1. Massachusetts Home Inspections
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link] If it's a professional Board Certified Master Inspector® you are seeking, you've come to the right place. My name is David Valley and I am the founder of Massachusetts Home Inspections, which is located in North Andover and Methuen, Massachusetts.
Aluminum wiring with AFCI breakers posted on May 08, 2008 08:50:46 pm Inspected this house today and the seller has had the sub panel (15 and 20 amp circuits) replaced and the new panel now has every circuit on AFCI breakers. House is wired with aluminum wire. Will this panel be protecting all aluminum circuits throughout the house properly? I have never seen this before.
Also, some of the older receptacles were not CO/ALR and the aluminum wires have been pigtailed with copper using lavender wire connectors. I now these connectors are not quite safe and other type of connectors are recommended. What would be the best way to report on this?
Thank You
Hello to all posted on May 08, 2008 08:13:15 pm Just wanted to say hello to everyone and I hope to learn new ideas and views.
How much lean is acceptable on a Condenser ? See the photos posted on May 08, 2008 07:26:24 pm How much lean is acceptable on a Condenser ? (See the photos). Iwrote both of these up. Both generally appeared to be more than 15 degrees out of level and or close to a problem. What do you guys think ?
a couple of questions from the new home inspector posted on May 08, 2008 02:09:01 pm how do you fix water hammer? is it just in the venting? and the second question, do you have to have a gas shut off in the house??
thanks for any input.
Vent termination posted on May 08, 2008 11:22:00 am Any thoughts on this furnace vent termination. IRC states 12 inches above the door with exhuast directed away from the building. This was a large condo complex and I don't have my UBC book. The furnace is 85,000 btu high efficiency.
Thanks
Mat
FPE and Zinsco Panels posted on May 08, 2008 10:22:19 am Hi guys,
I read some of the threads about Zinsco and FPE panels and I am just looking for some general comments which some of you use or don't use. I would appreciate your comments so I can add some to my canned comments. I figured this would be easier than searching all the old threads and create some new discussion about these manufacturers.
Bob
Reinspection of a deck posted on May 08, 2008 09:57:29 am This is a picture of a reinspection on a deck. All I wanted them to do was to add some joist hangers. Well they did not add the hangers but they did add a few nails!
OSB on top of cedar shake roof posted on May 08, 2008 07:16:26 am I have a home being rehabbed. After peeling back 3 layers of asphalt composition shingles, the original roof is cedar shake. Rafters are 24" on center (real 2x6 rough cut - old 1920's home). There are firring strips that were installed onto the cedar shake to provide a level surface to install the comp shingles.
I am looking at two scenarios: (a) leave the cedar shake installed with firring strips and install 5/8" OSB on top of this, then install new 30-year architectural shingle roof or (b) complete tear-off down to the rafters and install 3/4" Plywood for support and install new roof.
The only concern I have with option "a" is using long enough nails to properly secure OSB sheathing to rafters and dealing with valleys (uneven surface after sheathing put on top of shake. I am thinking rolled paper thickness can compensate for this.
All thoughts appreciated.
fireblocking at laundry chute posted on May 08, 2008 05:41:57 am 1969 home yesterday, I wrote up a laundry chute from the 2nd floor to the basement (12' from top of chute to bottom, ~20' from top of chute to basement floor) as a violation of required fire blocking. The laundry chute was actually a metal 4x16 between stud heating duct open at the wall on top and through the bottom to the basement and had a hinged plywood door at the top that swung out into the room.
I know that fireblocking is required every 10 feet, but is this being too picky?
Would the duct be considered fireblocking within the wall itself, even if it is in contact with wood?
bulldog push matic posted on May 08, 2008 05:36:40 am I believe this is fused? again i did not open it. Any history of concerns with this type main, other than being 45 + yrs old.
What type of roof is this? posted on May 08, 2008 02:01:33 am What type of roof surface is this. I am thinking PVC???
Backdraft Damper?? posted on May 08, 2008 01:57:58 am Multi unit building. This access was above the tub in the bathroom. The label said "Access to Cape Backdraft Damper" What is this? My guess is to prevent backdraft to each unit from multi unit ducts branching into one central trunk? So no smoke can enter this unit in case of a fire / cooking odors, etc???
What is this? posted on May 08, 2008 01:51:43 am It was on the 2nd floor of a 6 story condo building with condensing unit on the roof. This device was attached to the liquid line adjacent to the air handler. My guess is that it prevents too much or regulates pressure since the condensing unit is so high up????
Breakers for air conditioner? posted on May 08, 2008 12:07:48 am Inspected house with two roof top Rheem Rheem AC/Heat Combo Model RRKA-A030JK08E (heat & AC) combo units.
Unit 1 has a 35 AMP (240 VAC 120/120) tied or ganged breaker.
Unit has two separate breakers that are not tied or ganged
15 Amp breaker on Leg 1 (120) and a second 15 Amp breaker on Leg 2 (120).
I believe the Rheem spec for this model is 20 Amp minimum and 30 amp maximum for circuit protection.
Besides being under the minimum (15 amp) size breakers should they be tied.
Charles in Santa Fe
