Brandon Chew

Properly installed wire mesh will add strength to a floor slab. But it is rare to find it properly installed on a residential job and the added strength can't overcome the stress created by the typical improperly prepared base. In practice, the wire mesh serves to hold the pieces together after the slab cracks.

You'll usually find these prohibitions in the local sewer use law. The building code will usually just say something like "discharge to an approved location"; then the sewer use law will prohibit things like roof drains, a/c condensate, and sump pumps from being discharged into the sanitary sewer system.

Gil has made only one post (back in Sep 2007) in a forum named "Insurance Q & A With Gil Stuart".

Tread carefully here. It seems to me like he wants you to "bless" his work on the roof. A series of expectations are being set that could leave the inspector holding the bag: After the roofer made his repairs the inspector said it was "ok" The roofer thinks he's only liable for his work for one year The roofer thinks if any leaks develop after 1 year that the manufacturer will take care of it (they'll only cover a defect in the shingle and will punt installation problems) If those are "25-year shingles" the homeowner expects the roof to be leak-free for 25 years... Just giving a heads up, if not to you, then to other folks who may be reading this thread. I'm sure you'll do your best to re-shape those expectations before you're finished with this one. I don't understand why many inspectors sell themselves short, by calling themselves "generalists". We are experts at what we do: performing observations, evaluating, and reporting on the condition of the visible and readily accessible systems and components in the home.

OK, but the ice in the pic is on the outside of the pipe....I don't see the connection between that and the mixture being "wrong". I'm not an expert on geothermal (more accurately, ground-source heat pump) HVAC systems but I know enough to take a stab at your question. The unit in your pic contains the compressor and water-refrigerant heat exchanger of a split system. The AHU is somewhere off your picture, probably in the attic with the gas furnace. The top two lines coming out of the unit are for a heat assist loop for the hot water system. The bottom two lines are for the ground loop. The lines in the center are the hi/lo pressure refrigerant lines heading to the AHU. Since this unit is located in the basement and not outdoors, ice on the outside of the lines means that the temperature of the fluid inside the lines has fallen below 32 degrees F. Some ground-source heat pump systems are designed for ground loop low temps above 32 and others for temps below. If the system is designed to operate with a low temp above 32, then ice on either of the ground loop lines is a symptom of a problem. If the system is designed to operate with a low temp below 32, the loop will have some antifreeze in it (as noted by energy star), and ice on the ground loop return line is to be expected. You can control it by putting insulation on the outside of the pipe where it is exposed to the humidity in the air. Both of the ground loop lines in your pic have ice on them. Ice on the ground loop supply line (regardless of the low temp design value for the loop) is a problem. The supply line should be a fairly constant temp around 50-55 degrees, year-round. It shouldn't have ice on it. Ice on both lines means the temp of the entire ground loop has dropped below 32 degrees. If you are getting ice on lines that should not ice up, it means that the ground loop cannot supply enough heat to keep up with the demand created by the equipment that is extracting the heat from it. The causes of that problem could be many: the ground loop could be too short, the ground loop could be too shallow below grade, there could be air or a blockage in the ground loop line, pump problems, incorrect refrigerant charge or valve problems in the compressor loop of the heat pump, etc. If the problem is not corrected the ground loop can freeze. Digging up the loop can be an expensive repair.... Brandon

I just say the work was not completed in a professional and workmanlike manner. Most folks can understand that. Then they are free to put whatever label on it that works for them.

"What say ye?" I would have answered false without putting a lot of thought into it. For the question statement to be true, the terms asphalt shingle and architectural shingle would need to be identical and interchangeable. They are not. The first refers to the material from which the shingle is made while the second refers to the style of the shingle. I agree it is a poorly worded question and the explanation also leaves a lot to be desired. Jim's comment about dog and rottweiler is spot on. I would also assume that when they wrote "asphalt shingle" within the context of that question, they were really referring to 3-tab shingles. Based on their explanation, that assumption would have turned out to be correct. Also, many folks around here still call 3-tab shingles "asphalt shingles".

I think it is a good idea, but it creates some practical problems that you need to either agree to live with, or figure out a way to work around. The first one is that information on web sites is frequently moved around and the links often change, so you need to keep verifying that all of them are still active and pointing to the place that you want them to point. Even then, there's no guarantee that the site host doesn't move the info on you tomorrow. The second, is that you have no control over the content at the link, and the content can be changed at any time by the site host. While the information at the link might have been relevant and in the correct context when you first placed it in your report, later on, someone can wind up reading your report, clicking on the link, and then start wondering "what was this guy thinking?" Both circumstances are outside your ability to control, and if they go wrong (dead link or improper content) they wind up reflecting poorly upon you (in the mind of the person reading your report).

Holy obfuscation, Batman! [:-batman]

I use 2006 IRC R1001.10: (note: the same requirement is in the current New York residential code and prior versions of the IRC, but with different section numbering -- R1003.10)

I like that change.

I'll bet it is for bathing the family pet (maybe they had a show dog?). It's hard enough on the knees and back when Fifi is in a regular tub and you are kneeling on the floor outside of it. Put her in the bottom of a sunken tub and the only way you'll get the job done is if you crawl in there with her. Even then you are kneeling down in a tub and there is not a lot of room for the two of you in there. Climb in the tub, put Fifi on the shelf, pull the shower curtain closed, tilt the shower head toward the shelf and wall (or maybe they used one of those hand-held shower heads that you can quickly attach to the faucet), and you and Fifi will be squeaky clean and ready for a night on the town in no time flat. (I'm just guessing)

Yeah, that's the type of inspection I think of for required pre-occupancy inspections, and that's my understanding of it as well. It would be a local, not a state requirement. These types of inspections are usually based upon something like the ICC's International Property Maintenance Code. Here's the scope section of that document: For a residential occupancy, the IPMC essentially defines the bare minimum legal requirements that make the building livable for people inside it and safe for those walking outside it. It's what the building official uses to condemn structures and evict tenants if conditions at an existing building are unsafe. At about 30 pages in length, the IPMC is much less detailed than the code that would apply to a new house or to work being done in an existing house; the International Residential Code runs about 650 pages. I think the original poster is looking for help in defining the scope of work and an inspection agreement for inspecting an apartment for a potential renter, before their client signs the lease agreement, but I'm not really sure. It would be helpful if the original poster clarified who the client is (renter, landlord, muni?), and what their interest is in the property being inspected.

Aye, that it is. I was thinking about single wall vent when I wrote my post. On a B-vent, the acid would attack the aluminum liner first. ... until it ate through the inner liner.

Zinc oxide. Yup. Rub some on your nose to prevent sunburn. [] The vertical vent is too large for the BTUs in the exhaust from the water heater. The exhaust gas cools too much inside the vent and the water vapor in it condenses. The condensate also pulls NOx and SOx out of the exhaust gas creating a liquid that is a mixture of nitric and sulfuric acid. The acid first dissolves the galvanized coating on the steel vent pipe. The white powder you see, zinc oxide, is what remains after the liquid has evaporated. After the condensate strips the zinc from the pipe, it attacks the steel, eating holes in the vent. The over-sized vent can also affect the draft on the water heater, and you may find back drafting or spillage of exhaust gases at the draft hood.

For your viewing pleasure -- Mythbusters water heater blast: [utube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7DpfdQTHvY[/utube] This is the site to which I send my clients: www.waterheaterblast.com It is an easy URL to remember and the ninety second video that is available there is simple and gets right to the point.

I suggest you fix the font and remove the extra numbers, then post up version 0.2.1 for review. Both are very distracting and probably have an effect on the comments you are seeking (on format). While you are at it, fix the spelling of recommendation. I know you didn't ask for spelling comments but you've used the word so much, and in headings, that it is also a distraction when trying to focus on the format.

Around here, most water heaters have steel tanks and many water supply plumbing systems are copper. The water heaters are connected to the water supply system with galvanized steel nipples. In order to prevent galvanic corrosion, there is, or should be, a dielectric between the steel and the copper. The hot and cold copper supply lines (should) have a jumper across them near the water heater to maintain continuity under normal conditions, as well as when the heater is removed during servicing of it. In my report, I don't dwell on the specific reasons (dielectric, plastic parts inside, removal from service) and all the possibilities for why the jumper may be needed at a particular location. I focus on the purpose of the jumper (to provide electrical continuity of the plumbing system back to the electrical system ground) and why not having one, or having an improper one, can be lethal.

The Mythbusters tested whether bullets thrown in an open fire could explode with lethal force. Their conclusion was this myth was busted (for lethality), however, the flying projectile and casing could cause injury. As Jim pointed out, the eye is a vulnerable spot.

I looked up the actual toxicity numbers from a couple of different sources before I posted them. There is some variability depending on the source, but the numbers I posted are in the ballpark, and are meant to show the relative differences from one concentration to the next. Except for grabbing the numbers, the rest of the post comes from stuff I learned over a span of about 20 years where I inspected, designed, operated, and taught others how to operate industrial and municipal wastewater treatment plants and collection systems, had to determine safe levels of toxic and non-toxic substances for limits in their discharge permits, and brought enforcement actions against those who violated their permits, all for the purpose of helping to protect the water quality for a state of about 19 million people. Workers in wastewater treatment plants and collection systems, like those in the oil services industry, face very real on-the-job threats from hydrogen sulfide gas. That must have been a sad and heart-wrenching experience to go through... my condolences to you and to their families. I knew two men that were killed when one of them dropped the "trouble light" that they were using to peer into the open roof hatch of an anaerobic digester. They had emptied the digester the previous day and were preparing to clean it out. Methane and hydrogen sulfide gas formed and was released from the residual waste in the bottom of the tank. It accumulated overnight creating an explosive atmosphere inside the tank. When the guy dropped the trouble light, the bulb broke, and a tank the size of a large house exploded while the two men were standing on top of it. Les, if you don't mind me asking, what was the concentration of hydrogen sulfide in that incident that instantly killed the two men? Lethality depends upon route of entry (in this case inhalation), duration (in this case instantly), and concentration. I posted "at concentrations over 1000 ppm, one sniff can cause collapse, loss of breathing, and death." I would guess that it was over 1000 ppm. Levels that high would be unusual for a sewage plant worker to encounter, or for a home inspector or a homeowner, unless he was doing a science experiment on his kitchen table. [] Workers at some industrial wastewater treatment plants face a higher risk, depending upon the chemicals and production practices involved at that particular site. I don't know much about the oil drilling or services industry. It sounds like the risks of encountering lethal concentrations of hydrogen sulfide are very real. Do they do much work in enclosed areas and confined spaces? Do they have to worry about it when working out in the open air too? I'd guess that they do. Do the folks who live in these areas need to worry about hydrogen sulfide gas seeping into their basement or crawlspace from the ground? If so, I think they would deal with it the same way that you would deal with high radon levels. Do they need to worry about being downwind from a well that could release hydrogen sulfide gas into the air? I'd change "will" to "can", but I have no argument with that. If you have a concentrated source of hydrogen sulfide gas, you definitely don't want to stick your nose on it. One whiff can kill you. The point I am making is that for home inspectors and homeowners who encounter hydrogen sulfide in the home, the risk of dying from breathing the gas is a lot less than the risk of dying from lack of oxygen or the risk of being injured by an explosion. (I recall a thread here on TIJ a while back regarding exploding dishwashers in houses that have been vacant for a while). I'm just trying to provide some information to fill the space between Erby crawling around in a crawlspace with some hydrogen sulfide in it, and Les saying it is lethal in very low ppm.

A small correction is needed to fine-tune that statement. Sulfides will turn copper black. Sulfates will turn it blue-green. Both are sulfur compounds. The odor threshold is extremely low, 0.0047 ppm.Eye irritation begins at about 10 ppm. Most people can tolerate 50-100 ppm for several hours, but after about an hour the eye irritation becomes more pronounced and you'll start to get respiratory tract irritation and minor coughing. At concentrations below about 100 ppm, the smell and the eye irritation should alert you to move away to safety. The problem is that you usually walk into an area and the concentration is whatever it is, and doesn't build gradually over time. If it's over about 200 ppm -- it paralyzes the olfactory nerve after a couple of sniffs, and with your loss of smell you lose your awareness of the danger. The lethal concentration at which 50% of humans would die (LC50) after 5 minutes of exposure is 800 ppm. At concentrations over 1000 ppm, one sniff can cause collapse, loss of breathing, and death. Fortunately for us as home inspectors, it is rare for us to encounter lethal levels of hydrogen sulfide. If you can smell the rotten eggs you are probably ok as long as you can smell it -- but if you smell it and then the smell goes away, don't assume the gas has gone away. The greater danger to HIs comes from the environment that produces it, and the fact that it is heavier than air. It is produced in a low oxygen environment. Being heavier than air, it displaces the oxygen and pools in low places like basements, crawlspaces, manholes, sumps, empty used septic tanks, and pump station wet wells. You are more likely to die from lack of oxygen than from the hydrogen sulfide itself. The same conditions that generate the hydrogen sulfide also tend to generate methane (natural gas). Hydrogen sulfide and methane are both highly flammable, and if the concentration of either one is within their respective lower and upper explosive limits, you have the added threat of explosion and fire. Erby - re: what to do with your panel. This is a case where I think handing the ball off to a qualified electrician for a thorough inspection makes a lot of sense. Let him make the call if the corrosion warrants repair or replacement.

Yeah, but the thing about that is that the black color is a tell-tale of sulfide corrosion. With laundry chemicals you usually get chloride (from bleach), ammonia, or sulfate corrosion on copper, which give you your pretty shades of blue-greens and whites.

The rotten egg odor is due to sulfide gas (typically hydrogen sulfide) dissolved in and being released from the water. It could be present in the groundwater naturally ("sulfur water") or it can be formed when organic matter rots in an oxygen depleted environment. Sulfide gas has a very low odor threshold and you can smell it at very low concentrations. At even lower concentrations it will corrode copper, turning it black. I suspect your blackened ground wires are caused by sulfide gas migrating up from the crawl and into the house. You should find the corrosion on any exposed copper in that area, not just the ground wires (terminal screws, stripped ends of hot conductors, electrical contacts, splices, etc.). As Scott mentioned, another possible cause could be laundry chemicals. They obviously need to dry out the crawl and fix any damage caused by high moisture down there. Then there's the issue of what kind of damage is done to the electrical system and your recommendations on what they should do about it.

I believe that placing coins on top of the window sash is one of the Festivus rituals, done just after The Airing of Grievances and prior to the Feats of Strength. Festivus, a holiday for the rest of us.

If not from the drain as others have mentioned, perhaps the owner has young children and the sump is their "frog pond"? Brandon Dad to two boys, ages 7 & 9.