Jump to content

John Kogel

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,860

  • Joined

  • Last visited

 Content Type 

Everything posted by John Kogel

  1. John Kogel
    A knight without armor in a savage land.....
  2. John Kogel
    Roots pouch, magnetic flap tucked in out of the way, patched with 5 turns of electricians tape. With no flap, I'm the fastest draw in the West. But I tend to run with hand on the holster like a TV lawman. []
  3. John Kogel
    Mystery solved, thanks.
  4. John Kogel
    Yes to all 3. Is that the inland Chicago sea?
  5. John Kogel
    1) Too small in diam for termys, IMO. 2) They wouldn't waste time on drywall in daylight when there's dark wood behind that drywall. They're not brainless that way. But I can't tell you what that is.
  6. John Kogel
    I don't think you can say termites always cut across the grain, They can cut across, but will run with the grain if the wood tastes good that way. There's not enough clues in those pics to make a definite call.
  7. John Kogel
    If it's unusual, it is usually wrong. There's no easy way to clean the rust and sludge out of it.
  8. John Kogel
    Like a lot of improvised gizmos, it only makes sense to people that understand what it is doing, so it is likely to be misused in some way we haven't thought of yet. Why not alter the generator to suit the application, so that it always provides the grounding for your RV?
  9. John Kogel
    OK that's disgusting. I hate them even more now that you told us that.
  10. John Kogel
    My pump seized once. Blew it off until I tried a few months later; it worked. Shite happens. . . I gave them a chance to get a new pump and an access panel. They chose to buy the old POS as is and keep their agent happy. Clowns.
  11. John Kogel
    This reminds me of a jetted tub that had a seized pump motor. I said it needed an access panel so that the pump could be fixed or replaced. The buyer's agent went back to the seller and he insisted the pump worked fine, ok, it does start up and run now. When I was there it did not. My client knows it did not, and the agent stood there as witness. Yet in the end the pump worked so I was wrong. Still no access panel, and we know the pump is 23 years old and shot. Sheesh, what a bunch of clowns. I let it go. At least my report is in writing.
  12. John Kogel
    Yes the ad says they are the best, but we know there are better. Flat metal with perforations work well if you have wind to blow the needles off. Or you hit them with a leaf blower. The debris dries out on the metal. The gutters with solid covers that have a little waterfall drip edge that shoots the water in thru a slot, those are the best, IMO. But I've never owned them so don't know if needles go in with the water, not visible to us.
  13. John Kogel
    I've never understood this "put it in writing" business. What good does that achieve? Or is it just some kind of chest thumping intimidation thing? He says he wants to say it, but doesn't bother, because, 1) the client has better ways to spend his time, and 2) we all know the contractor won't be writing anything.
  14. John Kogel
    Right, it was too much work to install a heat shield? They should have the furnace checked out too. Maybe the burner pot gets flooded and the whole thing overheats? I vaguely remember the old oil burning cookstoves doing that. Never have lived with an oil furnace, but no doubt that pipe has been too hot. I had a basement recently where Mr Handy built a stud wall that was actually touching the pipe of the oil furnace. The stud was not showing any damage at that point, but obviously it was too close over the long term.
  15. John Kogel
    I can't say, not sure if i understand the question. There's an old house wall there where they blew in some insulation but hit diagonal bracing in the corners. Sunny side so the unsinsulated wall cavity is warmer. There's a couple of ceilings with insulation batts missing. Stuff like that. The one wall with cool spots? We couldn't get in there to see. Just an idle curiosity until somebody tears in there with the hammer. []
  16. John Kogel
    It took years to create that environment. You are a lucky man to have discovered it and experienced it in the flesh. Most people go their whole lives and never get the opportunity. []
  17. John Kogel
    You can use a hammer or you can use IR. These are some insulation pics I found in my files. Click to Enlarge 40.12 KB Click to Enlarge 47.56 KB Click to Enlarge 40.53 KB Click to Enlarge 37.22 KB Click to Enlarge 47.13 KB
  18. John Kogel
    Thanks, Denny. Always entertaining. I think you should wear your climbing helmet so you don't hurt your head in a panic attack. []
  19. John Kogel
    A house last week had nest building all over it. Under the lid of the propane can is a favorite spot for some reason. I took this pic, then decided to flip this nest off with my trusty dagger. Better than writing it up and more gratifying, too. Then up on the roof, 2 more nests. Well they can have the fake chimney for now. I ain't running on a 8 in 12 roof. My clients will be all freaked out when they go to paint up there. Maybe paint next year, yeah that's a better plan. [] Click to Enlarge 56.96 KB Click to Enlarge 33.99 KB Click to Enlarge 52.13 KB
  20. John Kogel
    I'll do the roof inspection from here. It's leaking. []
  21. John Kogel
    In my country at least, the fridge is supposed to be on a dedicated circuit, what Rob says. Why, because it loads down the circuit when it kicks in, and we traditionally had 15 amp kitchen circuits. Since 2006, 20 amps is allowed and better than 15 amp split-duplex. That's in Canada, and we are united electrically. None of these different rules for where you happen to live. []
  22. John Kogel
    Just hit them at dusk with a cup of gasoline, or white gas is better, no stain. Yes most of them die and of course a queen will survive into the Spring, but I don't see them reusing old nests here. They just love to build new. Last week I was on the ladder poking into a cavity where a dormer connects to the main roof, 12:12 pitch, and a half a dozen yellow jackets came rolling out of there. Funny, I've never seen wasps roll before and luckily they were landing in the gutter and not in my shirt pocket. I made a rapid descent. They are not good at tracking you if you stand back and act casual.
  23. John Kogel
    CEB is an old Canadian company. Forget about finding parts for a panel conversion. Any CEB breakers you find are antique now. I sometimes see a fused disconnect with a breaker panel downstream. Fuses for your individual circuits, simply not done in the 1980's, even in Quebec. The builder may have scrounged and recycled an old 50's fuse panel, or grandad had one in a box in the garage. Or maybe your house is older than you think.
  24. John Kogel
    Hey John, nothing we say in boring inspection reports has much effect on anybody, I'm afraid. Why not cash in on it and invent a better box extender, like one that costs a buck and can be installed with crazy glue? []
  25. John Kogel
    Right. Somebody's put a bed in the closet is how I describe that. Then I watch for a reaction, ethics exam. []
×
×
  • Create New...