John Kogel

Thanks, Bill. I suppose the curve helped to get the rubber to lay flat. The rubber would have been real latex rubber from a South American tree. So that would explain the need for heat. That also explains the extra corrosion in the cavity part. Maybe gasoline with a bit of motor oil added would work for that, on the side of the road, miles from nowhere. I hadn't connected the two items before today. I brought the patch melding (vulcanizer?) tool in from the shed and then remembered the mystery hammer as I was posting. I do remember watching the process of beating a truck tire onto a rim, but that required a big sledge. Thin Model T tires, sure, the smaller hammer could do it.

Celebrating its 100th birthday on April Fool's Day. What is it? It looks like you would heat it up on the woodstove and use it to put a perfect curve on the beak of a felt baseball cap. But it is a little too narrow for that. For curving the blade of a hockey stick? The Vancouver Canucks are celebrating 100 years this year as well. Click to Enlarge 42.49?KB Click to Enlarge 43.51?KB Click to Enlarge 49.48?KB Click to Enlarge 44.79 KB How about this hammer? Anybody know what it was used for? Nailing planks on a clinker boat, maybe? Click to Enlarge 34.57?KB Click to Enlarge 29.67?KB

It is relative moisture. In my area if you put the pins of a Survey Master into drywall of a garage that is open in the middle of August I bet you will get readings in the 10% to 16% range. It is due to the humidity in the air and is not really a problem since you have so much air flow and it is not constant. Same goes for most framing in a crawlspace. On reason the we want to see treated lumber in contact with concrete or the ground. Now in a vacant home that is closed up and is allowed to fester that same 15% RM level in the drywall will become a mold farm in about 30 days! Yes to that, relative moisture. But also the material or the medium for mould to grow on. Wallpaper or wood with linseed oil on it will grow mold before painted wood will. This old radio cabinet has been out in my unheated shed all winter, in a cardboard box. The Surveymaster measures 20.2 inside and 17.4 around the grill. Mold is starting to grow on the dust on the inner edges of the grill openings. I've wiped most of it off in the picture. But the interior of the cabinet is relatively dust-free, not moldy, even with a slightly higher moisture reading. Now if I'd left an orange in there, oh boy, it would be a green mess. Click to Enlarge 45.56?KB Click to Enlarge 41.04?KB

What Marc said. The fused or downstream feeders are at risk of being energized by the service conductors.In Canada, it is not permitted to have branch circuit wiring anywhere near the service conductors. In a combination breaker panel, a divider is installed to keep the service conductors and the main breaker separate from the branch circuits. Only an amateur will feed a new branch circuit in past the service conductors, which we find now and then when buddy has installed a hot tub. Jerry, so how was the foundation? Or did you post that info already in the Roof forum?

I've never seen anything like it. It is absolutely wrong. I will give the guy credit for thinking 'outside the box', but no, that won't fly. [] There is an easy chance of the drain icing up in your part of the country, not to mention the usual clogging with leaves and debris, if anyone needs more than obvious reasons why that is wrong.

With all due respect, when you keep your ladder on your car and your car outside, in January or any winter month, the rope is the first thing to freeze. Easy one. Use an old extension cord on your ladder and just plug it in at night. 120 volts will keep the metal thieves bouncing. []

They appear to be electrical cables or pipes to me. The upper one is sagging a bit as if anchored at the stud. Insects don't need to make horizontal tunnels like that. Why?

Thanks, John. Hey, with a safety net, I could try hooking the window sill like that. Re: bouncing the ladder, I do a similar maneuver inside the house sometimes. Telesteps on the wall under the attic hatch, climb up, move the hatch cover out of the way. Then pushing the top of the ladder away from the wall with one hand, raise a couple of steps up into the hatch opening, climb on up thru the hatch. This works with Telesteps because they open from the lower rungs and you always have steps available at the top. Descending, you can collapse a couple of rungs with one hand and lower the ladder back to the wall with the other hand, replace the cover, done. Keep in mind, I'm only 6 or 7 feet above the floor, and I'm a lightweight, 167 lbs. I don't recommend the Telesteps. It is a crappy little ladder and not to be trusted, ever.

Good idea. As Mr Dirks lives close to that other big pond he should have some marine/boat supply stores nearby. The real yachty stuff may be more expensive per foot, but then you don't need much for a ladder and these stores do sell it by the foot from large reels. Actually, he will likely find what he needs in a bin or rack of half-price "shorts". And, yes, you do get a fine choice of colors, perhaps even something that wouldn't clash with Kurt's sailor costume. John, wear your yellow rubber yachty boots and get a deal on the rope. [] When I was doing shake roofs on a daily basis, we would set the ladder way out from the wall and walk up no hands with a bundle of shakes on the shoulder, then run down facing out. One day an old carpenter told me we were scaring the crap out of him.

I found a neat way to do a really tight crawl is to go in feet first. That way I can call for help and they can bring me water until I shrink small enough to get back out. [] I don't upcharge for crawls because in general, they are pleasant places to squat for a while - concrete floors, often with heat and sometimes even a carpet. The client doesn't know what is in the crawl when we talk prior to the inspection, so it would be hard to price more for a dirt floor. Interesting regional diffs.

What Bill said, braided nylon. It is super strong and doesn't give you quite as nasty of a burn. Also holds a knot better than twisted poly. John, a larger pulley would require a larger clamp on the rung as well, but it would help a little bit. I need the rope for my 28' but I guess Eric is taller. A foot taller and the arms would be longer too. []

Do folks still use termite shields in this arrangement? Not where I live but they certainly should in California. We have mostly Dampwood termys and only small pockets of the nasty subs.

I always start before my clients arrive, so I had a bunch of info and pictures when my client showed up and said "Is this a modular home? It looks like a doublewide mobile to me". I confirmed it was indeed a mobile home or more politely named a manufactured home. He thought he was buying a modular to be moved to his vacant lot. He was choked and I gave him a reduction simply because I felt like it and would not be writing a report. 10 minutes later we were both heading home.

But the tank label you posted has 3800 watt elements, no? Sure, but I think it is a waste of time and could get you into a pissing match with an electrician who says #12 and 20 amps is correct and meets the code requirement. BTW, I bookmarked that site. It has info on there even Billy Bob can understand, which could make our job even crazier. How to install service and a breaker panel, etc. That's too much info for some people. []

You could look into 'Conditioned Crawlspace', where the perimeter foundation wall is insulated instead of the floor. It may work well in your area. No ventilation to the outside. One danger is that termites will use the insulated wall for a corridor to the wood, so you need to leave a gap around the bottom for monitoring. Another suggestion is that you bust a hole to the old crawlspace for better access between, handy for pulling cable and pipes as well. I know that the vapor barrier on dirt is rare down your way, but it is a cheap and simple way to improve the climate in your crawl. There are new hazards in soil being discovered all the time - Hanta virus is one.

Hold on. If the 20 amp breaker is adequately supplying the load and protecting the feeder, is there a problem here? That is a standard installation and you are not going to easily convince an electrician that it needs to be repaired. Only one element comes on at a time. My guidebook says 3000W to 3800W gets a 20 amp breaker. Yes, the CEC calculation is different than the NEC. CEC says the load is not to exceed 80% of the breaker rating. 20 amp is standard for 40 gallon electric water heaters at least in my area as well. We will see 30 amps only on the larger 60 gallon units. So you can report what you think is best, but I would discuss this with a local electrician first. FYI, my water heater is on a 15 amp breaker and I see no reason to fear. It is John Wood Space Saver 130 litre unit (34 US gallons). The elements are 2255/3000W. My tank has a Max Allowable rating of 4500W. I think that means the max size element that can be installed in this tank is 4500W(?)

OK, I thought I was looking at concrete pads poured on sandy soil. Even so. I am accustomed to seeing the beam go continuous from wall to wall, nowadays it would be gluelam. But ok, if you must have two splices, how about going 10-10-5, so the short piece is at the wall.

We are home inspectors here, not architects. I would not use 3 4X8's to span only 25 feet. You are expecting those middle piers to stay put with the weight of the floor on them? What if they settle an inch or so after you get the subfloor down? Build up a beam, doubled or tripled from 2X10 if you have to use short lengths. It is not going to cost that much more. JMO. I don't know if you have permits and don't personally care, but never underbuild something to save $100. Lay polyethylene vapor barrier on that dirt and seal it with builder's tape. Best is a concrete skim coat over the poly. Provide access and ventilation. Don't ignore the threat of termite attack. You will need to have the service entry and the meter moved, as you know.

No, that makes sense. I'm thinking you sent the program data file for that inspection instead of the report. My program, HI Pro uses a data file that receives the same name as the pdf report, but would be gibberish to someone not running the same reporting program.

They might have had a home business like catering or similar. I would call for the wiring resting on the line from the compressor to be in conduit and supported properly. Vibration will rub a hole in the insulation there. I knew a couple that built a larger cooler like that for their fresh flower business. There's too much air to keep cold in a setup like that. Like running an almost empty chest freezer.

That's a designing woman's ideal of the Man's cave, if you ask me. The ideal man cave is dark, with low seating and minimal lighting, except above the pool table. The spirits are kept in a fridge or on a counter with a few tumblers and shot glasses.

It is easy enough to cut that stuff off flush. A bit harder when it is white PVC or that hard green pipe. But yeah, the drain guys leave the pipe long on purpose and the guys finishing the grading should trim the pipe. If that house was here, I'd say the solid pipe was for downspout drainage. We use mostly the white vinyl pipe for that purpose and it is not perforated for the reason Mike gave. You want to carry the water away from the foundation, here it is either to an underground storm drain system or to an open ditch along the road.

Good catch, John. Lucky it revealed itself to you so readily. As you know, there is a knock-out box designed for holes like that, so it won't break anyone's heart to fix that.

I imagine water splashes all over the place when the tub is about half full. Another brilliant designer product like the sink with no unsightly overflow drain. [:-thumbd]

Thanks Eric. Cooper tamper-resistant receptacle. Helps prevents foreign objects from being inserted into outlet The plug prevents people from inserting foreign objects, like a 3-prong circuit tester. They are just trying to keep us all safe. []