Scottpat

OK, if you place your hand and a blow dryer into a sink with water it will trip correct?

I met Barry and had lunch with him at Inspection World in 2007 in Las Vegas. I must say that he did not give me the impression of being a journalist. He kind of has the look of Earnest Hemingway or Robert Frost type person, folksy and down to earth. But, his writings are a far cry from them! He looks like a typical nerd home inspector. He has worked in the trades and has the scars and callouses to prove it. Overall, I like Barry as a person and as a conveyor of the truth in our profession. Do I agree with everything he writes? Nope, I do not! But, more often than not he does get the message out that buyers need to hire a professional home inspector to inspect their home.

That's a noble venture. I was wondering why you would be inspecting a place like that. It's gotta be far more rewarding than the McMansions. It is a great program. It is called Y-Build and is part of the YMCA. From what I understand it is a national program.

I think Barry hit the nail square on the head for anyone who is new and trying to establish a home inspector business. It is all about the marketing and getting your name out in front of anyone who might buy a home or to the agents who have the clients. When I relocated to Tennessee a little over 4 years ago I had no business. I did not know anyone in the area, heck I did not even know the names of the outlying towns. It was a struggle as I had not marketed directly to agents in over 6+ years prior to my move. My largest salvation was my website, it did make the phone ring on occasion. This past summer I had to start a little marketing, I actually dropped off business cards and little plastic stadium cups with mints in them (my company name/logo and number are printed on the cups) to various real estate offices around town. All I did was drop off a few cups with the front desk and I moved on. It was only a few days later that my phone started to ring and it was from agents who I had never heard of but they were in the offices I visited. My little marketing helped to get my name out to the agents who had the buyers that needed a home inspection. Did I enjoying going into the RE offices? Not one bit, but you do what you have to do when business is slow. My website is still the major source of calls for me.

Hmm... I wouldn't think they'd let things go like that in a 7000 square foot mansion. Funny you should bring that up.... The sink is in an innercity house that was purchased by a local YMCA. I volunteer with them when they find a house that they want to buy and restore for their low income housing program they have. It was a mess. This picture is from one of the McMansions I did this week. Those are Leland Cypress trees that are planted 1' from the wall (EIFS) of the home. I planted the same type of trees along my back fence line to add some privacy to our backyard. They grow quickly up to about 25' and their limbs spread out about 6' to 8'. Ya think this is going to be a problem! Click to Enlarge 72.91 KB

The picture speaks for itself and pretty much the entire POS at this mornings inspection. Yep, it was winterized alright! Click to Enlarge 51.51 KB

I have found that many of the "free" virus/spyware apps actually install the spyware on your system and then you have to buy their program to remove it. I stay with McAfee even though it is a memory hog and you have to pay for it. But on the other hand I never have any problems.

While heading to my morning inspection I received a call from my clients agent. He said that I might want to go and have a cup of coffee or something because the inspection was going to be delayed. I was just down the road so I drove over only to find a deputy Sheriff sitting in front of the home and the agent was talking to the deputy. Seems that the house was just foreclosed on! The deputy was serving the papers, a group of guys were emptying the house and the locks were being changed! It looked like the folks that lived in the home had already moved everything they wanted to keep. Not much was being put out by the curb. I would like to give the Williamson County, TN Sheriffs Department kudos for being nice and placing a tarp over the items on the curb to keep the light rain off the stuff. I have had a few cancelations over the years but this was a new twist that I have not come across yet! Oh well, I need to go and look for a new winter coat and due some chores around the house.

Very nice! She has a good strong voice and is equally strong on the acoustic getar! []

Thanks Douglas for the information, it is very helpful.

Sorry I did not pay attention to the word horizontal. The 2006 & 2003 say vertical. This is from the 2006 IRC SECTION R308 GLAZING 5. Glazing in doors and enclosures for hot tubs, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms, bathtubs and showers. Glazing in any part of a building wall enclosing these compartments where the bottom exposed edge of the glazing is less than 60 inches (1524 mm) measured vertically above any standing or walking surface. This is from the 2003 IRC R308.4Hazardous locations. 5. Glazing in doors and enclosures for hot tubs,whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms, bathtubs and showers. Glazing in any part of a building wall enclosing these compartments where the bottom exposed edge of the glazing is less than 60 inches (1524 mm) measured vertically above any standing or walking surface.

Its not new, it has been around but I don't know for how long.

Mike, I don't know of one simply because of all of the variations that can or are done on site. I don't think anyone has really made a field guide after Robert Thomas printed his book back in the late 1990's. EIMA has a good paper (book) http://eima.com/pdfs/EIMA%20ORNL%20ExecSum%20Final.pdf

This is the link to the site that Douglas posted the PDF file. http://www.subrogationrecoverylawblog.c ... mark-case/

I'm sure we have all seen low voltage systems in homes that date back to the late 1950's to I guess the mid 1960's. The ones that have the box full of relays and push button switches that you mash on and off. I think I have see a half-dozen or so type systems over my 15+ years inspecting homes. Did those systems have any advantage over a non-low voltage system? Just curious cause I really do not know much about them...

I'm with Les.... You do not pay to be listed on Angie's List, you pay to be a member and find folks to take care of your needs. Maybe they have a special program that I'm not aware of. I had a great comment last week by a client who found me on Angie's List.. I have never paid a cent to Angie's List.

The IRC defaults to the "applicable standard" at the right column of Table 2902.3. The UPC is more helpful. Its analogous table is 6-2. The far right column in that table gives specific heights for each type of backflow prevention device. For atmospheric vacuum breakers and spill-resistant pressure-type vacuum breakers, the distance is 6". For Pressure vacuum breakers, the distance is 12". - Jim Katen, Oregon I knew I had seen 6" somewhere! I guess to be on the safe side just say 12" and be done with it.

True story... My father was in the FBI for 30 years. We lived in Southern CA from 1950's to around 1965. As the story was told to me by my mother; Back around the summer of 1960 they were having a party at our home and had invited several other FBI couples over for a cookout. She said that they were outside and a few of the other agents started to laugh and were pointing into the middle of an Oleander bush. Apparently in the middle of the Oleander a five foot pot plant was growing. My mom said that it had been there a couple of years and they thought that it was just a pretty plant. Apparently the invasive weed disappeared overnight and was never seen again! My dad never did like to tell that story! Apparently the story did get out because when he retired in 1974 some of his fellow agents had a character drawing made and in the background it had a funny looking plant being chopped down by a masked person.

This is what the IRC has to say about it... P2904.17.2 Plastic pipe or tubing to other piping material. Joints between different grades of plastic pipe or between plastic pipe and other piping material shall be made with an approved adapter fitting. Joints between plastic pipe and cast-iron hub pipe shall be made by a caulked joint or a mechanical compression joint.

From the IRC P2902.5.3 Lawn irrigation systems. The potable water supply to lawn irrigation systems shall be protected against backflow by an atmospheric-type vacuum breaker, a pressure- type vacuum breaker or a reduced pressure principle backflow preventer. A valve shall not be installed downstream from an atmospheric vacuum breaker. Where chemicals are introduced into the system, the potablewater supply shall be protected against backflow by a reduced pressure principle backflow preventer. The height for the valve above the system or sprinkler head is not given in the IRC. I guess it defaults to the manufacturer?

Squirrel chew toys!

A year or so ago, Marion Allen Insurance was still offering it for home inspectors but I have no idea about a builder/contractor. http://www.allenins.com/index.html

Another thing to ponder is that the PVC manufacturer most likely does not approve the use of lead to join PVC to anything. I would think that the heat that would be required to melt the lead would make the PVC under the lead brittle. I know that PVC does become brittle when it is exposed to heat, like when folks heat it to make a bend in the pipe.

The vacuum breaker on a lawn irrigation system must be no less than 6" above the highest sprinkler head. Now where that is printed, I do not know.....

Yes! Thank you for the link... It is one of the best resizers I have seen or found.