John Kogel

I had one footing holding a post under a beam that settled about an inch. Dirt crawlspace. No other footings moved so I surmised that a rotten root collapsed under there. This was a cottage in the bush, poorly prepped site to say the least. Nothing bad happened, I pounded in a shim and gave it my blessing. There were dampwood termites under there. I found a small stump that had been completely hollowed out like a thin bowl. They never attacked the structure, just the half-buried roots and stumps. But that is one concern with finding roots under the house.

If there's a cat in the attic, those boxes would look like this. Click to Enlarge 43.34 KB

No, that's where he puts his wet gloves to dry. Check it out on the right. It worked fine for the original owner because he knew what he had and kept it safe. But for a new owner, I would call it an amateur installation that needs to be repaired. I grew up with single-wall stove pipes and leaky brick chimneys, but we were smarter then. []

Mine trumps yours cuz it was designed by a real architect. This is in a townhouse complex and there are four of them. Click to Enlarge 50.4 KB Click to Enlarge 75.66 KB Click to Enlarge 86.45 KB Then there's this dummy chimney, designed to baffle at least a couple of different "roofers". For balance, he put the electrical mast in the other valley. [] Click to Enlarge 92.31 KB Click to Enlarge 55.22 KB Click to Enlarge 66.96 KB Click to Enlarge 98.52 KB Click to Enlarge 70.28 KB

Well, I'd think the sandy variety will dry out after the rain stops, so it's ready for the next squall to come through. It's a big improvement over the honey pail, IMO. []

Sure. Just don't light a fire. []

That is the Homeline model breaker. It has a little symbol on the right showing two stripped ends above "Cu" which I think means you can tuck 2 copper leads in. The plate under the screw has two dimples, one each side of the screw. You are right on all counts. Two wires are allowed, but 3 or two twisted together are wrong and need to be fixed.

In my climate, they not only need to be vented to the outside, but they also need to be sealed tight. On the flip side, I've seen houses aplenty with plank sheathing and minimal attic insulation, where a loose bath vent hose has not caused any problem whatsoever. Newer tight house with well insulated attic, no moist air is allowed. Here's a couple of recent stains I had to talk about. The first pic is directly above the master bath shower exhaust fan, short vent pipe straight up through the roof. Number two was a flaky duct tape seal. Click to Enlarge 67.61 KB Click to Enlarge 49.7 KB

I've never done a dumbass thing like that in my entire life and I never lie. []

Warning, Jim K has traveled back to Dec 31, 2001 and has been bumped to the first reply position on this thread! With his knowledge of the events of the last 10 years, there's no telling what he will do in 2002. [?] Jim sent a telepathic message re: expansion joints on service laterals. Here's an example of a need for an expansion joint between the panel and the ground, a distance of only about 3 feet. The smaller conduit to the cable box has also dropped several inches. Click to Enlarge 47.8 KB

Pretty neat, I'm jealous, never get to see houses of that vintage. We need to find a better way to describe those cool rads. I think Mike would say they're kewl. [] In the 60's they could have been 'rad' rads. (short for 'radical') One explanation I can come up with is that a wall register take up less space than a big old radiator. Woodwork is easier for some people than plumbing. The steam or hot water heat gets less efficient with longer pipe runs, so the designer kept the plumbing runs shorter that way.

I'll give it a try:The electrical conduit in the first pic should have an expansion joint or two so that that plastic can expand and contract without exposing the cable. It looks like it has pulled loose at a union that might have been poorly glued or not glued. It needs better support as well, more clamps. The flexible conduit is not rated for that usage and it is susceptible to damage, like a kid spinning through there on a bike could catch a pedal on it.

Actually what causes the heat to build up is friction. The resistance in the windings working against the magnets. But this friction is due to what you smart guys said, failure of the start circuitry.

I must disagree. Loads can be increased by the occupants at any time. In this case, they can load up to 200 amps without tripping a breaker. The service conductors need to be sized to the potential load. I'm talking about the run inside the wall down from that antique weatherhead. What the power company does with the service drop is up to them, and that part is air-cooled, anyway. In my area, the power company would have installed the second meter, after a contractor installed the meter can with the approval of a government electrical inspector. Three sets of eyes would have looked at that. BTW, speaking of condition, the insulation is in poor condition. I'd call for an immediate repair.

In my area, only a greenhorn agent would fix his/her clients up with an obvious POS like that. I know it is different down your way, but I'm sure you can forget about peeing them off. Will your clients find a better place? If so, that is a small pat on the head for you. If none of these places are beyond repair, then having new owners in them will eventually raise the standards a bit, as the renos get done? Maybe that is where the focus should be to stimulate some employment? I have my home office upstairs where we sit at night, so I get to vent on a regular basis. But your story makes me feel privileged to live near a town with a surviving economy.

If he's anything like normal, he's got 6, counting arm, leg and eye sockets. [] Some building supply stores will rent the PEX crimp tool out for $10 a day. Then there's the other option - borrow from the guy that has too many tools.

That's good. Can I use that one?One more unsolved mystery. If the rest of the installation is good solid black pipe, why? [?]

Thanks for that, Rob. Yes, I think that is what turned me off from displaying the video during the inspection. A film star I'm not.

I had a place recently that was inspected for final occupancy in 1960, but it had an electrical inspection in 1957. I think the builder got the panel installed and then spent 3 years finishing the house.

Why does that vent hood look like a toilet plunger, and why is it jammed on top of the TPRV? That is an electric water heater, no?

I have found Al wiring in older, like 40's, houses, where circuits were obviously added. But it is interesting that the cable on the left appears to be copper but has the same jacket material as the two aluminum cables. There is a possibility that times were tough and it took a few years to completely wire all the rooms.

I have tried it once or twice, but need to learn to capture still pics quickly from video.I like to give my client a disc with the pics onsite, so to save time, still shots with the timer feature works. The old Fuji Finepix is one camera that does that. I had an HP camera that would take 2 timed shots, but I slammed it on a roof and broke it. I take a series of shots, load the results into my laptop, and can show the client what the roof looks like, all in about 10 minutes. I have a pruning pole attachment that can increase the reach to about 25 feet, but that is an awkward sucker when you're up on a balcony. Have only done that twice and it's a grunt. The short pole, 8 or 10 times a year.

Home inspectors are in demand? Yes, in Northern BC, where the cabins and mobile homes are 50 miles apart. []

I use a 16' extension pole with a small camera tripod taped to a paint roller handle. I used black electrical tape so it looks professional. [] I've taken lots of tricky roof pics with it. I use a Fuji camera that has a 10 sec timer. Today, no roof access, 4 storey building. My unit was on the ground floor. I got into a stairwell and found this window, took out the screen and got these shots. The white spots are seagull poop. Excellent distribution. I don't know how they do it. Click to Enlarge 54.09 KB Click to Enlarge 67.05 KB Click to Enlarge 52.54 KB Click to Enlarge 67.39 KB

Yes, if there is a negative to those creations, a home inspector would find it with his thick skull. []I'll never see those here. It would take a bit of skill and forethought to install them. []