MMM WARNING: This is a photo intensive edition that may take a little time to download. The issue took a long time to create. I really had a sense of accomplishment as I polished it off. Hopefully you will find the information beneficial, entertaining, and educational.
GOOOOOD MORNING, A.I.I.....
It's a great day here in Orem, Utah! Christmas was a special time around the Leavitt household. I want to say thank you for the special messages of Christmas cheer sent along to our household. A special place is held in our hearts for those of you that belong to the northern California chapter of AII. You present that was forwarded on by Scott Merritt still brings tears to my eyes. Shelly and I were both numb and dumbfounded by the gift of love and it was both appreciated and needed during this season of the year. In fact, it helped to lift us and allow us to do things for the family that were previously thought impossible. Thanks again for your thoughts, prayers and gifts on our behalf.
The greatest news was that our lovely wife and mother, Shelly, was able to enjoy the Christmas eve and Christmas day activities with us. She had a reprieve of the pain long enough to be out of bed and watch the children's eyes fill with the excitement of Christmas. Shelly's family was also able to come into town to visit and it made a wonderful household experience. Family and friends getting together is what Shelly lives for. Everything else can be a shambles, but if family and friends are around then Shelly is happy.
The following letter came to me from an unknown source this past week after I shared the Santa letter from my son Adam. The words and experiences help to put our current trials into perspective......
Dear Michael, my heart is with you and yours on this holiday season. I myself have 3 teenage boys that now live with their mother 500 miles away from me. My oldest just got his drivers license, Who would have thought, at 2 1/2 he was diagnosed with A.L.L Leukemia. He spent the better part of 4 years in and out of the hospital. My middle boy contracted Viral spinal meningitis at the ripe old age of 4 1/2 and spent days in the hospital during my oldest ones stint in pediatric ICU with a 104 degree fever. There were so many things that went wrong during a stretch of about 7 years, I am not sure whether I was being strong or had just gone numb. The point here is: Many of us go through gut-wrenching scenarios throughout our lives, looking back later, we wonder what brought us to the present day.
I myself, was a chemical worker for a very large refinery in Los Angeles, Ca. for about 12 years. I sufferred many injuries external and internal from swimming around in stuff that could kill a guy in 30 seconds or so. Hang in there, buddy. It is what we are supposed to do, I believe the good book says so doesn't it? God Bless you and yours. Happy Holidays.
Happy Holidays is right. The battle cry and motto for the upcoming year is "Better health and smoother seas for 2003."
What kind of claims/problems have you experienced? I'm just 9 months into the business. Guy Wikman - Edina, MN
I take it that you have not had any big disgruntled clients yet. That is okay, and I recommend that you enjoy it while you can. As you know, the home inspection business is a game of numbers. The more that you do each year, the more prone you are for one to go sour. Often times this is due to unrealistic expectations by your client. Other times it is due to an oversight on our parts. To think that we are perfect is a farce. My contract states that "If I have found 90% of the things wrongs with this home, then I have done an excellent job!" I find that statement more true with each passing inspection.
You know, E&O insurance is nonexistant in Hawaii, so at every inspection we have a full contract that states that our liability ends with the inspection fee...refund will be given, no more...and they MUST sign it! Sandy L. Adam - Kaneohe, HI
That is really interesting to us mainlanders, Sandy. From what I have heard the amounts of rot and wood destroying insect damage is astronomical in Hawaii. Is this true? How are pest inspections handled in your state? Do you do things differently there than we do here? There are several E&O providers in the main 48 states, but do they not provide policies in Hawaii? Is your clientele litigious by nature. Is you market driven by native Hawaiians or is it by visitors buying vacation abodes? I am so ignorant when it comes to the home inspection industry in Hawaii. Any information that you can share would be very enlightening.
Hi, and Happy Holidays to all...we are 'newbies' too, out here in Hawaii. At 55 inspections a month, we would gladly leave our fees where they are, and hire help. Our starting fee for a house is X50.00, up to 5000 sq ft; condos X50.00 up to 1500 sq ft., charging 75.00 extra for pools and 150.00 extra for pool houses; we don't charge extra for crawl spaces, but for mountainside properties, well, that depends if we have to use our rock climbing equipment! :-) There have been times when the fee should have been higher due to other things not disclosed in the beginning, but due to the shaky economy in this area, we are really hesitant to raise our fees. There are others in this area undercutting us, you know the clipboard and unreadable form type of report, but I believe we turn out an excellent report, and would not lower our fees; as we have all said before, you get what you pay for . Sandy L. Adams - Kaneohe, HI
Me fees average around $X00 per inspection. It's hard to charge more due to the area competition. 3 years ago, it averaged 1 1/2 times more at $X50 per inspection. My current fee schedule is at http://www.midwestinspect.com Scott Moore - Hillsboro, MO
Although we all dream of doing 60 inspections a month, I think its unrealistic. However for those that have achieved that level - Huraah!! I am also a newbie in HI but an experienced businessman. I think 25-30 is more relaistic unless you have a dedicated office person and realtors who will work around your schedule. So far most customers are pretty specific about when they need the inspection - ie. right now!! Regarding fee structure - once I have that steady flow I will notch the fees up. Basic supply and demand..... Rick Bunzel - Niwot, Co.
I do 60 to 70 inspections a month plus litigation inspections and specialty inspections i.e foundation only etc. We charge for a 1000 sf house $X75 and if a crawl I add $25.00 & up from this size. Most do have crawls. I charge $125.00 per house on litigation inspections + all applicable fees miles bridge fees etc + In January I will be raising the cost about $25.00 to inspections as the business is there! Hope this helps. Rolland Pruner - Livermore, CA
If I had 55 inspections a month I would not change my fee schedule, rather I would reduce my distance of travel and frankly in this economy I don't think I will have that problem. Then again, I would love to have that problem. Mark Connely - Freeport, IL
The easiest way to retain an original document in 3D (or any other program), while working on a revision is to use Save As to make a copy. In 3D Word Processor, use File...Open to open your original document. Then use File...Save As to make a copy of the same file under a new name. You then have two independent copies of the same file. Working on one won't change the other and vice versa.
Generally speaking, it's really not a good idea to open any 3D files outside of 3D. As you can see, if an incorrect file associatation is set in windows, then launching the file in another program might change its format or damage it. Also, even if 3D is used to open the file, opening the file directly in windows would cause 3D to launch from the folder where the file is located. Although this wouldn't hurt anything if the file is in the 3D folder, since that's where 3D normally runs from, if the file was located elsewhere, such as the Desktop or another folder, 3D launching itself there will have to create a number of support files. Also, if 3D opens in a new folder it has never opened in before, it assumes that you're running the program for the first time and installs all the sample forms, documents, and other items into that folder. This could result in a clutter of a bunch of unneeded files on the Desktop or other location where the program is launching from. To prevent this from happening, we usually recommend that you remove any file associations linked to 3D from the File Types in windows. That way if you do happen to accidentally open a file directly in windows and there is no association, you can easily cancel. Donna - 3D Technical Dept
Every chance you get learn what your right mouse key does you will find in most programs it gives you some of the best shortcuts there are (windows is no exception). Mark Connely - Freeport, IL
Thanks for the tips Donna and Mark. Keep the tips coming!
WASHINGTON, D.C. - In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Brooklyn Lollipop Imports & Exports, Inc. of Brooklyn, NY, is voluntarily recalling about 22,000 electric fans. These electric fans have undersized wiring, use a power plug that is not polarized, have an improperly sized grill, and overheat, all of which could cause electrocution, electric shock, fire, and finger entrapment hazards to consumers. CPSC and Brooklyn Lollipop have not received any reports of incidents. This recall is being conducted to prevent the possibility of injuries. The recalled electric fans, which have the brand name "Lollipop" printed on the fan blade cover, have model numbers V1185, V1186, V1865 and V1783, which can be found on the motor housing. The V1185, V1186, and V1865 models have labels that read, "Hi Velocity Lollipop Air Circular." The three-speed, four-position fans are either floor mounted or table top units. The model V1783 has a clip-on base. These fans were manufactured in China. Discount and variety stores in the metropolitan New York area sold these electric fans from May 2000 through July 2002 for between $10 and $15. Consumers should stop using these electric fans immediately and return them to the store where purchased for a full refund. Consumers also can return the fans to the firm for a full refund, by mailing the unit to: 7 Marcus Garvey Blvd., Brooklyn, NY 11206. For more information, call Brooklyn Lollipop collect at (718) 388-9526 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday.
Let's talk for a bit about utility software for the small and handy Pocket PC's. These little machines are capable of doing a lot of different things. Developers are sitting around out there looking for the little niche that the Pocket PC can fill. Once they identify the need, they program the software and then quickly get it to the marketplace.
Third party software selection for Pocket PC's is great with more and more products hitting the market daily. The main reason they are so widely accessible is the direct result of the internet. Most Pocket PC software is downloaded directly off the internet. This is quite different than full desktop software. For the desktop you generally go to Comp USA or order the boxed version online. Then you load the CD into the machine and install the software. Desktop software is also very expensive. Part of this is due to the packaging and physical nature of getting the software to the end users.
The process for Pocket PC's is much simpler. The programmer finishes the software, designs a jazzy webpage and allows you to download the software from the website. Since the Pocket PC is so stripped down and limited, the files are small and easily transferred over the net. I believe that the greatest feature of downloading Pocket PC software is that the developers usually have free trial versions or demo versions of the software. This means that you can try out the software for free and then buy it if you like it.
I have found it to be a lot of fun to figure out a solution that I need and then go searching for the right software. I will find all of the suppliers of that type of software, try them out and then purchase the one that fills the challenge I need resolved. Sometimes I have to buy the software outright before trying, and I generally am very skeptical about doing that unless I have been directed to the software from a friend or a technical article.
Experimenting with Pocket PC software is also quite easy on the wallet. $50 is about the most expensive utility software on the market, but most are in the $9.99 to $19.99 range. If you spend $9.99 on a utility software or game and it turns out to be a loser, then it is quite less painless than spending $300 on a desktop software and having it collect dust. Freeware is also another great type of Pocket PC software. That's right, several utility softwares are free. The programmer will ask that you donate what you feel that it is worth to a charity of your choice. Freewares have their risks as the programmer provides no technical support and tells you to try it at your own risk. This means that it might crash your Pocket PC, but you got what you paid for.
Experimenting with Pocket PC's is also pretty painless because the machines are easy to back up and with the touch of a button you can quickly reset the machine back to out of the box condition. Performing a full reset allows you to wipe out everything and start over. This is a nightmare in the desktop world, but on the Pocket PC it is very easy to restore the machine back to full working order with all of the files synchronized to where they were before the offending software or glitch occurred.
So what kind of utility software and games does an inspector need to add to his machine. Well that depends. If you have young kids and want to capture their attention, then games are needed. I'll share some cool ones like the Pow Wow shooting gallery in future MMM issues.
As inspectors, we often need to diagram what we see during an inspection. This may be a leaking valley flashing, water entry into a basement, or all of the locations around the perimeter of the home that rot was identified. Pocket PC's have the built-in Note software that allows you to sketch, but it is with squiggly pencil drawn lines and they are not the type of sketch that you would want any client to see. I have been on a quest for 3 years now to find a software that would fit our needs for the Pocket PC platform.
In all of my past searching all I could come up with was very expensive Appraiser specialty software. These were full blown packages that allowed you to be able to perform a full home appraisal, and yes they had great utility features that allowed sketching. The initial investment was several hundred dollars to use about 5% of the software package and clog up the majority of the onboard memory of the Pocket PC. These Appraiser software solutions were really not a solution to the inspection industry at all.
After failing miserably in my initial search I put my quest on the backburner. I recently received the 2003 Pocket PC Magazine Buyers Guide and went searching again. Underneath the heading of Graphic Design/Drawing were six softwares: iPaint, One Cat Doodler, Photogenics, Pocket Artist, Pocket Painter, and Pocket Sketch. Looking at the photo you can see that 4 of the 6 are scratched off of my list. Investments from $14.95 to $49.95 gave a broad appeal. Obviously the $50 version would do everything, and the $14.95 version would be too limited....... Wait a minute! With Pocket PC's we are not dealing with low bidder high bidder. Each software has been designed with a slightly different goal in mind and comparing them on "Price" alone is unreasonable. Instead, you must keep the disposition that any of these may be your missing link. The Freeware may blow away the $50 software if it was designed with some of your needs in mind.
I downloaded each of the softwares and put them through their paces. I needed a program that would allow me to easily save a sketch in preferably a jpeg format, although some other formats would work. Next it had to be able to easily integrate into the 3D software, but the same requirements would be needed with a Word based software.
The sketching portion of the program had to allow me to draw lines, boxes and place text and icons onto the image. In my wildest dreams I would be able to load digital pictures onto the screen and write and illustrate onto the images. In theory all of these softwares should be able to do this seemingly simple list of concerns, but most did not.
The description to Pocket Sketch in the Pocket PC Magazinf 2003 Buyers Guide stated......
What? Only $14.95. That is considerably less than the Photogenics $49.95. Was it too good to be true? So I went to their website at www.gonna-soft.com. It stated....
The www.gonna-soft.com website allowed a FREE trial download version of the software and it was going to be one more time investment in the search of the best sketching software for our industry. The download is 1.47 megabytes which takes about 30 seconds with a high speed internet connection, but may take several minutes with a dial-up. You should save the downloaded file into a folder called My Download Files. It is called sketch2.exe by default, but I preferred to change it to PocketSketch.exe so that when I go back to find it later I am not searching for the obscure file name.
After downloading, you must then find the folder where you saved the downloaded file and double click on it. It will ask you if you will allow it to install the software into a pre-named folder in the same folder that you originally downloaded it to. Then you must find the folder named Sketch inside the My Download Files folder. Inside this folder are several versions of the Pocket Sketch software that you must select the version that you need. You must know what type of processor your Pocket PC uses. If you have an iPaq or newer model Pocket PC, then your unit uses the strong arm processor. Older units may use one of the other versions. Since I have a newer model iPaq I selected sketch_setup(arm).exe and double clicked on it. The installation from that point onward is very simple by following the promptings of the installation wizard. Just remember to say yes to the promptings and don't get fancy and try to changed names or directory locations. Just keep it simple and allow it to install the software to the defaulted locations.
Once installed, the software is found in the Program section of the Pocket PC. Just scroll down to the Pocket Sketch icon. When you click on it your will be prompted to input the registration code. Simply click on the TRY button and you will be set for a trial version. This allows you to do everything but save a file. All of this with no financial investment. I was chapped that I could not save the file because I was left with the unsure feeling of how the sketch would look in the 3D software. I let the software developer know this and before receiving his gracious response to my message I went ahead and paid for the software. I must admit that I was very confident in my investment after just a few minutes of playing with the software.
It is my recommendation that you register the software by investing $14.95. That is chump change and it will allow you to create sketches and save them as jpeg files that you can easily import into your inspection report writing software. Using Pocket Sketches in the 3D Inspection System software couldn't be easier, hence my without reservation recommendation. Just think of all those situations that you want or need to sketch. Digital pictures are good, but they are great when you put the point of emphasis arrow on the picture to let the client know what they are looking at. Take a look at the image on the right. This is a stucco/roof joint that terminates over a brick ledge. You can see the mesh from the EIFS stucco and the OSB at the end of the drip edge. Placing the text and the arrow on the photo removes all doubt what I referred to in my report. Pocket Sketch made this very easy. Typically I perform this with Firehand Ember software (www.firehand.com) on the full windows machine, but there are many times that I have the extra few minutes in the field with only my Pocket PC in hand that I can now accomplish the task. This saves me time back at the office.
Illustrating digital pictures is just one aspect to this software. The main feature is sketching. Most of us don't use sketches because there has been no easy way to do it with the Pocket PC. It is tough enough to do it with a desktop, yet having the 6 ounce Pocket PC in the field looking at the situation is the best time to have the ability to sketch in your hand. Pocket PC performs very well at this. Pocket Sketch is not overly complicated and has most of the features that we, as inspectors, need.
Drawbacks to every software are numerous, but they must be weighed out against the positives that the software has to offer. My un-met wishes with Pocket Sketch are the fact that you cannot place stretchable arrows on the screen. They have a great icon library, but arrows are arrows and not stretchable like in the Firehand Ember desktop software. I also want a common text library to draw from. You will see how I placed the word ROT on the left image above. There may be 20 commonly used words or phrases that I want to place on the sketch and I would prefer not to have to type it in and format it with each new sketch. Accessing images directly from a CF card in the iPaq expansion pack would be a great plus too, because you can now only access files that are in the iPaq memory or on a secure digital card. Hopefully this last request can be enable by the software designer. Another needed tool is an eraser. There is a limited one time undo icon that will remove a just made mistake, but I found that occasionally I would make a mistake several steps earlier and there was no way to remove the error without starting over. The addition of an eraser would allow the possibility of erasing the misplaced text or icon. Currently there is no eraser or multiple undo features supported by the software. The other un-met wish was that I could add little icons to the Pocket Sketch stamp library. The Pocket Sketch stamp library is a great feature that allows you to easily select an icon and everywhere that you click the screen the icon will appear. I wish that I could create some icons of my own and add them to the library, but this feature is not yet supported by the software.
This software is my Hot Pick for Pocket PC sketching. At $14.95 this is a must have. The lacking flaws are far overcome by the usefulness of the software. Don't sit on the fence if you won a Pocket PC. This is a great little utility software and you will not be disappointed in your meager investment. You can download it at http://www.gonna-soft.com/
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It is not good to use a "P" trap when a "S" trap is needed. This gets a replace with the proper trap in my report. Alan Taylor - Canandaigua NY
Wow, would you call that a PS-trap???? I thought Tim Taylor was bad, but this person deserves the plumber of the year award. Mark Connely - Freeport, IL
Mark, you just crack me up. I'm sitting here giggling like a little schoolboy. Some might call this trap a BS-PS-trap.
There's nothing like a flexible drain line to signal to the home inspector that somebody was not paying attention to their Hometime Video Collection. I see flex pipe being used all the time, but to see this imaginative adaption of a "P" sorta "S" trap comfigurization tells me this person is either artistic or possibly autistic! (No offense to real autistic people or their family members). This configuration will siphon faster then a teenager working on a Cadillac's gas tank. I'm guessing that this is a single kitchen sink (Due to the sprayers hose noted here) or they may have installed a sink mounted bidet if this is in the bathroom! Those guys from New Jersey!! What will they think of next! Steve Takac - Benicia, CA
I would call this a full strike. Firstly, the corragated edges at the first bend of what are we calling this contraption, an "S" trap? The edges will surely trap food particles and restrict flow, as well as start to smell in a very short time. Judging from the angle in this photo, their is insufficient drop to create the water seal needed to suppress the methane gas that will flow upward naturally. There are 2 potential hazards here: 1.) poisonous gasses will enter the home, & 2.) Methane is also very flammable. Picture someone smoking a cig while dumping down the drain. I would recommend to the person that installed this contraption, to look at the diagram picture on the back of the package of assorted drain parts they bought. Jim Straley - Bend, Oregon
I have used a 12 foot telestep ladder for over 2 years and am very pleased with it. I rarely have a single story ranch, most are older 2 story homes. I almost always have to lean the ladder against the eave trough to gain roof access. I then pull the ladder up on the garage roof or porch roof to extend up to the main house roof. This gets me on 95% of the roofs. If I can't do this, either because of roof height, or rain or snow, I use binoculars plus an eave inspection with ladder. Alan Taylor - Canandaigua NY
Alan, how heavy is the Telestep ladder? It must be a lot more convenient than a typical 20 foot extension ladder. How much did you invest in your Telestep?
Having a left leg quite withered from Polio, I use extreme caution with my ladder as well as taking care not to damage the gutters. Jim makes a good point about this being a basic courtesy, however, because of my condition I cannot safely place the ladder on the rake edge. I use a 16 foot extension ladder, put it directly over a gutter spike and lash it with a bungee cord. Inasmuch as gutter damage often occurs from the ladder moving around or being improperly placed against an unsupported section of gutter, I have yet to damage a gutter using this method. As an aside, one time when working as a roofing contractor, the wind caught my ladder and caused it to crash down about 6 inches in front of a new BMW... whew! That was a little close, so my ladder is ALWAYS against the gutter and ALWAYS tied off... something you can't do on the rake edge. And as a further safety measure, I always ask the client or agent to stand on the bottom rung when I'm getting up or down over the gutter. I have never had anyone refuse or make fun of me because of it... and I've never fallen! Lastly, if you do fall, the gutter may just help ease you down. Sure the gutter will be toast, but you may not be. (I think Brent has a war story about this) Larry Stamp - Olympia, WA
Larry, can you send along a photo of your ladder tied off. I am not quite sure how you accomplish this, although you are probably using the gutter securing nail. Please use that new camera and impress the rest of us with another digital masterpiece.
I made a little device that sits three foot down from the top of my extension ladder, it is 8 inches long and forked slightly covered with 1 inch of rubber i lean it on the edge of the roof over the top of the gutter this works great at protecting the gutter and forces me to take proper ladder methods in leaving three foot extended above the roof, hey what can I say it works. - Mark Connely - Freeport, IL
Mark, the same request goes out to you. Please send along the photo of your craftywork.
I purchased a ladder pad from Porter Paints for around $40.00. The pad attaches to the top rung of the extension ladder and allows you to put the pad on the shingles above the gutter and never touch the gutter. It also is safer in that the ladder is less prone to slip. It is also helpful in stucco inspections to prevent surface damage on the EIFS. Raney Oven, Tallahassee, Florida
Raney, what do you think I request from you? That's right, send us a picture and see if you can find a link online for that ladder pad.
The ladder tips have been great and I urge you to keep them coming. Pictures of the ladder use tip or attachment would be most beneficial. Greg Justice, send along some photos of that custom ladder case for the roof mounted unit that encounters a lot of rain in the Oregon area. Do you have any other great ladder tips or leads on great ladder models?
What do you continue to look for when you look in the new firebox and there are three dead birds? What do you tell you clinets? What do you report??
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