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How difficult can it be to figure out what the water pressure at a home is? - 03/31/11 10:24 AM
It is a good thing taking one’s own blood pressure is not as difficult.
One of the first things I do around the exterior of the home is test the water pressure at the first outside faucet I come to. They all get checked eventually. At a recent inspection the first faucet had a pressure of 120 psi---a wee bit high.
I usually recommend that the house water pressure be set below 80 psi, and it is fairly routine to recommend installation of a pressure regulator on the piping when I find pressures this high. Knowing this area, and having … (24 comments)
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One can buy a thousands filters for the cost of a new furnace. - 03/29/11 10:58 AM
There are tons of simple maintenance items around the home that if neglected will cost more to fix than it would if they were regularly maintained.
I am not talking about big maintenance items like keeping the house painted or the roof repaired etc. I am talking about the really simple stuff like changing the furnace filter regularly.
There is no set rule as to how often the furnace filter needs to be changed. It will vary due to lots of factors---all related to how much the heating and/or cooling system is used and how much crud is in the … (29 comments)
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The Princess (her version?) - 03/27/11 10:32 AM
One day the King called his son, the Prince, to his bedside.
“Son,” said the King, “As you know I am dying and soon all of the kingdom will be yours. But first you must find a Princess and marry her.”
The Prince knew this would be no easy task as he had already turned down several options the King had suggested to him. The Prince wanted to make up his own mind. In the past there would have been no question. If the King had said you will marry this Princess or that Princess—even if she did have a … (14 comments)
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The hidden costs of Bear Doo. - 03/26/11 02:07 PM
I have done lots of posts about flashings that seal around the pipes that go through roofs.
At a recent inspection there were no flashings at all on any of the pipes. On this roof there were three vent pipes, one electrical mast and one improperly vented exhaust fan---no flashings at all.
There was however, LOTS of bear doo---or you might now it as "tar."
I guess a couple of buckets of tar is a lot cheaper than the proper flashings---but the money saved will surely be out paced by the damage that will be done once the connections … (17 comments)
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Why is there a fire truck in my driveway? - 03/25/11 09:44 AM
We all get too many emails.
Of course with the recent activerain issues I have not been getting nearly as many as I used to. I would love to see that issue resolved, as I think that it really interferes with the normal “conversations” on our blogs that we have all grown accustomed to.
But that is a whole other issue and I hope that activerain is working hard to resolve it.
For those of us that buy things---and who is not among that group---there is one email that we should all be getting.
We should all, as consumers, subscribe to … (17 comments)
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Some things jump out at you---some things don’t. - 03/23/11 09:41 AM
Let’s play a game.
The home pictured below is a fairly common and normal looking ranch style home in the Seattle area.
However, something is not quite right with it.
While there are other things that one could point out in the picture, there is one thing in particular that is quite unusual. Regardless what the picture would have you believe, the home is level.
So study the picture---and give it your best shot.
What is not quite right?
Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
… (47 comments)
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The Myth of fire-rated walls and doors between the house and garage. - 03/21/11 10:12 AM
A common mistake that home inspectors make when inspecting single family residences is related to opinions stated about the separation between the home and the attached garage. There comments often leave them "out on a limb" when repairs are called for.
I routinely hear erroneous statements about compromised “fire-rated surfaces” between the house and the garage. Statements declaring that the surfaces between the house and the garage are not “1hr fire-rated,” or that the “1hr fire-rated surfaces” are in some way compromised, are very common in inspection reports. The door or doors placed in this “separation” are also frequently misunderstood and … (22 comments)
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Being right is of little comfort if someone dies. - 03/19/11 04:06 PM
The Standards of Practice that home inspectors operate under are “minimum” standards. It is important to understand that most home inspectors in order to provide better service to their client will go beyond these minimum standards.
Some home inspectors would have the world believe that the inspector opens themselves up to a Pandora ’s Box of liability if they mention anything that is not included in the Standards of Practice.
I come from the position that there are worse things than opening oneself up to perceived increase in liability. To walk around the home and property with blinders on may in … (31 comments)
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The usual suspects---a detective story. - 03/14/11 08:07 AM
Inspectors are always playing “detective.”
In fact, in some countries detectives are known as “inspectors.”
We know the usual suspects. Every home has the usual suspects. They are not always guilty, but we have to check them out none the less. We never want to discover that some crime has been missed---only to grow into a crime spree of untold proportions.
There are the nasty stains on the ceiling that have to be questioned.
We routinely use expensive devices to check around toilets and along shower stalls and tubs. It is very common for crimes to be committed in these areas.
… (33 comments)
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Strange Days - 03/11/11 02:22 PM
The Doors had it just about right in their 60’s song of the times.
It was not just the drugs and rock and roll----then again, maybe that was part of it. Even in construction we saw things done that could only be described as “strange.” Interior and exterior designs of buildings became popular that might be best described as the result of a bad acid trip.
A huge emphasis on flat roofs, minimal overhangs excessive glass were just a few of the features that were common in those days.
A serious lapse of common sense (or loss of brain cells) could be … (31 comments)
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The benefits of acting and thinking like a mouse. - 03/09/11 02:06 PM
The first thing I saw when I entered the attic was dozens of little ¾” holes peppering the yellow fiberglass insulation. There were urine stained, and feces studded, trails from many of the holes.
I was in mouse heaven.
It is nasty enough crawling around in attics, so when they are vermin infested it makes the job even more interesting. It makes me glad to have a good mask and a good ability of holding my breath.
An inspector has to be a bit like a rat or a mouse when it comes to crawl spaces and attics.
Rodents explore … (39 comments)
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It is only logical---even if it has “stood the test of time.” - 03/06/11 08:16 PM
As one can see through this window, the yard of this home is very nicely landscaped.
A Google Earth image of the property makes the place look like a European Estate with matching hedges, ponds and walkways all around the home.
But this post is not about the landscaping. It is about the “view”---and in particular---THIS view. You see, this is a window at a stairwell landing---and has been this way for about 90 years. One would say that it has stood the test of time---or perhaps not.
As an inspector I am in a position where I more or … (49 comments)
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I bet you pee your pants before I do! - 03/05/11 09:24 AM
I subscribe to the Electrical Currents Newsletter from the Washington State Department of Labor in order to stay “current” (no pun intended) with what is going on in the "electrical field" in Washington State. It always has "electrifying tidbits" about what is going on with updates to the National Electric Code as they pertain to Washington State---as well as lots of other useful if not too "shocking information."
The newsletter always has a question of the month that is often times way over my head electrically, but that is fun to read nonetheless.
This month’s question left me a little baffled as … (37 comments)
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And around and around we go! - 03/03/11 09:19 AM
A while back Ray Wilson, fellow home inspector from Long Island, did a post---a couple of posts actually---about a set of stairs he built for a client. His post inspired me to do a post of my own about stairs.
As a builder, one of the things I did was build circular stairs (Frequently but inaccurately called spiral stairs). True spiral stairs have no central bearing point. The design was my own and I built at least 7 sets over the years. Most of them were built prior to my moving to the left hand side of the country so I have … (39 comments)
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Wordless Wednesday on the job in Seattle - 03/02/11 10:01 AM
… (33 comments)
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Later gater---I think I hear the phone ringing. - 03/01/11 01:19 PM
I changed my static website, Charles Buell Inspections Inc, to a WordPress website in November of this past year---I have loved it since the day I switched over. It is super easy to update and because it is a blogging website, getting fresh content onto the site is as simple as it is to post something on activerain.
Every month Webstat.com keeps track of the visitors to my site. One of the things it does is show monthly totals of visitors in a graph. Being a visual person, seeing the number of visitors made visual by a graph is useful to … (28 comments)
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Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector
Seattle,
WA
More about me…
Charles Buell Inspections.com
Address: Seattle, Shoreline, Everett, Lynnwood, Bothel, Kirkland, Bellevue, Mercer Island, Edmonds, Renton, King County, 17123 22nd Ave NE, Shoreline (Seattle), WA, 98155
Office Phone: (206) 478-7371
Cell Phone: (206) 478-7371
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