Scottpat

It looks like plumbing from the Titanic!

Brian, I have cable HS access and Direct TV satellite. I almost went all satellite, but I had the cable already in the house and I would have needed to buy the special satellite dish for HS uplink. DSL does slow down depending on how far you are from the switching station and as more get online. Cable also slows down they say as more get on line. From what I have seen satellite is the way to go, if you don't mind paying the extra cost of it.

Bump

It looks like an old tin roof. The nails with no heads sound like hand made nails. If it is a tin roof it can last upwards of 100 years or longer if it has been taken care of. The majority of the ones I have seen have not been taken care of. They need to be painted. They are nailed to the the roof decking (spaced slats), no felt and most of the time you will find the copper wire as you mentioned.

As I do EIFS inspections I have several moisture meters. Tramex: Wet Wall Detector & Moisture Encounter. Delmhorst: J-5. and a Protimeter SM. The most sensitive and deepest reading non-invasive is th Tramex Moisture Encounter, I have had it give good readings at around 1 3/4 inches in depth. The Protimeter is neat and works good on tile and in bathrooms. It is the only one I have seen that can read moisture under a ceramic tile with the tile being wet on top! My wife has put me on Moisture Meter Probation

I use one at almost every inspection. You ask why? Well besides the enjoyment of pain I receive when I impale myself with the two needle sharp probes, I have found that if I use the non-invasive type I can find moisture around many toilets that you really can't see. Any time I have an area in question I report it in my report that the MM either found moisture or it did not. If it is a stain on roof decking I want to know if it is dry or not. Moisture meters have saved my tail many times. I love my Tramex Moisture Encounter. I use it all of the time around windows and baseboards and find moisture problems with it.

I am just curious and as we say down in the South "I don't have a dog in this hunt", but just how many times can you keep delaying the date for the license law? After six months, you will have somebody else whining that they didn't have enough time and so on. I might have the dates and times wrong , but hasn't this law been delayed a couple of times already. What about those that have already become licensed and have paid the required fees, will they get a refund, while everyone else gets a free ride? The 250 "indentured servitude" inspections are ridiculous as is the 300 hours(or whatever it is) of education from select providers. NJ (along with PA)has become the national example of what not to do with home inspector licensing. B

This was on a six story office building with several roof levels. The client wanted it. I used a commercial roofing contractor who found this person for me. He was out of Birmingham, Alabama. His fee was $1,700 for about 4 hours of work. This fee also included his expenses (lodging, travel,etc.).

We have a young lady in my area who bought into this franchise this past year. She is new to the profession and she was sold on the technology and she also had the money to spend. I think that it cost her around $20,000 for the usage of the equipment and the franchise and she pays a royalty fee for each inspection. The kicker is I was told that she does not own the equipment. She does a normal home inspection for the basic fee of let's say $300 she then offers the "Supper" inspection with the IR camera for $300 extra and the Termite inspection for another $100. I have no idea how it is going for her. I just don't see the normal home buyer paying double or extra for the IR Inspection in my area over a normal home inspection. From what I have been told the IR camera is only as good as the software that reads the image and that is only as good as the person reading the results. I think that these will go the same direction as the XRF Analyzers. It is hard to beat education, training, knowledge, experience and many times gut instinct. The problem I see in using high tech equipment like this is that it is giving the impression that you are the "Expert" and that you have advertised and used equipment that is designed to find the smallest problem by looking into the walls. I really don't want to be an expert in anything; knowledgeable yes, expert no. For commercial applications the IR camera is a great tool just as Douglas said, I have used them on large EPDM and Built-up roofs to locate moisture problems(we leased the camera and person).

1. Electric screwdriver 2. Positronic Flux Capacitor I know I am incorrigible.

Hi Chip, Just a little curious. What area are you from? Have you had any formal training, or are you learning as you go? I am not trying to belittle you at all, please understand that. The question you have asked would have been covered in most training schools.

I don't think I have used it in over a year.

ME is nothing more than a fancy Windows 98. Get XP.

A good moisture meter would be a start. Tramex has a good non-invasive meter, the Moisture Encounter will detect moisture at a depth of about 1-2 inches, perfect for a stud cavity.

On another forum it has been discussed that NM cable (Romex) is not allowed for the connection of a kitchen disposal. Every single home that I have inspected has been connected with NM cable. Some I have noted, that the NM cable is in an area that it could be subject to damage, but I have never said that NM cable can not be used for the connection of the disposal. Should I be reporting that NM cable should not be used? HELP!

Goop all exposed nails. I agree that flashing should not have any nails, but at times they may be needed if the flashing was not done correctly in the first place! Catch 22 of roofing. Member:ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors)

If you have a Granger's (or another national electrical supplier) near you give them a try, I bought my ST from the local store a few years ago.

I paid my extra dues at InspectionWorld. It is not optional. Those that have paid will remain on the Find-A-Inspector search on the ASHI site and will have use of the new tools. Those that do not pay will not be listed on the search feature or have use of the new tools. I would pay the increase and give it another year to see if it is working for you. I am committing to the ASHI Experience for the long haul. The way I look at is that it can't hurt anything for me to participate it can only help my business. $250 is cheap for what we are getting in return, I know that $250 is a lot of money for most but I am looking at it as an advertising/marketing expense.

Hard to tell from the pictures, but it does not look all that bad. Stucco is going to crack it is just the nature of the beast. On new construction you will also have some shrinkage of the wood framing, and on a second floor you could even have compression cracks develop. If the material does not look like it is breaking or pulling away from the structure and the cracks are relatively small, a good plaster contractor can make the proper repairs.

You need to pound the pavement! Get out and visit the RE offices. The key is to get past the "Gate Keeper" at the front door. I simply ask if I can place some cards in the agents mail box's. This is subtle and not threating to anyone. If you can see an agent face to face this is even better. Ask for them give your name out. You have to ask for the business.

Anderson or Marvin windows. Pella are very difficult to repair when they need it and they will need it as they are wood window!

What's a drip edge? [:-banghead]

Dennis, I thought that you could convert Ami Pro into a Word document. Another thought is converting it into a Rich Text document and then converting that into Word. I have no idea if it would work.

Over the past few years I have done many multi family units, from a 260 unit apartment complex with pools to duplex's and I price them based on the amount of time I think that I will have in the project. I know how much I want to make per hour/day, I establish what my client wants and then I price it out accordingly. I always issue a written report with photo's and if it is an apartment complex I have designed a matrix that gives the condition of each unit. With an apartment complex you will be spending about five minutes in each unit, if that. They will all be similar floor plans and you can really move fast if you have a partner. Multi unit inspections are a whole lot simpler than single family homes, it just takes a different mindset when you are doing them. We had a great session on this at InspectionWorld this year.

The Flash Drives are neat little things, I use one every now and then to move stuff from my laptop to my main computer. I just purchased a 256MB for $49 at Best Buy. I also have a Maxtor and they are great.