mjr6550

Sorry, posted the wrong photos. Philadelphia is one of the strange places that did use 2 phase power. I know people that use rotary phase converters to run 3 phase machine shop equipment in their houses. I also saw one recently in a house where the owner had a 22" planer. They look more like a motor than a transformer.

I inspected a warehouse/office building today that was built in 1963. At the time the building was apparently supplied with 2 phase power. Two transformers were later added, apparently to convert the 2 phase to three phase. I think that I understand what I am looking at, but thought that the photos may be of interest (and maybe teach me something). With 2 phase you have two hots and two neutrals and end up with three hots and a neutral? How does the transformer create the third phase? Click to Enlarge 37.66 KB Click to Enlarge 42.01 KB Click to Enlarge 29.12 KB Click to Enlarge 49.7 KB Click to Enlarge 50.19 KB Click to Enlarge 36.51 KB

The tiles act like a moisture barrier so moisture wicking through the concrete gets trapped. I agree with Kurt regarding shrinkage cracking if there are no signs of heaving.

If the boiler is in a basement and there are 4 levels above, then the pressure will be close to 20 psi at a minimum. Pressure gauges are also probably not very accurate. As long as it does not creep up towards 30 psi I would not be concerned.

I am not aware of such a pump. Some swimming pool pumps do not need much water to function. Can't you put a pit adjacent to the driveway. How about a channel drain?

There is typically not much information of use in a boiler manual. Most of the parts are made by other companies. The controls are simple. Any general reference on boilers or any manual for a boiler would give you basic information.

Marc, I can tell from your posts that you have a great deal of knowledge in HVAC and electrical. Qualifications can be experience, training, whatever. It does not have to be a piece of paper. Personally, if someone will not tell me how long they have been in business or what makes them qualified to be a home inspector, I would not hire them. I also would not hire anyone who will match or beat other HI's fees. Not a sign of quality.

Personally, I like to know something about a company. What is the owners name? What are his qualifications? Seems like every business wants to sound big and talk about our inspectors, etc. I want to deal with a person that is qualified. I don't see that on your site. p.s. Probably everyone in advertising would tell me I'm wrong.

Unless they're blue . . . I didnt say we dont use primer ,I said we dont use the nasty purple stuff for above ground work. We use clear primer for above ground plumbing work and furnace work. The one shot glue is also code,but it costs a lot more money. The reason why the IRC requires purple primer is so an inspector can tell if it was used. I guess if you area deoes not follow the IRC then that is fine.

First make sure the door is properly braced. If not, do not test. Second, it you use the method you used (which I also use), you need to be ready to let go fast if the door does not reverse with relatively little force. If I can see that the close force adjustment is set high, I don't test it (or I adjust it, but don't tell anyone).

The lack of a pressure regulating valve is perfectly normal around here, especially with older systems. When the pressure is low, you add some water. Of course many people don't and then the gauge reads low. Often when I check a third floor radiator there is no pressure. Sometimes air get sucked back into the bleed valve. We apparently do a lot of things different around here.

To clarify some details. Both houses have basements. I believe the other house was built before the house than had been on this lot was demolished. They framed the exterior walls instead of using a masonry party wall. I assume they used a gypsum shaft liner, but do not know. The photos are up at the roof level and appear to show to independent exterior walls, which makes sense since the houses were constructed at different times. I assume that they only stuccoed the exposed portions of the party wall on the first house. There is only a small gap between the two walls. There would be no exterior finish on the wall of the second house. I believe than the water that flows into that gap is going right down between the two houses.

One year old house in Philadelphia. I was only asked to look at cracks in the foundation walls and some interior walls, but took a quick look around. This house was constructed after the adjacent house, which is no more than a couple years old. They do not share a common part wall. Both are stucco over frame construction. The builder terminated the party wall with fiberglass capping. It is only butted against the adjacent wall and was sealed with caulk twice. There is a significant gap. I told the owner that there should be flashing at the wall, but unless the owner of the adjacent house agrees I don't see a way to install flashing properly. OTOH, they both may end up with big stucco problems down the road and then can fix it all. The other photos are of vertical joints between the two houses. Click to Enlarge 34.68 KB Click to Enlarge 45.16 KB Click to Enlarge 52.18 KB Click to Enlarge 52.09 KB Click to Enlarge 40.19 KB

Apparently your area does not follow the IRC. The link below also indicates that primer is needed for most PVC solvents. http://www.oatey.com/doc/lcs357d-oatey- ... 1415lr.pdf

How do you know that primer wasnt used on the conections? Typical code says the primer must be tinted purple. If I don't see purple, I assume primer was not used. They could have used clear primer. Either way, bad joint.

The,junction box was in the house, so I assumed it was ok. Because of the foam I could not see where the ground wire terminated.

I'm saving this post. Mr. Katen's reply with the #1, 2, and 3 does a good job explaining this. This has always confused me because I can't recall seeing a detached garage with a separate ground rod in the past 30 years (I probably have seen a few, but they are rare). Today I did see one in a 2003 garage. Four wires leaving the main panel, three showing up at the garage panel. Neutrals and grounds on same terminal. Assuming the conduit is plastic and the ground wire does not continue to the garage panel, it appears that this is ok? Click to Enlarge 45.52 KB Click to Enlarge 42.67 KB Click to Enlarge 40.93 KB

Hook up the brown wire and it will work fine.

Do you'all get many outdoor AC sections that levitate off the ground like that? I ain't smokin' nothing. Marc Only when the fan is running.

Agreed, which can be confusing. The GFCIs with nightlights have two larger LED lights (at least mine do).

It is also above the top of the foundation walls, which can be a problem.

I have seen thousands of boilers, but I don't recognize that one. I would guess 1960s or possibly 70s.

I really like #1. #1 is nice also. I was working on sunsets a couple weeks ago. Nothing great, but I think some are decent. Click to Enlarge 35.92 KB Click to Enlarge 30.72 KB Click to Enlarge 32.12 KB Click to Enlarge 41.57 KB Click to Enlarge 37.25 KB Click to Enlarge 38.1 KB Click to Enlarge 34.96 KB

Look at the photo on this Webpage. The channels and pellets look similar. Old house borers are not uncommon here. Nobody I have talked to has ever seen drywood termites here. https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/old-house-borer

What you see on the carpet can happen when there is a cardboard box or something else there that they were eating. I think the gray tubes relate to what they are eating. Cardboard/paper versus wood.