Bill Kibbel

The stucco on panels was on an addition to an old farmhouse. I try to keep up to date with new products and techniques too. Most of the buildings I'm looking at have an original section and multiple additions. Then there's remuddling with modern materials. Late 30s - early 40s (Georgian) Colonial Revival?

I saw something similar on an addition not too long ago. I did some limited research and found it to be synthetic stucco over fiber-cement panels. I also found that there are "cementitious SIPs", aka fiber-cement faced structural insulated panels, often finished with synthetic stucco.

The only state requirements regarding ACMs is from the PA-DEP. Their requirements for removal, transport or disposal are not applicable to private owners of anything considered residential, unless there are 5 or more apartments. Individual municipalities may have a local ordinance regulating demolition of a known asbestos containing structure.

I only occasionally come across rat poo. EVERY building out here has mice, from an abandoned farmhouse to a 7 million dollar manor built this year. Mouse, rat, bat, cat, 'coon & any other critter's poo won't keep me out of a crawl. When I feel well protected, I get into places no one else has or will. It's only icky when I crawl over a recent carcass and it squirts out its innards. When it comes to reporting on crawls, roofs and chimneys, it's painful for me to state "I was unable to..."

We've collected some 17th century furniture. Most of it has carvings, often with a repeating pattern. Most have an intentional "oops". I think it has something to do with only the Big Guy is perfect. Maybe this contemporary builder shares this belief with the primordial craftsmen. Yeah right! We have a set of chairs, each with 2 balusters flanked by 2 halved balusters. On one of the chairs, the halved balusters are inverted. No one else notices, but it sure bothers me. I'll bet most good inspectors have ARPs.

You regularly inspect much more complex buildings that have interior finishes. German bank barns are about the simplest and most consistent structures. Many of the conversions I've seen leave most of the framing exposed. If not, you know where the interior timbers should be and it’s a big problem if they’re gone. The barn had livestock in the lower level, loaded wagons on the threshing floor and harvested crops piled to the rafters in the side bays. I'm pretty confident it can handle mechanical systems, furniture, appliances, a few human residents and some pets. I've been involved with several barn projects where an engineering analysis and/or modeling was performed. Carrying interior loads was never an issue. 1. Horizontal tie-beams that have been removed. (I keep telling folks that hand hewn beams aren’t easy to create and install. They didn’t put ‘em there for aesthetics.)2. Failure of the joints between the tie beams and rafter sills at all bents. (The roof is always trying to force the front & rear walls out.) 3. Original posts removed at the fore-bay. 4. Finishing the lower level without leaving access to maintain the foundation on the bank side. (As you know, the foundation is always sweeping and/or bulging inwards behind the bank.) 5. Damage to the sill below where the threshing bay door was regularly left open in the rain. 6. The additions are never built as well as the original structure. (incomplete/inadequate foundations, soil/wood contact, undersized rafters.) Although I don’t care for the window groupings on this one, I am a solid supporter of adaptive re-use of any old building. Any unused barn you see today will likely cease to resist gravity during this, or the next, generation. Even at the handful of old farms that are still agriculturally active, the original barns are only a storage building for some old implements and all current operations/equipment are in recent pole barns clad with steel panels. Out here, we hire the neighbor's kids to bust it up and use it to fill in the old dug well.

Thanks for the warning Mike! Yet another reason for me to continue to be too embarrassed to admit I'm a home inspector. This is the claim on the front page: "Be PRO-ACTIVE! Get a FREE pre-sale home inspection. Take the guess work out of what needs to be done to position your home to sell FAST and at the highest price". "Pre-listing Inspections - Wow! What a great idea! The potential buyers all seemed to find the pre-listing inspection report useful and it made them think that the sellers had nothing to hide. Good for the buyers as well as the sellers". But wait, there's more: 1. A comprehensive 12 to 20 page written report (with digital pictures) by seasoned home inspectors. 2. Identifying all items of work that should be completed prior to marketing. 3. Provides ample time to bid and complete the repairs or updating in advance. 4. Valuable recommendations that would position the home to sell FAST AND at the HIGHEST price. 5. Eliminating last minute "surprise" findings from the buyer’s inspection report 6. Removes the buyer asking for reduction in agreed upon price due to buyer's inspection report. This is what you actually get: http://www.phshomeservices.com/inspections/sample.pdf How can this report actually be from a home inspection that follows even the lamest standard of practice? (including the SOP of the organization where the inspector is listed as a candidate) What possible value is this report (I cringed when I called it that) to a home seller?

It would be unusual if I saw a local disconnect for a water heater, in addition to the breaker at the panel.

I get to see all kinds of stucco applications on old buildings that we do not consider a "conventional application" by todays published standards. I've come across 1" wire mesh and even 2". Heck, I had a 300 year old log home that had vertical wood battens spaced at 1.5-2". I only get concerned if there is significant loss of bond -- or chickum' wire.

I have something that says F. L. Wright called his discovery "dry wall footings" but it's the same as earlier "rubble trench foundations" that have been used for millenniums.

Jim K is correct. (Isn't he always) "I was there and it still took a return trip for me to figure it out. It isn't the kind of thing that makes one shine while attempting to illustrate the nuances of panel wiring to others who are depending on your expertise". Yeah, but it shows that you have more devotion to this profession than most, who would simply disclaim and defer. I've never seen HI report boilerplate that states: "I don't know, but I'll find out for you".

1) doesn't this have the distinct possibility of drawing 300 amps? Well, the sec does not have the correct over-current protection. 2) what would be the point of using this method over feeding the upstairs sub from a breaker in the nice 42 circuit panel that's been there since day 1? When I have come across similar installations, the "upstairs" was at one time an apartment, or in-law suite that had a separately metered sec feeding the smaller service equipment. Typical old farm distribution system. At least these are usually all after the main fuses/disconnect.

Here, green is always sch 35 "thin walled" only to be used for S&D. Only white is used for DWV. The S&D has the same i.d. as the DWV, but the o.d. is smaller.

Only the opening page matters. There's waaaay too many HI web sites that state "Why you should have a home inspection". Visitors to your site already know they need an inspection so tell them why they don't need to look at any other HIs' web sites. The text that appears on that page also needs to contain keywords that people would use to search for an HI in your area. These keywords also need to be repeated in the meta tags to be picked up by search engines. Your meta tags only say that you used Yahoo SiteBuilder. People also need to "meet you" on your web site before they would be comfortable selecting you to protect them from the evils of purchasing real estate. http://www.tchomeinspectors.com I don't know why I'm telling you this, you could become a competitor and people have payed me to do this stuff for them. Thanks for the link to the Chapter. If you're a member, let me know so I can get you listed.

Just received this e-mail tonight. Thought it may be of interest to TIJers. Mr. JD Grewell of the Washington DC area and a very experienced home inspector and ASHI member (since 1979) will be doing a segment on ABC’s “Good Morning Americaâ€

Mike, I haven't had any complaints after installing one of these in each bath: but now the fireplaces won't work.

Brandon's "more likely reason" is correct. It's in the IRC: P3201.4 Building Traps. Building traps shall not be installed, except in special cases where sewer gases are extremely corrosive or noxious, as directed by the building official.

Having seen hundreds of these vents, and originally thinking they're a dumb idea, I'll add what I have learned about them over the years. They're called "relieving vents" or "fresh air vents" for the "building trap". For the past several decades, building traps generally have not been permitted to be installed except some municipalities still allow them where local conditions "necessitate such traps". I don't know where or what those conditions are. Through-the-wall vent terminals are not permitted except for the vent for the building trap, where provided.

Bad connector, uncoated brass: OK connectors: I'll bet the flyer that was passed out had a black & white line drawing and many HIs assumed it was the gray connectors. I really need to clean out my hard drive.

If it's the button that you depress during, and shortly after, lighting the pilot, it's simply called the reset. It holds open the gas interrupter temporarily until the thermocouple tells the electromagnet to keep it open. -------------------------------------------------- I fear you may have been framed. Not to mention a gas control valve is about $65.00.

We bought this dump a few years ago and the only heat that was ever added was electric bsbd in half the rooms. Being waaaay out in the boonies, we'd have to bring in a LP or oil tank and pay extra to have fuel delivered. After spending my career telling folks how horrible they are N. of the M/D line, I chose to install an air source h/p with electric back-up. I gotst no complaints. Other folks around here moaned about the huge jump in fuel costs last winter while we saw no increase. (Thank you nuke plants) When choosing a h/p for a colder climate, the proper size is important. Choose one with a heating season performance factor (HSPF) of 9 or 10. It's also important for correct air flow and precise refrigerant charge. Install the condensing unit out of the Chicago wind and a demand-defrost control system uses less energy. We are 40 degrees, 38' N. of the Equator. If your guy can get gas back-up, I don't think it would be a dumb choice, but the fact that you've never seen one may be an indication that I'm wrong.

"Kibbel; what would this style be called?" My knowledge (and interest) of building styles doesn't extend into the 20th century. I would have guessed it to be a Prarie school influenced somethin'. The vestibular entry doesn't look like it belongs on that house. Many homes built after 1900 look like leftovers from several meals assembled together. See comment above.

Replacement boilers usually contain a much smaller volume of water then the monsters they're replacing. The large internal volume of old boilers helped slow down the steam, allowing water droplets (like a mist) to drop out. Many installers of replacement systems will oversize the near-boiler piping to act like an external steam separator. I'm guessing that is the intention of this device, after they used it for bowling down the driveway.

It looks like mod bit. If you press your thumbnail into the edge of rolled, and then mod bit, you'll never have to ask again. Consider a publication about low slope roofing from the National Roofing Contractors Assoc. Many manufacturers (and expert witnesses) refer to NRCA specs. Local chapters of HI orgs should have covered mod bit by the mid-80s. I find many HIs (and installers) not familiar with this stuff. Might be time for the continuing ed. committees to revisit low slope roofs. ps. Bad, bad & bad parapet.

Any chance it was built like this?