| |
seattle wa home inspectors: I am watching you down there! - 03/27/09 03:27 PM
This is so “twisted”----as my kids would say.
I mean, how is it that I am able to look down on myself without feeling down on myself?
It is said, that the essence of who we are----is: that part of us that is able to observe ourselves, observing ourselves. Kind of like our own internal, kinky, 24/7, mini-cam in our mind’s eye. We usually only have fleeting moments of this ability, and one of the difficult things to understand about it is that as soon as you become aware of it, you are once again not behind … (70 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: A side note----I AM CLUELESS! - 11/03/08 08:46 AM
At a recent inspection I came across something that so defied logic that I decided to run one of my little contests to see who can come up with the most "creative" explanation as to how it got to be this way.
I am not sure that this qualifies as a "true contest" as there is no prize other than that good feeling that comes over you when you know that you have been "chosen." Perhaps that is the best kind of prize anyway----and the only one that really counts----even when some physical prize is given.
The person … (64 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: I will listen to that old crocodile any day! - 10/27/08 12:47 PM
Even though most of us here playing in the Rain are self employed, I think that most have heard of the "Peter Principle." You know----the concept of getting promoted past one's point of effectiveness or abilities. I was wondering if there is a similar term for those of us who are self employed. There is no promotion or demotion to worry about for the self employed----just success or failure----unless of course you count the spouse's ongoing question of, "Where's the money." We either "cut it" or not. That said, is there a way to know whether we should have tried or … (14 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: How many Weekend Warriors does it take to change a light-bulb? - 10/25/08 11:11 AM
"Honey, the light is out in the family room."
"Uhhhhhhhh-----OK"
"Honey, the light is still out in the family room."
"Uhhhhhhhh-----OK"
"HONEY, the #%@$# %$^%N light is still out in the #%@$# %$^%N family room."
"Uhhhhhhhh-----OK"
That afternoon-----after the football game----after his 6th straight hour on Active Rain----
----off in the distance:
" FIX
THE
DANG
LIGHT!"
"Uhhhhhhhh-----OK"
"Honey----I can't fix the light."
"What do you mean you can't fix the light-----are you as dumb as a bag of hammers? How … (31 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: Got the Blues seeing Red in the White shower. - 10/20/08 11:21 AM
This house had great "curb appeal," and had an 8 page glossy full color brochure to go with it. The neighborhood supported the curb appeal with incredible views of Mt Rainier and Lake Washington. The yard was meticulously manicured.
I would have expected the interior of the home to reflect the sales pitch.
On first glance it did----
----but it did not take long for the gloss----and the color----to go out of the picture.
The main upstairs bathroom looked "sparkling" with bright white tiles and shiny brown border tiles that seemed inconsistent with the age … (19 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: Moisture Ants: Assistant Home Inspectors? - 10/19/08 03:54 PM
One of the insects that, Washington State, Licensed Structural Pest Inspectors report on is "Moisture Ants."
These fascinating ants are considered a "secondary" wood destroying organism. In other words they typically only infest wood structures that are already damaged by wood fungal rot. They like to build their nests around the damp wood which then acts like a sponge to make even larger areas of wood wet---thus promoting further decay.
The key with these critters is that there has to be a good source of water. Plumbing leaks fit this bill very nicely. For example a failed pipe … (27 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: When the trades don't talk to each other, @#$% happens! - 08/22/08 04:46 PM
I know I have blogged about this in the past, but this is the first time I have seen this particular defect in "New Construction." It usually occurs in homes that have been re-roofed. I am talking about compromised attic venting due to "opposing" systems being installed.
Older homes typically had gable vents if that was the type of roof that was installed. As we came to understand how venting works, and came to understand the problems associated with inadequately vented attics and roof structures, we moved away from the use of gable vents. Gable venting relies on movement … (4 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: I am not ready to be only in a drawer just yet! - 08/06/08 08:22 AM
In the movie "The Rose" Bette Midler plays a Janis Joplin type character that just before she collapses on stage she asks, "Where is everybody going?"
Sooner or later we all come face to face with our immortality. It happens at different ages for all of us and with different degrees of angst. I personally, was able to be in denial about it until I was 60 or so---then I too started wondered where everybody was going.
I am not sure what triggers this awareness. Perhaps the death of friends and parents. It can happen when your … (12 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: I am feeling a little Blue-in-the-Tooth today! - 07/01/08 08:12 AM
As of Today, all of us cell phone users in Washington State have to be "hands-free" while driving.
In the days before hands-free devices, I was one of those drivers that should never use a cell phone while driving-----not sure about it even now. As soon as I heard there was going to be a law requiring that we be hands-free, I went out and bought my first "blue-tooth." I love it. It is a huge improvement over trying to fiddle with the phone in my hand. (I never was much of a "multi-tasker.") I always hated trying to fish the … (21 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: Wrap Artist----rhyming a different tune! - 06/08/08 08:55 AM
The bare ground in crawl spaces should always be covered with a ground cover---vapor retarder. Tremendous amounts of moisture (many gallons per day) can evaporate out of the soil and find its way into the house structure. Sometimes it can be severe enough to represent problems in attics that have insufficient ventilation. How this works is that the moisture condenses out of the air onto the first cold surface that it sees----often the roof sheathing. It is not uncommon to see considerable amounts of mold growth in attics because of a missing ground cover or other water conditions in the … (9 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: Do you know where YOUR filters are tonight? - 06/07/08 04:01 PM
With all the current talk about indoor air quality, clean furnace filters are important year-round if the forced air system has features that allow for the circulation of air throughout the home----whether heating or not. A huge percentage of heating systems I inspect have poorly fitting filters, or have filters that are easily pulled out of place during normal operation of the furnace. This is especially the case for furnaces that have cheap cardboard type replacement filters.
This picture is of a furnace filter that is clogged with dust. The position of the filter pictured, is the position the … (6 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: Do you have “magic shoes” to take you anywhere? - 06/03/08 09:05 AM
If Forest Gump were to "Google" for information about epic long distance running, championship college football, shrimp boating, the early days of Apple commuters, the creation of "smiley faces", championship ping-pong, or the origins of John Lennon's "Imagine", he might be perplexed to learn that he himself was inextricably woven into many of the stories and "responsible" for a lot of the history behind those stories.
He would be perplexed because, to him, it all just happened as a result of his living life fully, humbly and "ridiculously" optimistically----some might even say "blindly."
But Forest … (11 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: If only this were “Horse-shoes” (perhaps a hand-grenade will do) - 05/26/08 05:30 PM
As a former builder I know what it is going to take to fix many of the issues I find in homes. When I first started inspecting, my "past" kind of got in the way. Sometimes I felt sorry for the repair person---as I visualized myself doing the repair. Now I get great pleasure in making sure I specify the most difficult and thorough fix I can-----just kidding! But seriously, sometimes I hate when I come across something that I know someone spent countless hours building only to have it turn out wrong---or in addition---unsafe.
One of the most … (37 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: “The Phantom”---Act I - 05/18/08 10:03 AM
Today's post may be a little technical but I will attempt to keep it has down-to-earth as possible because I think it is information that the agents in the Rain may find useful----to help them understand a phenomenon that Inspectors sometimes encounter----especially in older homes.
PHANTOM VOLTAGE
Phantom Voltage or "induced-like voltage" is the result of wire or other metal components that can appear to be energized when they in fact are not. How this works is that when you have ungrounded wiring, like Knob & Tube or older ungrounded romex type wiring in the home and you add … (5 comments)
|
seattle wa home inspectors: Global and local oil nightmare. - 05/12/08 10:31 AM
I don't pretend to understand all the intricacies of our National Oil policies----in spite of the fact that our government could afford to buy every household in the United States a brand new Prius with what "the experts" are projecting will be the total cost of the war in Iraq.
Another spin-off from the use of oil hits a little closer to home with the millions of underground oil storage tanks used for home heating. Many of these tanks are aging and date to the second world war. Lots of homes have converted to gas, leaving these old tanks in … (5 comments)
|
|
|
|
|
|
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
Email Me
 Listings
Links
Archives
|
;)
;)
;)
