Jay Markanich

Yes, it's the same, "Must see!", wonderfully "remodeled" kitchen.

This time it's the opposite side.

This view looks behind the new range and exhaust hood combo.

The white hole on the left is behind the new exhaust hood. Apparently some Romex cable was dissected and its guts removed. Those guts were used to connect the exhaust hood to electrical as three individual wires. I was unable to determine where the yellow cable came from. For all I know, it came from the light fixture in the bathroom above the kitchen!

But, hey! AT LEAST ITS GROUNDED!! And wire nuts!

That black cable services the range. It comes through the ceiling inside the wall. I found it in the bathroom closet above, exposed, running through each shelf. From there it goes into the attic, across the house, to the opposite side. It then goes down through bedroom walls, to the furnace room, and across the ceiling and into the panel box.

It is connected to the old range breaker. Many manufacturers now require that new breakers be installed with their new appliances or they will not honor the warranty.

The black cable goes down to the right, through a small hole in the wall and connects to the range outlet. That outlet is on the floor, connected to nothing (it should be secured into a stud on the wall) and the range plug was upside down. There was no anti tip on the range.

BEST OF ALL - see the curtain on the left? This is in a "bedroom" closet fashioned behind the kitchen. This house had 8 wonderful bedrooms. In the back of that closet was a shelf, and behind the shelf that curtain. I looked because I could see the cable coming through the wall behind the range and wanted to see its source.

My recommendation: Don't listen to the wizard. Pay close attention to the man behind the curtain!

Don't touch! The wires might come out, bite you, spark, burn - who knows.

This house boasted yet another "Must See!" remodeled kitchen. New cabinets, new kitchen sink, new appliances including a new disposal and -

OLD WIRING...

You might have noticed that this wiring did not quite reach the new disposal in its previous, more complete form. You know, insulated, together, properly entering the disposal, safely held by a CONNECTOR CLAMP.

Since the cable you see would not reach, it should have been connected to newer wiring inside a box. This junction box should have been secured to the cabinet wall. A newer cable should have come from that box to wire up the new disposal, attached to the drain within 12" of the disposal and secured with a connector clamp.

That's how it would have come with a professionally-done "Must See!" kitchen anyway. This represents one thing that I could see. What about what I couldn't?

Hey, at least this connection appears to be grounded!

Once I reached under a disposal to feel if there was a connector clamp and did not look first. Not only was there no clamp - the wires were twisted together but were not covered with wire nuts. I touched the bare wires... and found out pretty quick just how bare they were! As James Bond said, "shocking..."

My recommendation: Sometimes you should look before you leap. And check out the wiring before you feel for a connector clamp!

This has been blown up so it is a little blurry.

During dinner my wife began having a hot flash.

"Is it a bad one?" I asked. I wanted a thermal image.

"About middle, maybe more, yeah, kind of hot," she said.

"Don't move!" I ran for the camera.

The warmer spots are in yellow. The Max on the left, her hand, is 103.3 degrees Fahrenheit!

Her mouth and neck show yellow spots which are a mere 102.1. Her eyebrows, cheeks, sides of the nose (which look like nostrils but are not nostrils) and throat are cooler, about 101. She is simply hot all over!

THAT is a hot flash!

She went off her hormones a few months ago. They were making her sick.

She is in the process of having hormones created from her DNA which are said to be less dangerous and carcinogenic than the cheap bovine, equine, porcine, lupine, or whatever they are making them from, who knows. But her personal hormones will not be ready until late August. They don't happen overnight.

I can tell you they aren't cheap because they are created by "holistic medicine." Insurance, of course, will not cover anything "holistic." They consider it "experimental." It really is not.

But her new hormones are in process. She waits. In the meantime, maybe I can have more fun with the camera!

So the next time a woman says she is having a hot flash, guess what - she is!

What do you think of my hot wife?

Want to see my arthritic knees?

About four or five times a year I see something that really gets under my skin. Any time people try to fool other people, for what they think might be some form of gain, it gets under my skin.

For many years I have made it a habit to check the ice in an ice maker. I do that because sometimes the ice maker does not work, and sometimes people want me to think that it works.

Such was the case today. I looked into the ice maker bin.

I saw ice.

I saw ice that could not have been made by that particular ice maker.

Look carefully. That ice maker makes the half-moon ice. And the ice in the bin is cylindrical.

That ice was purchased before the inspection and put into the bin to make the buyers and inspector think that the ice maker works.

Later, when the buyers move in, the ice maker will be broken and the bin empty and the sellers, if asked, will simply say, "Gee, it was working fine for us. We're soooo sorry to hear it is broken now. Surprise, surprise, surprise."

When I see phony ice, I have to look at the rest of the house with even more scrutiny because if they are trying to cover up one problem, they will try to cover up others.

They do the phony ice thing because ice makers aren't cheap to replace. And they think they are getting something over on someone else. Why not shift the problem to someone else?

That really gets under my skin. When I see this, I leave my card on the kitchen counter. I write something like, "The ice in the ice maker came from the store. Shame on you," or something like that. Once I taped my card to the ice maker door. My report similarly reflects the fact with a phony-ice comment. Nobody, that is nobody, has called me after the inspection to complain about my card. They have been busted and they know it.

They could have done the too-oft familiar, "Ice maker conveys as is." Which is to say - the ice maker is broken, we know it is broken, but we are selling it to you to make it your problem. Have a nice day...

THAT GETS UNDER MY SKIN TOO!

But, at minimum, it is honest. It is not, however, the Golden Rule. That rule is nearly dead.

My recommendation: Check the ice maker! If the listing material says it conveys, it should be producing the right kind of ice. If it isn't, look at the rest of the house very, very carefully...

The reputation has gotten around that I am the go-to inspector for new construction inspections. I think that has happened because I am good when dealing with buyers and building supervisors. Being in the middle is never a comfortable place to be, but I find myself there a lot and seem to be good at it.

Such was the case recently. I met the buyers, Realtor and supervisor in front of the house. This photo is what we saw as we first walked up the driveway. This kind of thing makes my stomach go uh-oh...

A corner had chipped off the front sidewalk and someone who knows nothing about concrete tried to fix it.

Other words come to mind, but let's just call this "unprofessional."

When I first saw it that cracking was not there. That happened during the inspection when they pressure washed the area! Just the water pressure alone caused this "patch" to break off!

I am italicized. Here is how the inspection started:

This is not the best way to repair this broken sidewalk. It will not last long at all.

Supervisor: Why not? (Now excuse me, if you have to ask that question, you may be in the wrong business...)

Buyer: What should have happened?

The last section of sidewalk should have been cut off and re-poured. And to answer the other question, this is the entrance to the house, this patch sticks out like a sore thumb because it looks infantile, it is an inch thick at best, will not adhere to the original sidewalk and will crack off soon, perhaps as soon as someone steps on it. (Little did I know they were going to pressure wash it and break it off then!)

Supervisor: That's ridiculous! Cutting it off and re-pouring a whole section of sidewalk is a lot of work for such a small area! I've seen concrete fixed like this many times.

Maybe you have. That does not mean it was done correctly. This is not the way to fix it right. Cutting off the end section and re-pouring it is the only way to fix it right. You do want it to last, don't you? I guarantee that Oglethorpe and Volcanica (not the buyer's real names) do.

Supervisor: Well, if the rest of the inspection is going to go like this we are going to have problems!

I'm smiling as I look at him and say: Gee, I hope not! This house is your signature. You do want to DO IT RIGHT, don't you?

Supervisor: How's this. When that cracks we will fix it your way. Is that okay?

Ask your buyer. That isn't up to me. I just call'em like I see'em. I hope Oglethorpe and Volcanica (not their real names) hold you to that promise. You are giving it to them in writing, right?

Buyer: I'd like that in writing, sure!

As I was leaving the pressure wash had already cracked the "repair!" I just went back inside, got the supervisor, Realtor, Oglethorpe and Volcanica (not their real names), took them outside and NOT SAYING A WORD, pointed at the already cracked "repair." I did smile and wink at Oglethorpe (not his real name).

Then I got in my SUV and rode off into the sunset! Have gun, will travel...

My recommendation: Call'em like you see'em.