mjr6550

The brown is only on one side of the pipe. On the verticals I suppose this could make sense since the elbows would direct the heat to that side. On the upper horizontal the brown is on the side, which does not seem to make sense. Also, was the pipe brown at the top of the lower horizontal. If not, than that does not make sense. How about if the pipe was laying in mud for a while? Clay stains don't come off some materials very easy.

First thing I do when I remove a panel cover is to move wires away from the screw holes. I don't bother with commenting on pointed screws. I probably should.

I end up walking around with my hands in my pockets and only take them out to probe something or take photos. I save the note taking for inside. I real cold weather I sometimes use hand warmers. Just bought a big box at Costco. Probably last me quite a few years.

I took a tour of this house today. It was started in 1928 and finished in 1939. Actually the guide said it was not really finished. When you see the unfinished brick ceiling, that was supposed to have mosaic tile, but the Mrs. was getting tired of waiting. Here are a handful of pictures showing the detail and workmanship. Without seeing it in person it is hard to fully appreciate. The large room is the living room. Most of the woodwork is teak. The small house is adjacent to the castle. That was Raymond's father"s house. Note the small carriage house off to the side. Click to Enlarge 43.4 KB Click to Enlarge 41.62 KB Click to Enlarge 55.27 KB Click to Enlarge 51.38 KB Click to Enlarge 47.98 KB Click to Enlarge 44.36 KB Click to Enlarge 37.22 KB Click to Enlarge 35.45 KB Click to Enlarge 26.59 KB Click to Enlarge 61.99 KB Click to Enlarge 70.84 KB Click to Enlarge 63.19 KB

That was my guess too.

I have no idea. I'm telling you though, I blanched at the thought of spending $12 for a roll of tape, but I have 3 rolls around the place now. It actually does hold everything together. I've even "repaired" my canvas boat cover with the stuff. It's still tape; it isn't going to hold an engine together. Just about everything else, though. I had some small tears in my pool cover-the kind you can drive a car on. I thought $12 would be cheap if it worked, so I sprang for a roll. I'm about 3-1/2 months into the experiment and so far it is holding.

I was told that they spent $1,000,000. I have nothing to back that up, but I could not imagine that there could be any way it should cost that much.

I visited the Cliveden house today. It is a historic house owned by the National Trust. The photo shows the carriage house. The tour guide was proud of the recently replaced wood shingle roof and the rebuilt cupolas. Anyone care to guess the cost for this work? Hope the link works-I was not able to post the photo. https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb ... cQoioIfTAN

Depends on the beetles. Some will reinfest the same wood that they emerged from, others only reinfest living trees, still others require sunlight. Low moisture content might not prevent reinfestation, but it can really slow down the beetles when they're in the larval stage. Some have the ability to enter diapause and effectively suspend their metabolism for years. Heat from a heat gun or hair dryer would probably damage the wood before it killed the beetles deep inside. Some years ago, people were experimenting with small handheld microwave emitters for this purpose. The emitters were in the form of plates - like irons - that would be held against the wood. I never heard what happened with that technology, but I suspect that it wouldn't sell very well. People freak out about stuff like that. I see a lot of signs of powder post beetles in old farm houses (usually timber joists, often with the bark at the sides). The basement are usually quite damp, but even then active infestations are rare. OTOH, maybe after 150 years all the beetles have left the building. Regarding the heat gun, I guess I was thinking of killing the emerging beetles. If they are not emerging I suspect that using heat would not be practical.

I would say yes to the first question. For the firebox, I assume it is double wall, or placed in front of masonry. Welding might be an option, but it may crack again in a short time. Fire clay on metal will not stay in place. If it was mine, I would probably put a cast iron fireback in front of it. Although I hate to refer things to contractors, I would with this since many contractors are likely to say that it cannot be repaired.

I have not problem with the cedar from a structural standpoint. I would call for replacement of the post bottoms. The heartwood of cedar is decay resistant. Unless it is old growth there is not much heartwood around. I see a lot of deteriorated cedar decking at areas where moisture is trapped. Where is can dry readily, not so much. My deck is cedar and is 25 years old. About the only decay is at the ends of decking at the perimeter of the deck. I left debris build up at the gap between the decking and the band board.

I believe that to reinfest the wood has to have a very high moisture content. Maybe heat from a heat gun or hair dryer would be enough to kill them in the wood that is in place?

Just chimney block=unlined flue. Needs a lining. If you are not sure, say that it does not appear to have a lining, and call for relining if that is confirmed.

That's nothing. I came upon this last week. Click to Enlarge 48.47 KB

As a structural engineer I am in a little different position than a home inspector. I often get called out to evaluate specific concerns. while present I sometimes see other things. In a case like this I obviously had to bring this to the owners attention. Since I often do not know the extent of my inspection before the inspection I handle the limitations in the report by stating that I was hired to only evaluate the conditions listed in the report. Disclaimers are never a sure thing, but being clear about what you did or did not inspect is very important.

Good call. I did not mention that, but I thought someone might point it out. The deck actually dropped very little at the house. It looks like the footings heaved out of the ground. Click to Enlarge 80.41 KB Click to Enlarge 77.16 KB

I was hired by an owner to evaluate various cracks that they were concerned about. All of the cracks were typical shrinkage type cracks. Most of the cracks were hairline cracks in block foundation walls-and I mean hairline. It took me a while to convince the owner that the cracks were not a concern. When I went around the back of the house I took one look at the deck and told her that it could collapse at any time. she told me the deck was very sound. Even after showing her the concerns I had a very hard time convincing her that this was serious. We walked up the deck steps and I looked over to the bad side. She immediately walked right over the that area. They have owned the house 21 years and the deck was already built, so it was not like she was trying to defend someones work. Hard to figure out some people. Click to Enlarge 44.66 KB Click to Enlarge 28.73 KB Click to Enlarge 67.76 KB Click to Enlarge 45.88 KB

I'm curious why you use logos on your photos. Since reports have limited distribution it does not seem that they are likely to be copied.

The crack in the foundation wall looks like a typical shrinkage crack. I cannot tell much from the other photos. What I am seeing does not concern me, but the pictures may not be showing everything you saw.

I use them when they are stale. They work quite well.

Bill could be correct, or it could be an attempt to recover some heat from the flue.

I can't tell from the photos how this beam relates to the other beams. It looks like an afterthought. Maybe it was installed to stiffen the floor to prevent vibration. A little better description or other photos may help.

From what I understand I don't believe that two-phase is supplied anymore. I believe it is now a three-phase system. One of the transformers fed a three-phase trash compactor, but the fuses upstream of the three-phase circuit breaker had been removed so it appeared that it was no longer used. I did not locate anything else operating on three phase. Everything was from 1963, including a couple Federal Pacific circuit breaker panels. It needs major work.

It is not an easy question to answer because lateral loads on decks are not well understood. I think a worst case lateral load for a deck is about 12 psf. So with a 15x15 deck that would be 2700 pounds. Then try to figure out the stiffness of the decking and how the forces are transferred into the brace. Force is proportional to deflection, so as the deck sways a little the fasteners in the brace near the outside edge of the deck see more of the force. If the deck is high, then bracing the columns is also advisable, but the columns have to be large enough so they are not overloaded in bending.

With loose poly over the gravel I would expect it to be damp. There is moisture in most soil and the poly typically allows it to condense and not evaporate. That may not be a big concern. I would be more concerned about the columns. They may not be rated for permanent support, they may be deteriorated, they may not have proper footings, and why they are there is also an important question.