Scottpat

I belive it is OK. Heck to properly paint a plywood floor you would come close to spending the same amount installing cheap carpet or resilient flooring.

I would say it depends on the AHJ. HUD requires floor covering for a home to meet FHA underwriting requirements. Floor coverings can be vinyl, painted concrete, tile, sealed brick pavers, carpet, and finished wood flooring. Bare plywood or OSB will not fly.

And how did the hardwood fair?

I never see metal in the valley, it is all IWS and then the valley is either woven or cut.

For $2,400 I have to ask; How big is your garage! I would call several TC contractors. Start with the big boys Orkin, Terminix and call some local guys. I had my entire brick home on a slab treated. They drilled treatment holes every 2-3 feet, drilled my 15x18 concrete patio and drilled beside two toilets. It cost me $950. The chemicals are safe as long as the job is done properly. I'm not a big fan of bait stations, but over the years they have made drastic improvements with them. You might also inquire about adding bait stations if the entire home is not treated.

If I recall, the instructions say that the microwave should not be turned on if nothing is in it and the shelf is in place. The mass of an object has a lot to do with how the microwaves react with metallic items. Good time to say; I don't know! [:-dunce]

Helping a homeowner or DIY'er is a great way to promote yourself and the profession. Sure, it can get old but what the heck. Just this year I can track three jobs from DIY'ers who could not solve their problems so they hired me to help them. This has resulted in several additional referrals of their children and friends who were buying homes.

Regardless of what we all (including me) think about radon testing for RE transactions, it is what it is. The EPA or your specific state requirements and information is all we really have to go by. Do I think that long term exposure to high radon levels is bad for ones health? Yep, I sure do.

Or just bear in mind that short-term radon screenings, such as the ones done for real estate transactions, are a complete waste of time and a sham besides. They're designed to make everyone feel better and think that they've determined something about radon levels in the home. They're a panacea. If you're really concerned about the levels of radon in the house, do a long-term test (1 year is a good sample period) and move forward from there. - Jim Katen, Oregon Very true!

Just have the house tested and if it is high, have the owner install a proper mitigation system. If they won't do that then find another home!

Kind of off the topic, but.... I don't know how many of you have been in a Marble Slab Creamery (Ice cream shop). They mix ice cream and other goodies on huge marble slab tables. I asked the owner of the one down the street from us how they keep the ice cream, etc from staining the marble. He said that about once a week they coat the slabs in a thin coat of food grade oil and then they buff it into the marble. Yes, it does darken the marble a little but it also keeps "stuff" from soaking into it. Now, I don't recommend doing this to a shower floor. However it is something to think about.....

Just noticed my post. It is cut and paste!! It was early!!

I'm not a fan of the power vents. I would say that 90% of the time the ones I see have burned out. In the Southern heat they tend to last around 3-5 years and that is if you have a good fan. I'm seeing more ridge vents than anything.

I cut and past the data into a report that I have made in 3D. Nothing fancy, just what was found, if it was high or low and what they need to do next. Then at the bottom I past the hourly test results. I do not use the graph.

Glad to see you changed your price. Now, in 3 months raise them about 20%. Then in another 3 months raise them another 20%! As for your report, all I can say is Wow! The way you assembled it explains why it is so convoluted and difficult to read. Taking bits and pieces of other reports (reports that to start with have horrendous boilerplate) and making a new one is a disaster in the making. I do have a suggestion...... Get a set of standards (ASHI or NAHI) and go line by line comparing it to your report. Right now MO is not a licensed state, but that won't last for long. Your report should follow one of the major association SOP's if your state does not have one.

I have to agree with everyone else. It looks like a great deal of the verbaige is boilerplate that it right out of the box. A good deal of the terminology that is being used really does not sound right and much of it does not make sense. This sentence caught my attention: The gutter drainage line is missing a screen. The screen prevents rodents from nesting or expiring in the lines, thus causing possible backflows and/or unpleasant odors. What report program are you using? On a side note, I glanced at your website!http://www.asmartinspection.com/pricing.htm You are giving your service away! This alone would make me not want to hire you. You are hurting yourself with rates that low. If you break it down to an hourly rate (include taxes, insurance, overhead, etc), you could make more money flipping burgers at the Golden Arches!

The length of time for backing up when you start the service is normal with all of the Internet based backup providers. Once the initial backup is done everything is done behind the scene. I use Carbonite and the original backup I started on a Friday night and it was done by mid afternoon on Sunday. Now I don't even notice when it is backing up the files that are changed.

I had the power supply on my main computer go out two weeks ago. It happened while I was out doing inspections. When I got home I had my surprise! Yes, I backup everything. I use Carbonite and I'm very happy with it. They only thing you have to remember about when you backup your files is that you are only backing up the data and not the program. So to recover your data you have to have those same programs on the new or target computer. It also can take hours to retrieve the data depending on how large the files are. I was able to place the files I needed on one of my other computers until I could get the power supply replaced. So it all worked out, it just took a little longer.

Those tubes are from fire ants. I have seen them many times over the years in the South.. Thank goodness they have not really made their way to my new home in middle TN!

It is to commemorate the birthday of Hans Christian Ørsted http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/bl ... ted-google

Locations for the T-stats all depend on the structure. Not in the kitchen, not in direct sunlight, not on an outside wall, and not in a closed room (unless the unit is for that room). I don't know of any specific location requirements. I see many near the main return, most of the time it is in a hallway.

What's wrong with 14ga wire for a 15 amp circuit? Why say anything if nothing is wrong?

None of the black spots looked fuzzy nor raised. Yes, concrete walls in the bathroom. I have no idea what the spots could be. Hey, that might be a good sentence to use in your report! []

Sure insulating the lines would help, but you still have water in the toilet 24/7.. Really need some type of ventilation in that closed room. Were the black spots "fuzzy" and look like they stood off of the wall a little bit? From the pictures, it looks like mold; but it is concrete correct?

Well it is a typical EIFS mess, but on CMU? The chimney has been patched or repaired in some shape or form. Based on the texture I would say that it is a PM type EIFS system. Really makes little difference at this point. It should be removed and properly reapplied to cover the CMU.