Get out your red pen.

[gtblum]

Adding to my boiler plate. Please read and tweak.

Comedic responses are as always, welcome.

The overhead garage door springs should have a safety cable through the center of the springs to arrest or contain the spring or parts of it in the event of failure due to repetitive stress. Failure under tension can cause the broken parts of a spring to become dangerous projectiles.

[Richard Moore]

Can't think of anything humerous right now. Sorry.

You need to settle on either singular or plural in that first sentence.

Springs of overhead garage doors should have safety cables through the centers to arrest or contain the springs, or parts of them, in the event of failure due to repetitive stress.

or...

Each spring of an overhead garage door should have a safety cable through the center to arrest or contain the spring, or parts, in the event of failure due to repetitive stress.

Then, I would just replace the second sentence with "The springs of this garage door should have retention cables installed."

[gtblum]

Thank you sir.

[Tom Raymond]

What Richard said, except maybe...

"The springs of this garage door should have retention cables installed."

...you're calling out a safety issue so why not call them safety cables. Kinda beats the point home.

Tom

[Terence McCann]

Let's see - I have room right after Chinese drywall.

[Brandon Whitmore]

Here's mine:

Garage door extension springs may fail over time, posing a hazard to occupants. Safety cables need to be installed in order to contain the springs.

[AHI in AR]

Adding to my boiler plate. Please read and tweak.

Comedic responses are as always, welcome.

The overhead garage door springs should have a safety cable through the center of the springs to arrest or contain the spring or parts of it in the event of failure due to repetitive stress. Failure under tension can cause the broken parts of a spring to become dangerous projectiles.

Stop me if you've heard this one: A priest, A rabbi and a garage door spring walk into a bar...

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

While I like Brandon's verbiage above due to its brevity, I must concede that the average homeowner won't know why a failed spring is a hazard. Sometimes I think it's wise to let them know what may happen. We know that they can shoot out like little depth charges; they don't know that. Since (IMHO) your first sentence is kinda wordy, I suggest removing the "due to repetitive stress" part. I'd also remove the word "arrest" since "to contain" says all you need to say.

[kurt]

The garage overhead door springs lack restraining leashes. Overhead door springs are known to break on occasion; when they break, they fly around and can hit occupants. Install restraining leashes on the overhead door springs.

I took out the "severe injury or death" stuff a while back. There's always a pic, with an arrow pointing @ the springs.

[Jim Katen]

Here's what I wrote the last three times I encountered that situation:

Extension Springs – Dangerous

The garage doors are counterbalanced by extension springs. When these springs break, they can ricochet and hurt someone. Safety cables will contain the springs so that, if they break, they won’t go flying.

39. Have an overhead door contractor install safety cables on the garage door springs.

Garage Door Installation

The garage door's extension springs lack safety cables to prevent them

from flying out if they were to break.

50. Have a garage door contractor improve the garage door installation by installing safety cables inside the extension springs.

Missing Safety Springs

The garage’s overhead door is balanced by extension springs. If one of these springs were to break it could fly away with great force and it could hurt someone.

51. Ask on overhead door contractor to install safety cables in the garage door’s extension springs.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Rob Amaral]

"..without safety cables, broken spring pieces can fly and injure a person or damage stored items.. " (that Maserati over there for example..)

[gtblum]

PS: I suggest not using boilerplate. Write what you know; don't borrow from some bad writer you've never met.

The bad writer is me.

I think I worry too much about explaining enough about safety related defects. Most everything else is more like, "This thing in this room is broken." figure it out. My reports usually look like comic books because of the number of pictures. I try to let them do most of the talking.

Thanks again

[Les]

I know everyone will have some kind of fit, but why not do away with boiler plate? Ya you will need some for the legal eagles. Why do we think we have to take our client to raise?

[gtblum]

I know everyone will have some kind of fit, but why not do away with boiler plate? Ya you will need some for the legal eagles. Why do we think we have to take our client to raise?

I'm too slow without it! I only use my own, and only for the stuff I see most often. TPR tubes, S traps, GFCI's, ect.

[Les]

'So, we end up taking our clients to raise, because we don't have good ways to convey useful information.

Or so it seems,

WJ"

I think we start at education about houses then write how we talk, sans boiler.

[Erby]

I agree that someone else's boiler plate is not good.

But, after I've wrote about GFCI protection so many times, I finally got it the way I want it , saved it, and now use that boiler any time I need it.

[gtblum]

I agree that someone else's boiler plate is not good.

But, after I've wrote about GFCI protection so many times, I finally got it the way I want it , saved it, and now use that boiler any time I need it.

Well sure, but what are you going to do when/if you find a real enough BDSM dungeon in a basement?

Been there, done that,

WJ

Been there, done WHAT?

[kurt]

Found an SM dungeon in a bsmt........good story.

I use boilerplate all the time for the same reason we all do, with the garage door restraining leashes being a perfect example.

Who could stand writing something new about garage door springs all the time? Or TPR valves that don't go to a floor drain, or foil dryer discharge ducts, smoke detector, no handrails on bsmt. stairs, anti-tip brackets on ranges, fogged thermopanes, etc., etc.? I always tweak the boiler to the situation, but it's still cut and pasted out of my comment library.

Gotta have both skills; boiler so you don't go nuts, writing ability to handle the "custom" stuff.

[Les]

Walter has already gone over to the dark side and I am not too far behind him. I am a little like Kurt, but maybe more direct. I only work with folks I know or have a strong referral from a client. My inspection reporting career is shaped like a Bell Curve and I'm at the far right!

I know you must have boiler. I know I would advise you to have/use boiler. I know I find more mistakes in boiler than I do in what an inspector "custom" writes. Silly question - What are you trying to do with that garage door spring stuff? protect? inform? impress? cya? When do we stop telling folks how and what to fix? Do you always tell clients to have licensed master electrician,with permit, install a GFCI?

How about putting it in your pre-inspection agreement "Go to my website www.nnn.hob to see all the silly crap I have to tell you to indemnify myself."

[Les]

Walter,

Maybe those folks moved up to Michigan. We worked a legal case for some people that paid our hourly rate for two inspectors, plus an office person to take notes. Several hundred dollars per hour. Case lasted abt one year.

Builder did not follow specs; electrical, light fixtures, framing and hvac in the basement. There were other things, but those were the most egregious. The basement bathroom sink was in the range of 22,000 plus labor! Framing was not proper for at least 100 servers, power supplies, etc.

They were and are in the movie business. Just a two person business. Low overhead.

On a serious note and to follow this thread, it cost me a friendship and abt $10,000 to get another code certified inspector to write a narrative as a supplemental document. Just could not get either one to simply write so attys, Judge and jury could understand it! We could not do it because of conflict.

BTW, the mold for gold inspector also got whacked because the report was 99.9% boiler an cya.

[Bob Mulloy]

State the problem objectively

Explain it to the reader

Give your client direction

Observation: The garage overhead door springs lack safety containment wires.

Analysis: Be advised that this is a safety hazard, for as the springs are subjected to repetitive expansion and contraction, they may break and fly apart and cause personal injury. Repair is needed.

Recommendation: I advise that you hire an overhead door contractor to install safety containment wires NOW for safety.

Bob Mulloy

MA Home Inspector Trainee Instructor

[randynavarro]

State the problem objectively

Explain it to the reader

Give your client direction

Observation: The garage overhead door springs lack safety don't have containment wires.

Analysis: Be advised that This is a safety hazard dangerous. for as The springs are subjected to repetitive expansion and contraction expand and contract frequently and they may break and fly apart and cause personal injury hurt somebody. Repair is needed.

Recommendation: I advise that you Hire an overhead door contractor to install safety containment wires NOW for safety.

Bob Mulloy

MA Home Inspector Trainee Instructor

Please. . . .I'm no Jim K. or Walter J. but even I could help those sentences out a bit.

[hausdok]

Ouch,

Randy, it might be a good idea to concentrate on the IP's initial request and not on each others' text. After all, the IP is the one that asked for it.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

[randynavarro]

I feel ya' Mike and I'm assuming by IP you mean Initial Poster.

I see that Bob Mulloy has been in this biz for a lot longer than me and appears to be well known amongst the brethren.

It's nothing personal but somebody's gotta call foul on such bad report writing, right? I thought one of the higher callings at TIJ was to erase the "old ways" and elevate the profession beyond tradition and entrenched practices.

Actually, I think we've stayed on topic quite well. The IP was asking for help with report verbiage, specifically for garage door springs. We've done that!

And finally, don't worry. I'm not becoming the self-anointed word police here. There are obviously others much better than me.

When there's a splinter, you just got to pluck it out, right?

[gtblum]

Ouch,

Randy, it might be a good idea to concentrate on the IP's initial request and not on each others' text. After all, the IP is the one that asked for it.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike

Thanks again to all that understood, and helped with my sentences of convenience, and for not assuming that I would write an entire report using boiler plate. LOL. If I didn't care about improving, I wouldn't have submitted them to this group. Corrected, simplified, and ready for next time.

[hausdok]

I feel ya' Mike and I'm assuming by IP you mean Initial Poster.

I see that Bob Mulloy has been in this biz for a lot longer than me and appears to be well known amongst the brethren.

It's nothing personal but somebody's gotta call foul on such bad report writing, right? I thought one of the higher callings at TIJ was to erase the "old ways" and elevate the profession beyond tradition and entrenched practices.

Actually, I think we've stayed on topic quite well. The IP was asking for help with report verbiage, specifically for garage door springs. We've done that!

And finally, don't worry. I'm not becoming the self-anointed word police here. There are obviously others much better than me.

When there's a splinter, you just got to pluck it out, right?

Not disagreeing, and we do want to help to raise the bar. However, I think it's safe to say that Bob has been in the business a long time; his mentor and buddy was the late/great Melvin Chalfen who passed away in the fall of 2007 at the age of 89.

I'm just thinking that sometimes you gotta let things lay; some folks earned their stripes early and change isn't as easy as it used to be.

ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!!

Mike