My wise ol’ grandmother did that all the time, as did I and everyone else in my family when we were growing up. Also learned how to siphon gas out of a gas tank. Of course, now I resort to GoJo since gas just doesn’t have the same taste as a margarita. :shock:
See definition of “Bubba.” Usually they are found in the Deep South, particularly in rural areas.
Safety concern? Ridiculous.
Southern California Edison has power outages more often than any of my GFCI’s trip. Using that logic, I should write-up the utility company as a “safety concern.”
They are. And you should. I do. And then I introduce my Clients to the latest in flashlights and rechargeable batteries. There are even flashlights that you simply shake back and forth to charge the batteries. Pretty cool.
I don’t neglect safety concerns in any part of the house, and that includes those ol’ utility companies. My Clients even get a picture of what the gas wrench looks like.
Your statement makes me glad that I don’t live anywhere near La-La-Land since SDG&E apparently is much more stable than SCE. Your scenario would encourage me to recommend that my Clients also install a battery backup system, especially for the Santa Ana months.
Remember, your HI job is not to enforce code, just to point out things the customer will hate if he buys the house.
This is why I made the statement that I did in this post I think that Richard should be commended for his thinking and not ridiculed as some seem to be making it look.
Totally agree. I don’t think I could ever be a city code or building inspector. Just too rigid and doesn’t allow for common sense.
I wasn’t ridiculing Richard, just simply pointing out that his statement was inaccurate. He later clarified that he didn’t actually report it as a “violation.”
I’m all for sharing opinions with clients, but it’s important to clarify that is an “opinion,” and should not be reported as a “violation.”
It is my opinion that the installation outlined in the initial post, is not a safety hazard and to report it as such is (IMHO) ridiculous.
However, to report it as a “potential nuisance,” is (IMHO) reasonable.
To try and sum up all of the potential “safety concerns” in every system of the home, based on all possible scenarios would likely scare away anyone from purchasing a home. Next, we would be warning of the dangers of falling roof tiles, because standards don’t require all of them to be nailed/fastened (I know Russell, you probably already cover this, but if not maybe you should) or the fact that you’re in danger of being crushed in your family room if your car is driven through the garage wall - so you should build a concrete firewall.
Where do we draw the line? Building standards give us a pretty good idea.
Ergo, exactly the reason why I left the “home inspection” industry to be a “property consultant,” especially since this state is so ridiculous when it comes to home inspections.
I prefer to go beyond “pretty good.” 
It definitely could. That’s why many people need to be educated about home ownership. Sometimes I think that home ownership should be licensed, just like having babies. Oooooooops. Wait! Having babies doesn’t need to be licensed. Hmmmmmmmm.
I certainly do because of the Santa Ana wind conditions that we occasionally get.
The car won’t be going fast enough to get through the garage wall, so, no, that one doesn’t carry weight. However, when I find a home at the corner of a freeway off-ramp, I do recommend nice trees or a wall on the corner. Our drivers down here like to take the off-ramps too fast and go careening into homes. There was one not too far from me a couple of weeks ago where the car got stuck in the chimney. I went to get my camera and go back, but by then they had it out of the chimney and on the ground.
I’m not sure what the loss of ppower to the garage door opener has to do with the situation. I’ve never seen a modern garage door that could not be opened manually from the inside.
P.S. - I agree the installation is very poor from a practical point of view, but I don’t see it as a code violation. I would simply point out the situation to the client as a situation they may wish to consider changing.