What I'm Seeing Now

Yes, it's the same, "Must see!", wonderfully "remodeled" kitchen.

This time it's the opposite side.

This view looks behind the new range and exhaust hood combo.

The white hole on the left is behind the new exhaust hood.  Apparently some Romex cable was dissected and its guts removed.  Those guts were used to connect the exhaust hood to electrical as three individual wires.  I was unable to determine where the yellow cable came from.  For all I know, it came from the light fixture in the bathroom above the kitchen!

But, hey!  AT LEAST ITS GROUNDED!!  And wire nuts!

That black cable services the range.  It comes through the ceiling inside the wall.  I found it in the bathroom closet above, exposed, running through each shelf.  From there it goes into the attic, across the house, to the opposite side.  It then goes down through bedroom walls, to the furnace room, and across the ceiling and into the panel box. 

It is connected to the old range breaker.  Many manufacturers now require that new breakers be installed with their new appliances or they will not honor the warranty.

The black cable goes down to the right, through a small hole in the wall and connects to the range outlet.  That outlet is on the floor, connected to nothing (it should be secured into a stud on the wall) and the range plug was upside down.  There was no anti tip on the range.

BEST OF ALL - see the curtain on the left?  This is in a "bedroom" closet fashioned behind the kitchen.  This house had 8 wonderful bedrooms.  In the back of that closet was a shelf, and behind the shelf that curtain.  I looked because I could see the cable coming through the wall behind the range and wanted to see its source.

My recommendation:  Don't listen to the wizard.  Pay close attention to the man behind the curtain!

Don't touch!  The wires  might come out, bite you, spark, burn - who knows. 

This house boasted yet another "Must See!" remodeled kitchen.  New cabinets, new kitchen sink, new appliances including a new disposal and -

OLD WIRING...

You might have noticed that this wiring did not quite reach the new disposal in its previous, more complete form.  You know, insulated, together, properly entering the disposal, safely held by a CONNECTOR CLAMP.

Since the cable you see  would not reach, it should have been connected to newer wiring inside a box.  This junction box should have been secured to the cabinet wall.  A newer cable should have come from that box to wire up the new disposal, attached to the drain within 12" of the disposal and secured with a connector clamp.

That's how it would have come with a professionally-done "Must See!" kitchen anyway.  This represents one thing that I could see.  What about what I couldn't?

Hey, at least this connection appears to be grounded!

Once I reached under a disposal to feel if there was a connector clamp and did not look first.  Not only was there no clamp - the wires were twisted together but were not covered with wire nuts.  I touched the bare wires...  and found out pretty quick just how bare they were!  As James Bond said, "shocking..."

My recommendation:  Sometimes you should look before you leap.  And check out the wiring before you feel for a connector clamp!

This has been blown up so it is a little blurry.

During dinner my wife began having a hot flash.

"Is it a bad one?" I asked.  I wanted a thermal image.

"About middle, maybe more, yeah, kind of hot," she said.

"Don't move!"  I ran for the camera.

The warmer spots are in yellow.  The Max on the left, her hand, is 103.3 degrees Fahrenheit!

Her mouth and neck show yellow spots which are a mere 102.1. Her eyebrows, cheeks, sides of the nose (which look like nostrils but are not nostrils) and throat are cooler, about 101.  She is simply hot all over!

THAT is a hot flash!

She went off her hormones a few months ago.  They were making her sick.

She is in the process of having hormones created from her DNA which are said to be less dangerous and carcinogenic than the cheap bovine, equine, porcine, lupine, or whatever they are making them from, who knows.  But her personal hormones will not be ready until late August.  They don't happen overnight.

I can tell you they aren't cheap because they are created by "holistic medicine."  Insurance, of course, will not cover anything "holistic."  They consider it "experimental."  It really is not.

But her new hormones are in process.  She waits.  In the meantime, maybe I can have more fun with the camera!

So the next time a woman says she is having a hot flash, guess what - she is!

What do you think of my hot wife?

Want to see my arthritic knees?

About four or five times a year I see something that really gets under my skin.  Any time people try to fool other people, for what they think might be some form of gain, it gets under my skin.

For many years I have made it a habit to check the ice in an ice maker.  I do that because sometimes the ice maker does not work, and sometimes people want me to think that it works.

Such was the case today.  I looked into the ice maker bin.

I saw ice.

I saw ice that could not have been made by that particular ice maker.

Look carefully.  That ice maker makes the half-moon ice.  And the ice in the bin is cylindrical.

That ice was purchased before the inspection and put into the bin to make the buyers and inspector think that the ice maker works.

Later, when the buyers move in, the ice maker will be broken and the bin empty and the sellers, if asked, will simply say, "Gee, it was working fine for us.  We're soooo sorry to hear it is broken now.  Surprise, surprise, surprise."

When I see phony ice, I have to look at the rest of the house with even more scrutiny because if they are trying to cover up one problem, they will try to cover up others.

They do the phony ice thing because ice makers aren't cheap to replace.  And they think they are getting something over on someone else.  Why not shift the problem to someone else?

That really gets under my skin.  When I see this, I leave my card on the kitchen counter.  I write something like, "The ice in the ice maker came from the store.  Shame on you," or something like that.  Once I taped my card  to the ice maker door.  My report similarly reflects the fact with a phony-ice comment.  Nobody, that is nobody, has called me after the inspection to complain about my card.  They have been busted and they know it.

They could have done the too-oft familiar, "Ice maker conveys as is."  Which is to say - the ice maker is broken, we know it is broken, but we are selling it to you to make it your problem.  Have a nice day...

THAT GETS UNDER MY SKIN TOO!

But, at minimum, it is honest.  It is not, however, the Golden Rule.  That rule is nearly dead.

My recommendation:  Check the ice maker!  If the listing material says it conveys, it should be producing the right kind of ice.  If it isn't, look at the rest of the house very, very carefully...

The reputation has gotten around that I am the go-to inspector for new construction inspections.  I think that has happened because I am good when dealing with buyers and building supervisors.  Being in the middle is never a comfortable place to be, but I find myself there a lot and seem to be good at it.

Such was the case recently.  I met the buyers, Realtor and supervisor in front of the house. This photo is what we saw as we first walked up the driveway.  This kind of thing makes my stomach go uh-oh...

A corner had chipped off the front sidewalk and someone who knows nothing about concrete tried to fix it.

Other words come to mind, but let's just call this "unprofessional."

When I first saw it that cracking was not there.  That happened during the inspection when they pressure washed the area!  Just the water pressure alone caused this "patch" to break off!

I am italicized.  Here is how the inspection started:

This is not the best way to repair this broken sidewalk.  It will not last long at all. 

Supervisor:  Why not?  (Now excuse me, if you have to ask that question, you may be in the wrong business...)

Buyer:  What should have happened?

The last section of sidewalk should have been cut off and re-poured.  And to answer the other question, this is the entrance to the house, this patch sticks out like a sore thumb because it looks infantile, it is an inch thick at best, will not adhere to the original sidewalk and will crack off soon, perhaps as soon as someone steps on it.  (Little did I know they were going to pressure wash it and break it off then!)

Supervisor:  That's ridiculous!  Cutting it off and re-pouring a whole section of sidewalk is a lot of work for such a small area!  I've seen concrete fixed like this many times.

Maybe you have.  That does not mean it was done correctly.  This is not the way to fix it right.  Cutting off the end section and re-pouring it is the only way to fix it right.  You do want it to last, don't you?  I guarantee that Oglethorpe and Volcanica (not the buyer's real names) do.

Supervisor:  Well, if the rest of the inspection is going to go like this we are going to have problems! 

I'm smiling as I look at him and say:  Gee, I hope not!  This house is your signature.  You do want to DO IT RIGHT, don't you?

Supervisor:  How's this.  When that cracks we will fix it your way.  Is that okay?

Ask your buyer.  That isn't up to me.  I just call'em like I see'em.  I hope Oglethorpe and Volcanica (not their real names) hold you to that promise.  You are giving it to them in writing, right?

Buyer:  I'd like that in writing, sure!

As I was leaving the pressure wash had already cracked the "repair!"  I just went back inside, got the supervisor, Realtor, Oglethorpe and Volcanica (not their real names), took them outside and NOT SAYING A WORD, pointed at the already cracked "repair."  I did smile and wink at Oglethorpe (not his real name).

Then I got in my SUV and rode off into the sunset!  Have gun, will travel...

My recommendation:  Call'em like you see'em.

Look at this photo and put on your CSI hats.  What do you see?

There are many things to see:

1.  There is a properly-installed heat pump and level drip pan to capture any over flow condensation.

2.  The drip pan has rust inside, which means there has been previously filled from clogging in the past.

3.  The primary condensate line, with the purple drip on it, has a trap - very good!  But the opening and the tube are 3" OUTSIDE the drip pan, so if there is dripping from the tubing it will not get captured.

4.  The primary line connects into the secondary condensate line just beyond that little puff of pink insulation on the left.  If there is a clog beyond that point, the drip pan will overflow.  There was no float shut-off device, so that pan would leak into the house.  The secondary line should drain by itself, and to the outdoors.

5.  The return duct, which appeared in the previous HVAC post, is resting INSIDE the drip pan.  This can more easily cause an over flow!  It has been tied down with tape to prevent it from moving and holding it DOWN.  The return duct could have and should have been installed into another opening.

6.  What you can't see from this direction, since there is no way to replace or clean the filter from the very high return slot (without a cover anyway), one would have to schlep into the attic to get to the filter.  The filter slot has been completely blocked with the chain that hangs the unit from the roof rafter.  It cannot be budged!!  I don't know how long this unit has been in place.  The manufacturer's date says the unit is a year old, but gives no hint as to the installation date.  But you should replace or clean the filter once a month!

7.  Frightfully, the electric cable also passes through the drip pan!  The drip pan fills with WATER.  WE know that because there is rust.  This is NOT good.

8.  They didn't mind the cable passing through water, but they were careful enough to install a CONNECTOR CLAMP !!  Oh, happy day!

So, with this "professional" installation, we have the good, the bad and the ugly.  But the house was cool!

My recommendation:  Get a home inspection!  What appears to be one thing, may actually be another.  Just because there is a new unit in place, does not mean it is properly in place.

Before it's too late!

Boy, I hope this helps...

Entering a small, older house the other day I noticed how cool the air felt.  It was a hot day and certainly the heat pump was doing its job well.

The literature stated that a completely new heat pump system was professionally put in earlier this year!  So the Realtor stated anyway in the brochure.

Going up the stairs I looked up and noticed the return.

Yep, that's it right there!

Professionally done.

You can see how clean it is though!  Brand new.

Even cuter was the ceiling in one bedroom.  It seems there was no way to get the mechanism into the attic.  So they removed much of a bedroom ceiling and hoisted it up through the joists. 

That normally would not be a problem, except they didn't bother to replace the insulation or drywall.  That room was kind of hot!

Also, they used the closets to run the supply ducts through from the upper to the lower level.  The house was built in 1946 and the closets are, well, really small.  Much of the closets are now occupied with duct work.  Not so much room for clothing!  And they tore a couple of the ducts as they got pulled through the holes in the ceiling and floor.

Oh, and the shelves and hanging rods are no longer there.  But there's a closet anyway!

My recommendation:  when something says "professionally done," just because a "company" does the work it may not necessarily be professionally done!  Check out the work!

How about a little nappie?

I often do inspections on older houses that have been remodeled.  This one turned out to be a pretty good one.  There were a few things, there always are it seems.  But this one thing stood out.

This very new disposal was installed and they used the old cable to do so.  While that isn't necessarily a problem, two things needed to be done. 

First, the cable should have been trimmed a bit to utilize new, smooth copper and get rid of the frayed material. 

And, second, they should have used a connector clamp and secured the cable to the drain nearby.

Connector clamps are very important.  Every electrical connection should have some sort of clamp.

Guaranteed, one came in the kit when this disposal was purchased.  It would look much like this.  Maybe they didn't think it was important, or didn't know, or actually found it in the box when they were finished and wondered what it was!  Who knows?  It is very easy to install.

Not surprisingly, there is a purpose in putting one in.  They do two things - they secure the cable into the box so it cannot accidentally be pulled away, and they fill the hole so no sparks can escape.  An electrical spark is about 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit and can easily cause a fire.  The clamp is machined to perfectly pop into the hole into which the cable would go.  It tightens down real easily, and it makes everything very secure.

My recommendation:   When you see a remodel, one way to check to see how professionally it was done is to reach under the disposal and feel for a very secure clamp.  You won't get shocked if you touch it.  It is little stuff like this that makes a job top rate or otherwise.

Wisdom looks for the small and simple.  And a professional pays attention to it!