Jim Katen

It's heat from the torch. Here's one that I saw yesterday. It was just torched down the day before and, despite the rain at the time of the inspection, the white powdery stuff had not yet worn off - but it will very soon. I could rub it off with a single swipe of my finger.

Click to Enlarge

49.99 KB

Click to Enlarge

44.1 KB

Find another house that the wife & kids love and read this article by our dear departed brother, Walter:

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/c ... ont-buy-it

I understand its benefit in this case, but, man, that's a crappy IR image.

Just walk into the building department and ask them. They might tell you that they'll wear blinders and only look at the woodstove.

If they tell you that the inspector will be obliged to bring up the illegal garage conversion, then get a retroactive permit and make it legal.

By the way, if you ever have a claim that's related to that illegal conversion, your insurance company might decline coverage.

Thanks. I must be losing it.

If you get a chance, see if you have a similar quotation from Metal-Fab. I still can't find it there.

I look at Metal-Fab. This is the closest thing I could find:

"10. When installing exterior vent, not enclosed by the structure or a

chase, consult local gas utility, appliance manufacturer, and/or

authority having jurisdiction."

I did not see any requirements to enclosed at the interior. I agree that it is not code required, other than if the manufacturer requires it, then it becomes code required.

Which is frustrating when 3 of the four major manufacturers require it, but the 4th doesn't. It means that I have to figure out the brand before I write up the issue. Woof!

Thanks. I must be losing it.

If you get a chance, see if you have a similar quotation from Metal-Fab. I still can't find it there.

I can't find anything in the IRC or the manufacturers' instructions to prohibit it. (I checked Metal Fab, Amerivent, and Duravent.)

I'd just explain that the vent is always supposed to have 1-inch of clearance to combustibles and that it might be a good idea to build some kind of chase, guard, or cage around it.

Basement perimeter drainage systems like this one can sometimes pull soil away from below the foundation walls and cause them to settle, crack, or tilt. Hire an engineer to determine whether or not this is likely to happen with this house. If it is, ask the engineer to design and oversee repairs.

. . . I'm happy with it and that, to me, is all that really counts!

Or is it the lack of sadness that counts?

Strikes me as a word best avoided by northerners - in fact, probably, anyone outside of southern LA - unless they want to sound like posers.

I'll stick to the insults indigenous to my own upbringing: moron, shithead, dumbass, or the ever reliable cocksuckinmotherfukintwoballedbitchinbastardasshole

I found one in 2012, but it was an upright model, not a countertop like yours. I pegged it's date as 1956. It didn't say anything about Northern Queen, but it had a cool Portland logo.

Click to Enlarge

49.74 KB

Click to Enlarge

35.51 KB

The term clapboard seems to be completely unknown in the west.

Even when I lived in New England, though, I never heard "clabbids." It usually sounded more like "clap bo-ads," in Vermont where they drop the r or "clabirds" in Connecticut, where they emphasize the r and drop the p.

They didn't work very well 20 years ago. I suspect that they'll work less well now.

Strange. How does that thing keep from tipping over? It's arm extends much more than the legs do.

Marc

I believe that the base is supposed to have outriggers installed when you're actually using the thing.

I don't have a welder. Probably should by a cheap ass hoist for $200 or such. Or borrow my friends again. But I'm sick of doing that.

Buy a welder and make a rolling gantry.

You'll find 1001 uses for the welder and 101 uses for the gantry.

(So the truss carrier is the thing with the alligator on it?)

What's a truss carrier?

Why not build a little portable gantry and leave the poor trusses out of it? Do you own a welder?

Jim,

Thank you for recommending ISN, it looks amazing. I'm leaning towards it. Where has this been all my life!

ISN is good, but I'm not a wild enthusiast. It took us over a year to get it up and running and it's still got glitches. It certainly is more good for us than bad for us, but the bad parts are frustrating.

I'm hoping to stay away from an monthly accountant for now. It's just me doing the work and should be a simple task for the old lady once we get a handle on it.

The bigger plan is to hire on another guy down the road and eventually turn it all over to an accountant.

Just an observation, but for the stuff we've been discussing here, you need a "bookkeeper" not necessarily an "accountant." There's a vast price difference between the two and they perform different services. No home inspector should need the services of an accountant every month. Eventually, you should probably have both.

Clean it up really well, make sure that it's completely dry, and then place a sheet of children's colored construction paper right there. Then see what happens. The construction paper will readily show if it gets wet and where the water is coming from.

Is there a software or form that y'all use to keep track of the paid and unpaid invoices? I really don't have an efficient way to track mine and it's becoming a real pain. While most get paid on site or via an email through Paypal or Intuit before the report is emailed, I do have a group of clients that all do payment at closing.

With both kids back in school full time next week the wife will be the new full time assistant/book keeper. She's inheriting a mess from me and I'm looking for some suggestions to help us both out and make life easier.

What about accounting software like Quickbooks for record keeping? I've signed up for the Quickbooks Self Employed software, but it doesn't let me input previous invoices and their invoice numbers. I'm not sure it's even good for what I'm doing.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks,

Kiel

We're presently using ISN. Before that, we used a product called Office Tracker, before that, I used a custom MS Access database. Several companies make home inspector database products and all of them can track payments, issue invoices, etc.

I have noticed a small amount of white residue forming under my dryer. It seems to be coming out from under it and spreading a little in front of the door. . . .

Is it on the dryer, on the floor, or what?

Is it wet or dry?

Is it soft, like lint, or hard, like mineral deposits?

Do you have a picture of it?

The only folks I see really pushing the radon hazard are those doing testing, remediation, and governmental agencies involved in regulation.

And the True Believers. This Gloria lady is one of them.

One thing I've learned is not to get in between a True Believer and his/her cause.

Guys, this isn't real. It's humor - kind of like The Onion but for real estate folks.

Look at some of the other blog titles:

Agent Attends Office Meeting for First Time in Four Years. Leaves After Seeing There was No More Food.

Real Estate Agent Rushed to Hospital for Saying, "Granite Countertops," in Response to Everything.

And my favorite,

Millenial Breaks Hand in Tragic Door-Knocking Incident.

I remember installing those things. Very difficult to cut. As I recall, we'd mark them and heat the cut line with a torch before scoring them. I can still smell them.

I thought so, just wanted to be sure.

It's mine. Installed it yesterday. Works great. $39 at Amazon.

Works great, eh?

I've been eyeing a Toto Washlet at about 8 times that price. . .

465863J04

4+6+5=15-8= 7

6-3=3.... Skip the J...3+0+4= 7

77

Of course . . . what was I thinking?