Stephen D. Gazo

...how did you get to cutting that...this isn't an Inspection?

Very interesting topic....always trying to improve the 'phone call'....and not lose it...many very valid points.....I think that I will add a pricing start point to my website and see how it goes. I know I charge more than some, and some charge crazy Mike Holmes amounts... Can't hurt to try.....gonna start this experiment soon.... Thanks guys

Bill, do all valves follow the same rules for the date...hand stamped? I usually can get the year of the furnaces, from data plate and gas tech inspection date etc....Having one more means to confirm would be great.... Thanks Steve

So other than looking like chicken wing sauce....what is that stuff and what is the common trade name for it....thank you

Yes, he is tightly wrapped, and stands up when challenged...we both have met many people like that...I do follow what's written there and have seen him fence off several attackers with a measured response....regardless....his articles and arguments are well written on the subject of mold and a few other areas.

For those who don't frequent Inspection News, read anything from Caoimh?n P. Connell on the mold subject. His posts should be mandatory reading on this subject. Stephen G

Inspected a home last year that was the site of a marital separation gone sour...hubby hooked up the cars exhaust...you get it...so My clients and I are in the garage, I see French louvred doors, open them to find the AhU is getting the fresh air from the garage, into the home. 2 large car garage. I look at them after starting my worst case scenario, to see them with ashen faces and stunned looks.......ok I rewind what I just said....garage...exhaust, potential for....it turns out the realtor did inform them that the husband committed sideways, in the garage......all that aside, the clients purchased the home...didn't care what had happened....wonder how they woulda felt if they didn't know

My cost per inspection is XXXX.XX....always. The newspaper I buy 7 days a week from Mr Kim is a buck. One dollar, daily, weekly and weekend...always....I inspect one home and you expect to get a reduced inspection rate. Did you ask the realtor to drop the commission? When the judge says the HI is responsible for 50% of costs, can I get that reduced commensurate to the reduced rate...nope. My inspection rate is thus. Period...you want Fast Eddy and that guy from the printing palace at half my rate... Hire who you trust....money shouldn't be a part of the equation...

That ladder was my retirement gift from my wife when I left the army....it's heavy, but so am I....love it...

I would never think to tie down with bungee cord. Way to many things can and do go wrong. One of the classic bungee dangers is when the other end lets go, I have witnessed this, and can attest that his eyeball could have been lost... Securing a load with anything other than sturdy rope or a mechanical device like a ratchet is flaunting his insurance. But, I been brainwashed army style...secure that load...check.

I use cargo straps...they have two hooks and a ratchet to tighten things up...and they are not overly expensive...I buy a four pack whenever they go on sale...Great for my canoes and kayaks...rope is nice but nothing tightens up like a ratchet ..

Next birthday I get a big cake..with 50 candles...I have taken typing, and still practice...just cant seem to get where I am happy with my results. quote" You seem a young fella. " I Marc

I don't see it as hair ball...I can't type...several maintenance programs we used in the army had similar set up...so I gravitated towards it...go with what your comfortable with...right? Will see about that test drive n it...

Am intrigued with this method to speed up report writing...Just so I am clear, are you opening up your reporting software and dictating into it or are you dictating into the Dragon then cut and paste into your software...I use Horizon Reporting. I have to speed up my report writing time, I can't type very well....boxing gloves for fingers.... Thanks in advance

My lower back is sore looking at this guy....I carry a bag with just enough spots for a few tools and 2 umbrellas...I seem to get a lot of rainy day insp...

I just got one for Toronto, can't remember when it is, but I think soon...if I lived closer I would go just for the free info...I am 5 hrs away...so.....

Thanks Kurt, I think it's got to do with being a tradesman for so long...over thirty years doing something. Military Armour and Heavy Mechanical equipment and Airborne was the gig in the army....I love to learn anything technological that interests me...thankfully everything interests me... A home has so many different trades all under one roof, lol...and you get to play detective... Yes it's sad about Mr Karras, I remember him in the 500 Pound Jerk with Bill Bixbie....

Guys, Last time I logged in to TIJ I used a nickname, Mongo. Well when I did that I was recently retired from military service and did not know any better than to use a nickname in a HI forum, where your name is your bond. I see that now, a few years later, graduated from HI college started my business and have been continuing my education, just rcvd my WETT site inspector in the spring. I am known at IN as Stephen G. Since the passing of Mongo and the fact I can call my self a home inspector and stand to be counted I asked Mike to change my name to my real name. I know that to stop learning you stop living. HI has given me a new career and respect to you more senior inspectors. I look forward to learning from you all. Thank you. Stephen D Gazo Home Inspector True North HI Www.truenorthhi.com

Nice pics. I would not have pictured them to be so small and compact. I swear when we got old ticky started we always had an escape path, it made the most hair raising noise, and then smoothed out when it hit op temp. The small distribution manifold is nice and looks like it was installed with some technical know-how. Very nice, but why would you still need the hot water heater, couldnt that do water as well?

I laugh at mosquitoes, I am surrounded by three, lets call them hinterlands (swamps), in the spring the blood suckers are like vampires and then you spend the next month itchy and have an overdoese of anti-histamine running through your body. This being Aug I have not been affected by bites for some time. They still harrass me, but I no longer feel the itchy scratchy of the bite, kinda cool. Thanx MIke Don't worry, after you've done a few hundred attics and crawlspaces the feeling of fiberglass lodged in your skin and fiberglass dust behind your eyelids will be so much a part of everyday life that you'll hardly notice mosquito bites anymore. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I was thinkling the other way, that the saline would still be suspended within the water and then, maybe, creating a better conductor. I dont have one of those systems, but will give it a try next chance I have. steve A water softener will not render the water perfectly pure. Distilled water is the closest to pure water that I can think of. Marc

would the water conductivity change if the water went through a water softener first? thats a big bag of salt....interesting...lots of folks have them around here... Understood. 'Ponder' might as well be my middle name. It will conduct as far as the water goes until it finds the earth, either at the reservoir, the nearest metallic pipe fitting or at the nearest miniscule leak in the piping, and that conduction should easily be enough to shock someone. 1/1000 of one ampere, perhaps less, is uncomfortable to humans. Marc Where I live, I can't get a measurable amount of current to flow through a glass of tap water. Can you? Download Attachment: Tapwater as Conductor Current.JPG 42.78 KB Please note: I am not saying it's safe to mix water & electricity. My only point is that, at least in my area, tap water doesn't contain enough ions to conduct measurable current. Add a little salt - such as is present on most peoples' skin - and the conductivity goes way up. - Jim Katen, Oregon

Hey hey John from BC, thanx man. Nice second pic of the insulation xmas tree, I am feeling itchy just looking at it. Great tips and I have been reading a bit on point thermometers and TI cameras etc. Steve

Hey Mike and Terry, I will talk with the commercial HVAC guys, they must still see boilers...I will go to the site you posted and dive in. The last boilers I worked on were for the Mobile Laundry Decontamination and Bath unit. You didnt need it for clothes but hot showers for soldiers,,you get it. Talk when I can, thank you guys. Steve

Hey guys, still going to school learning as much as I can cram into my head. How you all have time to work and interact here is beyond me, maybe next year when I have completed my HI course. Here is my snag, I am writing my Electrical exam in about 2 weeks and have noticed more questions on Boilers for heating. I have worked on boilers, but they werent for heat. I would like to delve deeper in to the home boilers a little more, even though I may never see one here. I tried the library on this site but, its lacking a bit on the boilers stuff. Any books or authors names would be great. Steve