Inspectorjoe

It would also make a dandy coat rack: http://www.waterheaterrescue.com/pages/ ... /ruud.html

It must be a southern thing. http://www.11alive.com/rss/rss_story.as ... yid=151504

How do you read a PDF cover-to-cover? You need the paperback version for that! Click to Enlarge 40.86 KB My paperback version is 7 years old. It doesn't have the Introduction by Glenn A. Stanton. That alone makes the download a great resource. Plus, I can't do a word search with a paperback. Thanks for finding it and sharing.

That's pretty nasty looking. What's the strap-looking thing that's pulling the anchor out? I bought Inspecting Flat Roofing from Gerry Aubrey at the Tri-State seminar. It's excellent. I wish I'd bought all three of his DVD's. You didn't happen to pick one up, did you? I'm guessing that a pretty big percentage of the roofs you see are flat.

They also make great sport. I've entertained myself for many an hour by swatting them out of the air with a tennis racket.

The underlying trim material is XPS, but it's covered with a synthetic stucco. The surface texture is different than that of the surrounding wall and when you press on it moves and then readily springs back. Click to Enlarge 88.19 KB

[quote name=hausdok ]Where the hell are all of the accessory beads and expansion joints in that 3-coat? Are you sure it's 3-coat and not EIFS? The only EIFS is the trim around the windows and some doors. That's fairly common around here. Nice installation, eh? Click to Enlarge 59.14 KB Click to Enlarge 57.1 KB Click to Enlarge 44.54 KB

I don’t recall from the original inspection and I didn’t check that when I went back. If it follows typical practice around here, odds are the stringers aren’t on a footing. That would probably work, but I’d think that you’d also need to add some reinforced blocking under the deck so the header can butt tightly against it. I was looking through the Simpson strong-tie catalog the other night and found several hangers that might be adaptable. I’m going back tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll hear that her contractor is proposing a reasonable fix such as support posts and/or reinforcement at the header. On a side note, I just got a call from the seller an hour ago. She informed me that her bedroom ceiling is wet (we’ve had over 6 inches of rain over the past two days). I asked if she had the problems with the stack vent flashings were corrected. She didn’t know what I was talking about. Coincidentally, that section of the report is on the page that I posted above, in post #5. [:-banghea

Here's what I mentioned about that in the report. Download Attachment: 9-23.pdf 119.62 KB

Yesterday I got an email from the call center about a buyer who called saying water is leaking through a window and it needs to be replaced at a cost of $5,000. Also, her contractor said the deck is "warped" and needs to be replaced. I did the inspection on the 9 year old house last July. The buyers were in Canada and didn't attend the inspection. The sellers were not home. I was alone at the inspection, so I wasn't distracted by anyone. I went over yesterday evening to take a look at things. The exterior is masonry stucco with EIFS accents. Here's what I wrote in the report. which also included 16 pictures of related problems. There are various cracks with staining, along with some installation issues at the stucco and the EIFS accents. The masonry stucco is a layer of protection against the elements for the building structure. There is a possibility of hidden damage, which may not be readily visible and is not possible to determine during this visual inspection. Further evaluation should be done by a qualified stucco inspection specialist. See Article 2C.12 for more information. Here is a picture of the exterior of the window taken at the inspection and an interior shot taken last night. At the inspection, I did put a ladder up to the window at the exterior, but didn't see any problems at that particular location. Click to Enlarge 45.49 KB Click to Enlarge 31.86 KB The window is about 12 feet above the foyer floor. Not seeing any issues with it at the exterior, I didn't put a ladder up to it at the interior. The seller admitted right away that there were objects on the ledge that probably blocked my view. She also offered that the stucco inspector, the builder and Pella are going together to pay for the replacement cost, with the seller kicking in some money (she didn't say how much). I think I'm justified in disclaiming any responsibility for this. Does anyone else have a differing opinion? The real reason I'm posting is a deck stair attachment issue. I clearly missed it. I can't understand how. It really has me rattled. In well over 2,000 inspections, this is the first time I've had a callback over something I missed that was clearly visible and present during the inspection. Obviously, I want to take care of it. It's hard to get from the buyer just what her contractor recommended as a fix. The warping issue turned out to be several slightly warped pickets, the worst one creating a 4 3/8 space between the adjoining one. OK, I'll pay for a new picket. On the stair attachment issue, she was wavering between the contractor saying the stairs need to be replaced to the whole deck needing replacement. Clearly, the attachment is wrong. The stair unit itself, as well at the deck itself are OK. The problem is the header at the top of the stringers doesn't butt fully against the rim joist of the deck. Part of it is unsupported and is rotating away from the stringers. The top tread is one riser height below the deck surface. Again, I have no idea how I missed something so obvious. I don't have any real world experience with framing decks. Does anyone see a way to salvage the stairs? I have no problem at all paying back the cost of the inspection, but this would be a bad time to have to come up with the cash for a total stair replacement. Thanks in advance for any help. Click to Enlarge 45.4 KB Click to Enlarge 38.53 KB Click to Enlarge 37.04 KB Click to Enlarge 45.35 KB Click to Enlarge 43.49 KB Click to Enlarge 27.87 KB

I've seen that guy's finished work a few times! Gee, I wish I had a camcorder 30 years ago. I can't tell you how much fun it is to stand on a rotary floor buffer, (like you were on a Segway), and pull the trigger switch. The tricky part is not getting hurt when the cord wraps around you. Oh, the fun we had during those all night floor refinishing parties back when I worked for a department store chain. Those were the days when I'd bring my Honda CX500 into their Easton store and ride it around inside, using the freight elevator to get to different floors. I never did get up the nerve (or the stupidity) to take it up the escalator.

For the time being at least, there's still an independent appliance dealer in town. I dropped in today (and did some refrigerator browsing while I was there). The owner confirmed that there's no prohibition on installing a range and dishwasher next to each other. He said the big box stores probably won't do it because they typically only want to do the most straight-forward, simple installations. I'm stopping at an Orange Apron tomorrow to hear it straight from the horse's mouth.

I got a call from a now-homeowner about an issue with her house that I inspected this past April. She decided to replace her aging electric range and dishwasher. Two different big box stores were ready to sell her new ones, but when they found out the range and dishwasher were next to each other, said they couldn't install them because "it's against code". I asked the buyer what code they were referring to, but she didn't ask them. I have never heard of such a thing. I spent over half an hour looking online, but the only thing I found were a few pictures of recent installations of ranges and dishwashers installed side by side. Maybe I was using the wrong search terms. I also downloaded dishwasher and range installation instructions from several manufacturers. There were no prohibition on side by side installations there. Has anyone ever heard of this prohibition?

Why use either? Put everything in your boilerplate and when compiling the report, delete what doesn't apply to that particular house. I inspected the accessible and visible vegetation, grading and surface drainage, and retaining walls that could likely have an adverse affect on the building. I inspected the adjacent entryway walkways patios, and driveways. You may want to drop accessible and visible before vegetation. Other than roots, I can't imagine what vegetation that could have an impact on the building wouldn't be accessible and visible.

I don't see a problem stating what you inspected. I do it differently though - I describe the different components, even the ones not required by the ASHI SoP, e.g.: There is an asphalt driveway. See Article 1S.02 for more information. There are concrete walks. See Article 1S.16 for more information. There is a block paver patio. See Article 2A.03 for more information. The articles referred to are contained in Larry Reavis' The User-Friendly Home. I give each buyer a copy.

Whoa! I don't think I could sleep in that house knowing that thing was down in the basement.

I can't for the life of me understand what you mean by "easing electrical panel covers down to the floor". When I take a deadfront off, I remove all but two screws, loosen those remaining two, then push against the cover while I remove them. Then I grasp the cover by the edges, take it off and place it on the floor. No easing involved.

Have you tried ebay? Unless it's a really short-lived model, you should be able to find one. I've been using the same Olympus DS-330 since early 2004. It's been through more than 1300 inspections, including countless hours in a soaking-wet-with-attic-sweat front shirt pocket. It doesn't look particularly rugged, but the control buttons are rock solid. Since it's the only critical piece of equipment that I don't have a backup for, I decided to see what was available on ebay. I was floored to see the prices they were going for. The several that were available had between 6 days and three hours to go and had bids between $133 and $145 dollars. I don't think I paid more than $170 for mine new, six and a half years ago.

I certainly would, but what does having kids have to do with it? With the wires 17-20 feet above the ground, I'd think an adult would be more likely to make contact.

No, the furnace is in the basement and it's vented though the wall. Around here, Cat IV furnaces usually aren't used in attics because of the chance of the condensate freezing. When they are used, sometimes an insulated 'room' is built to enclose them.

I don't recall, John. I doubt I figured it out. I just looked at the report and my only comment was that they are to close to the windows. I don't know of any prohibition on the return bend. I don't know if I ever saw another one on a stack vent. Maybe someone here knows why you would use it.

I've never seen it done like that. I occasionally see something like this: Click to Enlarge 26.36 KB In a cold climate the restriction can allow frost to build up and plug the opening. Here's a low rent version: Click to Enlarge 53.21 KB Click to Enlarge 47.03 KB I'm still scratching my head over that one. The best I can figure is the vent is too small and the builder slipped the bigger piece over it to fool the muni inspector.

Two different beasts. Vacuum break device for hose bibs: Click to Enlarge 13.09 KB Freeze proof hose bib: Click to Enlarge 13.77 KB Marc Thanks Marc! Now that you show a photograph of each, I have seen them both. I must admit, though, that I thought they were merely different versions of the same thing. I did not realize that one was freeze proof only. [:-graduat No, it's not freeze proof only. That frost free hose bib has a vacuum breaker built into it: Click to Enlarge 10.22 KB The brass colored device is to retrofit an existing hose bib with back flow prevention. A nearby township requires they be installed on non vac-breaker equipped bibs before they'll issue a Certificate of Occupancy. On thing I've noticed with the screw-on type is that they very often don't allow a frost free bib to drain. You need to push the little plastic piece inside the outlet to the side for the water to drain out. I demonstrate this to the buyer, but it's unlikely they remember it when it's needed.

You know you're too fat when you exceed the weight limit of a covered bridge - and you're on foot. Click to Enlarge 83.69 KB "It was sagging before I walked across it ...... honest!"

Yes, they are ASHI approved. Maybe I'll see you in Pittsburgh next year. Since the Hudson Valley seminar went away, I've wanted to replace it with the Pro-ASHI seminar. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to justify it for the same reasons Terry outlined. I'm in PA, but Pittsburgh is on the other side of the state, 300 miles away.