This is a Federal Pacific breaker panel. This box was recommended for replacement. FP has a long history of breaker panels catching fire and has been under investigation for years for their lack of UL approved panels. This box also has a double tap. All were referred to a qualified Electrician. http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News-Releases/1983/Commission-Closes-Investigation-Of-FPE-Circuit-Breakers-And-Provides-Safety-Information-For-Consumers/
This a bathroom vent that exits inside the attic. This vent should be run to the outside of the home. This vent was referred to a qualified contractor.
This photo shows a considerable amount of condensation damage to the underside of the roof sheathing. I believe this is the result of excessive amounts of warm air leaking into the attic from the home and condensing on the sheathing at the point where the coldest air is entering, at the insulation stops.
The attic’s access hatch does not seal properly when in the closed position. This can result in energy loss (heat or cool) from the house, due to the chimney effect of the air flowing through the opening/s at the sides of the access hatch(door). Recommend adjusting access hatch so that it seals properly, to minimize energy losses.
http://www.reporthost.com/Carolinasenergy/andrew1102/A5E4B752-C50E-444B-B862-B00CAF8D67DF.jpg
Hello All
Garage Door Electric Eye
This safety feature prevents stops the garage door once interrupted by any object
Basement Wall PE Vapour Retarder/ Insulation Basement Tar Coating
The Builder put the insulation ,PE and tar coating …adding the Dry Wall is a
must !!
Very useful in Edmonton cold weather ,I also use the Furnace Fan in the summer !
Regards
Waiel Hasan
starting
Hello everyone, I am about to get started.
Garage door electronic safety stop does not work! This can result in a serious.
http://www.nachi.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=101030&thumb=1&d=1441299028
[FONT="]Limited inspection of the wood above the foundation wall reveals some evidence of moisture intrusion this is a possible result of 6”Lug bolts being removed from the exterior wall holding previous attached i.e. porch and leaving the holes exposed to the environment. The accumulating snow and ice against the exterior wall being introduced to the interior. Recommend further evaluation of the structure by contractor or structural engineer and repair as needed.
http://www.nachi.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=101032&thumb=1&d=1441299420
http://www.nachi.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=101033&thumb=1&d=1441299452
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[FONT="] [FONT="]The attic’s access hatch (attic used as storage) has not been replaced properly by the previous owner. The air flowing thru the side of the opening of the access hatch may result in (heat or cool) energy loss from the house. The access hatch should always be sealed properly so to minimize energy loss.
http://www.nachi.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=101034&thumb=1&d=1441299554
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[FONT="] [FONT="]Blockage in kitchen vent
Ventilation and moisture control and a possible fire hazard.
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[/FONT] Attached Thumbnails http://www.nachi.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=101031&stc=1&thumb=1&d=1441299219
From InterNACHI Inspection Forum - Reply to Topic http://www.nachi.org/forum/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=61228#ixzz3khDrQHlX
I inspected the attic access panel at the home on 148 E. Floyd.
The panel door is made of Plywood (1/2" ) and is baccked with glued on R-19. However there is a large gap which is causing hot leakage into the habitable space below. It should be sealed.
Having issues uploading a pic. So sending without
I read an article on Attic pull down ladders.
In many cases these ladders are not installed by a professional and several serious defects are common.Namely:
1.A main truss is cut to facilitate the location of the ladder. This is a serious structural issue
2.Poor fastening techniques and lack of proper fasteners
3.Lack of insulation on top side of ladder
4.Ladder cut to short at installation
5. Ladder has broken steps
It is of utmost importance for the safety of the homeowner that a professional install the attic ladder and all manufacturer instructions are followed carefully.
Mark Fojo
For this assignment I decide to talk about the attic entrance. The attic entrance is a very important part of the house in many ways. There are two pictures attached that shows common problems with the attic entrance that will affect the structure of the attic, the insulation of the house and energy loss. This attic entrance was installed by the previous owner of these house. When the stair was installed the main frame if the structure attached to the attic opening have different measurements. The attic opening is wider than the structure support frame. To adjust this space he place a wood spacer fastened with nails that are popping out. Whith the usage of this wrong installe stair the heat from the attic ruhe whole frame is starting to fail in every side of it. Damages report: stair frame is loosing fastening and becoming a hazard for the operator. The frame of the attic door is starting to separate and changing its original dimensions. The frame and attic door have a gap that in promoting insulation deficiency between the attic and the house. The gap is causing the heat from the attic promotes temperature exchange with heat intrusion and causing energy loss. The temperature exchange also promotes humidity by condensation in the area.
Hello all,
The article I chose to read and wite about is "French Drain Inspection"Sorry if it’s long but frankly I enjoyed it.
French Drain Inspection
Water management is a concern to most inspectors and this is one type I felt is typically located underground and not visible. However this method of preventing flooding may in case create one on a property because French drains may fail thus introducing moisture to the interior of the ome and can contribute to settling of foundations and possible cracks can be seen created.
The basic parts to this is: perforated piping, called weeping tile and gravel which is laid on top to allow water only to be caught by the pipe and sent away Gutter downspouts from a home’s roof may empty directly into a French drain which is why this needs to be looked at system to alleviate flooding due to excess rainfall. Because in some places or seasons there can be a significant amount of water to be redirected. They are an appropriate method of draining water logged soil, standing water and prevent a sloping introducing water to a home.
Advantages to this system is: to channel water away from a home, Lawns can be used as gardens and play areas are useful and they are inexpensive to install.
The disadvantage is, since you must dig to install this you are to be causes and avoid water, power or communications lines that may be buried. So you should as a pre install “call your municipality always before you dig”.
What to look for in a inspection:
That water is not flowing to adjoining properties and the water is not contaminated. French drain fails also failing to divert water. Look for clogging and replacement of the fabric. Depending on the volume, the pipe may be to small. A 1% slope should be enough for the water.
If a sump pump system is present a underground French drain may be present around of the interior dwelling. If a flood occurs and the water in the basement is not forced away from the home. A qualified professional should be called for this.
A French drain is an effective way to manage water away from your home and possible flooding, but they can clog and require maintenance or repair.
Sebastian Meli
Judge and Jury
Home Inspections
From InterNACHI Inspection Forum - Reply to Topic http://www.nachi.org/forum/newreply.php?do=postreply&t=61228#ixzz3kicDEWod
I decided to do a crawl space inspection. As you can see there’s no vapor retarder the client was advised to have a vapor retarder installed with a minimum of .6 mill polyethylene. The insulation was falling in places. The client was advised to contact a professional insulation installer to have this corrected.
this stair system has many flaws I know but .the rise is a consistent 7 inches and and the treads are a consistent 12 inches ,well with in reason.they are attached at the wall with a 2x4 ledger board and a ledger at the base, and the string attached to the wall with a knee wall about half way. The hand rail is severely lacking bandstand at wall needs to be secured in at nvm least 2 more places. on the open side needs a suitable banister 1 1/2 inch to 2 inch wide and ballets spaced properly no more than 4 inches between.
Hello all,
The second article I chose to read and wite about is " Inspect, Identify and Describe a Furnace”
"Sorry if it’s long but I thought it was important to not miss anything” I enjoyed it.****
Inspecting Furnaces
Inspect, Identify and Describe a Furnace
“According to the InterNACHI Residential Standards of Practice, a home inspection is a non-invasive, visual examination of a residential dwelling that is designed to identify observed material defects within specific components of that dwelling. Part of the home inspection includes the inspection, identification and description of the heating system, identification/type, how it operates, maintenance and problems”.
The inspector must be able to thoroughly examine a heating system, understand how a particular heating system operates, and analyze and draw conclusions as to its apparent condition. An inspector should also be able to justify his/her observations, opinions and recommendations that were written in the inspection report.
Furnace Fundamentals
The capacity or BTU of the inspected heating system is not required to be reported but this is at your discursion to do so.
The definition of a furnace is a complete heating unit converting fuel to heat/self enclosed unit burning fuel for heat with combusting to the air. So there is a fuel being used and heat is produced to the interior of the home by warm air.
A central heating systems used forced air thru ducts or pipes to travel through out the house.In addition there are furnaces that have no distribution system but heat the location they are in. There are several ways to identify the type of furnace: for example fuel type, distribution, airflow, gravity or forced, efficiency; and ignition.
Based on fuel type you can classify a furnace as follows: gas, oil, coal, wool, multi fuel and electric. Fossil fuels are used to produce combustion in the first five types. These heating methods to deliver the heat will be gravity and forced air methods. Where the forced air is more commonly used today.
There are three types of forced warm-air furnaces related to airflow and they are: upflow (highboy or lowboy, down flow; and horizontal. These are terms used by the manufactures in there various manuals…
The upflow highboy furnace, characteristic is the warm-air discharges out of the top. The return-air inlet is located at the bottom or sides of the furnace. A cooling unit is often added to the top of an upflow furnace. A upflow highboy furnace stands 6 feet and a floor space of 6 square feet.
The upflow lowboy furnace, characteristic is for low clearences. The warm-air outlet and return-air inlet are located at the top of the furnace. Typically located in the basement with the ducts.
Downflow or counterflow or also known as downdraft furnace the warm air isdischarged out from the bottom and the return air from the top. This is used when the duct or pipe distribution system is below the furnace. For example the ducts might be embedded in a concrete floor slab or suspended in a crawlspace below the heating unit. The dimensions are the same as the upflow, but the warm-air outlet is located at the bottom instead of the top.
A horizontal furnace is designed primarily for installations with low, restricted space, such as a crawlspace or attic. A typical horizontal furnace is about 2 feet wide by 2 feet tall, and 5 feet long.
A gravity warm-air furnace uses the principals of gravity as warm air rises. Warm air rises through ducts or pipes. The cooler and heavier then drops down thru the return registers to the furnace. The air is circulated through the house in this manner. Gravity warm-air furnaces were described as “octopus” furnaces because of its appearance with all of the pipes coming out of the centrally located heating unit. Most of these gravity furnaces are obsolete and at the end of their life expectancy.These gravity furnace can be described as a gravity warm-air furnace without a fan, gravity warm-air furnace with an integral fan; or a gravity warm-air furnace with a booster fan.
A gravity warm-air furnace without a fan relies entirely on gravity this is not efficient. The airflow is slow and controlling the heat to the various rooms is not consistent. At time a fan can be install in the duct to increase the air flow. A booster fan is installed to do the same, but does not interfere with air circulation when it is not in use. A booster fan might be a belt-driven fan unit, resting on the floor and attached to the outside of the heating unit. Space heaters operate using the same principles of gravity.
Gas furnaces can be classified by the direction of the air flowing through the heating unit, the heating efficiency of the unit; and the type of ignition system installed on the unit .
To identify and describe a gas furnace is by the direction of the air flowing through the heating unit, or the location of the warm-air outlet and the return-air inlet on the furnace. One way to identify and describe a gas furnace is by the direction of the air flowing through the heating unit, or the location of the warm-air outlet and the return-air inlet on the furnace. Gas furnaces can be described as upflow, downflow (counterflow), highboy, lowboy, and horizontal flow. Air can flow up through the furnace (upflow), down through the furnace (downflow), or across the furnace (horizontal). “The arrangement of the furnace should not significantly affect its operation, or your inspection”.
A furnace capacity can be described by BTU output which is the amount of heat the unit needs to produce to replace heat loss and provide the occupants a good comfort level.
Furnaces can be identified and described by heating efficiency. This is measured by its annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE). The higher the rating, the more efficient the furnace. A minimum rating for furnaces of 78%. Mid-efficiency furnaces have AFUE ratings from 78 to 82%. High-efficiency furnaces have AFUE ratings from 88 to 97%. pilot gas furnaces have AFUE ratings from 60 to 65%. Gravity warm-air furnaces might have efficiencies lower than 60%.
One cubic foot of natural gas contains about 1,000 BTUs. A gas furnace that fires at a rate of 100,000 BTUs per hour will burn about 100 cubic feet of gas every hour.
Furnaces typically do not operate as efficiently as they start up and cool down. As a result, steady state efficiency is not as reliable an indicator of the overall efficiency of your furnace.
The AFUE is the most widely used measure of a furnace’s heating efficiency It measures the amount of heat delivered to your house compared to the amount of fuel that must be supplied to the furnace. Thus, a furnace that has an 80% AFUE rating converts 80% of the fuel that is supplied to heat. The other 20% is lost and wasted. AFUE refers only to the unit’s fuel efficiency, not its electricity usage. All furnaces sold in the U.S. must have a minimum AFUE of 78%, beginning January 1, 1992. Mobile home furnaces are required to have a minimum AFUE of 75%.
The types of ignition systems are: standing-pilot, intermittent-pilot or direct-spark; and hot-surface ignition. The older gas furnaces have a standing-pilot light that is always burning. Modern furnaces with higher efficiency ratings are slowly replacing these older, conventional gas furnaces.
A standing-pilot gas furnace ( most often used)is equipped with a naturally aspirating gas burner, a draft hood, a solenoid-operated main gas valve, a continuously operating pilot light (standing- pilot), a thermocouple safety device, a 24-volt AC transformer, a heat exchanger, a blower and motor assembly, and one or more air filters. The standing-pilot is the main distinguishing characteristic of the low-efficiency conventional gas furnace.
A mid-efficiency gas furnace is equipped with naturally aspirating gas burner and a pilot light. A standing-pilot does not run continuously. The pilot light is shut off when the furnace is not in operation (when the thermostat is not calling for heat). The heat exchanger is more efficient than one inside a conventional furnace. There is no draft hood. There may be a small fan installed in the flue pipe to create an induced draft, so these furnaces are sometimes referred to as induced-draft furnaces. The equipped with automatic controls, blower and motor assembly, venting, and air filtering. A mid-efficiency furnace is about 20% more energy-efficient than a conventional gas furnace. A mid-efficiency furnace has an AFUE rating of 78 to 82%. The intermittent-pilot is the main distinguishing characteristic.
High-efficiency gas furnaces have AFUE ratings of 90%and greater. A solid-state control board controls the ignition. There is no continuous pilot light. There are two or sometimes three heat exchangers installed inside a high-efficiency gas furnace. Condensate is produced when heat is extracted from the flue gases. The temperature of the flue gases is low enough to use a PVC pipe as the vent exhaust pipe. There is no need to vent the exhaust gases up a chimney stack. There are two different types of high-efficiency furnaces: One with an intermittent-pilot or direct-spark; and one with a hot-surface ignition system
The production of excessive condensate is the main distinguishing characteristic.
The inspector is required to inspect the heating systems using normal operating controls, and describe the energy source and heating method. The inspector’s report shall describe and identify, in written format, the inspected heating system, and shall identify material defects observed.
Sebastian Meli
Judge and Jury
Home Inspections
The ceiling on this older manufactured home had a sagging ceiling. The exterior view of the roof planes also showed clearly visible sagging. It was recommended to have the roof system replaced by a qualified roofing contractor.
:)This image is an inspection of a stairway case. The landing step is approximately 48 inches, the additional step above the landing is 40 1/2 inches wide. The rest of the steps are a standard 36 1/2 wide. Also the rise of the steps are 7 3/4. Notice to the left of the wall there is a 3 way switch to turn on the light.
The handrails are 32 inches tall from the top of the stairs to the bottom. The additional step is wider so people keep from tripping off the edge. Also the ceiling height is 7 foot tall so plenty of headroom.
This wall was originally built with a vapor barrier that was found to have mold growing within the wall on the exterior side of the vapor barrier. This was incorrect due to the high humidity climate. After removing the vapor barrier(plastic sheeting), the wall was then reconstructed with added fiberglass batt insulation. Notice the insulation was installed in such a manner as to appropriately cover the interior of the wall studs to minimize any chance of thermal bridging.
Insulation R-value
The R-value is the measurement of thermal resistance of a given material. The Dept. of Energy (DOE), has implemented standards in relation to R-value’s of new and existing residential construction. As an inspector it would be important to have access to that information in order to inform clients as discussions arise.
Fiberglass Insulation
Fiberglass is used in many areas of manufacturing. It has insulation characteristics that minimize the movement of air. Fiberglass insulation batts are used to insulate walls and other areas of a home. Working with fiberglass can be a potential health risk especially if the fiberglass is disturbed and small particulates are dislodged and become airborne. As an inspector I’ll be sure to have the proper PPE when working in an area with fiberglass insulation.