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CNY-ASHI “The Training Leader of Centra l New York” February 2010February 2010February 2010

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

TTT H EH EH E OOO B S E RV E RB S E RV E RB S E RV E R

This months sponsor: CNY ASHI

1

Meeting minutes and what’s next

2

Darwin award 3

CNY-ASHI Library 5

Gas Line Bonding 8

Vegas, Baby, Vegas 9

Photo’s from the field 4,5,9, 10

“Dying is a very dull dreary affair. And my advice to you is to have nothing

whatsoever to do with it.” ~W. Somerset Maugham

La Brea Tar Pits MuseumLa Brea Tar Pits Museum–– Dire WolvesDire Wolves 2007 ASHI Conference2007 ASHI Conference

CNY ASHICNY ASHI

Anaheim, California Anaheim, California

CNY ASHI Minutes

NO JANUARY MEETING

WHAT’S NEXT…

MONTHLY CHAPTER MEETING WHERE: TONY’S RESTAURANT 3404 BURNET AVE., SYRACUSE, NY 13206 432-1030 WHEN: Wednesday, February 10, 2010. 6:00 -8:30 PM

We are always on the lookout for arti-cles or items of interest. Anything which you feel would help educate our readership. Please feel free to forward to either Mike Chapman or

Tom Sherman. Also, if you should have any thoughts or ideas which you feel would make this a better publica-tion, please let us know.

The OBSERVERThe OBSERVERThe OBSERVER

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Only One Software Solution Does It All

Call us at:

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2008 Darwin Award Nominee2008 Darwin Award Nominee2008 Darwin Award Nominee

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Got questions?Got questions?Got questions? The Wall is the place to get The Wall is the place to get The Wall is the place to get your answers. It’s a very your answers. It’s a very your answers. It’s a very friendly part of Heating-friendly part of Heating-friendly part of Heating-Help.com and everyone’s wel-Help.com and everyone’s wel-Help.com and everyone’s wel-

T he telephone company was replacing above-ground telephone lines with buried lines. In one sparsely populated farming area, if lines crossed a country road

they would dig a trench halfway across, so rural traffic could continue through. Then they would fill in the trench, and dig a trench on the other side. One morning, local farmers called the sheriff to report a smashed-up pickup. Inside were two ranch hands who were last seen the previous night, heading home after last call. You see... On their way to the bars, the men had decided to play a prank. They stopped their pickup, and moved the flashing warning signs from the trenched side to the good side of the country road. Crime scene analysis later confirmed that they were the culprits who moved the flashing stands. Investigations also revealed that at the time of the accident, they were driving at an excessive speed with an impressive amount of alcohol in their systems. No crime scene analysis is capable of determining whether the ranch hands forgot their prank, or chose to see what would happen if they hit that trench at a high rate of speed in the middle of the night. No good prank goes unpunished.

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O U R A DV E R T I S E R S

UUU N I N S U L A T E DN I N S U L A T E DN I N S U L A T E D RRRE T U R NE T U R NE T U R N

President –Mike Chapman, Closer Look Home Inspection Vice President– Ralph Garcea, Ralph Garcea Home Inspection Treasurer– Greg Haley Greg Haley Home Inspection Secretary– Matt Barlow, National Property Inspections. Chapter Librarian— Derek Westgate Professional Home Inspection Council of Representatives– David Bruins, Bruins Home Inspections Education/Seminar Committee– Peter Apgar, Tom Sherman CNY-ASHI Website– Tom Sherman Membership/Mentoring-Dave Gambocarto Building Performance Institute Liaison– Ed Voytovich CNYASHI Observer Editor— Tom Sherman

CNYCNYCNY---ASHI Officers and ASHI Officers and ASHI Officers and Committee ChairsCommittee ChairsCommittee Chairs

Throughout this newsletter are advertisements from our CNY-ASHI sponsors. Take a minute to browse their websites and check out the many products and services that they offer. Better yet, give

HomeGaugeHomeGaugeHomeGauge

...that things are afixin’ to get ugly

InspectAPedia

The Home Inspection & Construction

Information Website

Looking for a great site to en-hance your knowledge base.

Check out Dan Friedman’s site for a wealth of information:

www.inspect-ny.com

In an uninsulated attic, this definitely reduces the effi-ciency of the furnace, making it work that much harder to reheat the house air

The chapter library is filled with books, videos and an assortment of other excellent training and refresher information relating to our profes-sion. Everything from setting up and running a home inspection business, to technical journals and training information is at your fingertips.

As a chapter member, you are allowed to access this information free of charge. Derek has just put an updated list of the contents on the TRAIN-ING PAGE of the CNY ASHI Website. Check it out.

We are always on the lookout for additional items for this library. Also, if you are looking for specific information on items we have, please contact Derek at derek@professionalhome.com

The Observer Page 5

...more can we possible cut out of this “I”-Joist before it collapses?

How much...

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Waddington-315-388-4476 Wayland-585-728-3320

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CNY-ASHI LI B R A RY

Chapter Librarian, Derek Westgate ~ Professional Home Inspection Service.

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American Home Inspectors Training is your national company for the industry's best home inspection training, marketing and support programs. Our mission is to train and provide ongoing support to you to enable you to either start and operate your own successful home inspection business or to be a significant contributor in an established company.

Give us a call at:

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www.ahit.com

Palm-Tech Home Inspection Software - Defining the Standard. Palm-Tech is the home inspection so-lution that allows you to make the most of your time on site. By marry-ing our uniquely designed home in-spection software with state of the art hardware, you win when you choose Palm-Tech.

www.palm-tech.com

www.sunnuclear.com

“A cucumber should be well sliced, dressed in pepper and vinegar, and then thrown out. “ ~Samuel Johnson

Gas Line BondingGas Line BondingGas Line Bonding

And Corrugated Stainless Steel TubingAnd Corrugated Stainless Steel TubingAnd Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing

By Annie-Laurie Hunter—Ardent Home Inspections

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Co rrugated Stainless Steel Tubing has been used since 1988 with increasing frequency for gas lines in residential housing applications. The material is light, easy to use and less expensive to install than the traditional black pipe. However, it has one major drawback: fires. The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) issues a report in Au-gust of 2007 www.toolbase.org/pdf/techinv/csst_lightningconcerns.pdf addressing the problem of fires resulting from lightning strikes and the need to bond the CSST containing gas system to the electrical system of the house. On September 10, 2008 the NY State Fire Prevention and Building Code Council met and adopted new code on an emergency basis to address the possible fire threat from CSST (Corrugated Stainless Steel Tubing). The new code went into effect on September 25, 2008.

The new code Section G2411.1 is available in full on the web at: http://www.dos.state.ny.us/Code/csst.htm.

In summary the code is as follows: For systems without CSST, each portion of the gas piping system that is likely to become energized (gas utilization equipment is connected to any portion of the gas piping system and to any electrical outlet) shall be electrically continuous and bonded to an effective ground-fault path. Gas Piping is considered to be bonded to an effective ground- fault current path if such gas piping is connected to gas utilization equipment that is connected to the equipment grounding conductor of the circuit supplying the equipment. For Systems with CSST, the system shall be electrically continuous and shall be bonded to the electrical service grounding electrode at the point where the gas service enters the building or structure. No portion of the gas piping system shall be used as or considered to be a grounding electrode or a grounding electrode conductor (attached to the main discon-nect ground bus bar). The bonding jumper for a system of 200 amps or less shall not be smaller than 6 AWG copper wire or 4AWG aluminum or copper-clad aluminum and shall be permanently con-nected to the grounding electrode system. The bonding jumper shall be connected to the gas piping system with a bonding clamp that is listed for both the material of the bonding jumper and the material of the component of the gas piping system to which it is installed. The bonding jumper shall be attached to the gas piping system inside the house or struc-ture on the downstream side of the meter in an unconcealed and readily accessible space, and as close as practical to the point where the gas service enters the building. The bonding clamp shall be attached to a segment of pipe that is,:

a) A component of the gas piping system,

b) Is electrically continuous with all CSST components of the piping system,

c) Is made of steel or wrought iron,

d) Complies with section G2414 of this code, and

e) Is not less than 3 inches in length.

Neither the CSST nor the brass hexagonal nut on the CSST fitting shall be used as an at-tachment point for the bonding clamp. CSST shall not be supported on or by other electrically conductive systems including cop-per water pipes, electrical power cables, air conditioning and heating ducts, communica-tion cables and structural steel beams. Electrical wiring, including the bonding jumpers shall be supported and secured independently of the CSST so that it does not come in contact with the CSST.

Thoughts to ponder...

Carlinism of the Month

~..~

“Gee, he was here a moment ago “

(What George Carlin wanted on his tombstone, if he’d had one)

“This is not a novel to be tossed lightly aside. It should be thrown with great force.” ~Dorothy Parker

“The world is full of willing peo-ple. Some willing to work, the rest willing to let them. “ ~Robert Frost

when visiting other chapters and I’ve also heard the horror sto-ries; the power strug-gles, the personality clashes, and so on. And you know, we don’t have those problems here at home. To be sure, we have our differences, but at the end of the day, we always seem to band to-gether and move the ship forward in the best interest of the chapter. We celebrate each others accomplish-ments and step up to the plate when darkness looms. I am proud to be a member of such a chapter and I chal-lenge those who haven’t yet, to plan early and join us next year.

Top tappingTop tappingTop tapping

It is Sunday afternoon, and today I am multitasking, in that, I am in proc-ess of getting the February issue of the CNY ASHI Observer off of my desk and out into the community, as well as restowing my stuff from the trip to Las Vegas for our annual InspectionWorld Conference. Back in my Marine days, I referred to this as “Unpackin’ my trash” And as I’m weeding through my “trash” and trying to figure out where every-thing goes and how to better organize it all, I am reminded of why I, and many others in our chapter, pony up every year to jump on an airplane and head out to parts unknown for this annual sojourn. This thought process runs through my mind every twelve months,

Not only are we combining 2 dissimilar metals, and installing multiple wires where one should be, we

also are creating an overfuse situation. “Life is tough…

it’s even tougher when you’re stupid” ~John Wayne

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Training to Prepare You for NYS Licensing

www.abitcoinc.com

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but this year, it’s even more prevailing. I’ve spoken here in the past about the opportunity to sit in on classes given by some of the leaders in our industry. I’ve also spoken about the chance to dis-cover some of the newest technology that is being brought into our profes-sion. And I spoken about having the po-tential to pick the brains of others in our profession that are plying this trade throughout the rest of the country; learn-ing from those who are out of our mar-ket. And I must say, on that end, I’ve never returned disappointed. But I believe today, much as I did in years past, that the main attraction for heading out into the blustery January weather is more along the lines of build-ing and maintaining chapter camarade-rie. I’ve seen first hand the lack thereof

Vegas, Baby, Vegas By Tom Sherman~ Editor

HVAC Gone Wild!HVAC Gone Wild!HVAC Gone Wild!

How well will the heat circulate with this installation?

“Under this banner “Under this banner “Under this banner are found are found are found

the world’s the world’s the world’s finest finest finest

home inspectors”home inspectors”home inspectors”

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315-673-1755 www.absolutehomeperformance.org

Upcoming Calendar of EventsUpcoming Calendar of EventsUpcoming Calendar of Events

••• February MeetingFebruary MeetingFebruary Meeting——— ••• WhereWhereWhere———Tony’s RestaurantTony’s RestaurantTony’s Restaurant ••• WhenWhenWhen———February 10, 2010February 10, 2010February 10, 2010 6:00 PM6:00 PM6:00 PM———9:00 PM9:00 PM9:00 PM

••• March MeetingMarch MeetingMarch Meeting--- ••• WhereWhereWhere---Tony’s RestaurantTony’s RestaurantTony’s Restaurant ••• WhenWhenWhen––– March 10, 2010March 10, 2010March 10, 2010

See you in Atlanta. See you in Atlanta. See you in Atlanta. ASHI InspectionWorld 2011.ASHI InspectionWorld 2011.ASHI InspectionWorld 2011.

CNYCNYCNY---ASHI ASHI ASHI WELCOMESWELCOMESWELCOMES ALLALLALL

INSPECTORSINSPECTORSINSPECTORS TOTOTO OUROUROUR MONTHLYMONTHLYMONTHLY

MEETINGSMEETINGSMEETINGS! ! !

CNYCNYCNY---ASHIASHIASHI “T“T“THEHEHE TTTRAININGRAININGRAINING

LLLEADEREADEREADER OFOFOF CCCENTRALENTRALENTRAL NNNEWEWEW

YYYORKORKORK”””

CENTRAL NEW YORK ASHI OBSERVER

The Central New York Observer is the official publication of the Central New York Chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) and is published solely for the information of it’s members and candi-

dates. Central New York ASHI is a not for profit voluntary professional society. ASHI National Headquarters is located as 932 Lee St., Ste. 101, Des Plaines, IL 60016-6546.

Correspondence to the chapter or articles for consideration should be sent to Tom Sherman, Absolute Home Inspection, 3269 West Seneca Turnpike, Syracuse, NY 13215 (315)-673-1755

tom@absolutehomeinspection.com. Central New York ASHI reserves the right to reject any submitted arti-cles. Central New York ASHI, it’s officers, agents employees, editors and authors of contributed material

assume no liability whatsoever with the published contents of this newsletter. Opinions of statements of au-thors or advertisers are their own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Central New York ASHI,

it’s agents or editors. Any discussion or material is for general informational purposes only and does not imply that other opinions are not available or are not suitable.

Central New York ASHI, it’s officers, agents, and editors do not endorse, guarantee or warrant, either express or implied, any services, products, methods, systems, procedures or other information contained herein.

We’re on the web www.cnyashi.com

We’re looking for you! Interested in enhancing

your career as a home in-spector?

CNY-ASHI offers continuing education opportunities and camaraderie in a friendly atmosphere.

Monthly meetings every 2nd Wednesday.

Call 315-673-1755 for details