AZGuy

hausdok (cute nick btw), All I know is what I related to you except that I forgot to mention it was a vacant house and that the engineer allegedly didn't put the drain hose back into the standpipe correctly. As to whether it could result in $50,000 in damage... that's what I was told. Oh, and now I remember that the realtor said that the buyers turned on the washing machine before going to bed. Obviously if this was a second-floor laundry room and mold was involved, it would "supposedly" be necessary to tear the entire house down, file an EPA report, rocket all the construction debris out of orbit towards the sun, return the land to its orginal state when the first Native American saw it... well, I'm wandering aren't I? But you're right, $50,000 is ridiculous in my opinion but you have to admit it's an unfortunately plausible possibility these days.

A realtor told me about a structural engineer who inspected a home for him, and it was a total disaster. The engineer did "destructive" testing in order to find out whether the home had poly piping. He moved the washing machine, cut into the drywall, and examined the plumbing inside the wall. This resulted in $50,000 in flood damage after the washing machine drained into the home instead of down the drain. This is a mistake that an experienced home inspector would never make and it's just one more reason to hire the right guy for the job.

Yes. Tracer wires are used when a nonmetallic underground line can't be detected otherwise.

I'd always been perplexed by that 14-gauge wire wrapped loosely around gas mains where they exit the ground. It didn't make any sense because it's not bonded the the gas line with a clamp or anything. I just came across a book that explained what it's about. It turns out that when PVC gas lines (buried 18" below soil or 12" below concrete) are present, the wire isn't a bond wire, it's a TRACER wire. Duh, right? The portion of the gas run visible above ground is always metal, so I didn't know that nonmetallic gas lines are buried underground. Kind of gives a whole new meaning to "backyard barbeque" and "blue stake before you dig", doesn't it?

Here in the Phoenix area I often see 1/0 incoming service on panels with 200-amp breakers. I disclose the issue but don't make a big deal about it. In fact, it's better if you don't make this into a huge deal. One of our clients had the local utility company out to evaluate the incoming service after I noted that 1/0 is rated for 175 amps whereas the panel is rated at 200 amps. The power company charged our client $75 to tell them that everything is fine. Since I learned about the power company's policy I just write down "Incoming service cable 1/0 175 amps but very common." On most homes it would be a challenge to overload the incoming service, but I've seen 1/0 on 4,000 square-foot homes and that's definitely a potential no-no in my opinion. Even "small" homes sometimes have high electrical demands due to hobbies such as kilns or 240-volt equipment in garages.

When I was in high school electronics class during the late 60's, we were taught to "tine" the ends of copper wires before making connections. We would apply a soldering gun to the end of each wire and apply some flux and solder. It turned copper wires silver in color. This may be what you are seeing in certain situations, and it can certainly lead one to wonder why the copper is silver-colored. I've been doing home inspections for 20 years now and although here in Phoenix we don't see much of this, I'll bet it's more common elsewhere in the country.