Charlie R

Cold weather commode Click to Enlarge 38.44 KB

Thanks Neal, will do.

Same here, four units, staggered. I just get tired of having to put the unit out of service for weeks at a time to get the calibrations done.

I'm using Sun Nuclear 1028s. The only two calibration services I am aware of is Sun Nuclear in Florida and Bowser-Morner in Ohio. Are there any others? Both of these services take weeks to get the units back to me. Thanks.

One thing that can be taken from this article is that even if you operate in a jurisdiction where the judges will uphold the "Limits of Liability" clause, if you don't send your agreement out ahead of time, with that clause in bold print, then when the person suing you says to the judge, " the inspector put the papers in front of me and told me to sign so I did", then you can expect that clause to go right out the window. Always send your agreements out ahead of time (and a copy of the SOP you use), and have the agreement signed before the inspection, if possible. Judge may still go against you but, when you run a business, there is no sense in inviting trouble.

I like to carry the old style 6' wooden folding rule - you can make it stand on it's on when getting a picture, use it to hook the sump float. use it as a pointer, etc. Also, a cotter pin tool, great for probing wood, pulling up sump lids, carpet, etc.

I've been using the O-Light M22 and thinking of buying the M20sx to have around the house. Got a couple of old Fenix but stopped using them on inspections because the tail switches kept going bad. They all use the rechargeable 18650.

Dang Chad, that got a chuckle from me!

What is required and what the mason actually did are usually two different things. Like Mark wrote, the crown was sealed to the clay flue which lifted up due to expansion while the block of the chimney did not lift. I like how it actually broke the one block loose and lifted that block also. Good pics.

Never ran into a Ford water heater either. Thanks.

First one I've ever seen, I called them and they had no records on a CF30F. I guessed it as made in 1995. Anyone have anything definitive? TIA Click to Enlarge 35.31 KB

Some things about your sample report - the more you write, the less your client will read. Why tell them the square footage of the home, the number of baths and bedrooms, they already know. And you may end up in an argument about how many bedrooms as Realtors will list closets as bedrooms. "The shingles are missing or damaged--" Which is it? Picture shows some lifted shingles, no missing. The main panel is rated as 150 amp, but is that the amperage of the service? Doesn't say that, just says the panel rating. And, according to the NEC, we have 120/240 volt services, not 110/220. Don't you have to provide any info on the type of grounding or bonding? The garage door failed the anti-entrapment test, why no picture of it squeezing that 2x4? You got all these pictures of what I think are OK receptacles being tested - why? And think about just telling people what to do - "Hire a --" or "Clean out the" instead of "I recommend" or "I suggest", especially on life/safety issues. I know it was too cold to test the A/C but what is the brand/date of manufacture/tonnage? Manufacturer dates on the heating and water heater? I am not familiar with the SC SoP so some of this may be off base. Take this post as intended - to help, but you can feel free to disagree. That is the beauty of owning one's own business.

Do you have a sample report that can be seen from your website? If so that will give people a chance to see what they will be getting. Also, you may ask a few experienced inspectors to review that sample first.

Here is a good explanation on inspecting panels with tandem breakers installed - http://www.structuretech1.com/2012/02/t ... -breakers/

Tandem breakers count as two breakers. The diagram in the photo indicates a maximum of 40 breakers and I'm counting more than 40 breakers in the panel so the panel is in violation of the manufacturer's instruction. "Hire a licensed electrician to - - - "

Could be some condensate issues too - cold and wet outside, warm in the home.

The Sun Nuclear 1030 is a reliable unit, has some good features, about 1200.00, better sensitivity than the lower numbered Sun models.

Send them a copy of the Maryland SOP and tell them to cross out and initial the areas they don't want inspected. I did it once and they came back wanting the whole inspection.

Perhaps I missed it somewhere, but are all the block walls that are below grade painted? If not, prime and paint them with a semi-gloss latex paint, that will seal the walls.

Denray - I have seen the opposite happen some times where the smoke from the fireplace will get drawn down a combined furnace/water heater vent. The fire is drawing air from the home, and if the home is too tight, the home draws make-up air back down the water heater vent, and you end up with smoke in the area of the water heater which in the two cases I looked at, was the basement. When the people tried a fire and slightly opened a window on the floor where the fire was located, no problem.

Boats under sail have the right of way on the water over a prop driven boat so even if the boat is using a prop, if the sail is up, that boat has the right of way.

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.