John Dirks Jr

It was either Home Depot or Lowes where I got this one. I can’t remember off hand. The data sheet says its low end operating range is -13. This morning it was 15 degrees outside. The thermostat had been set last night at 70 degrees. The temperature in the room when I woke up was 65 degrees. I grabbed the controller and bumped the demand to 80 degrees and went to take a shower and make my lunch for work. I went back out to the sunroom after that and the room temperature was up to 71 degrees in that short (30 mins) time frame. Clearly the system can produce adequate heat as long as you increase the demand. However, it’s obviously not matching the set temperature when it comes to the “maintaining” Im not going to do anything about it. I just wanted to make sure that it’s reasonable to leave it as the primary heat source instead of the more expensive to operate gas stove.

To follow up, my DuctlessAire 21 SEER model # DA 1221-H2-O does have an inverter controlled compressor.

Thanks for the reply Bill. I’ll look closer at the system to see exactly what it is. The first system I had was a DIY that failed due to a bad line set. The second one was not sold as DIY, although I installed it myself. When I say it struggles to keep up, I mean the room temperature may drop 2 or 3 degrees below the 70 degree set point when it gets below 25 degrees outside. Now, if I crank the demand way up, say 80, it will ramp up and start pumping more heat to catch up. But if I just leave it at 70, it may fall behind a couple degrees

Look what the cat dragged in! I have a mini split that serves my sunroom on the back of the house. Its rating is more than enough for the area it serves. Obviously, in really cold weather it’s going to be less efficient. I also have a free standing gas stove (vented) in the same area that is more than capable of heating the area without struggling even in the coldest weather I get here in Maryland. I’ve been trying to decide if I should shut the mini split down and run the gas stove during lower temps such as below 30. I’m guessing the gas stove will be more expensive to run and that’s ok but only if there’s some other benefit. The benefit would be reducing excessive wear on the mini split. I’m ok with the mini split being less efficient and I’m even ok if it falls behind a few degrees as it tries to keep up. I’m not ok if it suffers excessive wear while it struggles to keep up. The mini split has a built in automatic defrost cycle and I see it performing that task now and then. I never let snow or ice from inclement weather obstruct the coil So, my question is this. Does a mini split suffer excessive wear while it’s struggling to keep up in cold weather, or, is the only issue that it can’t meet the heating demand? Thanks gents.

I actually ordered two elements this time around. One was identical to the previous one at $50 and other claimed to be Samsung OEM at $70. The packaging on either didn’t build confidence with the cheaper one said China. The “OEM” one had no indication of where it was made. The claimed OEM one did have some differences in its construction. The spades for the electric connectors were larger and the soldering on them looked much stronger. They were actually soldered while the cheaper ones looked to be fused on with a tiny arc weld. The securing brackets on the claimed OEM were thicker. On the OEM one the end of the tubes were tapered where the cheaper on was cut straight. There’s no telling the difference in internal parts since we can’t see them. We chose the claimed OEM one as the visible aspects appeared to be better quality. We’ll see how long it lasts.

Believe me, I have numerous stories about that stuff too. Blew up, shot…..don’t forget burned

I thought dents in cars were so cool I once took a hammer to the side of my father’s car. At age 8, I learned that a ‘68 Dodge Polara did not dent easily. He was pretty pissed off when he discovered what I did. Luckily the damage was small but I sure thought I would have made a bigger dent than I did. An unsatisfying shallow hammer mark was what I remember. Man, the things I remember…

I had an Evel Knievel lunch box. I dented on the edge because I thought dents were cool. I used to like dents in car fenders too. For some reason I thought it looked cool. Battle scars I guess. Weird huh?

Hello gentlemen. I was wondering if you had insight on cook range heat elements. My father’s Samsung oven lower element burned open about a year ago. It was easy to get a replacement part and install it so I did. It’s now burnt open again. The previous part we got was $50 from Amazon. Is it a cheap part and that’s why it didn’t last? If so, how can we make sure to get something that will last longer? Are there other conditions that might make an element fail with a short lifespan? Thanks for your advice 🙂

I like the 1/2 ass dishwasher high loop by routing the drain hose over the trap arm. Not quite there but better than nothing

The real problem there is that junction box edge should be flush with the outer edge of the drywall. It’s wrong the way it is because you can’t properly secure the receptacle tight against the box. Furthermore, when you put the cover on it likely will not properly enclose the wiring because there are gaps between the box edge and the drywall edge. The concern is that arching in the box can allow sparks to get behind the wall which is a fire hazard. Installing a proper depth box extender could fix that.

Another thing to consider is differences in how the multi strand and single strand conductors are used. The multi strand stuff most often begins at one device and ends at another and that's it. The single strand branch AL intersects many devices all over that house. Since the problem is mostly happening at connections, there are many more incidences with the single strand stuff because there are many more connections to devices. Statistically with regard to recorded problems, one product escapes scrutiny while the other is deemed problematic.

10 inspections per week? Some may laugh when I say this but that would probably kill me. 5 thorough inspections doing everything required and also going beyond the standards as any inspector usually does is enough. A really good job on an average size house is a days work when you include preparing, inspecting, talking to the clients about what you’ve found at the inspection and following all that up with a well written report that describes what you actually did and saw there. Do forget the proper recommendations to resolve the problems. if you charge $250 and go for quantity you will almost surely turn out crap work.

Absolutely! The permission goes to everyone as well

Thanks Les, I’ll give that a try.

There was an old widow that lived on my mail route. She was in her 90’s when she passed. She lived alone but I don’t think her family was too far away. Even with dependence on a walker to get around she never failed to pick up her mail each day and still used the mail service to pay her bills. One day I pulled up and in the light snow covered driveway, this is what I saw. It made me think how dedicated she was. A very sweet person indeed. I took this picture and share it to memorialize her great efforts.

….oh, and I sold my inspection vehicle today. The 2012 Transit Connect that I spoke about on here from time to time. I still love it and likely will regret selling it. With 90k on the ticker I got my asking price of $8500 in less than 24 hours of listing. The first person who came to look at it bought it. I need that money to offset a slight and temporary negative cash flow situation caused by inflation. I still have my inspection tools and can’t see myself letting them go. Maybe I’ll unload the 1027 CRM’s if they’re not too far down the obsolescence trail. Anyone have an opinion on what they might be worth? I have 6. Maybe I’ll keep 2 for giggles and sell 4. I never used cameras to the point of failure. I did wear them out pretty good though. Before they gave up id always bring a fresher one online. I had good luck buying mediocre used ones off EBay. I still have all of them but they’re scattered about. If I rounded them all up and put them in a pile on the table, that would be a conversation piece, a testimony of fulfilling journey.

It’s interesting you know. I was never a business man before becoming a home inspector, but just a civil servant. In the beginning I felt dirty taking 3 or 400 for an inspection. In the middle I was like, now I know what I’m working for. Near the end it was, these people aren’t paying me enough! I remember being in crawl spaces with fungus all above me and sewer saturated soil beneath me. I remember thinking, “John, what the F are you doing in here?” I remember exiting the crawl covered with grime of who knows what sorts. I typically would display myself to clients with disgusted looks on my face and my overalls all dirty mud or whatever. My intent was as if to say, “look at me because pictures say a thousand words”. I never wore proper protection because I thought it was a hassle and thought it hampered my ability to see what I needed to see. In retrospect I admit this was not wise for me to do. I was reckless towards my own safety at times. I’m not terribly proud of that part. The phone calls and other contact attempts have now dropped to almost nil. My website is still published but the content is edited down to a sign off message It will be up for just a few more weeks. If anyone cares to you can see the sign off there https://arundelhomeinspection.com/

Extended thanks to everyone. A note to those browsing the web trying to decide if they want to become home inspectors; The best of the best hang out here. Come here with thick skin. Come here to learn. Stay here to contribute

To my TIJ brothers, I have closed my inspection business after roughly 15 years of involvement. I'm almost 60 now and at this point I never wanted to retain both my full time job and the inspection business. The final decision was to let the home inspection business go and keep hacking away at the mailman gig I've had for 35 years at the USPS. Inspecting houses has been a fantastic experience in many ways and I already miss aspects of it. In the beginning back in 2007, this forum and its members were a valuable resource to me. Without it I doubt I could have developed to the success I had. Specifically, there were a couple of members who had reached out and called me on the phone to coach me, unsolicited. Among these were our good friend Brian Goodman who generously spent substantial amounts of time on the phone and helped me in other great ways too. I also remember Chad Fabry calling me and seriously boosting my confidence with his support. In the more recent past Chad had even invited me to be part of a team who would have the task of helping develop the new NHIE exam. At that particular time there were so many other things going on in my life I chose to pass on that great opportunity. Thinking back, there's nothing I regret more than not taking Chad up on that offer. I have not been on here much lately but I hope to pop in now and then, even though I'm no longer active in the business. Thank you gentleman, all of you. Your efforts in coaching and supporting me never went unnoticed and they will not be forgotten. For those of you still walking roofs, swinging from rafters and squirming through crawl spaces, be safe brothers. Peace out

They finished buttoning up the siding. It’s weird when you approach it in a car because the angles make it look like the entire house is leaning over when compared to the house next door. It almost makes you dizzy.

Just talked to a friend who got a couple of shots earlier in the modification process.

I suppose it’s possible they knew they had a problem earlier in the initial construction and decided to continue and file for an easement. Then the easement was denied. I’ll get the property address and run the permit info and see what it says.

I know right. You would think the AHJ would have threw the flag on the footing inspection. Maybe even the grading permit. I figured these pictures might be good for a few laughs at any training event. Help yourself. Grab the Google Earth angles to.