John Kogel

To fix it he would have to cut the window. He'd have to buy a special saw blade for that. I wonder why he didn't just dig a hole in the ground?😀 I know, late to the party, but we do need to stay active.

The correct light switch with a builtin dimmer should supply only your ceiling fixture. It is typical to see split outlets with one side always hot and the other controlled by a normal light switch, especially in housing where the builders never installed a ceiling fixture. It is also typical to see where Mr. Handy has messed around with the outlets and fixtures.

We are seeing drone videos everywhere now. Realtors use them to get arial views of the property. This could be a foot in the door for a home inspector in the second decade of this century. I imagine You could offer cheap shots of the house, and I'm using the catch phrases liberally for those who read between the lines. Cheap shots, then foot in the door, because part of the roof nobody looks at is the back of the attic. So send your drone back there to clear out the cobwebs. When I was inspecting steady, I couldn't take the time to do droning, too. I used the pole camera a fair amount, especially for condo buildings when I couldn't get roof access, I'd find a window on the top floor. Drones of today seem to be quite sophisticated and if there's anything that gets a realtor's attention, sophistication is something we can all use to our advantage, y'all. 😎

Hope y'all hang in there for a while yet. Sorry to read about your stroke of bad luck, Mike. Keep walking as much as you can. Too bad about the Packard Studey but life goes on. The rest of that stuff is just stuff. It has not much value in the digital world of today. The valuables are what we all have between our ears. Take care of that and your family support group. Jerry, I had a triple bypass surgery in 2015, died for a couple of minutes in recovery, got better, sold our home and bought a better house, Spent 14 months building a rental unit that paid for itself in 2 years and is now providing a solid income supplement. Retirement is sweet. My wife helped me get back on my feet, starting with baby steps and progressing to more and more steps for the first 3 months. Now we ride bikes or E-bikes or walk every day. But I have been lucky too, to have good bones and joints. Take care of what you've got. Cheers.

Oops, I read your first post too quick. What I wrote above is not wrong, but your little tester is indicating worse than a simple hot and neutral reversed. Sorry, there is definitely an issue at that outlet, could be a broken neutral wire or something shorted to the outer shield. Get an electrician to check it out. That wiring is 75 years old and is overdue to be replaced. They might be able to run some new wiring in the basement or attic to minimize fishing behind the lath and plaster. It is not something to ignore or put off till some other time.

Hello Zach. When the BX wiring was installed there was no ground prong on power cords and outlets had two identical slots. So it is normal for black and white wires to be mixed up a bit. If the outlets were changed to new 3-prong types, good chance they were installed wrong. Somebody got the white wire energized and didn't see a problem with that, probably. It only became an issue when the polarized 3-prong outlets were put in. When you get a whole string of outlets in reverse, the first wrong one in the chain can be corrected and that should correct the polarity for all of them. This is a general statement because we can't see what you've got there. Old BX wiring should all be checked by an electrician. He can check for leakage from damaged insulation,. fire hazards, over-fused circuits, etc.

Speaking of stranded AL here's why bare stranded aluminum is not acceptable for connection to a grounding rod. At least that is the Canadian rule, must be copper. I had rigged up a subpanel in a shed on the edge of a patch of bush, and for the grounding, I used a loose chunk of bare Al stripped from a length of used triplex, the typical overhead feeder of 3 cables twisted together. About 10 years later, The bottom end was buried in damp leaves and debris. The end of the cable under the leaves had rotted completely away.

It's tricky, because when the authority comes knocking on his door, the neighbor will suspect you ratted on him. Maybe have the authority come out to your place to talk about drainage of your property, act dumb about the neighbor's mess. If there's trouble with your neighbor, you just assumed he had the necessary permits. You can't imagine doing all that work without permits. I have found that the best way to deal with the municipal authority is to ask before you act and get him helping you. He will suggest the best way to get the result and become your buddy instead of an adversary.

What Tom said, or if she's younger, ask her mother.

Of the different report programs I used, as I subbed for other inspectors and had to use their systems, I liked Home Inspector Pro the original version, which I told the others about but everyone has their own favorite. The HIP report was a simple pdf. file that could be attached to an email or printed if they had to have paper.. There were no additional fees for the use of HIP, just the one purchase price and no need to upload reports to the Cloud, What a pain that is when you're all over the map searching for a wifi connection, cellphone hotspot with flaky cell reception, sheesh, that takes time. I couldn't work with a tablet, too awkward to take up the ladder, and too fragile to drop. Poking at the screen with your finger like a 2-year old kid. 😛 Each report when I used my own system was a simple pdf file, I attached a copy to a friendly email greeting and off it went. I had no trouble writing a 14 page report as long as my laptop was in working order, in about an hour. I'd take simple notes during the inspection because that is the only way not to forget something. I used a normal camera with flash and zoom, loaded pics into a file folder, had the report already started with a cover page, and some standard comments from a prior search of the listing, so a few minutes to load pictures into each page and write up the defects. I'd have three hours before meeting with the clients, and if they were a little slow arriving. I'd often have the report ready for them. I could always show them roof, attic and crawl pictures on the laptop after a walkthrough of the house. Before sending, always check it again, and check notes and pics again, always.

If you ever get to inspect it, call for collision protection, concrete barriers or bollards. That door is a fire exit, out of the frying pan into the oncoming traffic.😬

Go around the house with a level, or on hardwood floors, a big marble. Set the marble of window sills, countertops, shelves etc. Normal for an old house on a slope to need leveling. That is why you hire someone to repair the foundation. The new foundation must be level when completed, otherwise the contractor has not done the job that was expected. So for him to suggest otherwise seems like a threat. Possibly they have encountered an unforeseen issue below the house, a rock outcrop, rot in the structure, something that will delay the repair, etc. Get more info or get someone you trust to inspect what they've done so far. Get a lawyer to look over your contract.

That's how Volvos were built back then, the proverbial brick shirt house on wheels 😄.

I guess that house is too tall to jack up and move. I inspected an older rancher that has one back corner carved off like that, too close to the sideline with the neighbor. The lot lines hit the road at an angle, and I imagine the builder measured his front corner and laid out the foundation from there. The alteration appeared to be recent and sloppy, probably by one angry home owner. Sometimes the owner can apply for and get a variance if he goes around and gets signatures from neighbors. Setbacks from a public road are a different matter, no tolerance there.

This is a crawlspace area to one side of the basement? Yes close it off from the living room floor and the basement, but it should have a couple of vents to the outdoors, with strong screens to keep rodents out. In some climates those vents are blocked off in the winter but opened to let dry air blow thru in the summer months. In really moist climates, a poly vapor barrier over the dirt and an electric baseboard heater on a thermostat is an excellent way to condition the air in the crawlspace. Costs a few dollars per month but might prevent a rotten subfloor. Good luck with the repairs, you will feel better and your floor will feel warmer as well.

A steel plate on top of the column will block termites from tunneling up the inner surfaces of those blocks. If termite blocking is not required by local codes, the owner is not strictly required to do it. A welding shop can cut a cap to fit and then a short screw jack can lift the weight off the pier for the install. The more time you spend in the crawlspace, the better.. Rig up a light and lay down some plastic mat or best is a concrete skim coat over poly. Then go in there once a year, to get the Xmas decorations maybe, and inspect those concrete blocks for termite tubes.

It is not a 'Deficiency', and I wouldn't even mention it. Straight up and down is correct, box attached solidly to a stud. Maybe the pic is rotated.

Anyone that's ever pushed that button was instantly vaporized. Meanwhile, life goes on and it still isn't installed properly.🤕

Jim, you found one serious failure - the hooks can let go. There is an opinion out there that the surface of the roof protects the true water barrier which is the underlay. Seems wrong but won't stop them from trying. The underlay will deteriorate at the gaps. Can't have any gaps.

On the Wet Coast, we add heat and ventilation. Usually a small electric baseboard heater on a thermostat, a few passive vents, and a good vapor barrier on the floor. The thermostat can be left at about 45 F to save money. Sometimes an exhaust fan is installed on a humidistat. I'm not giving an opinion on any of it, just saying that's what I see and what the Codes call for. Hydro-electric power used to be cheap here, so electric heat is pretty common. If they've installed furnace or heat pump ducts, that an alternate heat source. The best vapor barrier includes a concrete skim coat. Add a chunk of old carpet and it is quite pleasant down there.

Right, batts also allow for future inspection of those cavities, such as in the event of a flood or roof leak. Spray foam would trap any water leaks from above, which would be trouble. The new standards call for sealing of the vapor barrier on the interior side of the studs to the bottom plate with caulk. From your quote, option "a" calls for the subfloor seams to be caulked, so that should satisfy the requirement, but best to confirm this with the municipal building inspector. He may want to see tape or have some new product in mind. An example of how builders comply with these new standards for energy efficiency and such. To get an occupancy permit for a new home here, the bathroom fan must be wired to operate 24/7. This is to expel gases from all the new materials. That doesn't mean you can't install a fan switch, but you do that after you get the permit. Cheers. It is looking good.

Main goal is to crawl all the way to the back and find the mess nobody knows about yet.

Hello Michael. The reason behind a vapor barrier is to prevent warm air which holds moisture from entering the joist cavities where moisture would be trapped. So I believe a vapor barrier is needed in this case. But the ceiling is also an exterior surface, so house wrap would be called for rather than poly. Maybe the building inspector could clarify that for you, as it depends on his interpretation of the code, sorry about that. Spray foam insulation would block moist air better, but it sounds like you are using batts stuffed between the joists. Those joists are vulnerable to mold damage because the OSB absorbs water. I have seen 5 year old I-joists with that creeping fungus growing in the OSB. Ideally the joist cavities would be ventilated to allow any warm moist air to escape.

A smoker that makes Moonshine? 🤩

Right, if there's central heating, you lift a heat register. If no luck there, find a closet where you can lift the carpet.