Jim Katen

What a useless and badly written article. 

I left comments with the pictures. One picture shows some severely deteriorated mortar. Otherwise, it all looks very typical. What you've got there will probably support the house just fine as long as gravity is the only force acting on it. 

This house was build just after the big 1906 earthquake and it looks like it rode out the 1989 Loma Prieta quake without any serious damage. It might not do as well when the next large one hits. If that were my house, I'd get some modern earthquake retrofit work done. 

It's a bit low, but it should be fine as long as the water service pipe is large enough to allow adequate flow. 

My house has about 37 psi on a really good day (when the water level in the reservoir is at its highest level). In the summer, when several of my neighbors are irrigating and the reservoir level drops, my house only gets about 24 psi. It can be a problem for us because the line between our meter and our house is only 3/4" PVC and it's about 800' long with a rise of about 100'. That said, I can still get a decent shower even when the pressure is at its lowest. We raised three kids under these conditions and it was generally fine. That said, I'm still surprised by the force of "normal" showers when I stay in a hotel. 

17 hours ago, Dale Hamblin said:

Uncle has 1979 Wesco with 1-10kw and 1-5kw needs to replace elements, is there slide in elements available? Is Wesco still in business?
thank you,

Wesco has been out of business for decades. The elements are generally easy to replace. All this is discussed earlier in this thread - did you read it? 

A few thoughts: 

• It doesn't matter if it's a buyer's agent or a seller's agent. They both get paid only when the deal closes. No closing, no money to the agent. That said, there are plenty of agents out there who are genuinely looking out for the best interest of their clients. If these agents are smart, they quickly learn the red flags that might indicate serious problems with the house and steer the clients to houses that have fewer red flags. I regularly work with such agents; they can spot serious defects just about as fast as I can. 
• The trick to working with agents is to understand that you're only going to get along with a few, and it'll all depend on how well your personalities mesh. Don't try to be everything to everyone. Just be your own unvarnished self, develop your own style, and let the agents who appreciate that come to you. Most of them won't, and that's fine. 
• Most people fail in this business within 2 years. (By "most people" I mean about 16 out of 17, according to my research.) And most of the ones who fail do so because they don't have a clue about how to run a business and they're under capitalized. They often come from the trades and they tend to equate the inspection fee with their salary. Doing so is a huge mistake - especially when you're starting out. Your "salary" will probably end up being 40-50% of the fee that you collect - maybe less if you're only working part time.
• Success in this business is about confidence. That won't happen unless you're confident in yourself. (Don't mistake confidence with arrogance.) Everyone that you interact with has to be confident in you as well. You build confidence by striving to be right every time. Everyone makes mistakes, but you should do everything in your power to avoid them because they erode people's confidence in you. 
• Everything is either black or white. When something is black, say it's black. When something is white, say it's white. When something is gray, tell them to get someone to determine whether it's black or white. Alternatively, break down the gray thing into black parts and white parts so that the customer understands what he or she is getting into. Gray things never stay gray for long so you need to get out in front of them. 

The thing in the photo looks like brick veneer. 

Do you have other photos? 

Thanks. I'll be interested to see how it goes. 

It might have been the latch that allowed him to escape I mean, leave, the plant. 

Who was it on this forum that posted a picture of his mother, as a toddler, sitting on a 2nd floor windowsill with her feet dangling from the sill? 

It's cool looking, but what's the point? A properly balanced sash should stay wherever you put it anyway. As far as security goes, once you lift up the sash more than an inch or so, anyone can just stick a finger in there and unlatch it. 

Total mess. 

Then you need to give us actual information. A few close-ups of white blobs on the wall doesn't tell us anything.

How about some pictures from farther away? Where on the wall is it happening? Is this an exterior wall? What's the weather like over there? When did it show up? What happens if you just clean it up with regular household detergent and a sponge? Does it come back? Have you ever seen it when it's actually wet and dripping? Is it powdery, sticky, hard, smelly, or what? 

Sagen sie ihrem jugendlichen Sohn, er soll aufhören, an der Wand zu masturbieren.

7 hours ago, Marc said:

I has surgery on my right shoulder 19 June. Had to turn down all requests for service, inspections for three months. It was by far the most difficult, and painful, recovery from any injury, illness or procedure I've ever had. Four different issues were corrected, most notably my rotator cuff, which was more than halfway torn off.

I'm happy to hear it's behind you. How's the recovery going? 

If you don't mind the questions, what caused it and what might have prevented it. (for those of us who seem to be developing shoulder problems . . . ) 

Geben sie einen kontext an.

War das an einer wand? An einem fenster?

Sorry. On the west coast, we only think of one Orange County . . .  

Does anyone know of a very good inspector in Orange County? 

Depends on the nature of the failure. If a compressor were to fail, I'd replace the whole shebang. Otherwise, I'd tend to make piecemeal repairs. 

The more I see old stucco installations in our area, the less I like them. There's a reason why we developed rules for things like casing beads, weep screeds, and proper sealant joints - because the venerable old ways rarely worked well. 

When we come across a 100 year old house with its original hardcoat stucco intact (which is rare, by the way, most of them have been extensively repaired), we're looking at an exercise in survivor bias - the rare exceptions. What we should be doing is cataloging the 100-year old houses where the stucco has been replaced or extensively repaired, and we should be looking at why that happened. Doing so gives you a leg up on inspecting the seemingly unscathed ones. 

That said, I inspect them as I would anything else: applying my knowledge as far as it will go and refer to someone else to go farther when I think it's necessary. 

I agree with Trent. 

Home inspectors sell their experience and knowledge. At the age of 17 with no background in construction, you don't have any knowledge or experience to sell. If you pursue home inspections, you'll flail around for a while and fail quickly. While that wouldn't be an entirely bad life experience, there are *way* better ones that are *way* more fun at your age. Be a little irresponsible, make mistakes, do at least a few things that you can enjoy regretting in your old age.

Life plans that you make when you're 17 almost never work out anyway, so just let life happen. Ride the waves, follow your bliss, and grab the gold ring when it comes round. 

I'd say it's fine.

Call Columbia Fuels at 877 500-HEAT and get a tech out there to fix the problem, install a new nozzle, and adjust the burner while he's there. 

Any heating contractor can fix you up with a filter housing. I'd recommend a 20x20x4 box filter for the added area and lower static pressure. 

If you get into the habit of eating Kimchee every day, it'll help with your allergies and it might even help you to outlast the Airco. 

Stop splashing in the shower. 

15 hours ago, Karen W said:

Should you put vinyl siding over damaged insulbrick?  We have a siding guy here who says its fine to just put the siding over the insulbrick but in some areas it is water damaged around the gabled roof.  He says this is our only insulation for the house and if we were to remove it, it would be costly. I am actually reading that insulbrick has a pretty low r-factor though. 

The Inselbrick is going to do as much for your house's R-value as a cotton tank top in January. But there's no reason why you can't install vinyl over it. (Just fix any rot first.) 

If you're concerned with energy efficiency, talk with an insulation contractor about blowing cellulose into your walls before you install the vinyl.