As a former truck driver, I can attest to the value of three point control when climbing ladders. More than once I was saved from a nasty spill when a foot or two slipped off an oily rung as I climbed into the cab.
Ladder safety begins with the 4 to 1 rule, whereas for every 4’ of height move the base of the ladder out 1’. Once climbing begins the climber should maintain a minimum of 3 points of his body to be in “contact” with the ladder. The 3 points must consist of any combination of feet and hands that total 3, ex. 2 hands, 1 foot; 1 hand, 2 feet. Once contact is made, it in itself is not enough. Hands should have a firm grip on the HORIZONTAL rung of the ladder and feet should be firmly on the rungs as well. A hand should not reach for the next rung until the other hand and both feet are in FIRM AND SECURE contact with other rungs; and a step should not be taken without the other foot and both hands following the same procedure.
While there are more rules for ladder safety, maintaining sufficient Three-Point Control when climbing ladders will lesson the chance of ladder climbing accidents. Staying accident free doesn’t happen by accident.
This is a picture in an attic of pre manufactured roof trusses. There is no apparent sagging of the sheathing or trusses, no trusses are cut or modified, no water marks or signs of past or current leaks, and no cracked trusses.
I read the article about how InterNACHI calculates the credit hours for their online courses. I always assumed it was just an average number of hours that it would take to go thru the course. I never imagined how scientific it really was.
Vertical cracks along the brick / mortar can be an indication of movement. You would need to look for more signs other than a crack to indicate what has happened or is happening to the house. Go inside and look for drywall cracks, look for ceiling cracks in the areas too. All will play a role in telling you what is happening to the house.
Structures on slopes: All buildings should start with a very good surface. Avoid building on steep slopes to lessent the chance of water, mud, surface movement to cause damage to the structure. Structures partially underground will have moderate temperatures and minimize exposure to wind.
I have attached a photo of loose, damaged or missing mortar in the brick veneer at the front of my home. My home is approximately 40 years old and, to my knowledge, there has never been any mortar work done to the brick veneer in that time. It obviously need some work.
I chose an image from the gallery on chimney height as this presented a challenge for me in earlier quit questions. I need to find out how to get the proper measurements on chimney clearance if I do not actually get onto the roof surface.
In this picture you can see that the discharge from the downspout is in line with the foundation. It is recommended that the discharge to be at least finve feet from the foundation of the property. I recommends that an extension be installed via a licensed contractor.
The video in this lesson was eye-opening. I learned a lot about structural issues that coincide with the foundation of the property. I learned how one thing is tied to multiple problems. It is important to look at the exterior of the property to evaluate the possibilities of structural issues inside.
Negative Grading: Grading around the exterior front concrete porch has some negative grading close to the front step. Also noticed that the front concrete steps are pulling away from the main foundation. This not a defect since the stairs are poured independently from the main foundation. May be due to rain coming off roof but may not be an issue now that new gutters are installed. Recommendations; add some fill close to the foundation to gain positive slope away from the house.
Brick Veneer: Many home owners thick that they can just install brick veneer on the from of their house and have it set right on grade without having any type of footings like concrete blocks in the picture or a angle iron attached to foundation. The grade may heave and damaged the brick.
This is a stair step crack. The crack is more than 1/4 inch in width and is on the exterior (brick) surface of the home. I would advise that the client monitor the condition and consult an expert to determine if corrective action is needed.
Collar ties on rafters help prevent rafter spread and distribute the weight of the roof over the span. These members help prevent rafter sag and help rafters not split under the weight of the load of the roof sheathing and exterior roof covering.
The inspector noted a sagging rake on the garage roof, as the attached picture showed. Obviously, the fascia has been repaired recently. Due to the no access to the attic, the condition of the rafters is uncertain. It needed to be evaluated by a licensed professional engineer.
The design of the above-grade structure involves the following structural systems and assemblies:
floors; walls; and roofs.
Structural elements that make up a residential structural system include: bending members; columns; combined bending and axial loaded members; sheathing (i.e., diaphragm); and connections.
Here we see a vertical drywall crack just above the window in my second floor bedroom. It has been there for about 5 years. I have kept my eye on it for further seperation, but it has not moved anymore. My assessment is that is not a structural settlement, and with the exterior being HardiePlank with no evidence of cracking, the interior appears to be free of moisture intrusion.
Hard water is a condition by which high levels of minerals are found in a water supply. It can create issues by way of depositing in water fixtures, blocking flow, and can also create an unsightly ring in water closets and stains in sinks or showers. These can be cleaned easily. Water can be softened by using sodium to trap minerals before going through a plumbing fixture, but may make the water undrinkable due to the high sodium content.
The picture shows a small hairline crack at the corner of a window on a house on a crawlspace. This crack in very small in size and is just probably from normal settlement. No other windows or walls in this area have cracks which also suggest normal minor settlement.
I choose a picture of Masonry Cracking. It shows a house with cracking on the exterior at the door and corner side of house. it also shows what the soil under the house might look like just by what the cracks are telling us. The right side of the house has poor bearing capacity or silty soil. The soil has settled and making the house sink.
Mortar Joint Cracks: I thought this section describing the difference between hairline cracks, and cracks that get wide to narrow on either end can be caused from normal settlement or differential movement. In the past I always assumed that if it followed the mortar joints, it must be a structural concern, but just because it is in the mortar only does not make a difference. Structures will break/crack at their weakest point, and if the mortar is a stronger material than the brick then we would see the cracks in the brick only.
