Jeff Remas

You got that right Bill. BTW, did you get my email with the attached file?

Can some of you out there do a "bug dance" so we have more carpenter ants, termites, etc this year? Just like a rain dance but with a twist.

Thanks Jim, I am hoping I can nail down a specific year.

Does anyone have a timeline on the use of white PVC for use in wastewater systems? I am trying to find out when schedule 20 white PVC for first used. Thanks

"joining a professional H I org" Just based on that one word "professional", you are now down to two choices.

I have wired plenty of shared neutral circuits but always on a commercial or industrial job. They are great circuits. However, I am not a fan of running shared neutrals in residential homes, never have and never will. Give me metal conduit and separate conductors and I am happy. Although this is my opinion on shared neutrals, it is not the law and I see it done in residential once in awhile.

Termidor is the way to go

Drop tubes are often lighter in color than the utility tubes because they contain more of the wood fiber taken from the structure. Don't forget they part of what they are using is their own feces for tube construction. Subterranean Termites know they will die without moisture and most colonies are in the ground and only travel to the wood and back again. They may not give up but they may have already died from lack of moisture, found an alternative route back to ground or they are not done yet.

These are called drop tubes and they are going down towards the ground in search of moisture. Common

Subterranean termites cannot make a mud tube around the metal if it is correctly bent.

If the sub panel is in a separate structure such as a garage they must have a separate grounding electrode/source. If someone wants to tie in another inside the same structure it is acceptable as long as the rest of the wiring is correctly installed for a sub panel.

Nice front porch slab pour http://remasinspections.com/images/P2162115.jpg

Sun Nuclear sells them each and every day. They came out with a new model with some variations but did not release them to the public yet. I took a look at two of the models at InspectionWorld in Ft Lauderdale and I was impressed. Call them and maybe they are releasing the 1027's at a better price. You can negotiate yah know.

The link is no good, please re post and email me if you can

Thanks for the info

Good call. That agent needs to find another line of work. It's never a problem according to the realtor, is it?

No proctoring, no credibility, simple

My opinion: Pigtails are not a problem. A great method is to add a junction box or tray for those connections but not required. Spliced grounding wire, WRONG As far as GFCI protection I don't call it out as a defect but I do recommend it for safety enhancement as the home was built prior to that requirement. Sounds like the electrician is under the listing agent's thumb. A good electrician will take the time to recommend the GFCI upgrade for safety to the seller. The only guys that walk away from business are those that are keeping the realtors happy.

I don't think anyone is trying to discourage you, we are looking at the reality of the situation and the fact that we are less likely to change software once we are established so you do have to market towards the newby or those who are shopping when it is time to upgrade versions of their existing software. They have been building better mousetraps since the first day they were invented and more companies make them each year. It is was drives the marketplace. I think you will start to see a decline in the number of inspectors as the real estate market cools off anyway. Good luck in your endeavor.

After coming back from Inspection World in Ft. Lauderdale I have come to realize that there are more than enough inspection software companies out there to confuse and overwhelm us. It seems as though each week another one pops up and offers something another does not, each looking for their own niche. I welcome this if it will promote competition which will "up the ante" for each existing company to constantly try to improve their existing software. Something that we will all benefit from. As long as each company keeps the format so that if complies with the SOPs then more power to them.

I think this one calls for the service provider and the qualified, licensed electrician. From what we can see it looks as though there is only one lead from the service entrance cable that goes into the newer/larger mast head which is not making any sense. It looks like the ends are cut off of the other cables and taped. Someone is using some pretty dangerous methods to steal electricity, look at all the white wires that are tied into the ground crimp from the service. This is one great mess, I wish you had more pictures or at least a wider view.

What will they call the newly formed construction company?

A Great Electrical Find. There I was, inspecting a contemporary house built in 1960. It was one heck of a house built into the mountain near a ski lodge. It had a walk out basement on a slope with a one story house above and a flat roof to boot. The air was cold that morning, colder than the windy beach at night in southern Florida during a President’s Gala. The ice in the driveway forced me to use the four wheel drive to make it up the windy way. The view was spectacular, over the mountains, out into the valley we could see for more than 20 miles. My inspector trainee was with me that morning. He is a soft spoken gentleman in his mid to late fifties, with gray hair and a goatee that matches. He always wears a hat to cover his male pattern baldness. Baldness from years of thinking and stress in his all American life. OK, never mind, let me get to the juicy details of the technical problem at hand. Here we go. The main panel was a 200amp older GE panel with a double handled fuse block with breakers below located on the main level in the dining room. The wall it was against was now an interior partition wall but was once an exterior wall prior to the addition. The sub panel was located in the basement inside a large utility room that housed the well pressure tank, furnace and sewage lift pump. The service mast was located about twenty feet from the house on a pole that housed the meter base and fed into the structure underground. I had my trusty trainee pull the cover off of the main panel. Let’s call him Greg. When we looked inside we immediately noticed that there were several double taps on non-rated breakers and the bonding screw was properly installed in the buss bar that connected both the neutrals and grounds. There were two 4/0 copper service cables that fed the main bus from the bottom of the fuse block. So far we found a minor defect with the double taps, otherwise normal conditions for this age panel. The panel was rated for 200amps but was also labeled for less by reducing the number of allowable circuits to 36. We noticed the circuits were maximized, not to mention the double taps. This is where it gets interesting. When I looked at the top of the fuse block to see what was feeding the panel I noticed that it was only fed by a 4-awg stranded aluminum SEcable. What? Was I seeing right? Turns out I was, no mirage there. I turned off every single breaker in this main panel (OK, no comments. I have extensive electrical experience and if I want to exceed the SOP then let me be) and noticed that the furnace still continued to run. How could the furnace run when every single breaker was turned off in the main panel? I had “Gregâ€

This law is a total cluster and watered down to keep us from becoming a profession. We are still an industry in NJ. Since I work on the border, I am still waiting for the dust to settle before applying. Yeah, other states, please take note of this complete cluster.

The problem with the HI Orgs is that they all have different requirements and it is always whose requirements are the best. I think all organizations have a purpose, some are just not up to par with the industry. If NACHI would require a proctored exam and tighten up their roles (we know many should not even be listed) along with dumping Nick (never happen) they have a chance to gain respect in the industry. Until then, they will always find themselves on the defense no matter what kind of spin happy inflated numbers they claim.