John Kogel

What, you wouldn't sprayfoam it?

Robert, someday, somebody will get slapped with one of those. Unfortunately, it will not be the goof that built it. [:-weepn]

This is in a 1940 house that had Knob + Tube wiring, all upgraded to grounded circuits at the wall receptacles. I doubt the wiring to this old smoke detector was actually replaced, but it is certainly energized. Is this alarm wired into the keypad by any chance? The 'keypad' takes an actual key. There is a horn in the attic. I was too chicken to try this - Find a lighter, burn a realtor's biz card under the detector. If I had tested the alarm, how would I have turned it off? Or would it have a timeout for testing? Click to Enlarge 27.75 KB Click to Enlarge 23.53 KB Click to Enlarge 29.37 KB

Smartchoice, you should also mention that you are in Ontario Canada and therefore working under the Canadian Electrical Code, so some answers from a US group of inspectors could sometimes get you into trouble with a Canadian electrician or anyone else that knows the CEC. Which ought to include you, the Canadian home inspector, if you don't mind me saying. To be strictly correct, the kitchen sink has been installed under the breaker panel. Tell them to move the sink and cabinet. Forget the feet, the distance required is One Metre, and that meter or metre is measured from the nearest bus bar, don't you know. The working clearance around the panel does not extend to the floor in Canada, so erase that one from your mind and memorize this one - one metre. When you get a chance, tell Nick Gromicko you want some Canadian electrical training since he is happily taking your Canadian money. []

That IMO is a pretty tough question to be putting on an exam, considering that many of us have never and may never encounter one of those gizmos in our entire careers. However, if it is one of those choose the best answer out of 4 questions, some of us could guess or deduce the right answer. Maybe that makes it a good exam question.

Thanks, guys. I agree with all those opinions. [] I'm thinking in fact it should have a full foundation poured and a stud wall built, so the space below the addition can be closed in properly. I would actually like that better, and that could push the price to $5G.

My clients have 3 days to close a deal. The sunroom needs 3 concrete footings poured and the 6X6 posts could be trimmed and reused. One of the 4 posts has a good footing under, 3 do not. They are asking me if I can get a contractor out to estimate the job in the next 2 days, my answer is no. I would like to give them a rough estimate to get the job done - one manday to excavate and build forms, one manday to mix and pour, one manday to set the new posts under. Is this reasonable? I am open to suggestions yay or nay. No I don't usually involve myself at this level, but it is an unusual case. Click to Enlarge 60.88 KB Click to Enlarge 86.74 KB

A house I know has those same stains, but on white stucco. Busy road, so soot from tires and diesel fumes condensing on a damp surface is my guess. The studs are warmer so no dampness there, no soot.

Yes, they are ideal for small apartments or vacation suites. We have friends that have one of those in a rental suite. I believe they take 120 volts.

Ah oui, Stefan. The 2 25 amp breakers are for baseboard heater circuits, 'plinthes electrique', no? So if they are receiving power from the fuse panel on the left by way of the heavy gauge conductors, then the fuse panel has grossly undersized feeders supplying it, and they are double tapped with the larger ones. And we have serious grounding issues as well. Or the breaker panel is recycled, mislabeled and supplying the fuse panel with 25 amps, 240 volts, no ground. You are right, it is a mystery, what was he thinking?

Jim is right, plumber's putty will fix it. And if that's all it needs, how about some Vics Vapo Rub or whatever they got, Vaseline from the medicine cabinet? I have tried timing those glass bowl sinks with the stopper shut, about 60 seconds to fill the bowl to overflowing. [:-party]

You could say it is a unattractive hair-ball collector that needs to be removed with wrenches in order to be cleaned. []

I believe it is a bottle trap. I copied this from a plumbing forum, so this is just an interesting point of view: "Inspektor Ludwig 02-13-2010, 03:00 PM One thing to watch out for is when someone says that the product is "compliant". Some products like bottle traps are not allowed by code but then you're always told that if it has the UPC or Iapmo mark then it's approved for use. The methodology just didn't make sense, why would the code forbid something then put their label on it? I took the model number of a bottle trap that a customer wanted to install because it had a upc symbol on it and looked it up on the Iapmo website for the listing. What I've found is that a product that has the listing mark on it has been approved but only some small part of the overall product, for example the bottle trap that clearly had the UPC mark was only approved for they type of material that the trap was made out of, not the style of trap. I called Iapmo to figure this out, the lady said that a bottle trap may have an approved listing for materials but the make and model number for the type of trap may not be approved, which was the case. The bottle trap being sold as a trap was not approved for a trap but the metal that it was made out of was an approved material so the manufacturers of the products put the UPC symbol on them. I've found that there are numerous products that have the UPC symbol that do not have a listing, a falsified listing or an incomplete listing. Alot of products are from China but I've also found products from Kohler and Grohe that don't comply either."

Yeah, that is too clever to be hidden away in a crawlspace. Stephen, you must be on another planet, no, I see it's Quebec. []

You are a spoiler, Scott. What would it have cost to set the wiring right in the 2 M house? $2 G at the most? Somebody needs to work harder instead of trying to shoot the messenger.

Play fair, Mike. There is black around the nails, North and South. The South-facing side warms up a bit in the sun, just enough to dry the wood out or reduce the amount of condensation. The cause is usually warm moist indoor air leaking in to a cool attic space.

By running with the team, these Managers are building empathy with the team. This is an important step in team-building, and will help them to lead the team to success, if or when they get hooked up to a cart. [] When they do find a cart, it will have a whippletree.

The longer the buttcrack, the longer it is going to take. []

My guess is a loose connection, maybe from one too many whacks from a broom stick?

Bagpipes are best if they are kept frozen.

Here in the frozen North, we use 'Mush". []

And there's plenum more where that came from. []

Yep, there's vermicki there, and somebody stirred it in to the cellulose. Click to Enlarge 66.59 KB This pic is old news, but I like it for an extreme example of the goofy stuff we find.

Yes, but the anomaly is a piece of dirty white NM cable going up and away from the disposer. Or supplying the power. Looking closer, (Ctrl +, try it). The flexable line behind the receptacle is a water line for the DW. If Jerry is correct in his analysis, Power comes in to the disposer via the NM cable, then is delivered to the receptacle? That is what Jerry saw there I think. Could be done with 14/3.

Bruce is most correct, followed by Charlie, plan to replace it is good advice for a 28 year old installation. OK, Marc is also correct but I haven't opened the .pdf yet. I might add that a skilled tradesman can clamp PEX to one end of a length of PolyB and pull new pipe right in to a stud cavity in many cases. Done it myself, and I am unskilled labor when it comes to plumbing. [] I am now suggesting people with PolyB pipes in their crawlspace, install a water alarm, which gets their attention. There are some great water alarms out there, BTW. Alarm upstairs, sensor down in the crawl.