John Kogel

I know, i saw that and thought some old Navy fart took over Transport Canada. But it makes sense now that I've Googled it. "Look at the equator as a circle. You could divide that circle into 360 degrees. You could then divide a degree into 60 minutes. A minute of arc on the planet Earth is 1 nautical mile. This unit of measurement is used by all nations for air and sea travel." So if you can't measure 5 nautical miles you got no business flying a drone over our heads. [] A Cessna hauling bicycles, well that's ok. [] Click to Enlarge 20.01 KB

Poly was stapled to the joists and then this white material was sprayed into the joist cavities, right? So this was done after 1970, maybe in the 80's. You say 1964 and it might have been done then or added later. Better pics, so I deleted those other possibilities. Take a sample to a lab and pay about $50 to find out for sure what it is and maybe what it is adulterated with.

Y'all might find this interesting. The regs are stricter as the weight of the drone increases. I don't see much difference between the rules for under 2 kg (4.4 lbs) and those for up to 25 kg (55 lbs). http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/civilaviation/s ... v-2265.htm Actually now that I read the rules, these exemptions are for flights to take place no closer than 5 nautical miles from a built-up area. Hmm. That does restrict things quite a bit. So anyone doing inspections in residential areas in Canada now needs a Special Flight Operation Certificate, which means training. I think I'll 'stick' with my paint pole camera, and that is another pun. []

The first line of my SOP states this: CAHPI(BC) Standards of Practice Copyright 2000 American Society of Home Inspectors, Inc Marc, the bloating of importance is done by lawyers and judges, not by me. The SOP is the second thing lawyers on both sides are going to look at, after they pick the contract apart, word by word.

The SOP I use is CAHPI, based on ASHI, but with variations nobody here cares to hear. We are told constantly that if we do not adhere strictly to the SOP, our lawyers, who are retained by our CAHPI(BC) chapter, will have a harder time defending our actions in court, or better, keeping us out of court. Our E+O insurance is based on this SOP and the lawyers are well versed in all the intricate SOP fine points. So call it what you will, for me at least, it is a legal document, not to be ignored or misinterpreted. Exceed it, no problem.

Oh my. Hey, where's the broken-down brick chimney? []

Things work until they don't. A roof doesn't start leaking all over all at once. That roof is only 8 years old. No visible damage. Something is not right with the installation. Robert, a strip of paper at the eaves is pretty standard, but then they will lay the rest of the shingles without underlayment. Even so, the roof doesn't usually fail that way so soon.

Y'all should have made them all into hats when you had the chance back in '58. [] My neighbors put food out for them. Funny thing is, they do literally no damage to my place. Too fat the bother, maybe.

I had something similar where there was wind damage to a couple of other shingles and a wet spot like that several feet away. I was able to lift a few shingles, so came up with this - wind lifted some shingles and blew rain in under. The curse of untreated OSB is that it absorbs that water rather than shedding it. It is a good bet there is no roofing paper under those shingles. 3 or 4 rolls of roofing paper underlay might have saved that roof for a few more years.

"Roundworm eggs are passed in the feces of infected raccoons, and people become infected by ingesting eggs." Thanks, John, we'll keep that in mind. No taste testing. [] When they eat pet food, they'll wash their hands in the water bowl, so might put pets at risk, too.

That is exciting, but now you'll have to put your house finishing projects on hold. [] Offices and how about a virtual library? A couple of bright rooms upstairs and a couple of dark rooms in the basement. Couple of students to run it?

Yes there are plenty of insurance offices in town. When they call me for info sometimes they sound like they are calling for more ammo to make the client go away. []

Well the plastic bucket is stupid and stupid people don't deserve insurance. []

Erby's 'tale' of a racoon's ass up the chimney reminded me of this pic. The seller warned me there was a nasty coon in his garden shed, so I just stuck my arm in and snapped this shot. Click to Enlarge 66.41 KB Momma wasn't going anywhere. This was end of May in our climate.

[] Better the ass end then the teeth and claws.

There are faults in every panel from the look of it. Lucky, tho, the place is still standing and a nice old home it is. How did you report all those panels? Did you give them names like Garage sub #3?

Actually, the candy goes to the office staff mostly, or so I hear. Maybe that will help, maybe not. The really productive realtors are not hanging out in the office munching candy, or so I say, not knowing much about it. []

What Marc says it is. [:-graduat

There are several ways in which the lack of overcurrent protection at the service conductors is more dangerous than it would be on the load side of the service. But all of them have to do with objects other than a human body. Conductive objects that have low resistance will allow huge currents to flow through them. Such as a wrist-watch band, or a screwdriver in your paralyzed hand, welding you to the mast with 1000 amperes. [] And another thing [], dry skin is a poor conductor, and blood is a pretty good conductor, and it is easy for Mr. Handy to cut himself up there, fumbling with tape and a knife. Yep. So true, Jim. Agreed.

Marc, I was posting before I read that. Carry on then. I have a huge respect for high voltage, as I have played with tube audio for many years and felt the sting of 400 volts, luckily just between palm and wrist. Getting back to the service conductors, y'all are saying that they are no more dangerous than household wiring, but I do not accept that. There is no limit to the current. If high amperage was irrelevant, you could carry an arc welder around in your shirt pocket.

If you short the camera battery with a piece of wire does it burn a mark on the contacts? Not even if it was 12 v, but do that on a car battery and it starts to weld. But you are correct and I said this above, DC is not house wiring, a poor analogy. Standing on the roof of a house, you are relatively well insulated from the ground and you could apply 120 volts to your hand and not get a shock, ok. If you tried to tape the wire while standing on a metal ladder you could die. If, standing on the roof, your foot slipped and you grabbed the mast with your other hand you could die. That was the scenario that Denny was picturing. The breaker at the transformer will not trip because it is rated for whatever, a large amount of current.

The available amperage shouldn't be an issue. Just to be clear, there's not a "potential" of 3000 amps. There's a potential (at the most) of 240 volts. A well taped repair would be fine. In many (most, in my area) cases, the splices at the weather head are only taped to begin with. Taped repairs in this location are fine. There's enough amperage to supply 5 or 6 homes, no? OK maybe it's 1200 amps. When the linesman makes that connection, power if off at the transformer. I have never even seen Liquid Tape so I wouldn't know if it is scary to use. I am just saying don't touch the service drop. The available amperage isn't the issue. If you touch a wire, it only takes a fraction of an amp to kill you. 10 amps is just as deadly as 3,000 amps. With regard to electrocution or shocks, a bare conductor at the drip loop is not any more dangerous than a bare conductor at a table lamp. Either one can kill. The amount of available amperage doesn't make it worse. (Think of it like drowning. You're just as much at risk of drowning in 10 feet of water as you are in 3,000 feet of water.) The voltage is only 120 volts to ground or to the neutral, or 240 volts between the two hots. Deadly, yes, but not enough to jump out and grab you (as it might be when over 600 volts). If the service conductor insulation is still substantially intact, then deep cracks can be repaired with tape. While I'm sure that it would be wise to cut power from the transformer, I don't know any electricians who would actually do that for this kind of repair. I can't agree, Mycroft. While I do agree a table lamp can kill someone, in fact they say 1/10th of an amp can cause the heart muscle to spasm out of control. But we are talking a massive surge of power from a huge power source. E X I = P. 120 volts X 1000 amps = 120,000 Watts, and that is enough juice to light up the neighborhood. A cordless drill battery doesn't give you a shock, but a car battery sure can. The higher amperage overcomes the resistance of your skin, especially when you're out in the boat with wet hands.[:-party] John K, you're wrong. A car battery won't shock when any battery of the same voltage doesn't, other conditions being identical. Marc Marc. I have a good memory. In 1991, I was standing in salt water, leaning into the boat and wiggling battery terminals. Felt a nasty jolt. Are you telling me you will feel that from a flashlight or a drill? If you drop a wrench across car battery terminals, what happens? But I shouldn't have brought DC into the discussion. Arc welding with an AC welder is an example of low voltage and high amperage, and as we know, that arc can melt steel in an instant.

The available amperage shouldn't be an issue. Just to be clear, there's not a "potential" of 3000 amps. There's a potential (at the most) of 240 volts. A well taped repair would be fine. In many (most, in my area) cases, the splices at the weather head are only taped to begin with. Taped repairs in this location are fine. There's enough amperage to supply 5 or 6 homes, no? OK maybe it's 1200 amps. When the linesman makes that connection, power if off at the transformer. I have never even seen Liquid Tape so I wouldn't know if it is scary to use. I am just saying don't touch the service drop. The available amperage isn't the issue. If you touch a wire, it only takes a fraction of an amp to kill you. 10 amps is just as deadly as 3,000 amps. With regard to electrocution or shocks, a bare conductor at the drip loop is not any more dangerous than a bare conductor at a table lamp. Either one can kill. The amount of available amperage doesn't make it worse. (Think of it like drowning. You're just as much at risk of drowning in 10 feet of water as you are in 3,000 feet of water.) The voltage is only 120 volts to ground or to the neutral, or 240 volts between the two hots. Deadly, yes, but not enough to jump out and grab you (as it might be when over 600 volts). If the service conductor insulation is still substantially intact, then deep cracks can be repaired with tape. While I'm sure that it would be wise to cut power from the transformer, I don't know any electricians who would actually do that for this kind of repair. I can't agree, Mycroft. While I do agree a table lamp can kill someone, in fact they say 1/10th of an amp can cause the heart muscle to spasm out of control. But we are talking a massive surge of power from a huge power source. E X I = P. 120 volts X 1000 amps = 120,000 Watts, and that is enough juice to light up the neighborhood. A cordless drill battery doesn't give you a shock, but a car battery sure can. The higher amperage overcomes the resistance of your skin, especially when you're out in the boat with wet hands.[:-party]

The available amperage shouldn't be an issue. Just to be clear, there's not a "potential" of 3000 amps. There's a potential (at the most) of 240 volts. A well taped repair would be fine. In many (most, in my area) cases, the splices at the weather head are only taped to begin with. Taped repairs in this location are fine. There's enough amperage to supply 5 or 6 homes, no? OK maybe it's 1200 amps. When the linesman makes that connection, power is turned off at the transformer. I have never even seen Liquid Tape so I wouldn't know if it is scary to use. I am just saying don't touch the service drop. OK, I seldom disagree with y\all, but in this matter, you who would take hold of a live SEC are mistaken, sirs. [] Put it this way, where is the breaker to protect the cable from over current? It is at the transformer and it is not a whimpy little household breaker either.

Did someone (CF?) advocate taping a service conductor with a potential from the pole of about 3000 amps? [:-crazy] Don't do that. Spray some liquid tape on it maybe, but I would not touch it.