I've been fortunate that in all the crawl spaces in all the world (that I've been into) I hadn't yet found any of those nasty poisonous critters that tend to inhabit those dark nether regions of a house.

Until TODAY that is.  Inspecting a brand new (one year, never been occupied) home in a subdivisiion north of Georgetown, Kentucky. 

Fortunately I saw her before she saw me.

Pretty as she was, there was still an audible "pop" as gloved hands sent her to Heaven.  Along with a short note in the buyer's report about treating the crawl space for spiders.

Worst I've ever ran into before (and still) was a snarling possum behind a piece of plywood in the dirt floored cellar of an older home in Georgetown, KY.

Today I had an occassion to visit Casey County, Kentucky .  The morning was a bit wet as it rained almost the whole home inspection.  Lord willing, the creek won't rise and flood the house I was inspecting.

Strangely enough, the property was located on "Dry Creek" Road.  Just didn't look very "DRY" to me.

BUT, passing back through Liberty, Kentucky, I realized the rain had stopped.  The sun hadn't quite come out, but look at the signs of spring in front of the Casey County Courthouse. 

Blooming going on!

But the Casey Count courthouse square was a busy place.  After five minutes, I gave up trying to get a shot without a moving car in it.

After seeing, this I noticed all kinds of blooming going on!  Just not any good photo ops.

The other morning, I was out on my second run of the day (yep, I'm an early riser) and noticed a rainbow at sunrise over Georgetown, Ketucky.  I snapped this picture and wanted to share it with y'all.  I actually took several but shooting into the sun isn't exactly my strong point.

See the rainbow ends at both sides of the sun??

Yeah, there's a  little snow on the ground, but it was gone just a couple of days later.  That's what I like about the weather here.  We get these little touches of winter, play, and then it's gone again.  Not much extended cold weather around here.

As I returned from a home inspection in Willisburg, KY on Saturday, I saw this on the Bluegrass Parkway just south of Lawrenceburg, KY

Most of this is not water running on the surface of the ground.  It's seeping out of the rock walls of a cut thru a hill leading down to the Kentucky River Bridge on the Bluegrass Parkway just south of Lawrenceburg, KY.

I see a lot of this type of ice when the weather gets cold enough.

When I woke up to let the dog out, the next morning, this is what greeted me as I opened the inside door.  Yup, mother nature's artists had been at work overnight on the glass of the rear storm door.  That's the sunrise shining behind it.

I was glad to have my long johns and insulated coveralls for the inspection. Kept me nice and warm.

AND, no it wasn't really that cold.  I thought it was, until I talked to my sister in Northwest Nebraska, where the temperature was 10 below zero.  It made me realize that 15 degrees above zero wasn't really all that cold.

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Well, Judith Reppert mentioned frost flowers, which piqued my curiosity.  So I went and found a couple of pictures of them to share with y'all.

Pretty things aren't they?

I finally figured out what happened to me in grade school.  It was the mercury, in the broken thermometers, that we played with.

Remember those little silver balls that would roll around, break apart and come back together.  Roll them from hand to hand.  Everybody thought it was pretty cool stuff back then.  Did the teacher give it to us or did we break the thermometers on our own.  Heck, I don't remember.  I just remember how cool it was to play with the little balls of mercury.

While surfing around today, I ran into this article about a lady who had chosen to seal off her daughter's bedroom while she tries to come up with the $2000.00 an environmental company wants to charge her for cleaning up the remnants of a Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL)  that broke in the room.

Though the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Snopes.com (Urban Legend Reference Website)  now say that was a serious over reaction and overkill.

I didn't even know that CFLs contained mercury.  Now, I find we need to recycle them as hazardous waste.  Are CFLs worth all the hassle.  It seems we don't have a choice.  Congress passed an energy bill, on December 18th, 2007, that calls for regular tungsten filament light bulbs to be banned by the year 2014.

I hope that Georgetown, Kentucky soon develops a hazardous waste recylcing center for the bulbs as this ole Home Inspector has already changed all the bulbs in the house to CFLs and those few that stopped working have been put in the regular trash.

And if you didn't click on the links above to see how to clean one up when it breaks, here's a short summary of

What the Environmental Protection Agency says you should do when a Compact Fluorescent Lamp (CFL) breaks:

The following steps can be performed by the general public:

2. Carefully scoop up the fragments and powder with stiff paper or cardboard and place them in a sealed plastic bag.

• Use disposable rubber gloves, if available (i.e., do not use bare hands). Wipe the area clean with damp paper towels or disposable wet wipes and place them in the plastic bag.
• Do not use a vacuum or broom to clean up the broken bulb on hard surfaces.

3. Place all cleanup materials in a second sealed plastic bag.

• Place the first bag in a second sealed plastic bag and put it in the outdoor trash container or in another outdoor protected area for the next normal trash disposal.
• Note: some states prohibit such trash disposal and require that broken and unbroken lamps be taken to a local recycling center.
• Wash your hands after disposing of the bag.

4. If a fluorescent bulb breaks on a rug or carpet:

• First, remove all materials you can without using a vacuum cleaner, following the steps above. Sticky tape (such as duct tape) can be used to pick up small pieces and powder.
• If vacuuming is needed after all visible materials are removed, vacuum the area where the bulb was broken, remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wipe the canister) and put the bag or vacuum debris in two sealed plastic bags in the outdoor trash or protected outdoor location for normal disposal.

Dang, I guess popping those long fluorescent bulbs in the trash can is a no-no too now!  Guess I should have popped them and ran from the dust cloud it created.  But no, I'd just fling another one.

(No it ain't mine and I don't know the author of the joke.) 

This story happened a while ago in Dublin, and even though it sounds like an Alfred Hitchcock tale, its true.

John Bradford, a Dublin University student, was on the side of the road hitchhiking on a very dark night and in the midst of a storm.  The night was rolling on and no car went by.  The storm was so strong he could hardly see a few feet  ahead of him.

Suddenly, he saw a car slowly coming towards him and stopped.  John, desperate for shelter and without thinking about it, got into the car and closed the door, only to realize there was nobody behind the wheel and the engine wasn't even on!!

The car started moving slowly.  John looked at the road ahead and saw a curve approaching.  Scared, he started to pray, begging for his life.  Then, just before the car hit the curve, a hand appeared through the window and turned the wheel.

John, paralyzed with terror, watched as the hand repeatedly came through the window, but never touched or harmed him.

Shortly thereafter John saw the lights of a pub appear down the road... so, gathering strength, he jumped out of the car and ran to it.  Wet and out of breath, he rushed inside and started telling everybody about the horrible experience he had just had.  A silence enveloped the pub when everybody realized he was  crying and....wasn't drunk.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two other people walked in from the stormy night.

They, like John, were also soaked and out of breath.  Looking around, and seeing John Bradford sobbing at the bar, one said to the other ...

"Look  Paddy.....there's that friggin' idiot that got in the car while we was pushin' it."

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Ooooops!  She changed it.

Want some really good home cooking??

Want family entertainment without the booze hounds??

(disclaimer: I'm a frequent customer but don't have any financial interest in the place)

Go North, young man! Or old man, young woman, old woman and all those family ages in between.

That's about 5 miles north of the Scott County Courthouse in Georgetown on Highway 25.

Beverly Nobles' Cedar Post Restaurant, Georgetown, KY fills one need, good home cooking, 6 days a week (Mon - Sat) from 6:00 AM to at least 8:00 PM (later on Friday & Saturday nights).

On Saturday nights, (and now Friday nights too!) Karaoke takes over (though the good home cooking is still available and widely used). 

Garrett Neace brings his Karaoke machines, music and style to the Cedar Post every Saturday night from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM (or later depending).  Garrett's styling alone will bring you to your knees with laughter.  When Garrett gets going with "Worthless", the two of them will have you rolling on the floor!

It's great family entertainment without the booze hounds!

Stop on by anytime for the food and on Saturday nights for the Karaoke.

I'm sure y'all will enjoy it.

Karaoke Crowd at the Cedar Post Restaurant, Georgetown, KY

Young Ones.

Older ones!

Younger Ones!

  And in between ones!

Garrett gets em started!

"Worthless" ain't far behind!

And if you want Garrett to bring his styling and music to your party or function call him at 502-868-3530.

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do.

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I don't know who put this together.  I don't even know where it comes from.

BUT, it is beautiful and I wanted to use it so share my wish with you.

For those who celebrate it with me: 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS

For those who celebrate in other ways:

 HAPPY HOLIDAYS

"So This is Christmas" Song & Slideshow

I don't know how to start it automatically so it's a download from my file manager on my web server.

I hope y'all enjoy it as much as I do.

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A recent post by Shawn Martin ( Life Expectancies of components in your home ) got me thinking.

Early on, I had agents complaining about my statements regarding home appliances (water heaters, furnaces, AC, etc) being at their end of design or useful life.  

Well, I think it's important for people to know how old these things are and how much longer they could reasonably expect them to last.  Apparently my clients felt it was important too as they kept asking me how much longer "it" would last or how old "it" was.

As support for my statements, I've been passing out the Freddie Mac "Schedule of Normal Appliance Life" chart from 1995 as part of my report support documents.  It's the newest I could find at the time I developed it.

Reading Shawn's post, in which he quotes the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) study from 1997, I realized that both of these are kind of old and dated.

So I commented asking if anyone else had anything newer I could provide my customers as support for my statement.

That was a week or so ago.  Having an easy day today and running back into that post and finding no newer answer got me thinking, "Hey, I have a few minutes.  I can do my own research."

Well, here's the answer.

The NAHB, sponsored by Bank of America Home Equity published a NEW STUDY in 2007 based on the results of a 2006 survey.  Here's the introduction to the Study.

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THE STUDY

In the summer of 2006, NAHB conducted a comprehensive telephone survey of manufacturers, trade associations and researchers to develop information about the longevity of housing components.  Many of the people interviewed emphasized that the life expectancy of housing components is greatly affected by the quality of maintenance. They also noted that changing consumer preferences can result in products being replaced long before -- or after -- the end of their practical life expectancy.
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I've had personal experience with the "changing consumer preferences can result in products being replaced long before the end of their practical life expectancy."  The decorator of my house (yeah, you know who it was) decided that the two year old dishwasher of the house we bought when we moved to Kentucky was the wrong "color" for the kitchen as she wanted to paint it.  Old dishwasher to the Habitat for Humanity "ReStore".  New dishwasher, of the right color, in. 

She's happy and, if she's happy, so am I.  If she's not happy.... well, I'm sure most of you know the rest of that story.

Anyway, the chart is not easily copied to put here and NAHB should get something out of it so here's the link where you can download the 2007 study for yourself from the NAHB website.

Just remember (as the foot note to the study says)

We've all seen water heaters, furnaces, etc that are well beyond their life expectancy functioning just fine, (though probably not as energy efficient as newer models).  We've also seen those newer models fail in just a couple of years.

Get Educated B4U Close!

PREFACE:  I know there's good and bad in every field (including mine) so don't go there.  This is about the bad and YOU know who YOU are!

Did you ever just want to slap an idiot upside the head!

When I find outlets that nationally recognized safety standards say should be Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) protected, I always recommend a safety upgrade to my clients. 

I've taken so much flack from real estate agents about this so many times I've lost count.

"Why do you have to bring that up.  It didn't have to have it when this house was built so it doesn't have to be done now!"

WHY??  Well, because I know what can happen.  I can lead you to the water.  I can shove your head under the water.  BUT, I can't make you drink.

But, of course they are right!! 

The house is 100 years old.  Didn't even have GFCI's then.

And there is no law that says it has to be upgraded.
  (well, except for certain circumstances that aren't germane to this discussion, renovation, remodeling, etc.)

Those same agents are always sure to buckle their seat belts when they leave the inspection.  Even though they didn't have seat belts 60 years ago!

I decided to gather up some articles and send em to several recent idiots.

Just thought I'd also share them with you here so you'll be more educated about why home inspectors recommend safety upgrades. 

It is NOT important to us who pays for the upgrade, it's a recommendation for improved safety. 

Girl, 6, Likely Died From Electrocution 

Professor dies from electrocution at Cleveland State University

$30 circuit breaker could have averted electrocution death at concert.

Summer Haven was in compliance with the code when the pool was built," Stocks said.
Sound like someone YOU know?
Two kids died but "it's okay" because it wasn't required when the pool was built.

The above are just examples.  There are tons more.

THATS WHY

Only you can choose what level of risk your family lives with.  CHOOSE WISELY!!!

And don't forget to test those GFCI on a regular basis.

A short explanation I use with permission from Tom Lauhon, Midwest Inspectors Institute. (as best I remember it.)

A short explanation of GFCI. 

There is a little electrician hiding in the GFCI outlets.  He watches the electricity come in over one shoulder and go out over the other shoulder.  If there's no difference, he just sits there.  If a difference is created, (you drop your shaver or hair dryer into the tub or sink), he immediately shuts down the electricity attempting to keep you from being shocked. 

The problem with your little electrician is that he has a boring job and he likes fishing.  One of these days, he is going to get bored and just go fishing.  When he does, he isn't coming back.  The only way you're going to know if he is still in there is to test the GFCI outlet or breaker every 30 to 45 days. 

Plug something into the outlet, hit the test button and then the reset button.  If it shut down the power and then restored the power, the little electrician is still in there working for you.  If it didn't, your little electrician has gone fishing.  You need to get a licensed electrician to replace your little electrician.

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OK, enough ranting.  Choose wisely, grasshopper!

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