Why you don't touch things

[mathew stouffer]

I guess this is why you don't touch things when you are asking yourself, is that main loose and just hanging there.:p Yep

[stanley frost]

soooo how much is that going to cost you?

[Jerry Peck]

soooo how much is that going to cost you?

The cost to him should be zip, nada, nuttin', ... :D

[mathew stouffer]

Nothing. Bank owned, POS. Incorrect installation, failed under inspection.

[Dave Wheeler]

WOW that could of cost your client alot of money if you didn't touch it

[Darren Miller]

A couple of years ago, I was in a basement of an older house with an oil fired boiler. I looked under the oil tank and noticed there were stains and what looked like some built-up rust.

I reviewed the finding with my client and the realtor (the realtor being a pretty good guy who looks out for his clients). I told them to get the oil tank checked because of the rust. The realtor asked me if it was leaking; I told him not now, but it probably was and then it sealed itself. He kinda looked at me weird; found a piece of wood and scraped the bottom of the tank.

I guess you figured out what happened next...we all went scrambling for buckets! The realtor called one of his buddies who owned a service station who came over with a screw that had a washer on it and stopped the leak.

I told him, never, ever touch something that looks like it's gonna leak!

[Randy Aldering]

Darren, great story and illustrates just how lacking some people can be in the common sense department. It may be a profession-related flaw. Inspecting a house for a v-e-r-y picky client, I found the main electrical ground disconnected. The real estate agent, a handy guy, went to grab it and reattach it. I reminded him that the last person who works on something usually gets the liability for any thing going wrong. He stopped dead, looked at me, and said: "thanks."

[Dave Wheeler]

What it really boils down to is experience. You have to know what you're looking at and explaining what can happen if anyone attempts to touch it.
You still have to protect your client and yourself from future costly problems.

[Tom King]

We all know these stories and yet there are still agents out there who love the guys who do touch things.

I was at a house with a shut down heating system. Oil fired. The system needed priming in order to start. I have primed my own system and I know just how to do it but on a job...nope. The listing agent blaster me about my unwillingness to fire the system up. The buyer's agent wasn't happy with me. Oh well.

Our job is to observe and report. There are things we operate using normal controls. Once outside that box, you really open youself up to bad things.

[Rich Goeken]

Darren, great story and illustrates just how lacking some people can be in the common sense department. It may be a profession-related flaw. Inspecting a house for a v-e-r-y picky client, I found the main electrical ground disconnected. The real estate agent, a handy guy, went to grab it and reattach it. I reminded him that the last person who works on something usually gets the liability for any thing going wrong. He stopped dead, looked at me, and said: "thanks."

Re-attaching, tightening, or removing the main electrical ground can be a killer! In one new installation that I worked on, the data equipment was noisy. Traced it to the "ground" that had 120 VAC+ between it and the outer sheath of the phone cable (that was also grounded). After running the pole line with the phone company and the electric company-----a loose ground connector at the power substation was found to be the culprit. Because of this I have a very healthy respect for the electrical ground and always treat it as energized. If I saw the ground wire disconnected I would immediately wonder "WHY?", and stand a few feet away! :(

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[Tom King]

This thread reminds me of a guy in the Hartford area. I heard this from the buyer's agent whom I usually work with.

The house had radiators. Old cast iron ones. The upstairs wasn't heating. The guy tries to be everything to everyone....a real hero type. He turns valves and fires up the whole system. Everyone is so thrilled at the time. "Wow, this guy dives in!"

Well, When the house was visited a few days later, you could see ceiling material soaking wet and dropping onto the floor in spots. A real mess.

Hero inspector wanted to be well known for what he could do. He is now.