John Kogel

No doubt it needs to be repaired by a qualified electrician. Unless it is 120 volt service, nope, then the small diameter SC is likely the neutral from the meter. If that be so, then the jumper from the connector in the panel to the bus bar on the left should be unnecessary or just plain wrong.There is room for all the neutrals on the neutral bus. Grounding conductors can go to the bar on the left, or in the US, can go on the neutral bus, but no need for that jumper. Now the grounding cable which I think is snaked in there behind the panel? that is wrong too. Stray voltage on the Neutral would be conducted by that foil, yikes, but a major jolt would last only miliseconds before the foil melted. Unfortunately, your heart could be hit in that millisecond, yikes.

Right, if the dashboard lights on that washer come on and it is in working order, 1) good bet that 3rd wire is the neutral. 2) My Xray vision sees conduit. Chicago has strict rules and a strong union, per Br Kurt. So it is grounded as well.

Dang it, now you're black-balled by that agent's inner group. But you'll get a good review from your client. BTW, a layer of 5/8 drywall over the ply will make that issue go away..

No, but easy to see I mean. The beetles we get here n the West in old wood are tiny in comparison.

You should just buy a concrete or tile cutting blade and cut a groove in the concrete with your Skil saw for that head flashing.

Assuming you are in the East USA, as you have hardwood ceiling planks 90 years old, and assuming that the sawdust is not from insect damage*..... then it could be a fungus growth that attacks Eastern hardwoods (that may have been present in the plank from day one). There are a few rot organisms that break down wood fiber into dust. I think there is a standard fungacide treatment, but I'm personally not familiar with that one. *The Eastern Powder Post Beetle leaves a huge hole you can't miss.

Give us some clues, eh? Was the ceiling covered with plaster until recently? Which room of the house, age of house, number of planks affected. I agree with Marc that it looks more like a fungus growth, but if it is wood powder, then you should see some tiny holes where the mature insects have emerged.

Right, old ungrounded wiring? Call for an upgrade. If an electrician says the wiring is OK, you've done your job anyway, by initiating a closer look. It is pretty common to see the original K&T wiring going to light fixtures, even when the wall outlets have newer wiring installed. A light fixture box could be always energized with one side of the light circuit going down to the switch and back. It is a good idea to carry a second sniffer of a different make to compare results. A really sensitive one might be useful for finding stray voltages on plumbing pipes. I had a garage door track that set off my more sensitive sniffer when the light was switched on. Even tho there was no real shock hazard, it convinced my clients they needed to replace the old wiring. Might have prevented a fire or shock down the road.

Marc could be right about the flaky battery, but somehow this occurrence has not been seen before, or at least never reported here and elsewhere. How about this? There appears to be only one cable going from the breaker to the GFCI outlet, but there is another cable going out the back of the box which supplies the smoke alarm.

Should have the TPR drain emptying into the pan. Plus reducing the pan drain to less than 1/2" is just stupid.

Right, it would take time to write a program that does that. Writes the image onto a picture. Chad, you need poly and gravel on that lawn to fix it for good.

Congrats, good idea. 1) There is no code I can think of. 2) Who knows why 12 inches? The CEO of the company grew up on the banks of a river maybe? It won't be hard to add 4 more inches to your concrete block footing. Some 2X4's on edge and a piece of plywood. They don't want to replace it and you want to keep it dry.

Active topics? Recent topics? I miss them. Otherwise, thanks for updating.

If I may add, since you asked for it in a nutshell, in a nutshell, the 'self-flashing' window is not all it's cracked up to be. [:)]

I would just describe it as well as possible in the report. I think it is an improvement over the usual taped drywall, often with the tape falling off. A townhouse, in Canada at least, has usually a ground floor entry, a bit of a yard and a second storey.

A couple of years after we bought our previous place, we installed maple flooring, replacing cheap laminate. I raised the water heater which is in a hall closet with a pulley rig. I think I posted pics here. Then I bent sheet metal into a pan, slipped it under the tank, and then drilled a hole thru pan and plywood subfloor to create a drain into the crawlspace. I sealed edges of the hole with silicone. About 2 years later, that tank was 9 years old, sprung a leak, but the pan saved our maple flooring. Thank you, St. Christopher! When we were on well water, our water heater was 20+ years when we sold the place. Thank you, St. Christopher! [] The oldest tanks I've seen are copper, but the oldest steel tank was a glass-lined brute from the late 1960's.

That grill was probably designed to go on the heating duct, but wound up where it is for unknown reasons. We have seen some oddball heating systems, eh? I recall a house with no ducts, just grills open to the crawlspace, and an electric furnace blasting heat straight down. As I recall, the realtor blackballed me for questioning the design efficiency. [8D]

I agree with Jim, that is a non-issue. In an old basement, you will see improvised hookups, especially matching metal to PVC. Fernco connectors are a standard way to make those transitions. There are some Ferncos that have metal mesh outer jackets, but those are straight coupling, no reduction in size. In new construction, they are used to connect cast iron pipe, such as in condos where plastic is not allowed, fire codes. That is drains only, not water lines under pressure.

Right, a factor to consider is access, getting lumber up there, swinging a hammer up there?, etc. Then who knows what else is hidden away in that structure?[:-magnify

Amazing! [8D] Now how do they fix it?

The model FP has 6 narrow courses above the opening. The difference is obvious. Tell the contractor you want it fixed. He wants to get paid.

The house is how old? A crack like that will have more significance if the house is less than 5 years old. Contractor B is more diligent, and is correct to mention the crack, as he doesn't know how well you know the home. Radon is not everywhere, but if radon is a concern in your region, then B gets more Brownie points. A sump pump would be redundant as your house has plenty of slope. The fact that the soil cracked as well tells us it is an issue with the site. Your house is on a slope, probably on fill. They cut into the hill and pushed fill downslope to get a level building site. I am guessing as we were not told where along the wall that crack is, below a deck, seems to be the downhill end. Now, if the house is young, then the settlement may continue for a while yet, not good. 20 year old house, I would look to improve drainage around the foundations. If you have expansive clay soil in NC, I would study up on that scenario. My concern with the crack in the corner is that when a corner cracks, both walls are weakened. This is more significant than a crack in a long section of wall. So I withhold judgement till we get more info - corresponding crack on the other side? What about the structure above?

Here's the pic with the house before the earthquake, just kidding. PaintShopPro gives me this - the roof slope is 10 degrees off horizontal. From that you should be able to get a roof slope. It's a low pitch, good call. Not unusual for low income housing, modulars or mobiles. The roof is prone to failure but so are the walls and foundation. Click to Enlarge 56.98 KB

He's probably tired of the blank look when he says 'conditioned space', so now it is 'heated space'. And good point, AC does not come in to the equation, but it should. But what about the crawlspace? That area is required to be conditioned here. Double the square footage, minus the garage. [:-magnify

Hey,this is the subject that we can kick around till doomsday, good one. Chad, thanks for the clarification, because some that lurk here were surprised and wondering why you got deleted. Is preaching taboo here? I never knew that. [8D] You are right, they want something. Maybe they simply want to avoid that most dreaded phone call, the callback. Some are looking for a go-to guy for questions from their clients. You don't have to sell your soul, just a good job that costs them nothing.