John Kogel

OK, but is that good or bad? [:-spin]

The color looks very similar to the painted house next door. Not the pure white of frost or snow. There appear to be white bricks in the righthand chimney, same bricks. There are brick arches above the windows on that end. I don't have a clue, just making casual observations. If I saw that here, it would be a duplex, one guy likes white, the other guy likes spotted brick. Click to Enlarge 72.55 KB Click to Enlarge 73.15 KB

The color looks very similar to the painted house next door. Not the pure white of frost or snow. There appear to be white bricks in the righthand chimney, same bricks. There are brick arches above the windows on the ends. I don't have a clue, just making casual observations. Click to Enlarge 72.55 KB Click to Enlarge 73.15 KB

That should have been in the property description. "Comprehensive pest control program provided by Able Owl and Sons."

Just passing on info. I use a laptop and a camera myself. http://www.2gopc.com/2goPC_ConvPC_Nl2.html Summary Base Price: $499.00 US * 1GB RAM * Microsoft® Windows® 7 Starter Pre-Installed * Solid State Drive Upgrade available

-also, be careful of the floor-the manufactured home industry uses a loose-lay installation and it's easy to roll/pinch the vinyl. You've also got to be careful of the floor finish. Bend over the counter and look with your flashlight. There is no requirement for you to move large heavy objects and risk damaging the owner's floor. I don't know about other states, but if Jerry had not moved that fridge for fear of damaging the floor, and hadn't been able to see that with the fridge in place, our board would never consider him to be at fault. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike Thanks, Mike. You saved a few floors with that comment.

Wow. That is something else, alright. Either a plumbing leak or a malfunctioning fridge, like a plugged drain or something? Anyway, no way a rodent would live there. They don't like mold, unless it's on food. [] Good catch.

Take a picture of the vent pipe where it comes out the back. Sometimes that gets crushed when they push the dryer back into position.

The rule says weatherstrip, but it does not say sticky on both sides. [] If the builder has been told to do that, it is probably just one authority's interpretation of the rule. At least, I hope it is. Just read your post, John. "Hey, with the hatches all glued shut, maybe we can skip the insulation." []

Ok, I get it. What I called "tar" is actually asphalt based roofing mastic.But that's the same goop that we see on homeowner patch jobs, so I thought that was what he was talking about. A bucket of real tar needs to be heated before you can use it. Then you could tar and feather somebody and run them out of town on a rail. You'd have to really dislike that person, I would think. []

Sealing the edges of roll roofing on a shed. Then you put a dab on each exposed nail. [] But even on a shed, overlapping shingles do a much nicer job for not much more money.

I brought my wife with me, we wasted one afternoon, handed out some biz cards and decided not to do it again. In the course of a couple of years, I got a few jobs where those same agents were selling, but I never asked if they had referred me or if the clients just happened to pick me off the list. So if there were positive results, they were slow in coming.

Just an extra comment. If a client mentions using a plug-in space heater, I recommend they install a wallmounted electric fan heater or baseboard heater. Many people don't realize they can get a decent size baseboard heater for under $50, have it installed with a thermostat, and have a safe reliable heat source in that room. One new 20 amp circuit can supply 2 or 3 baseboard heaters, probably enough for the second storey of a smaller house. The thermostats can be turned off or set to only operate on the really cold days.

In my climate, north of the Pacific Northwest, we have been installing a polyethylene vapor barrier on the inner side of the exterior walls and ceilings for 40 years or so. Since the 70's, the exterior walls have been usually 2X6 with fiberglass batt insulation. Problems with indoor moisture accumulating in the stud cavities are rare here. The vapor barriers do leak, but there are minimal problems with that, AFAIK. I think it may be because indoor heat helps to dry the cavity by pushing the moisture out? The outer siding has to breathe. In recent years, we have been getting more diligent with sealing around electrical boxes with gaskets and tape, so the newer houses have less air movement through the walls. We use the Tyvek-type wraps, but there's still a lot of good old building paper being used on the exterior. Mike Holmes is in Ontario, colder winters, so the building techniques seem to be slightly different there. Maybe a lack of heat in that room was preventing evaporation? There has to be heat on the interior wall, and that was probably lacking there. Without the heat, the drywall over poly becomes a mold factory. Robert, if that area in your client's house is unfinished, could there be insufficient heat or air circulation in that part of the house? I think if that area was heated, the moisture would not have been trapped in the wall like that. But what works in my climate may not apply in yours. Let us know what you find.

I have two thoughts on that, The tank hasn't changed that much since October. What did the inspection report say? In my area, tanks have not been buried since the early 70"s, so it is a given, they are all bad when we find them here. My other thought is this. Your client the landlord could lose the whole place to a fire if something isn't done about the heating situation.

Yes, that is sad. How stupid is that? You'd think if the bankers want their value back on these houses, they would at least pay a few bucks to have them properly winterized. Or leave some heat on?

Sure it could. There are still lots of bare copper buses out there. Except that, with a 150-amp main breaker, normal use is unlikely to cause the bus to overheat. That bar can conduct a heck of a lot more power than 150 amps. And if the service were to draw more, I'd expect the main breaker to trip after a while. If the discoloration is caused by overheating, it's probably because the connection is loose. - Jim Katen, Oregon Thanks, Jim. You are right of course. If the breaker is working as it should, there could be tripping but not overheating. And we don't know if the breaker has ever tripped. I don't see copper, though. In my area, I'd be surprised to see bare copper buses after about 1970. I mean Copper like in these pics. Click to Enlarge 58.15 KB Click to Enlarge 45.72 KB Click to Enlarge 63.25 KB

This is a 2826 square foot, single family home built in 1998. I don't think that would be a copper bus, would it? It is possible with a house that size, that the service is somewhat undersized, which could certainly lead to overheating of the bus. With just the one pic to go on, I'd call for a more thorough check of the panel by an electrician. Allseason, you should rename your pics before you post them. []

Hello Darren. A general rule that I use is that any scorched bus bar should be checked by an electrician. In this case, there is scorching on the right hand bus bar is well. That may have been from the burn on the left, hard to say. An electrician should check all the breaker connections. The other question is, What became of the branch circuit that was originally fed by that scorched breaker? It could be that circuit which is now double-tapped to that other breaker on the right hand bus. Is that breaker sized correctly for the wire size? It looks like someone did a quick fix amateur repair after the breaker failure. They've pulled the cable farther into the panel on the left. An electrician would have stripped the insulation back properly. So besides calling for a new panel, I would in this case call for an electrician to check over the amateur handiwork and make immediate repairs. My reasoning is that the home buyer might put off replacing the panel as too expensive for now. They will stand there nodding but they're thinking "Sure, maybe next year". In that case, have an electrician check for hazards and repair what is there.

This happened on an inspection 3 weeks ago. The realtor opened the door for me and then went to the municipal office to see what permits had been pulled on the house 1940's with many renos. The disclosure said an electrical upgrade had been done with permits in '04. When the realtor came back 2 hrs later, he said there was no record of an electrical permit for that time. So the paper was lost or the seller was Mistaken (lying). I liked my position at that time - not my problem. I've got an inspection to do.[] It may be a good service to offer, but it should come with a price increase, or it could just be added headaches.

"Our company has provided outstanding customer service in this area since 1999." Mike got his post in first. We are dealing with short attention spans these days. If I add one more sentence to this paragraph, it willl bbeee gggetting boooorrrinngg. [] Brandon, the last part of your sentence, "known for ..." needs a noun or something like "and we are known for"

Does this make you the party pooper? [] Have a safe and happy holiday, everybody!

I have a question. Was the Grand Canyon carved by water erosion? Or is it a crack in the earth with a river running through it? If it was carved solely by the Colorado river running over the ground, where did all the sand go?

Pre-1928 they would have to be Model T's. Narrower body style, flat roof, less stylish radiator, almost always wooden spoke wheels. Click to Enlarge 64.43 KB

How about the silver one? - Jim Katen, Oregon The silver or grey Model A sedan has the earlier '28 or 9 visor. Can't see the door post or front fender to confirm. Limited access, unable to inspect. []The blue job has the optional spare tire mount in the front fender. This gave better access to the rumble seat. Nolan, sounds like your coupe just had the big trunk for traveling salesman? Richard could be right about the Honda. I can't tell a Honda from a Chevy.