Inspectorjoe

Here's an online guide to architectural styles: http://architecture.about.com/od/periodsstyles/ig/House-Styles/index.htm Same site, different layout: http://architecture.about.com/library/bl-styles_index.htm

Oh, that. I assumed it was the standard twisted three conductor stuff that the utilities companies around here use for their service drops. You wouldn't have another picture of it, would you? Looking closely, it reminds me of really heavy stranded steel cable, the type they use on suspension bridges. The conductors are inside that? Never saw anything like it before.

Mike: By “enclosed service cable with a metal coveringâ€

I check every every fixture, uh, I mean every luminaire. If a bulb doesn't light, it gets noted in the report, but I don't bother to list the location: At least one light fixture is inoperative. This may simply be a bad bulb or it could be a bad fixture or wiring. It is beyond the scope of this inspection to determine why a fixture is inoperative. You should discuss this with the current owner. The same goes for switches. I'll flip every one to see if it does something. It's a rare house that doesn't have at least one mystery switch. One or more switches do not appear to control any devices. You should consult the current owner for more information.

Well, I did that bank barn conversion inspection on Tuesday. Since it was vacant and it was my only inspection that day, I decided to get there an hour ahead of the scheduled start time so I'd have some uninterrupted look-around time. I arrive to find the buyer and his agent already there. (Insert expletive here.) The agent comes out the back door by himself and tells me he's not staying. As he passes me, he stops and says "don't scare 'em". I just looked at him. After talking to the buyers a while, it became apparent that they had no idea what they were gettintg into as far as what that place needed both now and on an ongoing basis. .......... I did my best to scare them. Here's a link to a sanitized copy of the report if anyone is interested (I know I like to read other people's reports): http://inspectvue.com/Public/Arick%20Amspacker/666moneypit/666moneypit123.pdf Please exuse the typos. I normally proofread pretty carefully and catch them, but I was pretty glassy eyed after finishing this one.

Thanks Bill. I knew you'd be the man with the answers. I feel better now, knowing the inspection should be more straighforward than I first thought. I can't wait to find out what's up with the South gable end wall. What should be a massive stone wall is sided with wood and has ground to roof fixed windows. I'm for adaptive re-use too, but so many of these barn conversions make me cringe. Once in a while I'll drive by one that was done with an obvious sensitive eye for keeping the exterior as original as practically possible. Those seem to be few and far between. It sure is, Tom. Can't say I ever heard of the disposal method that's used in Bill's neck of the woods, but in PA, the siding can go right to a standard landfill. Ideally, it should be removed by hand without breaking it, but you used to be able to just knock 'em down with the siding still attached as long as you kept it wetted down to prevent any fibers from becoming airborn. I don't know if that's still the case though.

I have an inspection booked for Tuesday of what the buyer described as a two story house built in 1820. Since I was passing not too far from it on Thanksgiving Day, I thought I’d better check it out to make sure it isn’t a log house, since Marion Allen won’t cover log structures. It turned out to be a Pennsylvania bank barn that was converted to a residence. I%20love%20barns,%20and%20I’m%20very%20comfortable%20inspecting%20them.%20%20My%20logo%20has%20a%20barn%20in%20it.%20%20http://www2.enter.net/photoalbum/data/natan/42936.JPG Ironically, the barn in my logo is within sight of this one. What I’m not comfortable with is the thought of inspecting this conversion. Unless a barn is full of hay or stored crap, the entire structure is pretty much open to view. That won’t be the case here. Also, the loads on the structure are way different from what it was designed for. The live loads are much less and the dead loads are much more. I’m sure there are many potential pitfalls with inspecting this. Does anyone (BK) have any experience with inspecting a conversion like this (BK)? Anything in particular to watch out for? On a side rant, I hate to see such beautiful structures bastardized like this, although if the alternative is a knockdown, I guess I’m OK with that. I can envision a day here in the Lehigh Valley when there are no more barns left in their original state. I have a strange, kind of sad hobby. I photograph old barns that are slated for destruction. Thanksgiving day, I discovered a new one less than a mile from the conversion barn. I’ll be heading over there at 6 am tomorrow with a flashlight and camera. As you might gather from the picture, it looks like it’s gotta be this Sunday or never. http://static.flickr.com/122/304483872_f8b98abd99_o.jpg

OK Scott, I won't tell you that. Btw, do you have any idea of what these thin, rod-like metal things attached to the chimney pots might be? [] Download Attachment: DSC00950.JPG 130.44 KB At least they got close on that one. Now this is bad: Download Attachment: IMG_0147.JPG 109.92 KB No knee walls, but there are fullsize collar ties (which is somewhat of a rarity around here). They were end nailed. You can see a nail in the closer one. Yikes! I didn't even see that. I can't imagine why they'd sister two pieces of 3/4" stock. I sure had my hands full today. I spent about an hour on the roof alone. Lovely workmanship for $1,800,000 eh? Download Attachment: IMG_0117.JPG 134.07 KB

I had a one year warranty inspection today. Several of the rafters were shimmed at the ridge beam. I couldn't see the endbearing because insulation blocked that area and the path to it. The house had a really complex roof structure, all conventional rafters. This section was maybe 10-12 feet wide but the rafters were easily 20 feet long. There's a slate roof on the plywood sheathing. Is this a problem? If so, what's the fix? Thanks, Download Attachment: IMG_0146.JPG 126.01 KB[/img]

Receptacle orientaton isn't something I've ever commented on. Every once in a blue moon, I find the switched receptacles in the bedrooms have been oriented in the opposite direction of the non-switched ones. That's a nice gift from the installer. Mike, take the child saftey covers off with a tester prong and you'll save your fingertips.

Malban: You would never say that something should be replaced? Even a leaking water heater, a furnace with a hole in the heat exchanger or a roof that's obviously shot? No, you're not "the specialist", but it doesn't take a specialist to make that call. I don't know why not estimating the cost of repairs would figure into it. They're two separate things. If you don't supply cost estimates (which I think is a wise choice) you can certainly still say something needs replacement. I think that not doing that is a disservice to your client. If I were a buyer and got that from my home inspector, I'd be kind of pissed.

Well Craig, I'd have to say no .... mostly for reasons unrelated to the program. I didn't see any organization affiliation in your profile. Me, I'm ASHI all the way. Lorne Steiner, Inspectvue's developer and Porter Valley Software's owner has said disparaging things about ASHI in the past. When confronted about it at Inspection World a few years ago, he defended what he said and actually got belligerent about it. He was given the title 'NACHI Director at Large". He gives Nachi members discounts. No such discounts are offered to ASHI members. The program itself is very flexible, but the price of that flexibility is a very steep learning curve. It's advertised that one can use it without having any prior computer experience. Well, that's a crock of bull$#!+. It's also about the most expensive program out there, as far as I can tell. Then you have the annual 'maintenance fee'. Paying that allows you to upload your reports to their server. There, they're vulnerable to an astonishing security flaw. I accidentally discovered that I can access other inspectors reports on the server - no hacking involved (not that I would know the first thing about how to hack into something). Not only can I read them, but it would be possible to delete them, or even replace them with something else. Hey, DevWave sounds pretty good!

Mel: I'd be glad to go over it. Three years ago, I switched from the HomeBook to Inspectvue (after spending nearly a year completely replacing the baaad boilerplate that came with it). email is natan@enter.net

Just when I thought I'd seen it all, I'm proven wrong. Things weren't any better at the top. Kind of looks like it could have been used as a set in the movie "Jackass II.

PA certainly has a lot of old barns. Unfortunately, with the neverending flood of migrants from NY & NJ, here to the Lehigh Valley, the remaining ones are being dismantled or just plain razed at a dizzying pace. Sometimes they're converted to dwellings, but I often wonder if they would be better off gone, rather than be bastardized. My hobby is photographing old barns that are in danger of being lost. Here's one where I wasn't quite quick enough. http://static.flickr.com/37/109791229_3bd025d5dd.jpg My company logo has a barn in it. It's taken from a photo I took about 10 years ago and is done in the style of Eric Sloane. So far at least, that scene still exists. http://www2.enter.net/photoalbum/data/natan/42936.JPG Here's a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story: In 1981, my girlfriend introduced me to a really cool, abandoned, turn-of-the-century estate. Among many unusual things, it had a boathouse and gazebos built from trees and saplings. Also, throught the woods that were once farm fields, were fence posts made of slate. I was intrigued by these fence posts and wanted one, but the logistics of getting one out of the ground and getting it to a vehicle seemed close to impossible. Fast forward to 1996, when I bought my current house. The seller asked if I'd mind if he left some fence posts in the garage. I took a look at them and saw that they were slate fence posts. I asked where he got them from. He said he and his son got them a few years ago. They were the same ones I pined for 15 years earlier. What do you suppose the odds were of that happening?

OK, then how about this one: http://www.oldemillyoga.com/OMDirections.htm For many years, this building was The Book Barn. It closed a few years ago and is now a yoga studio. The many rainy afternoons I spent there are now only a cherished memory. It's a few miles to the East of me, in Tatamy. I didn't mention it previously because it's somewhat more than an hour's drive from Columbia. I can't argue with that. I can think of more than a handful just within a 10 mile radius of me. There is another used book store housed in a barn that's located nearby, but it's not in anyone's backyard.

Is this the place? http://www.sellbooks.net/MillPage.html'>http://www.sellbooks.net/MillPage.html Ron Lieberman Antiquarian Bookseller Kinzers, PA http://www.sellbooks.net/

Jim & Mike, thanks for the speedy replies. No, I didn't know that. I thought #1 was the top grade. Is it because they're only 1/2", or is there a better grade than #1? The nails are securing the top row of shakes that are covering the bottom of the sidewall flashing. Do you mean the nails should be driven just below the flashing? If so, I still have the question of whether the heads should be sealed as on an asphalt shingle roof (which is done maybe half the time around here). http://www.flickr.com/photos/inspectorjoe/213584257/ Solid plywood decking. No, I couldn't tell. The roof sheathing is plywood. http://static.flickr.com/66/213969110_b3c1095fd3_o.jpg Funny you should mention that. There are two area where I guess they couldn't how to figure out how to form and attach the counter flashing, so they just left it off. BTW, the house is finished; the buyer moved in two weeks ago. http://static.flickr.com/93/213972967_d0f0ca9a3b_o.jpg The felt looked like 30 lb. I have no idea if here are battens on the plywod, but I'd surely bet against it. I saw that on the home page. Even though I'm only 60 miles from Philly, I think I'll pass. I almost never see shake roofs. Slate - now that's a different story. Yes, it's a very pricey house. The kitchen has three friggin' garbage disosals! The double sink in the island has one in each side, and a sink along a wall has one. I have to admit, it was nice having an elevator to use when going up and down between the basement HVAC units and the thermostats. So many times I see square footage at the expense of quality, but this place had top quality materials used throughout (except the roof of course), and the overall workmanship was good. I can't understand how it ended up with such a crappy roof job. Thanks again,

I see maybe one shake roof a year, and that's usually a small decorative one, typically on a storefront. Today I had new construction (7,500 sf), roofed entirely with Certi-Split #1 grade, 24" X 1/2" cedar shakes. There are a multitude of installation errors and poor workmanship, likely only some of which I caught. Among them: damaged shakes, exposed nails, missing nails, roofing felts imporoperly placed, cupped shakes, a valley flashing too short, not enough overhang at the drip edge and rake, staples on the surface, too much exposure and the joints in adjoining rows less that 1.5" apart. In addition to some exposed nails in the field, the nails securing the shakes covering the sidewall flashing are not sealed. Do they need to be on a shake roof? The flashings at the dormers look like absolute crap. I'm sure the concealed flashings are worse. I'm clueless on these should be flashed, but I'm pretty certain it's not like this. How bad is this? At two places, a gutter is open at the end, and cut to fit the contour of the roof, right at the bottom of a valley. Some water flowing down the valley is bound to end up in the gutter, but a lot will flow between the gutter and the roof. Get a little debris at the downspout, and water is going to drain out those open ends. This arrangement can't be right. Just how bad are these issues and what would a prudent recommendation to the buyer be? I'm thinking along the lines of recommending the manufacturer's rep look at it. Pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inspectorjoe/sets/72157594234550531/ Thanks,

I see it quite often too. If there are no other high vents, I recommend correction even if there aren't any signs of it causing a problem. Here's my boilerplate: The sheathing at the ridge vent is not fully cut. This will hamper airflow through the vent. A qualified roofer should cut sufficient openings in the sheathing. If the attic also has through the roof or gable vents, and there is no mildew, no black marks around the roofing nails and no sap droplets on the framing, I recommend monitoring the attic for signs of poor ventilation. I know some here claim to never, ever use that weasel word 'monitor', but I don't have a problem using it. There's nothing wrong with saying that something's not right, it's not causing a problem now, but just might in the future, so keep an eye on it.

I'm going to go out on a short limb and say it's a plain ol' wood-fired wall oven. I saw some similar things a few months ago at Hancock Shaker Village in Massachusetts. If anyone is interested, here are some more pics I took there last President's Day. http://inspectorjoe.photosite.com/HancockShakerVillage

Gesundheit!

They're brand new cars awaiting delivery. There are two of those 20 story towers at Volkswagen's Autostadt facility in Wolfsburg, Germany. Autostadt is a sort of a combination car factory/theme park. From the web site: Your new car is waiting! Anyone considering buying a new car usually does a lot of careful research before coming to the realization: this is it! At Autostadt, we think the moment in which you receive your new car should be just as special. And this is exactly what we offer. At Autostadt, collecting your new car is an event in itself. The best idea is to begin that special day with a relaxing trip to Autostadt followed by a tour until the big moment arrives: In a fully automated procedure, your new car is brought down to you from one of the 20-story Car Towers. Large signboards in the Customer Center show you when your turn has come. Then, you're handed the keys, your picture is taken, the glass doors open and your brand-new car appears. You're all set to go. You can see the exteriors on the home page: http://www.autostadt.de/info/cda/main/0,3606,2~1,00.html

You have a good heart, Les. There are times I'd like to do like you, but here in PA, a buyer would need the inspection report to back out of a deal. Before a buyer can have a house inspected, they need to enter into an agreement of sale and put down a substantial deposit. There ought to be a special place in hell for people that buy a piece of crap, do a cheap cosmetic makeover and throw it on the market, hoping to hook a starry-eyed first time buyer - a buyer thinking she's buying a house that won't need any work (or cash) until far down the road. Some are near tears when I break the news to them. I've had maybe three like that so far this year. One really got to me. The buyers were both disabled vets living in Florida. They didn't travel the thousand miles to attend the inspection. The wife, who was handling the arrangements, was absolutely devastated. What really irked me was that I think that it was the listing broker's own property (he's also a part time flipper). After he put it back on the market, he again advertised it as: "Completely redone. All new kitchen and bath. All new interior. Nothing to do but move in!" To top it off, he touts his agency as being run on "Christian Principles" and uses a cross in his advertising. Like I said, there ought to be a special place in hell ....... Here's some pictures of the "completely redone" place: http://www.flickr.com/photos/inspectorjoe/sets/72057594071027450

I always assumed automatic setback thermostats were a fairly recent invention, dating back to maybe the first 70's energy shortage. I was wrong. I found one (abandoned in place) that's nearly 70 years old. http://static.flickr.com/49/116640327_f704a9bd11_o.jpg