Steven Hockstein

Great marketing plan. Hate to think this way but there are too many lawyers in NJ.. Do you require the owner sign any type of inspection agreement? Is this maintenance inspection covered under your standard home inspector insurance policy or do you need some additional riders?

You need to experiment with the mortar and pigments to get it to match. Unfortunately, it typically takes time for the grout to cure and become the real color. If you are going to err, I feel it is better to go a little darker.

Many of the lawmakers do not have the correct advice and knowledge about the professions for which they are proposing regulations . Many of the requirements are silly and don't make sense. More importantly, the Licensed Professionals have to follow the rules while the people that are actually misrepresenting themselves and practicing illegally are not being stopped. What else is new?!?! As far as the energy evaluation as part of the Home Inspection process, I can only imagine how this will be implemented and enforced. I think it is a mistake to REQUIRE this. If someone wants an energy audit they should have the OPTION to hire someone to do this as an added service. The end result is that the overall cost of a home inspection will be higher and the people that can least afford not to hsve the inspection because they are buying "Fixer-Uppers" will be less able to afford the higher cost of a home inspection and possibly choose not to have one. Of course there will be the inspectors that don't understand that they have to charge more for the added liability, work effort, increased insurance rates, and additional education costs . They will include the "Energy Inspection" without raising their fees and basically take a cut in their income without even knowing it. I am almost ready to throw in the towel.

I heard that NJ passed a new amendment to the law that will require some type of energy inspection or report as part of the home inspection. There was discussion of some amendments. Anyone know about the details?

Many questions come to mind... How old is the house? What was the contractor hired to do? Does the town require an insulation inspection as part of the building process? Are there leaks because of the ice? I agree with Mike. If you are not a qualified expert about what are the causes, their expert and attorney will rip you a new one. If you can confidently be her expert and want to be properly compensated, have her sign a retainer agreement with a schedule of fees for your time. They can't make you be a witness for a "Small witness fee" if you are her expert.

I have never seen this. Is this a regional problem? Can you let us know when and where this article is published?

Is this in a conditioned space? If it is, where is the insulation? If not, is there any ventilation? If it is recent construction, there have been issues with corrosion on sill anchor bolts and straps because the chemicals used to treat wood react with them (I assume that is where Chad was going with his question). If this is the cause, recommend replacement. However, it does not explain the corroded rod. PS-This is also a problem with exterior deck construction that needs to be considered when specifying and inspecting fasteners in new exterior wood deck construction.

Chad-call me at my office 973-258-0800. I will give you a few names of experts that may be able to help.

For those of you that know Pat Porzio. He had heart surgery two weeks ago and is recovering well. Just thought I should let his old friends know in case they want to send him well wishes. I am sure he would appreciate it.

Tom Lectured at a few ASHI seminars I attended. He is definitely someone you want on your side in a legal case. He knew the answers to every question and did not have to look them up!

The wall needs to be a 1-hour rated assembly with a minimum 1/2" drywall, on the garage side. Drywall is only part of the requirement. Check out IRC R309

Fasteners "Bleeding" onto the hangers?

Have not posted about NJ-ALPHI in a while but just wanted to remind Inspectors in the NJ area that NJ-ALPHI is going strong. The Board lowered the annual membership dues because the operating costs have been kept as low as possible and the number of members has skyrocketed (I am guessing well over 300). If you attend all of the NJ-ALPHI regular meetings, you should have enough education credits to meet your CEU requirements for your Home Inspector License. There is a full day Radon seminar being offered next month (to obtain your Radon Testing required CEU's). There is also going to be a seminar sponsered by the Fuel Merchants Assocation in the Spring that will be Free for Members. The contact info and meeting schedule should be posted on the Website.

If you separate the panel with a partition and provide access to the panel that is not through the bathroom can you meet the clearance requirements to access the panel? It looks pretty tight to me but can't tell from the angle of the photo. Sometimes I see this type of setup in old houses but not in modern houses unless the homeowner did it without permits. Make sure that they did not use the cleanout access to connect the toilet and sink.

Don't get me wrong, It is better to enlarge the windows if possible. Improving safety is always good. I agree with the way Darren handles this issue.

I think your assumption is incorrect. It is onerous on homeowners to require them to increase window sizes to modern egress dimensions if they are installing replacement windows in existing openings for the purpose of saving energy as long as they don't make the egress conditions any worse. In NJ, we have a Rehab section of the NJUCC that allows owners to do rehab work in old buildings without bringing everything up to current code conditions. For example, the code allows us to replace windows as long as the existing non-conforming conditions are not made any worse by the work. The rational is that if everyone was required to upgrade to current code when doing work such as window replacement, the cost of doing this work would be significantly increased and many people would opt not do it. The end result would be a detriment because energy would be wasted. So what is worse, keeping the window size and saving energy, or leaving old windows (the same size)and wasting energy?

I'm curious, would a sliding door still have the same requirement?? Jim no

It looks like Pecky Cypress Paneling-- www.floridacypress.com/About%20Cypress.htm

www.epa.gov/lead/

I report: "The ________ has outlasted its expected useful life and the costs associated with replacement and/or failure should be anticipated in the near future. There is no way to predict exactly when this will happen within the scope of this home inspection." I don't know much about the insurance programs that can be purchased to cover the systems in the house, but the real estate agents often discuss this option. When this conversation begins, I tell my clients to consult with their insurance agent because I am not an insurance expert. Additionally, in conversations during the inspection, I talk about the advantages of preventing damages associated with system failures, energy cost savings potential if the system is upgraded, etc.. The reality is, like most of us, when you own a home, you prioritize the to-do list and go down the list until you run out of money. When you get more money (hopefully), you continue on. The list always seems to change and get longer. The whole time you are crossing your fingers that things don't happen out of order but they almost always do.

A few years ago I was asked to inspect an abandoned house that was owned by a bank in a rough neighborhood. I refused to do the inspection because the area was known for squatters, drug dealing, murders, etc. The bank arranged for an off-duty cop to meet me and accompany me during the inspection. I agreed to do the inspection. His cop friends were also aware of the arrangement and made sure that they were seen patrolling the neighborhood at that time as well. I felt like I was on an episode of Cops!! FYI, very few people can legally carry a concealled weapon in NJ. You have to have special circumstances to get a license to carry and home inspection is not one of them!

Let me know if you got my PM, otherwise Email me at my website listed on my profile.

I spoke to a friend of mine that wrote a manual on how be an expert witness. He sells it for around $25. If you want to contact him, send me a PM and I will provide you with his info. In general, my experience is that if you qualify as an expert, it pays better than home inspecting. I was recently told that a decent lawyer in NYC is billing $750-$1000 an hour. Well known "Name" lawyers are billing up to $2500 an hour. Litigation pays well!!

Around here it does not matter what you write because nobody would read the instructions because they already know how to do it wrong!

Check out this company. They may be able to help you or answer your question(s). Here is a link to their website: http://www.noleak.com/about.html