Brian G

This is another thing I've never seen until the other day. It looked like a malleable iron clamp with a small copper line coming off of it, mounted on a 3/4 black pipe. I've been looking but haven't turned up anything in my reference stuff yet. Are these things kosher? What are the particulars (if any, yea or nay)? Download Attachment: gaspipe saddle valve.jpg 89.16 KB Brian G.

I just looked at what I'm told is a 110 year old house. Some sections had been stripped down to the skip-sheathing, decked with OSB, and roofed with a single layer of composition shingles. The other sections still had what I think was the original cedar shingles over skip-sheathing with 3 layers of composition shingles on top, including the recent one. Totals about 2 1/2 inches thick. Amazingly, no signs of sagging found on the rafters (rough-cut pine 2 x 4's). If you look across the layered sections, there are lots of little puckers and bumps going on. Believe it or not, this is the first time I've seen more than 2 layers on a roof (then only 3 times). We had a hell of a storm come through in 2000 that brought damn near everyone a new roof for miles around. So... What all are the issues here? Weight of course. Possible lack of fastener strength reaching through all of that. Isn't this against all manufacturers' specs? Does code address it? Any and all input welcomed. Brian G.

I'm not as up on Square D as some other brands, but that bar almost looks like a removeable jumper. I can't see the screws at the ends though. Were they regular screws or tamper-resisitant? Brian G.

That's a good question Donald, but I doubt if anyone has a firm answer. I'd bet money they aren't rated for it, but I'd also bet money they aren't rated for exposed outdoor use either. I see that all of the time. Brian G.

Mr...um...Crusty, We'd be glad to have you hang around and raise the level, but we would like to know your name and location, at least. Fill in a little of your profile. Brian G.

No! Anything but that! Aw, come on...just a little one...? [:-vamp] Brian G.

Your money back if the deal doesn't go through...my God. No conflict of interests there, are there boys? I thought working on contingency was a no-no under ASHI, but this guy has a logo right there. Did I misunderstand? Brian G.

The meat of all of this is the ethical problem of course, the conflict of interests. As it stands, the two parties with the most to gain or lose (totally dependant on the outcome) are the same two who are in the best positions to influence the selection of the two parties who are in the most likely positions to break the deal (and whose payment is not dependant on the outcome). Realtor / Home Inspector, Banker or Broker / Appraiser. How screwed up is that? Apologies to my friend Steven. This has been like a rolling 10 brother wrestling match. Knock down one door, roll in there for a while; get thrown out a window, go at it in the yard for a bit. I'll shut up if yall want me to, I just happen to enjoy this kind of thing when nobody's getting ugly. Brian G. Mental Judo 101

Maybe it's just semantics, maybe not. My Webster's Unabridged says: stakeholder - n. the holder of the stakes of a wager That's not what any of us means, so I guess we would have to agree on what we mean to debate effectively about it. I'll start; what I mean... stakeholder - anyone who stands to gain, or lose said gain, depending on an outcome (i.e. to have a "stake" in the outcome) The realtors and mortgage people each stand to make thousands if the deal works, nothing if it doesn't. To my mind and by my personal definition, they are stakeholders. It would be a mistake, in my opinion, to think of most of these as employees, even in the strictest sense. Almost everyone listed there has a fuduciary relationship with either the buyer, seller, or both, under law. That means they are our clients (not our customers), and we have a much greater legal obligation to them than an employee or subcontractor would. Brian G.

Those who will not get paid if the deal falls through include: The real estate agents The mortgage broker The insurance agent The closing attorney or escrow company Those in a position to significantly influence the outcome include: the real estate agents (home inspection gatekeeper) the mortgage broker (appraisal gatekeeper) Those we should concern ourselves with include: the real estate agents Brian G.

Yep.

I was surfing around researching K&T about a month ago when I found an article about K&T's insulation issue. One part of the article described how the insulation industry in California had paid to have research done covering all of the residential fires in the previous 10 years. They were hoping to show that a very small percentage were related to insulating around K&T wiring. The research found none. Not one fire attributed to K&T, period. I ran across a second article where the Canadian government did something similar, and found only 2. They noted that both were found to be due to the homeowner altering the system themselves. As old as all of that stuff is, I was very surprized. Brian G.