seattle wa home inspector: Carbon Credits and Kermit the Frog! - 03/06/09 08:26 AM
As Kermit the frog might have said, “I was green before it was popular to be green.”
The “Green” movement has its roots in the late 60’s with the “back-to-the land” movement----when people really started to think not just about alternative life styles but different methods of building----including sustainability. It could easily be argued that the father and mother of the back-to-the-land movement were Helen and Scott Nearing. They started “Living the Good Life” in 1932---a logical reaction to the Great Depression. (Is this starting to sound like déjà vu all over again?) Prior to Helen and Scott there were … (47 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Home Inspection: Not Walking the Roof -- A Sign of Incompetence? - 03/01/09 12:30 PM
Steve Smith did an excellent blog about home inspectors and the issue of inspecting roofs.
For those who still don't understand the importance of Home Inspectors getting on the roof to do a proper inspection of the roof I am including a couple of pictures that show areas of roofs that could never be assessed properly from the ground or from ladders. The home inspector is in the best position to provide this information for the consumer as opposed to the Roofing Contractor that has a vested interest in fixing and replacing roofs. My advice to buyers … (22 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: I am seeing “DDoouubbllee” again! - 02/11/09 02:49 PM
Unless you are a tap dancer, or you are tapping maple trees in the Spring, or you are knocking on someone’s door----double taps are typically not a good thing----at least when it comes to electricity. The only thing worse I guess would be more than two----multiple taps.
Today I just want to talk about double tapped circuit breakers. Most circuit breakers are only designed and UL listed for one wire per connection. For example, take the average screw-type termination on a circuit breaker. It is not that hard to understand that when the screw is turned down over one … (39 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Want to buy a furnace? -----how about a water heater? - 02/04/09 11:59 AM
The blue lines in this picture trace the “high-water lines” from previous flooding of the crawl space. The interesting thing about this past flooding is that the three "flood lines" that one can see on the furnace indicate that the furnace was not replaced after any of the flooding. The one blue line on the water heater, which lines up with the middle blue line on the furnace, is consistent with only one flooding of the water heater.
Drowning of the burner components of any gas appliance----or any appliance not designed to be submerged----is likely to … (19 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Werd!!! - 01/27/09 02:38 PM
A week or so ago, someone did a post about switching to Firefox for their Internet Browser. I wish I could remember who that was so that I could acknowledge them. I made the switch and it is awesome. Now I can compose my blogs in Word like I always have----limited only by whatever Word can do.
Take this for example!
Or how about this!
I can then copy and paste it into my blog and everything transfers to my blog exactly the way it looked in Word without any fiddling around with all … (26 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: What does “Thinking outside the box,” look like? - 05/08/08 09:49 AM
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 … (10 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Did you know that gas is run to your home in plastic pipes? - 05/02/08 09:32 AM
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 … (3 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: “The END of the WORLD……” - 05/01/08 09:33 AM
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 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. … (8 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: SORRY-----I don’t have time to talk to you! - 04/30/08 09:52 AM
When does the Inspection start?
It starts when the phone rings. From the moment you answer the phone, at least to your potential buyer, the inspection process has begun. Some calls are merely to set a time, but others are because you are being "interviewed" and you don't have the job yet. What you say and how you handle that call are all important in determining whether you are the one that is chosen or not. From a buyer's perspective they are looking for "something" that will set you apart from the other inspectors on their list. You don't want … (10 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Slay the “Fire-Breathing Dryer!” - 04/28/08 07:22 AM
The other day Preston Sandlin did a nice blog about the importance of cleaning dryer vents called "Clean-Me." Visit his blog for additional info and see a pretty cool tool for cleaning metal dryer vents.
Dryer vents are a common item in the home that needs routine maintenance for fire safety. The lint from dryers is very flammable and can build up on the insides of ducts very easily. Especially problematic are the types of dryer ducts that are corrugated or flexible. The worst of these is the white plastic ones that are no longer allowed on dryers due to … (14 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: “No-brainer” house design. - 04/26/08 10:52 AM
Looking at the picture below, it shouldn't be hard for anyone to see that this is a bad design. On first glance it might all make visual sense but it is sort of like an Escher optical illusion. In the next picture the red arrow shows the flow of water and debris into the bottle-neck area.
The next picture shows the bottle-neck from above. Maintaining this area and the downspout free of debris will be essential to preventing serious damage to the roof and wall structures. This is a problem waiting to happen.
Sometimes my buyers will ask me … (13 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Why is the “toilet lid” always down? - 04/25/08 08:52 AM
I am enjoying remembering my recent sailing adventure.
It only took a week for my sea legs to go away---and that was on calm seas and only a four day trip. (My first soccer game after the trip was interesting to say the least.) From a home inspector's point of view, sailboats like the Zodiac are interesting studies in building (I know----I was supposed to be on vacation---Home inspectors are never really on vacation!)
One of the many things that interested me about the boat was the toilets (yes the masts were real cool too). But think about … (10 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: HOT! Water Heater! - 04/23/08 07:14 PM
I love it when I come up with yet another way to make Barbara and Leslie go scurrying off to check their water heaters. Well beaten paths are easy to follow. Water heaters should be cool to the touch. Now if you put insulation around them, the tank will feel warm between the tank and the insulation after a while. If you hold your hand against the side of the tank long enough it will also feel warm---after a while.
So what does it mean if the water heater feels warm to the touch? (And no, the sun isn't shining on … (18 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: First of all---Visualize me getting on my soap box! - 04/22/08 05:29 PM
Some of the earliest building codes date to the Code of Hammurabi in 1760 BC as part of a general writing down of laws that would govern the public. The fact that the public could not read these laws did not exempt them from them (kind of the way it is now). According to Wikipedia, Law #229 (way down on the list from all the good ones about Adultery, Stealing and Murder) stated: "If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then … (6 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: "Little boxes, little boxes, little boxes made of ticky-tacky....." - 04/20/08 09:15 AM
Any inspector will tell you that a large part of what we do is related to electrical concerns. The electrical portion of my reports almost always takes up the most space, and wins the most spots on the Summary of Significant Issues. I like the electrical portion of the inspection because when you find electrical defects you know that you might be saving someone's life. I mean who cares whether the dishwasher has an air gap when there is no GFCI on the whirlbath, or there is a bare hot wire on the aluminum gutter.
On a recent inspection I … (9 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Finding the “Better-than-the-average-bear” inspector. - 04/19/08 09:06 AM
Questions one "COULD" ask---to find a "better-than-the-average-bear" inspector:
•1. Do you own and use a 32 foot (or longer) ladder? A negative response would mean they generally don't get on 3 story townhouse roofs---or they have it hung up on the side of their garage and enjoy remembering how they used to climb the darn thing. Or perhaps they are simply working to Inspection Association SOP's.
•2. Do you own and use "corkers?" (spiked shoes for walking on wood roofs)? A negative response to this would mean they don't walk on wood roofs---or don't know what a wood roof is. If they tell you they don't drink wine---this … (38 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: The Zodiac---use it to keep your life “on course” - 04/18/08 11:39 AM
It is a REAL GOOD IDEA for home inspectors to know a lot.
The more the better. However, an additional quality to have, is the ability to recognize when something "isn't right" without necessarily knowing why---or even knowing what the thing is or does! This was brought home to me on a recent sailing adventure. I know virtually nothing about sailing---I don't even like the water! (I think I figure I had enough of swimming 360 million years ago before we all crawled out of the primordial ooze) I don't "hate" water---it just isn't my thing.
What I do … (14 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Jack is all "pumped-up" - 04/17/08 08:29 AM
Pump jacks are a type of portable staging that are essentially very tall posts that sit on the ground and are attached to the building roof at the top. There will be a scaffold plank attached to the posts that can be mechanically "pumped" up and down the posts to allow for the installation of siding on the building. These devices are very handy and don't take up the space that conventional staging does. They are most common on 2 and 3 story buildings, especially 3 story townhouses where there is often very limited access between buildings. This first picture … (14 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: Why do we slope roofs? - 04/16/08 10:39 AM
Why do we put slopes on roofs? Seems like a simple enough question with an even simpler answer. What sort of builder would argue with this simple question and its answer?
While I have always been one to question authority, I pretty much stayed in the realm of the political as opposed to the "physical" world. The physical world is much more logical. If you don't play by more or less "universal" rules---there will be consequences. With politics you might end up getting laws changed---or end up in jail, depending on the cause, and how committed to your opinion/beliefs … (12 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspector: I live in a “Monochrome” world! - 04/15/08 10:12 PM
One of the things I hate to find on an inspection is when I open up the electrical panel to find it all nicely "mono-chromatic." Paint is not allowed inside these panels and never has been as far as I know. Careful painters will mask the panel so this doesn't happen. Most panels specifically prohibit paint on the interior components and such paint would likely void the UL listing. This first picture is so heavily painted, I almost missed that most of the circuits are solid conductor aluminum wiring----not a good thing to miss.
The bottom four breakers on the … (10 comments)
|
;)
;)
;)
