Goofy for UFFI

[Brad Manor]

This was on this morning's front page.

http://www.windsorstar.com/news/Suit+al ... story.html

At least it was more entertaining than reading about the economy and the state of the local automotive industry.

-Brad

[Bill Kibbel]

"The substance causes respiratory problems and cancer".

That was alleged back in the day, but never proven in any legitimate studies. Now, only folks lookin' to make money off of fear make that statement.

Still, it was pretty stupid installing a product that's been banned for almost 30 years.

[hausdok]

Heh, Heh,

That's comical; especially since Carson-Dunlop is right there in Ontario. I bet within the next day or two Alan Carson gets this posted to the same paper. According to Carson, it stops off-gassing within three weeks.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[hausdok]

Hi All,

Here's the rest of the story. The UFFI issue aside, which I think is way overblown, it appears to be a clear conflict of interest with the inspector, who also owns a foam insulation company, later installing insulation in the same homes that he's inspected.

We put prohibitions in place here against that sort of thing. Once the new law kicks in, an inspector won't be able to do any work on a house that he's inspected for at least a year - that includes any companies that the inspector has an interest in; so, a home inspector that also owns a pest management company, or is part owner of a pest management company, won't be able to treat the home or have his partners company treat the home, thus eliminating any potential conflict.

I think this inspector/contractor has dug himself a pretty deep hole by doing this.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Tom Raymond]

That is pretty standard practice with energy improvements though. Check out BPI and the EnergyStar improvement programs. They are both designed to have the insepctor/auditor find a deficiency and then sell the upgrade.

The 1 year ban is pretty generous, in NY it's 5. I live and work in a pretty rural area, and my day job is selling home improvements. I've been doing this long enough that there are more than a few homes where I have done multiple projects, working for different companies or in alternatate capacities each time. It's only a matter of time before I am called to inspect a house that I have built or worked on. I am going to have to be very careful when that situation reverses.

Tom

[hausdok]

That is pretty standard practice with energy improvements though. Check out BPI and the EnergyStar improvement programs. They are both designed to have the insepctor/auditor find a deficiency and then sell the upgrade.

The 1 year ban is pretty generous, in NY it's 5. I live and work in a pretty rural area, and my day job is selling home improvements. I've been doing this long enough that there are more than a few homes where I have done multiple projects, working for different companies or in alternatate capacities each time. It's only a matter of time before I am called to inspect a house that I have built or worked on. I am going to have to be very careful when that situation reverses.

Tom

Yeah,

I know the situation well; I come from Amenia, NY - pop. 1100.

My father was one of about 3-4 good builders in town. I don't know if there are any inspectors there but the nearest large town is at least 15 miles away. Folks used to ask my father to check out homes they were planning to buy and tell them if there was anything there that would give him pause; later, after they'd purchased, they'd call him to replace the roof or do the remodeling. Under the rules here and there, he wouldn't be able to do that. The premise for the rule is to prevent an inspector from drumming up work for himself by identifying unnecessary issues that need work and then becoming the person to do the work.

I really think there needs to be a way to allow inspectors who make their living in rural areas to do both. After all, you screw one person in a small town by making crap up to get more work from them and you're liable to find everyone shunning you and calling the other 3-4 guys in town that are contractors.

It's pretty hard though to convince folks who've lived in a pretty built-up area their entire lives that this is something that has the potential to hurt folks in very rural areas.

Still, I think that this home inspector probably dug his own hole if that's not a rural area where he's operating.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Brad Manor]

Still, I think that this home inspector probably dug his own hole if that's not a rural area where he's operating.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

We are a bit over 200k people. I don't really know too much about the situation other than what I read in the paper, nor do I know the inspector(s) in question, but there has been a lot of talk about the whole ordeal around town.

-Brad

[hausdok]

Population of 200K in the area?

I doubt there's a paucity of insulation contractors in a place with that kind of population density - there might be only one that does blown-in foam though; and, if that's the case, it'll look like he's been up-selling his product over others with similar R-value and air stopping capabilities.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[Brad Manor]

Population of 200K in the area?

City itself is 205k, metropolitan area brings us up to about 350ish. We're not exactly a booming metropolis, but we have indoor plumbing and paved roads.

-Brad

[hausdok]

Hi Again,

You know, I followed up on this at the RetroFoam site and looked at the product data sheets on that site. According to the site, there isn't any formaldahyde in RetroFoam and it's all water-cured exactly like Icynene.

Then I went to the RetroFoam Canada site where I found a January 2009 Lab report on the product.

So, either the lawuit is bogus or someone's lying - either the manufacturer or the installer.

This should be interesting.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike