John Kogel

FYI, the price may fluctuate. Ask Nick for a discount. He even gives out free memberships sometimes, I hear. []Membership in NACHI gives you access to some good videos for training. I was a member for 1 year and got 0 referrals. I never got around to sending in my 5 mock inspections, but they made me a certified home inspector anyway, so just do what you feel is best there. There are many highly respected home inspectors in all 3 orgs, so Steven's advice is sound. Do what the established and respected inspectors in your area are doing.

Thanks, John. Now we can all say, yes, we've seen that before, if we ever see it agin. The valve is there to keep the trap from leaking, kind of a double trap. It's a good place as any to store extra plumbing parts. The plumber needed to clock another hour to fill up his day. He knew there had to be a valve on that line, but he couldn't remember where.

Plumbing is not my forte, not even my fifte, but could the water heater be blowing air, such as the supply valve was not fully open and there's air and steam in the top of the tank?

You're not wrong, Robert. That valley is wrong. For a weave the shingles should go farther. It could now be turned into a cut valley, but only if there's enough overlap on the uncut side. Up here on new construction, the authorities want to see open metal valleys, not the valleys of sunny California. [] But the point is, the authorities don't have much faith in woven or cut valleys. They plug up with debris and moss and develop leaks.

Up until recently, all Canadian counter outlets were wired that way - 15 amp split duplex*. The tab on the hot side of the receptacle is snapped off to separate the top from the bottom. On the neutral side of the receptacle, the tab is left in place, so one neutral connection supplies top and bottom. Les, since each leg supplies only one receptacle, you have two 120 volt, 15 amp supplies there. They are tied together to reduce the chance of a shock, safety issue for Sparky. The new rules (CEC 2006) allow 20 amp so that people can have unsplit GFCI outlets around the sink.

Good pics, Robert. If thatching ants are the red ones that build nests from sticks and needles, no, that's not them. Do moisture ants do damage to wood? Or are they just an indicator that there's a wet wood there?

I'm so old, I remember the phone we had from 1956 to the early 60's, oak box on the wall with a crank on the side. Our number was 2 digits and a letter, 70L. You would pick up the handset and turn the crank to ring an operator, then tell her the number you were calling.

The deluxe units have timers on them, or you could plug it in to a timer. It has to get expensive to run those things continuously. Would it be more correct to call it a circulation pump?

Check Airway, Breathing, Circulation, in that order. He can be brain dead, but still breathing. []

You've tried changing the battery, no doubt? BTW, congrats on the new MM.

Thanks, Richard. That question could have kept me awake last night, but, nah, I let it go. That's a good guess about the electric to gas conversion. They should have attached a smaller gauge jumper to the feeder with a wire nut, then an easy connection to one terminal. Flip one of those handles to 'off', and you'd have a simple 20 amp circuit. So, what happens to the electrical charges that were riding on those strands that are now disconnected? They jump to the other side. Where do they start jumping? At the breaker, at the outlet or somewhere in between? []

I could be wrong, but I think the thin, tandem or wafer breakers ride on the same bus. So you can't get 240 volts that way. A load exceeding 20 amps will trip at least one of those breakers. I think. So it is a 20 amp circuit.

The first reason I leave the top section off of my 17' Jaws is to make it lighter. But a bonus is that climbing down is safer. I grab the top, swing around and plant one foot on the rung below the gutter. It's hard to do that safely with the wide upper section in place, IMO. Click to Enlarge 55.94 KB Here's my Jaws in action. With the top section removed, it is smooth on one side, so it slides nicely in and out of the truck box. I do 75% of my roofs with that, the others are taller, so 28' extension for those.

Better check the Rice Crispies there, John. Yes your bench is or has been a host for beetles as well, but I'd be more creeped out about this new discovery in the kitchen. The old-fashioned flour bin was maybe not such a hot idea after all, eh?

"A breaker tie-bar is needed" avoids the difficult handle question. [] Wow, I just looked at the pic. Yes those 100 amp main handles certainly need a tie bar (handle tie).

Thanks, Mike. It sounds like the term is mis-used by people here then, such as this pest control company.http://www.pestvictoria.com/insects-and ... eetles.htm I agree the beetles we have are a different bunch, but I probably should start calling them by their real names, or just 'wood-boring beetles". Death by BoraCare sounds like it would be painful but only for a minute or two leading up to the big bang. []

We have a powder post beetle here in the west that attacks old roughcut beams in damp old basements. I suspect the Eastern variety is larger. These ones we have leave tiny holes with powdered frass piles when they emerge. Check the beams and flooring in your basement. Don't worry about you new kitchen. They will be in the old wood. Click to Enlarge 40.56 KB Click to Enlarge 50.76 KB A pest control guy went in and treated this floor with something, probably Borate. It only works on the emerging adults. The larvae can hang out in the tunnels for years before they become adults and venture out to lay eggs. On the optimistic side, maybe you've just got them in your firewood?

How are you determining the rating, i.e., is this Exposure 1 or 2? I'm not disputing anything anyone is saying about OSB, but I have a lot of curiosity on how folks are figuring out ratings on material that's installed, covered, inaccessible, or destroyed. I ask, because on the Advantech that I've put out in the weather, i.e., full exposure to rain, wind, sun, snow, ice, etc., it holds up. How are you folks determining rating? This was an amateur addition to a decent old house, so I just said rip it off and put a better roof on it. Properly installed OSB roof sheathing has the stamps visible in the attic. Also in Canada, exterior grade OSB has a green painted edge you can sometimes see. It's usually OK, except if it gets wet enough for mold to start growing on it.

There seem to be some serious safety issues there. If all is as it appears to be, the main feeders are incorrect - they should be grouped together, coming in thru one knockout, so that the two phases cancel each other. That's important. Ask Jim K or Douglas. The neutral feeder needs to be marked with white tape or paint. Minor detail but wrong. Then the work in that old panel which is now a big junction box - all the neutrals should be floating, isolated from ground. That thing is a shock hazard the way it is wired. Those branch circuit cables should not be bundled, that generates heat, and they should be stapled to the wall within 12" of the box. I suspect there is more going on in that house than what these pics show. Not enough circuits there to run a properly wired house.

The driveway drain is inadequate. It should be a 3" pipe or bigger, IMO. There is evidence of flooding and 2 sump pumps. If the realtor is choked, he/she will get over it. There are plenty of good homes on the market. Finding this old couple a nice trouble-free home should be the realtor's top priority, no? I do believe you should try to be objective and refrain from expressing personal dislikes. Just state the facts, and if the facts are alarming to some people, it's a good thing you reported them.

If that porch was a bridge, I'd say they were Troll guard houses. They would be more attractive with gnomes or bulldog figurines in them, ya think?

I don't know what it is, Mike, but if you can get that to grow on a human skull, I'll buy shares in your company. []

Wouldn't be so clever, then, would it?

It's a clever arrangement, but it's also easy to see why it never caught on. You can get pure hot or pure cold by simply using one of the upper taps. [:-graduat That nickel-plated brass was bad for the economy. It never needed replacing. Much better now that we're buying Chinese fixtures, eh?[]

Since you'all are still kicking this one around, here's some pics from today, OSB sheathing that's been absorbing water for a few years, OSB that's been kept painted, old Fir plywood that's never needed paint, new knotty sapwood plywood on a new building. Click to Enlarge 32.45 KB Click to Enlarge 42.7 KB Click to Enlarge 61.72 KB Click to Enlarge 46.79 KB