Question:

    If it was code when put in originally, generally it does not need to be changed later if the code changes unless it is going to be worked on (I doubt is snaking counts)  However the original message did not seem to indicate anything about a code change.  I might add that I would not expect an inspector to spot such a thing if the code had changed, unless in his opinion it is likely to cause a problem in the future. — Dia ’s Muire duit Joseph E. Meehan

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Well, there was a home inspector. He checked drainage, but ..    But he did not do a great job if he missed something that was not code. I thought as long as it was code when built it was okay.

Response:

Inspectors make mistakes…and thats bad….I mean, if you are buying a home, and the inspection you end up paying for, and they miss something…..what recourse do you have? In most cases, none. Case in point: Get a call yesterday from a real estate agent that we do alot of installations for on older homes they buy. Inspector went out, and said that the condensate pump was not running, and the heat pump did not come on…..the people that are buying the home now are using this as an excuse to back out… I go out, check the condensate pump….its dry..as expected after a couple of months of non use of the AC, and the heat pump fires up as normal….I had the inspector there, and I asked if he checked the tank on the pump…no…and I asked if he had run the AC before switching over to heat…yes..of course…for 10 minutes….. WELL DUH…one, 10 minutes on a really cool, dry day wont make jack in condensate..and there is a short cycle timer built into the thermostat, AND the heat pump….you have to wait at least 5 minutes AFTER switching over like that for it to come back on..compressor protection…he did not know anything about that…on any unit..and this guy is the inspector… Keep in mind, this was not the county inspector, who had already signed off on the job months ago. He knows more about this stuff now….but, he should have known before he went to check the tank on the pump, add water if needed, and just sit there and wait… He wanted in, out and to get paid….thats all. The only inspectors I trust are the city and county inspectors…so far, they have been great, and dont miss a thing…if your county allows for them to do a prelim home inspection, and the mortgage company will allow that…do it. — www.carolinabreezehvac.com

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Well, there was a home inspector. He checked drainage, but ..    But he did not do a great job if he missed something that was not code. I thought as long as it was code when built it was okay.

Response:

   Personal opinion.  You made two mistakes.  First was the insurance.  You would have done much better hiring a good home inspector before you bought the home.  Second your two quick fixes are just that, both ill advised.  One is likely to come back as a problem and the other may come back as a fire.

Well, there was a home inspector. He checked drainage, but the old owner’s washing machine apparently didn’t dump as much water as quickly, so it never overflowed. As far as the stucco on the bus bar, my point was I don’t think there really was much there in the first place. If replacing the circuit breaker fixed the problem, how is it a quick fix?

Response:

– Dia ’s Muire duit Joseph E. Meehan

Well, there was a home inspector. He checked drainage, but ..

    But he did not do a great job if he missed something that was not code. Sorry to say it, but everyone misses something some times.  I can’t really say how good he is, but he missed that one. As far as the stucco on the bus bar, my point was I don’t think there really was much there in the first place. If replacing the circuit breaker fixed the problem, how is it a quick fix?

    It is a quick fix, if it is not done right.  If the bus bar has been damaged, you might get it to work, for a short time or a long time by replacing the breaker, but then it might start over heating tomorrow.  When it comes to the basics I don’t like not to do it right.  As I recall your electrician said it needed to be replaced, so you have placed your non-professional opinion ahead of his professional opinion.  Not wise in my book.

Response:

Well, there was a home inspector. He checked drainage, but ..    But he did not do a great job if he missed something that was not code.

I thought as long as it was code when built it was okay.

Response:

Case 1: Bought a house about a year ago. A one year warranty with AHS came with the house. About a month into it, the clothes washer drain started over flowing when the washer would dump the water. I call AHS and they send a plumber over that determines the tube diameter is too small and ‘out of code.’ AHS says it’s not covered and the plumber says he can’t simply snake it, but must do $200 – $300 worth of work. I politely dismiss him, call a local guy who has a special on snaking any drain for $39. Guy comes, snakes it in about a half hour, haven’t had a problem with it since. Case 2: One of the electric circuits in the house would go off for a bit about 5pm – 7pm. Because of the time, I thought it might be temperature related. One time when the lights were off, I opened up the panel and wiggling the corresponding circuit breaker got the lights back on. Worrying about getting shocked for poking in there, I call AHS and they send an electrician over. I watch as the guy goes into the box checking the breakers. "See this stucco? It’s covering the contact between the bar and the breaker" "Great, so all you have to do is clean it out?" "No, we need a whole new bar and breaker. I’ll clean the breaker to the circuit that goes off and that should help a bit" The same day, the circuit goes off for a few minutes.         He said he’d call AHS and see if it was covered. He tried to clean the contacts on the bad breaker, and said that should do it. That same day, the circuit went off for a few minutes.  I call the next day and(surprise!) AHS says it’s not covered because the problem was obviously caused by a defective installation when they built the house over 30 years ago. At this point I make the comment that they have a real racket going on over there. Seeing the electrician go into the box gave me some confidence, so I went to the store, bought and installed a new breaker for that circuit. Problem hasn’t returned. Wondered where all the stucco went that the guy showed me. So in the end I only lost $70 for the cost of the deductibles. I’m keeping my AHS renewal notice to give me a laugh every once in a while. I figure insurance is going to cover any huge losses, and that for every time someone offers me an extended warranty I’ll put that money in an account and be able to go on cruise in a few years. Anybody have other stories? I wonder, the people that AHS contracts out to, do they benefit from not having AHS cover a repair?

Response:

    Personal opinion.  You made two mistakes.  First was the insurance.  You would have done much better hiring a good home inspector before you bought the home.  Second your two quick fixes are just that, both ill advised.  One is likely to come back as a problem and the other may come back as a fire. — Dia ’s Muire duit Joseph E. Meehan

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Case 1: Bought a house about a year ago. A one year warranty with AHS came with the house. About a month into it, the clothes washer drain started over flowing when the washer would dump the water. I call AHS and they send a plumber over that determines the tube diameter is too small and ‘out of code.’ AHS says it’s not covered and the plumber says he can’t simply snake it, but must do $200 – $300 worth of work. I politely dismiss him, call a local guy who has a special on snaking any drain for $39. Guy comes, snakes it in about a half hour, haven’t had a problem with it since. Case 2: One of the electric circuits in the house would go off for a bit about 5pm – 7pm. Because of the time, I thought it might be temperature related. One time when the lights were off, I opened up the panel and wiggling the corresponding circuit breaker got the lights back on. Worrying about getting shocked for poking in there, I call AHS and they send an electrician over. I watch as the guy goes into the box checking the breakers. "See this stucco? It’s covering the contact between the bar and the breaker" "Great, so all you have to do is clean it out?" "No, we need a whole new bar and breaker. I’ll clean the breaker to the circuit that goes off and that should help a bit" The same day, the circuit goes off for a few minutes. He said he’d call AHS and see if it was covered. He tried to clean the contacts on the bad breaker, and said that should do it. That same day, the circuit went off for a few minutes.  I call the next day and(surprise!) AHS says it’s not covered because the problem was obviously caused by a defective installation when they built the house over 30 years ago. At this point I make the comment that they have a real racket going on over there. Seeing the electrician go into the box gave me some confidence, so I went to the store, bought and installed a new breaker for that circuit. Problem hasn’t returned. Wondered where all the stucco went that the guy showed me. So in the end I only lost $70 for the cost of the deductibles. I’m keeping my AHS renewal notice to give me a laugh every once in a while. I figure insurance is going to cover any huge losses, and that for every time someone offers me an extended warranty I’ll put that money in an account and be able to go on cruise in a few years. Anybody have other stories? I wonder, the people that AHS contracts out to, do they benefit from not having AHS cover a repair?

Response:

I was involved with a lawsuit against AHS several years ago.  Client had an AHS policy, and had a Lennox air conditioner go awry during a heat wave. After AHS dragged its feet for many days getting someone over to even look at it, then another two weeks arguing whether it had to cover the repair at all (all during the heatwave with no a/c), they replaced the Lennox with an UNDERSIZED (therefore cheaper), no-name brand a/c unit, with lower ratings all around. After the AHS-covered install, the client couldn’t cool his house down to a reasonable temperature, AHS refused to look at it further, so called an independent HVAC company who confirmed the AHS install was far too undersized for the size of the house, then replaced the unit with another Lennox.  Worked fine.  CLient sued AHS, and not only recovered the amount he had to pay his own HVAC contactor to install a proper "like-kind" unit, but also his attorneys fees. Stay away from AHS.  Its worthless.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Case 1: Bought a house about a year ago. A one year warranty with AHS came with the house. About a month into it, the clothes washer drain started over flowing when the washer would dump the water. I call AHS and they send a plumber over that determines the tube diameter is too small and ‘out of code.’ AHS says it’s not covered and the plumber says he can’t simply snake it, but must do $200 – $300 worth of work. I politely dismiss him, call a local guy who has a special on snaking any drain for $39. Guy comes, snakes it in about a half hour, haven’t had a problem with it since. Case 2: One of the electric circuits in the house would go off for a bit about 5pm – 7pm. Because of the time, I thought it might be temperature related. One time when the lights were off, I opened up the panel and wiggling the corresponding circuit breaker got the lights back on. Worrying about getting shocked for poking in there, I call AHS and they send an electrician over. I watch as the guy goes into the box checking the breakers. "See this stucco? It’s covering the contact between the bar and the breaker" "Great, so all you have to do is clean it out?" "No, we need a whole new bar and breaker. I’ll clean the breaker to the circuit that goes off and that should help a bit" The same day, the circuit goes off for a few minutes. He said he’d call AHS and see if it was covered. He tried to clean the contacts on the bad breaker, and said that should do it. That same day, the circuit went off for a few minutes.  I call the next day and(surprise!) AHS says it’s not covered because the problem was obviously caused by a defective installation when they built the house over 30 years ago. At this point I make the comment that they have a real racket going on over there. Seeing the electrician go into the box gave me some confidence, so I went to the store, bought and installed a new breaker for that circuit. Problem hasn’t returned. Wondered where all the stucco went that the guy showed me. So in the end I only lost $70 for the cost of the deductibles. I’m keeping my AHS renewal notice to give me a laugh every once in a while. I figure insurance is going to cover any huge losses, and that for every time someone offers me an extended warranty I’ll put that money in an account and be able to go on cruise in a few years. Anybody have other stories? I wonder, the people that AHS contracts out to, do they benefit from not having AHS cover a repair?

Response:

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