James Quarello - ASHI Certified CT Home Inspector

Does anyone remember that silly movie; actually there were a bunch of sequels, Chuckie. A puppet, Chuckie, comes to life and he turns out to be a maniacal killer. He can't be killed because he's a puppet. As the movie progresses he becomes increasingly more gruesome and sadistic.

Earlier this year I noticed I had a new "neighbor". I didn't actually see him right away, but found signs of his presence. He has become an unstoppable nemesis not unlike that crazed puppet.

You see I have a small vegetable garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peppers, squash and this year my girls planted carrots. They were very excited about eating carrots they grew. It turns out our new neighbor has a liking for carrots. And he's rude and impatient.

I went out to the garden one day to find all the carrot tops munched down to stubs. My girls were not happy. We had an idea of who this masticating marauder might be, but as yet had not laid eyes on him.

Then one early evening there he was brazenly grazing in the middle of our back yard, Chuckie! A fat little woodchuck. He heard us and bolted right under our deck!

Turns out he not only was dining on our vegetables, but he was squatting under our deck.

Talk about an uninvited guest. This was like having that sloppy, over eating old college friend show up at your door unannounced and spending the summer with you sleeping on your couch.

We or more like I mounted an attacked against this interloper. First a fence, but I could not block off the deck (the garden is right against the deck. Front porch dining for Chuckie).

Chuckie then expand his culinary curiosities. He started chowing cucumbers and next on to tasty tomatoes. He was taking out my low hanging veggies with methodical precision.

The next weapon in my arsenal on advice from some family members and the internet is moth balls. I salted them all around and under the deck where Chuckie resides quite comfortably.

The next day I saw my nemesis again grazing in the yard and snapped this picture. It seems the moth balls are not making Chuckie's life unpleasant enough for him to pack up and leave.

I am contemplating my next move and believe I have a solution that would end the problem once and for all. I'm a little reluctant to carry out the plan because I believe my neighbors might get alarmed if they hear gun fire.

I have enhanced the picture of Chuckie the way I would enjoy seeing him on our next meeting.

James Quarello
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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Some reductions are not very pleasant like a reduction in pay or benefits, not good. A reduction in your weight, now there's a reason to be happy. Most things are made not to modified or reduced. If they are designed to be altered there are specific guidelines that are to be followed when making an alteration. Yet I find all manner of creative, not right, modifications to stuff all the time.

Lately I have run into more than a few water heater TPR (Temperature Pressure Relief) valve discharge line modification. The installation requirements of these pipes are pretty straight forward. Here is a warning from the Watts Company a manufacturer of these valves.

WARNING: To avoid water damage or scalding due to valve operation, discharge line must be connected to valve outlet and run to a safe place of disposal. Discharge line must be as short as possible and be the same size as the valve discharge connection throughout its entire length. Discharge line must pitch downward from the valve and terminate at least 6" (152mm) above a drain where any discharge will be clearly visible. The discharge line shall terminate plain, not threaded. Discharge line material must conform to local plumbing codes or ASME requirements. Excessive length over 30' (9.14m), or use of more than four elbows or reducing discharge line size will cause a restriction and reduce the discharge capacity of the valve.

This is fairly simple to understand. This information is printed on the yellow tag attached to the valves. See the tags in both water heater photos?

Does anyone read these tags???

The second photo shows a discharge pipe plumbed up, a no no, and has just in the picture alone 3 elbows. There were two more elbows on the pipe for a total of 5. Another no no.

Why all the fuss over a pipe and valve? Simply water heaters can become bombs. I have talked with more than a few people who seem to have a bit of dificulty in believing that a water can cause massive destruction.

In the last picture the devastation you see was caused by a 5 gallon water heater that blew up in a Massachuetts school. The average size water heater in most homes is 40 gallons.

Suspected causes for the blast were;

"Additionally several elements of the (TPR) valve were missing either by the force of the blast or they were removed prior to the blast by untrained personnel at the school."

What may have occurred, all though this was not established conclusively, was the water heater was leaking or malfuctioning and someone modified the unit which led to the explosion.

As I said most things are not designed to be modified or altered.

One more thing regarding TPR valves. If you ever see yours leaking do not open the valve. This can cause a sudden release of super hot steam or worse an explosion if the water heater is in an over temperature state.

The best thing to do before something like this occurs is to learn how to shut your water heater down in an emergency. If you see the valve leaking immeadiately shut down the unit and then call a licensed plumber to check out the cause of the problem and repair it.

Reduction and modifications are best left for our tummies.

James Quarello
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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Have you ever been knocked out? I don't mean literally like from a left hook, but knocked out by someone of the opposite sex who you thought was a real looker. A person you can not take your eyes away from. Everyone has experienced the sweaty palms, the racing heart and the shortness of breath that can cause. Getting a good jolt of electricity can have the same effect, but it's a lot less fun I guarantee.

One of the most important things about electrical components is safety. Wiring, panels, outlets and switches are designed and made to protect us from getting a jolt. Like I said a shock will make you at the very least feel funny and not in a good way. At worst it can kill you.

What I find most often when it comes to unsafe electrical components is someone wasn't careful or simply didn't have the expertise to do the work correctly. Not having knowledge is a dangerous thing when it comes to electricity. Yet carelessness is equally as bad.

For example this electric panel is missing a knockout. As the name implies the metal strip can be "knocked out" to open the space to accommodate another circuit breaker. Thing is when its gone it's gone for good. You can't put it back.

Leaving a knockout space open creates a serious safety concern. You can see in the photo there is a copper strip inside the panel. That strip is carrying the full amount of electricity for the home. Someone could easily fit their finger through that opening and touch that strip. If they did that, ZAP!

Fortunately there are plastic covers that are made for covering those open knockouts. It is simple solution to a careless and dangerous situation.

Careless and dangerous sounds like it might be fun with that heart stopper you saw, but just be sure to keep your fingers away from openings in electric panels.

James Quarello
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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As the saying goes; beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There is no doubt that something one person may find stunning may nauseate some one else. Beauty is extremely subjective.

Often with things like a car or a toaster there has to be a certain amount of prettiness to the functional form. An ugly car is not going to sell.

When it comes to homes and home owners it's almost always about the looks. The function is often not a consideration. This theory is quantified by the numerous times I have found necessary functional items in a home compromised in the name of aesthetics.

The latest failure of function in the name of beauty was a water meter and main water shut off enclosed by a wall. An in-law apartment had been built in the homes basement. In the process the main water shut off and meter was enclosed inside a wall.

There was an attempt to leave it "accessible". You can see the opening in the wall which was covered by a panel in the first picture. To get the second shot of the meter I had to stretch over the counter top and blindly snap the picture. Not exactly readily accessible.

The main water shut off needs to be easily accessible for any number of reasons. Also many municipalities change the water meters on a routine basis (in my town every 8 years). Also the houses electrical service ground is often connected to the main water pipe.

With a little thought and planning the meter could have been made truly accessible. Unfortunately in the name of beauty function suffers once again.

James Quarello
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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The term common sense is bandied about quite a bit. We often use it to describe something where the solution or the correct way should be glaringly obvious. A no brainer. Actually good sense would be a more apt and accurate description, but I am not here to change the English lexicon.

Being a home inspector I regularly find stuff where I think, common sense would tell you...

Take for example this little piece of work. It looks like what it is, a pipe coming out of the side of a houses foundation.

What is that pipe attached to you may ask. Well it's attached to a sump pump. A sump pump that was just installed by someone the sellers hired because their basement regularly floods and has for many years. The sellers stubbornly realized that in order to sell their home a pump would at the very least need to be installed to alleviate the water problem in the basement.

Of course living with a water problem for years and years is another example of a lack of common sense, but I digress.

The sump pump is located on the opposite side of this wall directly below this pipe. The water that is expelled from the pipe will pour back against the foundation to be re-circulated by the pump.

Have you ever seen a hamster running in one of those wheels? This is in essence no different. Water spits out the pipe, flows back down along the foundation, gets recaptured by the pump and back out the pipe, repeat.

Fortunately all that is needed to fix this problem is to lengthen the pipe. I am certain most people would have by this time have come to this same conclusion.

Whether this was a case of a lack of good sense or laziness I can only speculate, but this I do know; no one wants a hamster wheel for a sump pump.

James Quarello
NRSB #8SS0022
JRV Home Inspection Services, LLC

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