swarga

Lets play devils advocate.[:-dev3] The wax ring was replaced and so was the floor covering, however they were both repaired without addressing the wet and swollen sub-floor. Now the sub floor dries out, the toilet settles, becomes loose and starts to leak at the wax ring again. The only way to correct this issue is to replace the damaged underlayment or, if it is OSB, you might be able to sand it down but only if the damage is minor. Tell your clients that the floor should be addressed.

Wow, a water heater that lasts 10 years here is old. 15 years is is a historic item. 30 years, I couldn't say, never seen one working after 30 years. If it is original I would recommend an upgrade. Here when they are replaced they need to conform to the current code.

Scott is correct. If you have to ask, you are probably not ready to look at the: ABC Plumbing Rebar Forms square/level Underground Elec Footing depth debris inside forms or footings Termite pretreat Ufer for Elec and so on and so on...

Close I'm 5'7" I would like to say I wear it well but that would not be 100% true

That's right, Kill them first Then skin them, Then eat them. They get real mean if you don't do it in that order.

July 225 Today 215 Want to be at 200 by ITA Vegas, Must work harder, must work harder[:-banghea

I will be teaching 5 classes over the next year for a very large City. I am teaching about what a home inspection is, why you need it,what does it cover, and what to look for in an inspector. They are re-locating several families and want the staff and the families to take the class. The City is paying for the inspection of the home before they move in, but the home owner still gets to pick the inspector and decide how to address any issues that may arise. So I guess I could say this is a different form of requiring an inspection.

1. Quit working with the area rep. He is not a tradesman, he has two jobs. Sell material & keep the contractor happy. 2. Contact the head of the company, tell him that the sales rep said this and provide him with a copy of anything written. Then tell the boss that you need him to take a stand on one side or the other. Is it right or wrong. Let him know that you need the answer in writing and the correct answer may prevent his company from being added to a pending lawsuit.[:-dev3] I did this and got a letter from a stucco company that said that if our product is not installed as shown in our installation instructions, it is not warranted. Then he sent me cards from the builder where the builder stated he installed it correct. Bottom line, area rep is looking for work. Stucco was repaired by builder. My client is happy.

Here most irrigation/sprinkler/drip systems are attached to the house water supply. Black Jack is correct, when you see a big pressure loss it is commonly a big leak. Could be a pipe or at the valve box. The other reason is the water supply is weak to begin with. I had one property where we installed a tank with a booster pump for the sprinkler system. It was a large home built in an old neighborhood where the pressure was about 45 PSI to start with. Of course if this is the issue you will also have functional flow issues in the house as well.

Wel I guess we are going to do this again. Here is what I put in my reports, I stole 99.5% of it from the wise Mr. Katen. A voltage drop greater than normal was detected on one or more branch circuits in the electrical system. WHAT IS VOLTAGE DROP? When current passes through a wire, a certain amount of voltage is lost. The result is that the voltage at the point of use will be less than that at the power supply. This loss is called voltage drop. The amount of voltage drop in a circuit is dependent on the magnitude of the current, the diameter and length of the wire feeding the circuit as well as the integrity of any connections along the way. (The larger and thicker the wire, the less the voltage drop will be.) Voltage drop is important for several reasons: 1. Sensitive electronic equipment such as computers, laser printers and audio equipment may lock-up, shut down or otherwise behave erratically. Certain elements may overheat causing early failure. 2. Inductive loads, such as motors and ballasts, can overheat, resulting in shorter equipment life, and higher operating costs. 3. Resistive loads, such as heaters and incandescent lighting, will operate with surprising inefficiency. For instance, at 10% voltage drop, an incandescent light only produces 70% of its normal light. 4. It is wasteful. The lost voltage in the circuit is converted to heat that is dissipated into unconditioned spaces. 5. It may cause incandescent lights to dim or flicker when other loads cycle on. For instance, lights may flicker when the air conditioner or washing machine start up. Though annoying, this is not dangerous and does not violate any code or regulation. HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH? The National Electric Code does not limit voltage drop in branch circuits. There is a fine print note at 210-19(a) FPN 4, that recommends branch circuit conductors be sized to prevent a voltage drop in excess of 3%, or a total drop of 5%, including feeder losses. Fine print notes are for informational purposes only and are not enforceable. However, Section 110-3(b) says that equipment must be installed in accordance with its listing or labeling. Most electrical equipment is designed to operate at no more than 5% and no less than 10% of its voltage rating. Therefore, I consider voltage drop in excess of 10% to be deficient. WHAT I FOUND When inspecting homes, I use an Ideal Suretest Circuit Analyzer model ST-1D. This tester applies a 15-amp load to the circuit while displaying the corresponding voltage drop. It then extrapolates the voltage drop for a 20-amp load. In my experience, most homes have at least one circuit that exceeds the NEC's 5% recommendation. However, very few homes have circuits that exceed 10% voltage drop. Two conditions may be causing this voltage drop. If the cable runs to these circuits are overly long, the resistance of the cable alone will cause the drop. In this case, the remedy will require replacing the cable with one containing larger wires. The other possible cause is poor connections along the way. In particular, the stab-back connections on the back of receptacle outlets have high resistance. If a given circuit passes through enough of these connections, the cumulative resistance can cause the voltage drop. In this case, the remedy will require abandoning the stab-back connections in favor of wire nut connections that have a lower resistance. RECOMMENDATIONS I recommend that you have your electrician calculate the cable runs to these areas to determine if the cables are adequately sized. If they are not, have the cables replaced with ones that are appropriately sized. If they are now adequately sized, investigate the integrity of the splices at the outlets, improving them as necessary. Strive for a voltage drop of less than 5%.

This topic has been discussed several times on this board. I recommend going to the grey bar at the top of the screen, put your cursor over the "Forums link, drop down to the search link, click on it and type in volt drop in the search box. you will find several discussions and some great comments. I have no problem with you opening this topic again but there is a wealth of information in the archives for those that know where to look for it.

I will be at ITA. Look for me, I'll be the fat bald guy.[]

I can tell you that there is a house close to Avondale (where Desert Dweller says he is from).[:-dev3] The house is one year old. Never been lived in. [:-boring] Protometer reads from 50%-99% depending on where you take readings. Slab on grade, 4, 8" cores were drilled through the floor. Slab is at least 6" thick. Moisture present under the slab. Calcium chloride tests were performed twice. The first time someone tampered with the tests. The second time, the person who did the testing was ordered by his client not to release the results. Water line and sewer line have been tested with no leaks. However owner complains of funny taste in water. I believe it is a copper service with PEX on the interior of the home. Landscaping is only in front yard and is a drip system for desert plants. No irrigation in the area. Housing development is about 80% complete. No swimming pool at this home or at any of the next door neighbors. House sits on a corner of a small residential street. Storm drainage is away from the home. Grade is away from the home. If this is the house your talking about, Be very careful.

I am not at liberty to discuss this property in detail at this time. I may have to testify in the case as I performed some of the testing. I just wanted to warn a fellow inspector of potential issues. Now I have a different question. Who is John Reems? I clicked on Desert Dwellers profile and the name is John Reems. But I can't find this name in any org listing or on the States listings of professional home inspectors. John I am not saying that your not state certified, I just couldn't find your listing.

Desert dweller. Contact me ASAP If this is the hous I think it is you need to run quick. There has been several tests performed on this property to determine the source and now there is a lawsuit pending. e-mail me your phone number at swarga@cox.net. This is important.

Who is first brave soul to file a civil action? No Civil action but I did file a ethics complaint with the AZ Department of Real Estate (ADRE)against an agent for doing it. Just for good measure I added the broker in the complaint. The broker fired the agent then paid his clients the money they needed to pay me to come back to the house and inspect it again. I got paid, wrote a new report, then dropped my complaint. The ADRE did not drop it and disciplined the now unemployed Realtor. Cool.[]

So what is the general concensis?consensus (spelling) Required in Florida. Rarely done anywhere else. In AZ we also have plastic forms filled with concrete used as a base for the units. Concrete pads are the most common, then the filled form. then the composite. I have seen the composite ones bend in the summer time.

(I'm real brave when I've got 2,000 miles between me and a potential bloody nose.)[] You don't think I would have made that comment if I lived close to Kurt. Do you? The photo comparison was a nice touch. Well done. ROTFLMAO

A tick tracer has two parts and connect to both ends of a wire, it confirms that the wire at the breaker is the same wire at the AC unit. A volt stick is is about the size of a pen and can light up, beep or both when there is current in the wire. Now that we have distinguished between the two let me say I own both, I use the volt stick daily. It has saved my life on knob and tube that I was told is abandoned and on several exposed wired in attics. I use the tick tracer once or twice a week because I can't find the location of a wire or broken connection. Never on a normal home inspection. Look at the wire size at the AC disconnect and at the breaker, if they are the same, your "visual" inspection is complete, I am all for raising the bar, but it is not our job to trace circuits or label breaker panels.

Is it just me or does Bain's puppy look like Kurt.[:-jester]

Here the maximum height of the highest throw is 6'. That is set by the utility company, however there is no minimum height. I had an exterior panel where they backfilled the area next to the foundation, when they were done there was a 8" space between the bottom of the panel and the grade. We searched all over and even called the utility company, their response was "the code is silent on this issue".[:-banghea

Ya'll have to excuse Chris. He has been hang'n out wit dem Realtors latly and it gits his mind a little clouded. I have the same problem but mine is fogged up from attorneys.[:-banghea

No, the standards did not change. We spoke to the BTR staff and found out several people were interpreting the standers in different ways. For example, would describe a plumbing pipe as metal, probably not you would say it is copper or some other metal. But inspectors thought plastic was a acceptable description of the plumbing line. It is not, PVC, PEX, CPVC, etc would be acceptable. What changed was the acceptable interpretation of the standards. Look at the report evaluation form and you will see what I mean. And for the record, we has an AZ-ASHI central District meeting in January to discuss all of those changes. We sent letters and e-mails to all AZ inspectors in the AZ-ASHI database. Therefore, ASHI members were better informed than all other AZ inspectors again.[]

Fritz, a couple of minor corrections. 1. Our state uses the AZ ASHI standards of practice. There very similar to the 1992 ASHI standards before they were dummied down. 2. I review reports for the Arizona Board of Technical Registration and I can tell you even though the applicants get a report evaluation checklist with their application packet, over half of the reports I review fail to meet the AZ standards. 3. You are correct about the misconception that anyone that is certified by the state is competent. However there were over 1000 people performing inspections in AZ 4 years ago, when licenses took effect that number dropped to 387. It separated the wheat from the chaff. Now some local schools teach how to pass the NHIE instead of teaching how to be a home inspector. If you want to make a difference in your area, here are some tips. First go to the BTR website and download the evaluation form and double check your own report. I don't know if you are aware but the form was revised about 6 months ago. We raised the bar. Then find reports from other inspectors and check them, if they don't fly - file a complaint with the BTR. Check out the other inspectors in your area, if their certification is not current, or if they are not certified - file a complaint. I have filed over a dozen complaints on inspectors that were not certified and a few more on reports that my 12 year old daughter could have written better. (for the record, all of these people no longer perform home inspections) State regulation is not perfect, but it is better than what we had. I'm not trying to pick a fight, I just have a different view than you do.

1. We're in a CYA business. That is an excuse, not a reason. 2. Inspectors are basically a cross-section of society and most people can't write to save their a$$. I agree. You only have to be able to read and write at a 6th grade level to graduate most high schools. Many people should have never graduated. 3. Lack of time and ability forces many inspectors to rely on the crappy boilerplates that come with report software. Laziness,a poor attitude make them write crappy reports. If it was important to them they would make the time. 4. Pressure from the RE business to write "friendly" reports. We just went from report writing to ethics. Maybe there's an untapped report editing industry just waiting to take off! For many inspectors, the report software is the biggest business investment they make. Most inspectors are too cheap to pay someone that could write it right, to properly write their boilerplate. Then as soon as it was complete the inspector would re-write it to make it sound like he said it and screw it back up again. If they want good boilerplate, buy Mark Cramer's software. If they want reports that look like Chris Pricket's used to, buy something written by a PHD. Sorry Chris, I just couldn't resist.[:-dev3]