Brian G

Originally posted by sirch you won't find anything wrong with my house. I've heard that one and several like it, but it's never true. Just once I'd like to do a house and come out with nothing to report. Talk about any easy report... Brian G. You'd Find Plenty Wrong With My House, But It's My House [:-magnify

If the EPA protocols spec one thing and the manufacturer of the test devices specs another, which one trumps? In building codes it would be the manufacturer, but I suppose you could argue the tester could be damned for going either way and ignoring the other. I mean rules are rules, defensible positions and all that, but jeez, does anyone here really think the difference between 4 inches and 2 feet will actually matter in the end? Please. Look up the posts here by C. P. Connell about radon. The whole test is highly questionable to start with. You aren't actually measuring radon, no matter what device you use. Brian G. Straining at Gnats [:-boggled

Don't you love this job? [:-bigeyes Brian G. Clients Love the Guys Who Find This Junk [:-love]

Originally posted by Bain The coils seem superfluous to me. Yeah, and unnecessary too. [^] I've not seen anything like that in all my travels....bizzaro. I'd love to know what the thought process was on that one. Brian G. Assuming There Was One...... []

I don't know about more, but I've seen similar situations plenty of times over in Bama. No one has ever been able to tell me why Alabama Power thought having all of the 240v breakers outside was such a wonderful idea, but they did it that way for a long time. The inside panel, with all of the 120v breakers, was always right across the wall inside the house, but was never, ever, wired as a sub panel. Goofy. Brian G. Strange Ideas [:-alien]

I've run into that too. If you're already providing the clients with documentation that backs your position, there's not a heck of a lot else to be done. If they choose to take the sparky's word over your documentation, so be it. You've done your job. That's all you can do, unless you want to mount a campaign to educate the local electricians. Brian G. Tell 'em "Fine, but add one extra smoke detector; right above that FPE panel." [:-mischie

Preston's shows those numbers running from 1985 - 1990. It could be anywhere in there. Brian G. What Happened to Stamped-Into-Metal Labels? [:-magnify

"All of the plumbing in the crawl space is cluster****. Have a plumber familiar with cluster**** work go in and straighten everything out." [^] Brian G. Someday..... [:-hspin]

My first thought would be to look around the room for any stored chemicals that might be reacting with the copper, but that doesn't make sense if all aren't similarly discolored. It almost has to be something from the manufacturing process. Brian G. Designer Wiring? []

I agree. He's suggesting folks should hire foxes to evaluate the hen houses. If you ask a roofer around here to look at your roof, you're sure as hell going to need a new one. The general skill, knowledge, and ethics level of contractors across this country are the very things that insure our future. I don't worry about that changing. His suggestion is doomed to fall mostly on deaf ears anyway. Spend thousands on multiple inspections? Very few will seriously consider that advice. All that said, he's certainly not wrong about the average HI. Far too many of our group are poorly trained, generally clueless, or downright crooked. I can't change that anymore than he can cure his group. I've seen two of his shows recently; Holmes on Homes, on HGTV. He's a bit bombastic, as you might expect, but from what I've seen so far, I kinda like him. He frequently says things like "That isn't up to code" or "Why didn't they just do it right the first time". Those are the same sort of things we say every day. I particularly like watching his crew open walls and ceilings to find the underlying causes of problems. Verrrry instructive for HI work, I think. Brian G. Pundits Abound, Real Solutions Do Not [8]

I've seen relief pipes run to all kinds of inappropriate places, but that's a new one. Fabulous. [:-dunce] Brian G. Bone-Headedness Is Nothing If Not Persistant [:-crazy]

John, ole'buddy, TIJ brother, fer Pete's sake will you reduce those big honkin' photo files before posting them. 100kb or a little less should be plenty for most things, but if the fine details are important, so be it. Brian G. Less Is Usually More [^]

Originally posted by Eric B It seems to me that l've heard that a secondary bolt can travel UP from the ground to the main bolt. I'm not sure about this - but it sounds like great inspector BS. Actually, that's entirely true. They call it a "leader", and I've seen both film and photos of them; very cool stuff. Whether it bears on this particular circumstance, I have no idea. [8] Brian G. DON'T Follow the Leader [xx(]

The birthday was noted by the home inspectors, especially the ones who write good. [:-slaphap Brian G. Strunk & White Is Not a Rap Duo [:-graduat

Dang John, you're lucky they didn't at least have to pick bits of breaker out of your hide. Coulda been pretty bad. But hey, you've got a great war story to tell your grandkids. By the time you're 80 the explosion will have taken down half the house, with you scrambling out of the rubble carrying the family dog in your arms. [] [:-doggy] I once saw an electrician one day after he got a long screwdriver across two legs of a 480v disconnect. It shot out a fireball on him. His eyebrows and eyelashes were gone, his hair was still swept back and singed around his face, and his skin was very red. He looked pretty funny. We gave him an insulated screwdriver as a Christmas present that year. [:-slaphap Brian G. Fun With Electricity [:-bulb][:-skull]

My guess would be a homemade antennae, for either TV, radio, CB, or shortwave. That doesn't look like a good spot for a clothes line. Brian G. Axe the Sellers [?]

Yep. I've been looking at geothermals for a few years now, and still plan to get there. The payback period is usually quoted as about 7 years. The newer "direct exchange" systems are the most efficient, and may be a bit faster catching up to cost. Brian G. Lower Dat Electric Bill [:-thumbu]

Plumbing isn't my strongest subject, so I have a couple of questions. A. What does an AAV have to do with the need for a high loop on a dishwasher? I've always been told the high loop is there to physically deter backflow into the dishwasher if the drain backs up or clogs, and the water level rises toward the sink. B. Why is it necessary to have at least one vent pipe going to the outdoors, if AAV's really work? I've heard a couple of different takes on this locally, so I'm interested to see what various TIJ family members have to say about it. Brian G. Exercising the Weaker Muscles Makes Them Stronger [:-graduat

Gracias Bill. Down here we just call that a horizontal projecting course. [] Brian G. The Well-Dressed Chimney: A Belt and a Cap [:-tophat]

I may be displaying my ignorance (again), but what the heck is a belt on a chimney? [?] Brian G. And Wouldn't Suspenders Be Just as Good? []

That's some serious poot-pulling power my friend. [:-bigeyes Brian G. Mine Are Odorless and Inoffensive [^] [:-dev3]

Hi Jodi. No, that isn't right. A. You can bet those lugs aren't rated for 17 #12's, or whatever the actual count is. B. There's no way to know if any one of those wires is or isn't getting a good connection, and they all need one. Lord Katen once said that this type of arrangement wasn't like a rope, where all the strands started in one place and ended in another; these all go to different places. Odds are nothing bad will ever happen on account of that improvisation, but if anything does happen you don't want to be the one who endorsed it. There was a neutral bar in the panel, right, at least a small one? A "technically proper" fix is more or less impossible. You could add a neutral bar, which would be a definite improvement based on having wires in proper terminals alone, but you won't get one *designed and built* for that panel. Tell 'em what's wrong with it, and recommend getting a smart electrician to handle it. Case closed. Brian G. Drop Back & Punt [:-footbal

They have oil-burning furnaces in Hudson, FL? Seriously? So far I've been alive for 46 years and haven't seen a single one. I thought those were exclusive to the northeast and midwest. Richard said it; I'd sure look at a good heat pump. The price of electricity is regulated and is typically public-owned, unlike oil or natural gas. I wish I had done that when I built. We replaced both a 32 year old package AC unit and an electric furnace on our old mo-bile home about a year and a half ago, with a new 11 or 13 SEER heat pump unit (can't remember). Now the kids are paying almost 1/2 what we did when we lived in it. Brian G. Keep More Money [:-thumbu]

Natural gas does have a couple of advantages; you never run out, and you rarely lose service after a big storm. We hadn't been in our house a year when a killer straight-line wind storm came through and tore the whole area a big, ragged new one (in February). My house was out of power for five days, and every hotel room was quickly taken for 100 miles around. Because we had a lot of gas appliances, we were able to stay in our house (the fireplace, water heater, & stove made life bearable). If we had been at the bottom of a tank of fuel we'd have been sunk. Brian G. There's No Place Like Home [:-angel]

Originally posted by Jim Morrison Both are commodities, so don't switch based on today's price, because tomorrow could make you sorry you did it. So right. When we built in 1999-2000 natural gas was still cheap around here. Less than two years later that was a fading memory. A big viper called Atmos Energy swallowed up the local company that had been around forever, and BOOM! Brian G. Stuff Happens [:-weepn]