sepefrio

nothing a few potted plants and some paint won't make all better!

It really is plain and simple IMHO. As long as HI's in general continue to fight amongst themselves as much as or more than against any other negative aspect, the HI profession in general will never be taken serious.

Just curious, have you recently done an inspection for one of their clients? Have you asked to see this "requirement" in writing on company letterhead? It may be a small possibility, but maybe this "agent" is trying to set you up to take the blame for something? I doubt that is it, but just be careful. It always scares me when people ask for my insurance information.

Agree 100% here. Go with the strongest LOCAL organization. The one that does in fact have quality training every month and members who care. The big guys at the top can be the best intentioned folks around, but if the local chapter sucks, the whole thing does for you. You should be able to attend at least 1 meeting to meet who all is there and see what goes down. Good Luck

The mythbusters proved this one out! And not sure how popular it is, but my grandmother drilled in into my head... The answer to every question you don't ask is no. (In other words, ask, you have nothing to lose)

The stockbridge damper? Why would that need replacing? Or was it another piece? - Jim Katen, Oregon Not sure, the show was a little dramatized up I think talking about how a hurricane was otw and they only had so much time to replace the worn out part and if they didn't the whole grid could possibly fail.

I saw a video like this on the science channel or such and they were replacing (at least in that video) the piece that prevents the lines from touching each other in high winds. And I agree about the helo pilot. Awesome skill.

I think that job would be AWESOME! I'm not sure I could take that step offthe chopper onto the lines, but otherwise, lol!

Especially if your a first time buyer, go to the store and buy 20 books about buying a house. Then go to the library and check out 20 more. Then borrow some from friends and family. Just get as many as you can. The point is, 85% of the information in those books may be useless to you, but that 10-15% that applies could save you $1000's. And cover the spectrum, learn about loans, insurance, flood zones economic areas, taxes, upgrading green and so on. I think I spent $800 on books the year leading up to my first purchase but I am confident it saved me over $10,000. The big one for me was completely understanding all the load jargon. Good Luck

I meant nice from the consumer stand point when they honestly do get screwed over.

Brutal maybe but also VERY nice. First, that fund is funded by all contractors not just HI's Short version, I paid a company for new kitchen, owner cashed my 1st installment check and disappeared. Took me almost 2 years going through the fund but I got every penny back plus legal expenses. Owner has a warrant out for her arrest. I have a new kitchen.

Truck has my vote as well and here are some more reasons. Regardless of what the kid ever says, the "kind" of vehicle they have matters. That poor kid driving the minny van to school probably catches a lot of flak. A truck is manly cool even if it is only a small 4 pumper. His (use deep manly voice) Truck can do things others can't again even though he won't ever do them anyways. Also, trucks are usually better off in accidents do to positioning. Not sure of actual stats, but I believe trucks are safer overall. And remember, if you get a truck that has cab seats, make sure those seats are forward facing not side facing. Even a simple rear end accident can cause a lot of head trauma as it bounces off the rear windshield. Good luck, I have about 3 years then my 1st daughter is gonna want her car. So that means 5 years before I get it lol,.

That man makes me proud to be Navy!

Need an inspector for both (if you travel) or each one. My mother is selling in St Pete and may need some on hands advice then she will be buying Venice.

If you are new to business and not really sure about social networking BNI for a year can be a good learning tool. I certainly learned quite a bit. But after that, it is more just a siphon for your money. The people in the group may be great, but it is not a place to make money. I did make more money in referrals than I paid, that is for certain, but then you must add a meeting every week (that is a lost inspection slot) and the possible cost of the meal every week (mine was $10, but even with holidays and that is over $500 a year). Then you have training you have to go to and meetings to attend. All lost potential inspection times. This does not even account the actual social meetings where you might drum up some business. So, again, I found it to be a very valuable learning tool. But after the first year the costs were just too high for lack of any new returns.

What is it taht you want changed, if it's just a few things I could maybe show you how using nothing but note pad

LOL, case in point.... Gambler Sue casino because he lost

In the world of million dollar lawsuit because they didn't tell you the coffee was hot, I can see what he is implying. Appraiser comes in, does his thing and in his report states that all utilities work. That is a very vague statement that can easily be taken out of context. For example, the Agent reads the report, the client asks if a home inspector should be called and the RE says no need, the appraiser already said everything works. We know where the true blame lies, but we also know, when that same client calls the agent 6 months later to complain about the ceiling that collapsed because of a leak in the bathroom, the first thing the agent will say is "Well you need to call the appraiser" then play stupid. Personally I remember having to tell my clients what the difference between an appraiser and a home inspector is. It is a situation that can be exploited. Remember a little while back, agents did nothing but complain about appraisers because they didn't value the house for enough money, then when the market turned those same agents turned on the appraisers blaming them for falsely overvaluing homes? Yes, as written and to people with common sense and no lawyer friends it may sound ridiculous, but I've known since I was 5 that coffee was hot too.

Having a little problem at a family members house that I just can't find the cause to. And it's not just me, 3 roofers and 1 general contractor could not figure it out either. I'll try and get some pictures later to set the scene but not sure how helpful they will be. What I'm asking here is 1) Anyone seen this before or 2) Can you think of things I can do to attempt to find the cause The situation is simply rain slapping against a window. It appears an inordinate amount of water funnels to this 2-3 area and some how wraps around, behind or through the gutter somehow, follows the soffit about halfway towards the house then falls diagonally and strikes the window directly. From the inside of the house it sounds like someone is outside and has a hose directed at the window. The volume of water is almost as great as well. What I have tried so far.... Put a hose in the gutter to look for leaks, and nothing. It drained as advertised. (The gutters do have a leaf guard installed) Run a hose on the roof trying to duplicate rain, but no luck. Used tape to seal the seam between the gutter and the facia as well as any other seam I could find. Problem remained at next rain storm Stood in front of the window with a large piece of card board to block possible wind driven rain, no change at any angle. My cousin even installed a 8ft section of rain diverter on the roof (against my advice), no change. Some things of note, like I said there are leaf guards on the gutter, but they swear this problem existed before they were installed too. The location this happen is about center of a long straight run. The closest valley is about 10ft away. I see no signs of any type of water damage or any damage in the attic for this section of the roof. What I was thinking of doing next was getting on the roof again with a hose and some type of confetti. I'm thinking the confetti would more easily show me the water flow. What is obvious to me is that the volume of water tells me the water is coming from more than just directly above it. It is being funneled from someplace else too. I've probably stood in the rain watching it for 2 hours now (over several storms) and the only thing I have achieved is in getting wet. Any help, advice or comments would be nice. The noise of this effect is driving them mad and they are considering bricking over the window. Until I get some pictures this might help to set the scene. It happens almost dead center of the window on the left. The picture is a bit old so you can't see the diverter, but it extends past both sides of the window. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 6,,1,-4.87

Just wow. That video chocked me up. Makes me proud of my service, proud of those who now stand in my place. I'm going to pass this video on to a few others. Thanks Mike. And THANK YOU Terry.

I'm NOT a lawyer but I will tell you what my lawyer said. First he asked if I believed in Murphy's law I said yes. Then he asked if I wanted to lose my house. Every time I would say "but I have E&O", or anything else he would interrupt with..... "Do you want to lose your house?" He did that until I got the point. With an LLC, the ability to lose your house because of a Business mistake are drastically less than any other form of affordable business type. So I too say LLC.

Hey I ain't worried, been with this woman for 23+ years now and not only do I still like her, the amazing part, I think she still likes me. And this isn't so much just for me. Maybe I get no ideas that would work. Maybe some other guy here take yours or my idea and end up having a better Christmas. That's a win in my book as well. Just though we could all talk about it and help each other out. It can also be fun reading hearing about different ideas or past histories. I like that idea about the socks. That can be converted into so many different items. Besides, I have to do something to get some of this math out of my head. If you notice, I usually post now in the wee hours, after the kids are well in bed and I'm working on my math homework. Gotta find some distractions.

As we all know, we could all help each other out in the inspection business, but no matter how much help you you provide there, there is NOTHING like helping someone to make their spouse happy. (At least that what my wife says) So, along these lines, and I do it now so we would have plenty of time to find it, buy it, built it, fix it, loose it or whatever, what do you think would be an awesome gift for an awesome spouse? Remember, we aren't talking about a $5000 diamond ring. Although they may think that is nice and love it, I'd like to hear ideas of extraordinary things. For example, so far I think the best one I ever did for my wife was a few years ago. Her mother has passed that summer (her father a few years prior). Her parents were not the camera type people and not only are their barely any photo's of her childhood, but there were NONE of her parents. Well, not real Photo's of just them. So I searched and found every photo I could with them in it. I got their national ID cards (Spanish), wedding videos and photos from ours and her brothers and sisters weddings. I even went to the newspaper archives and found a picture of them when they were younger on the farm. Then with the help of photo restoring folks and editors, I made a big collage of photos of them. We took wedding video, took a still from it, cut out just them, alone or together and rearranged them to make them look like the picture was intended to be taken of them. Same with the ID cards and the newspaper clipping (that they added color too). To this day, I don't think my wife can recall any of the other presents she (or anyone else) received that Christmas. It was a bit of work, but boy did she love it. To this day I know she will thank me again when I see her staring at it. The only down side, all her brothers and sisters wanted copies. So, whats your idea?

I forget exactly what they said, but is was a new, more efficient induction type I think. One that draws air from the outside. Of course to install it, the entire thing would need to be replaced, fireplace, flue, cap the works. Going to do some more research and look at how much work it takes to change it out.

Mike, Hrmm that is an interesting site. Gonna do some measuring and stuff, but it looks like there is a decent replacement, thanks. Jim, LOL, You see, us Florida raised boys know nothing about that. Now I can burn down areas of swamp, but no real experience with real fireplaces. One note, I cleaned it extra special for the picture, but I (used to) remove most all ash in between burnings. Gonna give your method a try as it just makes sense.