Jim Baird

Never seen a PT relief that close to the center of the top...btw it is pvc not cpvc, verdad? I bet they used the thicker pipe to resist the heat? Copper would obviously be better.

I was given a tour of an 1834 home in SW Virginia where the owners of a wool mill resided. The wool mill was said to be a major supplier of cloth for the Confederate army. The new owners in restoration efforts found, guess what, wool stuffed in the framing of exterior walls. Some of it was still in place in areas I was shown.

long ladders, or one of those camera drones...

Erby nailed it.

I was told once that the code change a few yrs back requiring clothes washer standpipe to join directly to a minimum three-inch branch was due to soapmakers' efforts over time to make their product more and more sudsy, because market research told them the sudsier the better in consumer's mind. If the home is older and the 1 1/2 connects with a 2 the suds may be backing up the vent.

I have seen termites in roof rafters. Once saw them about forty feet above ground in an antebellum building. I think they must have found some composted material in an eave or soffit somewhere to live in instead of real dirt.

"It's a fancy pop up plug, usually controlled by turning a dial at the overflow." LOL. Best example I've heard of over-the-top technology.

Like all things, MH units that are well sited and well kept can last a long time. In our state many counties (of a national record number of 159 little territorial fiefdoms) used to put a blanket restriction on age (usually ten-twelve yrs) on units that are allowed to be moved into AHJ. State law in 2010 struck that down. Now units moved across boundaries have to be inspected by third party to assess viability. Ergo I have picked up a few jobs each year doing that for people. Only have seen one I could not approve, except one that was scheduled for virtual rebuilding, so I did my best just to OK the structural aspects.

I knew a 60's ranch whose attic ignited at a ceiling fan connection or motor one. Another I knew began when a lot of pine was consumed by manufactured fireplace and flue got too hot.

Can I power the well pump with that?

...would've checked other and defined as observation skills and on-the-feet-adaptability in terms of process. You have to be able to take in and process the unexpected. Have to adjust field routine to what you find, but if you cannot communicate your findings it is of no help to be observant, Watson.

In the early days of hardi type lap siding, as an AHJ I entered the site of a custom-build where the builder's siding crew had faced-nailed every course on every stud with galvanized roofing nails, flat heads fully half-inch wide. It was the worst looking thing imaginable. A painter was there, pacing, ranting, cursing. The builder said, "Them nails are what the building supply told me I had to use." I walked him over to the long cardboard boxes still laying on the ground and pointed to the instructions, which called for blind nails and face-nails with .22" heads only where needed. I am not sure whether he could read at all.

As an AHJ I wrote up window installs on new work that ignored instructions. How did I know? The instructions were still glued to the inside glass at eye level. Builder was simply flatfooted and drop-jawed.

masonry bearing on wood frame raises some questions of its own

Wonder if the Maid Team could remediate this potential superfund site. This post and the one Les posted about the demo job make me think his world is on the other side of the looking glass...or is it a glimpse of the future.

Looks a lot like LP, but 12 yrs ago seems a little late. Maybe some got left in surplus somewhere. I have seen this stuff in condition of being able to hit it with your fist and have it fall in pieces. I once wrote a little repair job for a client where the contractor only replaced the damaged parts. If you keep this stuff well-painted it can last a long time.

tps said, "...I would fully disagree that they do not need to explain themselves, give the code they are relying on, or answer questions PRIOR to work being done if there applicable codes they will enforce related to work on your home..." Inspectors always have to back up problems they cite with chapter and verse. Solutions to problems, however, are sometimes even more numerous than the archetypical 100 ways to skin a cat. It is up to the permit holder to find his way out of the woods. Compliance is 100% the burden of the permit applicant, and that includes codes knowledge and application. BTW the way to best insure compliant work is to hire that licensed tradesman, whose terms of licensure require that he stay updated and knowledgeable re codes compliance.

hey tps, Another thing I encountered along the trail of misunderstanding in the woods of the public was an assumption that all one has to do is get a permit, call for an inspection, and the inspector will tell one what must be done. Sort of like getting free education or free design service. I am serious. I actually fought with co-working inspectors over this issue. "You gotta problum?...so tell me what I gotta do!" Around here the so-called inspectors fall for that line. If you do not know how to do the work, you have to hire the help. The inspector is not a designer or a tradesman.

Some AHJ's allow homeowners to do their own trades work, provided they demonstrate competence. In my experience as AHJ I saw more than one case where competence was clearly lacking in performance of electric work. Then, the requirement for licensed work kicked in. What was the reason for the AHJ to make site visit at all?

yeah, but C for creativity, no?

...in the rugged wild lands of urban desolation, such defects are just surface wounds that don't concern the occupants, whose priorities are more exigent.

Way back in '01 I attended lead-based paint inspection and risk assessment training for HUD funded work. I did not have to pay for it, and talked the block grant agency I was consultant to to pay me hourly for the week's worth of "training". I have to say I have never felt more insulted (in the intelligence mode). Because I was being paid I endured, and enjoyed some great ethnic lunches walking distance away, but the "training" company and the producer of the training module were about as sorry and inept as the private market can generate. BTW, Greg, the best way to distinguish mod from manu is that the manu has a brass embossed HUD label on the end of the unit, but the mod has a state sticker on the inside of the electric indoor panel. Funny, in GA once a mod changes hands, it is supposed to be "re-certified" by an engineer, but believe me this kind of thing never happens here, and most local AHJ's simply lack the literacy skills to know what to do with them.

no

...magic fingers if you got a quarter?

Steve you crack me up. I agree with the report's description as serious, but not urgent or immediately hazardous. It is likely a deal-killer, as the remedy could be quite a lot of trouble and expense.