John Kogel

40 hits and no replies. I doubt that you missed anything. There may have been an intention to install electric heat that never materialized. We see that now and then. There is electric heat in other rooms, right?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Occam's razor (also written as Ockham's razor, Latin lex parsimoniae) is the law of parsimony, economy or succinctness. There ya go. Hope this helps. It is a principle urging one to select from among competing hypotheses that which makes the fewest assumptions. Aha. For the aerial theatre company, see Ockham's Razor Theatre Company. It is possible to describe the other planets in the Solar System as revolving around the Earth, but that explanation is unnecessarily complex compared to the contemporary consensus that all planets in the Solar System revolve around the Sun.

Back-stabbed receptacles can cause flickering, but it will always be the same lights. It wouldn't hurt to pull the fixtures that flicker and a few receptacles in a 60-year-old house. But we are all leaning toward a bigger problem - loose or corroded connections at the service end. I had one side of my service drop to 80 volts one time. The trouble was out on the power pole. Brownouts can destroy electric motors, compressors, etc.

I'm impressed, Ed. We had a milk cow when I was a kid, but I couldn't raise a chicken if I had to. Coons got the last couple we had, since they were roosting in a tree instead of in their pen. I did fish a buck deer out of a swimming pool once. Almost got spiked in the process. I wouldn't want to tell a bull elk he can't have any cow today. [] Oh, yeah, good call on the furnace.

Here's some interesting reading that may be relevant. Or it might not apply, because we haven't discussed the soil type where your house is, or the grading. There are places in the US like Texas where home owners keep the perimeters of their homes wet to prevent shrinkage of clay soil from damaging the foundations. http://geology.com/articles/expansive-soil.shtml If Kurt is correct about concrete shrinkage, that would have happened when the house was 1 or 2 years old. Certainly it is 15 years too late to worry about concrete shrinkage now. That is a normal occurrence. But since you mention moving grout in the kitchen, there could be some shifting going on there. The floor is a concrete slab, right? Is there pre-tensioned reinforcing in the slab? Does a straight edge lay flat across the area where the crack was?

[:-party]

I agree, the furnace needs to be checked out. Ed, was that elk on your property? A friend offered to help a relative hunt down an elk cow. This guy had a tag for a cow, not many allowed in any given year. Every time they got close to the herd, the greenhorn would spook the herd and they'd be gone. All except the bull, who would be standing there watching them, but he was not fair game. After about a week, they finally got their cow, in the local farmer's field. Farmer called them up, "Come and get yer stinkin' elk" and hauled it to the road for them with the tractor. Farmers up here hate elk.

That's some nice work. I'd be ok with that but there would have to be a squatting figure at the other corner, to keep peace in the family. []

Some guy had to take 'think outside the box' to another level. [] My guess is, he clipped it too short to reach the grounding bus, so improvised a short cut. That's a bit too clever. Fail.

Yes, I've heard that, like "the deal hasn't been vinylized yet". []

It is a plug in the wood siding of an old house which is laying on its side. [] Often there will be rows of plugs, indicating that insulation was blown into the walls.

Interesting that one possible cause of the sinking of the Colosseum is vibration from traffic. I checked it out on Google Maps. They've got a major highway circling around it like an Italian race track. To think it has withstood umpteen tremors and earthquakes, but 21st and 22nd century traffic is threatening to bring it down. Amazing. I see some pretty decrepit foundations under the 100 year olds around here. Sometimes I can picture a guy with a shovel and a wheelbarrow, mixing a bit of concrete with a bit of gravel he dug out of a pit somewhere, maybe a bit of sand off the beach. [] Sometimes they have wooden corner posts with concrete poured in between. Then there are the ones built on bedrock. There will be some moisture there. There will be beetles in the wood, so they will crumble, but they are not going to sink. Yes, they are all different, and the worst ones have already rotted away, which is a blessing for inspectors out here on the wet coast.

I wish it was that simple for me in Canada. Late 70's to the present non-GFCI counter receptacles will be split duplex, a separate 15 amp feed to top and bottom of the receptacle. To upgrade this to GFCI, room needs to be made in the panel for 2 or 4 15A GFCI breakers, no simple task. If the people plan to remodel, I tell them to install 20 Amp circuits, #12 gauge wiring. 20 amp circuits do not need to be split, so they can use the simple GFCI receptacles. I watch their eyes glaze over as I'm saying this. Huh? []

Yes, that is some amateur framing around the gable vent. That is a scary picture. I'll bet there are hidden defects in those walls. I'll bet there is water damage to the OSB around those windows as well. It is a shame that someone would apply that much brick to a house and not learn the basics of masonry and home construction first. [:-thumbd]

Maybe it's the 50 gallon drum they use for a septic tank. []

At radio frequencies, like VHF (very high frequencies), a coil in a wire will make some difference to an electrical circuit, but at 60 cycles per second, I'd say none whatsoever. My guess is that was one of the wrong answers on the test. AFAIK, it is not correct to shorten the neutral wire on an AFCI breaker. That would lower the resistance very slightly. Maybe that is also a myth.

Are you sure it isn't just the canned spray foam like Great Stuff? I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about basement insulation with just that little bit of info.

Gary's 2 X 4 stair rails reminded me of this place. The stairs don't comply with the building code because of the open treads, and I didn't measure the gap between the uprights, but it looks greater than 4". It's an art piece, so I wasn't going to be critical. Click to Enlarge 49.85?KB Click to Enlarge 39.81?KB Click to Enlarge 73.29?KB Click to Enlarge 68.54?KB

Nice work. Are you worried about warpage or shrinkage, or did you use well cured lumber? Some kind of Eastern Spruce, Pine, Fir?

I have read, possibly right here, that the permanent posts will have welded ends, not just pressed or crimped together. Permanent posts will be heavy gauge steel. Also when installed, the threaded rod should be welded to the nut so it can't be turned. If none of the above, you got temporary jack posts. Easy one. []

Escutcheon, that would be a "trim ring" or "wall trim" so the plumber and the client would know what I meant. [] Good question. I've come to the conclusion that trim is superfluous, but could be wrong. "Escutcheons are required" would probably ruffle some feathers around here and get my phone ringing.

He's a lonely bull. I don't know if he does circuit testing for FPE, but they had 600 volts on the wire fence. []

It's all good. Home buyers are more savvy now that ever. They expect to see details in the report, IMO. The better realtors don't try to hide the bad. If the house is right, it will sell.

They are a reputable supplier of commercial electrical equipment AFAIK. I shot these pics a couple of miles west of Sequim, Washington recently. Click to Enlarge 39.45 KB Click to Enlarge 45 KB Click to Enlarge 59.81 KB

Denny says he'll do it. [] I agree, a rope around the waist gives me Spiderman qualities. But Spiderman wouldn't have posted here asking for advice, so we'll go with the rented bucket lift. I like the idea of inviting neighbors over, too. Be careful driving that machine around. This painter was using one to paint a condo building the other day. Broke the curb wall. I can't wait to see his repair. Click to Enlarge 94.74?KB The sack of concrete and the trowel are laid out there to keep the tenants from screaming at him. That's pretty sharp.