swarga

I inspected a house today that had an underground service with a broken coupling at the service panel. This is the third one this year. I don't know of an inexpensive way to repair this, do you? The sellers bought the home 15 months ago and told me it wasn't there when they bought the home (5 year old home) I told them it typically happens in the first year when the soil gets wet and the soil in the trench sinks. Then I did a bad thing, I asked if they had their home inspection report, they did and the inspector included a photo of the entire service panel, broken conduit and all. Here is my photo. Click to Enlarge 26.56 KB

Here is one, According to the date code this Coleman furnace was manufactured in 2001 but I didn't think they were still using pilot lights in 2001, this thing looks light it was built in 71, not 2001 Click to Enlarge 19.86 KB Click to Enlarge 33.15 KB Click to Enlarge 44.83 KB

I had to chime in. Les, thanks for the plug. (Even if I am not as good looking as you) We have lots of tile roofs in this area and some of them (from the 70s & 80s) have a finish on them that oxidizes like paint. They get very slick when wet. (I slid down one last April) The hail hit different parts of the valley and made some of these roofs look spotted when the hail blasted the oxidation right off of the tile. I have seen this on about 10 different roofs since the storm last October. I also found broken tiles on each of these roofs. The insurance adjusters look at the oxidation as a cosmetic issue and the broken tile repair likely will be less than the deductible. I know that is not the answer he is looking for but the foam and shingle roofs are the ones that the insurance companies are replacing, and most of them are only paying for partial replacement. On a different note, go check the fins on your air conditioning unit. If the hail was hard enough to spot the roof it likely damaged the fins on the AC unit.

Yes, I will work in Sun City. e-mail me scott@acsillc.com or call 623-252-3494 I am working an expert witness job on Tuesday in Showlow so if I don't answer, please leave a message Check out my site here.

PRESCOTT, AZ Rescue personnel flew a middle-aged man suffering from severe burns to the Maricopa Burn Center after a probable furnace explosion Sunday morning destroyed the Williamson Valley home he shared with his 93-year-old father. At about 8:30 a.m., an ambulance rushed John Redding from his burning home located in the 2300 block of Silver Juniper Ranch Road. As a precaution, neighbors drove his father, Clay, to the Bob Stump VA Hospital in Prescott. "It was totally engulfed when we arrived," incident commander Jim Kennedy said, referring to the home. "We are still investigating but it appears that the fire started when the son (John) lit the heater. The house is a total loss." To read more click here. Scott Warga's note: This incident happened two weeks ago but I just learned about it. John Reding is currently in an induced coma and is expected to recover but there's no way to know how long recovery will take. Since the Reding home was completely destroyed in the fire, there is a fund being set up to help Reding and his family. I will post details about the fund when they are available. To read a second article about this incident, click here

The moisture through the control joints and around the edges of the slab are the big issues, the amount of water soaking through from the top down is not a huge deal. However your home may have the opposite problem where the moisture is coming from the ground, through the slab and into the house. Read http://www.acsillc.com/blog/

I would poke holes, not all the way through, but if it is that wet it will register as soon as you touch it and you wont have to poke it very hard.

Metal will cause the meter to peg. It could be a nail, a connector or some other metal object. If your meter has pins (like the surveymaster)use those and it will answer the question; is this wet.

The previous 5 folks are correct. I have had mine for 5 years and it still works like new.

Mike, Sorry, it took so long for me to get back to you. I got back from California and had to go to bullhead city to teach a class for building officials. I am back in town now and can schedule a time to come check out your place. The dust coming in the windows is not normal and I have no problem telling D.R. Horton's VP Rick McDowell why he is wrong. Call me.

Tell your client to go look at the model. If the items are installed there and there not labeled as options then they can tell the builder that they want the same style as in the model. If he fails to provide them then it's false advertising. However, it is very likely that your client will not like what is in the model and then they can go buy their own. Don't get any further involved unless they are paying you to do so. that's my two cents.

I am right here, I am trying to get ready for a ASHI CoR meeting, an ASHI, Board meeting and to teach to Classes at Inspection World, Damn, can't a guy get a break? Don't call Vanessa at news 15. She got a job with Good Morning America. This person has contacted me through the TIJ e-mail and I will help him out. His home is in the town of Maricopia. Very expansive soils, little code enforcement and some of the worst Post tension work I have seen. (not his home, I haven't seen it yet) I will do what I can and if he needs an attorney, I know one. I work with one of the best construction Defect attorneys in the state. We are teaching the expert Witness class together at Inspection World. Chris would be a great inspector if you could get him out of the tub, er, I mean his office. Now that he runs a big company, he doesn't do inspections any more. (Wimp) The Standards Chris posted are from the Arizona Registrar of Contractors. They are supposed to regulate contractors in AZ. The bottom line if the contractor screws up they tell them to "correct by appropriate means" What does that mean? If they try and fail then they are told to "correct by approbate means".[:-banghea This continues until the home owner asks for a hearing, the the contractor is told he had better "correct by approbate means". If they fail then the homeowner can put in a claim to the AZ. Consumer Recovery fund. This fund pays up to $30,000 per item per home owner up to $200,000 per contractor. Then they spend the next year pulling the contractors license. I have seen several cases where the contractor had several claims against them but the first 6 drained the fund money so no one else can make a claim against that contractor. And You want an attorney at your hearing and the Recovery fund hearing. However the recovery fund money is only allocated for cost of repair, not attorney fees or forensic/expert costs. You need to know the system in order to make it work for you

You mean your going to let me drink Jack until 2008, if it is as bad as you say I might not live that long. I thought I was among friends.[:-banghea I guess I will have to drink more Guinness. But then I don't think I will be able to keep the "Belly band this small. I am still trying to loose 10 pounds by IW.[:-hypnoti

Now I happen to like Jack but I am always willing to try something new so here is the deal, I will tell you about the dead photo link on your web site [:-banghea and the fact that it says Steve Gladstone is the current president of ASHI,[:-taped] and in exchange you can buy me a drink of the bourbon of your choice at Inspection World[:-bouncy] I like the sound of that.

Yea, what he said. Now is the time to take care of all that unfinished business. The unfinished bottle of Jack Daniels, Vodka, or other beverage. Lets finish them off and start the year new.

You carry a loaded weapon in crawl spaces? I carry a .40 Cal most of the time. In crawl spaces I have a .22 with snake shot. The snake shot in the 22 will just sting you if your more than 15 feet away. I also heard the term "concealed is concealed", meaning I believe that no one will know you have it. And if it's needed, no one will care that you had it. That is correct. There are several people that have known me for years that don't know I carry. I have rules about it. # 1 No alcohol while carrying. If you see me with a drink in my hand I am unarmed. Scott's dad was correct, gun control is about hitting what you aim at, and knowing about gun safety. I took my wife and kids out to teach them. I would guess Scott's dad also said; If you pull it you had better be willing to use it even though the other guy may have a bigger one. (No size jokes, please) I go to the range about every two weeks, I see guys with all kinds of weapons that can't hit a target that is more that 15 feet away. I don't mean they cant hit the bulls eye, I mean they miss the whole frigging target. Those people should bot be able to carry, but AZ has made it very easy to get a concealed carry permit. Bottom line is, most people don't know that I carry, if they don't know they are not worried about it. If the time comes when I need it they will be glad I have it.

As Jim mentioned, I carry on a daily basis. The first round is snake shot, (that is like a little shotgun shell for those that don't know) If I am crawling around under a house and find a rattle snake I will kill it. The rest of the ammo is designed to stop two legged snakes. If your state allows it, and you are concerned about snakes (with or with out legs) Then I suggest getting a concealed carry permit.' You will feel safer, You can defend yourself against the snakes and your clients and their real estate agents/attorneys will not be able to see the gun so they wont think your a wacko. (Katen probably still thinks I am a wacko.)

I am guesssing it is a stealth switch. A photo may change my mind.

Les, I say this with the utmost respect for you: Be careful with statements like "Most states". Here in the southwest it is as I described. A Expert Witness can be deposed, questioned on the stand, and has to disclose everything that they used to form their expert opinion. A consultant can work for the attorney advising them of the good and bad in the case and is protected by attorney client privilege. I had a case where I was contacted by an attorney and he said he wanted to hire me as an expert, I suggested we start with me as a consultant and then I could become an expert if we needed to go that route. I reviewed the inspectors report and performed a site visit. Afterward I called the attorney and said, I have good news and bad news. The good news is we can defend against the items the buyer complained about. The bad news is that this house is a wreak and if I was the other sides expert your client would be buying this home. The attorney thanked me and said I am glad you are a consultant, I would hate to have to let the other side question you. Then he wrote me a check.[] In federal court an expert has to disclose and provide copies of all cases they have provided an expert opinion on for the lase ten years. Yes that says HAS TO... There is no attorney client privilege there.

My home was built in 1985. I will be replacing the original 3 tab shingles in 2007. When installed properly and maintained, they can last a while. Disclaimer: I live in an area where the sun shines 350 days a year and the last time it snowed here was 1992, it melted by 9:30 AM

For the last year and a half I have been working with attorneys. I read the articles in the FREA magazine and it clearly states that the issue was not settling early but the Attorney would not settle. It has bee my experience that if an attorney gets you in their sights they will attack. It makes no difference if you have E & O or not. I would rather have an insurance company in my corner. I do not believe checking to see if an inspector has E & O will tell you if their qualified. I suggest you read your E & O policies and see what they DON'T cover. Many inspectors have E & O and then market services that are not covered by it, like Mold, Construction Phase or pre-drywall, swimming pools etc. Personally I would not be in the inspection business without E & O I have paid over $20,000 in premiums over the years and have not had a claim paid. But it will be there if I need it. I also worked with the E & O companies until I found the policy that would cover my scope of work.

Speak with a local attorney first. Their is expert witness work and there is consultant work. Consultants are normally hired by the attorneys and in most states they have attorney client privilege. Experts are hired by the attorney or the client and not only do they have NO atty/client privilege but they need to keep great records. I will be co-teaching two different classes at Inspection World in January, one is on Forensic consultant work and the other is on Expert witness. Disclosure: I will be paid to teach the classes, however my pay is not based on the number of students in the class. If you are coming to IW and you are not code certified, I recommend taking the class by Hansen & Drenan on the 2006 IRC.

Larry, I have the ASTM standard at the office and I won't be there until tomorrow. You have my number, call me and remind me and I will fax you a copy. Scott Warga

I can tell you that the house inspected was the home from hell. There were 78 different issues that should have been reported (that I know of). No one got more that 65 of them. There were 6 inspectors total that went through the home.The Guy that evaluated the reports is a friend of mine that lives two hours away from the property so he would not be evaluating his competition, and his comments were edited big time. They interviewed him for almost 3 hours and used about 25 seconds of his comments. The home belongs to a friend of mine. I was not one of the inspectors and did not have anything to do with the inspector selection or review.

KB Homes has the distinction of being the only national builder to be sanctioned by the FTC for failure to satisfy their customers. In AZ over the last two years they have done a better job with their framing, however the rest of the trades still have a way to go.