Thread: JIMINEY CRICKET

hi all

up on the roof today and found this interesting chimney cricket. i guess he told the client-yes i put a cricket up there---it's called jiminey cricket--i am in colorado-so it doesn't snow or rain here--yeah right,,what do you think
charlie

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Huh???

Looks like a simple diverter to me.

huh???

look at the picture-right or wrong

WRONG

Yeah, c'mon Bruce. Look at the picture. Can't you understand when somebody asks an open ended question that it really means they want a close ended response?

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

huh???

look at the picture-right or wrong

Charlie. You can not be serious. You know that is not a cricket. Recommend one and move on.

david i did recommend roofer evaluate,,but what a funny picture and waste of time by the last roofer--took him time to make that thing
charlie

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

david i did recommend roofer evaluate,,but what a funny picture and waste of time by the last roofer--took him time to make that thing
charlie

Took him 2 seconds to nail that thing to the roof. Buy the way the exposed nails are a leak point.

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

i did recommend roofer evaluate,

Charlie,

You know that is wrong ... right?

Yet you left the door open for the roofer to come back and say 'I don't see anything wrong', could be the same roofer who installed that 'diverter'.

You did not do you clients any favors by "recommend roofer evaluate", you actually did them a disservice.

You just have just come right out and said 'The chimney is over 30" wide and REQUIRES a cricket, no cricket was installed. Someone installed a couple of upside down drip edge pieces to act as a diverter, but all that did was add more holes through the shingles to leak.'

After all, that is our job, what our clients hired us to do.

jerry
that is exactly how i wrote it up--"chimney is over 30" wide and requires a cricket,recommend roofer evaluate and repair.---i sure did know it was wrong--just wanted to share picture with all
thanks
charlie

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

jerry
that is exactly how i wrote it up--"chimney is over 30" wide and requires a cricket,recommend roofer evaluate and repair.---i sure did know it was wrong--just wanted to share picture with all
thanks
charlie

Charlie,

There it is again ... "recommend roofer evaluate" ... that leaves the door open for the roofer to say "She looks fine to me."

Charlie,

We see some very poor work out there. Thanks for sharing your find with us.

hey all
just got the complaints on my report from seller on the chimney cricket,,plus other items i wrote up--seller said why didn't this show up on his inspection report four year's ago

1] radon levels avg--8.8 picocuries---he said his were below epa standards
2] dishwasher controlled by kitchen switch-which is bizarre---i have always had to guess fifty fifty which switch to left or right of kitchen sink was disposal or over head sink light---this time when i turned off left switch it turned off the dishwasher--what the heck-have you ever seen this--unusual i think
3] missing chimney cricket

wonder if last inspector did what i did and dragged my little giant from lower level by myself to upper roof to look at chimney---guess not--do you all drag your ladder up by yoursef or write it up as roof inaccessable because of elevation and height---i did have help from client in lifting ladder because he wan't to come on roof---but made him sign agreement that i was not liable if he fell off or injuries

what do you all do
thanks
charlie

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

...-do you all drag your ladder up by yourself...

Yah, I do it all the time, only it isn't one of them high falutin' Little Giants, it's just a folding 12 foot Werner.
I avoid getting the 28 foot extension ladder out whenever possible due to congenital laziness.

hey all
sorry long day fat fingers--here is the roof photo---told my client and his agent----my report is what i found---can't be responcible for what last inspector found

hey john
love my litle giant--and thats my ladder--but it is heavy as all $%^&-
use to carry along a fiberglass ten footer--for this purpose,,will start carting that again
thanks

I see switches to dishwashers all the time. Most new homes I inspect have one. Other than safety for when someone pulls it out and the power is already off it also keeps kids from hitting the dishwasher button and turning it on. Great idea.
By the way the first time I ever saw it a long time ago I did not figure the switch out. I did not know what it went to until I tried the dishwasher and it did not work. Ding Ding Ding

As far as dragging a ladder up on a roof to get further up the roof to get to the chimney. Seriously. Wouldn't you rather be able to go to do another inspection and make more money instead of the very possible be in traction, or a broken neck, or dead.

The roof was inaccessible. You don't drag a ladder up a roof to place the ladder on a sloped roof to maybe come down a whole lot quicker than you went up.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

...The roof was inaccessible..

Seriously? Around here, if you don't get up on a roof like the one in Charlie's photo, you need to be in another line of work. The only reason I would use a small ladder and then pull it up and get on the upper roof, is so I could walk around on the lower roof first. Otherwise I'd have to haul out the previously mentioned 28 footer. And I am not macho in the least about walking on roofs. Plenty of home inspectors around here carry 32 footers and think I'm a wimp.

Yes I just actually enlarged charlies photo up and realized it was a wimpy roof. I would have went on that but gees you could see all of the upper roof by standing on the lower roof unless it is an optical allusion.

As far as a 28 to 30 foot ladder. I do not do that. One reason is that any roof around here that is that high has a serious pitch and I can see every single shingle tab with my powerful binoculars. There is no reason to get up there.

john
you need to PUMP it up buddy---but your right i'm 60 years oLD---if client wasn't there i probable wouldn't have done it---and the missing cricket again wouldn't have been found----another moment as a home inspector that i felt like i did a great job and was again a hero---and heros instead of villians -we are many times over
charlie

ted
i'm 6' 3" and could not even jump on roof--so needed another ladder----probable why last inspector didn't make the effort---and isn't that why we want to be the chosen hi---going the extra leap on the roof--beam me up scotty
charlie

I'm 56 with a bad back, which is why I use the folding ladder when I can.
On that roof you showed, I would straddle the lower ridge with the folding ladder and get up on the upper roof at the gable end. I try to avoid placing the ladder on a slope, but it can be done under the right circumstances.

Bunch of old farts. At 54 and two back operations I feel like a spring chicken. Gees, 56 and 60 you folks might as well just stop breathing and give us young folks the air

Originally Posted by John Arnold

Seriously? Around here, if you don't get up on a roof like the one in Charlie's photo, you need to be in another line of work.

You said it John. When I see a roof like that, it's a plus. My 12.5' Xtend n' Climb ladder is all I need for a roof like that.

To each their own and you need to do what you feel safe and comfortable doing. But I've seen way too many things while walking roofs to ever think I could do an adequate job inspecting them from ground level only.

Originally Posted by John Arnold

I try to avoid placing the ladder on a slope, but it can be done under the right circumstances.

John, look into ladder leveling feet if you don't already have them. I've got them on my 32' extension ladder and they keep the ladder straight even on the streets of Manayunk and Roxborough.

Sorry you brave feel good heroes. This is the type of roof I am talking about.

I look at these from the ground. I get on the littel roofs.

ted
i see those type of roofs here in colorado and my farts are wet ones --get out the binoculars and off to the garage--we HI are the new super heros--wonder if they will make a movie out of us---at sixty i'll be sean connors--supper agent0060
charlie
that fart stinks

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

. . . seller said why didn't this show up on his inspection report four year's ago

1] radon levels avg--8.8 picocuries---he said his were below epa standards

Did you tell the seller that BOTH radon measurements may be correct?

As you probably know, radon levels in a house are constantly fluctuating so the measured radon concentration in a particular home during one two-day period may be completely different from the measured radon concentration during another two-day period. Short-term testing is fine but it is only an indication of the home's potential for a radon problem. That's why long-term testing is so much more useful.

bruce
yes i did--gave them the epa guide book and god's blessing-and many web sites--bruce they just don't get it--you know that
charlie

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

. . . they just don't get it--you know that

Yes, I do. But I use that as an opportunity to educate them. However, some people simply are incapable of understanding or are not receptive.

I would just grab onto the rake edge and swing myself up-- for me it's faster and safer than using a second ladder.
Just figured I would throw out an alternative for some people

I would always either use a second ladder, or leap frog one ladder up to the roof to access the second roof.

I bought my Telesteps ladder for that reason, but after using it a couple of times, then using it once stretched out all the way to reach the higher roof, I just did not feel safe on that wet noodle thing called a ladder - so I wen back to leap frogging my Little Giant up.

I would set the second ladder over the ridge, never had a problem that way.

At first, I would set it on a slope roof, then it slipped a few feet as I was getting off after having been on the higher roof, and then and there I said 'NO MORE OF THAT SH*T'. I was only about two steps up on the ladder above the lower roof, but when that ladder slips and you know you are already one-roof-up, that just ain't no fun.

After that, only-if-there-was-a-ridge-to-straddle ...

As far as lifting myself up, if it was waist height or lower, I did it, but even at waist height getting back down was a challenge when the roof below was 7/12 and sloping away from you. There is really not much to grab on to, you are at your bodies balance point, and you are trying to feel the roof below while inching backward, knowing that *someplace down there* is a roof you *should be able to* touch with your toes ... *someplace* ... I never liked doing that either.

Once, (*once*) I set my ladder up to an inside corner at a townhouse with a flat roof (no overhang) and my ladder was 3 feet short, so I went up, grabbed onto the roof and shimmied up - no problem. Trying to make myself slip of the edge and feel for my ladder 3 feet down, trying to find the top of the rail, that was bad enough, then trying to stretch out another foot and feel the top rung, that was too much - never ever did that again.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

Sorry you brave feel good heroes. This is the type of roof I am talking about.

I look at these from the ground. I get on the littel roofs.

Super hero Batman Nick would be up on that roof in a flash.

LOL!!! That's a good one Dave. Admittedly, I have done some stupid things to get up on roofs I had no business being on and I am now wiser for the experience. When it comes to roofs, my primary concern is being able to drive home at the end of the day and see my family.

Nick

Now why didnt I say just that. I think that would have been much easier than the wimpy roof and big roof thing.

For those of you that haven't experienced life to it's fullest, let me tell you life can hurt sometimes.

I have shattered my right shoulder. Broke my right arm in half at the elbow. Crushed my right foot twice. Broke my left arm in three places.

If you have experienced any of this you will know when to play it safe and when there is not the need. Hero, hmmm, most true heroes I have known are dead or have been close to it. Try not to think of being the hero so much. Most heroes paid a serious price to be called such. Being a home inspector does not fall into that category.

Thanks Nick

Well put

Quick edit. Have had 2 back operations

I call that a cake walk roof. I'll get on a roof and walk it up to a 10/12. I"ll go up 12/12 if there is valleys to walk up. But then I was a roofer for 25 years also..............

If you have a couch cushion you can go straight up a side of a 10/12 and the cushion will hold you. But if you never been a roofer I would not try it unless you have a video for us to watch you on you tube for the fall.

Ted's pic I have a bucket truck for that one. Those eyebrow roofs are ones that need to be looked at closely.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

...Hero, hmmm, most true heroes I have known are dead or have been close to it. Try not to think of being the hero so much. Most heroes paid a serious price to be called such.

These days everybody is a hero. The word is so overused, it's now meaningless.

Originally Posted by Mike Schulz

I call that a cake walk roof. I'll get on a roof and walk it up to a 10/12. I"ll go up 12/12 if there is valleys to walk up. But then I was a roofer for 25 years also..............

If you have a couch cushion you can go straight up a side of a 10/12 and the cushion will hold you. But if you never been a roofer I would not try it unless you have a video for us to watch you on you tube for the fall.

Ted's pic I have a bucket truck for that one. Those eyebrow roofs are ones that need to be looked at closely.

I did use my gorilla ladder to look at a good portion of the roof, especially the eyebrows. It was maxed out and I did not like the straight up ladder thing. Gets your knees a little shaky. Remind me not to listen to you folks on this subject. The next day after my posts I did a larger home with a 10 or so. It sloped all the way down to the top of the first story in the rear. Well like an idiot I got up on the low spot, nothing to it. Scampered up to the very long slope to the top, not bad. Standing at the peak I suddenly realized, you stupid fool. Very slow time going down, muscles tight all the way down. Got off the ladder and received a phone call. As I was holding the phone my hand was shaking. Not scared or nervous, it was from being tightened up down that long slope. No, I am not getting up the steeps ones anymore.

And yes, I have been on roofs all my life. The brain has great respect for the what ifs lately. Wanted to see the back of the chimney. The only item I could not see from the ground.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

I did use my gorilla ladder to look at a good portion of the roof, especially the eyebrows. It was maxed out and I did not like the straight up ladder thing. Gets your knees a little shaky. Remind me not to listen to you folks on this subject. The next day after my posts I did a larger home with a 10 or so. It sloped all the way down to the top of the first story in the rear. Well like an idiot I got up on the low spot, nothing to it. Scampered up to the very long slope to the top, not bad. Standing at the peak I suddenly realized, you stupid fool. Very slow time going down, muscles tight all the way down. Got off the ladder and received a phone call. As I was holding the phone my hand was shaking. Not scared or nervous, it was from being tightened up down that long slope. No, I am not getting up the steeps ones anymore.

And yes, I have been on roofs all my life. The brain has great respect for the what ifs lately. Wanted to see the back of the chimney. The only item I could not see from the ground.

Always easy going up. Coming down is the hard part.

Being a chimney guy is hard compared to you guys, we carry a 40 foot 300lb ladders of every truck, and we have a 50 foot ladder for big houses, if you need the 50 footer let me know I will lend it to you. lol
Isn't cricket a sport played by gentlemen.

Kevin T Stewart
F.I.R.E. EDC


PS I'm a Brit

Originally Posted by Kevin Stewart

-- if you need the 50 footer let me know I will lend it to you. lol


Kevin T Stewart
F.I.R.E. EDC


PS I'm a Brit

.

Would you set it Up for Me ?

( My Chiropractor is very strict about such things. )

Originally Posted by Billy Stephens

Would you set it Up for Me ?

Sure ... place key in ignition ... back into driveway ... swing arm to side and lower bucket, climb in ...

... or ...

(if you don't mind swinging from a basket with a noisy whup-whup-whup above you)