John Kogel

Marc, once again I find myself agreeing with you. I have opened must be over 500 panels with my $20 Ryobi 4 volt screwdriver. It is powerful and fits in my pants pocket. I charge it once or twice a week. Moisture meter? Proto SM. You could buy the pinless model to start. I rarely use the pins, which becomes an invasive inspection and leaves marks. Inspection Essentials had a deal on them, good company. I found a pouch that clips it on my belt. I will never leave it lying around. Click to Enlarge 60.98 KB

I agree with Marc and Erby. Any change in slope where there is a seam is a potential leak. It's a good bet water hits the valley and runs right over the top of the valley flashing. They could have folded a lip into the upper edges of the valley metal to stop that runoff from overflowing the valley. Then every screw below that lip is a potential leak. Screw holes get stretched by the expansion and contraction of the metal, so they have no place in a valley full of water. [] It can be fixed, but with new metal and solid decking in the valley. It's just a horse barn, but it's brand new horse barn, so no excuses.

Amazing pics, thanks, Kevin! Which way is north in those pics? If you shot those pics from the other side, they'd all be left-handed. [] I'm thinking they follow the smell of musty wood.

Are they pumping ice cold air thru their ducts? I believe damp air is trapped in the crawlspace, then moisture is precipitating out of the damp air onto a cooler surface. There could be a leaking duct from a clothes dryer down there. I'd check for that. Jim, you beat me to it! I would install at least two vents and put a fan on one of them. That is not something I'd ever see in my climate, so in the end, I don't have a clue. []

OK, I'll post a pic. Vermiculite insulation does not burn. [] Click to Enlarge 75.36 KB Click to Enlarge 63.7 KBTastefully decorated in silver and black.

I just happen to have one without a mast on my house, Smart ass. Click to Enlarge 39.95 KB There's enough Al in that TV antenna to pay for a weatherhead. [] OK, now we can pick YOUR place apart. [] You've got a bare neutral going into your weatherhead. Doesn't that need to be an insulated cable? Also, I see you hate painting as much as I do.

OK, I got what you were saying. I think they should either cut the shingles like a true cut valley, and make a better roof.If they want to go without cutting as much, they could put in an open valley. Which is better, right? Click to Enlarge 74.28 KB

To which I would say... Quit jerking around and trim them properly to 45 deg. [] West Coast BC, up here on new housing we see open valleys mostly. painted metal valley flashing, so that says it, the woven valley has been tried. Maybe OK where the rain is lightweight.

The assumption here is that the "comfort advisor"(WTF is that?) has correctly identified the insulation. Don't condemn the HI so quick.

That's most of the problem. Hardly any concrete is properly mixed and none of it is placed and finished satisfactorily nowadays. I've got pictures of a newer condo building balcony that was ruined by a tenant sprinkling salt on it. They might have had 3 days of heavy frost in 3 years, but that's how they done it on the prairie, by gum.

That's it! Not enough trees. [] Fair enough. I am trying to figure this out. I am not really a rip out the window casings and see what we got here kind of guy, so I am looking for some direction. Thank you I was only half-joking there. Maybe wind is blowing water in under the flashing, so trees would help. Not enough info yet.

Yep, it is acting like a pump with a water-logged pressure tank, so the pump is cycling. I found a pump in a crawlspace a few mos ago, house has always been on town water. The only explanation was a booster pump to compensate for low pressure in the supply line.

That's it! Not enough trees. []

Thanks, Bill. I just called it a generic "fibre-cement siding" in my report.

Thanks, everybody. I was ready to call it a wood-fibre product before I actually handled that piece in the garage.

Hardie does make a smooth product. I have it on my home. (It was a special order, but readily available) Yes, we see the wide panels on apartment buildings sometimes, they install it vertically with battens over the seams. Movement of the stud frame it must be, but that seems like odd movement, too. The ripples line up vertically and they appear to correspond with the stud spacing. Spruce 2X6 framing, most likely. Improper storage before installing would be more random I would think. The fact that they nailed all the bottom corners shows they were struggling with the seams. It is definitely a concrete base product and no it's not expansion from summer heat. The shady side is also wavy. Check out the weather here, it could be January out there today.[] In any case, I didn't have much to say about this siding. It is what it is, and it's too late to go after anybody. Bad install, combined with bad luck in choosing the product, maybe.

Backside of a piece I found in the garage. Click to Enlarge 31.35 KB

I see Hardy plank products almost daily in the new burbs, but it generally looks pretty good, tight and straight. Not the case here, this cement-based product on a 1998 house yesterday. Anyone recognize it? What would cause the waves? I suspect they nailed paper and plank over bare studs, maybe? The walls are bone dry, sunny side, so it must be an installation screw up. Click to Enlarge 65.52 KB Have added more pics, the website is balky this AM. Click to Enlarge 37.71 KB Click to Enlarge 31.28 KB

Coulda been the Norwegian roof beaver. [] Click to Enlarge 26.84 KB

Try this site for some ideas. http://www.victoriaheritagefoundation.ca/index.html Wrong coast, wrong country but the general sentiment is there. [] AFAIK, siding and outward appearance is everything with these people. The idea is that people will tour the town and view the old houses, but just from the street.

I would call it amateur workmanship. And I'd say there are many missing cable clamps. I'd say the multi-colored neutrals are incorrect. - Repair But don't ask me how, I must have a left-handed IQ. [] Would you put white paint on all the neutral connections? That's crazy!

Don't know what it is, but thanks for sharing. [] It could be related to crawlspace hair fungus alright. Should we care? [] I found some of that a few weeks ago. The picture is not great, but that's as close as I was going to get. [] Click to Enlarge 27.21 KB

Actually, that scar's from where I winged it with a pellet gun a couple of days ago. Nice catch, Robert. Just kidding Jim, we believe you. BTW, you might have called them your pets, but somehow I don't think your pet ants gave a flying funk what you thought. []

You killed our queen and we know where you live! [!] [!] [!] There are actually 5 different sizes of carpenters, so even the little ones are bad news, there can be a colony in the house. Click to Enlarge I think yours is actually a worker on steroids. They're the ones that bore the tunnels, push the sawdust and do the bull work.

"Lawyer Frank Eadie says new fast track court rules will make suing for amounts under $100,000 faster and cheaper. May 20, 2010." Gotta love that. Now watch the sharks come out.