Charles's Seattle Home Inspection Blog

Breakfast of Bloggers!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:54:55 -0600

Yup---I am going to blog about breakfast cereal!

OK----if you have kids you know what it is like to go to the kitchen cupboard and find the cereal box empty----and most of you will appreciate that I did not say “gone.” (Don’t pretend you don’t eat the kid’s cereal when they aren’t looking either.)

Well, the kids are grown and they are not around much to eat the cereal anymore---but that still doesn’t mean there is always plenty of cereal.

I can still go to the cupboard and discover that there isn’t any.

There is a solution.

“Toast cereal.”

Yup.

Just take some of your favorite whole grain bread---even raisin bread----especially raisin bread----and toast it up all nice and dark and then let it get hard in the toaster.

When it has cooled off, just crumble it up into tiny pieces----add sweetener and/or sliced fruit----add milk----and you are all set.

This method actually has advantages over boxed cereal. It is cheaper. You will never get caught adding sugar to the pre-sweetened store bought cereal again. You are also less likely to run out.

I don’t even buy boxed cereal anymore.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Wordless Wednesday in Seattle

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:19:08 -0600

We are going to: “Party-down”----in the basement!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:56:40 -0600

In Seattle there are a lot of older homes with partial basements. The rest of the house will typically have a crawl space under it.

Ever since we started putting basements under houses people have wanted to use these basement spaces for all kinds of things. Typically they started out as a place for the furnace and other utilities. People quickly realized these spaces would also be a great place to put the laundry. The next obvious thing to do with these spaces was to turn them into living spaces----rec-rooms, bedrooms, work-shops, grow-ops----you name it.

The various transformations of these basement spaces were more or less successful depending on several variables. There might be height considerations, light considerations, egress considerations and moisture considerations----to name a few. Often these changes of use would not meet current standards, and some represented serious safety issues.

This post is not really about all of these considerations----I will save them for another time.

The space between the basement area and the crawl space was often simply open to the basement----at least orginally. There sometimes would be a little short wall to hold the dirt back where it stepped up to the crawl space height. Other times it was just a gradually sloping earthen embankment as the basement area transitioned to the crawl space.

Finishing off the basement required dealing with this slope. Sometimes people would dig away the slope in the crawl space area and build a wall to retain the dirt. This increased the size of the basement space while providing a means of retaining the dirt.

Some of these walls were more satisfactory than others.

Often, the masonry or concrete retaining walls would not be tall enough. On top of these walls people would build a wood wall to close off the basement space from the crawl space area. If the foundation wall does not go high enough, the un-retained dirt wall inside the crawl space, over time, collapses against the wood wall----resulting in decay/rot and places where wood destroying insects can “party-down.”

I think you can get the idea from the next couple of pictures.

The solution? Proper retaining walls and clearances need to be created, and the solution would vary with the installation.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Forget Green----it is the next Ice Age!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 08:47:29 -0600

Can anything really “spiral out of control?”

It sure seems so.

What do we mean when we say things are “spiraling out of control?” I am sure there are times when the concept of spiraling out of control has validity----like the circumstances that led to the Titanic not having enough time to turn before it side-swiped the iceberg. In the physical world there are all kinds of examples like this. But if we dissect these events they are merely playing out natural forces like: "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."

I am talking more about the “non-physical” areas of our lives that seemingly spiral out of control. Sometimes these circumstances have a physical component, but generally, “spiraling out of control” means that things are not going in the direction we want them to----or are used to----or the way we "expect."

But isn’t it all a matter of perspective? Sometimes it is ALL about perspective. Examples of this can be seen in individuals that do not see that their circumstances are merely different sides of the same coin. When people find themselves spiraling down this kind of drain, they simply have to “act” to change the spiral (assuming there is no physical component like Crystal Meth). Take for example this spiral stairs. Whether you look at it from above,

or from below,

it is all a matter of perspective as to which is better.

One shows the way to go down----the other shows the way to go up. Neither is better than the other----and equally useful at one time or another.

However, other times, it is more the case that one person’s misfortune is another person’s windfall. I think it is pretty logical to have issues with people that are able to manipulate circumstances so that they seem to have “control” over the lives of others. We see this every day all around the world as our current economic situation makes “adjustments”----or worse.

Ironically, the total amount of money on the planet has not changed dramatically----not counting what is being printed every day, because that money should “theoretically” increase the total amount. The problem appears to be that it has been distributed to places where it has “solidified”----frozen like that iceberg that the Titanic hit.

In fact the money supply can in many ways be equated to the earth’s total water supply.

The total amount of water on the planet doesn’t change much (All 336 million cubic miles of the stuff). Some areas have too little and other areas have too much----these are “distribution” issues----people generally can move from areas that have either too much or too little. Historically this does happen, and civilizations have come and gone or relocated based on water supply---either from too much (New Orleans, hint, hint)----or from too little (Acoma, hint, hint). Much of the water on the planet stays liquid----oceans, rivers, lakes, rain etc----and circulate around the planet in an endless cycle of evaporation, rain, puddles, evaporation, rain, puddles, evaporation etc. Some of this precipitation comes down as snow, which builds up and forms ice---which sits there---sometimes for tens and hundreds of thousands of years. When this happens distribution has been GREATLY s l o w e d d o w n. During the ice age tremendous amounts of water becomes trapped. This water may still be slowly evaporating and melting---but not at a pace necessary for adequate distribution to where it is needed.

Isn’t this a bit like what is going on now with money? Isn’t the glacier actually getting larger? Isn't the next Ice Age coming? Is even the little bit of the iceberg that is melting and evaporating still not going where it is needed? Instead it is being sponged up and taken away by the few people lucky enough to have ice melting equipment.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Why are there Monkeys and Rhinos in my Chimney?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:54:09 -0600

When we bought our house----long before I was a Seattle Home Inspector----and started making it livable, I was heavily influenced by a couple of fun movies playing at the time: Jumanji and Jurassic Park.

The house had wall-to-wall shag, puce-green carpeting----if one could really call it carpeting. There probably was a microscopic Jurassic Park of critters living in the thing. The carpet was more reminiscent of one of those cat clawing poles that people have in their homes.

In the dining room, there was a 2’ x 6’ runner on top of the carpeting. This runner covered over a humongous hole the sun had burned through the carpet. This runner had been nailed all around its perimeter with roofing nails----an inch apart----kind of like the nailing pattern you might see on the underside of an upholstered chair or like the rivets in a jet wing. The nail heads were all shiny from wear----quite attractive and “sparkly.”

Most of the rooms had wood strip flooring under this carpeting that did re-finish quite nicely. The hallway however was another matter. It had been patched numerous times and covered over with linoleum. The adhesive was not about to be removed either. So I decided to do a “painted rug” to deal with the matter. Here is a picture of what it looks like.

I think you can see the Jurassic Park influence. I took actual ferns from the garden and rolled them in paint and then pressed them onto the floor----bunches of different colors----bunches of different layers.

I had another Jurassic moment on an inspection the other day---or perhaps it would be more correct to say the chimney was having a Jurassic moment. Hopefully a bunch of manic monkeys, two hundred pound mosquitoes and raging rhinos are not going to come flooding out of it----like in Jumanji.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

“Breaker-Breaker-1/5”

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:54:08 -0600

Little Billy Breaker was 15 and had a job.

Quite a simple job.

A total “trip” really.

A perfect job for a teen like him.

All he had to do was sit there. Whenever someone sent too much stuff his way, it was his job to just shut the line down----giving everyone working along the line a chance to catch up and for things to cool off a bit.

For a whole week----seven days in a row----he did his job, just like he was supposed to do----shutting everything down perfectly----and still----everyone was mad him.

In fact it seemed to him that the better he did his job the madder everyone got.

They would just come right up to him, get right in his face and make him get back to work.

This confused Billy to no end.

He could not understand. If it was his “job” to shut things down, then why wouldn’t anyone let him do his job?

One day, he came to work and found that he had been replaced----no notice or anything----with a bigger, version of himself ----this replacement was 30, “at least”----and totally full of himself.

Well, this was not good.

No one bigger than he could do his job as good as he could---he was sure of it. He knew that when it came to his particular job---bigger was certainly not better.

Changing the job description would surely result in disaster.

WHAT IS THAT SMELL?

Do you smell it too?

Billy's protests fell on deaf ears as he asked, “Don’t you guys remember when the same thing happened to Frankie Fuse?”

I swear I smell something burning!

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

When was the last time you played, “Dress up?”

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 08:20:51 -0600

People sometimes ask me how I come up with all my crazy ideas for blogging (well they don’t actually say “crazy”---but I know what they mean).

First of all there are a couple of techniques I use to keep myself focused.

#1. The total number of blog ideas is infinite.

#2. When you have the cojones to think that #1 is not true---reread to #1.

I think an important component in coming up with fresh ideas is more about being “receptive” than is about “giving.” If we have our eyes and ears----and all our other senses open----things will come to us. But if we start with the notion that we must hunt and find something to give away, it will be very difficult indeed----especially after one has been blogging for awhile.

Rather than offer a list of ideas that one might try, I instead will share some of the specific things I do to “encourage” the flow of ideas.

Think of your brain as “Google”----your own personal, caffeine (or chocolate) powered, 24/7, search engine (yes---even while you are sleeping). Your total life experiences are “tagged” in infinite combinations so that even a single word, song, picture, cloud, dream, color, or even a smell can trigger an idea.

When that idea floods in----all you have to do is start playing with it.

Sometimes I will let the idea float around in my head for days (marinating so to speak---some might say fermenting) as I fiddle with different ways to “Dress it up,” to make it interesting, palatable----or sometimes even “plausible” to a reader. Also I like to conjure some way (if possible) to connect the idea to my activities as a Seattle Home Inspector or the real estate industry in general----otherwise I just toss it out there anyway.

In conjunction with the whole business of coming up with ideas, is the conclusion by some that what I do must take an incredible amount of time.

Well----sometimes it does (like this one). More often than not though----they do not take as long as one might think. Much of the post is written before I sit down to the keyboard. It is written in my head or on a napkin while waiting in a restaurant. Others get written while waiting for everyone to arrive for the inspection, stuck in traffic, driving here and there, sitting on the toilet (come on you know I had to say it), standing in the shower, -----WHATEVER! The point is, that there are lots of times when whatever I am doing will not prevent me from working out ideas in my head before I actually get to the keyboard.

Here is another rule: All ideas are OK----they will lead you “somewhere.” Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that some ideas are more valid than others. And remember----you have very little control over what you think. Even “bad” ideas can be transformed into “good” ideas. Think of ideas as being like “seeds” that you can plant and nurture and watch grow----and then PRUNE, espalier or compost as deemed appropriate. Every thought that runs through your brain and everything that stimulates your senses has the potential to trigger some tag in your brain----we just need to pay attention. (Man this post is going to need some “Roundup” before I am done)(Where the heck did that tag come from?)

NOW: about “Dress-up.”

Doesn’t everyone like to play dress-up?

Steve Smith does.

So, once you have this “great idea”----what kind of clothes are you going to put on it? You can’t just send it naked into the blogosphere (and trust me----I have tried).

Dressing-up, IS your own personal voice.

This is where we make the post appear as if it is about “sex, drugs and/or rock-n-roll”----things that people can relate to. Think of it as cake. People like cake, but if you put the kind of frosting on it that they REALLY like, they will eat it up like crazy. Lately I have been having a lot of fun dressing mine up in children’s stories.

How you dress-up your idea will be what makes your idea look different from everyone else’s version of the same idea.

Not only does an idea trigger tags in your brain, but the words you write will trigger other tags which will trigger other tags----thus making the process even easier. This is where it all starts to be actual fun.

And this brings me to perhaps the most important point I can share.

JUST START—

stuff

will

follow.

Pretty soon, if you practice these simple steps, you will notice yourself letting ideas go floating though your consciousness without doing anything about them---without jotting them down---without taking their picture. Then you will find yourself in the unfortunate position of beating yourself up because although you can “remember” that you had a great idea to play with, you now can not recall it to save your neck.

Not to worry---like any good drain, another idea will float on by soon enough.

All that remains is----are you listening?

P.S.

The original “seed” for this post was, “What are you smoking?”

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Jack & Jill----Singing along in the shower----to the Dead Band

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:33:48 -0600

Sorry----this is not about the Grateful Dead Band----and only “loosely” about Jack & Jill in the shower----and certainly not about them being in the shower together.

Once again I am going to venture into the never ending world of water heaters.

Put on your seat belt for this one Barbara Duncan, this is perhaps the most difficult thing I have ever had to explain to people about water heaters.

Water Heater “DEADBAND”

The question varies, but it usually goes something like this. Jill asks, “How come some times there seems to be plenty of hot water for both me and Jack to take showers----and other times there is not?”

Well Jill, it is probably due to “deadband.” While deadband can be an issue with gas water heaters it is very common with electric water heaters. You see, the thermostat on your water heater has a range at which it turns itself off and turns itself on (Jill could not help but think about how this might apply to her and Jack in other more interesting ways). It is this “range” that causes the problem (how true, how true, thinks Jill). Some water heaters are worse than others (DEFINITELY true, thinks Jill).

Let’s say that Jill starts out with a fully heated water heater at 120 degrees Fahrenheit. She takes a nice leisurely, relaxing shower and uses most of the hot water----but not quite enough to get to the low point of the thermostat to make it kick back on to heat more water. Now Jack comes along an hour later (after the lazy butt sleeps in)---all set to take a nice long hot shower (Jill is thinking cold shower)----only to run out of hot water as the thermostat finally kicks in to heat more water.

To simplify things, I have drawn a little graph to help visualize the basic concept.

So what is the solution? There really isn’t one that doesn’t involve keeping the heater at higher than safe, recommended temperatures (120 degrees Fahrenheit).

Keeping the heater at higher temperatures (so that there is more water to dilute) also means that the thermostat’s low range is always going to be higher than what is a satisfactory temperature for a nice long shower. Installing tanks with more storage capacity is another solution as well.

Perhaps the best solution would be to install what is called a “tempering valve.” This is a clever device that allows you to have the water heater set at say 130 degrees Fahrenheit and mixes a little cold water into the stream whenever you use hot water so that you don’t ever get more than 120 degree water out of your faucets. This also protects the heater from the growth of bacteria in the tank that is encouraged by 120 degree water.

Sounds like Jack will be in plenty of hot water now.

Now you can crank up the other Dead Band when you are in the shower----with or without your sweetie.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Wordless Wednesday in Kentucky

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:20:37 -0600

Hide and Seek----it is for kids of all ages!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 08:59:43 -0600

Kids L♥VE to play hide and seek. When my kids were little we used to have some really great hide and seek “events.” The little ones would always want me to hide them----before I hid myself. You see, they used think I knew all the really cool places for them to hide. Often time right out in plain sight was effective.

One of their favorites was on top of the refrigerator behind the cereal boxes. Of course, after the first time, that only worked with someone new was playing the “seeker.” Another one I remember was behind the screen inside the fireplace----a little messy but very effective!

Inside kitchen cupboards.

Rolled up in carpet.

Behind the couch.

Behind window curtains.

In a bureau drawer.

All of these were great places to hide----especially in the dark. They would usually get caught because they got tired of hiding and would give themselves away as they peeked out of wherever they were hiding or because they were giggling too much.

Kind of the same way this receptacle got “caught”----fortunately not from giggling too much.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

HERE----take your dang business card back!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:05:43 -0600

After ordering pizza---delivered----to your new home the day you move in, the next big event at the home is the housewarming party. The one you hold for all your friends and family----to show off your new digs.

Having been invited as the "honored home inspector" at such events on more than one occasion, I have to wonder how many of these parties end in a less than perfect manner, or even in tragedy, as the back deck collapses under more weight than it has ever seen before.

I know what can happen when decks are not built properly----and many are not built properly----often by weekend warriers that “think” they know what they are doing.

Inadequately bolted (or not bolted) ledgers, rotten supports, lack of diagonal bracing, improper stairs, inadequate barriers and other conditions can result in falls and spilled beer. Either way---this is not the type of party to be at, as the honored inspector, when the deck fails. I would not even want to hear about it collapsing later if I was not there.

As a result, I trash a lot of deck installations----I am not about to be embarrassed at the party----and have to take back all those business cards.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Even from the Brooklyn Bridge this looks like trouble!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:19:47 -0600

There are not all that many roofs that I do not walk on---but one of the kinds I don’t usually walk on is steep metal roofs. If one thinks back to their childhood---they make slippery-slides out of metal for a reason. I know there are plastic ones, but they are not nearly as good as metal ones----unless there is water running down them.

So, I was looking at this one from the eaves and from the ground, to make as good an assessment of the roof as I could.

I think everyone can see in this picture that there is no flashing around this vent pipe.

From the attic side, it is as clear as blue sky and green grass that there just “ain’t no flashing.”

WHOOPS!

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Rumpledsowsear

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:10:55 -0600

Once upon a time (for some reason I seem to be living into fairy tales lately) in the not-so-far-off land of Doogle, there lived a blogger and his beautiful daughter. In order to make himself appear more "important," this blogger fibbed on the Internet and on the MLS that his beautiful daughter could easily turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

King Doogle was VERY skeptical and called for the blogger and his daughter to come before him in the castle. Unable to dissuade the blogger from his claims, the king sent the daughter to the dark, dank and now smelly dungeon. He provided her with a mountain of sow’s ears and ordered her to turn them into even one measly silk purse by morning. If she could not manage such a simple task she and her father would be banished from the land of Doogle forever.

The poor daughter became depressed (not to mention pissed at her dad)----she knew that there was no way in Doogle she would ever be able to turn that pile of sow’s ears into even one measly silk purse----so she started to cry. At that very moment a devilish little toad appeared, pouncing gleefuly through the river of tears. He said that he would turn all those sow’s ears into as many silk purses as she wanted if she would but give him half of her activerain points----and her first born child. Well she REALLY didn’t want her father or herself banned from the land of Doogle so she reluctantly consented. She never was into the whole "points" thing anyway (and she missed the part about the kid).

POOF!!!----instantly all the sow’s ears turned into silk purses----HUNDREDS of them! When King Doogle saw all the beautiful silk purses he was so impressed that he married the blogger’s daughter (hopefully that was OK with her).

Together they filled the kingdom’s coffers by selling all the silk purses on eBay.

King and Queen Doogle then doogled around for a year and pretty soon there was a little Doogle chasing toads around the castle. After a while, the “weasely toad” returned to claim his payment. He said: "Now give me your first born child." The queen had forgotten her promise to the toad and was broken-hearted to say the least. She offered him the other half of her activerain points if she could but please keep the child. The toad refused at first, but finally agreed to give up his claim to the child if the queen could simply guess his name before midnight on Sunday night.

What to do???

She pulled out her laptop and Doogled: “What is the rotten weasely toad’s name?”

(It is usually best to be direct and to the point with Doogle.)

Two hundred and twenty seven thousand pages of hits came back with the name: “Rumpledsowsear.”

Proud of herself to the point of emotional melt-down and peed undergarments, she just could not wait until that weasely little toad showed up again. When he finally did show up, she blurted out knowingly: “Rumpledsowsear!” The toad was paralyzed by shock and sick with dismay (but secretly impressed too) and nearly croaked right then and there. But, in the end he merely bounced past the guard in shining armor, through the window and into the moat----and was never heard from again (after the splash that is).

There is nothing quite like having good Doogle Juice----works on warts too!

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

The Little Red Hen----pecking away in the RAIN!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:18:45 -0600

Once upon a time, there was a little blogger who had a little blog at . He was friends with a dorky duck named Quackers, a stupid squirrel named Nutsy, and a cryptic crow named Raven (and then there were the hundreds of other friends).

One day the little blogger found some blog fodder in the bathroom. The little blogger had an idea. He would post this fodder to his blog.

The little blogger asked his friends, "Who will help me post this fodder to my blog?"

"Not I," quacked the dorky duck .
"Not I," squealed the stupid squirrel .
"Not I," squawked the cryptic crow .

"Then I will," said the little blogger . So the little blogger posted the fodder to his blog all by himself.

When the fodder had been posted, the little blogger asked his friends, "Who will help me spread this fodder around ?"

"Not I," quacked the dorky duck .
"Not I," squealed the stupid squirrel .
"Not I," squawked the cryptic crow .

"Then I will," said the little blogger . So the little blogger spread the fodder all around all by himself.

When all the fodder was spread around, the little blogger asked his friends, "Who will help me take the fodder to and and to be turned into SEO ?"

"Not I," quacked the dorky duck .
"Not I," squealed the stupid squirrel .
"Not I," squawked the cryptic crow .

"Then I will," said the little blogger . So the little blogger brought the fodder to all by himself, turned the fodder into SEO , and watched his page ranking on

and and grow higher and higher.

The tired little blogger asked his friends, "Who will help me aswer the phone because of all the great SEO I am getting?"

"Not I," quacked the dorky duck .
"Not I," squealed the stupid Squirrel .
"Not I," squawked the cryptic crow .

"Then I will," said the little blogger . So the little blogger answered all the phone calls created by the great SEO all by himself.

When the last call for the night was answered, the tired little blogger asked his friends, "Who would like to "LINK" to my blog now?"

"I will," quacked the dorky duck .
"I will," squealed the stupid squirrel .
"I will," squawked the cryptic crow .

"NO!" said the little blogger . "Earn your own SEO ." And the little blogger enjoyed his hard earned SEO all by himself!

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Wordless Wednesday in Seattle

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:04:24 -0600

Got Blog Fodder?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:52:19 -0600

I would be very surprised if there is anyone that frequents this site that does not know the term “fixer.”

As a home inspector, when I hear the term a couple of things go through my mind. First of course is: “blog fodder.” I can’t help but think, “Here is an opportunity to add to my long list of things to blog about.”

Home inspectors are REALLY lucky, because finding things to blog about is usually pretty effortless----if perhaps at times a little tedious and boring to the reader. I know for example that if Barbara Duncan reads one more post about water heaters her TPRV will blow.

The second thing I think about (actually probably the first thing) is: “Here comes another long report where I need to charge at least twice as much as anyone wants to hear about”----and actually end up charging a “normal” rate. But that is just the way it is for a Seattle Home Inspector.

At an inspection the other day I got to thinking about this because this house was ANYTHING BUT a fixer. This place was REALLY nice! The house was on a lot of acreage out in the country and did I already say, “This place was REALLY nice?”

While lots of things can become things that get “restored,” it seems that houses----that may or may not be restorable----get called “fixers.” So often one has to wonder if these places are actually going to “pencil out” or are they just going to turn into someone’s very own money pit. At some point it just becomes good money chasing bad money, doesn’t it? How do we find balance between what is good conservation and what is a waste of additional precious resources?

It is not really just houses that can be “fixers.” Why is it that we don’t think of old cars as fixers? Old washing machines as fixers? We are more likely to call them “Junkers”-----did anyone say, “Cash for clunkers?” (I think I will stay away from that tangent.) These types of things become antiques that get “restored”----and some even loose their value if they are “repaired.” Take for example this wagon-----there ain’t no fixing it. It has become some sort of nostalgic “lawn art” and in that sense has created a new value for itself that required no additional expenditure of time, materials or money.

Looks like it also became “blog-fodder.”

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Who really cares whether the builder knows what he is doing or not?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 08:21:19 -0600

In terms of what Home Inspectors do, does it really matter whether any of the trades that built the house are licensed or not?

Well, YES and----NOT REALLY!

Now I am not talking about this from the standpoint of some lofty ideal where we get into all the “shoulda-coulda-woulda’s” about the trades-

--my statement is purely aimed at dealing with: the way things are.

I think in some respects it makes our job easier when the trades are licensed, and it generally means there are likely to be fewer mistakes; but, when they are not, it just makes what we do as Home Inspectors all that much more important. If there were no mistakes made by builders, there would be no reason for Home Inspectors to inspect new construction. One doesn’t have to inspect very many new houses (usually just one) to know that inspections are necessary.

Add to this the fact that some jurisdictions provide no oversight of the construction process and we are for sure going to have our hands full as inspectors.

An interesting thing that people seem to ignore (or be unaware of) is that almost all States have adopted at least some version of the IRC (International Residential Code) and the NEC (National Electrical Code)----as well as other codes. What this means is that work done in those States must comply with at least these “minimum standards” whether inspected by a “local” jurisdiction or not. Just because there is no place to go and get a permit or call to get an inspection done, is not a “license” for the builder to do whatever they please----people’s lives can be at stake----and all work still should meet whatever regulations are in place.

Some inspectors fear, quite erroneously that if they call out some defect that they will have nothing other than their opinion to back up what they are saying. In most cases they would be able to support what they are saying in the same way an inspector working in a jurisdiction with oversight would be able to.

It seems to me that if I am going to be calling out defects in jurisdictions with little or no oversight, and I am licensed as a Home Inspector myself, I automatically carry more weight in what I say----especially when that State as a whole has adopted regulations that I can use to support my opinions and/or recommendations. Un-licensed, I am just another wannabe professional that the general public may or may not have confidence in. Sure Home Inspection Associations can help---but un-licensed home builders also have associations that they belong to. While these associations help, they do not greatly reduce my job security.

Frankly, I think it is ridiculous that there are no real requirements to be a General Contractor (Education, Continuing Education, Testing etc.) here in my own State, but what does this REALLY have to do with what I do as a Licensed Home Inspector? Not much. All it does is make what we do as home inspectors even more important because we become the de facto safety net for the consumer. This is not at all about being code inspectors---it is more about being all there is----kind of like inspecting the huge amount of houses built prior to any licensing or any codes.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

The average, dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers, HOME INSPECTOR will never notice!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:20:36 -0600

I often wonder, about some of the things I find wrong in homes.

Is it really only home inspectors that would ever notice these things?

I wish that I could take a poll of everyone that sees this post to find out how many of my readers recognize the problem before I “enlightened” them.

So---be honest----before scrolling down----what is the defect?

I just tested my sweetie with the picture and she didn’t pick out the defect without a little coaching. I said, “The drain has no trap---you know that thing that gets in the way of the garbage can?” So perhaps it is not as “obvious” as I would like to think.

While this defect would be great for the jumbo trash can, it might not be what anyone would consider a very desirable “air freshener.”

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

It is Halloween----and the INTERNET has fangs!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:53:24 -0500

We all know how addictive the Internet can be----especially to activerain. There have been countless stories about the “effects” of this addiction on our lives----some good-----some bad.

I am turning the focus of this blog to a less talked about aspect of our compulsion.
The lengths to which we will go----to feed this monster.

I know the story that follows below is only one tame example. I also am sure that all of my readers have their own lurid tales of what they have done to get their next fix. We are not talking coffee or chocolates here----we are talking INTERNET. If you think this does not apply to you, just remember back to that feeling you had in your gut the last time the power went out for five minutes. Can you honestly tell me you didn’t start calculating where the nearest Internet café is? Of course all of you with I-phones are the most addicted of all, and----DON’T EVER FORGET----even you will need to charge up those batteries sooner or later.

At a recent house I inspected, I found where someone needed a "fix" so bad they were willing to cut a 2’x2’ hole through double 5/8” drywall into the ceiling structure of the garage to gain access to the ductwork to the bedroom above. They figured the ductwork would make a great chase for the Internet cable. Of course this was a breach of the fire-rated surfaces between the garage and the floor structure above the garage, and taking the ductwork apart to run the wire to the bedroom would also allow fumes from the garage to enter the bedroom.

Now I like to pretend think I have never compromised the safety of my family for an Internet fix and I certainly have never sold any of my children to get an Internet fix (that would be a bit extreme even for me.)

I know my buddy Steve Smith actually bought a computer while on vacation because he just couldn’t stand going through withdrawal----there is nothing more bizarre than watching Steve dance with no music on (reminds me of the time my dog got her collar hung up on the electric fence) and then there is that sad whimpering about how much he misses Nutsy----as if she was a real person.

So, what is the strangest thing you have ever done for an INTERNET fix?

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

One Stop Shopping: Charles Buell Inspections, Washington State Licensed Home Inspector and Licensed Structural Pest Inspector.

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:03:02 -0500

As both a Licensed Structural Pest Inspector and a Licensed Home Inspector in Washington State, I provide my buyers with the kind of service that has become expected of Home Inspectors in Washington State.

This is a little bit unusual when compared to other parts of the country, but here in the NW, were we have such a wide variety of wood destroying organisms, the home inspector really is in the best position to assess all the areas of a home that these critters might show up in. While recent licensing of home inspectors in Washington State allows Home Inspectors to identify Rot and conditions conducive to Wood Destroying Organisms, if the home inspector encounters Wood Destroying Insects he or she is required to “….refer the identification of or damage by wood destroying insects to a structural pest inspector…” (RCW 18.280.190)

This of course assumes that the Home Inspector knows the difference between Carpenter Ant Frass and the scraps from Uncle Harry’s Hobby. Some inspectors say they will get around this issue by recommending the evaluation be done by a Licensed Pest Control Operator (Includes the Structural Pest Inspector License). This approach ignores the obvious conflict of interest in having the guys that treat for bugs also be the ones that figure out whether they are present or not.

Other inspectors don’t want the additional liability implied by having the license and missing something. This ignores the fact that if you miss something that is destroying the home----you are in deep doo anyway.

A home inspector that is also trained to identify wood destroying insects can not only call for the appropriate trades to make whatever repairs are called for, but can also call for proper treatment by the Licensed Pest Control Operator when necessary.

Take Anobiid Beetles for example. These little critters are very common here in the NW and are primarily an insect that is opportunistic. In other words they like to infest wood that has elevated moisture levels. They really like under-ventilated crawl spaces without vapor barrier/ground covers and spaces with poor clearances that prevent adequate air circulation. They are really good at totally obliterating the interior of the wood while leaving the exterior surface relatively normal looking except for their exit holes. The home inspector that, in the course of their inspection, does some random probing of structural components in the crawl space and disintegrates a support post with their rock hammer would have to “….refer the identification of or damage by wood destroying insects to a structural pest inspector…” (RCW 18.280.190)

Am I missing something here?

Wouldn’t it be a lot more efficient for the Home Inspector to just be able to deal with it in the context of their inspection instead of having to call for another one? Even with that there could still be delays for getting repairs for estimates----but at least one step would be eliminated.

More or less-----one stop shopping.

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Check out this beauty’s measurements!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:57:48 -0500

“They sure don’t make them like they used to.”

Everyone has heard this----most of us have even said it. Usually I am likely to say something like, “And that is a good thing that they don’t”

Now you are probably wondering how this relates to whatever you are thinking about---especially those of you looking to get tossed in The Active Rain Gutter. But this time I am talking “beams.”

Take a look at this Beauty!

She’s a 10 x18 x 16!

Now those are some measurements!

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Wordless Wednesday at Lena's place

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:59:53 -0500

Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 08:16:31 -0500

Life can be viewed as a room full of doors connected to rooms full of doors.

All we have to do is figure out which doors to open and which doors to leave closed. As long as they don’t hit us in the butt when we go through them we usually do OK.

While it might be “comfortable” to not open any doors----we kind of opened the door about “opening doors” when we were born. By the time we get old enough to realize that we have a choice about the doors we open (even between seemingly identical doors); we have already opened quite a few of the wrong doors----along with the many correct ones that we have opened.

Some of the doors that we learned how to “pick” the locks on----perhaps should have been left locked. There were likely lots of other less attractive doors that remained unopened----and some that were just not recognized as doors.

While some doors will let us back-track into previous rooms----others slam shut with the certainty of a sunset---or a sunrise. Even rooms that we do find our way back into never look quite the same after being in the others.

And don’t you hate those doors left seductively ajar?

And yes, it is a good idea to avoid the ones with bars whenever possible----but sometimes even those are required of us.

There are very few rooms with no doors to other rooms----except perhaps the last one.

When you find yourself in such a room----with seemingly no door----you might have to use a window. There is usually a way out---or in---depending on how you are looking at the situation.

Then there are the doors that merely take us to the place where we already are.

And isn’t that the way it is anyway?

Then again perhaps life is a box of chocolates after all.

Was the internet invented because of the demise of keyholes?

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Go ahead---turn me on!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:20:48 -0500

Sometimes we have those “light-bulb” moments in our lives where something just “clicks” and we understand things in a way that we just could not grasp them previously.

The “mechanisms” for these moments are not well understood, and yet sometimes it is actually hard to understand how we could possibly miss some of the details around us.

We have all had these moments haven’t we?

The other day, something came up on the inspection that got me to thinking about this. The problem I have with the issue that I found is: 1. how could the original installer NOT have had a light bulb-moment about it; and 2. why would everyone put up with it for 27 years?

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Teaching old dogs new tricks.

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:46:33 -0500

Does anyone actually believe that you can not teach old dogs new tricks?

While this may be true of dogs, I like to flatter myself in thinking that this is not necessarily true of human beings. To watch the actions of some people though, one does have to wonder.

It seems as though, most of the limitations we place on what we can learn is placed on us by our own thinking. While it may be true that younger minds are perhaps more adept at certain kinds of learning they will always be limited by their lack of experience. As we get older we tend to let that very experience limit us. This is especially evident with older people and their unwillingness to embrace the internet and computer technology----like it is just another language they do not have time to learn----or have no need to learn. They seem oblivious to the worlds it could open to them. For me I am still very excited by all kinds of opportunities to have new experiences----to learn new things.

The older I get, the more I become aware of how much more I can still learn because of all the space created by all the things I have forgotten. Just like Monte Python’s Mr. Creosote----there is always room for one more bite! When was the last time you exploded?

Charles Buell

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.