News

Floor drain

Inter Nachi - Tue, 04/30/2013 - 02:39
I inspected a brand new home that had a floor drain next to the furnace & the weird thing to me was that it did not look like a floor drain that is about 8" in diameter. It is about 3 or 4 " in diameter & absolutely no slope in the concrete floor around the hole. It is Pvc but don't see a cleanout like you would on a normal floor drain. Am I to old or is this something new for floor drains.
The builder says he will direct all the drain lines directly into the pipe but when I inspected there was moisture traveling across the floor away from the pipe/floor drain??

Heating Up

Inter Nachi - Tue, 04/30/2013 - 01:11
Aluminum windows do a pretty good job of warming up a room.... in the summer, it may be what some homeowners want, but I'd say most... don't.

Attics in the triple digits already, Summer seems to be here already :shock: where'd spring go?
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Federal Pacific Panel opinion

Inter Nachi - Tue, 04/30/2013 - 01:03
I have been doing home inspections and insurance inspections since 2008 and have been a licensed building contractor since 2002. I worked for a general contractor building houses prior to 2002 for many years.

I'm looking for the latest opinion on a Federal Pacific Panel.

I just did a home inspection this morning at Fort Myers Beach.

The home is a duplex / piling 2 story house. It has (2) 200 amp Federal Pacific main panels. From the original construction.

The home is used 100% as a vacation rental property.

The owner added a Lee County permitted pool in 2012.

In order to add the pool pump and heater, the electrical permit required a new main service panel. FPL changed the meters to an underground service from an overhead service at that time also.

Now the house has: a new meter, a new 200 amp square d disconnect, that feeds into an original Federal Pacific 200 amp panel. The other side of the house has a new meter, a new 200 amp panel with the pool breakers, that feed into an original Federal Pacific 200 amp panel.

I am familiar with and fully understand the New Jersey Fed Pacific cases etc. and breakers not tripping etc.

Even though the report formats and home inspector associations call out the federal pacific issues (what is an intelligent answer to give to a home purchaser and realtor) when calling out the FPE panel (even though the county permit approved the installation and FPL hooked up a meter to it after installation) How do you tell them that this needs to be changed. It was permitted and approved in 2012.:neutral:

Glass in garage pedestrian door

Inter Nachi - Tue, 04/30/2013 - 00:42
Hi Everyone,

I performed an inspection today and saw there is glazing at the garage pedestrian door. As I recall the garage pedestrian door should be solid core with fire rated material. Does anyone know should this be allowed?

Thanks
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Virginia Beach Home Inspector Offers Free Tech Support

Inter Nachi - Tue, 04/30/2013 - 00:20
Virginia Beach home inspection company Safe House Property Inspections continues to add additional value with each home inspection. Clients now have live tech support available for their home at anytime.

Virginia Beach Home Inspection Tech Support

Suspected asbestos

Inter Nachi - Tue, 04/30/2013 - 00:09
I am going to recommend testing to confirm if desired, just wondering if anyone is familiar with this covering ...1950's boiler plumbing.It has a cloth like covering at outside that I havent seen before.
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Darkening copper water supply lines

Inter Nachi - Mon, 04/29/2013 - 21:57
Just inspected a house in which the copper water supply lines have turned black in the small utility room. The pipes at the fixtures are fine. There is a battery backup for the sump pump in this utility room. Wondering if this is the cause of the darkening due to sulfur gas being produced by the battery. Didn't notice strong sulfur odor however. Can't determine any other reason. Also, does this darkening of the copper accelerate deterioration/corrosion of the pipes and do I need to bring it up as a defect.
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Red flags for central split systems

Inter Nachi - Mon, 04/29/2013 - 21:41
Furnace dated 1977 A-coil dated 2010 A/C unit dated 2001. I noted two dryers installed on the liquid refrigerant line one at the A-coil and one at the outside unit which alerted me to the fact someone had no clue what they were doing.

I felt the supply air at the register with me old crusty hand and it did not feel cold as I would have expected with the outside ambient being only 85 degrees.

Normally I would have stopped operation at that point and just called the unit out as not cooling properly. Old stubborn me I go for my gauges just to make sure, I do not want some clueless contractor coming up with some off the wall statement
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Naples / Marco Island area

Inter Nachi - Mon, 04/29/2013 - 21:37
Need Wind Mitigations and 4's ran.....

PM me.

Electrical issue

Inter Nachi - Mon, 04/29/2013 - 21:17
Performed an inspection last week. Had an issue where a stranded wire was split and shoved under either side of the breaker's lug in the main electric service panel. Reported this as incorrect and a qualified electrician should repair.

Seller's realtor reports: electrician insists there is no problem with this, though he could put smaller connectors on, but then you'd have to add a wire nut to the wire (i.e. MORE connections). Electrician says it is solid and not loose and there is no problem.

What I need is some clarification or code to give to the realtor to back up my findings.
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AdWords Credit

Inter Nachi - Mon, 04/29/2013 - 18:23
I know you can get these pretty much anywhere, but I thought I'd post one for y'all. Get $100 in AdWords credit when you spend $25:

Here's a code for InterNACHI members:

A9NQA-AWKT4-QHXU

Cheers,

Barry Stone says "Inspector should have photos of defects"

Inter Nachi - Sat, 04/27/2013 - 05:30
Inspector should support findings with photos of defect

Best way to keep yourself from trouble is with lots of pictures.
Yeah Yeah everyone should just trust you and your judgment but unfortunately everyone wants proof if available.

Barry answers a question in this article with......
http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...ife/704269974/

Recall Check will not be permitted in Florida

Inter Nachi - Sat, 04/27/2013 - 01:18
Nathan is getting the boot out of Florida. Did I mention that HIs might not be allowed to do four points. If you can not predict the life expectancy of any system or component of a home, who do you think is going to accept your four points? That is not the only things wrong with the up and coming Rules for Florida Home Inspectors. Looks like the contractors and Realtors have a tight grip on the HIs.

Here is a piece for your reading pleasure. BTW these is a draft, not law yet!
Quote: (3) Home Inspectors shall not practice beyond the scope of their license as a home inspector. The following

actions are beyond the scope of a Home Inspector License:

(a) Identifying concealed conditions or latent defects;

(a)(b) Determining:

1. The strength, adequacy, effectiveness, or efficiency of any system or component;

2. The causes of any condition or deficiency;

3. The methods, materials, or costs of corrections;

4. Future conditions including, but not limited to, failure of systems and components;

5. The suitability of the property for any specialized use;

6. Compliance with regulatory requirements (codes, regulations, laws, ordinances, etc.), manufacturer

specifications, installation procedures or instructions;

7. The market value of the property or its marketability;

8. The advisability of the purchase of the property;

9. The presence of potentially hazardous plants or animals including, but not limited to wood destroying

organisms or diseases harmful to humans;

10. The presence of any environmental hazards including, but not limited to fungi, molds, toxins, carcinogens,

noise, and contaminants in soil, water, and air;

11. The effectiveness of any system installed or methods utilized to control or remove suspected hazardous

substances;

12. The operating costs of systems or components;

13. The acoustical properties of any system or component;

14. Conditions that might affect the ability to obtain insurance and/or the price of insurance;

15. The calibration of measuring devices including timers, clocks, thermostats, and gauges;

16. The integrity of thermal glass seals;

17. The presence of manufacturers’ defects in any product, material, component, equipment, or system, or

information related to recall notices;


18. Installation conformance to manufacturers’ instructions for any product, component, element, device, or

system;

(b)(c) Offering to:

1. Perform any act or service contrary to law;

2. Perform engineering/architectural services;

3. Perform work in any trade or any professional service for which a license is required, other than home

inspection, unless licensed to do so;

(c)(d) Inspecting:

1. Underground items including, but not limited to underground storage tanks or other indications of their

presence, whether abandoned or active;

2. Recreational facilities;

(d)(e) Dismantling any system or component, except as explicitly required by these Standards of Practice;

(f) Utilizing special instruments, tools, or measuring devices of any kind to measure moisture, humidity, water

or air volume, water or air flow, water potability, air quality, temperature, voltage, amperage, electrical grounding,

polarity, and continuity, VOC’s, microwaves, electromagnetic fields, and other similar kinds of conditions or

activities;

(e) (g) Operating equipment, appliances, or devices on more than one cycle, zone, or phase or operate any

device, appliance, system, or equipment which in the opinion of the inspector may fail during the act of inspection;

(h) Providing any information from any source regarding property ownership, property boundaries, liens,

outstanding loans, code violations, reports of hazardous materials, manufacturers’ recalls, Consumer Protection

Agency bulletins, and other similar kinds of public information.

(f) Performing work in any trade or professional service for which a license is required other than home

inspection, unless licensed to do so.

Protimeter Surverymaster

Inter Nachi - Fri, 04/26/2013 - 23:46
If anyone is looking for a used (but not used up :p) moisture meter, let me know I have 4 (did some wheeling and dealing and just got newer ones) Anyways, my kijiji post is here:

http://goo.gl/vIkog

Experienced Home Inspectors Wanted In Northern Virgnia/MD/DC Area

Inter Nachi - Fri, 04/26/2013 - 20:54
EstatePro Inspection Services, Inc. of
Northern Virginia is NOW HIRING!




ARE YOU TIRED OF WEARING ALL THE HATS IN YOUR INSPECTION BUSINESS?
ARE YOU TIRED OF CONSTANTLY JUGGLING SCHEDULING, BILLING, MARKETING, REPORT DELIVERY, AND THE REST OF THE DAY-TO-DAY JOBS REQUIRED TO RUN A BUSINESS?
ARE YOU TIRED OF NEVER GETTING TIME OFF TO SPEND WITH YOUR LOVED ONES OR EVEN TAKE A VACATION?
DO YOU LOVE BEING AN INSPECTOR BUT TIRED OF ALL THE OTHER TASKS THAT COME WITH RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS?


If you answered yes to any of the above, then this message is for you!
EstatePro Inspection Services, Inc. is looking for home inspectors to join our team. We are a rapidly growing, cutting edge home inspection company that needs good people who are willing to grow with us.
If this is something that seriously interests you, please contact us as soon as possible as these positions are filling up fast.

Michelle Henry
Owner, EstatePro Inspection Services, Inc.
mhenry@estatepro-inspections.com
703-447-1637

Stucco & EIFS lnspection Training for Home Inspectors

Inter Nachi - Fri, 04/26/2013 - 20:31
We updated InterNACHI's online "Stucco & EIFS lnspection Training for Home Inspectors" video course.

We added a video preview of the online course.
And students can now download a Stucco Inspector logo.

Attachment 64596
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Hey Ir guys

Inter Nachi - Fri, 04/26/2013 - 19:43
If you had your choice between the TIR32 and the T420, which one would you choose for commercial roof , moisture intrusion and electrical ?

USInspect relocation inspections

Inter Nachi - Fri, 04/26/2013 - 18:14
Does anyone do or has done relocation inspections for USInspect.
Is there any bad Experiences.
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