This guy cracks me up!My buddy Steve, King-of-the-House Smith got so hectic with inspections last week that he made up his mind to take some well deserved time off from inspecting. He decided that because he had nothing better to do, that he would make the hour and half drive down to my house and go on an inspection with me! Way cool! So off we go to the inspection----a nice little "fixer" with 8 inches of clearance under it, NO ground cover and tons of "Cat Evidence" (you KNOW what that means). "EXACTLY" the kind of home I like to inspect on my day off. At any rate, I proceed along with the inspection (actually succeeding in overflowing the stopped-up toilet---yuk) while Steve is off chasing around the house with the realtor looking for the attic access---leaving me and the buyers to fend for ourselves. About ten minutes later---way off in the distance I hear something--- ---its Steve---
For those of you that haven't heard this story before----this ALWAYS happens! Every time Steve goes on a ride-along with me, he always wants to play "hide-and-seek." I must admit my buyers find it "entertaining," and we usually just go along with it and try to find him. I definitely wanted to run and hide somewhere due to the overall poor condition of this home. Where could he be----- Not in the furnace cold air return---this time (needed a shop vac the time he did that one). ......... Not on top of the refrigerator (guess he couldn't figure out what to do with the cookie jars). ......... Not inside the fireplace---this time (I warned him last time to NEVER hide there again---or I wouldn't play again). .......... Not sitting on the couch pretending he is staging. ......... Here he is--- ---in the closet!
Now-----WHERE-----is that agent?
Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
Why buy the cow---------when you get the milk for free. On the farm this was an expression my grandfather used when referring "negatively" to the business of people living together before marriage. Several times I have gotten calls from solicitors that wanted to sign me up for a hefty monthly fee and they would "guarantee" that I would show up on the first page of Google and the other major search engines. I used to be at a loss as to what to say. That is---- ----until I had spent a few months bloging on Active Rain. Now I show up on the first page of Google when searching "Seattle Home Inspectors," just by having toooooo much fun bloging! PRETTY DARN COOL! Now when they call I can say: "Why buy the cow when I get the milk for free?"
Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
Making it to “Safer Ground”While the grounding of electrical systems in the home is most likely well beyond the comprehension (or interest) of most homeowners, it is a very important component to be in place for both life safety and proper operation of electrical equipment. Home inspectors will attempt to verify visually that required grounding is in place (effectiveness of such grounding is very complicated and well beyond the scope of a Standard Home Inspection). There are several ways to "ground" the home's electrical system. The two most common ways are through ground rods (electrodes) driven into the ground; and, to the metal water-service-pipe run to the home. A third method, Concrete-encased Electrodes or Ufer Ground (named after Herbert Ufer who developed the method during World War II), utilizes the metal re-enforcement in the foundation footings. The Ufer ground is becoming more popular (and required) as more homes have plastic water service pipes----eliminating the water service being a means of achieving grounding. The Ufer ground is considered to be a far superior method of achieving "effective" grounding. On occasion I find homes that have replaced their water service with plastic and have no other means of achieving grounding---essentially leaving the home "un-grounded" except via the wire back to the Utility transformer. At this time I won't complicate this post with the issues that this causes. Suffice it to say that it is very important for the home's electrical system to be properly grounded. On a recent inspection I found the ground wire to the ground rods disconnected. In the picture you can see the end of the wire and you can see the green and yellow tags where the phone and cable systems are connected to the disconnected ground wire.
In this home, there was a second means of grounding the electrical system through the water service. Because the ground wire was not connected to the "street-side" of the pressure reducing valve, the home could easily become "ungrounded" if the pressure reducing valve had to be removed/repaired/replaced for any reason. Checking these types of electrical grounding issues is something that home buyers should be expecting of their home inspector. Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
What does “Thinking outside the box,” look like?What is a box? The box we are interested in today is the one the mind is too often trapped in----usually unaware, except for the weight of the heavy lid---or the lack of "light"ness. According to Wikipedia: "Box describes a variety of containers and receptacles...... A decorative box normally may be opened by raising, pulling, sliding or removing the lid, which may be hinged and/or fastened by a catch, clasp, lock, or adhesive tape. Whatever its shape or purpose or the material of which it is fashioned, it is the direct descendant of the chest, one of the most ancient articles of domestic furniture...... Objects are often placed inside boxes, for a variety of reasons." This sounds all too much like the mind. This "chest" of drawers and hidden compartments that holds all the things of our lives that are often useless---much like the storage boxes in an attic---put there for a "variety of reasons." You know the ones the rats have gotten into and smashed, eaten, or pissed on? Wouldn't it be nice if there were a "Black Box" that we could open up and see why we crashed so that it wouldn't happen again? How about a "Lock Box" that we could program to let us in at the appointed time? How about a "Glory Box" or "Hope Chest" so that when we got to where we were going we would have everything we need instead of all of the things we don't? (Of course we would need a "Tool box" to open the Black Box and the Glory Box.) And it probably would take so much time we better bring along our "Lunch Box" as well. Since this is a home inspector's blog I suppose we will also need an "Electrical Box" so we can see what the hell we are doing---or in case we "blow a fuse." I think the real problem is, that when we try to open the box we call our mind, we think we are inside of XBox and we are loosing the game; or, we have opened "Pandora's box" and wish we had never begun. I wonder how many people realize that among all of the "evils" present in Pandora's box there was also another evil---"Hope." I like to think of hope as "frosting on a turd." When something is really bad we sugar coat it---hoping that things will get better. While hope may at times be a "necessary evil" it should in no way be mistaken as a way of life. Sooner or later we have to deal with the way life is and move on. But thinking "outside" the box really doesn't have anything to do with any of these things. It has to do with the space around whatever box it is---in spite of, or without regard for, the structure or context of the box itself. It is letting the box contain what it contains while we dance around it causing it to transform (or be forgotten) from the outside in----instead of from the inside out. It is very difficult to Box your way out of the Box. Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
Is there a “minimum” distance to FALL?I have said in the past how Building Codes are "minimum" standards. A good example of this is that the dryer vent locations are allowed to terminate on the roof of a 3 story townhouse---where it is the owner's responsibility to clean it. I have seen them on roofs with a 12/12 pitch (45 degree angle), that even I hate to walk on. How exactly is anyone supposed to keep these things cleaned? Why isn't the location regulated by the codes? Perhaps when someone falls off a roof it will find its way into the code. I frequently find these vent caps clogged with lint and the damper stuck open. Not only do clogged dryer vents represent a fire hazard they can also be a pathway for moisture and critters into the ductwork. Here is a picture of a dryer cap found on a 3-story townhouse roof.
When buying Townhouses and Condos it is a good idea to set up a maintenance schedule, or make sure there is one in place, for keeping these vents clean and functional. It can sometimes be difficult to find a licensed tradesperson willing to do this type of maintenance---due to liability. I certainly would not want to be recommending maintenance by the homeowner! On the Planet Charles, these vent caps would not be allowed on Townhouse roofs.
Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
Winning the Lottery----I’m going to “Jurassic Park!”When green lumber (not to be confused with "politically" green lumber) is used in the construction of homes, the shrinkage that occurs as the wood dries out can cause cracks in the wall finish materials and other cosmetic and minor structural issues. This was much more common in homes as old as the Dinosaurs, and is somewhat alleviated with the use of modern kiln dried lumber and "engineered" or composite structural lumber. It is not uncommon in older homes to find where green lumber has dried out in the intense heat of the attic resulting in pitch that forms little amber droplets on the surface of the lumber. While primarily a cosmetic issue, these types of droplets were the source of the idea behind Jurassic Park. A mosquito that had feasted on Dinosaurs was encapsulated in pitch that turned to Amber several hundred thousand years ago. By harvesting the DNA from the mosquito, scientists were able to recreate actual dinosaurs. Perhaps a mosquito that has feasted on humans will imbed itself in the pitch on this attic rafter, and then in a few hundred thousand years the intelligent beings on the Planet (or visitors to Planet Earth---like "The Man Who Fell to Earth") will be able to create a Jurassic Park of Humans. I expect they will have to keep them pretty much caged the way the scientists did at the first Jurassic Park---unless it is an extremely lucky mosquito---and it bites the "right" people---the winners of the "Mosquito Lottery."
Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
When is liability a "beneficial" thing?Home inspectors, when writing about the defects they find in homes, will report their "Findings," the "Implications" of those findings, and then "Recommend" what should be done. I like to recommend the specific trade or trades that I want to see perform the repairs. For example, in the State of Washington, we are required to recommend that treatment for Wood Destroying Insects be performed by a State Licensed & Bonded Pest Control Operator. I question the abilities and training of a home inspector that does not know which trade to recommend for a repair. And while I, as a home inspector, could conceivably be taking on some additional liability by doing this, I think it is worth the extra risk in order to provide better service for my buyer. Part of my business model is to: "Leave my buyer with the experience of being taken care of." That said---- recommending licensed and bonded trades to do the repairs is no guarantee that the repair is going to be done professionally or properly (nothing quite like job security). But, such recommendation should be more often successful than recommending repairs by Uncle Bubba or Uncle Bubba's cousin Dubba. On an inspection I did several months ago, I called out for repairs, by a licensed plumber, of an improperly terminated TPRV on a water heater. In this case the drain went up hill. We all know that drains can't drain up hill----gravity can be a pain in the butt sometimes. Water that stays trapped against the valve can corrode the valve rendering it non-functional. (I urge you to watch this video from Mythbusters if you doubt what can happen.) This past week I was called back to re-inspect the property, including the repair to the water heater TPRV drain----supposedly repaired by a "licensed plumber." The picture on the left is the picture from the initial inspection. The picture on the right is the "repair." While the "changes" are obvious, the "repaired" drain still traps water against the valve.
Once again I have to repeat my recommendation for proper repairs by a licensed & bonded plumber. Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
Why is there toilet paper up there? All vents from bathroom, kitchen and laundry exhaust fans should terminate at the exterior of the home at vent caps with a back-draft damper. These vent caps can be located on the roof or side walls of the home. There are caps made for soffits----although these are less common and I discourage their use unless there is just no other way to terminate the vent. This first picture shows a wall vent installed on the soffit. Due to gravity the back-draft damper can't stay in the closed position and cold air, birds and insects can enter the duct. The back-draft damper prevents cool air from entering the duct where condensation might occur if it was not there. Often these vents terminate inside the attic next to screened roof vents. This arrangement can result in clogging of the screen and result in the vented air ending up in the attic.
This next picture shows a very clogged screen where the vent pipe is near the screen.
Another popular place to terminate vents is on the inside of bird-blocking at the screened holes in the bird-blocking. These vents quickly clog rendering the vent non-functional, resulting in the exhausted air ending up in the attic or staying in the room itself. A variation of this approach is when a screened & louvered type cap is installed on the vent. The bathroom vented to this location was not exhausting any air.
Many exhaust fans are found to be non-functional at the time of inspection. One simple test to determine if the fan is drawing air is to turn the fan on and see if it will hold a piece of tissue paper against the grille (unfortunately the test will not answer WHERE it is venting to). Another test (if your fans are too high to reach), is to turn the fan on and then put the tissue at the gap under the door to the room and watch to see if the air that should be moving into the room blows the tissue into the room. (I can already see some of my favorite bloggers running off to check their exhaust fans) Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
Did you know that gas is run to your home in plastic pipes? On more than one occasion I have had buyers ask me what the wire coming out of the ground next the gas meter is---and whether it is "Live" or whether it should be connected to something. On first glance it does look like it ought to be connected to something. I have even heard of other inspectors call this out as a defect that needed "further evaluation" by an electrician. The wire I am talking about can be clearly seen in the following photograph.
This wire is merely a tracer wire that the utility installs so that they can find the gas line, if they need to, with electronic equipment. Because the gas line is plastic the wire allows them to find the wire. There is nothing that you should do with this wire and please DON'T connect it to anything---or cut if off! Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
“The END of the WORLD……” It seems like, for as long as I can remember, there has been someone standing on a street corner of every city with a sign stating that the "End of the World is Coming." Now either I am missing something really important, or the guys with the signs are missing something really important. Perhaps they are holding out for the fact that someday they are likely to be right----but which one will be right---and how many more millions of The planet and its inhabitants have certainly had its ups and downs and there have been some downright ugly times all over the planet both then and now. We seem continually willing to show how intolerant, selfish, bigoted, cruel and barbaric we can be to each other. But can anyone seriously say they would rather go back to any other time? I expect that those caught up in the middle of one of the various insanities taking place around the globe would most certainly pick a saner time, but surely the "opportunity" to cope with, and correct these issues has never been greater than it is today. Do you know of any particular crisis around the world that isn't the result of confused or downright missing political will or religious fanaticism---or both? So this is what we have to work with---other times had the same things (or worse). It is up to us individually to make the best of our lives---and to live those lives in a way that leaves the best legacy for the next generations. I think about all of this in terms of my profession---the business of keeping people safe in their homes. This profession is very much a reflection of the success, opulence, wealth, and the desire of peoples to be safe in their homes (plus a few lawsuits along the way). I sometimes reflect on how quickly I would become unnecessary if the whole system was to break down as it did in late 1928. Would people really be able to maintain their roofs, keep batteries in their smoke detectors, buy new carbon monoxide detectors every 2-3 years, or get their furnaces serviced often enough? Or would they be more interested in finding enough to eat? Would they really have the time to care if their garage door opener reversed 3 different ways? Would they really have the time to care whether their GFCI's and AFCI's were working? Would they really care if they kept their lawn mowed as often as their Homeowner Association said they had to? Would there be the governmental will or funds to make sure that all back flow valves are inspected once a year? There already aren't enough jurisdictional inspectors to do an adequate job----with further government cutbacks how much more would this area suffer. And yet, it is at these times that home inspectors would probably be of greatest service---but no one would be able to afford to hire us let alone fix the things we found wrong. There would be more and more people attempting to patch things together themselves because they couldn't afford to hire someone to do it right; and then that trained technician would be as out of work as I would be. This is some of what we would be giving up if we LET the whole thing collapse. Believing that it is not in our control is part of the problem. As with all problems----"Belief"----is not very far away. We need less believing and more doing----and much less waiting for someone else to do it----practicing the "Golden Rule" (the basic idea behind the Golden Rule predates all of the great religions---and is too rarely practiced by any). If we each do what it takes to make our individual lives truly work, it will also work for those around us. That is how we can "individually" save the world.
Charles Buell PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)
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Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector Seattle, WA More about me… Charles Buell Inspections.com Cell Phone: (206) 478-7371 Email Me
My blog is intended to provide information related to home inspections in Seattle, surrounding communities and anyone else interested. Enjoy!
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all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.
This next picture shows several vents all "aimed" at the same attic roof vent.
years will it take? Certainly none of the ones from the 50's, 60's 70's, 80's, 90's, and double zero's has been right. These whackos were even around in Biblical days. So as near as I can tell the World has not come to an end in at least 2000 years----not even metaphorically. Some would argue for a return to the "good ole days" but I can't find anyone that can actually tell me when that was. Just because I have to have a root canal today (which is enough to make most people think of better days) does not make me want to go back to a time when it meant ripping the tooth out without Novocain! 
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