normw

android devices are geting more and more powerful like a low end windows pc, I still can not type with two thumbs as fast as ten fingures, but good enough for now, so I'm seriously looking at android inspection apps, it is still ongoing but not looking good. There are very few players on the mobile market, even the big boys don't have standalone inspection apps. I even ran into software maker's website still using flash, don't they know flash support has been dropped by android. I skipped past any softwares that requires ongoing costs, I just can't imagine when I turn on my PC, microsoft ask me for a couple doolars. I don't want to be anyone's cash cow. It's a great business model for sure, I wish I can charge my client $10 a month for whatever reasons.

Someone slap my head, please

no idea what are you guys talking about

I've bumped into this problem quite often, only on some receptacles located under sink for garburator and inside kitchen cabinet for range hood. When I plug in my receptacle testers (yes, I tried a few), it showed nothing, black, as if the receptacles were not connected at all. But when I plug in the garburator or range hood, they worked just fine. It happens so often that I no longer call it out, is anyone else out there see the same thing?

I think that's a good thing for our industry, lawyers can charge big bucks because they have a strong, single association with teeth. The only way home inspection industry can survive and thrive is make it very very hard to become one and keep being one. And start charging by the hour like any other good old trades. Ninety percent of home inspectors give the other ten percent a bad reputation.

Thanks everyone for your input. Seems like we have come to a consensus. Next time I see one of these, if it has no display and not respond to control, I'll open it up to check if it needs batteries. And then write it up as "possibly a timer switch for exhaust fan, ask owner for instructions." Thanks again

Thanks everyone for pitching in, but I'm still not really sure, because in both cases, the switches were in interior rooms, far away from any exterior wall, and in the case of the high rise condo, it's on a 26th floor and not much is on the outside. And when I play with the switch, nothing happened, no display at all. Could both be faulty?

I ran into this dimmer-looking switch for the second time, first time it's outside a bathroom of a 5 year old town house. I thought it was some kind of control for the bathroom fan, but didn't seem to be working. This time it's on a 3 year old high rise condo, inside a closet that facing front entrance door, still looked the same, still seemed not controlling anything. Does anyone seen this before and know what is it for? Click to Enlarge 22.79 KB

Thanks Erby, maybe the realtor is right and I just made a fool of myself. I'll email my client and let him know. Thanks again.

Hi, there, A 7 year old stackable washer dryer, the top of the washing machine agitator formed a bowl, I always thought there is a cap and the top should be flat. I called it out in my report stating "the cap for the agitator missing". But the realtor emailed my client saying she's seen the agitator without a cap, there is actually a bowl for something. Click to Enlarge 21.17?KB So am I wrong on the cap thing? Thanks for your help

Thanks for all your suggestions, just got the answer back from the city, in case you're curious, it refers to the old and discontinued garbage collection system, when the home owners pay for garbage service based on the number of cans they can set out each week, hence the number 3 or 4.

Thanks, Mike, for the quick reply, I called the city a few times, all I got were voice mails and asking me to leave a call back number, I'm not hold high hope on getting a call back any time soon. Typical city service, anyway, I'm still trying to get a hold of a live person, but in the mean time, I thought it might worth a shot asking for help here, in case someone knows.

Hi, there, A customer called and asked me what is the sign that says "City of Vancouver Sanitation Services 3" on his lane way fence post doing? He said the neighbour has a similar sign of ?City of Vancouver Sanitation Services 4" on their fence post. I know it's not within our standard of practice to inspect this kind of signs, but in the interest of providing better service to my customer, I'd love to know the purpose of the sign. My guess is that it's some kind of marking for garbage pick up or sewage connection, but not sure at all. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Yeah, I'm just wondering how time consuming it is to add a discussion forum on Whisper Solution's website and ask a couple users to work as moderators. It's common practice in open source community and could be very helpful to users without costing the company an arm and a leg in terms of manpower.

Hi, Nolan, Thanks for the quick reply. It helped me a lot. I was making my own template that fit Nachi SOP from Texas template. It's pretty much done. As for the text that display red but print black, you suggested using lock text feature, which worked great, thanks. The software's documentation sucks, btw. I hope the developers at Whisper Solutions will make cloakable text more visible on their next version, fingers crossed. It was after reading your posts on this forum that I decided to give Whisper Reporter a try, it takes so few clicks to generate a nice looking report, I'll never even think of using my open office based system again.

I just started using Whisper Reporter, and in the process of setting up my own template, I ran into a few problems. I know there are a few experienced Whisper Reporter users on this forum. I hope someone can lend me a hand. 1. I'm using the Texas template and I saw some subjects with picklist in them are italic and red, so to remind you to pick something from the picklist, yet they print black so they won't stand out. I know they are coded texts but I like the idea of having them red on display but black when printed as PDF. Is there anyway I can make some of my texts the same way? 2. The cloakable text are the feature I like the most, but the 25% grey is really hard on my eyes, especially when displayed on some monitors. Is there any way I can set the color differently? 3. The default image text wrap is not very visually pleasing, I have to manually set them for every image. How can I set the default differently? 4. The topic check box has a tendency to show a hand with pencil as checked when printing, even though I just set it with a swish check box, many times. But it keeps return to the hand every time I print. Is it a bug or it's just me.

Yeah, even here in Canada, the tax payers supported CBC are propagating the weeping mom's mold horror stories, with mike holmes thrown in for good measure. Have a look, knock yourself out. [:-monkeyd CBC_Marketplace Growop Coverup http://www.cbc.ca/marketplace/2010/grow_op_cover_up/main.html

My order of Testo 875-1i arrived this morning from ITM's Calgary office, pretty fast, shipped via Purolator. Only one problem: the battery seemed died. After I plugged it in, it showed external power, instead of charging. When I unplugged it after 8 hours, it's dead as a door nail. I'm just wondering how you guys deal with this kind of issues? Through Testo or it's distributor? Thanks again for your help.

Thanks for the confirmation, I really appreciate it, apparently I made the right call, it's a house built in 1988 in Vancouver.

I ran into an Airco furnace yesterday, and from everything else I saw I called its age and it's old enough to be replaced, but I just can find any information from the serial number, it doesn't fit either Building Intelligence website's description, or TIJ's chart. The model number is AWBS-90D, and serial AI-4475. Can anyone help me confirm the age? Click to Enlarge 41.42 KB

Thanks Brad for the information. I sent them an email regarding to their 875-KIT listed on their website without any descriptions. That's two days ago, still haven't heard back from them yet. I guess I'm still expecting some sort of service for this kind of high margin tools. Well, I'll probably just shut up and buy it, fingers crossed for getting the correct item in a few weeks.

Hi, Brad, Thanks for the information, I didn't know a thermal camera is considered a weapon of some destruction now, I always thought of using it for non-destructive purposes only. I guess my idea of buying one online from US and smuggle it cross the border is out of the window, oh, no, don't like to have a weapon's charge on me, I could loose my license. I run into ITM instruments during my search, along with 8 of their affiliates, of which make them look less legit. But since you bought one from them, guess they are ok.

Hi, I've been doing research on an entry-level thermal imager, I finally decide to go with Testo 875-1, but I saw lots of 875-1i online from US for a couple hundred dollars less, does anyone know if they are the same? I can't find any information on the "-1i" model on Testo's website, and have no idea about what that "i" stands for. I'm in Vancouver, BC, Canada, from what I read, I'm suppose to buy from a local dealer, which is what I prefer, instead of from US. But I'm having a hard time finding any dealer in BC, so I'm wondering if anyone have information or experience on that. Thank for your help. Norm

I saw quite a few houses in certain neibourhoods in Vancouver with this 6" blue pipe buried flush in front yard with a cap secured by 2 screws, usually not too far from water main shut off. Almost all new builds with this pipe. Below are two pictures of different houses under construction. I have no idea what it is and don't know if I need to write it up. Any one has any experience with this [:-banghea Thanks in advance for your help. Download Attachment: blue_pipe.JPG 152.07?KB Download Attachment: blue_pipe2.JPG 195.58?KB home604.com