Steven Hockstein

I agree with Marc and Kurt. I would also suggest that your client inquire about the history of roof replacement and past leaking issues that may have been repaired and/or concealed. Recommend that they request the documents from the owner. Around here you need a permit to replace the roof so they can also request the information from the local construction department (assuming the proper permit was obtained).

He should go to jail.

11. Get involved with other home inspectors in your area. Go to home inspector association meetings so they can tell you all of their war stories and maybe it will reduce your chance of repeating them. Maybe they can throw some business your way when they get too busy (If I can't meet someone's schedule I like to offer the names of inspectors that I know and trust). 12. Win the lottery or marry someone rich to support you while you start a new business so you don't have to become desperate for referrals and compromise the quality of your inspection.

Les- Your experience is very different than it is here. Lots of lawyers in NJ. Our state is more like Kurt's. Les- How many times do you have to go to court in a year?

Unfortunately too many litigation matters proceed with lots of legal costs before someone is released from the case because the legal system is slanted towards the plaintiff's ability to sue even with questionable merit to the claim. When the system is changed (probably never) so that the losing party is responsible for the cost of the winner we will see a reduction in these cases.

New Jersey has a law against wasting the court's time with frivolous lawsuits. It's rarely enforced but recently it was - in a case where a seller, upset that his house didn't sell, tried to sue a home inspector for negligence. A N.J. court determined that because the seller wasn't the inspector's client he didn't have any standing to sue the inspector and found in favor of the inspector. To read more, Click Here

Mark, I disagree. It depends on the bearing capacity of the soil and the width/height/weight of the wall. The footing design (depth, width, type of concrete, and possible reinforcing) is based on that information. I have seen many failed footings due to improper design and installation. Keeps me busy with legal work too!

If the blocks were planned as part of the original construction my guess is that they would haunch the slab at the block wall.

In our jurisdiction, when we have a recessed panel in a one-hour wall we will "five side" the panel, i.e., create a box with 5/8" gypsum that is securely supported in addition to the 5/8" gypsum on the opposite side of the wall. We also typically firecaulk the wiring penetrations. We are not familiar with panels having any fire rating. Same here.

If sprinklers are not an option and if it is the fire wall issue maybe you can satisfy them by changing/adding a fire rated assembly around the panels and penetrations.

The end result... There will be people selling black market illegal water heaters because there will be no easy way to replace your existing water heater in a confined space and use the existing chimney flue. There will be companies that make a business of "Fixing" old heaters. There will be many improperly installed and dangerous heaters because no permits will be obtained and legitimate contractors will not install illegal heaters. A few people will end-up dead from improper installs.

Illegal sleeping room without adequate egress. Probably does not meet the IRC definition of habitable space. Heating? Electric? This reminds me of many HGTV shows that make improper basement bedrooms.

We've got a local guy who's been doing those kinds of shots from a tethered helium balloon for years. Nice home, by the way. I like the way it fits its surroundings. In this area, we stack our booji houses five feet apart from each other, like so much overpriced cordwood running up the hillside. Is that really a "colonial?" Thanks for the compliment. Not a bad shack for $4.2 million. Definitely not a colonial. The real estate industry around here has determined that a 2-story house is almost always labelled a colonial. I think if soneone wanted to sell a two-story glass and steel home the listing would call it a "Modern Colonial".

We designed this home and a drone was used to take aerial photos as part of the marketing. I guess it was illegal according to the article. I did not arrange for the photos. It was not too long ago that a helicopter was needed to take these photos. http://mobile.obeo.com/viewer/ipadu.cfm?TourID=933104

Do a Google search with the question " Is radon really dangerous?" You will find a lot of answers from home inspection and radon testing companies that obviously have something to gain by overstating the risk. On the other hand there are a lot of articles that make it clear that higher radon levels increase the risk of lung cancer. We can discuss whether the action level of 4.0 pCi/L is appropriate but I have not seen any articles that state that high levels of radon exposure do not pose a risk. My feeling is that if there is something we can do to reduce a risk at a reasonable cost we should do it. If someone told me that I have to spend $1500 to reduce the risk of my children getting lung cancer I will do it. Of course that leads to the question of what else should we consider spending money on to reduce risk and that is not for me to answer for others. That is what I feel and how I present it to my clients. I look out of my car window and see little kids jumping around the back seat of a moving car driving down the road and I know that the risk of them getting injury in a crash is higher than if they were belted. I can't control them but I know my kids were always belted when they were little.

Because the EPA says so? Marc Because the information is logical and makes sense.

Read this and relax. http://www.epa.gov/radon/pubs/citguide.html There is a linear relationship between radon exposure levels and cancer risk. Like mike said, you can't live your life in a bubble and enjoy it. Also, keep in mind that your radon exposure and risk is combination of the level and time exposed. Most people don't live in the basement so the risk is reduced because the radon level is lower as you move up in the house.

Could it be due to the bathroom vents? Many multi family buildings have interior bathrooms that require mechanical ventilation. Sometime the ducts don't make it past the attic.

On the subject of upgrades... FYI if you use Sprint. We use Sprint cell phones in my house. The service for my area is about 98 percent as good as Verizon but we get unlimited everything for $50 per Iphone. (4 phones). We were due for upgraded phones and went to the local Sprint company store to see what is available. We currently have 4s phones. The salesman at the Sprint store told us to check out the deal at Best Buy. The result is that we upgraded our phones to IPhone 5s's. The total cost was $4.00 plus sales tax of .28 for four new phones. No trade in needed so we have spare phones or can sell the old ones.

To add to that.. Some of the towns in our area will not let you pass title unless an unused UST is properly decommisioned in accordance with DEP regulations. Additionally, most attorneys (yes, the marjority of real estate transactions around here involve attorneys) advise their clients not to buy a house without a certification that there are no abandoned underground tanks on the property.

I think you are right. In my experiance, architects are typically bad with grammur and spellling. Myself includded! Merry Christmas to those that celebrate!

"Plumber"? I assume you mean the guy that owns a torch and a way to get to the big box store to buy the stuff so the valve can be installed wrong. Probably the same guy that did this: Click to Enlarge 44.29 KB Washer waste pipe Click to Enlarge 26.81 KB Discharge from the water conditioning equipment

Seeing this a lot lately. The exterior is to the left side of the valve. Click to Enlarge 52.85 KB

Recently I was an expert on a case where the foundation wall settled and someone added some piers and a beam in the crawlspace to support the floor joists as cantilevers. How was the foundation? Maybe this is something similar. I would raise a big red flag to my clients.

I exclude all alarms, central vacuum, doorbells, and any other low voltage systems from my inspection. In NJ the local construction department is required to certify the location and operation of smoke alarm and carbon monoxide systems prior to all residential real estate transfers. No certificate, no closing.