Inspectorjoe

No voice recorder, Rob? I couldn't live without mine. And away from inspections, it's great for recording concerts: https://www.box.com/s/28f2440e72ffe4242e6a

Flashlight ring and magnetic closure camera pouch on my belt, screwdriver and receptacle tester in my left pants pocket and voice recorder in my shirt pocket. The rest of my tools stay in an open-top bag that I leave in a central place on the floor that I'm on.

Rusting out is plausible, but I think I'll put my money on Professor Kibbel with this one. Covering over built-in gutters never occurred to me. Thanks, Mike, Tom & Bill. BTW Bill, the house was down toward your neck of the woods. Click to Enlarge 63.78?KB

This 1890 house has a metal roof (of which a few pieces were found across the road, courtesy of hurricane Sandy). The bottom 18 inches or so is asphalt shingles. I've never seen this done before. The closest to this I've seen is roofs in the Berkshires that have about two feet of metal at the bottom. I've always assumed that was done to combat ice damming. Anybody have an idea why the asphalt shingles were used? Click to Enlarge 73.34 KB Click to Enlarge 51.19 KB Click to Enlarge 44 KB Click to Enlarge 73.32 KB

Erby: Your sample reports are the only HomeGauge reports I've seen that didn't have the HG logo prominently displayed on them. I assumed that was something that couldn't be changed, so for that reason, I didn't even consider HG when report software shopping a few years ago. I decided to go with Inspect Express. I bought it nearly two years ago, but the task of setting it up, and also replacing the boilerplate with my own seemed so herculean a job, that I haven't done much beyond installing it and playing around with it a bit.

That looks like an interesting document. I'll have to read it in detail when I get a chance, as this is turning out to be my busiest month of the year. This paragraph got my attention: Each manufacturer requires a potential installer to take a several hour installation course. The installation courses are required as part of ANSI LC1, and are an attempt to insure only qualified installers make use of CSST. This arrangement should prevent CSST from being available at home improvement stores. I'm certified by a certain manufacturer to install their CSST products - certified, but decidedly unqualified. This past winter, the power vent on my boiler seized up. Who knew it required annual lubrication? While I was at the supply house picking up a new one, I saw a sign advertising an upcoming free CSST certification class. I thought, what the heck - I might learn something, so I signed up. The class started at 5 pm. The pizza was late, so everybody just shot the breeze till it arrived around 5:15. We finished up the pizza around 5:35, and the 'class' commenced. The 'instructor' (a sales rep for the company) passed out a fairly short test. He spent the next 15 minutes going through it, giving the answer to each question. The certification cards were attached to the test answer sheet. He told us to fill them out, detach the cards and hand in the sheet. It was written that you needed to be a licensed plumber to achieve certification and there was a space on the sheet for your license number. Someone said he didn't have a license. The 'instructor' said "use any number - put down your driver's license number". By 6 pm there were about 15 newly certified CSST installers set loose in the world.

A Google search found it right away on Metacafe. Posted August 21 - 1 view. I don't want to post the link without Rob's OK. That's a damn good video, Rob. Much better than my homemade one!

Acetylene generator.

I hate to get off topic, but ...... damn, that's a nice profile picture, Phillip. It never fails to bring a big smile to my face whenever I see it. You are a lucky, lucky man. Joe

You know, you could have gotten a far more dramatic picture by turning on all of the burners and one of the oven elements and then waiting a few minutes.

I may not have been very clear in my description. I've previously discovered that the term townhouse has different meanings in different areas. Around here, townhouse refers to the type of structure, rather than the type of ownership. A townhouse owner owns the land the unit is on and is responsible for exterior maintenance. The community the house with the high slab is located has a HOA, but the association is only responsible for landscaping, garbage removal and trash collection, as well as enforcing the rules, which mainly are to ensure uniformity with exteriors. That plays into the crux of the problem. The patio needs to be changed, but the HOA may not allow it. I think I'll call the buyer in a few weeks and ask how (or if) it was resolved. Townhouse/condo

I got it. I haven't looked at the survey yet, but this line in the email got my attention: "This survey, a role delineation survey, is a part of the process of defining the evolving role and responsibilities of a professional home inspector." I'm wondering what role the EBPHI has in determining the role and responsibilities of home inspectors.

John, I hadn't thought of cutting a section out and installing a grate. It's not an ideal solution, but it might be doable. One other complication that I didn't mention, but was visible in the second picture is that each patio serves two units. This evening I was back to pick up the radon monitor, so I took a little walk. Every unit in that community had the exact same patio with the same issue. I'm sure others are encountering the same problem. I can't see how the builder would ever be able to correct every one without going into bankruptcy. After 5 years, the streets don't even have the top layer of asphalt. Also, after 5 years, the ground rod for this unit is still not installed - and the sticker signing off on the final electrical inspection was on the panel: http://www.facebook.com/homeprolv?ref=h ... =1&theater

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I assumed removal was the only option, but held out hope there might be some miracle cure. There's probably about a 10% chance that patio is going to be corrected, but that's not my problem. Just two days ago, I got a call from an agent who was in a house I'd inspected a few weeks ago. She was trying to determine if rotted framing caused by a high patio had been repaired. I had recommended that the rotted framing be replaced, AS WELL AS THE PATIO. I asked her what was done with the patio, and of course it hadn't been touched. Now I know how my doctor must feel when he tells me I need to eat more sensibly and lose weight.

The patios are really small, John. A landing at the door would have eaten up close to a quarter of the square footage. I'm sure that's why they placed them so high. I don't think tearing it out is an option, at least not without jumping through a lot of hoops. Click to Enlarge 62.35 KB

Yesterday I had a 5 year old townhouse that had a small patio, with the surface at least 5 or 6 inches above the top of the foundation. The concrete was poured against the siding and trim. It was hard to miss a mushroom growing out of the trim under the sliding door. Surprisingly, the only damage visible at the interior was slight staining, a few rusty nails and a yellowish powdery substance (mold?) on the insulation vapor barrier. All of the units within sight had patios built the same way. I'm going to recommend that a contractor remove some of the trim and determine the damage, but I'm wondering what the options might be for permanently correcting this. It might be difficult or impossible to make major modifications to the patio because of the association rules. Does anyone with contracting experience have any suggestions? Click to Enlarge 36.89 KB Click to Enlarge 46.12 KB

Here's a closer look. I'd say the storm collars will definitely come in handy in a year or so (maybe less). Click to Enlarge 46.48 KB

Just when you think you've seen it all: Click to Enlarge 48.41 KB

Slow? Sometimes it seems more like glacial. I'm amazed at the utter cluelesness of some. Download Attachment: HINC1.jpg 114.64 KB Download Attachment: HINC2.jpg 103.04 KB

So that explains the heading, WTF:What's this, fungus?

"Most add a signal sender to the standard float gauge, with hall effect and potentiometer being the two most common. Hall Effect - The force that a magnetic field exerts on an electric current. Where gauges containing magnets are used, hall-effect sensors allow reading of the gauge position without physical contact. Potentiometer - A type of resistor that gives an electrical resistance proportional to the measured value." It turns out that they've been around since at least 2005 and a lot of different companies make them: http://www.propanecouncil.org/uploadedF ... toring.pdf

Up to this point, 60 others apparently haven't either! http://www.bergquistinc.com/pdf/2011/re ... llular.pdf

I'd recommend a guard rail at the top of the wall and not mention the idiotic gate setup.

Yesterday, I saw this device on a propane tank. It's a cellular dialer that monitors the level in the tank and alerts the supplier when it's getting low. It's the first time I've seen one. Are they common elsewhere? Click to Enlarge 48.04 KB

It's a comb ridge, and one side extends a bit above the other, as your roof does. They're pretty common on older roofs around here, but not nearly as common as galvanized metal ridges. The only water that could possibly leak in is what would hit it directly, and the overlap helps with that. Metal ridges are normally completely watertight, but metal ridges require more maintenance than a slate ridge. I'd expect to see a metal ridge on a 2005 roof. It looks like one of the nails is backing out.