Improvised Inspection Hand Tools

[mgbinspect]

Here is a 1 1/2" I. D. metal bathroom sink drain tail piece - available from any hardware Store.

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But, given a little crimp with a pair of pinch-nose pliers to reduce the O. D. slightly like so...

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it becomes a handy little lightweight central vacuum hookup tester.

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The metal completes the circuit between the two contacts and the vacuum fires right up. This tool's been serving me faithfully for about fourteen years. And, my "if all else fails" plug-in work-light,

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which has come in handy a ton of times, fits right down in it.

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If you have some similar handy space or effort saving improvised testing tool or equipment. Share the love here...

[inspector57]

I just use a coin held at a slight angel to turn on the central vac.

I can see myself breaking that bulb in about the first 15 minutes, I'll stick to my Stream light LED, virtually indestructible and runs for hours.

[mgbinspect]

I just use a coin held at a slight angel to turn on the central vac.

I can see myself breaking that bulb in about the first 15 minutes, I'll stick to my Stream light LED, virtually indestructible and runs for hours.

That's actually a heavy duty work-light bulb - amazingly tough. Yeah, I have the million candle flashlight and a bunch of other lights, but that work light sure comes in handy in a really dark row house basement when all the ceiling light bulbs are burned out and you need two hands. It makes night day as long as there's an outlet around.

[inspector57]

Thankfully I don't do basements, just slabs and crawl spaces around here. I could see where spending time in a dark hole in the ground would call for a little more general lighting.

[Terence McCann]

Thankfully I don't do basements, just slabs and crawl spaces around here. I could see where spending time in a dark hole in the ground would call for a little more general lighting.

Thankfully I don't do many crawlspaces - mostly basement where I can stand up and have a look-see. I don't have to crawl around in crap.

Pretty cool gaget Mike.

[Ben H]

I'll take a slab over a basement or crawl any day of the week.

[mgbinspect]

I'll take a slab over a basement or crawl any day of the week.

This is, unfortunately, crawlspace mecca - probably approximately 8% basements and maybe 5% slabs. The crawlspace is king here, which makes no sense to me. I'm about as fond of the idea of a crawlspace, as I am attaching decks to buildings.

[Marc]

About 30% crawlspaces here. The balance is slabs. Basements are a rarity in this part of the country.

I'm with the O'Handley camp, I enter every crawlspace that I can fit into (unless it's 4" deep in mud or flooded), mount most any roof and enter any attic that has access.

Marc

[mgbinspect]

About 30% crawlspaces here. The balance is slabs. Basements are an rarity in this part of the country.

I'm with the O'Handley camp, I enter every crawlspace that I can fit into (unless it's 4" deep in mud or flooded), mount most any roof and enter any attic that has access.

Marc

Oh, I go in every crawl too. If I can exhale hard enough to get through a hole, I'm going. I just HATE the design idea of putting a house on a crawlspace - not a good idea. Too much potential for a lot of bad things. Now that we're moving in the direction of 100% sealed and conditioned crawlspaces (something I've been trying to push for about twelve years), crawlspaces have finally become a pretty inert space.

[Richard Saunders]

I use the back end of my flashlight for central vacs. I always sand the paint off of the tailcap of my streamlights.