shoreline wa: The City of Shoreline, Washington finds jobs for kids---mowing lawns!
- 05/16/13 12:12 AM
What do you do when you have a bunch of kids with nothing to do?
Well you can have them cut the grass around all the storm water retention ponds located all around the city.
These ponds are located inside fenced areas that under normal conditions utilize the fences to keep the kids out. But it now seems, the city is using the fences to keep the kids in---and off the street. These fenced in areas tend to get overgrown with grass and brambles and become difficult to maintain.
Whoever came up with the idea to reverse … (13 comments)
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shoreline wa: Is there a “minimum” distance to FALL?
- 05/07/08 01:30 AM
I have said in the past how Building Codes are "minimum" standards. A good example of this is that the dryer vent locations are allowed to terminate on the roof of a 3 story townhouse---where it is the owner's responsibility to clean it. I have seen them on roofs with a 12/12 pitch (45 degree angle), that even I hate to walk on. How exactly is anyone supposed to keep these things cleaned? Why isn't the location regulated by the codes? Perhaps when someone falls off a roof it will find its way into the code.
I frequently find these … (13 comments)
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shoreline wa: Winning the Lottery----I’m going to “Jurassic Park!”
- 05/06/08 03:21 AM
When green lumber (not to be confused with "politically" green lumber) is used in the construction of homes, the shrinkage that occurs as the wood dries out can cause cracks in the wall finish materials and other cosmetic and minor structural issues. This was much more common in homes as old as the Dinosaurs, and is somewhat alleviated with the use of modern kiln dried lumber and "engineered" or composite structural lumber.
It is not uncommon in older homes to find where green lumber has dried out in the intense heat of the attic resulting in pitch that forms … (9 comments)
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shoreline wa: When is liability a "beneficial" thing?
- 05/05/08 01:37 AM
Home inspectors, when writing about the defects they find in homes, will report their "Findings," the "Implications" of those findings, and then "Recommend" what should be done. I like to recommend the specific trade or trades that I want to see perform the repairs. For example, in the State of Washington, we are required to recommend that treatment for Wood Destroying Insects be performed by a State Licensed & Bonded Pest Control Operator.
I question the abilities and training of a home inspector that does not know which trade to recommend for a repair. And while I, as a … (9 comments)
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shoreline wa: Why is there toilet paper up there?
- 05/04/08 02:18 AM
All vents from bathroom, kitchen and laundry exhaust fans should terminate at the exterior of the home at vent caps with a back-draft damper. These vent caps can be located on the roof or side walls of the home. There are caps made for soffits----although these are less common and I discourage their use unless there is just no other way to terminate the vent. This first picture shows a wall vent installed on the soffit. Due to gravity the back-draft damper can't stay in the closed position and cold air, birds and insects can enter the duct.
The back-draft … (11 comments)
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shoreline wa: "Murder, She Wrote!"
- 04/29/08 02:32 AM
In last Sunday's paper there was an article about the "special" difficulties of selling a home with a "sordid past." It is interesting because all homes have "history"----even the new ones will have some construction stories that would prove interesting---if we ever found out about them. For example the worker that got rushed to the hospital when he fell on a piece of rebar sticking out of the footing, or (as happened to one of my workers) a worker who cut an artery in his hand with a utility knife and proceeded to spray blood all over the newly painted … (10 comments)
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shoreline wa: Is your home the sequel to: “The Secret of NYMH?”
- 04/27/08 02:26 AM
Rodents, aka Rats, are very common in crawl spaces. Inspectors will refer to them as "rodents" because it is oh so much more "euphemistic." (Plus it might be squirrels----aka, "bushy-tail rats")
People HATE rats (usually).
I have seen rats kill a deal on a house as quick as asbestos or mold.
One of the most common ways they get into a home is through damaged crawl space vents. Sometimes they make their own way through these vents. Other than attics, crawl spaces are the most common places to find signs of their being around. If you ever saw … (6 comments)
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shoreline wa: Well----can you "special-order" me some?
- 04/24/08 02:58 AM
When I moved to the West coast, from the East coast, it was a little bit like starting over as a builder. I had never heard of one-by-threes, one-by-fives or one-by-sevens. What ARE you talking about? I think the first time it came up was when I wanted to get some door jamb material. I asked the lumber yard guy if he had any 4-9/16" jamb material. He said, "No---but we have 1x5's?" I remember feeling like I must be on Candid Camera or in the Twilight Zone. But, no, he was serious---and the beginning of my learning curve. These … (8 comments)
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shoreline wa: Is burning wood considered "Green?"
- 04/21/08 02:34 AM
In the 70's, wood-burning stoves were all the rage---and at that time, they probably would have been considered "Green." In fact, I had a Jotul 602 that was green---I loved that thing. Today I rarely see wood burning stoves and when I do there is usually some issue with them.
It seems that there is a strong correlation between people who like wood stoves and people that are "do-it-your-selfers." Independent thinking, self-abusively hardworking types love these things---and all they entail (the chopping, the splitting, the storing---and the melting the bottom of your shoes when you come in to warm … (15 comments)
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shoreline wa: I don't need rubber boots---I need hip-waders---("Underoos Redux")
- 04/09/08 03:06 AM
Here is some more awesome stuff about pipe flashings on your roof.
That sounds about as exciting as getting a root canal, donating bone marrow or getting a colonoscopy doesn't it? You've got to be a home inspector to actually find some of this stuff---"interesting." Perhaps that "look" my Sweetie gives me, when I call her into my office to look at my most recent, unbelievable find, is accurate---you know the one where her eyes roll into the back of her head and she looks like she is having heart burn? (Not the look that makes you remember where the … (7 comments)
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shoreline wa: You never know who is going to be lurking in your basement.
- 04/06/08 03:14 AM
Yesterday's blog was about safety concerns around exterior basement stairs. There are the same kinds of concerns with stairs to the basement from the interior of the home as well. Stairs to basements in older homes are often too steep, not wide enough, have inadequate headroom, have inadequate or no barrier railings and are often missing handrails. Upgrading these stairs to meet current standards can prove very costly, and usually is not done. Because the stairs already increase the possibility of falls (due to steepness and lack of clearances), the installation of proper handrails and guardrails is even more crucial----especially … (12 comments)
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shoreline wa: Dangers hiding in stairwells!
- 04/05/08 01:46 AM
Many homes in the Northwest have exterior stairwells to the basement. Usually these homes are small and there is no other means of accessing the basement---perhaps they didn't want to take up interior space with a stairwell. Unless there is a second story on the home, the access is often on the outside. Today we consider this very inconvenient, but back then, just to have a basement was considered convenience enough.
It has always fascinated me how our ideas of what is "expected" in a home changes over time. Can you imagine how disgusted some people must have been … (8 comments)
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shoreline wa: Roof glissading anyone?
- 04/01/08 09:46 AM
I was never much of a skier. I never had the opportunity to learn as a kid---other than water skiing. You would have been more likely to find me, my brother and cousins sliding out of control down the hillside on our farm, inside a discarded metal Coca-Cola sign. More often than not, the snow in Connecticut would have a crust on it from freezing rain, which would make one heck of slick surface to go careening through the steep pasture----only by sheer luck missing the tree stumps and rocks sticking through the snow (my Grandfather used to tell how … (7 comments)
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shoreline wa: "Three blind mice, three blind mice (inspectors) see how....."
- 03/30/08 02:20 AM
It amazes me, but there are some inspectors that do not use moisture meters. While what we do is considered a "visual" inspection, the use of moisture meters can be like a seeing-eye-dog for the inspector as he or she otherwise goes "blindly" through the inspection. Many water conditions give themselves away by a variety of means. Sometimes they do not. While I have not yet gotten on board with the use of infra-red cameras, Moisture meters can not only find conditions you can't see, but can also verify conditions that look suspicious. (Someone may be able to convince me … (8 comments)
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shoreline wa: But---I am INTO "recrreational" defibrillation!
- 03/20/08 04:36 AM
I have discussed this in the past, but it is one of my pet peeves, and deserves repeating over and over until I don't see the issue any more. (I no doubt will be waiting a long time and I won't be holding by breath. I am used to tilting at windmills and so are other people.) The issue is the installation of plastic components in metal drainage systems that break the continuity of the electrical grounding/bondingof those components. I had a condo conversion inspection the other day that had all metal drains---cast iron and copper. The metal drains were … (4 comments)
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shoreline wa: This window is "Paneful" (almost as much as the pun:)
- 03/19/08 01:24 AM
As a builder I was often faced with having to redo things due to mistakes or change orders. I once had an old carpenter tell me that the difference between a good carpenter and a poor carpenter is that a good carpenter knows how to make his mistakes look like they weren't mistakes. Sometimes mistakes can't be covered up, repaired, or otherwise made "right." I used to operate my business out of the following question: "In ten years do I want to remember how I corrected the problem or how I didn't correct the problem?" Just asking this question was … (14 comments)
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shoreline wa: Have you changed your Water Heater Air Filter recently?
- 03/17/08 04:05 AM
Hopefully the title of this blog doesn't sound right to any homeowner out there.
As sort of an addendum to my last blog about improper installation of water heater burner compartment doors, I want to share an unusual water heater installation. As the diagram below shows, gas water heaters, unless they are a sealed combustion type heater, get their combustion air from holes around the bottom of the heater. (I wish I had a little bit better picture for you---but I think you can get the idea from this one.)
This next picture shows the carpet in the room fitted … (3 comments)
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shoreline wa: Why is there a BARGE on my roof?
- 03/04/08 02:57 AM
The fascia board on the Gable end of a home is called a "barge rafter". Often these rafters extend past the eaves to create a place to hide the end of the gutter or as a decorative element. It is important that the top edge be properly flashed with either roofing materials or a metal flashing to prevent decay/rot in the ends of the rafter. This first picture shows good examples of nicely capped barge rafters (foreground and background).
NOTE: the Beautiful Blue Seattle Sky
This next picture shows what will happen if it is not properly capped.
In this case … (43 comments)
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shoreline wa: I must have rocks in my head!
- 02/29/08 11:33 AM
Today's "Harry Homeowner" award goes to: (I have no idea and I don't really want to know---it is best that we just move on with our lives sometimes). But, this "repair" took some time and "thought." I mean, to find enough rocks all the same size must have taken some thought---or at least time. In the first picture we see the finished product----flashing installed under the shingles so that water would run into the gutter instead of behind it.
So right off they were fixing something that was wrong to begin with----the shingles didn't hang over the edge of the … (8 comments)
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