Scottpat

One misnomer is adding a fan in a crawlspace to blow air out of it. You really do not want to do this for a couple reasons. 1. You will be blowing air out but in turn you will also be sucking in warmer and possibly even more humid air. You have just compounded the problem with the fan. 2. You can actually depressurize the home. Another problem all in it's self.

Any more information on that case? City, etc..?? That is one of the highest if not the highest against a home inspector. I would love to read more about it.

We never see anything but foam pads on concrete slab homes. Last time I saw the "hair" pad you are talking about was on a 1960's home that had the original carpet! I don't think I have even seen anything but foam pads in the flooring stores. My understanding is that the foam carpet pads that are used have a breathability factor and allow vapor to move through. As for the wet slab?? Water standing along the side of the foundation is not a good thing. It could be that a channel has been cut in the ground by the water and it is being funneled to the center of the slab, I have seen this before. With a 30 year old building water is just not suddenly going to start seeping up from the ground in the middle of the building unless something has suddenly changed to cause it. That is if it has no prior history of water problems.

Oh, and have a nice weekend! []

I guess it wouldn't be that great but I really like to sit in a hot tub and relax after working out. I'd be using it mostly at night between 12am and 4am. Another option I was thinking about was replacing the tub in the master bedroom and putting in a tub that has jets. Now you are thinking! This would be the better of the two options and you would enjoy it more.

This is one of the best examples of blown lintels. Several of the homes on the street looked exactly the same. Click to Enlarge 88.27 KB The next door neighbors home Click to Enlarge 76.69 KB

I just call them stucco finish panels. A few companies made them, as Mike pointed out Weyerhaeuser made one as well. It is basically MDF with an embossed texture and the it is covered with a thick plaster like paint. It has the same problems as MDF siding.

Slowed to a crawl here as well. Last week I had 9 small homes, this week I have 2 big monsters! Granted those two are both over 7,000sf so my billings for the week are still pretty good.

No, I don't have a cite. But, I bet it would fall under the parts about the duct fire blocking, ASTM C 411(has to do with flame spread and how hot things can get before they start to smoke), ASTM E 84 (flame spread) and a few other items...

Tom, those links are not working....

Nope! Nothing but air should be in that return.

I don't really understand the first part of your post, but I did get a call today from a person who has Hardiplank siding and it is having finish problems as well. Hardi thinks that it is a primer problem with the batch of the Hardiplank. You might want to contact the manufacturer.....

FRT or flame resistant plywood. http://www.inspectapedia.com/structure/FRTplywood.htm

What does the city say about the clearances you are stating in this thread? Since the city (AHJ) will have the final say in the matter, that is really who needs to tell you Yea or Nae on the clearance. One reason for that height clearance is because of the pool cleaning equipment and long poles.

It does not look like FRT plywood (most of what I see has a very dark color to it), but it looks like a chemical leaching out of the wood.

I just put in a bid for a 177 unit condo complex reserve study and complex inspection. Everything from an elevator contractor to an engineer that specializes in parking garages was included in my bid (This is what the Board wanted in the way of special inspections). If it goes through we will be on site for about 2 full days and this will be with 8 folks at the project doing their thing. In addition to the two folks above, we will also have a commercial HVAC/mechanical contractor as this complex has a central system. The bid for this ended up being in the low teens and that even included a special GL insurance policy that the complex requires just for this job. I have no idea if I will get the contract, I was told that my bid is in the middle. It's one of those things that you kind of wish it won't happen in the back of your mind! []

No clue. But it looks like you are not a happy camper with your builder!

What Marc said, shut off your humidifier for a while. Most folks really over humidify their homes. The next thing that comes with that type of moisture is mold growth. Yep, I have seen more problems caused by humidifiers than good. If you really want an efficient way to add humidity to the air get a 20-30 gallon fresh water aquarium. They work great at adding extra moisture to the air of a home! Best of all, they don't grow mold!

Well, they are not steel but how about some wood lintels, on new construction! Click to Enlarge 30.43 KB And then we have a glulam that was cut in half used as a quasi lintel/header/sill plate. Click to Enlarge 52.21 KB View of what that glulam is holding up! Click to Enlarge 64.43 KB

Well, in my 16 years of home inspecting I have never had the need to measure such a thing. Now as an energy rater I could possibly see the use for one.

I would and do report that it is good building practice to install diverter or kickout flashing. While it might not be covered under any installation guidelines or codes, anyone who knows how to properly construct a home would make sure that the proper flashing is present. This is pretty much what I say when confronted with what you are facing.

Try this site http://www.iaqa.org/member_listings/members_new.asp They seem to have some folks that know what they are doing that belong to their organization.

I'm trying to ID the backer board that has been used as an underlayment for an exterior tile installation on a covered deck. The little round balls are Styrofoam (foam) balls embedded into the cementitious backer board. Anyone have any ideas? Click to Enlarge 31.39 KB

In a couple of hours I will be doing a "walk and talk" inspection for a homeowner that has a few problems with his home. He does not know what he needs to do, his builder has been no help, etc, etc, etc... So the plan is for me to go and take a look at his home. I told him that it will be my normal hourly rate ($175) and if he wants a report written that will be most likely be an additional hour at the same rate. Granted this is more of a specialized inspection but it still falls under what I would call a non conforming inspection in regards to SOP's and license laws.

We must have been looking at the same house! Click to Enlarge 38.46 KB