shoreline wa home inspector: Kids----ignore the whacko with the camera!
- 06/02/10 02:38 AM
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shoreline wa home inspector: Want to drive your neighbors crazy?
- 05/23/10 02:37 AM
This porch roof slopes badly. While the picture doesn’t really do justice as to how much it slopes, I think you will still be able to understand my point. Look at the gutter. Can you see how the gutter has been installed to compensate for the slope of the porch----as indicated by being able to see more of the end of the left rafter than can be seen on the right one? While in the picture it appears that the gutter slopes slightly to the right, where it would drain around the corner to the downspout, it in fact drains … (29 comments)
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shoreline 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
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shoreline wa home inspector: I know-----you use MAGIC!
- 05/16/10 04:29 AM
Take just a moment and see if you can guess what this is a picture of?
At the bottom left of the picture is my flashlight face down on the floor. It is lighting up the space behind this heat register to reveal a fabric filter installed under the register. Filters in registers are common. However, a forced air furnace with an adequate filter will not need filters at the individual registers and they become just one more place that people will forget to maintain adequately.
If you “need” filters at the registers, you really need a … (16 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: My own, private, Deepwater Horizon.
- 05/15/10 09:12 AM
At first glance the staining at the corner of this foundation looks like it could be dark from moisture.
But instead, this is a one of those nasty dark marks that the inspector would not want to miss.
The pipe visible in the shadow to the left of the corner is an oil tank vent pipe.
Yup.
Now I have no way of knowing how extensive the saturation of the soil is, but this kind of information puts off most buyers.
The kinds of “unknowns” that ride along with these visual indications usually … (14 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Hot!
- 04/26/10 04:02 AM
I am old enough to remember boiling water on the stove to make hot water.
Now that we have all the hot water we could ever want----whenever we want----we must still be careful to not let it get TOO hot.
I am impressed with the narrow range of temperatures that the human skin can deal with without being damaged. Normal skin temperature is approximately 91 degrees. According to the CPSC there are more than 3800 scalding injuries and 34 deaths per year from tap water that is set too high. Most of these accidents involve children under … (25 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Braille for the sighted!
- 03/13/10 12:46 AM
Everyone knows that a picture is worth a thousand words, but did you know that a picture can also actually contain words?
Now I am not talking about words captured “on” the picture itself. I am talking about words “hidden” in the picture code that only shows up when you pass your cursor over it. It is a sort of, “Braille for the sighted” and a distinct advantage of computer images. These “words” also show up in the picture place holder while the picture loads----if it doesn’t load instantly (as has been known to happen)----especially if you have … (24 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Window, window on the wall, what the………?
- 03/12/10 08:21 AM
Ok, so let’s play a little game.
In this picture we can see two windows in a basement bedroom.
The question is: “What do you see and why do you see it?”
Side note---wise-ass comment: And I don’t mean because of anything to do with the way optics work or the ability of the human eye to function as it does. I am talking about the “reason,” or the “interpretation” of what your eyes see----if they see “anything” that needs interpreting that is.
So go ahead and feel free to ask questions. I will hopefully answer in … (52 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Marshmallows anyone?
- 03/10/10 11:43 PM
Who doesn’t like those flaming, charred clouds of sweetness?
I am pretty sure that most things will burn or melt if one gets them hot enough.
I am also pretty sure that “most” plastic materials typically found within ones home are susceptible to burning and/or melting. Take your average Corian type "plastic" countertop. While they are pretty resistant to heat, if we get the material hot enough, it will melt----if not catch on fire. Of course the wood cabinets below the countertop might not fare as well.
This countertop is in a commercial kitchen.
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shoreline wa home inspector: Wordless Wednesday in Seattle
- 03/09/10 11:43 PM
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shoreline wa home inspector: Tiddlywinks and character flaws.
- 03/05/10 11:49 PM
Your house foundation.
It is what holds your house nice and level and keeps it from sliding down driveway and out into the street.
Foundations in new construction are designed for the slope of the land, as well as soil conditions, numbers of stories and other factors. Not long ago I inspected a home where, way back around 1900, four trees had been cut off on the site and these cut-off trees became the four corner supports for the home. In the following picture one can see one of the tree stumps that is now surrounded with “additional” … (25 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Are you a Shower Person or a Bath Person?
- 02/28/10 11:49 PM
It seems as though people either love a good bath or hate baths.
While inspecting homes I can not always tell if the occupant likes baths or not----and I don’t really care----but if there is no stopper for the tub to be found anywhere----there is a pretty good chance that they are “shower people.”
While I love a shower----I like a nice relaxing bath occasionally too. I like my bath in peace and quite----without the noise of a jetted tub as well. I love my sister-in-law’s outdoor hot tub in Bellingham, WA----which I get to use when … (33 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Don’t you hate being watched while you work?
- 02/28/10 02:13 AM
Well normally, except for the buyer, no one usually watches me work while I am doing Home Inspections in Seattle----or anywhere else for that matter.
On a recent inspection I had the pleasure of being under the watchful gaze of three nefarious characters that likely only rival Nutsy in intellectual capacity (times three).
They had a clear view of me while I walked around their side of the house and they had a great view of me while I was on the roof. Being in a rather permanent “vegetative state” I doubt they would have been much … (39 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: One can’t make this stuff up----really----I try!
- 02/27/10 01:08 PM
At a recent inspection when I was looking across the roof from a porch roof I could see a strange bump with some discoloration around it----just to the right of the chimney near the top. Can you see it?
Any guesses as to what it might be?
Well if you were strange enough to guess the “vent cap” for the kitchen exhaust fan you would be correct. If not, well I guess you could not have made it up either.
Charles Buell
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shoreline wa home inspector: Seattle Home Inspector looking for the Big Picture in the Little Picture.
- 02/25/10 11:08 PM
When Home Inspectors look at homes, they must have both a “big view” and a “little view” of the home. In other words they have to be careful to not get so focused on the details that they miss the big things. They must also be careful to get in close so as to not see just the big things.
In the following picture we can see the detail of the picture up close but it is only if we move away from the screen a few yards that it becomes clearer----at least a little bit.
So … (32 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Wordless Wednesday----Just ducky being in Seattle
- 02/17/10 01:14 AM
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shoreline wa home inspector: Do you have a credit card that works whether you have any credit or not?
- 02/15/10 12:20 AM
Yes!----it is the all new “forever card." Just like Forever Stamps----once you get this card it works “forever” whether you go bankrupt or get divorced----even if the bank itself goes belly up.
And while it may not be worth a damn if you want to buy something---it will get you in the house when you loose your key----or your “X” locks you out.
IF-----(There is always an “if” isn’t there?)
If, your lockset is not installed properly, the credit card can get you in the door in a jiffy.
IF-----(Yup----there is yet another “if.”)
If, … (24 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: What color is your underwear today?
- 02/14/10 12:52 AM
Some people hate ♥alentine’s Day!
How can anyone hate a Holiday dedicated to Lingerie and Love?
Being a somewhat hopeless Romantic (with only very brief attempts at “recovery”), I have always loved ♥alentine’s Day.
I think the people that own this Plum Tree may feel the same way----because every year they faithfully decorate the tree with ♥alentine’s Day ornaments. In fact this tree is decorated most of the year with whatever appropriate holiday is near----St Patrick’ Day, Halloween, Christmas, Easter etc.
The ♥alentine’s Day version though, is "heart to beat" because the plum is blooming with … (39 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: A Momentary Lapse of Reason.
- 02/12/10 01:41 AM
There has been lots of discussion about how there is a loss of “pride in workmanship” in the way homes get built these days. I suspect that this is only true in the sense that there is more oversight of structures than their used to be. Growing up on the farm and in rural Connecticut there were any number of instances when things got slapped together in the most expedient method possible----consistent with the amount of money there was to throw at the project. There was no internet and no home inspectors to blog about the shoddy workmanship or poor … (33 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspector: Wordless Wednesday in Seattle
- 02/10/10 01:50 AM
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