Tom Raymond

No question, the initial expenditure of time is great. After that expense the principles of Moore's Law apply, efficiency and speed nearly double with every report until you reach a practical minimum, the current speed limit for me is my typing. It's been the fastest learning curve I've ever experienced. Clearly I should have used a smiley, without one my metaphor seems a little harsh. Sorry. Tom

My longest report was 18 or 19 pages. Take out the cover, introduction, closing, and two pages with 8 pictures each of electrical and crawl defects (in addition to the pics embedded in my narrative) and you get 13 or 14 pages of commentary on one of the biggest POS's I've done. I'm a cheap basterd. My PC should register this year with Selective Service. I'm not shelling out $500 for new hardware, why would I spend that on software, especially one that runs in Word? I was hoping the others here would stop standing around trying to prove who has the biggest software (no ofense to our sponsor) and see that there is an easier way, and a pretty cheap one at that. Tom

If they were installed in 1987, half of the shingles on that list will be 70% or more through their service lives. Tom

Sure it can. All you need is a jack hammer, a bunch of 5 gallon buckets, and a truck load of illegals to muck it all out. Or you could call Mike Holmes and he'll bring all that stuff for you, but I'm not sure I could put up with a camera crew in my basement[] Tom

Rather than plunking down the entire cost of buying a software package, some companies offer a pay-per-use program. You pay for each report generated. -B Ouch. This might be a stupid question, but here goes... If one is going to completely rewrite the boiler plate why pay for it in the first place? I created a Word doc that consists of a cover page, an intro, and an outline of the items I need to look at broken into sections. My outline serves as my checklist so that I don't miss anything. I open my master doc, save as a new file, then fill in the blanks. At the end of each outline there is blank space to insert pictures and describe the issues in detail. Frequent comments like 'gas water heaters tend to last...' are part of the outline, and I simply delete or edit them if they aren't relevant. I authored my own comments about asbestos siding and lead paint that I cut and paste into the report as needed. Everything else is written on the fly. Tom

EEEEEEK!! That is one scary looking cat. Tom

A bad back is a big trouble. 19 years ago I fell (actually got tossed) off the third rung of a 60' three section extension ladder while trying to set it up. Two guys held it off the wall, the gorilla on the crew had the rope, and being the lightest on the site I was on the ladder trying to get the dogs loose and provide a little momentum so we could extend the first section. It moved, then suddenly jambed and the bottom swung up and pushed me backwards off the ladder. I landed hard on my heals with my knees straight compressing three lumbar disks, and my full tool belt displaced my left sacra-illiac (the fixed joint where the hip meets the spine), rotating it back about 3 degrees and pushing it upward about 1/4". I finished out the day, but the ride home was agony. When I stopped moving around the swelling really kicked in and I was having such bad muscle spasms that I couldn't swing my legs out of my truck. I still have stiffness and discomfort on good days, and at least twice a year end up barely able to walk for a few days. I've gotten very well aquanted with my chiropractor. I don't wear a tool belt, ever, but I do wear a lift belt every time I set up my ladder. Tom

Yeah but tool belt or no, I bet you really impress the clients with those bell bottoms[] Tom

I'm with Marc, that looks way too simple to build for the $300 price tag. I've got a really tight and nasty crawl to test prototypes in, if I can get it to work there it should go just about anywhere. Tom

"It's funny you should mention the idea of starting a truly professional association because there have been some folks kicking that idea around for a couple of years now." Uhm, why not just come up with a more credible reference of qualifications than the stars under our avatars and make TIJ that organization? Hell, the pros are here, the volunteer spirit is here, and the (reluctant?) leadership Randy selected for the coup is here. The only down side I can see; it certainly won't be as fun as storming the ASHI castle. Tom

As long as your in my pocket, don't forget to check if your County has accepted the sales tax exemption on alternative energy projects. Your vendor will usually try to keep that spiff for themselves, but you should get it if you ask for it. Tom

PV is a fool's errand. On a small scale it works just fine, but when you want to power anything bigger than a calculator or charge the battery in your cell phone the complexity of the system compounds the pay back to well beyond the service life of the equipment. Just looking at the fundamental purpose of residential PV systems proves my point: convert the tiniest portion of energy from daylight into electricity and store it in a battery so that we can flip a switch and turn on the lights. It's kinda funny when you think about it. If PV were a practical and scalable solution it would have been advanced as far as the laser has been in the last 50 years. As far as solar thermal working well in the North, one of the largest US manufacturers of solar thermal technology is in Ithica, NY. They have dozens of functional systems in their community form simple thermosyphon DHW systems to car wash water heating systems. Even at this latitude in winter, a system must be fully charged with Heat Transfer Fluid and the controls fully functioning before the collectors can be installed or the HTF will flash to steam and blow up the manifolds. From at or near freezing to steam in a couple of minutes, how's that for collector efficiency? Tom

It appears to be functioning just fine, the smoke chamber is remarkably clean compared to the flue and damper. As long as it is sized correctly why would the 45 degree rotation matter? Tom

This might be a little obvious but, only one receptacle in the circuit is likely reversed. Every receptacle down stream of it would be reverse polarity if they were wired correctly. If all the receptacles were reverse polarity I would blame the electrician, but since some of them are correct I think you have a few receptacles close to the upstream end of the circuits that were replaced and reversed. Tom

The gas stop cover is in a similar place in my driveway, it makes a hell of a racket when it goes through the snowblower or the lawn mower. The tractor tires are soft enough to grip and lift it, and it happens more often than you'd think. Tom

Tell your client to have the builder install full screens on the neighbor's windows when he is there to fix the siding. Charcoal fiberglass screen cloth does a pretty good job of diffusing the light and minimizing the reflection. The builder is gonna push back, but a few screens will be far less costly than replacing that siding every year or two. Manufacturers could alter the placement of the Low E coatings to reduce the effect but that has implications with performance. What really needs to happen to eliminate this phenomenon is to have window manufacturers stop using single strength glass and get away from Intercept spacer systems. Each contribute to the collapsing of the airspace that curves the glass creating the focal point, far less of an issue with more rigid materials. Low E glass isn't going away, and builders won't choose to spend a few extra pennies per unit on there own. Tom

There are hundreds of prefab pans out there specifically for barrier free showers. This is from the installation instructions for a Tile Redi unit: Install the shower backer board and water proofing in accordance with the standards established by the Tile Council of North America, Inc. See the actual instructions and installation video here: http://www.tileredi.com/installation.php The complete design rules can be found at the DOJ website: http://www.ada.gov/ Barrier free is a new enough concept that I can see there not being provisions in the residential code, but there is an entire industry devoted to accessablity and there are very well defined standards and established best practices. Neither the builder or the inspector (AHJ) cared to look. Tom

Oooh, I know! I know! Actually, I didn't know. I had to go look it up. Now that I have the answer, I gotta say that is a really dumb place for the designation. Thank you for the opportunity to learn something. Tom

The sole purpose of the EPA is to propogate silly protocols, just look at the current lead rules. Tom

I might be a little late but, if the whole thing is that jacked up you really need to have a good commercial roofer making those cost guestimates. Simply tell them that it's wrecked and they need to have real estimates to make a truly informed decision. As for the odd construction, that sure sounds like a more modern building than the 70's. There is a Tim Horton's here that has steel stud side walls with a wood frame flat roof about 5 years old, a Dunkin Donuts that is all wood framed about 3 years old, and a Community Bank that is all wood framed with the coping covering that's also about 3 years old. The last was funny to watch them build, it took as long to roof as it did to frame, working around all the fall protection and gaurd rails really slowed them down. DD has structural foam sheathing and synthetic stucco finish and was an insanely fast build. The other two went up fast initially but both have brick veneer exteriors (Timmy's has lots of brick inside as well) that would have made them cheaper and faster to build full masonry. Tom

While this has been great fun, I still don't understand why we need a code cite when it's obvious the disconnect in the OP is in about as appropriate a place as this one: Click to Enlarge 22.56 KB FTR, this picture isn't mine, it was sent to me by the local ASHI Chapter. Apparently it's their latest method to attract members, fill their inboxes with crap. Tom

Yeah but...there won't be any douglas fir in a batch of hem fir here. There are plenty of hemlocks and smaller firs here that will be in the mix, but doug fir has to be shipped here from the West, and as such there is a premium for it above and beyond the premium for hem fir, if you can find it at all. Because your a wordy guy and I thought you'd like to know, I think you might have phloem in your throat. If that's the case just swallow, 'cause it's xylem up and phloem down. Tom

Around here most of the fir we see is Hem Fir. Any Doug Fir is almost always refered to as green, meaning air dried, which would certainly explain the pitch. Lots less prevalent in kiln dried wood. Tom

That humidifier isn't helping things any! Tom

Board up the window, it's awfully close to the roof plane (I'd wager it leaks a bit) and the view looks to be as bad as I imagine it smells. Tom