Jim Katen

And, by the way, there are good state licensing programs. Look at Oregon's licensing program for electricians. To become a journeyman electrician in Oregon, you must: 

• Have a high school diploma and have passed at least one year of high-school level algebra. 
• Apply for an apprenticeship by passing a test and submitting to an interview. 
• Serve a 4-year apprenticeship during which you complete 8,000 hours of on-the-job training and 800 hours of classroom training. 
• Pass a licensing exam, which you'll have to re-take every 3 years. 
• Only then can you register to become a journeyman electrician and work for someone else. 
• If you want to do work on your own, you have to first work as a journeyman for 4 years, and then pass the supervisor's test. Then you can work on your own. 

The result is that there are very few, if any, bad electricians in Oregon. It's an excellent system. 

The point of most state licensing is not to assure quality, but to keep track of the licensees. By requiring a license, the state then has the ability to take that license away when someone screws up badly enough. It's exactly like a driver's license. 

From what I can see the Texas legislature didn't "shut down" the plumbing board, it looks more like they just neglected to renew it. I suspect it was more of a screw up than a conscious decision, and I'll bet you a dollar that somehow or other, the board will manage to remain intact. 

I'd observe that you should never wait for a roof to leak before replacing it and that it's always better to replace a roof before it becomes unreliable, not after. I'd then opine that these shingles are standing at the threshold of unreliability and I'd advise the buyer to replace the shingles this year. 

Oh, yes, I'd also bemoan the fact that the original builder failed to restrain the ends of the beam. 

The yellow stuff hasn't changed. 

The change has been the addition of a conductive layer on the outside of *some* of the products. It's supposed to conduct stray current away from the stainless steel pipe, itself. 

I have never been convinced that the more robust bonding requirements for the original product have done anything to reduce its potential for failure. 

I'd mention it, note that it probably twisted as it dried during the 1st year after construction, observe that it looks like it's now stable, and leave it at that. I see no need for a repair. 

In addition to what Marc said, it was irresponsible of that tech to add refrigerant to a system that he suspects of leaking. Especially with R22, which is getting to be very expensive stuff. If he's right and it leaked, the new stuff is just going to leak out as well. Air conditioners don't "use up" refrigerant. 

Someone needs to spend some time figuring out exactly what's wrong. If there's a leak in the piping or in a coil, it might be repairable. If the compressor is leaking, then it makes the most sense to replace the system. 

That said, 23 years of service from an air conditioner in Georgia is pretty good. Its time might be up. 

I don't know anyone out there. 

Reminds me of that poem by Hilaire Belloc: 

Some random touch, a hand's imprudent slip

The terminals flash, a sound like "zip"

A smell of burning fills the air

The electrician is no longer there! 

A misplaced screwdriver? 

During the early days of the economic downturn, I did lots of foreclosed houses, but I can't remember how many were HUD/FHA. They were all crap. Those are not fond memories. 

10 hours ago, Les said:

i am too embarrassed to post the other photos of the removal.  embarrassed for him, not me!  I do lots of legal stuff and my kid is an atty, so you would think i would take that route, but in fact I am letting the guy off the hook a little while he wraps his head around the costs and effort this involves.   maybe I will post more photos.

 

I think that anyone who has lots of experience doing legal stuff understands that the legal route is rarely the best course of action.  I've also got to stress that getting the demo done fast is supremely important. As long as the tiles are there, they're not just tiles; they're a physical symbol of a screw-up and they cause an emotional reaction every time anyone involved looks at them. After they're gone, the symbol is gone and you go back to moving forward (and healing).  

One thing I've learned about construction mistakes: Get the demo done as fast as possible. Everyone involved prefers re-doing to un-doing. 

9 hours ago, R Bunzel said:

Once you get over 350 lumens the lights are just too bright for what we do.

That's true if you're using it to look inside an electrical panel, but not in a large attic or crawlspace. In those spaces, 350 lumens is probably the bare minimum. 

Try including some Surefire products in your next review. They're made in the USA, they're solid performers, and they're nearly indestructible. I've got an 8-year old G2X Pro that's never had its switch replaced.   

 

 

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8 hours ago, R Bunzel said:

The mortality rate of home inspectors is high. 90% don't make it through the first year. Of the remaining 10% half don't make it to the end of their 2nd year. I am sure that if Marc polled his past students he would see similar numbers from his classes. HI is easy to get into but hard to make a living at.  

I did some serious research into this way back in the '90s and found that the numbers were even worse than yours. I tracked them over a 2 year period and found that after 24 months, only 1 in 17 was still in business. That was before licensing in Oregon, when you could just fall into home inspections with little or no commitment. I suspect that the numbers are a little bit better now because it takes more time, money, and education to get started. 

8 hours ago, R Bunzel said:

Doing inspections are actually a small percentage of your day. Accounting, business development, Social media, establishing relationships with realtors and actually talking to clients all burn up hours in the day.

And that's the problem. Most people who get into this think of it as a job, not a business. 

Will the tile guy be participating in this exercise? 

Never heard of anyone setting I-joists with a crane. If they were trying to lift a unit of them, it would be stupid to run the strap through the middle.

Perhaps the strap had something to do with holding them down on a flatbed? 

2 hours ago, Marc said:

Then what would be the purpose of troweling grout?  I thought troweling was about insuring contact between floor and tile at distances no further apart than the ridges left by the trowel.  The gaps between are about allow space for excess mortar to flow, since the stuff won't compress.

You use a notched trowel to ensure that you've put down the proper amount of grout. Once you've placed the tile and pressed it in place, you should have 100% coverage with no gaps or air spaces. That's why you trowel only in 1 direction; so that the air between ridges can escape as you set the tile. As you're setting the tiles, you pull one up every so often to check. 

Here's a good video from NTCA: 

51 minutes ago, stevenj said:

I appreciate the responses and advice.  I plan to pay close attention and ask many questions during my 30hr field training requirement. I am in the early stages of preparing a business plan, determining pricing structures and available markets for this service.

Do you guys focus more on marketing to realtors in the beginning? It appears that 1-2 inspections per day is the maximum possible after reading the time listed above. Do you recommend any inexpensive software for report writing?

Well, you're preparing a business plan. That's more than what most people do who fall into this profession. 

I scaled back to 1 inspection per day a little over a year ago, as a concession to age and just not wanting to work as much. But I did up to 2 a day for a few decades. In the very early days I'd sometimes do 3 in a day, but those were crappy inspections. It's probably possible to do 3 or more in a day if you provide a bare-bones service. I don't recommend it, though. 

Marketing to realtors can be frustrating, particularly in the beginning because realtors have their own ideas about how an inspector should explain things. The short story is that many (not all) realtors want you to find all of the important problems with a house, but then present the problems in such a way that they don't interfere with the sale of the house. They want an inspector who can say, with a straight face: this is a problem, but it's not a problem. 

Eventually, what happens is that realtors who like the way that you do things will like you, and you will like them, and they'll refer you. The ones who don't like you won't refer you, but that's ok because you won't like them either. After enough time, this sifting process leaves you with a pleasant book of business. Just don't try to change who you are to conform with an unlikeable realtor's perception of what you should be. 

In considering software, cost should not be a consideration. With any software, the overall cost over the lifetime of the product is insignificant. I won't discuss any particular software product because I really don't like any of them. 

I don't know if it has to do with your heating problem, but those trowel marks should not be visible after the tile is installed and removed. After the tile is set, there should be 100% coverage between the tile and the thinset. 

2 hours ago, stevenj said:

I am beginning my journey to become a licensed home inspector . Prior to jumping in, I had a few questions related to income and outgoing expenses. In my area, I have had three home inspections from three different companies. All were $300.00- $350.00 for the service.  None of which gave  an hourly rate on how they based the pricing structure. 

 How long do you spend ,on average, on your report writing? How long do you spend in an actual home of approximately 1200 sq ft?

First, it's a mistake to link your pricing to your time. Home inspection isn't a trade, so don't think like a tradesman. Charge what the market will bear. The vast majority of home inspectors don't charge enough. 

Here's last week: 

Monday: 2,506 sf, circa 2015. 6 hrs on site. 1-1/2 hr report writing. $1,020. 

Tuesday: 1,954 sf, circa 1998. 3 hr, 45m on site. 2 hr report writing. $845

Wednesday:  2,018 sf, circa 2016. 5 hr on site. 45m report writing. $615

Thursday: 2,040 sf, circa 1949. 4 hr, 30m on site. 2 hr report writing. $795

Friday: 2,233 sf, circa 1975. 5 hr on site. 2 hr report writing. $795

22 hours ago, Les said:

main question is what logic is there in a self adhering mat with a textile cover being installed with a 3/8" notch trowel and there by creating a thermal break?

Where is the thermal break? Properly installed tiles should have zero air pockets under them, even if the thinset was installed with a 3/8" trowel.

It sounds like the mats are simply not producing enough heat. Are you sure it's not something stupid like using 120-volts on mats designed for 240-volts? Were these mats made for the North American market or the European market? 

I'd be tempted to buy another mat and fire it up without installing it to see how it behaved. 

I'd say it's seriously messed up and in need of replacement. 

3 hours ago, Brandon Downer said:

Would I pour concrete then put the concrete Pier on that or put the pier directly on the dirt?

It depends on your dirt. With some firm, stable soils, you could get away with a portable pre-cast pier pad - especially if each one will only be holding up one joist. 

6 hours ago, Brandon Downer said:

Above this spot there is a bathroom, staircase and pantry. Nothing but joists holding it all up and the walls are solid wood with wood bead board so it's very heavy. Jim Katen would I measure the wood posts and cut them a little longer than the distance needed? To account for where I jack it up?

If there's a staircase, isn't there also a 2nd floor above this area too? You should find out whether or not the 2nd-floor joists bear on a 1st-floor wall and put the additional supports below this wall. 

Doing a job like this takes experience. Otherwise, you'll just go from a sagging floor to a lumpy floor. I strongly suggest hiring someone who has that experience. Maybe that person will work with you to keep costs down.