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homnspector

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Everything posted by homnspector

  1. homnspector
    I am hoping somebody can answer these questions on a commercial building: Does there need to be any separation in the attic area between suites, i.e., drywall? Can the breaker panel be located in the bathroom?
  2. homnspector
    Here is an interesting poll. Guess who's at the bottom of the list? http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/e ... usat_x.htm
  3. homnspector
    Here is some evap cooler info I sometimes give my clients. Download Attachment: Coolers.pdf 260.5 KB
  4. homnspector
    I didn't know whether to post this under HVAC or plumbing, so I will post it here. Image Insert: 57.19 KB
  5. homnspector
    Malfunctioning pressure regulator? Garbage in the main valve or meter?
  6. homnspector
    "The insurance industry has applied great scrutiny to that very question. Every study I've heard about concluded that the water damage caused by fire-suppression sprinklers is minute (a drop in the bucket, one might say) compared to the damage caused by a fire. Think about the amount of water that firefighters pour into a burning house." I was thinking of the accidental activations. I read about one in a condo near here that went off, nobody knew where the valve was. By the time they got it shut off it had done $20000 worth of damage.
  7. homnspector
    Not to disregard the lives saved, but it would be interesting to know the amount of property damage caused vs. saved by sprinkler systems. Doesn't the local fire department check these systems?
  8. homnspector
    I had my laptop hard drive crash about 5 years ago. I hadn't backed up for awhile and lost a couple dozen reports. After that, every time I buy a laptop I format and install another hard drive, install all my software on both hard drives and back up my data every other day. If the drive crashes (which they do occasionally), I have another ready to go, just put it in the laptop and transfer my data, takes about 10 minutes. A 100 GB is only about $100 now.
  9. homnspector
    Old style TV antenna wire jack?
  10. homnspector
    Might be good to mention it so some roofer doesn't convince him it is a major problem. I think I would just send a quick e-mail explaining lichen. It is so common you don't usually mention it but later realized he may not be familiar with it, and may be concerned when he sees it on the roof.
  11. homnspector
    This morning I inspected a new house, 2007. I tested all the receptacles. Out of 49, only 9 showed a voltage drop 5% or less, 40 ranged from 5.3% to 13%, over the NEC limit of 5% drop. How would you Sure Test users report this? This seems pretty typical of what I run into. Maybe the electricians here just suck.
  12. homnspector
    This Lennox is a 2002 model right? House was just built. Any comments on what to say about possible warranty issues, etc.? Image Insert: 16.72 KB
  13. homnspector
    Does anybody know if these rubber caps are OK on a cleanout? I thought these were for temporary use. apparently didn't like my file name Image Insert: 12.7 KB
  14. homnspector
    The Sure Test is an accurate tool, I did not mean to imply a 3-light tester was as accurate. The only function that is not accurate is the false grounding (at least in my model). For me, impedance and percent load on line are not useful functions except in very rare cases. It will not detect common conditions such as neutral and ground reversal. Why spend $350 on a tool with these limitations? If you want to inspect to this level, I think you are much better off investing in a $1500 circuit analyser.
  15. homnspector
    "The Suretest would be applying the ground fault on the line, or wrong side of the circuitry and it wouldn't trip." And one would assume it wouldn't trip properly in the event of an electric shock. Makes it important to test these with a tester, not just the "approved" test button, right?
  16. homnspector
    I have one and drag it out occasionally. Sometimes the 3-light will give me wierd readings, lights half lit, etc. This happens especially on switched receptacles. The suretest usually shows these to be ungrounded. The voltage drop test is worthless to me, about 2 of 3 receptacles in every house show excessive voltage drop. The electrician will tell everyone you are nuts if you report this. The bootleg ground test is more often wrong than right. Other than that, it is a great tool.[]
  17. homnspector
    I think it is also true that if the GFCI receptacle is miswired, i.e., load and line reversed, the test button will trip it but the suretest won't.
  18. homnspector
    "The bottom line is that the test button on the AFCI is the only recognized method for testing the proper operation of the AFCI." Same as with GFCI
  19. homnspector
    Elwood556, I think what you are asking is "what is a safety fuse". An s fuse has a smaller base. There is a non-removable adapter (screws in, but not out) that should be installed in the fuse socket so you can ONLY screw in a 15 amp safety fuse for that circuit. Jim will correct me if I am wrong, but I don't think there is a safety fuse over 15 amps, as it would defeat the purpose of preventing over-fusing.
  20. homnspector
    "Gasp! Choke! I'd have written, "I found water damage at the XYZ." Found to be? Is present? Do you talk like that?" That's funny, good point. I think you're right, present does sound better. Its a little difficult for me not to slip into past tense when writing off site. Sometimes I (really irritatingly) accidentally mix tenses like "there is water damage under the sink. No active leakage was noted". Anybody know the Heimlich maneuver? [:-sick]
  21. homnspector
    "Minor defects are not reported", "I don't report on minor defects." Not sure what difference that makes. Don't they know I am the one doing the inspection? "I don't report on minor defects." is real similar to "Minor defects are not reported by me" which somehow sounds redundant.
  22. homnspector
    Do you guys write in present tense or past tense? I find it difficult to write in present because I am writing the report off site. Would you say something like, "The shelf below the sink was found to be water damaged", or would you say "Water damage is present at the shelf below the kitchen sink"? Problem I see with present tense is that you can't report on the conditions at the time you are writing the report, you aren't there. But, if you report in past tense, there may be some confusion on the client's part on whether this problem still exists. For instance, "The roof was leaking". Was it leaking while you were there or was there just evidence that it had leaked in the past?
  23. homnspector
    How about "Minor defects are not reported"?
  24. homnspector
    Is the remote a long stick?
  25. homnspector
    "Is that as much of a safety hazard as I think,or is it just me?" Maybe it operates the next door over[:-bigeyes
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