prohibits gas fired appliances in toilet rooms. []

Wow. When they cheap out on an application of that price point here they use steel flashings and drip edges. That's a shame.

My cousin in Smithfield, NC runs his range, DWH, and furnace off of 100 pound bottles. It's far less expensive, and he can shop around for the best price. Tthe local gas station fills propane tanks, so he can get fuel even if he runs out on a Holiday. There's also the bonus of no big tanks in his yard. If there's a down side, it's that the colder it is the more frequent the tank changes are.

So her agent/broker convinced her to purchase a warranty? She should be leaning on them to smooth the process, not asking you to assist in the commission of a fraud. Tell her to suggest to her agent that she may contact HUD regarding the nature of their relationship with the HWA. That will get her far further than altering your report.

Since when do forclosures come with warranties?

Vinegar is powerful stuff, if you give it time to work. When my wife started as a concrete tech the tool kit they gave her hadn't been cleaned in years. She soaked it in vinegar, and scrubbed it a couple times a day, for about two weeks. Now, her test pot is almost shiny.

There's other forums? Really? Have a happy new year everyone. Be good. If not, be careful!

Go to the auto parts store and get a polyester resin patch kit. It'll come with enough glass cloth to cover all the smiles. It'll stink like hell until it cures and look awful, but if he roughs up the surface it'll stick and stop up the leaks for under $50.

There are two problems with the system in the OP. The first is a control issue. Something is broken or there would not be a 20-30 degree delta between the ambient and set temps. The second is that the system is poorly balanced. The primary reason the upper level is warmer than the lower level is that it's closer to the air handler. Sure, gravity and buoyancy are contributing factors, but it's mostly balance.

It's a very useful distinction. Heat moves to cold, no matter what direction it is in. It's fundamental. The fact that air rises when it is heated is a property of air, not of heat.

There were significant issues with this building that lead me to believe it was never inspected when it was built. There are structural problems, plumbing problems and a slew of electrical problems. I may have overstated the danger of the absent bonding, but I don't think so. Interestingly, I was in the very modern mechanical room of a very small 1866 church yesterday and nothing was bonded there either. I suppose if your going to get electrocuted, a church is a pretty good place to meet your maker.

I'll bet it's never seen a sweep.

If Steuben is relaxed then they must be catatonic in Dansville. My client called me last night with more questions. Seems the seller is highly motivated and countered his withdrawal with $30k in concessions, some cash, some repairs, and some in acreage.

I found one Monday. It was primed and glued, with hose clamps for good measure.

That is where I was looking. I look at the County online data for every house I inspect. Erie County has a lot of tax history but nothing in the way of permits. Cattaraugus, the poorest County in NY, has fabulous data; interactive maps, photos of the properties, and decades of permit history. This place was an hour and a half from home and I've never worked in Steuben before so I thought I'd look at what the County had on it. I had real concerns that I was looking at an illegal building with no permits at all. This place had multiple electrical defects including a very scary manual transfer switch with a hard wired generator cord that likely wouldn't make it outside, 6 double tapped breakers, at least a dozen white wires identified as hot in the panel, and none of the piping was bonded. There was also a bunch of really stupid structural stuff, decks attached to the house with drywall screws, four of the worst flights of stairs I've ever seen, two of which didn't have handrails, and on and on. The only way the muni inspectors could have missed all that is if they looked at the place from the road. Did I mention it's 1/4 mile off the road? I finished my report and sent it to Alaska last night. My client called 20 minutes later to thank me for all my hard work and to ask if I'd be interested in inspecting the next one for him. No more worries on this one.

So I shouldn't worry about the permit history?

That's what I thought it was. It's a galvanic reaction between the copper in the pressure treated wood and the aluminum coil. It won't stop until all the aluminum is gone. The fix is to replace the aluminum with vinyl or polyurethane post wraps, or place a barrier coating (tar paper works well) between the metals. This of course means that all the rails need to come down.

Yesterday's house was owner built in 1999. It is way out in the boonies, at the end of a quarter mile dirt track that is off of a dirt road that is in turn off a dirt road on the top of a hill so high I could see almost all of Steuben County. The supply from the well is plastic, then galvanized before the pressure tank, then copper, except for a little PEX to the UV filter situated between the sediment filter and the water softener. I'm thinking there should be bonding jumpers at each of these apparatus, right? The supply from the LP tank is copper and enters the house directly above the water supply. About 6' in the copper tees into black iron, two lengths of CSST (that runs right along side the ducts), and more copper. I'm thinking that I should be seeing a bond near the entrance, but at a minimum within the first 6' of copper, right? I didn't see any bonding at all. There are two GECs exiting the panel, but they don't go anywhere near the piping. Is it more probable that the electrical inspector missed the lack of bonding, or that he never issued a final? Should I be calling the Buildings Dept. to check out the permits or just advise my guy to fix this asap? I checked the County web site and there are several permits listed for out buildings and decks that were obviously also owner built, but no permit history for the professionally bungled patio enclosure or the house itself. To complicate things I am working through the buyer's agent. My clients, her parents, are in Homer, Alaska and I have yet to speak with them.

So I can pay $15 a month more on my mortgage so I can get $3.75 more a week in my pay check? Where do I sign up?[:-banghea[:-banghea

This seems like a good time to say thanks to all the folks that keep our little club house clean. Thank you.

..............why? Greg Agita.

I like Ccleaner. It's more like a cold pill than antivirus. You only use it after you've got something rather than the expensive resource hogs slowing down everything you do.

It's new enough for trusses, that explains a lot. How long has the monitoring been going on and are you getting any results?

As long as I'm not handling it, it doesn't matter. Wood, the fuel that warms you thrice.