MichInspector

This is not the case on all FVIR water heaters, though it is on Rheem/Ruud units I believe. The Bradford-White Defender series does not destroy the unit when protecting against flammable vapors. It has a resetable and replaceable thermal sensor. Incidently Bradford-White still has the 18" clearance sticker on the Defender series, sort of a CYA I guess. Todd

Haven't inspected all that many oil units, boiler or forced air. In fact I wonder if I've ever done one in an occupied house because almost every time the tank has been empty. That said in reading the checklist I saw it mention replace both the oil filter and the burner nozzle. I understand the oil filter but does the nozzle need to be replaced every year, or as needed? Also does this hold for both boilers and FA units? Todd

Les, I understand what your saying, but it just didn't present that way. It was as if someone grabbed the double top plate of the foundation at the front and pushed. From the end wall the basement looks like a parallelogram. That said my main curosity is whether there are standard repair technique for wood foundation. We are all familiar with many different ways to repair masonary basements, how to tackle a problem in a wood foundation I am clueless. BTW tried to stop by the office Tuesday on my way to Detroit but you were already gone for the day. Mike, Thanks, I grabbed that before posting. This site is a great resource. Micheal, I think that I have seen wood foundations with a 25 year guarantee. Not gonna make me run out and grab one. Biggest problem is that they are often installed by Joe Homeowner, as was this case in this one. Tons of framing mistakes, missing double top plates at garage foundation, missing/improper end wall blocking, improper corner sheating overlap, etc. Todd

First off let me say I don't trust them and would never own one myself. I recently inspected a homeowner built wood foundation here in Mid-Michigan. The home was approximately 8 years old. The home was built by an old quarry of sand and gravel so supposedly had good drainage. Front of the house was road level, ~8' backfill while the rear was a completely unobstructed walkout that gradualy sloped into a valley. Foundation framing was 2x8 on 16" centers. No gutters on the front of the home and a cement patio that went 12 inches past the roof line and had settled against the house by about 4". The end result inside was a front to back displacement of the foundation. The bottoms of the studs stayed in place locked against the concrete floor while the tops tipped over.The front wall, center support and rear wall were all out of plumb by about 2" over the 8 foot height. This got me to thinking afterward, well during as well but I've been thinking about it alot since. Are there any approved ways of repairing a wood foundation?