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stubrooks

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Everything posted by stubrooks

  1. stubrooks
    White or yellowish-white gunk at solder joints indicate to me that there is a pinhole leak in the solder joint. I also see that often in cheap brass castings made in China. The blue-green on the pipe can mean flux wasn't cleaned off and the residual acid corroded the copper for a while. However, on a valve and it's at or just below the gland nut it can mean the gland packing has failed and the valve is leaking at the stem or the gland nut is loose.
  2. stubrooks
    Ivy, vines, whatever -- remove it! Ive seen it growing up under siding, into attics and under shingles. Keep it on the ground. Vines can even kill trees so that's an iffy.
  3. stubrooks
    Use Epoxy coated rebar. To me, it looks like the coverage is insufficient to prevent moisture penetration causing rusting.
  4. stubrooks
    I often tell clients that it's not a matter of minor, major, or maintenance it's a fact of if I see it and it needs repair or attention of some sort then I have to report it. It is entirely up to them what they want to ask the seller to do - or not. Some are only looking for major items but I have to advise that a lot of less major repair and maintenance can quickly add up to a bunch of dollars.
  5. stubrooks
    Just a few pertinent questions: How long was the dryer vent? What material? What diameter? Does the anti-back flow flap open when the dryer is running?
  6. stubrooks
    Its not in a HI SOP because it's not a standard practice.
  7. stubrooks
    You might have to force the system manager to see a USB port as a real Hardware port like COM1 not a virtual port like COM9 and up . I had a problem with the 1028 connection and it ended up being the virtual port enumerator assigning COM ports numbers like 9 -15 to USB ports. The SunNuclear software was programmed to recognize ports numbers that high. When I assigned COM1 to the USB controller, it took care of the problem. It looks like the SunNuclear software has been upgraded since then because it now accepts COM9.Check with SunNuclear for available software upgrades
  8. stubrooks
    I went to solid plastic cards several years ago. They don't melt in my pocket, get dirty, or get dog-eared. I do all my own artwork and send the PDF file to a place in FL. Yes, they cost quite a bit more than cardboard but people are really impressed. I put my picture on the front and some thought I was just showing them my ID. I had a REA use one to open a locked door at one inspection.
  9. stubrooks
    I post them and add that there may be adjustments made due to age, travel distance, and extreme conditions. I've had several comments from callers who appreciated the fact that I had posted them.
  10. stubrooks
    I had an inspection in a house last fall where the previous owner must have had a whole herd of little dogs. Every floor register was eaten up, the base of the kitchen cabinets were stained and the dishwasher door and kick plate were rusted out.
  11. stubrooks
    I do it and use the camera when possible. I had one ceiling where there was not enough room above the tiles to get my head up there but the camera caught a bad plumbing connection. I hate putting them back in place. They seldom such fall back into place and I spend too much time trying to reset them without breaking them.
  12. stubrooks
    I've almost existed on short sales and foreclosures for a while. The market was really hot when the first time home buyer tax credit was in effect. The real estate agents would always say, "This inspection is for information purposes only. The house is sold AS IS". I stopped asking what was that supposed to mean. I never got a good answer. It certainly didn't change the depth of the inspection. Gee, I thought that was what an inspection was for, information on the condition of the home and systems at that point in time. I don't worry about aesthetics and cosmetics.
  13. stubrooks
    I check them for voltage. I even made a set of test leads using the blades from a 240V plug. Yes, I've found a few that were either completely dead or only one side hot.
  14. stubrooks
    For normal travel distance, 70 miles one-way isn't normal for me, $150 first hour, $100 each additional hour on .5 hour minimum increments. Some clients may have choked a bit at first but when I found really screwed up repairs, they came to realize it wasn't such a bad deal after all. Obtain list of exactly what they want inspected as related to your report. Make it clear that unless the repair is obviously wrong that you are looking for conditions for which you would not have reported a deficiency in the original report. It is not a total inspection. You cannot be responsible for materials and workmanship used in the repairs.
  15. stubrooks
    Yes. All the time. I have a bunch in my yard and termites will also do a job on it. It may have a lot to do with what part of the country it's in. I've seen deck posts completely rotted through where they were run through a concrete surface. Standard PTW is not rated for ground contact.
  16. stubrooks
    I'm split on it. I don't like to but I have found absolutely bad repairs by the seller or some idiot that was hired. I don't argue. I simply tell them if they were competent in their trade, they wouldn't have to ask me.
  17. stubrooks
    You mean they're not like this one? Under the flat tile floor pan? Click to Enlarge 62.95 KB
  18. stubrooks
    How true. I had an inspection on a nice log cabin last week. The seller was a master electrician and contractor. Problem #1: No system ground. Not even in the main service panel. Bonded neutrals and branch circuit grounds. Problem #2: Bonded sub-panel, again without a system ground.
  19. stubrooks
    Agreeing, mostly, with the above comments, looking at one location is not enough information. One has to see the big picture for evidence of structural problems. What does the other side of the corner look like? What does the structure above this area show? Inside and outside?
  20. stubrooks
    One or both bibbs leaked?
  21. stubrooks
    Any non-compressible material can be used. Wood is compressible. Besides steel shims, I've seen slate used. Did you receive a letter from the Engineer that explained wood shims were allowable? Is the Engineer going to sign-off on the change and the installation of wood shims? Don't take the word of the contractor. If you hired the Structural Engineer, why is he communicating directly with the contractor? You may have Virginia Code 55-70.1, "Implied Warranties on New Homes" on your side if the house is less than 2 years old. Suggestion, all communications should be in writing. Phone calls and other verbal communications don't carry much weight.
  22. stubrooks
    DNS = Domain Name Server, a site that translates http://www.xxx.com into digital address like 72.128.56 Website hosting service is what I believe you are asking about.
  23. stubrooks
    Inmotion Hosting here too. Great customer service. Reasonable pricing and different levels of hosting. There are a number of things to consider other than price and popularity including 1) Service speed - Slow or over loaded servers can cause your pages to load very slowly. 2) Service 3) Support of features like blogging, POS, Calendar, scripting,
  24. stubrooks
    I've never seen a residential electrician carry a torque driver. Anyone? Now, I haven't seen every load panel ever made but the ones I have seen that actually have connection termination and torque information in the panel have never specified or implied 2 neutrals in a tap. Grounds, yes; Neutrals, no. Multiple neutrals: With the exception for breakers designed for 2 conductor terminations, Why are circuit breaker double taps disallowed? The neutral in a circuit carries the same current that the "hot" conductor at the breaker. So why would it be permissible to "double tap" the neutral? Does not compute.
  25. stubrooks
    The way this works is that the company will spend the funding and time on meetings, planning, meetings, overhead, joint meetings, travel, more meetings, really big production presentations, and more meetings. Oh, they'll hire a big name or two and if they can get a PhD or 2 on board the federal bureaucrats will go gaga. If anyone is actually trained and placed it will be a new direction in government contracting.
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