lynnwood wa home inspector: Why does my garage have a beard?
- 09/06/10 03:46 AM
I was probably in my late 20’s before I could grow a descent looking beard. I tried one for awhile-----and it fit in with my “back to the land counter-culture” lifestyle at the time. I finally decided it was just not “me,” and have not had one since. Now about as close to a beard that I get is“day-old” stubble my sweetie probably things is some sort of exfoliating device.
While I was perhaps “designed” to grow a beard, the structures we build are not.
This beard-like vegetation that grew out of the header above this garage … (17 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: I had bad gas at a recent inspection!
- 05/20/10 02:14 AM
No----not the elevator or the under-the-covers kind.
Take a look at this picture. This is new construction. Can you tell what is wrong?
A properly adjusted gas cook-top burner will be a nice even blue----with NO yellow. In this case the entire flame is yellow.
Why?
Actually the answer is pretty simple. This is a Natural Gas cook-top running on Propane----someone forgot to change the orifices is all----a pretty easy fix and the correct orifices may have even been included with the unit.
Charles Buell
… (36 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Bob says, “Everybody must get stoned!” (A story within a song)
- 04/29/10 06:20 AM
Everyone should feel quite-right at home
Everybody must get stoned
Sometimes, the only thing that makes any sense, in terms of what I find on inspections, is that homeowners are deliberately trying to "entertain" this Seattle Home Inspector----and it really is not that hard----and they really don’t need to work at it as hard as they do----I entertain easily.
They’ll stone you went you’re walking on the roof
They’ll stone you when the fire place goes poof
They’ll stone you when you pause to have a meal
They’ll stone you when you crucify … (13 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: At least one dog remembers!
- 04/13/10 11:19 AM
On the farm it was always a full time job for the dogs to scare the shit out of the cats.
What has happened to the natural order of things----this used to be their job?
Routinely we see pictures posted on the internet of dogs sleeping with cats, eating with cats----playing together in apparent denial of their genetics.
How did these dogs get so pussy whipped?
Perhaps it is the chemicals in the puppy chow that keeps them numb and dumb. One used to be able to tell a real dog by … (30 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Seattle Home Inspector’s “Paint-dar” activated.
- 04/06/10 01:43 AM
Like so many things in life, if things appear to be “too good to be true” they most likely are too good to be true.
The other day I walked into a bathroom at an inspection and saw this VERY cool sink that looked to be brand new. Everything about this sink said “old,” and yet it looked very nice. As a home inspector my “paint-dar” was immediately activated.
In this case my paint-dar was spot on----as closer examination revealed the beginning of peeling paint around the drain.
But, back to the cool sink----I … (33 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Might as well start playing taps for this "pipe-dream" right now!
- 04/02/10 02:16 AM
If you go to the Big Orange Tool Box you can buy a self-tapping clamp-type water connection to supply water to an ice maker or other fixture. These taps are problematic in that they rely on a gasket that is subject to failure----and thus prone to leaking sooner or later. These things work by clamping the device onto the pipe and then by turning the handle clockwise it literally “pierces” the pipe with a sharp hollow barb. Once pierced, the water flows until the water is shut off by turning the handle the rest of the way in.
I … (17 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: I am caulking to YOU!
- 03/25/10 02:54 AM
Let’s play “Myth Busters.”
Everyone knows that it is important to keep the connections between tubs and its shower surround well caulked.
I often find these areas recently caulked in an attempt to “spiff things up” for the sale.
Take a look at this first picture. This is brand new construction----doesn’t it look “SAWEEEEET?” Don’t you wish you could lay a bead of caulk like that?
Before you get too envious (you knew this was coming) I am here to tell you that the caulk should not be there.
As commonplace as it … (45 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: They MUST have been stoned!
- 02/13/10 01:59 AM
If you look closely at the following the picture----you should be able to see three exhaust vent caps hidden in the shadow between the side of the house and the rockery steps.
A question comes to mind.
How is anyone going to be able to inspect or maintain these caps?
The kicker is that one cap is a screened dryer vent. All vents need to be maintained----especially dryer vents. Dryer vent caps should never have screens installed in the cap to begin with----they clog up quick enough without a screen. It will be virtually impossible to … (112 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Are you NUTS?!!
- 02/05/10 12:00 AM
Another (painfully tongue-in-cheek) breaking news story from the front page of:
The law firm of Dewey/Cheatum & Howe announced today that the firm has prevailed in its suit against Home Inspector, Willy Fineitall, of Gottainspect Inspection LLC. The $3,000,000 award will essentially put Gottainspect Inspection out of business. Mr. Cheatum, speaking on behalf of his firm and the plaintiff, was firm in stating that he feels “good” about the settlement. He said it was all worth the long expensive trial just knowing that Mr. Fineitall will no longer be harming the public with his “mediocre inspections.” Mr. Cheatum acknowledged … (29 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Doughnuts and “off-duty” home inspectors.
- 12/26/09 01:03 AM
Are home inspectors ever completely “off-duty?”
For myself I find it very difficult to walk around with blinders on. Being trained to identify defects to the point that we “allow” them to jump out at us----how can we really just turn this training off?
The other day I was called to help a client figure out why their windows were falling out of their house. It turned out it was not nearly as dire as all that and the fix would not be all that difficult. What did come up though was the fact that the porch---some 7 … (25 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Why are there Monkeys and Rhinos in my Chimney?
- 11/15/09 12:54 AM
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 … (31 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Who really cares whether the builder knows what he is doing or not?
- 11/02/09 12:21 AM
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 … (16 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: I will fix it this way, the average, dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers, HOME INSPECTOR will never notice!
- 11/01/09 08:20 AM
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 … (40 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: One Stop Shopping: Charles Buell Inspections, Washington State Licensed Home Inspector and Licensed Structural Pest Inspector.
- 10/30/09 12:03 PM
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 … (15 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Check out this beauty’s measurements!
- 10/29/09 01:57 AM
“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 … (43 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out!
- 10/28/09 01:16 AM
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 … (16 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: A "Google Alert" I can LIVE without!
- 10/06/09 09:29 AM
In the early 60’s there was a “Twilight Zone” episode that had a profound effect on my thinking----even to this day. Perhaps we all, on some level, can relate to meeting and beating insurmountable odds. The episode was called, “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” and aired in 1964. If you don’t know the story, I really don’t want to spoil it by telling you too much about it. Suffice it to say it is a story about a man about to be hanged from Owl Creek Bridge and how he makes his escape into the waiting arms of his beautiful … (68 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Japanese Garden, Seattle, WA
- 09/29/09 01:01 AM
Along with the Conservatory (and not too far from each other), there is another very cool place in Seattle to visit---whether you are playing tourist or live here all the time---called the Japanese Garden, at the Washington Park Arboretum.
Here is a little photo tour to give you just a taste of the trails and visual feasts at this little patch of serenity. Every time I visit the Garden I wonder why I don’t go back more often. Isn’t that the way it is though? We will scrimp and save to visit some far off exotic place and neglect … (16 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: DNR Orders----are you unreasonably empathetic?
- 09/07/09 04:47 AM
The older a person gets the more frequent it becomes that someone you know---even someone you love----develops a life threatening health condition. Whether old or young, it seems that no one is “necessarily” protected from attacks of one kind or another on their bodies. Even those that are well cared for can still have to deal with circumstances seemingly beyond their control, and they will still need routine check-ups and maintenance. There are others that----no matter what nature throws at them----seem to not be affected at all. There are still others, where it seems obvious, that they might have lived … (34 comments)
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lynnwood wa home inspector: Seattle Home Inspector needs a nap!
- 09/03/09 05:07 AM
Generally speaking I like staging in a home---especially the edible kind. Sometimes the staging can make the inspection more difficult, but when done well it doesn’t interfere too much. Of course there is always the risk that these installations might hide things----but certainly not nearly as likely as if the house was being lived in.
Lots of times there are little signs with the staging that explain things about the staging. Like take this bed for example---it is a FAKE bed---hence the warning to not "sit" on it.
Now call me Nutsy if you will----but it unfortunately … (34 comments)
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I was probably in my late 20’s before I could grow a descent looking beard. I tried one for awhile-----and it fit in with my “back to the land counter-culture” lifestyle at the time. I finally decided it was just not “me,” and have not had one since. Now about as close to a beard that I get is“day-old” stubble my sweetie probably things is some sort of exfoliating device.
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