Inspectorjoe

Bill does know how to tow. He still has a CDL that he needed for a past career. His trailer and tractor were brand new when I took that picture 4 and a half years ago. He brought it over to my place to dig out behind a failed retaining wall. I suggested he might want to play with it for a while before taking it out on a job. [:-devil] He had the trailer custom built. It's been working out just fine. Last year he bought a stump grinder attachment for the tractor. I said to him "gee, Bill, maybe you ought to practice on something before you take it out on a job. I have a stump you can try it out on" I can't wait to see what he buys next. Click to Enlarge 88.73 KB Click to Enlarge 75.15 KB

Amazingly, no, and to make things worse, it's coupled with a 4 speed automatic. It only puts out 138 HP. That's less than your 2003 Baja. I can't imagine that they won't be offering something bigger in the next year or two. That tiny engine would have to be a deal killer for a lot of buyers. I'm looking forward to driving one to see just how underpowered it might be. It's probably something that I could adjust to. I've gotten kind of spoiled with my mini van and its 3.0 liter V-6. It's only my second non-4 cylinder vehicle. My first car had a 302 V-8, but between 1977 and 2003 all of my vehicles were manual transmission/4 cylinder. I don't need 5,000 pounds of vehicle to get to and from inspections. You can do a lot with 4 cylinders in a small vehicle. When I was in my late teens and early 20's I towed a 21 foot boat with a 40HP outboard behind my VW beetle. A contractor friend of mine doesn't own a pickup truck. For years he's used 4 cylinder Jeep CJ-7's pulling trailers. Here's his Kubota-hauling rig: Click to Enlarge 75.95 KB Chad, I looked up those Hakkapeliitta's. Man, they don't look like any snow tire I've ever seen (but then I don't recall seeing a snow tire since I was in my late teens). The tread is so aggressive, it looks like it could reach out and bite you. They are pricey, but I could probably get a number of winters out of them. I'd have them mounted on wheels, so I could wait for the first snow of the year to put them on. Around here, that's often well into December. They'd come off at the end of March.

Marc: You might be interested in the Nissan NV. The high roof model has well over 6 feet of headroom inside and it's probably about $10,000 less than the Sprinter. http://www.thenissannv.com/ Kurt: Yeah, one thing I really miss about the Frontier is the 4WD. My Mazda absolute sucks in the snow. I've already gotten stuck on level ground. On just wet pavement, it's easy real easy to spin the wheels when starting out. I've been reading a lot on line about winter traction. Supposedly, a set of 4 snow tires with the right rubber compound on a front wheel drive vehicle can give you as much traction (and certainly as much control) as a 4WD vehicle with mediocre all season tires.

I've been seeing more and more Ford Transit Connects on the road lately. They are typically used by plumbing, HVAC and appliance repair companies. They're tiny, but make good rolling billboards being slab-sided and most sport a graphics wrap. I used to drive a Nissan Frontier with a cap and ladder rack, but sold it in 2003 after I got T-boned and bent the frame. Since then I've had a Mazda MPV mini van. The mini van is more versatile and pleasant to use, but I miss having a ladder rack. I've been relying on 4 Little Giants. Using the really big one is getting old, and it's only a matter of time before I lose control of it and do some major damage to something. This year, I think I need to get a vehicle that will allow me to carry extension ladders again. One thing that kept the Transit Connect off my list of possibilities is that it's so darn short. It couldn't possibly be good for carrying ladders. It turns out I was wrong. I found a cool drop down rack that lets you carry a 28' ladder. So now the Transit is at the top of the list. The only big downside to the Transit is that it's only available with a 2.0 liter engine and 4 speed automatic transmission. Acceleration is very anemic. On the plus side, gas mileage is very good. Has anybody else been considering getting a Transit Connect? http://www.edmunds.com/ford/transit-connect/2011/ http://www.inlad.com/doubledropdownladd ... mentid=738

Jason: I see that emb4 has template websites that you can customize yourself. You might want to see if you can convert the site they did for you to a template site. That way you have total control of the content. After all, you are ultimately responsible for it. Right now, your About page has the same content as at least a dozen other emb4 sites that I found through a Google search. You want your About page to be about you, not a generic inspector. One thing that was added to yours that the other sites don't have is :"you benefit from over 8 years in inspection service". How is that, when you say you're just starting out? I'm probably not one who should be giving advice on websites. I'm still using a now-obsolete one that I acquired when I bought my company over a year ago. I did find a top notch designer that I know will give me an outstanding site, but I don't have the thousands of dollars it's going to cost. I think a flawless, professionally done web site is important, so I'll limp along with the current one until I can get it done right. Good luck to you Jason. PS - You've already done one of the best things someone just starting out can do ...... You found The Inspector's Journal. Soak up as much as you can of the incredible amount of collective knowledge found here. I know I do.

Jason: You're basing your stats on the inspectors your wife "uses", not the facts in our area (I'm no more than 15 miles away from you). Around here, as Bill said, most inspectors don't do septic. BTW, here's something you'd probably want to know. On the Amerispec Specialty Services page, much of the info and links are the same as yours. In fact, the septic info, as well as the water testing info is exactly the same, word for word. Also, the radon links are identical. http://www.amerispec.com/inspectionserv ... vices.aspx http://comfortspecpa.com/specialty-services.html#water It's hard to believe that a company as big as Amerispec (owned by ServiceMaster) would plagiarize from your website, which is probably pretty new. You might want to alert your attorney about this. Copyright infringement (especially when involving a large company) can be pretty serious. It's a good thing you have this at the bottom of your page: © 2011 ComfortSpec Home Inspection Services - All Rights Reserved

Provision for a future water softener.

I don't get into the 'why' of it. The ____ does not have a grounded receptacle near it. Grounded receptacles are needed for some appliances, including this one. You should have a qualified electrician install the appropriate wiring and receptacle(s) as needed.

I ran across this cool video on Youtube. It's a 1936 promotional video with the soundtrack music performed by the Detroit Philharmonic Orchestra. It's so engrossing that when it ends, you don't realize that 27 minutes have passed. [utube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzJ_Tfic2FA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344">

I'm sure those of us who were trained by Dallas Jones still remember the knock, knock at the critical areas of the course material. It certainly helped me pass the NEHA exam, which I found to be much harder that the NHIE.

It's the hot water supply equivalent of a perpetual motion machine.

Around here, they run them to the basement. I've never seen one terminate in a garage. I'd recommend it be moved for two reasons: flame spread and carbon monoxide entry.

It's none of my business, it's off topic, I don't know your situation and you certainly didn't ask for advice, but I can't imagine that I'm the only one who was a bit aghast when reading that. This might be one time to not multi-task, Mike.

I give a copy of the ASHI SoP at the inspection. I buy them from ASHI. The last time I bought them, the cost was $15.00 for a pack of 50. I doubt that you could print them yourself for that price.

I'm not sure what that table is for, but this is part of the disclaimer at the top: Disclaimer: IRS Collection Financial Standards are intended for use in calculating repayment of delinquent taxes. It doesn't seem to be a table you'd want to use anyway. Unless you have almost no work, the deductions would be only a fraction of what you could expense by deducting your actual mileage. The (outdated) IRS rules are in this publication starting on page 14. I'm a DBA too (been meaning to change that to an LLC for 10 years now, but that's another story). I use my personal vehicle for work and deduct the actual business related mileage. I don't recall exactly what the figure was for last year, but it was probably around 8 or 9 thousand dollars. My next vehicle will be a 'company vehicle', used exclusively for business. Then, I can deduct all costs and won't need to keep track of mileage.

"The snow melted later the same day", in rochester NY? You crack me up.

That's about as much as is visible. They are in a few randomly occurring areas. Of course, they're only visible because the mortar popped off. Who knows what's beneath the intact areas. On another note, aside from the fact that you couldn't easily remove the mortar to repoint those spots, I'd think that long term, the steel would continue to rust and cause problems.

The 1956 house is wood frame with brick veneer. There were a few areas where the mortar has popped off, revealing rusting steel in the joint. They're unusual looking joints, but look original. The steel looks to be too heavy to be used as a tie. Can anybody ID this? Click to Enlarge 70.77 KB Click to Enlarge 56.77 KB

I can't say exactly how long it takes me to do a report since I've never sat down and done one from start to finish without stopping - often stopping several times. An educated guess would be (if I didn't stop), 3-3.5 hours for an average sized house in average condition. That's way too much, but not only haven't I been able to reduce it, but it's been growing. The main time consumer is adding pictures. I know I take and include way too many, but the number is slowly increasing, not decreasing. In addition to pictures of major and safety problems, I usually include pictures of most minor problems. I also include pictures of places the buyer won't see first-hand, such as the roof, attic and crawl spaces. One upside to including so many pictures is that I get very few calls after the inspection requesting clarification. I doubt if I get more than one call in 20 inspections. I have an very archaic and time consuming method of adding pictures. I download them to the 'My Picture' file, go through them, culling out any unneeded duplicates, lighten or darken a few that might need it and annotate a very few that might benefit from it. Then I go through them again, writing down a description and the picture number. Then, when I insert them into the report, I cross them off the list. Yes, I know it's extremely inefficient, bit I'm comfortable with it and I'm confident that nothing will be forgotten. I attached a PDF of a photo worksheet if anyone is in need of a laugh. Download Attachment: Chickenscratch.pdf 82.05 KB To collect data at the inspection I use a voice recorder and pictures. I download the voice notes to the computer and play it back though medical transcription software, controlling it with a foot pedal. I type about as fast as you can using two fingers. I'm working on changing that. My software is Inspectvue, but not for long. I bought Inspect Express a month ago, but haven't done anything with it yet, other than downloading it. I really do need to stop procrastinating and jump headfirst into that project.

I was going to tack this on to the last music thread, but I couldn't find it. I have a friend up in Carbondale who told me his brother Dave is in a bluegrass band. For the longest time, he had been meaning to play a DVD of them for my wife and me, but it kept getting forgotten. This past Sunday my wife and I were at Joe & Barb's and Joe remembered the DVD. I was expecting that Dave's band, The Hickory Project, was a group of friends who got together and played for fun and maybe did a few shows at local carnivals. When the high def DVD started, I was blown away. It turned out that The Hickory Project is made up of world class musicians. This video is from a year ago. The show was only about 15 miles from my house, but I didn't know about it. The song was written by Joe's brother Dave (on banjo), about their grandfather's life in the mines. [utube] " type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="344"> The audio in that video isn't great, but it's about the best you could expect from a camcorder recording in the audience. You can listen to great quality audio of that performance here. You can download some concerts here. Within the past few days, my interest in bluegrass has expanded beyond Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs. I think I'm on a bluegrass kick!

2007 townhome = restrictive covenants Most likely gonna have to be a basement clothesline.

You've probably thought of these things already, but ...... Maybe it's a problem with the dryer. If not, there has to be an obstruction somewhere. An IR camera may not be of much help in finding it, because a blockage anywhere in the line would pretty much prevent exhaust discharge from even entering it. I'd start by checking for discharge at the exterior hood. If there's no discharge there, pull the dryer away from the vent line. If there's airflow, it's definitely an obstruction in the line. No airflow, means it's a problem with the dryer.

Maybe it's just me, but I still don't 't understand what you're talking about. Where are these open houses held? Who will be attending?

I'm not clear on what you're talking about. Is this a table that will be a set up at a listing open house? If so, will you be manning it, or just setting it up and leaving?

I assume you're sitting down ......... it was $28.76. That includes the $1.50 fuel surcharge and the $3.00 delivery area surcharge. What a racket! Maybe I ought to consider similar surcharges for inspections. Nah, in this crappy market, I'm afraid to raise my prices as it is. It would have been cheaper to send it Priority Mail. PACKAGE DETAILS Other Packaging 18.00" x 12.00" x 9.00" 15.00 lbs. (billed weight) CARRIER & SERVICE UPS Ground SHIP DATE Tuesday, January 4, 2011 EXPECTED DELIVERY DATE Tuesday, January 11, 2011 End of Day My address is in the box. BTW, I couldn't find one of the batteries. It was the older, smaller one that originally came with it. I might have thrown it out. Hope you get it working. Have fun with it!