Marc

It's hard to believe that this whole global warming scare was the product of a couple of incompetent scientists. In any case, I'm going to cast a wary eye at the next scientist who opens his mouth with something to say about the global environment. Marc

Rob has pretty much nailed it with his post. As the particulars of this issue are still in the discovery stage, no certified training or standardized testing procedure is yet available. Hopefully, that will change soon. In the meantime, the story of chinese drywall is unraveling. Marc

I'd like to hear from Caiomhin just what he thinks it would take to adequately train an accomplished home inspector to look for mold and how badly his liabilities would be elevated. Marc

Phillip, I've sent you an Email with some suggestions. Marc

Pardon my slow mind, but just so I understand you properly: You're working on this article to submit to a Realtor Association in your area for inclusion in a newsletter that will be mailed to all association members? Marc

This is the dust that was scooped out by hand from my clothes dryer with just the lower panel cover removed. It's that brown pile on the left. Not shown is another smaller pile of dust taken from the 3' long flexible vent pipe. I think I'll remove the drum and vacuum everything. Marc Click to Enlarge 53.63 KB

I'm with Michael in that the condensation is likely the result of sealing (draft) issues but I'd like to add the possibility of a significant issue with internal negative pressures. Sometimes the negative pressures developed can be a more significant contributor to a moisture intrusion problem than the sealing of wall openings. Marc

I'm taking my dryer apart TODAY to clean it. Hasn't been cleaned since......since.......Pooh Yie, hasn't been cleaned. Marc

Seems to me that attorney Nicaud decided to use the '1 year statute of limitations' to get inspector Chance off of the hook and it worked. I don't know whether the petition was frivolous or whether the foundation was actually in failure one year after Chance's inspection. It's good to see that this new law survived it's first challenge in court. Nicaud, I believe, came up with the language for that law. He has been on retainer for years by the State of Louisiana to represent the Board in legal issues and has attended most, if not all board meeting, so he's well informed of the technical side of home inspections. This puts him in a good position to fight for inspectors. I've spoken with him. He's not another 'Joseph Ferry'. He's shown that he will fight, as would Ferry, but he's also a very nice fella to talk to. Marc

A white conductor should not be used as an equipment grounding conductor and the unused knockouts should have a plug on them. I don't see much in the way of significant findings beyond these two mentions. The issue that you see might be a result of the differences between an idealistic view and a practical view. Something more substantial might win you the case, such as aluminum branch circuit conductors, ungrounded branch circuits, an electrical service entrance with an ampacity that is no longer adequate for the loads served, an insufficient number of general purpose outlets, a lack of electrical service to some countertop surfaces, etc. At 50 years old, there should be something, somewhere that you can throw at them. Marc

That part about Louisiana Law being partially modeled after the French is certainly correct. I use the contract designed by our state board, on which an attorney is a member. Marc

Most CO detectors do not annunciate until the concentration hits 50 ppm. 50 ppm is above the limit at which fire rescue personel in some states may enter a dwelling to rescue someone, unless they are equipped with their own breathing apparatus. The problem is the cost. The cost to manufacture a CO detector that can detect a lower ppm is too high to sell successfully on the residential market. That's what I learned several years ago from a presentation by Bacharach. Perhaps the technology has improved since. I mention this in reports on dwellings in which CO detectors are used to provide the primary defense against CO asphyxiation. Marc

Nope. Marc

It oxidizes the carbon, in much the same way that diatomic oxygen oxidizes wood in a wood fire. Of course, the ozone will oxidize the fur and clothing too if you have enough exposure to it. How'd you produce the ozone? Marc

The nearest experience I've had to that involved my bar-b-que pit. I don't know if you could call the accumulation creosote but even after closing it, the top half glowed red and I though I was gonna lose it. Marc

Are you saying that you could not find a single square inch of charred or blackened wood anywhere, however small? Marc

That really improves my understanding of the topic. Got to update some boilerplate. Thanks Michael. Marc

Hello Phil, Perhaps in Australia they are but in the USA, site built wood framed roofs are not designed from the standpoint of handling point loads of that magnitude or of any magnitude. They are designed to handle loads that are evenly distributed throughout the roof surface. Marc

I never heard of this one, but they're a dime a dozen and if they do contact me, I'll instantly add them to my blacklist at my website's Email server. Takes only a few minutes....or maybe I'll do it now. Thanks for the heads up, Marc

Makes sense Jim. That would make this installation in violation of the code. Marc

If the duct system has adequate capacity for the amount of furnace btu/hr installed then the consequence of excessive btu/hr is short cycles, not high limit triggers. I'd check supply air temperatures after it's been running for a while and compare it the manual to confirm that it isn't getting too close to the upper limit. If it is, the air flow through the furnace may be inadequate. If it's not, then I'd check the high limit switch by substitution (substitute a new one). If you hang around this forum for a while, there are other members with more experience than I who may post other suggestions. Marc

I've known connections to seal after a while but given the amount of corrosion present on this appliance, I'd write it up. Marc

I'm with you, Jim, 100%. All this talk about contractors claiming to improve system cooling efficiency (or latent heat removal) by increasing the condenser capacity in relation to the evaporator capacity is nothing more than an enormous lapse in good judgment. The design of HVAC systems is far more complex than any post on this forum that I've read has suggested. There is no better Rx for home inspectors and contractors to follow than to simply stick with the manufacturer's recommendations and defer any issues with system design to them. There's good contractors out there and there's bad ones. It's not good for us to stereotype other professions. Marc

When I was in college, 3 deaf friends and I went out for a night on the town (Rochester, NY). It was the middle of the winter, windows all rolled up and all 4 of us smoking a cigar for as long as we could each stand it just for the fun of it. None of us were regular smokers. I was the driver and the smoke was so dense that I had to lean forward as much as I could to see where I was going, no kidding. Cig smoke never bothered me. I don't know why. Marc

Les, I didn't think it got cold enough in SF for thermal bridging to manifest itself. According to my wife who's lived up and down the CA coast, SF doesn't get much, if any colder than coastal Louisiana where we live now. Of course, you can correct me on that. Marc