Tom Raymond

I thought the elected official was the public member[:-dev3]

His seminars are worth far more than the price of admission. If you ever get the chance to go to one, don't miss it.

Their water bill is going up in very small increments.

In light of that deficiency you should be recommending a nice English Stilton. Maybe then they'll get it.

I use Chrome and didn't have any issues with the video functionality, but don't let that stop you from checking out browser compatibility. Prune the text. Not only is there a lot of it, but it's redundant. In the side bar, the dude on the phone should be you. If it is you, you should be in your inspector uniform rather than a suit. Here, you refer to yourself in the singular, yet you're plural on your website. If it's just you, loose all the "we, us, our" stuff and just be you. Picking nits, but...it's 'Price Calculator' on the buttons at the top of the page and 'Pricelist' in the navigation links at the bottom. I half expected different pages. Fix the navi link, don't post a price list. On the topic, how accurate is your calculator? It could be a point of contention if it isn't. I entered the SF of my house and found a relatively low fee. Then being more truthful, I adjusted for age, an outbuilding and a pool and the fee nearly doubled. User error or not, you could be calculating unreasonable expectations.

Jim, it's under the footing. If it isn't at sufficient depth to protect it from freezing, he's got way bigger fish to fry.

I think you should try TapInspect for Iphone. Not really, but I couldn't resist. Trial versions are going to take time to wade through, but if you want a good fit your going to need to try it on. I'd start with Kurt's suggestions, then the others, and try Dirks' template last-rolling your own isn't bad, but it ain't for everyone. Good luck. Gary, quit bucking, ducking, trucking around with the spell checker.

Insulation on the exterior wall and ceiling needs a vapor barrier. As for what kind and where to place it, I have no idea what is customary in Cali. Insulation on interior walls is for sound control and should not have a vapor barrier at all. I think I'd want to incorporate some kind of isolation membrane into that tile floor regardless of whether you add plywood or not. Think Kerdi or Schluter.

The bucket was relocated for the inspection.[:-dev3]

It's peel and seal. http://www.cofair.com/peel_seal.aspx

It's stupid, not wrong. A more conventional ridge vent would have done the same thing and looked way better.

So the leak is the result of a weaker mechanical connection, that makes perfect sense. With modern solder alloys melting anywhere between 244 and 530 F, it clearly shouldn't have been soldered anyways. I rarely see copper gas lines here.

I still don't get why anyone would want to build a house that looks like Walmart? Bleck!

Why would that be, especially at the low pressures of gas?

We didn't survive, we thrived. If there were no mold there'd be no bread or beer. Without either of these there'd be no civilization. We would be a species of a few hundred thousand hunter-gatherers surrounded by mountains of waste. Mold is your friend, just don't invite it to live in your house.

I nicked this handy chart off the internet, but can't remember where from. Download Attachment: AWG gauge table.pdf 65.36 KB

You forgot the CEOs of the Health Insurance companies. John Gotti is doing life, yet he stole far less than they have.

Wayne Dalton is in the business of over-simplifying overhead door components to the point that they are disposable rather than serviceable. They simply don't work over the long haul. At least that's my experience. I haven't seen any commercial style pneumatic edge doors in residential use. I'll have to check out the LM 3800. The NY rule is to prevent OHD techs from repairing, or reconnecting to replacement doors, old openers that do not have current safety systems built in. Technology always outpaces the law.

In NY is is illegal to service an opener that doesn't have safety eyes, so I won't even operate it if there are no eyes and just recommend a replacement. If it does have eyes, I ask someone to push the wall button while I break the beam. That's it. It doesn't really matter though because no one ever thinks to take care of the rest of the door. The springs, rollers, and hinges all need periodic lubrication, at least every 6 months, or something is going to break. Almost every door I see is way over due for a tune up.

I hope your getting paid by the hour.

I hope the judge has a sense of humor and sentences him to 9 years of crawl space inspections.

Steve, I don't dislike spray foam, but there are limits to what can be done with two part insulation in retrofits. It is exceedingly difficult to apply it properly in confined spaces and partially gutted rooms. If it's not applied properly, you can't expect it to live up to it's performance potential. If Mark is going to gut the whole house (inside or out) spray foam is a very viable option, if not it should be limited to spot treatments for air sealing. It's prohibitively expensive and potentially problematic otherwise.

[:-banghea On second thought, that's probably a bad idea.

Look at your first pic again. You can clearly see in the mortar that the siding was there before the chimney. It's tipping over, and will continue to move until it's strapped to the wall or is laying on the ground. I'd tell 'em to fix it sooner rather than later. BTW, the fiber in those shingles is asbestos, and they are likely original. http://www.customtileroofing.com/Tiles- ... llery4.asp

Why? What mechanism are you proposing that might make this problematic? The author of the JLC article seems to think it's a great idea. You are proposing creating an environment with a volatile RH in a confined space, and in a potential rental property no less where the standard of care is questionable. I propose a little experiment to see what would happen without an automated means of moisture control: remove the contents of your fridge, unplug it, then promptly close the door. By this time Friday, that inside of that fridge will be a furry moldy mess. It will undoubtedly take longer in the bathroom in question, but it will happen. Vapor drive and frequent periods of high RH will seek out any imperfections in the foam shell and concentrate there. If the whole building envelope is foamed there will be far more volume to stabilize the RH and lessen the effect.