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An average day

The inspection was for a water heater replacement. The owner stated that the work was done three weeks ago.


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The inspection was for a new furnace and A/C. Many corrections.

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The inspection was for a water heater replacement. The owner stated that the work was done three weeks ago.






How is this install possible? Looks like a new water heater with old discharge piping? How did they get that attached to the pop-off?
 
That makes sense, threaded the whole assembly then dragged the tank inside to install.
 
Owner builder permit for a re-roof. There's four of these.

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The owner hired a crew from the Home Depot parking lot. The owner has not been on the roof.

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Contractor requested a sheathing inspection. The plan is to replace only the underlay and reuse everything else.

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I am not sure what the tile looked like when it was new. I suspect it was red with a glaze. Now it is weathered and falling apart.
 
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Now it is weathered and falling apart.

I dont think there is anything wrong with the tiles. They were cast a little rough, and even the parts that were covered by the next higher tile are the same color.
What does concern me is the concentrated load of all the tiles stacked up there. Looks like another Lucky Casino waitng to happen.
 
I dont think there is anything wrong with the tiles. They were cast a little rough, and even the parts that were covered by the next higher tile are the same color.
What does concern me is the concentrated load of all the tiles stacked up there. Looks like another Lucky Casino waitng to happen.
I don't think that the pictures do it justice.
 
The wires are before the meter and live with or without a meter installed.

And there is NO overcurrent protection ahead of the main breaker/ fusible switch if there is one. That is what makes those photos of steel conduits being cut to steal power so scary.
 
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The site plan shows two 600 gallon tanks. There's no description of the tanks or any details. I found the leaders and drain pipe. The idea is to take the water from roof drains and put it in the tanks.


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Neither tank has been placed per plan. That's because they would have been in/under the driveway and there's already water pipe, building sewer pipe, gas pipe and conduit under the driveway.

The six inch schedule 40 has no cleanouts and none are shown on the plan. There is no provision for draining the tanks once they are full except for the fact that the inlet and outlet are at the same level. The purpose of the tank is for irrigation. The tanks will fill with rain water and then in the summer the water can be used for irrigation.

The main house is 12,000 sq.ft. There are two other houses....one for the pool and one for whatever. An artisan was brought from Hawaii to decorate the bottom of the pool. There is extensive landscape planned with irrigation. ......and somebody thought it was a good idea to make them install these tanks that couldn't be used if they wanted to.

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I can't say that I know how to inspect a carnival. I have done it about thirty times. I have not had any training for inspecting carnivals. The only information that has ever been provided is the address and a site plan.

You "D" man Ice, good stuff, thank you.

I look for the obvious safety issues that you mentioned....and a whole lot more. Every restraint, braking mechanisms, clearances to trees - wires - fences - other rides. I operate the ride and check the RPMs to make sure that it is within the manufacture’s guidelines. Then there's the State sticker that tells me that Cal/OSHA has inspected and approved the ride.

The list of corrections that I have written includes the wrong size cotter key to no emergency lighting in the Gravitron.

Here is a picture of a Gravitron. It is a sealed ride that spins. Once at speed (24 rpm) the occupant is suspended and plastered against the wall (3 Gs) with no contact with the floor. If the electricity is cut the door will not open until someone from outside the ride pulls it down. The first time I encountered this ride I asked about emergency lighting while the occupants wait to exit (in total darkness). I was told that it didn't come from the factory with emergency lighting and I can't make them alter a ride. Besides that, it had a State sticker. I've run into several of these and they always leave town with emergency lighting.

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If you have to inspect one of these be aware that the slide that the occupant is on should have intact feet protection plates behind the slide. If they are missing a persons legs can be caught and broken when the ride cycles down. For that reason you must make them lift every slide. The slides are heavy, it's hot inside that can and there's 48. I have found missing plates.


The next ride is a Dragon Wagon kids roller coaster. There are several versions that differ in the method of propulsion. Some have a chain drive and others have an electric motor behind the seat in the last car. A week before I encountered my first Dragon Wagon I watched a 20/20 episode on a carnival accident where a girl was scalped when her long hair was caught in the electric motor. She lost her entire scalp and it was not reattached. So now I have that same ride with no protection of the motor. As horrific as that accident was, the carnival operator resisted fabricating a shroud over the motor. I was disappointed, he was disappointed and the ride now has a shroud over the motor.

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Another thing to look for with the Dragon Wagon is the rails that it rides on. These machines are old. The rail will have repairs. The welds are sometimes amateurish. I have found cracks in welds. I always require that the part be taken to an LA City certified welding facility for repair. I have posted carnival pictures here at the forum....I think that's one of them.

There was a large ride that has swing seats on long chains. It was fast and as it rotated it would tilt back and forth producing one Hell of a ride. When it got up to speed I noticed that that at each revolution there was a loud sound ....... like someone hitting an empty garbage can with an ax handle. I asked, "What's up with that?" He shrugged as he said, "It started happening last weekend in West Covina".

It didn't take much effort to remove this seat belt strap.

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In the thirty or so that I have inspected I guess the average carnival results in twenty corrections.....some more some less. One year the carnival operators banded together and threatened to boycott the city I was working in unless a different inspector took over. The city declined ... preferring instead to have a safe carnival. I really shouldn't say safe carnival.

It takes hours to do it right. I never leave with a good feeling that I caught everything.
 
The enclosure is a surface mount that is sealed to the wall.

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It was done like this because the old flush enclosure is still in the wall. The cable has either been stripped or spliced.

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The GEC runs down the wall, under the rocks and hits a rod.

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The service was done by the same company that installed solar on the roof. The roofing is tile so I have to rely on pictures of the array.

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They requested a final inspection without bothering to label the circuit breakers. This is oh so typical of the solar industry. As bad as they are, houses aren't burning and people aren't getting electrocuted.
 
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I wrote a correction which stated that shingles are not allowed on a roof that is pitched below 2" in 12". This roof happens to be 1.5". A worker called the contractor.

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The contractor asked me to write a correction requiring plywood over the insulation panels because the insulation will not hold nails. I told him that there won't be any nails in as much as there won't be any shingles. He said that sure there will but he needs to have plywood and two layers of underlay.

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Had the pitch allowed shingles, the contractor was trying to use me against the owner.


Update: Inspection was requested four days later. The contractor has tried nailing base sheet for torch down.......directly to the insulation. I still didn't leave a correction requiring plywood. The contractor called and asked me why. I told him that a sprinkle mop is an option si I couldn't require plywood.

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The service was done by the same company that installed solar on the roof. The roofing is tile so I have to rely on pictures of the array.
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Is the ground wire clamp correct? Looks like the green wire is not under the screw very well.
 
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