Don't forget to reset those GFCI's!!!!

[chrisprickett]

I am now the proud owner of $130 worth of semi-rotted meat. [:-banghead]BBQ at my house!

[chrisprickett]

Second time in three years. The first time it looked (and smelled) as though someone was murdered in the garage. Blood dripping down the driveway.

[Chad Fabry]

Happened to me on my second inspection. The owner called me to tell me that her hair dryer wouldn't work. It was only 45 miles one way; my wife was very understanding. She loves it when strange women call, ask for me by name, followed

by me leaving home in a hurry.

[Norm]

Been there done that. Welcome to the club. A word of advise: always locate the GFCI reset before testing the remote locations. If it is behind a refrig. in the garage or stored items don't test the remote ones. State in your report "the GFCI protected outlets could not be tested due to the fact that the reset was not accessible".

NORM SAGE

[Danny Pritchard]

I had one today where a freezer was plugged into the GFI in the garage.I checked several times before I left to make sure I had reset the outlet.Freezers plugged into the GFI are like having a cat in the house and nobody is there but you.You look for the cat before you leave and you check on the GFI.

[Jerry Simon]

The "scientist" homeowner last week had his ground-water sump pump plugged into a GFCI receptacle....I explained what nuisance-tripping was, and showed him, before I left, the receptacle was "on".

[chrisprickett]

The one I screwed up on, was because the frig was in the laundryroom, but the GFCI was in the garage. I always make a point to check the access (like Norm said) so I can reach the button. I just had a brain fart on this one. A $130 crash course oughta teach me for awhile.

[Brian G]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

A $130 crash course oughta teach me for awhile.

A sad but true fact about virtually all of us damned humans. It's the painful lessons which are best remembered. [:-banghead]

Brian G.

[Neal Lewis]

Jerry,

If I'm not mistaken, years ago it was "required" to have a sump pump plugged into a GFCI outlet, because all basement outlets had to be GFCI. That was before the exclusions for single outlets for equipment such as the sump pump or freezer.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

The one I screwed up on, was because the frig was in the laundryroom, but the GFCI was in the garage. I always make a point to check the access (like Norm said) so I can reach the button. I just had a brain fart on this one. A $130 crash course oughta teach me for awhile.

Chris,

This is probably a symptom of paranoia, but my post-inspection routine includes snapping a picture of the freezer with the door ajar, showing the light on inside just before I leave. Doesn't matter if the freezer is in the garage or not.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[kurt]

Now that is paranoia; what does it get you, other than several hundred pictures of freezers w/ the light on?

[Norm]

I wouldn't call it paranoia. You're just being sensibly cautious. CYA!!

NORM SAGE

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by kurt

Now that is paranoia; what does it get you, other than several hundred pictures of freezers w/ the light on?

Well, for one, it reminds me to check them. For another, if a vindictive homeowner wants to set me up, I'll have a more-than-common defense to thwart his plans.

No. It's never happened. But, by God, when it does, I'll be ready.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Jim Morrison]

Jim,

From one HI to another: You oughta loosen up the chin-strap on your colander. Sounds like it could be on a little too tight.

[DLRambo]

Guys are we forgetting that a freezer or refrigerator should not be plugged into a GFCI.

Dan Bowers, CRI

[chrisprickett]

Are we forgeting that most homeowners don't listen?

[hausdok]

Hi Dan,

We can all feel Chris' pain, but I don't think anyone has forgotten that they aren't supposed to be plugged into GFCI's. The issue here isn't whether the freezer was plugged into the right type of outlet, so much as it is about leaving the home in the same condition that one finds it.

So what if the freezer was plugged into a GFCI when it shouldn't have been? If it was working at the time of the inspection and had not nuisance tripped, then that was the way the house needed to be left when the inspection was completed.

I've left notes with homeowners warning them about stupid/unsafe practices for years, but, unless I think the home is going to blow up or burn down before the homeowner gets home, I don't shut things off and attempt to leave the home the way that I found it - the same way I'd expect an inspector to leave my own home.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[crusty]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

Originally posted by kurt

Now that is paranoia; what does it get you, other than several hundred pictures of freezers w/ the light on?

Well, for one, it reminds me to check them. For another, if a vindictive homeowner wants to set me up, I'll have a more-than-common defense to thwart his plans.

No. It's never happened. But, by God, when it does, I'll be ready.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

I take an average of 40-50 digital pis at every inspection, virtually every call I make that is photographable (is that a real word?)and several to CMA. Only about half of them make the report. All it costs me is about 5 minutes an inspection and an occassional CD to store them on. The benefit is that I [:-sleep] a little more soundly knowing that the sharks are being held at bay a little more securely.[:-goldfish]

[chrisprickett]

I'm a lttle curious as to how a picture will cover you. Here's what happened to me:

I inspected a home that was in the process of being packed up. There was a bag of old coins, on the coffee table, right in the open. I figured I better take a picture of them, in case I was accused of something.

Two days later, I got a call saying the coins were missing, and I was the only one in the house. (Buyer was out of town, Realtor let me in and out). I told the seller that I saw the coins and even took a picture, to prove they were there when I left. Here response: "Well, that proves you took them, because you had the forethought to prepare an alibi!"

It ended up that the coins were just misplaced, and the owner called an apologized. But, if they weren't found, the picture would have hurt as much as helped.

[Norm]

You should have taken the first picture with the realtor standing next to the coins. The second picture (the one you didn't take) should have been taken through the window after the realtor locked the door. Or better yet a picture of the realtor leaving the house with a bag similar to the one on the coffee table. Too much time on my hands.

NORM SAGE

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by Norm

You should have taken the first picture with the realtor standing next to the coins. The second picture (the one you didn't take) should have been taken through the window after the realtor locked the door. Or better yet a picture of the realtor leaving the house with a bag similar to the one on the coffee table. Too much time on my hands.

NORM SAGE

And take a picture of my watch

and take a picture of the sun's position in the sky

and take a picture of the height of the grass

and take a microscopic pic of the dust on the coins

and take a picture of me taking a picture

and have a colonoscopy to show exactly how long the food I had for lunch had digested at the time of the photo

Say CHEEEEESE[]

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

. . . Two days later, I got a call saying the coins were missing, and I was the only one in the house. (Buyer was out of town, Realtor let me in and out). I told the seller that I saw the coins and even took a picture, to prove they were there when I left. Here response: "Well, that proves you took them, because you had the forethought to prepare an alibi!"

It ended up that the coins were just misplaced, and the owner called an apologized. But, if they weren't found, the picture would have hurt as much as helped.

So how'd you get the coins back in the house?

-Jim Katen, Oregon

[Norm]

Chris,

How about sequential pictures of grass growing or paint drying? This could be never ending. I think I'll end it now.

NORM

[chrisprickett]

Originally posted by Jim Katen

So how'd you get the coins back in the house?

-Jim Katen, Oregon

Same way I muled my coke from Columbia.

[crusty]

Originally posted by chrisprickett

I'm a lttle curious as to how a picture will cover you.

Actually it wouldn't help in a situation like this Chris but it does things like document the condition of things like cracks at the time of the inspection and documents where I looked (things like inside electrical panels, attics, crawl spaces, roofs etc.) Not that it's foolproof or earthshaking but just a little extra protection. It also helps put things in perspective if the agent calls bitching about a call. Funny how just a little editing with the brightness and contrast can really make a rust stain or crack jump off the screen.