kshepard

Most qualified home inspectors I know who have good qualifications list their qualifications on their web site. They use it as a marketing tool. It's a lot easier to refer someone to one's web page than to try to list them all verbally.

If it's the bellyband worn by native men of New Guinea I'll take the merlot and the bellyband forego.

If it is actually in the floor framing underneath the joists, it's a girder and it's purpose is to support floor joists that would otherwise be overspanned. As stated before me, if it's fastened to the top of ceiling joists, it's a strongback installed to prevent ceiling sagging. This can work, but it can become a problem because carpenters are tempted to install roof bracing so that the braces bear on this strongback. This is a defect. Over time it will cause the ceiling to sag again, since the ceiling joists that originally couldn't carry the load of the ceiling without sagging are now being asked to carry the ceiling and roof loads.

The extension cord looks like the typical "permanent" christmas lights extension.

Primo pdf is free and works well. It too works like a printer.

Thanks Mike Yes, it's taken me a while to stumble onto this site. I'm happy to have found it. There are experienced inspectors who do their homework posting here. That Caoimhín Connell sure gets around and his writing is always pretty interesting. Sidearm HEPA filters are a really good idea, what's not to like? Kent

For a lucid monologue on the pros and cons of cleaning ductwork, check this out... http://www.forensic-applications.com/moulds/ducts.html

40% Missouri Red Clay, 50% field stone, 9% black dirt, and 1% hydraulic fluid

This site allows you to view soil composition of any site you specify, anywhere in the US or Puerto Rico. http://websoilsurvey.nrcs.usda.gov/app/ ... urvey.aspx

Mr. (KWEE-ving) Connell also has some good insights into radon and as a law enforcement officer, into clandestine drug labs (he gives classes to HI's on how to recognize them and stay safe). 20% moisture is not really the magic number for fungal growth (according to him) because... 1. with a moisture meter, you aren't measuring moisture, you're measuring variations in conductivity. 2. actual moisture available to fungus varies with something called "vapor pressure", something I can't explain... 3. Some types of fugnus can extend rhizomes (act as straws for transporting moisture) for distances of up to 30' in order to import moisture to the material they want to eat. Anyway, his posts are always well thought out and difficult to refute. He occasionally posts on HI forums. He also acts as an expert witness against Home Inspectors in cases in which they've performed mold sampling. You should hear his little speach on Data Quality Objectives. If you don't know what those are, you'd better hope you never come up against him in court. He's never lost a case against a Home Inspector and he's happy to tell you how to avoid litigation involving sampling for mold. He's a member of the committees tasked with writing the International Mold Sampling Standards and the Colorado Mold Sampling Standards. He will talk to HI chapters. I've heard him. It's an eye-opener. Ask him.

Chris Ranwell at Protimeter told me that because the Surveymaster is optimized for between 10% and 28%, readings below 10% will be unreliable. In trying to test logs in log homes at 8500 feet I've found that to be true, it did a lot of yo-yoing up and down. Mike, are you able to get a steady reading at 6%?

'95 Caprice ex-unmarked hywy patrol car. Great big trunk holds a folding/telescoping ladder and top end is about 155 mph. 2 speeding tickets in 3 years, one 25 mph in a 15 mph zone and one 35 mph in a 25 mph zone. Jeeeez. 19 & 23 MPG

Dave, you might consider a High Efficiencey Particulate Air (HEPA) filter if you're really worried.

I think the 1027 that's shipping now is the one without a USB connection (1028 and 1029 will have that and much more capability, worth waiting for). New laptops don't have a parallel port anymore so you have to buy an adapter. They told me for to six weeks this past tuesday.

InspectVue was considering a translated boilerplate version but decided that there was too much liability... an inspector needs to know exactly what he's telling his clients in his own report. They're now working on a Spanish language version, but it's all Spanish, you need to know Spanish to use it. There's a lot of liability in limited communication with your client.