Brandon Chew

Tough to nail it down without being there or more info (about foundation detail, attachment of the brick ledge, wall assembly components). One possible cause is that the veneer on the wall that is around the corner is insufficiently supported and tied to the wall. It's dropped enough to shear through the running bond that ties it to the wall that faces the camera, and the gap has opened as the veneer is pulling away from the wall. More likely (as Rob posted) is that the brick was laid in the summer when it was hot, and the cracks formed in the winter when the veneer shrunk (or vice versa). Look for proper detailing of expansion joints or the lack thereof. Visit http://www.bia.org and consult their technotes for more info.

I couldn't say for certain what is going on without being there. The green at the joints of the valve body and the copper pipe look they are from flux. The green on the packing nut and valve stem looks like it is from a leak. The yellowish/white stuff on the valve body looks like it is from pinhole leaks in the valve body. Perhaps the valve body casting is poor quality or you have aggressive water chemistry or maybe some of both.

Umbrella stand. [] Held chains for adjusting something down below. Dampers on a duct?

It's wrong. I put it in my report. The client can decide how big of a deal to make of it. "2006 IRC M1501.1 Outdoor discharge. The air removed by every mechanical exhaust system shall be discharged to the outdoors. Air shall not be exhausted into an attic, soffit, ridge vent or crawl space." Similar language is at M1507.2 which applies specifically to bathrooms and toilet rooms.

I've seen it done both ways. I don't find either method recommended in the NRCA Roofing Manual and I haven't met a roofer yet whose opinion I trust enough to ask "why". Maybe they haven't heard of drip edge flashing?

I'll take "rising damp with minerals leaching from the slab" for $500, Alex.

Well now you know why I had so many questions about that "pier" when "all the others were in perfect condition". For a pier, it didn't look right. If they converted a wood-burning masonry chimney to use with a gas water heater & furnace, I hope you were able to get a good look inside at the flue or vent, or if not, you should recommend a Level 2 inspection and review of the vent system by a CSIA certified sweep. Very often this kind of conversion is done without proper modification of the chimney flue for the new gas equipment. The cooler exhaust temperature from the gas appliances causes condensation inside the flue. The condensation has nitric and sulfuric acid in it that turns masonry to mush and eats through metal.

If you're serious, start with Bonnie's book - it can't be beat wrt those topics! Yep. It's also cheap and easy (to understand). If Spitzer had used that approach, he'd still be Governor!

Ha, ha, ha, ow ... ha, ha, ha, ow! I haven't laughed that hard since my accident! Chad - agree with the others. Can't see how that could be right. If the attic is vented, the insulation below the vented space is what counts toward meeting the required (or recommended) R value.

Les, I do an inspection for the buyer. The seller decides to sue his roofer and wants to use my report as evidence, does not retain me, but I am called to court by subpoena to testify... am I a party to the action? Isn't the defendant's lawyer going to object every time I'm asked to render an opinion beyond clarifying something I wrote in my report? If the plaintiff really wants to use my report to bolster his case, isn't he better served by retaining me as a litigation consultant to come and do an inspection and write a report for him, and then calling me as an expert? I'm not challenging you by asking these questions. I'm just trying to understand how it works from someone who's been there. Brandon

FYI- I've seen some roofs where the roofer applies an extra layer of shingles at the rakes. Could this have been the case here? The tip about counting nails in the attic is a good one and can be used to confirm other observations about number of layers present. Nails are supposed to penetrate at least 3/4" into the roof deck. If the deck is sheathing they should come all the way through.

Personally, I wouldn't run from a house with a bad roof, but that's me. As for appearing in court, I assume it would be due to the seller going after his roofer? I'd tell them if they wanted to use me as anything but a fact witness, they'd have to retain me as a litigation consultant/expert witness. As a fact witness, all I can testify to is things like: Yes I did an inspection for Joe Buyer on such and such date. Yes that is my report. Read things from your report into the record. Etc. If they want you to say anything more than what is in your report, or give your opinion about anything in your report, you are moving away from fact witness and into expert testimony. As such, you should be retained and compensated as one. If you are not ready for this, then advising them to go with someone else is a good move.

What is that pier for? What is it holding up? I see a floor joist running next to it. Where on the top of the pier is the load applied? Is the pier leaning or were you leaning when you shot the photo? Is it really "failed" or as Scott said, was an edge of the block cut off? What's going on with that mortar smeared on the left side of the pier, opposite the side with the notch? I'd like more info but I'm leaning toward not worrying about it. If it is loaded on the top of the pier near its center, like it is supposed to be, I don't see that notch as deep enough to cause a problem. You're not in a seismic area are you? If you are worried about it, just fix it -- no need for an engineer unless you want one to determine the cause of failure. Fill the notch with some concrete grout or tear the pier down to the good part and build it back up again. Either is an easy fix.

Chad - 7 hp MTD, two stage, about 10 years old. Right lever controls movement. Left the auger and thrower. No field modifications to the levers or safety controls. Until that day, I never put my hand anywhere near the thrower, engine running or off. I'm sure every one of us has done something that we thought was really stupid after we did it. It's what makes us human. Sometimes we come away from those times unscathed, and other times we are not so lucky. I do appreciate your joke about reading "engineer" and it made me laugh. If you want to discuss the accident further, please let's do so off-line. Jesse - I was the second guy to hit the ER that day with this kind of injury, and before I left four hours later they brought in two more. The surgeon who worked on me last Wednesday, had a guy with a similar injury scheduled right in front of me. When I walked into the reception/waiting area, we looked at each other and at the same time said "snowblower?" I asked the surgeon if he'd give us a "two for one" discount. Brian - too much pain and embarrassment at the moment for war stories, but I'll be sure to spin a good yarn later. First thing I did when I pulled my hand out was count to five, look to the sky, and say "thank you". This was quickly followed by "oh, $hit!", some swearing at myself, and then the realization that since I was home alone at the time, I needed to find a neighbor quick before calling 911, just in case I went into shock before the EMTs got there. My 9 year old son was playing at a neighbor's house two doors down, so I knew that one of the adults was home there. I closed up my hand, held it closed with my right hand, and walked down the street to the neighbor's house. When I got there I told them what happened and just said "Call 911. I'm just going to hold my hand and sit back in this snow bank until they get here." I was wearing plenty of warm clothes and just wanted to get somewhere low and comfortable as quickly as possible. That night was our annual Blue & Gold dinner for Cub Scouts. I'm the Cubmaster so I was supposed to be emcee and my wife was the one in charge of planning, setup, and running the dinner. We both spent that afternoon in the ER. All the people in the pack pulled together and the dinner came off smooth and as planned. My wife was able to go but I needed to stay home and rest.

SUNY Purchase .... I worked in White Plains from 84-87 before I relocated to Albany. My wife is from Rye. Her brother was going to SUNY Purchase around that time for computer science. Small world.

Thanks for the support guys; it helps me keep looking forward. My wife is a physical therapist and is well connected in the area medical community, so the rehab side of things should be well covered. Yep - disability insurance is a must. The odds of having a work-stopping accident sometime during your working career are very high. If you are not prepared it can bring financial ruin to your family. I have always self-insured (through savings) for six months and have long-term disability insurance for more than six months. In 23 years of working, this will be the first time I've missed a day of work due to an injury. My hobbies are not exactly low risk either: woodworking, remodeling, bicycling (fast) and skiing. I'm not prone to having accidents. My accident illustrates how under the right circumstances, a lapse in concentration for only a couple of seconds can have devastating effects. Mike/Richard - I've been easing into the HI biz since I completed my training with Chad Fabry and Mike Nelson at ITA Rochester a couple of summers ago. I was planning to start a push this spring to build it into a full-time gig. What I'll probably do is hold off a bit on that and focus instead on those aspects of the biz that I can do with just one hand. Les - hold the wheel with your knee? Scott - I agree on the Rx pain meds and am working toward getting completely off them as soon as possible. Brandon (feeling lucky)

On March 1st while clearing several inches of wet, heavy snow in my driveway, I got my left hand caught in the discharge chute of the snowblower. I'm not going to post anything on a message board about the accident itself, the operating state of the snowblower, or why I put my hand in there. Just thinking about what happened almost makes me puke. The good news is that I still have all parts of all five fingers (and absent any complications due to infection it should stay that way), so far there appears to be no nerve damage, the joints on all fingers are intact with the possible exception of the very last joint on a couple of fingers, and I'm right-handed. My thumb was not involved. The bad news is that I have a few stitches on three of the four fingers, I have crushing type fractures of the bones at the tips of all four fingers, the second bones down on three fingers snapped in two, and I have torn tendons on two fingers so I cannot currently move those fingers toward the closed position. I had surgery on my hand last Wednesday so that they could pin the separated bones back together in my middle finger. The other two fingers they were able to align without pins. Once the bones heal enough I'll need surgery again to try to repair the tendon damage. I don't know yet when that will be. I have a follow-up visit with the surgeon this Thursday. I probably cannot use my left hand at all for at least a few months and the doc says the whole process including rehab might last up to a year before we say we are "done". Lots of pain and pain meds during the past week, as well as the side effects that come along with them. Today was the first day since the accident that I could get by with taking just one Tylenol and a couple of ibuprofen, every 4-6 hours. Coming on the message board has helped take my mind off other things and to keep a positive outlook. It takes a lot longer to type with one hand but during the last week I've already been getting faster. It'll be a several months before I regain enough use of my hand to resume inspections. I'm planning to use this time to dust off and refine my business plan, sharpen my mind, and concentrate on refining my writing and reporting skills. A lot of things about my recovery and whether there will be any permanent damage are still unknown. So far the news has been good and I'm hoping and praying it will stay that way. Brandon

Hi Jim. Thanks for the fine tuning. For homes in NY we use the electrical section of the 2003 IRC. That section is based on the 2002 NEC but does not include the entire NEC. I ran a search on the IRC and I think the applicable sections are: In the 2006 IRC, §E3606.2 (based on 2005 NEC) was changed to read: I couldn't find anything in the IRC that said the disconnect on the conductors that feed a panel is required to be marked as "Main" nor anything that would prohibit it. The 200 amp Siemens panel that I installed (as service equipment) in my home a couple of years ago and is labeled "may be used as service equipment" (meaning it can also be used as an auxiliary sub-fed panel) has "main" stamped into the metal on the dead-front. When I said "everything else labeled 'main' is labeled wrong" I was referring to the fact that in a single family home I should not walk up to three different panels and find all three with a breaker that is only identified "main". Assuming one panel contained the service equipment, the "main" in that panel should be identified as the "service disconnect" and the "main" in the other panels should be labeled "panel disconnect" or something similar. Labeled this way identifies each one "as to their clear, evident, and specific purpose or use" and includes "sufficient detail to allow each circuit to to be distinguished from all others". Brandon

The Jims can confirm, but I think you have that reversed. The factory will make the connections on the line-out side. The load is connected to the unit in the field.

Sign me up. Add New Zealand to the itinerary.

I'll play devil's advocate here and ask: So what? If the post is bearing on a footer then who cares if the concrete around the post breaks? It isn't any weaker than dirt back filled around the post. In fact I'd bet that even broken, it's still stronger because lateral loads would be imposed on undisturbed soils. If the post is encased in concrete and is depending on the friction of the concrete against the hole, well, that's just wrong no matter what( I know there are friction pilings but we're talking about decks here, not bridges or beach houses) Which brings me to the reason I don't like seeing posts encased in concrete. It gives frost or expansive soils purchase to lift the post even if the base of the post is below the problematic area. It doesn't bother me at all if the the concrete was placed in a smooth wall form that is has vertical walls or walls that taper to a wide base. As far as the alkalinity destroying wood I have an analogy: Stone walls built of sedimentary stone don't last as long as those built of igneous stone. BTW Brandon, I've never seen anyone else go from being new to being a respected member of the HI community as fast and as thoroughly as you. I'd have you inspect a house for me in a minute. T If you pour a footer, set a post on it, and then have a second pour around the post to hold it in place, then as you stated, if the concrete around the post cracks, it isn't likely to have an effect on the post bearing on the footing. But what professional builds a deck that way? The pro pours a footing and a pier that extends to or above grade and then attaches the post to the pier with an appropriate connector. When I think of a deck post encased in concrete, I think of the amateur who digs a hole, sticks a post into it, dumps concrete into the hole, and then moves the post to plumb. With this type of an install, when the concrete in the hole starts breaking up, bearing could be more of a factor. Bearing is one issue but there's more to it than that. Movement of a portion of the deck structure that is not supposed to move, and an accelerated rate of decay of the wood post are other issues. Once the joint between the post and the concrete opens up, what's to restrain the deck against uplift? And water getting in there not only promotes wood decay but increases the problems you noted with frost heave and hastens the destruction of the concrete (which destruction could, over time, affect bearing). I'm not sure what to make of your analogy, but a wood beam resting on a wall made of sedimentary stone will not last as long as one resting on a wall made of igneous stone. Thank you for the compliment. Coming from you, that means a lot to me. I know you are not fishing for praise, but I frequently find myself thinking "what would Chad do or say in this situation". Reading and actively posting on TIJ and other respected HI message boards has been a tremendous help and has shortened my learning curve, so kudos to all those who ask & answer the questions. BTW, I'm not the author of the post that Dave was looking for. If someone tracks that down I'd love to see what it says. Brandon

Fireworks! [:-party] Underlining was mine. I assume you meant to write terminal bar. Neutrals and grounds are required to be electrically connected at the service equipment (main disconnect). They are required to be kept separate from each other everywhere else. Every neutral needs to be by itself under a terminal screw. If allowed by the label on the panel, more than one ground can be under one screw. If there are not enough terminals, as Richard pointed out, in most cases an electrician can add more.

I'm with Tom. Find the service drop and the meter. Identify the cable that runs from the meter -- the service entrance cable (SEC). Trace the SEC until you come to "the main control and cutoff of the supply". This is the service equipment, main disconnect, or "main". Everything else labeled "main" is labeled wrong. Explain to the client why it is important to know where the main disconnect is located and why, when the client needs to use it, he/she may need to get to it quickly. If you made a good faith effort to ID the main and could not do so (for example, you could not remove the cover) then say so in your report. There are other issues in your photos that need repairs by an electrician. Recommend to your client that they have the electrician locate the main and properly label it and all of the branch circuits in the home.

Back to the original topic before the thread drift. You need 240 volts. You need space in the panel for the breaker since the A/C needs to be on its own circuit (there are many ways this could be accomplished). You need to make an estimate of the power needs of the A/C unit. You need to do a load calc on the house. You need to determine if the existing service provides at least the number of amps that are required by the load calc. If you were an experienced and competent electrician, you could look at the panel and in just a few minutes make a pretty good educated guess at the answer. Mentally, the electrician would be going through those same steps as he/she formed an opinion. You are being asked to provide a service that is beyond the scope of a typical home inspection, and one that requires skills beyond that of a typical home inspector. It is not difficult to learn them. Perhaps your electrician friends could walk you through it. If it was me, I would not: "wing it" or bluff my way through do it if I did not feel qualified to do it try to hide my lack of qualifications to do the task from my client do it for free (if I was qualified) When you do the inspection you are likely to find issues with the electrical system that need repair by a qualified electrician. I see no shame in saying "Determining whether the electrical system has adequate capacity to add central air conditioning is outside the scope of a home inspection and I am not qualified to do it. Have the electrician do this task for you when at the home making estimates for the repairs that I noted during my inspection. If this is an important issue for you, then have an electrician come out and do this for you separately from the repairs." If you learn what you need to know and feel confident doing it, then go for it! (and charge for the extra time, knowledge, and liability for providing this additional service). I hope this helps and good luck! Brandon

I have them both. I would read the Field Guide first, then the IRC. The Field Guide has a lot of illustrations which will help you form a mental image when you read the (less illustrated) IRC. I like Jim's suggestion. Read a chapter in the Field Guide and then follow it by reading the corresponding chapter(s) in the IRC.