Jim Katen
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Posts posted by Jim Katen
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If you want to perform a nearly meaningless test that risks dropping a door, then go for it. But only do it after you've inspected the entire door and its counterbalance mechanism and after you've performed the 2x4 test. Your hands and your reflexes are nowhere near as sensitive as you think they are.
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I found the presentation to be way too active. There's a chat box in front of another box, with a video box next to it and all of them cover up the page that I'm trying to look at. The video box starts the video without me asking it to do so, the middle box wants me to "learn more," and the chat box wants me to enter a message. All of this before I've even had a chance to look at your page to see what's going on. This is a huge turn off. I click away from sites like this as fast as I can.
At the top of the page it says "voted best inspection service in Tampa in 2015." That should be a link taking people to the site that voted you best inspection service. Without a link, and with no attribution, it looks fake.
Is the unshaven lad at the bottom right you? If that's not you, get rid of the picture. If that is your picture then, damn, man, put it up at the top and make it bigger. You'll get business just for looking good.
The same goes for the video. Is that you? If so, great. If not, put up a video of you.
The bullet points under "why choose us" are underwhelming. It's like a burger joint boasting that they have "100% beef" or "fresh buns." Whether realistic or not, most people *expect* you to provide the stuff that you have in those bullet points. They don't make you seem special or different.
Throughout the site, there's no hook or reason why a homebuyer would choose you over a competitor. Almost everything on the site is bland and reads exactly the same as most everything on all of your competitor's sites - except that they're going to be boasting about their experience, which (I'm guessing) you're light on so far. Give the reader something that's interesting and useful to him or her. Give them a reason to think, "I have *got* to get Cristhian to do my inspection. No one else will do."
If there's only one of you say so. Don't say "our inspectors" when there's only one of you. If there's more than one of you, list who you are. A home inspector's stock and trade is honesty.
Your prices nearly gave me a heart attack. Double them. Get rid of your "price match guarantee." Position yourself as an exclusive consultant, not a bargain basement grunt.
People like to know the people they're hiring. Include your picture and bio on the site and be proud of it. Put personal stuff in the bio, not just technical stuff.
Your last name is Perez. Do you speak Spanish? If so, then definitely put that on the site. There's a shortage of bilingual inspectors out there.
On the good side, the reviews a great (put in more of them as you receive them), and the "request more information" box is nice and uncomplicated.
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Before this turns into a 20 page thread, start by going here and reading this:
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USE is NOT code compliant for interior wiring.
338.12(B)(1)
Unless it's dual rated . . .
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. . . The link below also indicates that primer is needed for most PVC solvents.
Unless they're blue . . .
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The only place we are required to use purple primer is down in ditches on sewer work so the inspector can see its been primed .
The only time you see purple primer above ground around here is from homeowners doing their own work,Or craigslist hack artists butchering things up from the back of a pickup truck.
Ive never seen purple primer on a professional furnace install around here any way.
Theres no differance between the 2 primers other than the nasty purple dye.[:-yuck]
And then there's the blue cement that doesn't require primer. . .
For those interested in the practical utility of PVC primers, this bit of original research makes for some very enlightening reading:
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. . . Today I did see one in a 2003 garage. Four wires leaving the main panel, three showing up at the garage panel. Neutrals and grounds on same terminal. Assuming the conduit is plastic and the ground wire does not continue to the garage panel, it appears that this is ok?
If the junction box (the one with the foam in it) is in the garage, I'd call it wrong and tell them that they have a four-wire feeder and they have to separate the grounds & neutrals.
If the junction box is in the house, then I'd say that the installation is ok, per the pre-2008 NEC. (But still dumb.)
The foam is wrong no matter what.
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So sad. We lost a good man.
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Click to Enlarge
31.88 KB
I was always interested in how heat pump thermostats are wired and I gained some insight today. For one thing, I've been wrong about the color codes. Apparently, they're as follows:
B = Black
O = Olive
G = Gold
Y = Yed
W = Worange
And it's good to know that the white wire isn't used.
(No. The heat pump was not working properly.)
My theories:
The installer was colorblind.
The installer was really stupid.
The installer was really smart.
This is what happens when pot becomes legal in your state.
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Birds in the pipes are a serious problem, no matter which pipe it is. If they're in the exhaust pipe, though, they won't live for long. Birds are very sensitive to carbon monoxide. Get rid of the birds any way that you can and then put 1/4" galvanized steel hardware cloth screens over the pipes to prevent them from returning.
Get a trusted HVAC tech to figure out whether or not your inlet and exhaust pipes are switched. If they use a concentric termination, this could be a real problem.
After that, test for CO again.
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What problem does this product solve?
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Very cool.
Any chance you'll eventually have a calculator for scissor trusses?
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Hey, sixties ranch houses are huge right now. People can't get enough of them.
The Duradek membranes look exactly like commercial vinyl flooring and are, perhaps, the definition of soulless. But they work. People who've had fancier looking waterproof decks fail and destroy their interior finishes are perfectly fine with a soulless floor covering that doesn't leak.
In particular, if it's a retrofit application with very little clearance between the deck surface and the door threshold, there are few other products out there that can work. Most of them require too much thickness.
I didn't realize that it was still out there, but if anyone is interested, here's the power point from a presentation that I did on the topic in 2009: http://www.oahi.org/waterproofdecks.pdf
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It is also above the top of the foundation walls, which can be a problem.
Right. The framing behind it is at serious risk.
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The "break" in my ceiling has been evacuated......hanging right out there for me to work on. My question......is it a simple splice and re-mudding or something more complicated?
Simple splice. I like the smallest underground splice kit you can find. It has a small splice block, a section of heat shrink tubing, and a low profile. Any splice that's insulated and rated for 240-volts will work, though.
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Just to be clear, The Duradek folks do make a product for use under tile:
Thanks. I hadn't seen that before.
It'll probably work fine in a non-freezing climate. If your deck is likely to see freezing temperatures, you'll need a drainage plane like Troba.
In my climate, exterior tile work is very problematic. We have lots of folks from southern Cali move up here and install outdoor tile, which fails miserably. Gotta have drainage if it's going to freeze.
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110.26 Spaces About Electrical Equipment. Access and working space shall be provided and maintained about all electrical equipment to permit ready and safe operation and maintenance of such equipment.
I'd also focus on the words, "and maintained."
Ultimately, it's an interpretation. Another very talkative inspector once infamously interpreted this section to mean that if an electrical panel were located in a garage, then you couldn't park a car there because it would violate 110.26. Common sense does play a role here.
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Thanks for the replies. As I stated, I would prefer tile. I need to be able to move furniture around, not worry about staining anything, etc. Freezing isn't a big problem in central Arkansas but in any case I'm well aware of the need for proper tile selection for exterior use. I looked into Duradek and they make a product to use with tile. Unfortunately, there are no licensed applicators in the state. Looks like I'll be looking more into the Schluter products.
If you want tile, then definitely use the Schluter products.
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Would you put a permanent flooring system over Duradek?
Duradek is basically a walkable roofing membrane.
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The biggest bang for the buck is Duradek. I see it regularly. It works.
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I call it the crossover flame. But it doesn't usually look that big.
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I suspect that the residue is where there used to be an object, which got moved. The termites had filled the space between the object and the wall or floor and when the object was moved, the tunnel material was left behind in a heap.
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That's not beetle damage.
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OK then. I got it. Actually, I always got it.
It's the dissertations referencing NEC and acronyms no one I know uses that confuse me.
I (more or less) ignore the pre-2008 part; it's dangerous, right? That's why it's no longer allowed, correct?
I'd put it this way: Having a 4-wire feeder is always less dangerous than having a 3-wire feeder.
Damaged Garage Door
in Exteriors Forum
Posted
I'm locking this thread now. There's nothing to be gained by rehashing this topic yet again.