Bruce Thomas

Ditto Kurt Bruce

Nick, Dozens of books have been written on the subject. Contact Mike Crow, his web site is you guessed it www.MikeCrow.com Tell him I told you to contact him. (that's a referral) See if you like his program. Bruce Thomas

Thanks guys, BIG help Bruce

Well that's 2:17 of my life I'll never get back Bruce

I have been asked to write an article about boiler inspection for hot water residential heat. If anyone has a good resource they could share I would appreciate it. Bruce Thomas PS I'm not above plagiarism [:-bigeyes

Kurt, Add roof walking in a windy city to that list. By the way Chicago is only the 15th windist city in the US, Boston is #1. My wife is a weather chanel adict. Bruce

Kurt, OK so some night when you can't sleep go to www.aarst.org and click the link to the BIER studies. It's not just the EPA any more. Every study that I know of except for 1 crack pot with corrupted data confirms that radon is real. Another source is www.cansar.org these are real people talking. Now for the action level. There is no safe level of any kind of radiation. The action level of 4 pCi/L is the economically feasible level and it's based on a year long average. The 2 day tests are just for screening to find a potential. If the results are between 4 & 10 pCi/L a year long test to confirm it should be done. Radon increases your potential for lung cancer, it's a class A carcinogen. If it was in our food or some company invented it the lawyers would all be getting richer but God put it where it is and He doesn't pay judgements. Unfortunately there are still people out there who claim they never heard of radon and it's dangers. I got an Email just the other day from a woman who's husband died of lung cancer and she is now dedicating her life to "getting the word out". Silly me, I thought we already did that. Bruce [:-cry]

Paul, Even the best inspector can miss copper clad aluminum if they'er not careful. It is a late 60's - early 70's thing. The problem is when you tighten the screws down for the connection it can cut or split the copper and the screw gets into the aluminum. The old bimetallic connection, galvanic reaction thing happens. You now have the same problem that you would have with pure aluminum. My personal opinion is either treat it like aluminum and crimp on pig tails or change all of the devices to approved AL/CU type. One way to spot it as was said is by size, another is the romex sheath is a beige or light green color. It says copper clad aluminum embossed on the sheath if you can read it. The third way is to carefully nick one of the grounds with an insulated screwdriver. When I find it, and it's rare, I call it out just like aluminum. As far as missing it in an inspection is concerned, if it isn't installed correctly (King Kong electrician) it's no better than aluminum. Hope that helps Bruce Download Attachment: 3670RomexWwire.JPG 52.84 KB Thought I had Copper clad Aluminum today but it turned out to be solid copper. Bruce

If there are that many folks in this house and nobody speaks English, you know they don't have any money to fix anything. I saw a lot of this last fall, working to hurricane damage for FEMA in the deep south. They just do what they can every day to survive. Good kind people, just trying' to survive. This isn't a real answer but I'd suggest wiping down the walls and windows every day just to soak up some of the liquid water. At least till spring when they can get some windows open. Bruce

Mike, Right! I saw several of these. Both slab and piling homes that had moved just from the flood water. Bruce

Daren, Here's my best one. Can any body tell me how this happened. Download Attachment: LAHouseOnCar.jpg 103.79 KB Bruce PS I'm Back from the south

When I was installing roofs ( about 30 years ago, (that's difficult to say)) we always used drip edge. It makes for a cleaner looking job. If you allow the shingles to overhang the gutters too far they tend to droop in and allow water to wick up behind them. In this area almost all roofs have drip edge. I put vented drip edge on my house because I have no soffit. Brian, How can you mix wood and metal, that must make a strange aloy? [:-bigeyes Bruce

Konrad, What are the steps made of? Remember you're going to have to take that semi-cheesy stuff off some day. Bruce [:-goldfis

Terry, I have you paying by Master card. If you would rather pay by check just let me know and you can bring it and I won't charge the card. Bruce

Terry, I'll be there, I'm the treasurer and one of the speakers. Make sure you look me up. It should be a good time. Bruce

Our local gas company allows copper feed lines but the main lines must be black iron or approved flex. I think it's a good ides for everyone to check. Bruce

Mike, I got that from a forward earlier. Thought it was great. Bruce

Gordon, I have a Ridgid 12" compound (Home Depot Brand). I like it. It's not a Dewalt buy it wasn't as expensive either. It has stayed true and I use it fairly hard. It also hae a lifetime warranty. Tough choice Good Luck, Bruce

Brian, I knew it was something like that. "Sick twisted freek" is a tag line thet Glenn Beck, a national talk show host uses. It's ment as a compliment. I your case YOU are "An EXTREAMLY Sick twisted freek" Bruce [:-bonc01]

Erby, My 76 year old unmarried Aunt sent it to me. She's the one with the time all I did was cut and paste. Glad every one liked it. Bruce Only Brian the "Sick Twisted Freak" could think of something like that! [^]

The white on black stands out well but the dark red swallows all of the other type. Lighten it up a bit. Bruce

OK, Read this, In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb" Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language. The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone. Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury. Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better. Coca-Cola was originally green. It is impossible to lick your elbow. The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...) The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38% The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400 The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000 Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair. The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David Hearts - Charlemagne Clubs -Alexander, the Great Diamonds - Julius Caesar &g! t; 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 &g t; If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes. Only two people signed the Declaration ofIndependenceon July 4th, John Hancock andCharlesThomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later. Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession Q. If you were to spell out numbers, ho! w far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"? A. One thousand Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common? A. All invented by women. Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year? A. Father's Day In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight." It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month. Which we know today as the honeymoon. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's" Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice. ~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~ At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow............... Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it. I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdgnieg.The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

Erby, Great stuff! Saw one of mine in there, thanks for the credit Bruce

I agree with Brian We are supposed to be building homes that last for 100 years. The warranty is for 25? Go figure. Thing like this make my head hurt! Bruce [:-headach

I vote basement water proofers. I can't tell you how many sump pits I've seem with cobwebs and dust in the bottom, while it's raining. Bruce