GOOOOOD MORNING, A.I.I.....
It's a great day here in Orem, Utah! The inspection flow has resumed a normal pace and it was not slowed down like last year. A year ago today I was looking at a sparse schedule. The terrorist attacks brought our September inspection revenues to a screeching halt a year ago. This continued on for a horrid October, November and December. We are hopeful that this year will not be plagued by any new terrorist activity.
I would like to thank all of you for your increased participation with the MMM.
I have seen a lot more MMM feedback and the discussions on the AII Inspector Hotline have also been information packed and lively. I think that the best part of AII is the ability to interact immediately with each other as a group and get answers to our questions. I have been watching the newer inspectors gird up their loins and ask question and respond with goood answers. Keep up the good responses.
Today's MMM is information packed. Along with all of the information that I formatted in this issues comes a 17 page court case document. I urge you to stop and reflect on each topic and share some good feedback. Many of you are being stingy with your digital cameras on inspections. Try this out for style...... As you are inspecting, give some thought to what you are seeing and think to yourself "What am I encountering that Michael Leavitt in Orem, Utah or Jim Maass in South Carolina never seen before?" With this in mind, each of you should see at least one thing per week that the rest of us may have never seen before. Don't be stingy...... Snap the photo and then send them to me privately for use in the MMM. Kudos to Clay Higgins, Bill Bergstedt, and John Rebenstorff who did just that this past week. As a result of their thinking of us we end up reading a fantastic issue of the Monday Morning Messenger...... Special thanks should also be given to Jim Lucas who ran my ancient curly fax machine out of paper as he attempted to fax me the 17 page Leko court case. Faxing is a dinosaur method of information transfer, but I appreciate his attempt. Since the MMM is electronic I have to find the information in electronic format or else retype it by my own fingers. Thanks again Clay, Bill, Jim, and John. Your efforts made my job really fun and interesting this week.
Where were you when you learned of the planes hitting the WTC?
My Father-in-law Jack Webb was the first to respond to the World Trade Center question........
I was on the way to a doctors appointment in St. George, Utah. I found out from the nurses and doctors when I got there. I just couldn't believe it. The only other event I can remember as being that bad was Pearl Harbor and, Oh Yeah, Kennedy's assasination. Life goes on but we will not forget these events. GrumPa Webb/Jack - Cedar City, UT
Watching the Fox news channel,what a stunner. Rick Stewart - Corvallis,Oregon
I remember that I was on my way out to a very rural part of Lake Murray to do an inspection when I heard the news on the radio. It was all I could do to keep my mind on the inspection. The area that I was in didn't have good phone reception and I felt real out of touch. I couldn't wait to get in touch with loved ones to make sure everyone was alright. Jim Maass - Columbia, SC
In San Diego after CREIA's annual conference packing to leave for the airport when my wifes cousin phoned and said turn on the T.V. We were awestruck like everyone else. The hotel said do not turn in your rental car as there is not one to be had in the city. We drove straight to the Sacramento Airport and hit massive security in order to return the rental and retrieve our car. What a sad day. Jim Lucas - Camino, CA
Stacy and I were in California to attend her brother's funeral on Sept. 10. At 6:45 am we were in our seats on our Southwest Airlines flight in San Jose. The plane's door was closed and we were getting pushed back for our flight back home. Then the pilot addresses us " there has been a hold on our departure". Naturally many got on their cell phones and this is the way we and the pilot found out about the horrific disaster. After an hour of waiting we were informed that there will be no flying today. Getting off the plane we joined the crowds in the terminal watching the horror on the TV monitors. We were told that our flight was rescheduled for Thursday. We considered driving across the country but decided to wait-out in a motel in Gilroy "The Garlic Capital of US". On Sunday we finally flew home saddened by the huge loss of lives and sorrow of so many families. Con and Stacy Davidenko - Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
My brother sent this to me on September 19, 2001 just 8 days after the disaster last year......
Ok, this is kind of weird...
The news reported yesterday that the second wave of attacks was suppose to happen on September 22nd - 11 days later
It was interesting rereading the flow of e-mail last year in the two weeks following the attacks. We had such an interesting way of dealing with the grief, shock, and heartache.
A pox upon ye who are verily "innumerate." 1946 + 66 = 2,012. As I always told my students: "The math is easy, it's the arithmetic that's hard." Either the water heater is 56 years old or it was made in 1936 (which may be possible, but I would certainly think, very unlikely.) The oldest water heater, storage tank I've evaluate was a 22 year old electric model. I think it had had the elements replaced at least once. Richard Grisham - Las Vegas, NV
Thanks for the age correction Richard. Now whether or not it is 56 or 66 years old really is not the issue. Anything that old should still be donated to a museum.
I can't imagine a water heater operating for 66 years, although this one does look ancient. Why not try verifying the age with the manufacturer? The oldest one I have found that was still functioning was 28 years old. Gary Holzbauer - Junction City, OR
In 1995 I had one in a Richmond remodel that was built in 1947 (the date was in the serial number and verified by the son. It was a stainless steel tank with a white enameled exterior. Things like this really make inspecting fun. Jim Lucas - Camino, CA
Were you aware of potential shortened lifespan of water heaters in homes using softened water?
It is always a great day when you learn somthing new. Steve Meeth - POLLOCK PINES CA.
Thank you for that uplifting feedback Steve. Your taking a moment to share really lifted my day when I read it. Thanks again for responding.
No, I didn't know that. From now on a copy of the above will be supplied to the diseased parasites that plague my privacy by ringing my doorbell to offer a "free" water test. Richard Grisham - Las Vegas, NV
Nope that's a new one for me. The more places I look at the less I seem to know. I am also amazed how many ways that Harvey Homeowner can change and botch the installation of items they know nothing about. Rick Stewart - Corvallis,Oregon
I have never heard of this issue before, but it wouldn't be of much significance in my area. I have only run into a few water softeners in all of the houses I have inspected - all on country properties with wells. Gary Holzbauer - Junction City, OR
We have hard water in area (12 to 30 rains hardness) and I have found the water heaters lose efficiency due the calcium build up. After four to six years, many water heaters are replaced due to build up. I would think this is before the anode would need to be replaced. I use a water softener, maybe I should check me anode. Jeff Herboldshimer - Live Oak, CA
Over the past few months we have seen great photos of fried frogs, snakes, and even electrocuted mice. It has always made me stop and wonder what are the big wildlife hazards associated found in my area.
As I stop and think about it, I really don't have any huge worries. I think that my biggest issues are with dogs. This past week had me dealing with a huge golden retriever that was more interested in being playful than he was eating my leg. What was irritating was that there was a big rainstorm the day before and the overgrown sod was really wet. Every three steps was a huge retriever sized land mine that was wetted and ready to stink up the soles of my feet for the rest of the day.
Oh how irritating it is when sellers do not see the inconvenience of their canines. Are they oblivious to the fact that we have a job to do and their animal is a huge hindrance? I think that I have given up having battles with sellers. I used to be really firm and it just made the rest of the inspection a huge irritation...... I hate irritations and have opted to just take it all in stride. Sellers are ignorant for the most part and trying to establish all of the ground rules with them is too much effort. Afterall, in less than a couple of hours I never have to see them again. I have opted to just be cordial, professional, and work around them rather than having confrontations and ill feelings.
I was wondering how all of you have dealt with sellers who don't see their pets as hindrances. Have you had to chase a dog or a cat through the neighborhood due to them rushing the door or gate that you opened? Have you come around the corner and not realized that a large beast was in the back yard roaming freely looking for their next meal of flesh? Take a moment and share a war story.........
Or should I have more accurately spoken, "Meet Bill's Bear!" How would you like to be walking out of the garage in Lake Tahoe, California and have this beast there to greet you? During your inspection training you were told to travel with a change of clothes. This is one of the reasons why. For Bill it was just another day of mountain community inspecting.
California inspectors have been troubled by a decision against our industry known as Leko vs. Cornerstone. Our own Board of Director, Greg Pyfrom, was the defending attorney in this case. As a result of the loss the industry is watching as the dust settle. The recent California bill to further regulate the inspection industry was a direct result of this case. The Realtor organization is one of the most powerful lobbying entities in the state and they were leading the charge against us in an effort to divert much of their liability upon us. While AII members were worried about the regulations of who could tout certification status there was a much bigger battle going on behind the scenes. That is another bigger picture story, but the attached case summary reveals to me a startling fact. Third party disclosure clauses only keep the honest client's honest. Those that are out to get you will not be slowed down in the least by our contract. The word document is 17 pages long and is a worthy investment of time no matter what state you reside.
I tell clients that ask if I'm insured,and the flier from Allen's is given out to Realtor's. Rick Stewart - Corvallis,Oregon
John Rebestorff sent along this detailed photo and asked for all of us to study it carefully. After looking at the photo please share your thoughts and concerns with the situation presented...... Be wordy and share any other similar situations that you have encountered.
What is the PSI rating of a garden hose when used as conduit? What else do you see wrong inside the panel? What steps would you take to control your laughter while encountering this panel in front of your client?
A better question would be "Can you see anything right in this subpanel?" Gary Holzbauer - Junction City, OR
Seeing the garden hose and laughing at Harvey home owner (to myself), my response would be to red flag the whole panel and recommend that a licensed electrical Contractor be called in to evaluate and repair/replace the electrical panel. Replace would probably be the most likely thing to do in this case. As for what else is wrong with it I think in the case as a home inspector it would be mute to list it all out but rather just simple require that a licensed Electrical Contractor be called. It does appear that a fire extinguisher used to hang on the left (by evidence of the old fire extinguisher holder) side and that it is now missing, wonder why, what a mess. I would also now be very suspicious of other serious potential issues in the house. Marc Gibson - Oregon City, OR
Michael, you're right, it would take some control to not laugh, but we should all try to give our client the benefit of our past experience and make him aware that this is an imminent safety hazard with no inside cover, no outside cover, severly outdated by todays standards, wires that are not correctly attached by the lugs, corrosion, and obvious signs of amateur/unprofessional installation (garden hose substituted for rigid metallic pipe or grey PVC), bare wiring & exposed Romex, grounding bar not separate from neutral bar (looks like a sub panel), etc. Richard Grisham - Las Vegas, NV
Clay Higgins went back to his manuals to find out the key points of inspecting this type of residential structure. He realized that he failed to ask a few key questions about the home while booking the inspection.
For more information E-MAIL Us