Building Inspections

Recession: Things Have Been Bad Before

2009-03-07T23:39:00.000-08:00

Americans historically live through hard times and are usually the better for it. People who were born around 1970 actually experienced two major meltdowns but were too young to remember what the country was like from 1977-1982 or 1987-1992. Now as adults with families of their own they find themselves facing an economic crisis, fearing the worst in 2009 and beyond.
The Great Depression in 1929 has little to compare with today. In 1929, the people panicked. In 2008, the government panicked. Except for congressional interference in the market that delayed the recovery, there are few similarities.

The two that most people alive today will recall happened while President’s Carter, Reagan and Bush were in office. I remember the Carter years being the worst of the two periods but I chose the Reagan-Bush meltdown for my topic simply because the events are most like today’s crisis

The Crash of 1987 seems to have been forgotten by too many of us who were actually a functioning part of the work force 21 years ago. Trying to recall the names of any of the “players” on Wall Street back then is like trying to remember who was President Garfield’s Vice President. The number of crooks on Wall Street and other venues that the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) was investigating for fraud and insider trading was staggering.

Names like Merrill Lynch's Nahum Vaskevitch or Ivan Boesky, Lyndon LaRouche, Robert M. Wilkis, EF Hutton and Leslie Roberts haven’t been mentioned for a long time. PaineWebber’s Gary Eder, Carl Icahn, Robert Freeman, Martin Siegel, Michael Milken, Fireman's Fund, teachers pensions all made headlines at that time.

Corruption was prevalent on Wall Street even before fifteen employees of Wall Street firms were arrested and charged with selling cocaine within a network of high rollers. These bad boys were exchanging much more than ideas. Two differences between then and now is that the names are different and the actors are smarter now.

In my area, Dallas/Fort Worth, Federal regulators owned prime real estate like Valley Ranch, we lost a major newspaper [The Dallas Times-Herald] and by Christmas of 1990, the government reported that 800,000 jobs had been lost in the past two years. Sales of "Big ticket' durable goods plummeted 10.5 percent in the month before.
Although the numbers are larger in this recession we must keep in mind that in 1987 the minimum wage was $3.35, the average yearly income was around $36,000 and the Dow was hovering around 2,000.

In spite of the bad things that were happening back then, good things like the Berlin Wall coming down gave that part of the world a new sense of freedom and peace. However things got worse on the global stage before they got better. Saddam Hussein defied the world and moved his armies into Kuwait. The Soviet Union was in economic chaos. World markets were growing nervous again with investors carefully watching the market fluctuations.

On a Friday in November of 1991, our own Dow Jones experienced a major sell-off of 30 leading stocks. Almost 4 years to the day after the Crash of 1987, Citicorp announced that it lost $885 million in the third quarter of 1991. Real estate values throughout the country had declined 20 to 30 percent during the previous two years and was expected to get worse.

As one might expect after all the bad mortgage loans, FHA loans became harder to get. The Federal Housing Administration had stricter requirements even for first-time home buyers.
Like today, there was fraud everywhere. A Dallas man bilked the federal government and Dallas-area homeowners of nearly $600,000 in a scheme involving home mortgages. Some high-profile investment groups and developers in Dallas were still smarting from over-valued projects and a few local crooks were either in jail or facing it for their part in the schemes.

The United States government had become one of the largest owners of foreclosed hotels through the Resolution Trust Corporation. [RTC].
The U.S. Comptroller General, told Congress that the Resolution Trust Corp. was in such a mess that it couldn’t even be audited. The ultimate cost of the savings and loan bailout could not be calculated.

By September of 1989, the stock market had begun to recover from the Crash of 1987. It only took 2 years for Wall Street to begin to rebound. In spite of the overwhelming number of foreclosed real estate properties, the recession didn’t actually occur until mid-1990. Foreclosures were slow to be processed and this caused the recovery to stall, much like today.
Mortgage companies being careful not to flood the real estate market too early began trickling them out in early 1991. By the middle of 1992, so many of them were offered for sale that it triggered an upturn and lots of bargain parcels found new owners. This lured anxious buyers back into the real estate market as an alternative to stocks and bonds as it will again soon.

By December of 1991 the Fed had cut short-term interest rates 14 times since the recession began in July 1990. [Fourteen times in a year and a half.]

Signs of a recovery were beginning to appear in other places too. By November 1991, the percentage of Americans behind on their mortgage payments had improved slightly during the July-September quarter but by then we had depleted the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. The Resolution Trust Corporation had to be re-funded by Congress as well.

On March 6, 1992 The Fort Worth Star Telegram reported that 13.4 million people were receiving money from the government's welfare program to help families pay for food, clothing and shelter [almost 2 million more than when the recession began in mid-1990, it said.]

In 1992, I wrote a letter to my local newspaper editor criticizing the media for talking us into a recession. I am admitting now that I was wrong but my anger was overwhelming at the time. The media didn’t cause the recession but they caused it to last longer than it should have by beating us down with negative headlines and over-reporting stories much like television is doing now.

Nineteen eighty-seven gave some convincing evidence that life imitates art. Michael Douglas won an Academy Award for his performance in the box office hit “Wall Street”. Songs like “Didn’t We Almost Have It All?” [Whitney Houston], “Livin’ On A Prayer [Bon Jovi], and “Nothin’s Gonna Stop Us Now” [Starship] were more appropriate than we realized.

The government doesn't have any idea what this bailout will cost either. Congress picked a number out of thin air and ran with it. The magic number this time would be $700 billion until they realized that they needed about $300 billion more. To sway the naysayers, the original number was rounded-off to the nearest trillion to purchase more barrels for the added "pork" and to buy new calulators with 4 more decimal places.

As we have before, we will recover from this one. Recessions teach great lessons but only to those who are paying attention.

Dave Padgett

Texas Home Inspectors Must Carry Liability Insurance.

2007-10-22T21:04:00.000-07:00

Sitting by and doing nothing while someone tries to shackle legitimate and honorable real estate inspectors with laws restricting their business practices never appealed to me. Since I have no political connections in Austin, the least I can do at this time is speak out.
As of September 2007, Texas Home Inspectors must carry liability insurance. When I first read about the requirement, I was flabbergasted. First of all by how I received the news and secondly how the law was passed without any knowledge or deliberation by those who collectively would ponder it's validity and intent. Thirdly by noticing that nothing was being done to challenge the feasibility or the motives for such a radical move by our legislators.

Were it not for the corrupt manner in which this bill became law, it would have been democratically argued by those who would be affected most. Texas inspectors nor the Public were properly represented. Both were denied the opportunity to explore the impact or consider the unintended consequences that such a law might create.

Why would my Legislators be so concerned with my liability? Let the buyer buy his own insurance to protect him from an unscrupulous inspector if chooses. I pay premiums to protect me, not my clients. After all, liability insurance is intended to protect me from the Public, not the other way around?

It appears that those who might have opposed this unfair and unjust burden are responding like a deer-in-the-headlights. That is troubling.

I received my first notice by reading an article sent to me by one of our inspector's unions. I have never belonged to this or any other inspector's union but somehow they felt compelled to inform me that they were working hard behind the scenes to get me the best rate of liability insurance available if I became a member of their organization. No mention of what they were doing behind the scenes to fight this injustice.

I am an independent inspector and am not affiliated with any association of home inspectors. For over 22 years unions and I have done without each other mostly because of the positions they have taken in the past. I have even attended meetings of different chapters to find a reason to join. Their featured speakers and their agendas were more promotional than informative so I had no real interest. I don't join groups to gain credibility. I earn it the old-fashioned way.

I don't oppose Unions. I have belonged to some really strong ones that did some good things before some of them out-lived their usefulness.

Unions have always claimed that there is strength in numbers and that may have been true in the past and perhaps is true in isolated cases today. The only strength many unions seem to derive today is through membership dues and every other ancillary useless thing they try to employ. They make money from dues but they tend to make more money from satellite services like selling information, methods, services, forms, junkets, software, tools and anything else they can sell to their own membership. Many of them share or sell email addresses of members and non-members alike. Whatever strength they derive is overshadowed by the need for increased membership.

I have been an inspector for 22 years now and I see significant differences in motives and integrity in general. Motivations have made the greatest change. Everybody wants a piece of you. Everybody wants into your wallet. At times it seems the Universe is a giant carnival, the world is a Midway and everyone you meet is either a pitch-man or a pickpocket.

I have operated with a code of ethics similar to ones adopted by the unions [societies, they like to be called now] long before many of them even began. Their formation as an "association" instead of a "union" is now merely a cloak and a clever use of semantics. Unlike their strong union predecessors, today's "associations" are mostly impotent. Even the terms "societies" and "associations" imply impotence.

If I belonged to an organization and still lacked the insight to know of an impending proposal that might drastically affect my field, how foolish would I be?
If I belonged to an organization that lacked the strength of conviction to warn it's members of an impending proposal that might drastically affect their fee structure, what reason to belong?
If I belonged to an organization that lacked the political clout to circumvent a bad piece of legislation before it came to the floor, how on Earth could I expect it to possess the will and strength to fight it, repeal it or subvert it after it becomes law. Why would I belong to such a group?

I dislike anyone who criticizes without a solution; I am no better if I don't have at least one solution to offer. My criticism is not without at least one idea.

The mere thought that Inspectors are still controlled by Texas real estate lawyers is disturbing, no matter their number. For it to be a fact for almost 23 years is absurd. Nothing has been done to remove licensing and regulation of inspectors from the Texas Real Estate Commission. Talk about the appearance of "Conflict of Interest". Stand back and look at it from an outside perspective. How do we inspectors in Texas who are members of all kinds of home inspection associations that profess a "Code of Ethics", justify the licensing and regulating body that currently governs us.

A concerted effort should be made on two fronts: getting some type of respite on the current law requiring liability insurance. A temporary stay or moratorium should have some merit in light of the deceitful and corrupt manner in which it was introduced into law without representation from opposing sides. A good lawyer could do just that based on the fact that no proof appears to exist that this bill was passed in good faith. Further that it was secretly rammed through at the 11th hour strictly and solely for the purpose of monetary gain by a private entity or entities and not in the true interest of the public.

The other would be another concerted effort to change the licensing and regulating body from T.R.E.C. to T.D.L., T.D.A., TXDOT [or other licensing entity]. As long as licensing remains with T.R.E.C, the law will still be in force and will be difficult to change until the next Lege. In which case more than a few changes could be employed that would protect the inspector and the consumer without the heavy baggage of self-interested phantom lobbyists working for liability insurance providers and Realtors Associations.

The public is best served when independent inspectors and inspection firms vigorously oppose laws that strangle them and arbitrarily send the public back to the "Caveat Emptor" era that unscrupulous sellers enjoyed at the public's expense before we came along. The high cost of insurance will only be passed on to the consumer. How does that help the consumer or the inspector especially in the current real estate market?

The Inspection Industry in Texas was dealt a serious blow in the Summer of 2007 when they were ambushed by a law and by willing accomplices presently-unknown to us. No one has taken names! For a statute to be implemented that removed the freedom of the home inspector to evaluate his or her own risk is just as ridiculous now as it was prior to the last session of the Legislature. The fact that this requirement was levied upon home inspectors and no others is cause for further indignation.

One thing is certain, these "so called representatives of the Inspection Industry" have sat by and done nothing to stop this. In their defense, two other things are possible. They have unwittingly been duped or they are in fact complicit in the promulgation of this new law. I've searched the Internet for any signs that any of the inspector's unions sought any type of respite. Little reaction beyond a feigned moan and groan appears to be coming from the organized ones.

The unfortunate irony is this: Many inspectors will fail in the coming months because of the increased cost of doing business and a slow real estate market. Perhaps an unintended consequence but membership in all of the inspectors unions will decline as a result. Not a good thing.

I've Googled till I'm exhausted looking for a reason why no one has taken names.

If anyone reading this blog has answers to any of these questions, please enlighten me. Tell me someone took names.

What was the motive for such a law? Who was instrumental in its passage?
Three possibilities to ponder: Was it a group of real estate lawyers who would like to see home inspectors sued out-of-existance by Errors and Omissions claims?
Was it a group of home inspectors who would like to eliminate some of their competition by causing many of them fail due to higher costs of doing business in an already slow real estate market?
Or was it a group of insurance providers seeing dollar signs?

This law began as an idea. Whose? It soon became a bill. Who presented it to which legislator and how was it postured.? What was their motive? Was the motive money or good faith? Someone thought it was a good idea. Who? No one seems to know the origination. The original idea might have been drawn upon a napkin in a hotel lounge somewhere, but where? The merits of proposals such as this had to be shown to someone; someone did the math; what were the numbers? Proposals have to be substantiated by data; what was the data? Was it accurate or fabricated? Where was it derived?

Texas and California have always been leaders in the home inspection field. Other states tend to watch what happens here and often follow suit. Lucky for them, they can avoid the political ambush by those of a like mind so skilled at the same corrupt process. They can be more mindful of what can befall them if they become as complacent as we.

In their haste to attain authenticity and give their members so-called "credibility", home inspectors' unions have failed to see their real usefulness. Their strength should not have come from increased membership but rather from great ideas and leaders who will act on them.

Keeping the Wolf from the door would have been one of those great ideas back in the Spring of 2007.

What is a Post-tension slab?

2007-01-06T10:04:00.000-08:00

It is a particular design and method of constructing a sound foundation for a house. This house is almost ready for cement.
If you notice in this photo there is no re-bar or wire mesh. Instead the red plastic sleeves contain steel cables that will be drawn tightly and locked in place. Each cable will be stretched to a specific tension as prescribed by the engineer who designed the foundation.
As the concrete continues to cure, these cables will remain taught [hopefully] for some time.
This design may or may not be better than other methods but it is now the industry standard in North Texas . Until a better design comes along, builders and engineers will continue to use what works best.
Soil composition and site preparation are the most crucial elements of a sound foundation; hiring a highly-skilled foundation contractor is essential but may be secondary. If the developer and the builder fail to choose the right location to develop or fail to prepare the site, the skills of the foundation contractor and the quality of the foundation he installs will mean very little.
If you are building or buying a new home, premature failure of the slab is not good.
My experience with foundations has lead me to several conclusions. First, all concrete slabs fail. That is, they fail to remain intact, pristine, whole, etc. for much more than 3 or 4 years. Don't panic. [Stop shaking.] I should add the word....eventually.
All foundations move but probably much sooner than most people think. Slabs just can't move up or down without cracking. Pier and beam foundations move also, the floors just don't crack.
Most houses in North Texas move between the 3rd and 5th year. This movement usually is so subtle that no one notices. It may show up as a hairline crack or a sheet rock tape joint separation. Five years requires some level of forgiveness but not too much.
If this movement occurs in the 3rd year, it is likely right on schedule. If it happens in the 2nd year, it is premature and may not be a good sign. If movement occurs in the first year, it has to be addressed. Contact the builder, an engineer or an inspector and get it documented, especially if no action to repair it is taken. It must be documented in case serious problems develop well outside of the warranty period. You can at least contend and prove that problems began to manifest much too soon.
A good builder will take the movement seriously and will consult with their engineer as well, especially if it is still in warranty. Others might try to explain the condition as normal when in fact it may not be and hope to get through the warranty period.
Builders are not scientists but they have to deal with the laws of physics indirectly. Three elements of these laws are common to foundation and structural movement: expansion, contraction and that wonderful, always-available gravity.
Whenever structural movement is discovered during the inspection for the first owner, there is no level of forgiveness. It has to be addressed because something has failed.

Who used the bath tub last?

2007-01-02T11:54:00.000-08:00

...and whoever told you that you could dye Easter eggs in the bathtub?

Tornados

2006-12-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

A strange thing happened when a tornado hit the farm of Clyde Vinson in the small town of Orestes, Indiana in 1922. The home was picked up and set down about one hundred feet from where it originally stood. The dining table and furniture were damaged and most everything was rearranged but the hanging oil lamp was still hanging suspended from the ceiling and continued to send out rays of light throughout the night. A basket of eggs that was sitting in the dining room was not disturbed. http://zenas4.tripod.com/orestesindianahistory/id118.html

In 2000, a tornado raged through Tarrant County. I don’t have any information regarding anything similar happening during this storm but you can bet some bizarre things happened.
I was a mile away from the storm when it passed through. My neighborhood experienced some high winds and heavy rains but sustained no major damage.
The storm hit late in the day but it was still daylight.
News broadcasters were beginning to show up at many of the areas hit hardest.

I never considered myself a gawker but I’m as curious as the next guy.
So shortly after dark, I headed to Monticello, a west-side neighborhood in Fort Worth filled with elegant older homes. On my way to downtown to view the damage done to several of Fort Worth's landmarks, I was quickly turned away. Too many power lines and trees were down. There were no street lights and more gawkers were coming out.

It was just as well. I was already beginning to get uneasy, seeing what devastation that an ordinary tornado can do to an ordinary neighborhood.

It’s anthropological, I’m sure, but is there something inherently wrong about being so curious when it comes to someone else’s misfortune? Perhaps it’s nothing more than feeling lucky; grateful that it wasn’t me.
Knowing that it could easily be my house with the roof that's gone or my house that's ripped completely off its foundation. Or worse.

My consolation is that it is an inherited trait; I didn’t invent curiosity.
I'd like to think that all my bad traits are inherited and all my good ones are acquired but I know better.
Nonetheless, here’s a short clip of the 2000 tornado if you too are inclined to be curious.

Now some 6 years after, Fort Worth, Arlington and other cities who were smitten by Mother Nature and her wrath have completely restored their communities.
That is a good thing.

Who Do You Trust?

2006-12-11T19:58:00.000-08:00

Some photographs require no explanation but this one may.

This is not a snowbank in Wisconsin. This is insulation in some one's attic. Gosh, if you can't trust the insulation guy, who can you?

NEW HOME OR OLD HOME?

2006-12-11T08:17:00.000-08:00

There was a time, before you and I, that people said that they would never own a house that had electric wires running through it.
We've come a long way since then.

The old saying "They don't build 'em like they used to" is true.
[But] That is a good thing. Materials were stronger and methods were more traditional but there are several misconceptions about the old days.
I had the privilege of working with some of the Old World craftsmen as a young carpenter. They grumbled when plywood became more prevalent; they snarled when air nailers were changing the way wood was fastened. They would never "use a stapler for anything but paper".

These methods merely changed the delivery of the product; they did not compromise the integrity of the structure as many think. Architects and engineers have made certain of that. As new products are introduced, cynicism or reservations will always accompany a new idea.
Houses are much safer, easier to maintain and much more affordable. On top of that, they are much more energy efficient.

Many of the things they did as home constructors were actually harmful to us or the building. At times, home builders were careless and abusive with poisonous chemicals. These chemicals are now regulated.
Builders no longer treat every new house with pesticides as they once did. Pre-treating was at least unnecessary and at most, reckless.

At least in North Texas, builders no longer install heating and air conditioning systems in crawl spaces under our house. They no longer embed ductwork into and under our concrete slabs.
They vent clothes dryers to the exterior instead of into the garage or the attic.
They install shut-off valves on all of our gas appliances that don't require special tools to turn in case we need to shut them off.
They install smoke detectors and fire alarms.
They elevate appliances in our garages to reduce the risk of fire.
They install special firewalls, fire-rated doors and fire stops.
They install special electrical devices to keep us from accidentally electrocuting ourselves. They now install devices that can detect a faulty electrical outlet as we sleep. Builders use more fire-rated materials than ever before.
They use plumbing materials that don't rust and that make our drinking water safer. They install water heaters in a way that prevents flooding of our interiors if they leak or burst.

Our homes are better insulated and no longer contain asbestos.
They are equipped with windows that allow more light and keep out more heat and cold. Fireplaces now require less maintenance and provide more heat. Our carpeting and other products no longer contain high levels of formaldehydes. Our paints no longer contain lead.

And yes, they are right. "They don't build 'em like they used to"..........
and that is a good thing.

Do electric heating systems have problems?

2006-12-06T15:27:00.000-08:00

Yes Virginia, they do. An electric heating system is as reliable as any other, safer than most others. But they can overheat and malfunction or malfunction then overheat. Either way, this is a photo of a 20 year old electric heating unit that someone rigged. By eliminating the circuit breakers that would likely have prevented this meltdown, this handyman’s work could have burned down the whole building. Sparks flew here but lucky for them, not for long. [Picture in your minds eye going into your attic and firing up your arc welder.]

Ductwork materials/Goodman, Owens-Corning

2006-12-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

These are air conditioning and heating ducts [also known as HVAC ducts]. In the 70’s and 80’s ductwork materials such as Goodman gray flex-Duct, Owens Corning Flex-Duct, and others were widely used but soon fell from favor by most builders and installers. Then came the suits; those guys in suits from Harvard and the lawsuits they filed. Class-actions and other problems developed for these and other manufacturers and those flexible ducts wrapped in gray trash bag material were no more.

The biggest problem was that the material could not withstand ultraviolet light from the sun’s rays and the outer material would simply melt down. These photos show two things: one, how the meltdown begins by tearing apart the plastic covering. Two, how one homeowner dealt with it with plastic tie wraps. The repair is interesting but not effective.

Many homes are still equipped with these ducts; many without problems. For others though, replacement is the most practical solution when their ducts begin to break down.

Tankless Water Heater

2006-12-05T20:41:00.000-08:00

These things are really cool. They heat the water as you need it.

They come in Electric or Gas versions. They cost more than a standard storage tank [right now] but they seem to be pretty practical. [The price should come down].

They are destined to replace the typical water heater someday.

Electric ceiling heaters in the bath....

2006-12-05T20:17:00.000-08:00

are dangerous. These little outdated appliances are perhaps the single-most hazardous luxuries you could possibly have [next to a gas log].

These heaters are a carryover from the Fabulous Fifties, the Sexy Sixties and the Disco Seventies.

I have several gripes with these. First of all, they are energy-eaters. High current draw equates to high electric bill. Very popular in the Seventies when so many homes were built with aluminum wiring made them even more unsafe.

Every time you leave the house, you'll wonder if you remembered to turn it off. A few hardware stores carry a switch guard to prevent anyone from using the thing. Not a bad idea. Don't be surprised to find the wires charred and brittle when you finally replace it with a heat lamp or light.

What does a pier and beam foundation look like?

2006-12-05T19:05:00.000-08:00

Like this. Most people never venture into their crawl space so they have no clue what is under their house much less what is meant by a pier and beam foundation.

Concrete is poured into a tar paper cylinder and when it dries it is capable of supporting a huge amount of weight. The funny looking upside-down metal pan on top of it is intended to discourage termites; sometimes it works.

The pier is holding up a wooden beam and the beam is holding up the wooden floor joists that support the floor that you walk on. [A concrete slab foundation would have been poured directly onto the soil that you see here and therefore would not have been elevated and would have no crawl space.]

An easy way to determine which type of foundation the house has is this: Since a pier and beam foundation is elevated, there will likely be 3 or more steps leading to a porch. A concrete slab foundation will likely have but one step leading to what is called a stoop, not a porch. The finished floors of a pier and beam house will be much higher than the ground outside.

Gas heating is not always economical........

2006-12-05T18:43:00.000-08:00

.......especially when you have to replace it.
This gas heating unit is worn out. It should have been replaced years ago.
The scorching isn't normal [you probably guessed that much].
Having flames lapping the sides of this fire-trap is frightening enough in itself but I found a unit just like it in a church day care center in Arlington.

220 Volts In Disguise

2006-12-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

There is a reason we have rules, codes, standards and procedures.

These 110 volt receptacles look like typical electrical outlets but one is not. Instead of 110 volts, the one in the center of the picture contains 220 volts [for a previous window air conditioner that required 220]. The former air conditioner was replaced with a 110v unit and plugged into the other outlet which was 110 volts because the dimwit knew enough NOT to plug it into the 220. Duh. [Are you following this?]

But the 220 volts not only stayed inside the wall but was allowed to be disguised as a 110 volt outlet. [A shocking development.]

[You can't see it in the photograph but there is a marking inscribed in pencil on the cover plate by the electrical wizard who installed this that reads: 220 volts. [Probably for his own sake, lest he forget.]

Plug in your new Plasma TV into this outlet and you'll need another kind of plasma.

This is why real electricians get the big bucks; they keep us safe from our own stupidity and help to keep us out of the Emergency Room.

For The Sake Of A Tree

2006-12-05T08:19:00.000-08:00

How many times do you walk past this tree and say:
I have to do something with this someday.

When is someday?
With all the cracks in the ceilings and walls, how on earth would you ever know if your foundation was moving?
The cost of cutting down this beast has never been more expensive but it will never be cheaper than today.
How did this happen?
[Please tell me a little kid traded his family cow for some beans and a giant lives in the top of it.]
That's the only logical explanation.

Wiring Wizard

2006-12-05T07:53:00.000-08:00

Is this incredible, incredulous, indescribable or is it just plain stupid?

How about all of the above.

This is house wiring. The guy who did this thinks he's wiring up his 12 volt boat trailer lights or something.

If this is similar to your attic, sleep with one eye open and one leg on the floor tonight.

Someone once told me: We've all done this before. NO WE HAVEN'T.

Poly-Butylene Plumbing

2006-12-04T22:50:00.000-08:00

Poly-Butyl plumbing. Notice the gray tubing and plastic-looking plumbing valves.
Someone once thought this material was a good idea. Thousands of leaky pipes and dozens of class-action lawsuits later proved otherwise.
If you have this material, you may never have a problem. You are at risk of having a leak, perhaps a serious one. Plumbers know all about this material. Some even feel the risk is over-hyped and greatly exaggerated but Shell, Celanese and other large corporations paid out great sums of money to quell the masses and their lawyers. I do not feel the risk was over-hyped. I don't like the material. [I don't like plumbing at all but I would miss it greatly if I didn't have it.] You should consider replacing any of this material if you discover that you possess it.

Plumbing repairs can be artful.

2006-12-04T22:29:00.000-08:00

Plumbing can be an art form.
It's not often that I come across a true work of art like this one.
I'm not sure what the artist is expressing but I'm sure there is deep meaning in his work. [I am certain it was a man; women like to work with other mediums; they don't work well with urea-formaldehyde foam and old T-shirts.]
Perhaps mice were coming through the wall or he was stopping a draft.

2006-12-04T22:05:00.000-08:00

Bad heat exchanger? Very likely.
The soot on the side of this furnace tell us that sometimes the fire wanders aimlessly around the attic. Flames are licking the outside of this heater. That can't be good.
Aside from the obvious, a defective heat exchanger can make you or others in your family very sick. If exhaust gasses are crossing over into your warm air as you are heating your home, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide may be present without you knowing it. Known as the silent killers, CO and CO2 can make you very ill at low levels and can be fatal at higher levels. Most defective heat exchangers are not this obvious so have your gas furnace checked every heating season. I prefer other methods of heating but I like gas heaters until they begin to age. Once a gas heating unit becomes 11 or 12 years old, it should be checked at the beginning of each heating season. By year 15, the system is aging and becomes more of a liability each year after. [This unreliability grows exponentially, not incrementally.]

2006-12-04T21:48:00.000-08:00

Sparks are going to fly if this skinned wire gets any more skinned. Dragging boxes across the attic floor, rodents, etc. Who knows why this wire is damaged but if the insulation is worn any more, this gas pipe could develop into a huge problem and make someone suddenly homeless, or worse. Here's a tip: When flooring your attic, use dimension lumber like 1x4's or 2x4's instead of large sheet material like plywood or other sheathing. With dimension lumber you can easily weave in and out of wires without stretching them and you won't flatten your insulation as much. Space the planks an inch apart and your wires can easily lay undisturbed and accessible should your electrician need to get to them.

2006-12-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Copper gas lines were once an accepted delivery material for natural gas; now it is prohibited.
So are galvanized pipes but galvanized plumbing doesn't react as badly to natural gas and it is found to be more common especially when the handy-dandy home handyman can't tell the difference and grabs the cheapest thing on the shelf at the home store. Electrolysis is already occurring at the copper and brass flare connection if you look closely.
Also the radical bend in the copper tubing is not a good thing. This puppy is going to leak in someone's attic and very soon if not corrected. [Incidentally, the gas company will refuse to turn on the service to this vacant house until this plumbing nightmare is corrected.] They have a thing about safety; fires, explosions and such. Go figure.

2006-12-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

Here's how foundation movement can show in your roof.

Notice the two jagged lines running diagonally across this roof. [click on the picture for a larger image.]

This roof didn't look like this before the foundation moved.

2006-12-04T20:04:00.000-08:00

Soil shrinkage.
Ever wonder how much the soil in Texas can shrink without water?
Take a gander at the separated plastic pipe and the broken PVC next to it. Not to mention the huge gap between the foundation and the soil that is supposed to hold it up.
Click on the photo for a closer view.

2006-12-04T19:50:00.000-08:00

Someone has their lines crossed. A water line and 2 electrical lines draped across a gas pipe. If your science teacher was right, three things can happen here and none of them is good.
If this is your attic and your inspector tells you your attic has four-legged furry little critters, believe him; just don't ask him how he knows. If he's a nice guy he'll spare you the details.
Can you guess?

2006-12-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

A most-outrageous gas line connection. Here's a do-it-yourselfer's handywork that is as dangerous as it is crude.
Look closely and see a brick broken in half, taped to a rafter brace to hold a gas line in place. The gas line has no nearby shut-off valve [why would it?]; the galvanized pipe is a dead giveaway that no particular skill was needed to complete this very fashionable installation. On a scale of 1-100 this is a 3. [Two for creativity and one for courage.]

A Shocking Experience

2006-12-04T08:56:00.000-08:00

Too many dangers lurking inside the electrical panel.

This is one installation made by someone who doesn't have a lick of experience [or sense]. The wire he used is just too big to fit in the breaker, dang it. [Hmmm...wonder what the other end connects to.]