you guys see many valleys like this>
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Anyone get a call or dealing with Home Advisor? Called claiming to be teaming up with NACHI to help generate leads and business for inspectors.

Anyone get a call from Home Advisor? Saying they have teamed up with NACHI to help inspectors get leads. Couldn't talk to him when he called. Calling back on Monday. Any info anyone?

Guess I better stick to a regular camera for now.
NASA's Android smartphone satellites return blurry images from space

http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/3/429...returns-images

Inspected an older (1923) Chicago brick bungalow the other day. It was a complete gut and rehab done by eastern European "builder" represented by an eastern European agent.

Most of the work was done OK, but it was one of those weird inspections were some of the work was purely excellent, but there were some errors and issues that were just plain silly. Such a contradiction.

Among other things:

- Finished basement with a basement bedroom with no proper secondary means of egress.
- Electrical drop splice not done by the electric company (illegal hookup?) but the rest of the electrical work was excellent.
- Older enclosed wooden back porch that had been finished out and used as living space (not allowed around here because of structural concerns).
- The roof structure had gone through some spread and it was fixed, but the method was obviously from the Keystone Kops.

Mentioned to the buyers that this was a flip and that I could not find any record of permits pulled, etc (Bless Chicago, all building dept records are no on-line!).

Sellers agent said, "Oh yeah, but all the work was done to code. We never get permits, they are just a waste of time!".

What part of illegal don't these people understand?

Even the buyers agent deferred on the basement bedroom with,"Oh, every one does that. It is 'technically' wrong, but everyone does it." Sure, everything is fine until someone dies in a fire!

Buyers going ahead, but at least I documented these items and made the buyer's lawyer aware. If anything goes wrong, at least I have covered my butt.

But it seems absurd that people pay me to cover their butts, but then go ahead and complete the sale even after being warned.

Comments?

IS THIS MAN A GENIUS?
An economics professor at a local college made a statement that he had never failed a single student before, but had recently failed an entire class. That class had insisted that Obama's socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, "OK, we will have an experiment in this class on Obama's plan". All grades will be averaged and everyone will receive the same grade so no one will fail and no one will receive an A.... (substituting grades for dollars - something closer to home and more readily understood by all).

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

As the tests proceeded, the scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

To their great surprise, ALL FAILED and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great, but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

These are possibly the 5 best sentences you'll ever read and all applicable to this experiment:

1. You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.

2. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving.

3. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else.

4. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it!

5. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is the beginning of the end of any nation.

Inspectors booth manned by member Johnny Carrillo of http://www.npiweb.com/carrillo

Thanks Johnny!

This was not coordinated!
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Was looking for some feedback on pricing for a 9000 sq ft commercial building. It was formerly a nightclub ..dance floor ..billiards w/ bar. It has been closed for a year or so. This a pre listing inspection. Was wondering also what kind of documents you would think would be important to ask for if any....also does anyone have a formal commercial proposal I might present with...thanks in advance to all that respond.
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The InterNACHI Central Virginia chapter is kicking off its membership drive with this awesome training event, taught by Kenny Hart. It will be worth 6 InterNACHI credits and we are trying to get ASHI to recognize it for credit as well . The State of Virginia does not pre-approve credit but you will receive a certificate for participating in the class that you can submit to the DPOR for credit.

Learn how to inspect the plumbing system like master plumber, Kenny Hart. Register here


A second generation Master Plumber and Mechanical Contractor, Kenny Hart has nearly 40 years of experience in the mechanical fields. He holds a Master’s License in plumbing, HVAC and gas-fitting. He has been certified by the Commonwealth of Virginia as a backflow device tester.


He is a Virginia Certified Home Inspector and has been or is currently a member of ASHI, NAHI and InterNACHI. Kenny is the Past-President of the Virginia Association of Real Estate Inspectors. He served on the ASHI Technical Committee for three years, including one year as the chairman.

There will be two classes for this event

How a Plumber Inspects the Plumbing System-4 Hours


With more than 35 years in the plumbing and mechanicals trades Kenny will share his somewhat unique look at home inspection regarding the plumbing portion of the work. This presentation takes you through the plumbing portion of a home inspection where Kenny will identify the more common defects and concerns home inspectors routinely find with this portion of the home inspection. But he will also go beyond that and focus on some of the more specific areas of concern. He will offer up a few tricks of the trades for finding defects and explain some simple cures. The extensive use of images, animations and anecdotal stories from the Master Plumber, HVAC Tech and Gas Fitter turned home inspector always makes this presentation informative and fun.

Boiler Basics-2 Hours


Boilers can be intimidating for even the most veteran inspectors. This class is great for beginning inspectors and veteran inspectors alike. Kenny will go over the operation of boiler systems and common defects to look for on your home inspections.

Door Prize


All participants get a raffle ticket for a door prize that no inspector wants to miss!

Register for this home inspection education here

Good selection for this Month.

Please take the time to Vote and Participate. :):D

#1
The garage door opener will fit NOW!!!



#2

In a 130 MPH wind zone in Florida.



#3
A well supported street light pole used as a beam...



#4
Original brick column failed, added wooden makeshift log column, log column eaten by WDO, added another wood column, that too eaten by WDO. Then added an unsecured lolly column on a makeshift "footing". All columns like this.

edit, one photo was not right side up...



#5
Toasty



#6
Who needs gusset plates?



#7
This water heater vent pipe had negative slope and was vented into the masonry chimey with a huge hole in the side. There were bedrooms on the other side of the wall... I shut the water heater off immediately!!




Inside chimney



#8
Here is an old brick built tuck-under garage. Note that the floor is created with poured concrete over steel joist. The owner had a wood burning stove below which heated the lower level. All the moisture/condensation from the stove has caused Major Corrosion to the joist, literally eating them away. Would you park your car in this garage?



#9

Gas boiler and water heater and NO CO2 detectors OH MY!

#10

The TPR or TPV seems to be self replicating. Like an amoeba:roll:.


#11
well it is "duct" tape.... maybe they should have used register or diffuser tape...



#12
More deck issues.They sure know how to build them here. NOT!!

As the last few days have passed I have read more about legislation then I ever have. Talked to so very educated people. Talked to two attorneys at DBPR and Rick Morrison.

I was able to get the recorded meeting from the last sit down. HOLY crap are we getting steam rolled. I don't think SINGLE inspector was there talkin on our behalf.

They wanted just about ANYONE to automatically be a home inspector. Our lack of representation from the members makes me feel horrible (me included).

Please please please get involved at whatever level an do whatever you believe in. Find people of similar mind set and talk amongst yourself and then find out how you can help.

I have listen to 30 minutes of the meeting and we are getting screwed over big time. Not a SINGLE representative from our insutry speaking for us. No wonder the law sucks, they are listening to what they ae told, and its NOT HOME INSPECTOR and they defintelty do not have our best interest in heart.

I urge you to sit down, and get involved...PLEASE!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/10104903...aterproofing06

Would ya please look at the photos and see why a new slab or mudjacking an existing slab etc does NOT fix whatever the actual problem(s) aka entryways are.

Please tell my aging Bubba-butt how anything OTHER than what was done in photos would fix/repair/waterproof the REAL problems.

Hi all,

I'm trying to figure out how the MIC thing works. I spent 1/2 hour trying to find info on the program. Is it a program or just a sticker and some signs?! Somehow you can get the reports onto FetchReports, but I can't seem to find out how to do this.

Seems to be a great thing to hit the ground running with as I set up my new business. A unique pitch to Real Estate agents as well, rather than just "Hey, I'm the new guy in town. Try me out. (Please 8-[")"

I'd appreciate any links you could supply.

Thanks Folks

http://picasaweb.google.com/10104903...aterproofing33
Can't remember how this homeowner found my dumb az but they'd already spent around $9,000 on waterproofing 2 walls......NO cracks,zero
This house right off Lake St Clair eh. Some would think high water table......Not!!!

So full excavation was NOT necessary...ever. Homeowner had always got water inside duh basement, UP HIGH...POURED walls One area was behind fuse box.

Anyways, they call, i go over....hear the story from homeowner, say ok.....just to show him they did NOT need another excavation/FULL exterior waterproofing(another company came by before me, said thats what they needed!)....i said, lets run a hose, a water test from ground level down.....flood thwe shttttttttttttt outta/against these 2 walls.

NO water came in, nary a drop....as i said, knew it wouldn't because there are NO CRACKS! lolol Only 1 rod hole if i remember correctly...shttt that can be fixed on the inside. Now that i re---TINK dis, some water may have come in where we ran water in a couple spots just below grade (some open mortar joints etc, unprotected bricks and joints below duh grade,see pics if ya like)

Ok so i explain to homeowner....NOW we're going to run water ABOVE ground...against quite a few open mortar joints.....and yep,water enters,just like it has for 15 or 20 years. Tell him sir, you need an experinced-honest tuckpointing guy, and make sure he finds and gets ALL openings...if he does, you will not leak anymore.

One thing we did was, dig down a tad and reseal bricks/joints etc just below grade....if ya look at pics you'll see some openings that were not/never sealed by 1st outfit who charged $9,000........lol Think i charged him $700 for the 2 walls, sorry but shttt, deserved that just for being observant n honest.

Again, one company already waterproofed 2 walls when there were/are NO cracks. $9,000
IF if IF...there was 1+ cracks or a seam that was open etc, they'd have leaked when doing duh water test, yes sir, yes indeedy,uh huh. (well duh, one would see a crack on inside and or,water marks/stains etc on,along,bottom of seam-crack)

And another (different Co), just came by and said....the sAME SHTTTTTTT! lolol
Homeowner WOULD have been OUT around the same,maybe more money and.....STILL LEAKED!@!@!@!@!@!!@@ This is true man, shtt, can't make this crrrap up.

One more point....lol sorry, WHO got pretty big dollars?????? No complaint ever made either and who the shtt got chicken feed for finding the actual problems, lolo, pizzes me off sometimes. And yes, in 1 or 2 pics thats one of my guys...lol, we don't, have never worn uniforms to 'appear' like some want us to appear, fc that!

I just found this site that shows the states that have a settlement in effect for Vanguard PB 2110M pipe.

The M pipe is also problematic, the reason it was not included in the huge Shell Oil lawsuit is because the resin was made by a different company (MITSUI).


http://www.vanguardmpipesettlement.com/

What do you guys think about Federal Pacific Stab-Lok Panels? I mean I know their history, and in my opinion, when found...I think they should be removed. I've reported their history, and asked for full evaluations before, and at other times, I've just plain asked for their removal. What I find is, when I ask for full evaluations, the panels almost always stay, with a little note saying...yes, the panels do have a history, but at this time, panel appears to be responding well. THE PANELS HISTORY IS...it usually does respond properly the first time. It's after that that the problems start occurring. And when I ask for the panels removal...it is almost always met with things like the panel has been in this home for 35 years without incident, what do you mean replace it.... How are you guys handling these things?

Thank you,

Ed

InterNACHI's Next IR Webinar - May 25 - 26 ... $400

Infrared Camera ... $1685 (after rebate) Meets RESNET standards