John Kogel

Of course that would depend on which sea you picks your weed from. Garbage from the Japanese tsunami and nuke meltdown is washing up on our beaches this winter. I'll pass on the kelp salad, thanks. [] Good info, thanks, Mike.

All this rain is good for the skin and it is good for home inspecting. Should be easy to convince the clients that there's trouble there.

You would question the accuracy of the MLS info? Sometimes I question if I've pulled up to the right house. [] This was from two days ago. The listing feature sheet said there were two fireplaces. Click to Enlarge 41.13 KB

By ragwrap, you mean cloth jacketed wiring, right? It is not uncommon here to see that sometimes in early 70's homes, often mixed with the newer stuff. I imagine some electrical contractors were using up their old stock, and it is perfectly acceptable. The fused disconnect could be old stock as well, or even a recycled item. In my opinion, an old fuse is still going to blow when it needs to, probably more reliable than an old breaker. It is possible the house was built in the 60's. I had one once that had a building permit from the 50's and an certificate for occupancy dated 6 or 7 years later. I guess it took a while to get 'er done.

If you're interested, I'm sure my client can be persuaded to let it go. I liked the way it just kept flushing until I jerked the chain a couple of times. []

Robert, good luck with your purchase. I'd rather have a low-slope roof than one that's too steep to climb.

Roll roofing = exposed nails sometimes gooped with tar Mod Bit (torch-on) = no nails and at least 15 years no trouble. Mike is right about the needles. Screens don't work, or they work too well. My neighbors on three side have old growth Sitka Spruce trees that shed needles like a XXX sheds XXX. On my low slope, 2 in 12 roof, I got rid of the needle catchers and ran my downspouts into a buried 4" drain pipe that runs out to the ditch along the road. Goodbye needles.

Antique alarm system? Thermostats? Toy trains in the attic?

That was a Square D fuse box, but it has been converted to house that transformer. There are 7 or 8 low voltage circuits heading off to different places, so my guess would be low voltage light switches. Were the light switches odd-looking?

In the land of man vs moss, I recommend a full scale chemical assault. There's a lot of info here, more than you want to know about moss: http://bryophytes.science.oregonstate.e ... m#potasalt That walkway looks a bit like my lawn. That's the part that never needs mowing. []

I have not heard any reason not to install a surge protector, so we can assume the people you asked didn't know much about them? We get more brown outs here than surges. I never see whole house surge protectors installed probably for that reason. It can't do any harm though, as long as it is installed safely and correctly.

It looks like it would have been easier and cheaper to do it right. Go figure. [?]

Cajun French for "little a##hole." Depends on who you ask. As my family used it, dimwit, bird-brain, sometimes used to denote an individual with a brain in intermission or generally lacking in mental faculties commonly found in normal persons, dogs, horses and pigs. Marc Heard that one a lot when you were a kid, eh Marc? []

Blue's for cold until they run out of the blue. Then they'll use red for both.

Maybe it's a fire escape for a pet mouse. People do stupid stuff for their pets. I had a mystery pipe like that about a month ago, drain pipe out the wall, down into the perimeter drains, which empty into the city storm drains. When I got inside, I found a kitchen sink with a new drain. They'd capped the old illegal drain pipe with duct tape. It would have taken 2 minutes to rip the stupid thing out.

He used the legs to hold up some shelves. The sink didn't need them.

Yes, the homemade extension under the sink was a shocking discovery. That could sends a tingle down your spine, alright. (For a real dramatic suicide though, he should have used a tube radio. Check out the voltage on my 1949 Marconi FM radio. That's enough juice to tie your colon in a knot.) Kids, don't play around with electricity, especially in a bathroom where your skin could be wet. That little transistor radio could have killed somebody. Click to Enlarge 65.67 KB

Too bad he forgot to buy the fernco connector to hook up to the copper. It's a strong effort, nonetheless. []

I think I like the way this older guy solved the problem of a 1970 mobile home with louver-style windows. If there's a fire, you bust your way out thru the back of the closet. Some of his wiring is a bit Mickey Mouse, though. The radio didn't work. [:-thumbd] Click to Enlarge 42.2 KB Click to Enlarge 51.92 KB Click to Enlarge 54.79 KB Click to Enlarge 44.08 KB Click to Enlarge 82.31 KB Click to Enlarge 43.59 KB

Dante makes valves for gas fireplaces. Sometimes the valve requires a key. http://danteproducts.com/gas_valves.html I wouldn't touch it, so one way to know if it is still in service would be to have a gas heating contractor check it out.

That is a common arrangement in Canada. We have a minimum distance of one meter (39") from the inside edge of the tub or shower. Small bathroom, the switches are out in the hall. We're used to it. This fan switch didn't need to be installed here, and it's a few inches too close by the CEC. Click to Enlarge 15.34 KB Click to Enlarge 16.92 KB

Hey, John. Is your Google finger broken? [] "Your Regency? fireplace is supplied with high temperature glass. A white film can build up on the inside of the glass after the initial break-in of the unit. It is caused by water vapor mixing with by-products of combustion. This mixture forms inside the firebox and will quickly condense under certain conditions on the coolest spot in the firebox which is typically the glass front. The condensation forms a white film on the glass when it dries out. It is acidic and will etch into the glass permanently if not cleaned off soon after it forms. If your glass requires cleaning, we recommend using an approved glass cleaner available at all authorized Regency dealers. Do not use abrasive materials. Cleaning residue from the glass (exterior surface) If your glass requires cleaning, we recommend using an approved glass cleaner available at all authorized Regency dealers. Warm up the glass slightly Use a foam glass cleaner (not Windex type) or Kel Kem glass cleaner (available from your local fireplace store) Use a razor (use with caution, keep the blade on a angle ) or rub it off. Always keep the glass wet with cleaner while you scrape the glass. CAUTION & WARNINGS: Do not clean when the glass is hot. The use of substitute glass will void all product warranties. http://www.regency-fire.com/Customer-Ca ... s/Gas.aspx

Considering that whole package is permanently full of scummy water, they done a good job, eh?

Would you consider a Mini or a VW Beetle? Your tradein plus the $2K? [] Robert has made a good observation. It is not likely that garage has always been too short, so you are wanting to put it back the way it was. Is it normal to see a furnace in the garage where you are? We don't do that here, but garages are cold here. If you wall the furnace in, it will need combustion air ventilation added for safety.

What year is that Lincoln, late 60's, early 70's. Those older shakes would have been installed with galvanized nails, I think. The stapled shakes came later. Ridge caps are hard to nail through to the strapping, because the wood will split if you try to use too long of a galvanized nail (bigger diameter). So it is typical for ridge shingles to pop loose after a few years, because they're just tacked to the shakes below in some places. The ready-made ridge caps have the two shakes stapled together at the edges. You lay them over the ridge and nail or staple them at the tails, under the laps. Those ridges on the other hand are capped with 24" hand-split tapered cedar shakes. They paid big bucks for that roof, I'd say. Stainless steel doesn't have the grip that hot-dipped galvanized nails have. Anyway, it is typical and not a big deal to tighten them up with a hammer and a few more nails. That's a bad valley design but they did a nice job of flashing it. I've got to file that 'terne-coated copper' away in my soft drive, although we'll never see that here.