John Kogel

I supose you could say to have it repaired instead of replaced, but a new unit costs $15 and an electrician will charge $100+ to work on an old one, which may be less dependable than one of the new ones. If the circuit has two GFCI's daisy-chained together, the downstream one won't reset until you restore power to it. That I know. Give me a few hours and I will let you know about the low power thing. I have a variac in my shop, but no GFI receptacle handy at the moment.

How the heck would you trap a shower stall drain then?Oh, I see it says sink, not tub or shower.

What's a layperson home inspector? Is this one of them oxymoron things? Marc I just made that up, picturing Mr Fixer going in after me and pontificating to the HO. And who exactly are you calling a moron? [] John, the presence of the seller and buyer changes the situation certainly. One of the worst nightmares of renovated houses is the daisy-chained GFI's and nothing labeled or logical. You did good to sort it out. I tripped an outdoor receptacle for a feature pond one time. Only the one receptacle went dead, but so did the nifty waterfall feature. My clients had not arrived. The other outdoor outlets were on another circuit. I soon gave up searching and was phrasing the explanation to my clients in my head. In the master bedroom, I wanted to check at least one receptacle. There behind the night stand was a little old GFCI and it was tripped. Reset it and the waterfall at the other end of the house came back to life. Who'da thunk it?

Agreed. For me, it is not that I can't wire or repair an outlet. I would be leery, and maybe not permitted, to work on a house that hasn't been sold to my client yet, that needs the attention of an electrician or competent repair man, who will immediately take offense that a layperson home inspector would dare to attempt a temporary fix on something he broke, etc. IMO, better to say the thing broke, it needs replacement, and I've plugged the fridge in as a courtesy, bye.

I think it depends on the age of the house to some extent. Younger than 15 years or so, I'd be inclined to condemn the work more. For an older house, some cracks are to be expected and there are good repair people here in my area. Maybe not so much in Kentucky. I would certainly call for repairs, with a warning that there could be hidden damage to the sheathing and structure, depending on exposure to the elements.

The ratchet is great when it is new, but one day, it will pop loose and go flipping off onto the road. I see straps and bungee cords on the road all the time. A couple of years ago, somebody lost a surfboard and didn't even notice till he got home. []You are right to buy new straps fairly often. Of course if you chain it as well, you will not lose the ladder. My special rope isn't for everyone, and it would be too awkward on the tall Transit rack. For the one guy that wants to read about my rope: I lassoo the front rail, flip rope over the ladder, tie a loop of the rope with a double knot and slip the free end of that knot over the end of the rail. It can't come undone. The remaining rope goes over diagonally to the back rail, under and over the ladder, tied with a double knot. This end is also a loop. A bungee cord goes from the diagonal piece around both rungs and the back rail of the rack, then over to the side to hook the free end of the knot. This takes about as long to do as it does to read about it. The rope is just the right length and I use the same knots every time. It's a snap and it looks ok.

It could have been for a hose bib that was buried by a flower bed. Could be a gas pipe. Needs a cork.

Good one, John. I might have removed only the GFI cover and tested with the DMM for juice. That way, no need to turn off the breaker. Then I think I would have found an extension cord for the fridge. But I'm not criticizing what you did. I rarely get that much time to do that much work in a house.

What impresses me the most is the two hooks on a handle. What I use? A piece of rope, but it's a special rope with a long loop in each end. If anyone is even slightly interested, I will teach them the Johnny Will Knot. []

My thought as well. An abandoned supply pipe that is cut off outside would drip ground water now and then. That roof is so steep it almost falls over backwards. []

I don't see how putting the trap below the floor makes it easier to clean out. In the civilized world, you install a removable trap downstream from the garbage disposer. That mess is unsanitary. The shutoffs are situated in a handy location (positive note), but (negative note) the supply lines are vulnerable to having crap piled on top of them.

Not one of your better shots, Mike. Must have been a narrow alley. []

If I saw that, 77 degrees F, already too warm, I would check the temp with my laser thermometer, then switch the toggle switch off, switch on the upper left. I leave the thermometer or a biz card laying there to remind me to change it back later. Check the heat in about an hour, should be cooler, turn it back on, check again at the end. If there are up and down arrow buttons, you can run the heat up or down a few degrees, and, yes, I hate messing with programs too.

Sometimes I wish they had at least tried to clean up the stink. "Oh yeah, the water heater is behind the green panel under the stairs". Click to Enlarge 43.34 KB

I was thinking the barn would make a nice Inn with a British pub included. Sir Raleigh was a Brit, no doubt?

There's a house with no step flashings down the road from here. I inspected it 2 years ago and called out the lack of flashings. Nothing has been done to the roof. Maybe they forgot. Maybe they'll forget me , too. []

I have some crimped connections in some of the outlet boxes of the 1968 parts of my house. They are small copper rings that were crimped and taped. They were ok at that time. I have replaced a few and found them all to be still tight, but the tape has dried out and is no longer secure, so they are poorly insulated. It is a judgement call, John. I imagine you've made it by now. If it looked professional, I would put a note simply that they are present, and I couldn't determine the splicing means under the tape.

This is for GAS vents: Click to Enlarge 55.34?KB Bob K., this chart says 4 feet up to and including 12 in 12, 5 feet for steeper than 12 in 12.

A Washington inspector posted these pics on another site and is not getting answers. He says he has seen these a few times in houses built around 1900. He doesn't say where the 2" pipes go, or whether this is water supply or gas. Click to Enlarge 35.07 KB Click to Enlarge 29.78 KB

My interior page has a simple comment- 'animal odor'. I will use it anytime there is evidence of animals or something dead.

Thanks, Scott, I would certainly welcome your input as we flounder along with our half-baked good intentions. Mike, I missed your post before. Yes, the decision has been made and, yes, minds were made up with minimal information put forward. Have you ever seen a room full of home inspectors come to a mutual agreement on anything? [] We needed a new exam, we explored the NHIE offering, and it was voted down. I hope to see something good come from this, in the form of a reasonably improved exam. Passing that exam will still be only the first step to becoming a qualified inspector.

AFAIK, the lugs are supposed to be torqued to a specified amount, the way you torque down a cylinder head on an engine. There should be no need to ever go back over the connections, IMO.

I understand what you are saying. I suppose there could be a conflict. The organization, CAHPI(BC) is not a separate entity but a non-profit org made up of about 240 home inspectors. A new board of directors is elected every year, although we are extending the term to two years. Any major decisions are voted upon by the members. Anyone can join by passing the tests. Nobody is obliged to join, because there are 3 other associations. We want the exam to reflect a higher standard of competency. It still doesn't prove the candidate can inspect a house properly. It is just the first step, followed by mentoring and a test inspection of an actual house. Of course this is all run by the members. No one else is going to do it. The government agency that issues the expensive license has handed the responsibility of testing back to the associations. We are trying to raise the bar by improving the quality of the exam.

"The University of BC is tasked with developing an algorithm with verifiable analytics to ensure test results reflect the competency of the candidate accurately. Just because a person can pass an exam doesn't mean they have fully comprehended the subject matter or are able to apply it properly, if the exam is flawed. Some industry exam methods fail to prove credibility of results by being too simple or are easy to beat. Applying verification analytics to an exam process will ensure exam results are verifiably accurate to the best possible level". Marc, when I figure out what you are saying, I'll try to respond. []

All CAHPI(BC) members are members of the National CAHPI association. So it is possible (I'm not saying likely, but possible) the other provincial associations will be looking at using our exam as well. We have paid staff in the office, and they administer the exam proctoring and so on. If we gave it all over to NHIE, we would lose money on every new candidate. We have members from the other provinces buying in to our E+O insurance program. We exchange info with ASHI all the time, no rivalry there. It was not an easy decision and there have been a lot of heated discussions, believe me. []