Bill Kibbel

I was just checking out John Dirks' photo album and admiring some of his pics of old buildings in Maryland. Great shots, but no ID of the buildings or styles. [] I've been putting together a collection of pictures for an upcoming project over at OldHouseWeb.com. For those that might be interested, the old house pics are at: flickr.com/photos/oldhouseweb/

I use gas monitors/analyzers and a CO analyzer, but not for each inspection. I use them mostly for when it's necessary to illustrate a point I'm trying to make or document something (notice I don't use "detectors"). When finding a gas leak, around here it's necessary to identify the location, as no one authorized to fix the leaks can find them. I also use a multi-gas monitor for certain commercial building inspections. I use equipment from AIM Products, Bacharach and BW Technologies. There's definitely training needed if using analyzers.

They were most popular in high-wind areas. I'm guessin' Oswego might get an occasional breeze bein' next to that little pond.

Up until recently, Certainteed and Tamko were making them. There might be some still available, but I don't think anyone is manufacturing them now. Interlocking asphalt shingles were manufactured from the mid 1920s until very recently. In the late '90s, I saw one still in service that was documented as having been installed in 1929. At one time, they were affectionately referred to by those in the industry as cereal box-top shingles. Since the process of applying seal-strip adhesive was developed, the popularity decreased. Now with dimensional shingles being the most popular, interlocking shingles are no longer in demand. The interlocking shingles in your picture look like the type referred to as "T-lock". Tamko still made T-loc shingles until recently.

Mike, I don't inspect non-attached appliances. When I see something unusual in the electrical system of a home (like something other than a 30 amp rating for a dryer circuit), I'll do some research. In this case, I've found this issue several times and the research led to me reviewing some installation instructions. I was able to report the issue as something needing correction. It would be like inspecting a very short garage and ignoring the fact that every car I've seen wouldn't fit - 'cuz we don't inspect cars.

Like I posted above. Each time I checked the manufacturer's installation instructions, they require a 30 amp breaker. Not minimum or maximum, just 30 amp period. Should I ignore that?

Dave, I've come across this a few times. Each time, the appliance manufacturer's instructions clearly stated a 30 amp breaker is required. Not minimum or maximum, just 30 amp period.

Isn't Master Wall the synthetic one-coat system? If so, two (2) weather-resistive barriers are required when installing it on OSB. Everything there says most details were probably wrong. The one-coat stucco manufacturer will have very specific instructions about installing barrier membranes at rough openings, head flashings (with the membrane and barrier lapped over the flanges), casing beads, weep screeds and expansion joints.

I don't inspect on-site poo disposal systems, so I don't know anything about the components. I will mention that anytime I've seen a tank partially above ground, it wasn't a simple system. It's always been part of an aerobic, recirculating/dosing into media or spray irrigation system.

Uh, you're kidding right? If not, Google "boiler bypass" and "system bypass". I think I should point out that this is coming from the guy that has to try to justify an inaccurate statement by prefacing it with how long he's been inspecting. 30 years is a long time, but remember this gem he wrote about slate roofs:

A bypass is used to either raise the temperature of the return water or to reduce the temperature of the water heading out of the system. What the bypass does depends which side of the bypass the circulator is located (a "boiler bypass" or a "system bypass"). When inspecting a bypass, it has to be determine why it was needed and then if it's installed correctly. Finally any bypass needs a balancing valve to properly set the flow rate/ temperature.No balancing valve, or any valve is visible. Bypass not needed.We know there's no balancing valve on the bypass, that's why I explained it. Please explain to us how you can tell from the picture that "Bypass not needed".

Nope. The top fitting on the tank, for the supply from the solar collector, would clearly be in blazenut's picture. I really don't think what's in his picture is any Bradford White product that has a heat exchanger coil.

I just looked at the picture in the link you posted. Thanks for illustrating my point.

ghentjr, Look at the picture Blazenut posted again. Cant you see that there are 2 element covers? If it was a BW indirect, there would only be 1 cover - for the aquastat. Cant you see that there is no boiler supply fitting at the middle of the tank? If it was a BW indirect, the supply fitting would be right below the top element cover (if there were 2 covers). The return would be near the bottom of the tank, not shown in his picture.

The primary problem - the bricks are crap. In an attempt to replicate the look of old, weathered hand-made bricks, they severely under-fired them in the kiln. They didn't even get a hard skin that was easy to achieve with wood fires used for real handmade bricks for many hundreds of years. Even if they were installed with all the correct details now required, they still would have failed by 30 years. As a veneer, it may not be a structural failure now, but a failure of the exterior cladding. I don't think there's any sealer or other easy fix that will do anything for that mess.

A bypass is used to either raise the temperature of the return water or to reduce the temperature of the water heading out of the system. What the bypass does depends which side of the bypass the circulator is located (a "boiler bypass" or a "system bypass"). When inspecting a bypass, it has to be determine why it was needed and then if it's installed correctly. Finally any bypass needs a balancing valve to properly set the flow rate/ temperature. Because it's not an indirect water heating tank and it would cross boiler water with potable water if they used a zone from the boiler feed. I don't know of any actual requirement for an automatic fill. The internal coil in the boiler is the "summer/winter hook-up". The owners weren't happy with it and a had a plumber add the tank. The water is still heated by the summer/winter hook-up. It doesn't need "make-up water". It's not a heating zone loop. Its the domestic hot water circulating between the internal coil and the Bradford White tank. The hot water circulation piping is connected at a "T" near the top of the water heater and also at the water heater drain valve. BW allows the return circulation through the drain valve fitting. "Blazenut" or "Max Power" or whatever your real name is, There's also likely issues with the flue connector. I don't see a draft-control damper. It looks like there's a "T" with a cap right at the chimney thimble. It looks like corrosion and pinholes at the cap. It may be that the chimney flue was likely built for a coal-fired system and may be oversized for this boiler. Click to Enlarge 7.89 KB

Got anything (other than personal opinion) that someone could reference to declare a Bulldog obsolete? Where can one find that it it's an issue when selling a house?

There's a coil in the boiler that heats the domestic water. In that set up, it looks like the water in the tank continually circulates to/through the coil inside the boiler. An indirect hot water system circulates heated water from a separate zone on the boiler to/through a coil inside a tank. Heat is exchanged to the domestic water that surrounds the coil in the tank. On another note, there might be a couple issues with that boiler installation.

It's a summer/winter hook-up on the boiler, that generates the domestic hot water and circulates to a storage tank. That set-up is extremely common in our area.

Click to Enlarge 43.29 KB Thanks Rich, for sending me this from thereifixedit.com

What the hell are you folks doing to your oil tanks up there?I recently convinced my dad to replace his 58 year old in-ground oil tank. When it was exhumed, it was in mint condition, inside and out.

4 ton unit. Trane has the date stamped on the data plate.

I've never seen a wall-mount tank toilet assembly that was manufactured after 1939 (many have the date inked in the glaze). I've never seen one installed in a house built after WWII. Things could have been different down that way though.

Richard, I wasn't specifically commenting on unlined chimneys. In my experience, the "draw" isn't the issue, unless the flue size is way out of whack or there's some other issue combined with the orphaning thing. The primary issue, in my experience, is condensation. During heating season weather, in my climate zone, the furnace/boiler cycles frequently enough to keep the chimney flue sufficiently warm. When the water heater fires during the furnace/boiler off cycle, the flue is still warm enough to keep condensation from forming. Another possible factor is when removing that furnace or boiler, there is less dilution air entering the chimney, further contributing to condensation. In my experience, this results in the chimney being subject to continuous condensation throughout each heating season. This then shortens the life of the flue and rusts out the flue connectors. If the furnace/boiler that was removed was oil-fired, the condensation combined with the deposits in the chimney will destroy a terra cotta liner very quickly.

I've found all kinds of things ending up on GFCI protected circuits. I don't think there's anything wrong with an interior light on one, just an occasional nuisance.