Effective with adoption of the 2008 National Electrical Code, was the requirement for installation of Tamper Resistant Receptacles at ALL 120 volt receptacles. The idea behind the requirement for this type of receptacle is the protection of children from shock. It is an attempt to eliminate one
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07/28/2013
There is arguably no bigger difference between housing on the East Coast and housing on the West Coast than notions of “symmetry.” On the East coast (and please don’t start throwing the exceptions at me--I know they exist—plenty of them—I am just doing a little tongue-in-cheek generalizing) hous
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07/25/2013
For the most part, air conditioning in residential construction along coastal Washington State is not very common. Some would argue that for the most part, it is not necessary in relation to its cost when compared to how often it is needed. I could write volumes about why I agree with these arg
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07/23/2013
In the spirit of all things tin-foil, as long as I wear my tin-foil hat, when I am cooking and have my range hood running, I will surely be protected. Range hood ductwork is required to be SMOOTH WALL metal pipe. While it is in the box, aluminum-foil is pretty smooth but just about as soon as
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07/17/2013
The listing very well could have said: “Fur-lined and insulated ductwork throughout!” One never knows what one is going to see in the listing information. As you can see from this picture of the return air duct there is considerable rabbit fur in the house heating system ductwork. If you look
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07/14/2013
Sometimes I truly think that people do things in their home with the sole purpose of seeing how hard they can make the inspector laugh. The following plumbing problem I came across on a recent inspection might make anyone familiar with the installation of dishwasher air gap devices howl out loud.
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07/12/2013
Imagine I have a layer cake made of alternating layers of Termite infested wood, Moisture Ant carton, and wood decay/rot. Imagine that I then deliciously frost this entire cake with new siding and trim, and paint it up as nice as lipstick on a pig. Imagine now, a for sale sign planted as alluri
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07/09/2013
Like most of my readers, I have been known to occasionally don a tin-foil hat when necessary, have avoided stepping on cracks and certainly tilted at necessary windmills. Science usually makes us give up our wishful thinking (the desire for the simplicity of tin foil) and helps us pick and choose
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07/08/2013
Your deck is 14” off the ground. You know it does not need a guard (barrier railing in lay terms). A guard is only required when the deck gets to be more than 30 from grade (plus some other rules that we are not going into right now). The point is that you feel you want one anyway---after all,
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07/06/2013
What happens when you take the pressure relief valve vent stack, from a hot water boiler, and run it through a single-ply PVC roof? How hot does water get in a boiler? Well since we are heating water under pressure it can easily reach temperatures above boiling. Boiling is 212 degrees Fahrenhei
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07/04/2013
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