plumbing: If I could wave my magic spray wand! - 05/04/12 08:14 AM
When you buy a kitchen sink faucet with a spray wand, it is meant to be used with the spray wand. In fact the difference between the ones that come with a wand and those that don’t is that the ones that don’t have have a little plug in the hole where the wand attaches in the version that does come with a wand.
Of course if you don’t want to use the wand in the version you purchase, all one needs to do is buy the proper plug and plug up the hole---the plug even comes with some of … (25 comments)
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plumbing: What is that hissing sound inside the wall? - 03/03/12 05:38 AM
Lots of inspectors check outside faucets to see if they work. You know what I mean---they turn the water on and see if any water comes out of the faucet. They will also check to see if it is loose, not attached to the home properly---and many other issues depending on how old it is.
For example they will report on whether is a frost-free type faucet or not. They will report if it has an anti-siphon device or not.
They might even recommend upgrading older types of faucets that do not have these features.
However, perhaps the most important thing … (61 comments)
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plumbing: Why is there an abandoned septic tank popping up in my back yard? - 03/01/12 09:01 AM
Home inspectors are always on the lookout for signs of abandoned underground oil storage tanks. The issues that surround underground oil tanks is well known and I would not likely be telling anyone involved in the real estate business the importance of disclosing buried tanks and making sure they are properly decommissioned.
I routinely find tanks that have not been decommissioned---perhaps second tanks that nobody knew about or didn’t want to know about. Dealing with these old tanks is a routine part of many purchase/sales of homes in the NW.
Another type of underground storage tank that is less commonly … (16 comments)
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plumbing: Fortunately I always carry a sponge in my bag of tricks. - 01/30/12 08:43 AM
Form follows function---or not!
I know I am tilting at windmills when it comes to even suggesting that the shape of things should have anything to do with function. We have gotten so good at making things, that we have come to expect, even demand, that things look the way we want them to---regardless of those thing’s function.
Whether it is the quest to make a better mousetrap or whether it has more to do with the simple fact that we make things look the way they do because we can, humans seem to find no end to being “creative.” We … (32 comments)
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plumbing: Just another gratuitous inspection-horrors post? - 01/05/11 09:12 AM
Well actually it is more about gratuitous inspection-horrors posts than it is about anything actually horrible---but I gotta get the reader in the door somehow.
Inspectors love to do posts about all the crazy things we find---me included. In a way these posts are like sucker punches because usually the more absurd, the more scary or the more off the wall our stuff is, it also means the more “interesting” and/or entertaining it will be. It is like an accident along the side of the road---who cannot look? If you need more evidence of this fact just look at the huge … (47 comments)
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plumbing: Dang! I should have called a plumber in the first place! - 05/20/09 04:40 PM
A simple kitchen sink drain can sure get complicated.
As you can see from this installation everything seems to fit together nicely and looks all nice and crisp and white----so what can be the problem. The distance from the bottom of the trap has been dropped way down to allow for installation of the tail piece for the dishwasher (the little thingamajig with the grey hose attached to it). If you look closely at the middle left of the drain you should be able to see where the drain enters the wall. This drain opening is too … (9 comments)
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plumbing: All set now! - 04/28/09 01:52 PM
Inspectors like to post “WHATZIT” pictures, and during my time here at ActiveRain, I have been no exception. Today’s picture will perhaps be no effort at all for most of my readers-----as it is a simple ordinary nail-set.
Today’s exercise is more about entertaining you with an exceptionally “inventive” and “unordinary” use of the nail-set. A use that would not likely be the first thing one would think of as a solution for such a problem.
Being a recovering New England Yankee, the concept of finding a workable solution to almost any problem is not foreign … (25 comments)
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plumbing: DO IT RIGHT!!---what you do, could end up as blog fodder! - 04/13/09 09:24 AM
Whenever we build things there are always lots of “plan-ahead” moments that will happen depending on our level of experience and abilities to “see the BIG picture.” NOT being able to see the whole picture is all too common today----in all walks of life. I am not sure it is entirely avoidable.
No one can know everything----or foresee everything.
I guess the bigger question is that when one comes up against their lack of knowledge, why wouldn’t one do something about it? Why wouldn’t the discovery result in corrections that reflect what one learned? I used to … (26 comments)
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plumbing: Please----not another post about crawl spaces! - 03/12/09 09:18 AM
This was another difficult crawl space. It was big----it had a ton of ductwork that had to be wiggled under to get to some areas-----and back again. It also had this long extension at the far side that was about 18” tall by 36” wide by 16’ long. When I was at the start of this “tunnel” I say to myself, “OK sucker----are you REALLY going to go all the way into this thing? You know that you are going to have to back all the way out don’t you? But what is that faint smell of gas?”
This … (35 comments)
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plumbing: Today’s weather? -----flooding likely, with a chance of soccer! - 02/07/09 10:46 AM
This post is not so much about all of the various doodads and whatchamajiggers in the picture, as it is about the fact that the doodads and whatchamajiggers are not properly supported or protected from damage.
On the far right, the Blue PEX pipe coming out of the floor is the main water supply to the house.
Next, in line, is the Main Water Shut-off.
Next comes the Pressure Reducing Valve.
Next is the Musical Instrument Back Flow Prevention Valve.
Again I am not here today to talk about all these items, but how … (18 comments)
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plumbing: How would you like to be called "serviceable?" - 11/06/08 09:15 AM
I often hear the argument that if a component in the home is "serviceable" inspectors have no business reporting on it. It is as if a label of "serviceable" covers the item with a shroud of "OK-ness," and we don't need to talk about the fact that it is 20 years past its life expectancy.
Let's discuss "serviceable" for a moment. That is one of those words that have almost no meaning whatsoever in the context of a description about a component in a home----in my opinion.
It sounds too much like something waiting for a grease gun, … (30 comments)
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plumbing: Sparky's Plumbing - 08/24/08 10:11 AM
This is the group where anyone can post anything related to electrical and plumbing (anything deemed not related to electrical and plumbing will be summarily "electrocuted and/or drowned" and removed:). It is also the place where anyone can ask a question with the likelihood that one of the many "talented" inspectors at ActiveRain will be able to offer some sort of helpful answer or worthwhile disinformation. Any recommendations given should not be construed to be a substitute for the advice of someone that "actually" knows what they are talking about (licensed electrical and plumbing contractors), but instead should be seen … (12 comments)
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plumbing: How is your "Internal-Compensation-Engine?" - 08/15/08 07:42 AM
In all areas of our lives today, there seems to be a huge lack of pride in workmanship----of doing the minimum---- just enough to get the pay check.
Some people though----regardless of money----seem to go beyond the minimum. Why? Why would anyone do more than they are asked to do or contracted to do?
It is because they have an "Internal-Compensation-Engine." The reward they feel inside means more than their new boat on the trailer parked in the gravel next to the house, more than their radon emitting granite countertops, more than their complete set of "All-Clad" cookware … (15 comments)
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plumbing: Got my UNDEROOS all in a bunch! - 01/30/08 11:51 PM
One of the great things about being a home inspector is that there is an endless supplyof things to get ones Underoos all in a bunch about! (Those of you that had kids growing up in the 70's will remember Underoos---maybe they are still around?). This pet peeve is another roofing issue. On almost every roof pipes have to go through the roof, whether it is the electrical mast or the plumbing venting.
Sometime I will blog about some "crazy and/or funky" ways people have flashed these pipe penetrations, but today my peeve involves the use of "approved" types … (10 comments)
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plumbing: More Favorite Plumbing Repairs - 01/28/08 08:32 AM
To continue with yesterday's theme of inventive repairs, the QUINTESSENTIAL do-it-your-selfer, is another plumbing repair. It seems that many people are willing to take on plumbing repairs. (One would think that given the inherent dangers of Electricity that there would be fewer instances of "inventive wiring", but it seems to me that they are about equal. The problem "creative" wiring mistakes is that they can be the end of your own "personal" creationJ. I will save some of these "special" wiring examples for another blog.)
This first example shows where someone didn't have a proper cap for the main … (4 comments)
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plumbing: the QUINTESSENTIAL do-it-your-selfer! - 01/27/08 04:08 PM
One of the perplexing things about defects found while inspecting is that often times it had to have taken way more time to create these issues, than it would to have done it right in the first place. Take this dishwasher drain connection found on a recent inspection. The "handy-person" had to drill into the steel pipe. One has to find the electric drill, find a big enough bit----maybe drill a pilot hole and then drill out the pilot hole with a bigger bit. This in itself takes a fair amount of time (factor the cost of maybe one or … (2 comments)
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plumbing: How would you deal with this tub? - 01/21/08 11:51 AM
Home inspectors encounter many "oddities" in the course of our inspections. Along with the more serious safety concerns discovered, there are many things that one would only consider "humorous" as one enters the forbidden world of "wondering how things got to be the way they are." One such oddity was a tub installed in a "permitted" remodel of a bathroom where the tub supply fixtures were installed at the opposite end of the tub from the drain. Use of the shower might be acceptable but certainly use of the tub would not be the best arrangement. Perhaps the tub was … (18 comments)
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plumbing: Water pipes make a good ground? - 01/09/08 10:16 AM
Low voltage utilities (like cable, security, and phone) ground their systems to the Home's electrical system ground. While the low voltage electrical components of these systems are NOT typically inspected according to most Standards of Practice, I do like to verify location and appropriateness of the grounding of these systems. The picture below shows the location of the phone company ground installed at a water pipe in the basement----a very typical location. Other locations might be at the meter base outside the home or at the metal conduit of the incoming electrical service to the home. Sometimes these systems are … (5 comments)
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plumbing: Electrolysis for Plumbers! - 01/07/08 03:43 PM
There are many components in the home that are damaged by "electrolysis." One type is pictured here. Electrolysis happens when dissimilar metals come in contact with each other (it makes the manufacture of aluminum and hydrogen fuel cells possible---among other things). If there is enough of a charge the metals can be damaged. In this case, the iron hanger wire is corroding where it is in contact with the copper pipe. Originally this wire hanger was copper-plated. In the picture one can see the lump of solder where the plumber had soldered the copper coated wire to the pipe. This … (7 comments)
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plumbing: Coffee, Tea or........ - 01/02/08 09:57 AM
Following the theme of my last blog about Whirlpool Baths, another issue that can sometimes gross out the buyer is when the sink faucet delivers "coffee" instead of water. This condition is usually a sign that the home has older galvanized type pipes and the fixture hasn't been used in a while. All homes with old galvanized pipes will deliver rusty water if they are not used for a period of time. If the faucets are used every day the rust in the water just isn't noticeable. Rusty pipes are not considered a health safety issue---but coffee-water can be quite … (1 comments)
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