Potential Ideal Arrangement.

Today I saw what is to me a great bathroom configuration.  Image

This is an early “Pittsburgh-type” prototype of the “toilet in the shower”.  It’s Pittsburgh-type because it is in the basement.  If you are not from Pittsburgh and are reading this blog, then you need to know about the pittsburgh toilet.  (Mental note to myself: do a post on pittsburgh toilets.)  Image


What is important here is that it’s all in one.  I’ll take it. 

Chimneys in the Valley

I want to talk to architects about this, or the builders, or mason’s who build chimneys.  The chimney is in the valley.

Why is that?


(Ok, the roof needs some work too.  Two layers of shingles, bad fasteners) But why put a chimney in the middle of a river?.  It’s strictly a human problem, beavers would never do this.  I don’t think home inspectors would either.


I take one look at the elevation above and I’m thinking, “oh I have to move the chimney.”  They just put a new metal roof on.  I think it started leaking within a month or two.


Here is a close up of the flashing.  The roofer should have put in a cricket in here to divert the water.


Here’s a cricket.  It’s a little dormer for a chimney that’s over 30 inches facing the roof slope.


Variation on a theme: turret in the valley.  This one wasn’t leaking…


…but it will.

Double Taps, Lugs and Such.

A double tap is a term used to describe when two wires are attached to the same breaker or terminal (also called a lug).  Unless the terminal or circuit breaker is designed for more than one conductor, it’s not a good idea.  Overheating of the wires is possible.  When I use the term double lugging, I usually reserve it for times when the main supply terminals to an electrical panel are double tapped.  This is a fairly common and potentially serious defect.  Image


Can you see the double tapped terminals in the panel above?  When a panel is full, at capacity, how do you get more circuits?  One solution was double tap the main lugs to supply power to an electric stove.  That is not ok.   The problem is that the stove is not protected by a breaker, so if something goes wrong– a short, over-heating of wires, etc–there is nothing to shut it off.  The stove should probably have a 50 amp breaker. Image


Here above is another double tapped main lug, it was created to supply an auxiliary panel.  The system needed to be upgraded for more capacity but the owner, or electrician, or likely a handyman found a way to add on with out changing the panel–but this is not acceptable.  The double tapped conductors have no fusing to protect them if they were to become overloaded.  Can you see the double tapped circuit breaker also present in the panel?  Other problems?




Ok, here is another double tap, this time at a main disconnect.  First off, this disconnect panel is not safe for residential use, you could get shocked trying to change the fuse, even with the disconnect off.  Second the terminals are double tapped and they were not designed for that–If a terminal is designed for more than one conductor, it will say right on the terminal how many and what size conductors can be installed.  And Third, if you look at the white wire in the center you can see that copper and aluminum conductors are double tapped.   Aluminum and Copper are never combined under the same lug or attachment with out specialized equipment for connecting dissimilar materials.  





The photo above has a neutral lug double tapped.  This example not an overcapacity issue like the ones above.  In these two photos, the neutral conductors are attached to the wrong lugs.  The service entrance neutral goes through the main panel (above) and double taps in the subpanel (picture below).  And a neutral for a electric stove is tapped in there as well.  At least they were both copper.




So anytime you see a double lugged main terminal, there is likely a problem.

The View From The Roof


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Somewhere in Lawrenceville.

I get on a lot of roofs and I think it might be the best part of my job.  I’ll post some pictures.  Though I frequently forget to get a picture of the view.


Same somewhere in Lawrenceville.



A beautiful day in Greensburg. This was a commercial inspection.


… with a lot of exposure.


A view from Uptown.


Looking down at McKees Rocks. Nice church in the distance.


Greenfield in the morning.

Antoine’s Roof



My old friend and former neighbor, Antoine did all his own maintenance and repairs.  I really wish I was doing home inspections when he still lived here.


Here is his roof.  I remember laughing out loud the first time I looked up and saw it.  Antoine’s roof might be the most conventional part of his house–but that is another post.  Tony had collected odd bundles of 3-tab shingles and just put them on one bundle at a time.  I use to tease him he should have sorted the shingles the way slate roof installers do and then he would have had a random mix of the shingles. (So, if you see a slate roof where the colors are bunched in areas, then the installer didn’t shuffle the slates and may have cut corners in other ways as well.)


Of course the flashing along brick sidewall is all wrong–it’s putty and goo.


But this roof is at least 25 years old and except for the flashing, it’s not in that bad of shape–for its age.


close up of bad flashing job, he ran the shingles up on to the wall and gooped.

We miss you Tony.


Pittsburgh’s Knob and Tube Epidemic


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Pittsburgh has a lot of knobs and tubes.  And what is knob and tube?  It’s a type of electrical wiring, the original wiring in houses built in the early part of the century.  The name comes from the ceramic knobs that the wiring was secured to and the ceramic tubes that insulated the wires when they went through a joist or framing member.    DSCN2629

Here are some of the knobs.  In this case, the insulation is degraded.  The energized (hot) and neutral wires are on separate knobs run usually in separate bays of the framing, so there is no way for arcing to occur between the wires–If not improperly modified.



Sometimes the knob and tube is only visible in the attic or knee wall, having been replaced in the basement.  Insulation should not cover knob and tube wiring since it was not designed for it.








The tubes are visible in this photo in the lower left.





In the basement you may see something like this, where newer wiring is spliced at a junction box to the knob and tube that goes upstairs somewhere.


Improper splices to the knob and tube–the splices should be in a junction box.

Here are knob and tube conductors in the basement that have been spliced without the protection of a junction box–Not good.


Knob and tube wiring buried in insulation.


Buried in insulation.

Can you see the wire going into the insulation? With knob and tube, the energized and the neutral wires run on separate bays of the framing, so they can never touch.

Frequently the old knob and tube wiring was removed everywhere except for the lighting, because it was more complicated to open up the floors or ceilings to rewire.


This is an access panel on the second floor. Sometimes there is a regular hinged cabinet door and the space is lined with asbestos.


Knob and tube visible at light fixture.

Rust in the panel

When I’m inspecting the exterior and I see an electrical meter box like this one.  Image  I’m 85% sure I’ll find rust in the electric panel inside the house.  This is the kind of problem the sellers/owners can be completely unaware of, unless they have taken the dead front cover off the panel.  Water gets into the meter box and from there into the inside of the service entrance cable and on to the panel inside the house.  Also, the vines around the meter and service cable should be removed.  I think it is wisteria and will, in a couple of years, do real damage to the electrical service.Image

Yep, there is rust in the panel–not visible until the front cover is removed. Image

Can you see the rust behind the main breaker?  That bare, stranded wire is the grounded conductor (neutral wire) from the meter.  Water traveled on it to the terminal and rusted it out.  Then the water drained behind the breakers to the bottom of the panel, damaging the bus bar on the way.  This panel had got to the point where it was unsafe and needed to be repaired by an electrician.

Critters in the Attic.

Squirrels.  I love squirrels but they can be very naughty in an attic.Image

Someone was chewing on the electrical cables.  This is a major safety concern because the exposed electrical wires could cause a fire.  It is also a good reminder of why upgrading to arc-fault circuit breakers is a good idea.  If the exposed wires allow a paralell arc from the hot wire to the neutral (black to white) wires, a regular circuit breaker my not shut off the circuit.

Slate Roof



Slate roofs are great, if properly maintained.  This one looks a little funky, but it is really not in bad shape.  We found about 15 slates to be repaired.  That’s not too bad for a roof that has been ignored for a long time. Image

With a slate roof, you want to develop a relationship with a qualified slate roofer who will inspect and make little repairs every year or two–depending on the age and condition of the roof.  Slate roof repair does not include smearing asphalt roofing cement all over the place.  The best way to ruin a slate roof is by a improper repair.  Here is a close up….


You can see in the detail above some wear on the surface of the slate, but there is still plenty of slate left.


Can you see the loose and the missing slates on the dormer?  Also on the left of this photo you can see the tin flashing in the valley.  The paint is peeling and should be scraped and repainted.  With slate roofs it’s common for the flashing or nails to wear out before the slates do.

Whoever repairs your slate roof should be the only person who walks on it.  Slate and tile roofs can be damaged by walking if the person does not know where and how to step and they can be very, very slippery.