Charlie R

Thanks!

Does anyone make a 3-prong plug-in receptacle tester that shows a boot legged or false ground? Thanks

The Pledge works on all moving aluminum parts and most metals so it's good for the Little Giant, the Werners, any extension ladders that are getting hard to extend or retract, but it does make stuff super slippery - don't get it on the rungs or you will find your feet slipping.

I'm on my second one (780P). Wore the feet off the first one and couldn't get replacements so I bought another one at Sherwin Williams when they had it in sale. I use mine mostly inside the home to get up into attics. The 12.5 gets most of those tall garage attic hatches. You can extend the ladder and bump the access panels over and out of the way, and I find that the vinyl bumpers at the top of the ladders don't mark up paint. Spraying Pledge on the side rails once in a while will keep the thing lubricated nicely. The 780P has a 300 lb rating so it is really strong although I would never set it at more than a 30 degree angle. I don't use mine outside unless I really need to as this is a pretty narrow ladder and you don't have the sideways stability like with your Giant. When you put it up inside an attic access it can only slide over and hit the side of the access. On a rain gutter it could just keep on going. Let me know if you want to borrow mine for an inspection, I'll drop it off for you.

Thing fired up like a champ. Burners looked like they had been replaced, No rust to speak of, no evidence of leaks. it had all the stuff you want to see - expansion tank that wasn't full of water, auto fill, pressure relief, etc. Only issue I noted (beside the combined discharge lines) was the pressure was running a little high, 30 pounds. I did an American Standard once that was over 100 years old. Obviously it had a lot of parts changed, but the basic boiler was still intact and working.

There it is! Thanks Marc, much appreciated. Charlie

Thanks Scott. You are correct, the big question to me is the combining of all these drains into one discharge tube. I have read the IBC section on discharge tubes and it describes the size, the discharge point, the lack of threads on the discharge end, etc, but doesn't address if these have to be run separately or can be combined. If it is OK to combine them, shouldn't they have to go to a larger diameter?

At yesterdays inspection, I found where the pressure relief valve for the 1959 Burnham boiler was combined with the TPR valve discharge tube of the water heater, and what I believe is a copper condensate drain line from the attic A/C airhandler, all into the laundry tub. The main trunk of these combined discharges is CPVC piping. Now I know the discharges are not supposed to go into the laundry tub, but what about the combining of them and the use of CPVC? Click to Enlarge 38.45 KB

"Hey, I changed all my copper piping to CPVC so I'll just lay this chunk with the old GEC across the gas pipe and that will work as a bond, right?" I don't think so. That is an arc mark on the piping. Click to Enlarge 47.16 KB Click to Enlarge 41.12 KB

We all see common neutrals where they are using 2 hot wires to two circuits, is there any way that they can use a common neutral for four circuits? I don't think so but I've learned to ask rather than just say "no."

You sure someone else wasn't testing a smoke detector while you were busy tripping the GFCI?

Thanks Marc. I see this about once every 4 years or so and it just makes my inspector senses tingle every time but I can't (or won't) commit it to my memory.

I see this so rarely that I forget - I know lights, fans, etc have to be at least 3 feet from the open shower edge but does the same apply to the light switch? I think it's wrong to have an interior grade switch that close to an open shower aera, but I can't remember if there is a specfic mention of switches in the NEC or not. Any quick help would be appreciated, but I can always go with "Verify with a licensed electrican that the placement of the light switch in the bathroom is acceptable." Click to Enlarge 31.71 KB

It's http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/i ... dtest.html Sorry about that.

I tell them I don't do mold tests, I will look for moisture problems because that is what mold needs, then I offer to e-mail them the PDF from this site, http://www.health.state.mn.us/divs/eh/i ... dtest.html, which lists the top reasons NOT to test for mold. As far as I know, I haven't ever lost a booking because of this.

This will be voted on by the commissioners at the October meeting as a change to the Maryland Standards Of Practice (SOP); The proposed additions to the SoP are in Bold & Underlined Title 09 Department of Labor, Licensing, and Regulation Subtitle 36 C om mission of Real Estate Appraisers and Hom e Inspectors?Home Inspectors Chapter 07 Minimum Standards of Practice .07 Plumbing System A. A home inspector shall visually inspect the plumbing system, including: (5) Fuel storage and fuel distribution systems, including the possible presence of corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) flexible gas piping B. A home inspector shall describe the plumbing system, including; (4) the presence of corrugated stainless steel tubing (CSST) flexible gas distribution piping, if applicable. If CSST is present, the inspector shall report the product requires special electrical bonding that should be confirmed by a qualified licensed electrical contractor .08 Electrical Systems A. A home inspector shall visually inspect an electrical system, including: (4) Service grounding; C. If applicable, a home inspector shall include in a written report the: (3) the presence of CSST gas piping with the recommendation such piping should be reviewed by a qualified licensed electrical contractor for proper bonding D. A home inspector is not required to: (1) Inspect: (e) the existing bonding method for any potential CSST gas piping I am simply posting this for Maryland inspectors information so don't shoot the messenger.

Since the composite shingles "may" or "probably" contain asbestos, I usually write to "have the shingles tested for asbestos content prior to disturbing." rather than just go to having the contractor do it. A lot of those shingles were made without asbestos. The fee for the test from an environmental testing lab is way less than paying the contractor. Charlie

There are ways to get a quick read on radon (at least an hour) but none of those ways meet the EPA test protocol. I could set up my CRM and just read it after an hour or two, it would show the readings. Minimum of 48 hours, per EPA, for an actual radon test. They could also use a Safety Siren Pro Series 3 which says it meets EPA standards as a radon home monitor but not for testing, it will show a reading after an hour. Anything instant can get you in a whole lot of trouble I'm thinking since radon is so variable. Me, I prefer to run 96 hour tests. More data the better.

Thanks for the quick replies, much appreciated. Charlie

Found where the service conductors were spliced between the main panel and the meter. I thought that the conductors were not allowed to be spliced, or at the least the splices need to be in an approved junction box. I'm looking for confirmation I am correct on this, but if I'm not, then why is this correct? I couldn't get under the painted over tape to see what kind of clamps were used. TIA, Charlie Click to Enlarge 24.66 KB

The inspection starts at 9 (or whatever) and you're there early, the Realtor is there, but the client comes late, and then acts like you were supposed to wait for them and you have to back track to catch them up with all you've found. Man, it just trips my trigger when people do that, client today was an hour late, actually had the nerve to say that he was paying me so what the heck. Then had the nerve to ask if he could just pay at the settlement table! I almost just walked away, but just decided to explain - slowly and calmly - that, first, he was to pay me now as agreed in advance and that if this deal fell through, he would have to find another inspector. Made the whole rest of my day run late. Thanks, now I feel better.

Also in Maryland, a new law effective July 1 - "The new smoke detector law in Maryland requires that all battery only smoke detectors need to have a 10-year lithium battery that is sealed in." Apparently it is being phased in so that all homes have this by 2018 but any home sold after July 1, 2013 has this requirement and it is part of the home owner's disclosure form. As far as I can find, home inspectors requirements for reporting on smoke detectors has not changed.

Same thing happened to me but I called them and insisted that since they couldn't ship for more than 30 days, they credit the purchase price back to my credit card, which they did. I received the unit 7 weeks after ordering (which was two weeks ago) and they still haven't re-charged my credit card. I'm waiting to see if they pick up on it or not. Incompetent.

I offer a pool inspection to the ASHI Pool Standards as a separate inspection/cost, similar to radon being a separate test, but only if I am also doing the home inspection. I get 4 - 5 a year. Pool has to up and running.

I use a similar statement but end with "Budget to replace."