unprofessional installation: Why This Is Not A Place For Poly Foam Sealant
- 11/11/16 05:56 PM
Why this is not a place for poly foam sealant.
Poly foam is an open-cell foam material that comes with various end results - very expansive to minimally expansive. It's used for weatherization, to seal gaps around windows, doors, siding members, various holes or gaps, vents, and even plumbing, electrical junction boxes, and the like. Poly foam is used anywhere air leakage might result. Very good energy efficiency can be achieved cheaply and easily. Some foams are made for fire blocking applications.
The cans look a lot like shaving cream cans, and come with straws to ease installation. These "canned" foams are ideal … (8 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Making The New Furnace Fit Into The Spot
- 01/11/16 07:47 PM
There were two problems with making the new furnace fit into the spot.
The first was that it was too big to accommodate the exhaust flue!
This exhaust flue was so crushed little holes opened up all over the tubing! A multiplicity of little holes!
Let's see, what do little holes in a gas furnace exhaust flue cause?
Oh, leaking.
When the unit was operating I could feel the air forcefully blowing out.
That "air" contains carbon monoxide.
There was no CO detector nearby!
This unit had been installed last summer, so this was the first winter it is used.
These people are exposed to real danger here. Those unprofessional … (10 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Does This Look Done By Someone With A Mechanical License? A permit?
- 07/26/15 06:01 PM
When I see things like this I have to ask myself - Does this look done by someone with a mechanical license? A permit?
In Virginia, installed chimney connections are to be done by licensed people. Virginia even provides that the person have a mechanical license.
And why not? Chimneys are very important! Chimneys contain and exhaust dangerous heat and gases! The word dangerous is just that. Danger should be treated carefully.
So, when I saw this, I had to ask myself if it looks professional.
What do you think?
Does it look professional?
The tape is a nice idea, but I especially like the use of … (16 comments)
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unprofessional installation: It's Called Kick OUT Flashing For A Reason
- 06/30/15 07:49 PM
It's called kick OUT flashing for a reason. It is supposed to divert, or kick, the water out!
One of the most important things installed on a house - siding and roof - is flashing. It keeps water out!
AND WATER IS THE KILLER OF HOUSES.
This house has James Hardie siding. JH siding has specific installation needs. And their website has dozens of pages and diagrams to show how installation in every instance should be done. The product is very good when installed right. But like most things, when it is installed wrongly it becomes a big problem, and fast.
This is a variation … (12 comments)
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unprofessional installation: My Clients Were Told The Faux Stone Was Finished
- 12/09/14 08:11 PM
This is not unusual - my clients were told the faux stone was finished.
This gap was present all around and all along the front porch.
The front porch is 20' long.
Faux stone comes with VERY SPECIFIC installation requirements.
And the requirements come with extensive diagrams, and funny terms like -
layered resistive barrier
bracelets
holding brackets
weep screeds
backer rods
bedding seal
alternating return
Literally, diagram after diagram after diagram. Looking at just the gaps here I can tell you that this job incorporates very little of what you would see on a diagram. Therefore, it is not a properly-applied faux stone.
But just the gap … (10 comments)
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unprofessional installation: "We Were In Europe." Another Thermal Imaging Story.
- 11/18/14 07:27 PM
When this buyer called me to ask me to do a final inspection on his new house, I asked if he had done a pre-drywall inspection, to which he said, "We were in Europe." Another thermal imaging story.
This is a new home where the buyer was, from the builder's point of view, the bothersome type.
The buyer would often stop by and check on things.
The buyer would often call or email the supervisor.
The buyer would often make sure that things were done on the day the builder said they would be done.
And the buyer was in Europe … (21 comments)
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unprofessional installation: When You Make Repairs, Use The Right Materials!
- 08/23/14 08:58 PM
Not to state the obvious, but when you make repairs, use the right materials!
This is something that I see so often on home inspections. With the availability of so much information available out there regarding home repairs, why is it that so often I see work that is entirely incorrect?
Take this stair tread, for example.
It was exceptionally loose.
And why not.
Can you see what's up?
FIRST, the wood is not a board that has been pressure treated. All outdoor deck materials should be pressure treated. And this board is new. It is Southern Yellow Pine, typically knot … (18 comments)
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unprofessional installation: I Saw Your Dryer Vent Blog
- 07/06/14 07:03 PM
Just an email. "I saw your dryer vent blog and I don't think I have what you say there."
This client, an elderly lady, has a townhouse built in 1972. The dryer always vented through the roof.
The covers are wrong, however, on every townhouse. They are all the low, square vents with slotted screening all around, made for bathroom exhaust fans.
Not surprisingly, everyone was having clogging. Cleaning those screened vents is difficult at best as they have to be removed from the roof.
So, proactively, my client decided to have a proper vent tube put in place and a … (49 comments)
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unprofessional installation: The Stairs Are Wrong, But What's That?
- 06/27/14 07:53 PM
The contractor, of course, said they didn't need a permit, and the stairs are wrong, but what's that?
One should exit the door to a 36" platform, the stairs are not of proper or equal height, there should be two handrails and the stairs cover the siding and rim joist (moisture and termite invitation).
Well, I see that so much lately none of this was a surprise.
But why would solid concrete stairs have a hole in the middle of a stair? What's that?
I sidled up to have a peek inside.
Thinking that surely the cover could be removed … (48 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Can I Suggest A Sad Word With New Construction Inspections? Almost.
- 12/17/13 08:28 PM
Can I suggest a sad word with new construction inspections? Almost.
This builder was very upset with me following an inspection a couple of months ago. And in particular regarding this roof.
The builder even went to the point of calling other professionals and companies to rebut my inspection report.
What happened? The builder ended up doing a whole lot of repairs they did not expect to have to do! The builder was told by these various professionals that they were lucky that I informed them of these various problems, which would have risen up later to bite them badly. And … (63 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Older EIFS In Northern Virginia, With All The Expected Problems
- 11/02/13 10:03 PM
It's not often that I see older EIFS in Northern Virginia, with all the expected problems.
EIFS is an acronym for Exterior Insulation Finish System and it is the generic word used when referring to "synthetic stucco."
The first synthetic stucco used was a Styrofoam product literally glued right to the house. If water got behind, through gaps around windows and doors, the caulked unions between two panels or even cracking, it had no way to evaporate.
When water stands against wood materials it will encourage fungus, rot and microbial growth.
This is a poorly installed window.
It was installed by the … (21 comments)
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unprofessional installation: How To Install, And How NOT To Install, A Bedroom Ceiling Fan Bracket
- 10/05/13 10:56 PM
When you consider how to install, and how not to install, a bedroom ceiling fan bracket, everything has its do-s and don't-s.
This is one of five ceiling fan locations.
They were installed after these folks moved in.
Not having bedroom ceiling fans, these folks opted for the comfort of having them.
In a previous post about electrical usage, ceiling fan installation is a very smart move from a energy-usage point of view.
A ceiling fan lends comfort to a room for very little money, about the equivalent of a 75 watt light bulb!
So, to put one in each bedroom is … (35 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Since They Did This, Our Room Was Cold Last Winter And Hot This Summer
- 09/24/13 09:50 PM
Setting up the inspection, a one-year warranty inspection, my client explained that some lights had been installed in the master bedroom and, "since they did this, our room was cold last winter and hot this summer."
On the final inspection last year I learned that some lights in the master bedroom ceiling had been forgotten by the builder. That is something I would not have known, but put it on their inspection report so they had it in writing. The builder promised to install them and dutifully did.
But there's a hitch!
Mighty Mo found the problem right away. He's good … (50 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Magical Load-Bearing Glass Doors
- 09/01/13 09:20 PM
Every now and then I see what some "contractor" thinks are magical load-bearing glass doors.
How can that be, you ask?
Well, it can't. Just because the NEW WAVE of contractors to flood the repair market think doors are magically load bearing, they are not.
Removing walls and structure to "open up" a room is very popular these days! But structural rules have to be met.
Mother Nature is the cruelest and most impudent enforcer of her own codes than any government or agency.
My post yesterday inspired this post today. We'll see what happens over there.
Well I can show … (23 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Can Air Conditioning (And Heat) Exit Through A Bathroom Vent?
- 07/24/13 07:49 PM
What you say, a final answer to the age-old question - can air conditioning (and heat) exit through a bathroom vent?
Well, in a word YES!
But even if you already knew that, here is proof!
After seeing what is in this photo, I had to prove it to my client.
That bathroom vents its exhaust into the attic space.
You can see that this is a fan added much after the house was built.
During that era, if a bathroom had a window it was not required to have a vent fan.
Someone thought to add it later. You … (40 comments)
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unprofessional installation: An HVAC System Looking To Kill. Really.
- 07/21/13 09:56 PM
I didn't understand this installation from the moment I saw it - it was an HVAC system looking to kill. Really.
This new system was installed in 2011. Not using the grill returns in the ceiling in favor of a new media filter in the unit (those are the 3" or 4" thick ones), in order to get to the filter one had to go up and literally crawl over the unit!
This is one of many views of the unit.
Literally this installer taped, TAPED, the unit to duct work.
Classy, classy job! It represents experience, ability and true customer … (53 comments)
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unprofessional installation: When A Flipped House Boasts New Windows, Beware - And Look Closely!
- 06/20/13 07:42 PM
It sounds like such the tired statement - when a flipped house boasts new windows, beware - and look closely!
If these windows are new (they are wood VERY POORLY covered on the outside with new aluminum wrapping) it is obvious they were not installed properly or professionally.
Just gorgeous.
Installing a window does not simply stick it onto the side of the house.
Installing a window does not "cut and paste" aluminum wrap over what may be an older wood window.
Installing a window does not fill a huge gap with a poor-grade caulking. Caulking should not fill a gap … (18 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Double Trouble Wiring In This Electric Panel Box
- 06/13/13 10:54 PM
As so often is the case on a "remodeled" house, I found double trouble wiring in this electric panel box.
The first had me saying, "Star light, star bright, first star I have ever seen like this one!"
It was five wires all fitted together and connected with electric tape!
That is a first for me.
I was afraid that even blowing on it might loosen one of the wires in the little star!
And the yellow wire adds to the drama as that is a color typically used in commercial applications. I seldom see them used in residential applications.
… (44 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Biff, "Should We Screw It Or Glue It?" Boff, "Aw, ...
- 06/08/13 08:42 PM
I love looking in a bathroom, seeing a creative toilet installation, and imagining the contractor's conversation - Biff, "Should we screw it or glue it?" Boff, "Aw, screw it. Just glue it!"
When you go into a bathroom adorned with new vinyl flooring, and see the toilet set up on shims, with the cap stuck up with a really long screw and the toilet wobbles dramatically, you know you are dealing with creativity!
There's simply no other word for it.
Imagine people using this toilet for a while!
In no time it will be cracked, or leaking, or whatever.
Properly … (21 comments)
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unprofessional installation: Another Of Many Leaks On A One-Year Warranty Inspection
- 05/28/13 09:03 PM
This is just another of many leaks on a one-year warranty inspection.
How can so many leaks happen in just one year?
The answer, of course, can be given in one word -
PROFESSIONALISM.
And when I say professionalism, obviously I mean the lack there of.
When different materials abut, like siding and roofs, there are well-known, tried and true techniques that have been around for many decades, if not centuries, that can permanently close gaps to prevent water penetration.
Why is it so hard to understand then?
Why is it that on one-year inspections so many leaks have opened up?
… (8 comments)
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Why this is not a place for poly foam sealant.
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