Charlie R

Just realized the FLIR E6 is now only 1999.00 new so I will accept 1000.00, thanks, Charlie

Retiring from home inspection. Selling the home in Maryland, having a new home built in Venice Florida. Plan on doing volunteer work at the Mote Marine Lab (probably with their sea turtle efforts), working with a veterans group that helps vets find housing, and probably doing some time with habitat for humanity. And getting older, fatter, slower every day :) . Wish you the best Marc, keep fighting the good fight my friend.

Closing the business up as of October 31. I have a FLIR E6 scanner with both the soft case and hard case, software has been kept up to date, new was 3000, asking 1500, I will pay the UPS shipping. Any new/newer inspectors in or near Maryland - I have all the inspection tools you could want - moisture meter, Little Giant MT 26 ladder, boroscope, etc. Email me at inspectorcharlie@gmail.com. Radon monitors have already been sold. Thanks, I appreciate all the knowledge and opinions that everyone has shared over the years, and I wish everyone the best. Stay safe, Charlie

Depending on the home and situation, I usually open the valve to see if there is gas, sometimes I light them, but not always. Usually any of those types of gas logs/appliances are old and I am recommending them to be replaced. Every chimneysweep I know will say the same thing.

Most of the time I have an agent at least stay in the home, maybe one in ten inspections the agent goes out and sits in the car. Usually they just sit in the kitchen and work (or play) on the phone/laptop and leave me with the client. Back on topic, I usually open the panel, cut the edge open, clean out the screw slots. I've never had anyone come back on me for damaging the paint but I am pretty good about getting them open without any damage. And yes, I have moved a heck of a lot of clothes and stored stuff to get to panels and attic hatches.

If you want to use the phrase "functioning as intended" , "operating as intended", or even " working as intended", the question becomes whose intentions? You need to add something like "working as intended by the manufacturer". The manufacturer or an architect or a builder determines the purpose, how, and to what limits something should work and proper writing requires identifying whose intentions are being met. How a Trane furnace operates is set by Trane, the job done by roof trusses is determined by the truss engineer, etc.

Thought provoking, thanks.

Call all the home inspectors in your area and ask if any of them are thinking of selling their business or retiring in the next year. If you find someone that fits into that description, then see if you can work out a deal with that inspector to come in and go with them, learn the business, meet their contacts, etc and at the end of a certain amount of time you can buy them out. Some amount up front and 25% for the first year or something like that. This way you get real experience and an established business in the end.

Take the time to walk across the bridge, doesn't take that long, great views of the bay, and helps work up that appetite.

It's been a couple of years since I got my Medicare card and my left knee has just started in bothering me. Tweaked it cutting grass on a hill this summer, never quite healed. Like Bill, it hurts going down stairs or down slopes, not up stairs or up slopes. wearing a brace certainly helps. Try to walk 2 miles a day, usually on asphalt but with good shoes/boots. I'm in this business for another 10 months or so, then it's on to something else. I hate those attic joist crawls!

When I was still working as a carpenter in the late 1960's we built more than a few roofs like that, only thing I don't see is some collar ties but maybe that was something done locally. Yes, the double beam at the bottom is the support for the ceiling joist, we would put that in anytime we had no supporting walls underneath. Ends of the doubled up 2xs rest on the end of the last 6 inches of the support wall inside and then on the exterior wall. Need to have doubled up 2xs stud under this area. And yes, you will still get some sag, but usually not much, maybe a 1/2 inch in the length. If this was inside the home, you almost always have a crack in the drywall right under the beam.

If the home is occupied I note the presence of the AFCI breakers but write that I did not actually trip them as the home is occupied. If the home is vacant than I trip them all, then go out into the home and verify what is actually off, then reset the breakers.

We all want to write inspection reports that our clients can read and understand. Most of us believe our writing is somewhere between adequate and great. If you want to test yourself, enroll at your local community college and take English 101. I did and that course completely changed the way I approach writing anything. The whole experience really helped me personally, and at the end of it I realized I had a lot of fun taking the course. I try to fit in one course in an area of interest to me each semester now.

I do not like room-by-room reporting as you end up repeating yourself over and over, no client will read that type of report closely. The beginning is way too wordy, if you want to put anything just restate what the SOP states or better, just write that the Client can refer to the SOP. "I urge you ---"? Just put "Hire an electrician ---." This would be much better if written in a bulletized or point-bypoint form, put all the GFCI issues in one statement, all the wiring issues in one statement, etc. And did I read this correctly, the main panel is a GE panel with a 60 amp Square D main breaker? Why report on things that are not issues? "There is a fan in a room that works." "There is aluminum wiring but is is not an issue." There is another discussion going on about Realtor referrals - this is the type of report that will get you no Realtor referrals, or worse, and the inspector will probably say "They don't refer me because I am so tough on the inspection."

Cream puff vs sledge 🔨,

Another avenue as Marc has pointed out is public education. Here is an example of a great website, but how do you get this out to the public in general? Possibly get the legislature to at least state that home buyers be made aware of this site and maybe other sites. http://www.independentinspectors.org/

Thanks, I better understand where you are coming from. Doesn't this COI exist in any situation where a salesperson could be asked to recommend someone to evaluate the thing they are selling? Last time I bought I used car, I told the salesman I wanted an evaluation of the car by an independent mechanic and he whipped out the names of four mechanics he would recommend. When my daughter was selecting a college to attend, and I voiced some concerns about a particular school to their admissions officer, and the officer quickly gave me the websites of several college ranking sites that showed that school in a very favorable light. My point is, since this COI is present with basically any salesperson, I don't think trying to educate the public will really make a big dent in the issue as the public should, through experience, already know you cannot really trust all sales persons, or the public will simply be naive enough to accept what sales persons recommend. In the case of the Realtors and Home Inspectors COI, getting the governing board (legislature?) to prohibit Realtors from making any recommendations is the only way to resolve the issue that I see as viable. Buyers would have to find their Home Inspector independently. That would be interesting as those Home Inspectors who currently do not market to the public but rely solely on Realtor referrals would actually have to become business people who can market to the public. Just my humble opinion.

I am not sure what "benign" is referring to - is it that some items that should be reported are not being reported, making the report "benign", or are you referring to the writing that is used to describe a problem either does not present the issue in an objective manner or downplays the significance of the issue?

Best to you and yours, and thanks for your contributions. I completely understand where you are coming from. I'm probably not too far behind ya. Too many fish still need catching.

Yep, carpenter bees, then the wood peckers.

As long as it isn't leaking and the roof surface looks ok, then some support under that area is probably all you need.

Home was built in 1943. I wrote it up as being approximately 24 years old. I don't see very many floor furnaces, but this one still worked. Thanks.

I'm thinking 1993, can't find any info except that Lousville Tin & Stove was sold off several years ago.

I am not sure what part of the country you are in, but you might consider using a Rheem heat pump but keep the gas furnace as your emergency heat. I live in Maryland, and did that with mine when I had to replace the AC, works great, wife likes it, and my fall/spring bills are lower than in the past. Just saying. Charlie

I have heard of nuisance tripping with the older GFCIs but not the AFCIs. Does the receptacle for the kitchen refrigerator have to be just an AFCI, or the combo receptacle that is both GFCI and AFCI as that might make some difference.