Nolan Kienitz

My brother (retired Navy) sent me this link today. Absolutely beautiful ... especially at this very special day when we honor our heros. VJ Day - Honolulu ... August 14, 1945

JPS, Your working with an "experienced" Professional Inspector is key, but you and he must be careful due to insurance liability issues. Many experienced HIs in Texas won't let new folks hang with them unless they also have their own E&O insurance in place. Liability issues today are just too great. It is terribly unfortunate, but our profession has become a very crazy world. Case in point a long-time, well experienced inspector in Houston getting sued by the "seller" of a home where the buyer backed out within his normal option period. That suit is now closing, but has drug on since last summer and was putting all Texas HIs on thin ice of concern if found in favor of the plaintiff as that would open up a whole new can of worms for all of us. As for E&O ... it is required in Texas and you must have a policy in place before TREC will issue your license once you pass the exam. It would also be wise to have GL coverage. As for carriers you will have to do some legwork. Not all carriers provide coverage in Texas and some carriers will not write policies for "new inspectors" as the liability is just too high. For example the carrier that has my policy won't consider "brand new" Texas HIs. Also your premiums often is higher for the first few years until you get some stable legs under you and don't get a complaint. You might check with the various inspector organizations in Texas and they may have some insurance leads to review. I know that TAREI had some links this past year and I'm not sure about TPREIA, but they may also. National organizations are just that ... National ... I-Nachi and ASHI are the two majors and there are many local Texas HIs who are members of all or some of the national and local organizations. In Texas there are approximate 52% of all inspectors who are members of none of the organizations. It is a matter of personal preference. Be sure your mentor has been inspecting for a while and is not 'new' himself/herself within the past year or two. You might reach out to Scott Emerson in San Antonio. He's a good contact.

The Texas TREC SOP "requires" all such tests, but many of the Texas HIs dis-claim them and do not test due to what happened to you. Any more the local fire departments don't like such false alarms and they are seeking $$ compensation for such. Now the question becomes: Who is going to pay? Home Inspector? Listing Agent? Buyer's Agent? Homeowner/seller? Buyer? It can go round and round and round. Fundamentally it would start with the homeowner/seller as their name is on the records for the address where the alarm originated. Years ago I had one set of firetrucks show up. That was enough to tell me to stop pushing the button and make other notes in my report from then on.

You need to review the TREC website to be sure you have met all the requirements to obtain your Professional Inspector's License ... again, per the TREC requirements. Just because you can pass the test and obtain your TREC PI license (you also have to have E&O insurance before TREC will issue the license) does not mean you are capable of doing an inspection. Have you ever been on a home inspection with another long-term, licensed inspector? Do you know what to inspector for? I'm rather getting a feeling that all you have is classroom and that certainly may get you to a point to pass the test, but that does not make you qualified to do an inspection for a home buyer. Many more questions arise out of your post.

Possibly a "cement board" product such as from James Hardie.

Comment here has absolutely "nothing" to do the the crux of the post. Interesting to note the "state/city" representation in the initial post: * Minneapolis * Wyoming * Ohio Just struck me as interesting. I know, I know ... "Get a life - Nolan"

Heck ... just finish the job and remove the fuses and replace with pennies.

Chad F. has done some PV work in NY if I recall correctly.

I'm still learning! I'm having to "re-take" the class. [^]

State usually uses an alpha plus two, but there is a bogey of 4 digits leading. Could be 2004 or 2002.

Just follow the requirements noted on the data plate. If it says that the MAX Fuse/Breaker size is: 40-amps ... Then that is what you need to see in the panelboard. I just went through an 8-hour CE session on electrical this past Friday and the electrical consultant was adamant about following the rules. He more than once commented that you need to follow the data plate per the manufacturer's requirements. He noted that most electrical guys do things in a certain way as "that's the way we've always done it" ... does not make it the "right" way.

Phil, Could it be that is some tunnel building going on in the area and they are putting the dug-out material there? You know ... like an illegal border crossing or how the POWs during WWII worked? Of course I'm kidding, but I had to throw in the levity!!!! []

IRC requires that mechanical exhaust vents (bathroom, utility room, etc.) be routed to exterior envelope of the home (through roof or sidewall, etc.). NOT dumped into soffit vent (eave) area or left into attic space. Local AHJ's may or may not strictly enforce such during time of home's construction. Your situation of mildew and such is common when the exhausts are vented into the soffit/eaves as that is actually an "air intake" for attic circulation. Ergo the "intake" air is blowing the humid air from the mechanical vent back into the attic space. Moisture/dampness over time allows mold/mildew to grow. Marc (inspector in LA) can likely add more granular detail to this for the local requirements.

I'm easy, too old-fashioned to change ... thus not having to cope. I keeping with my keyboards. []

BTW --- Offer expired on 12/31/2009 ...

Uh-Oh ... this could send the thread in one wild path. []

Simple to verify ... just check the Ideal website. Here is a link to the letter concerning the model numbers involved, cost, process. SureTest Analyzer Update

BNI was a 'money-pit' for me and I was thoroughly chastised when I had to 'bow out' of BNI meetings due to hard-money inspections that were booked ... not because of BNI either. I was criticized sharply by BNI members for not "managing" my inspection clients to work around such things such as the almighty BNI meetings. Goes without saying ... didn't work well for me. Too much glad-handing going on.

Very good Mike & Yung. I'll echo the many comments above.

OK ... adding to the slight drift here .... My dream is to have the '55 T-Bird Click to Enlarge 73.51 KB

More changes in Texas. I'm sure many have seen the recent news that the long-serving HI organization: TAREI has joined up with Nachi. It will provide a count of HIs with a strong presence at the new TREC-requested coalition of all HI organizations to help in streamlining some presence. Here is a link to the TAREI site: TAREI & Nachi join up

And then there is this ... from National Geographic about a young girl who 'does' bleed from the eyes. If I recall there was a piece on TV about this recently. Click to Enlarge 22.73 KB Rather spooky.

It's a "Watch Duck" [:-slaphap

You know ... we just have to protect the "snail darter" []

Ought to create a Forum Section for: "A Phillip"