Scottpat

Yep, that's what I mean. Why multi-family but not single Scott? With multi-family I have found it quicker and most of the time the client just wants to know what they need to expect down the road. All they really care about is deferred maintenance items, or how much money are they going to need to spend in the next year or two... With a single family home I want to spend more time telling my client what is going on with the item and or home.

Do you mean something like: 1. Good.... Hey, this thing is good to go and is working fine. 2. Fair.... Item is working or performing but is old and it might need repairs or replacement soon. 3. Poor.... Needs repair or replacement. I use the Good, Fair and Poor when I do multi-family housing but not on single family homes.

$2.6M is not all that much when you consider that the legal profession and whoever else is going to get a sizable cut (40% + expenses) as well! Divide what is leftover and that is what they will get. I bet they will be lucky to get $50,000 per family. Watch Knauf file for bankruptcy, I'm sure that is in the plans down the road after this settlement is appealed a couple of times.

The ZURN installation book says 6" on a gas water heater and direct connection with an approved fitting on an electric.

Sounds like a promotional piece, full of fluff and more fluff!

This Olk feller has a pretty good point.

So if Modac is not the solution now, what's left for dealing with the water problems that are so ubiquitous in these split-face block buildings? Short of tearing down and rebuilding, that is. A big tent! []

Yesterday I was speaking with a home inspector friend in AZ, Scott Warga about sulfates in the soil attacking concrete. Apparently, sulfates can be found in high concentrations through out the West and in some other parts of the country. AZ has some major problems that are starting to pop up. It can been seen as white crystalline deposits,kind of like what you have in your pictures. Is that what you have? I don't know, but if you look at the base of the concrete foundation wall you can see what looks like moisture is wicking up the wall and efflorescence of salts on the concrete. If this is what it is then you should be able to scratch the concrete off with ease as the sulfates make the concrete soft and to the point of crumbling. CMU blocks just fall apart. This is a link to some good information on this issue: http://www.understanding-cement.com/sulfate.html This is just a idea of what you might have found. What you found looks like it has been caused by water evaporating and leaving a mineral deposit of some type.

Brian is about 200-250 miles from Metairie, he is in Northeast MS. Call my friend Sidney... Sidney J. Chaisson, Jr., P.E.. Chaisson Building Inspection Services, Inc. Baton Rouge, LA 70808 (225) 769-6696 (225) 757-8299. Cell: (225) 413-7560 He might be able to help.

It is a mystery, I'm leaning toward old Native American burial grounds.

It might have a factory setting that will not allow it to go any higher. I don't know for sure on your particular faucet, but if you have the spec sheet for the faucet it should tell you. Anything higher than 125f can cause burns pretty quick on unprotected skin, children and the elderly are especially susceptible.

40 gallons a day is a pretty good size leak, drip or running toilet. Is the tempering valve connected to the hot line before or after the expansion tank?

Does the house have a PRV (pressure reducing valve)? Does the house have a mixing valve at the water heater?

Sounds like a high heat limit control or the anticipator control. Both can cause the unit to short cycle and I would think would be the first things a technician would look for.

In my state (TN) the instructor is not able to get any CE credit for the course they are teaching.

No. House Call USA. Based in Metrairie, near New Orleans. Marc Never heard of them. Looks like they have sold 4 franchises, I would call them more of a local or regional company. They are also touting home foundation level surveys as one of the benifits as well. I think another franchise does that as well, is it Home Pro? It is what it is, I would not worry about them. They are trying to be the one stop shop.

Most of the home inspector warranty programs are not worth the paper they are written on. I think AmeriSpec offers a warranty on their inspections, is this the franchise? Don't worry about the loss of an inspection, it is going to happen regardless if you have a waranty or not. When I'm asked about a warranty I tell the caller that they can take one out through their agent, get the seller to provide one or get one online that will cover the home for a year.

ASHI does have more right than wrong when you look at the options available. Free online eduction is not going to make or break me or make me decide on what association I should join or not join. The day I can't afford to pay for education is the day I will be working at the local Burger King. Now, it would be nice if we had some sessions that were pre-approved with the various states so that a person that is not near a chapter or even a chapter could make use of them if they wanted. I agree that some of the past leaders in ASHI have taken the wrong direction a few too many times, but then all you have to do is to look around in the profession at what options a person have if they want to be affiliated with a professional organization and the choice is pretty clear. A good number of the issues revolve around the constantly changing folks that we call our leaders. Every year we change the Pres and several more of the folks that lead the org. What plans were in the works are forgotten and new ones are put into play. The ED and his staff should be the ones who are spearheading the eduction program, they should be the ones who moves it from point A to Z to be sure it is accomplished. It can't be done by volunteers who talk on the phone and meet 4 times a year. As for the survey, I was told that it was done by the task group that is researching the chapter model that ASHI has in place. My membership is still worth the price of admission. Just this past week I completed one gig that come from the ASHI site and booked another for next week that came from the ASHI site.

Well, I'm down two notches on my belt and almost a full pant size. My scales broke a few weeks ago, I kind of like this belt notch method of weighing in!

Return air must come from the living area. The following is for supply air and it needs to meet the following, underline is mine: M1601.4 Under-floor plenums. An under-floor space used as a supply plenum shall conform to the requirements of this section. Fuel gas lines and plumbing waste cleanouts shall not be located within the space. M1601.4.1 General. The space shall be cleaned of loose combustible materials and scrap, and shall be tightly enclosed. The ground surface of the space shall be covered with a moisture barrier having a minimum thickness of 4 mils (0.1 mm). M1601.4.2 Materials. The under-floor space, including the sidewall insulation, shall be formed by materials having flame-spread ratings not greater than 200 when tested in accordance with ASTM E 84. M1601.4.3 Furnace connections.Aduct shall extend from the furnace supply outlet to not less than 6 inches (152 mm) belowthe combustible framing. This duct shall comply with the provisions of Section M1601.1. A noncombustible receptacle shall be installed below any floor opening into the plenum in accordance with the following requirements: 1. The receptacle shall be securely suspended from the floor members and shall not be more than 18 inches (457 mm) below the floor opening. 2. The area of the receptacle shall extend 3 inches (76 mm) beyond the opening on all sides. 3. The perimeter of the receptacle shall have a vertical lip at least 1 inch (25 mm) high at the open sides. M1601.4.4 Access. Access to an under-floor plenum shall be provided through an opening in the floor with minimum dimensions of 18 inches by 24 inches (457mmby 610 mm). M1601.4.5 Furnace controls. The furnace shall be equipped with an automatic control that will start the air-circulating fan when the air in the furnace bonnet reaches a temperature not higher than 150°F (66°C). The furnace shall additionally be equipped with an approved automatic control that limits the outlet air temperature to 200°F-90C

Les, I'm with you. It was a silly survey with loaded answers. I don't think I used any of the canned answers and I commented on every single question. I love how they asked the same question a couple of different ways. I wonder who really authored the survey and who's idea it was?

Are you saying that they did not use any ductwork? Or are they using the joist bays for return air? It could be condensation or groundwater, either way you really do not water standing in the crawl. What covers the ground; dirt, gravel/rock/ concrete?

Your pictures show a good amount of compression cracking and also what looks like movement of the flatwork or the foundation of the home! I don't see any isolation joints, expansion joints or sealants and backer rod around any of the penetrations. The rain gutters are attached improperly to the EIFS wall. The base of the walls are not back-wrapped properly or at all. OK, the above list should be enough to get the ball rolling. Add, that they need to have a qualified EIFS contractor make the appropriate repairs and corrections to the manufacturers guidelines and standards. Repairs and corrections like this can and will involved removal of sections of the EIFS in order to make repairs to any underlying or hidden damage to the structure. This should be about you need to add to your report. Note: Whenever you see cracks around the sillplate or around this area, you need to look for rot. Many times water can seep in and rot the sillplate and this can cause the structure to settle and this is seen in the way of the compression cracks, like you have in the photos. Compression cracks can also be caused by the lack of a proper installation of the EIFS on a home, most often this is seen with a multi level home.

I dunno. According to the news, there're a lot of creeks rising back east right now and they're seeing weather they haven't seen, or been prepared for, in decades. Talked to my mother by phone yesterday. She lives in Florida these days. She's been there about 5 years and was complaining about all the rain they've had this year, as opposed to last year when they had a drought. She's spent the last 80 years living on the right side - Massachusetts, New York, Virginia, and now Florida with a few years detour down in Dallas and then up in Edmonton. She said, "My God, In my whole life I haven't seen so much rain day after day after day since I was last out there in Seattle." (hee, hee) S'funny how one can get used to things like a little bit of rain when it's with you months on end. If this is just a naturally-occurring cycle, folks better stop whining and prepare to deal with it until it passes. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike So true.. I recall my father telling my brother and I how he had to walk five mile to and from school in a foot or more of snow back in the early 1930's. Yep, climate change must be happening, but wait he grew up in South central Mississippi! Folks tend to forget and embellish a bit as time goes on.

Great conversation going on, but all I really know about K&T is that it is old and as said by a few others on this thread it is old... When I discover a home with K&T, in addition to telling my client that it should be replaced I also tell my client that many insurance providers will not issue a new policy on a home with K&T. Heck, most have heartburn when a home as any electrical that is over 40 years of age.