All tank type water heaters have Temperature/Pressure Relief Valves (TPRV). These valves are safety valves and prevent your water heater from becoming a rocket in the event that the thermostat should fail or the pressure gets too high. They are an essential component of the water heater without
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11/29/2014
What to do about Attic Access Hatches? You mean there is a problem with attic access hatches? There certainly can be problems, and it seems that there almost always is. We go to great lengths to put a ton of insulation in the attic only to cut these big holes in them so that we have a way to get
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11/20/2014
Don Quixote rides again! It seems like at least once a year, some on-line discussion forces me to saddle up old Rocinante and brandish my lance to do battle with my old foe—Mold-is-Gold. The battles, and there have been many, typically accomplish little other than giving me the satisfaction of kn
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11/18/2014
Sometimes when inspecting buildings, the inspector comes across things that are just plain “interesting.” Well I should qualify, what the word "interesting" means to an inspector. I distinguish these sorts of interesting inspection finds by whether they are something that would get discussed whi
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11/16/2014
I recently did a post about the problems with water temperature and tank type water heaters. How to make your tanks both hot enough to prevent bacteria growth and yet cool enough to not scald someone at the point of use is a complicated issue. I think that the bottom line is that the temperatur
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11/15/2014
Of course home inspectors get used to things not being what they appear. On a recent hike in the Connecticut woods, we came to a clearing where there was this interesting tree. Since it was abandoned farm land, my first thought was that it was a tree that had been pruned this way. But that is
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11/11/2014
Now that the heating season is upon us, we start to think about keeping the cold out and the heat in. There is no end to this conversation and sometimes the conversation itself can run cold and hot. Everyone has an opinion or a solution---or even that no solution is OK. However, regardless of a
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11/08/2014
I have no clue why the installation of this wall heater reminds me of the old Yardbirds song, but certainly the refrain in the song is applicable: When will it end, When will it end, When will it end, HEY! These heaters are designed to be installed vertically. This particular one, when insta
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11/04/2014
Growing up, my dad had an African violet business. A couple of my jobs, at the greenhouse was running the machine that sterilized the potting soil and mixing the vermiculite into that soil. Those of you familiar with house plants will recognize potting soil with vermiculite. It is a mixture th
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11/02/2014
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