shoreline wa home inspectors: Mom----why is it raining in the Bathroom? - 11/30/09 11:09 AM
A lot of the defects we find as home inspectors involve installations where someone knows that something is necessary but either doesn’t know quite how to do it properly or tries to make something work that would be proper in another installation----but not this one.
For example exhaust … (21 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Can you tell me what this is? - 11/28/09 08:48 AM
This is a picture of some debris on the floor under the basement stairs in a home.
Can anyone tell me what it is?
I am always having “Holy Moses” moments on inspections----it is one of the gazillion things I love about my job----this was one … (93 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Some times we can be grounded and not grounded all at the same time. - 11/27/09 12:34 PM
A common way that defects happen in homes is they simply get done wrong from the get-go. Improper installations that involve, clearances, types of materials and code violations are all common.
Another way that defects happen is when repairs to existing, properly installed, components get done wrong----during … (42 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Don’t you just HATE cats! - 11/23/09 12:00 PM
It is bound to happen----that sellers and repair persons and I are not always going to see “eye-to-eye” about the things I find wrong in the homes I inspect. How could it be otherwise, they have one agenda and I have another----it is an almost naturally adversarial relationship. I … (29 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Probably not a “deal breaker!” - 11/22/09 10:22 AM
I frequently post a picture and ask what the defect in the picture is, or even what it is a picture of. This time I am going post a picture and want to know what the “oDdest” thing in the picture is. There are plenty of actual defects----and you … (24 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: We are going to: “Party-down”----in the basement! - 11/18/09 07:56 AM
In Seattle there are a lot of older homes with partial basements. The rest of the house will typically have a crawl space under it.
Ever since we started putting basements under houses people have wanted to use these basement spaces for all kinds of things. Typically they … (16 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Forget Green----it is the next Ice Age! - 11/17/09 08:47 AM
Can anything really “spiral out of control?”
It sure seems so.
What do we mean when we say things are “spiraling out of control?” I am sure there are times when the concept of spiraling out of control has validity----like the circumstances that led to the Titanic … (20 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Why are there Monkeys and Rhinos in my Chimney? - 11/15/09 08:54 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 … (31 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: “Breaker-Breaker-1/5” - 11/14/09 07:54 AM
Little Billy Breaker was 15 and had a job.
Quite a simple job.
A total “trip” really.
A perfect job for a teen like him.
All he had to do was sit there. Whenever someone sent too much stuff his way, it was his job … (31 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: HERE----take your dang business card back! - 11/08/09 08:05 AM
After ordering pizza---delivered----to your new home the day you move in, the next big event at the home is the housewarming party. The one you hold for all your friends and family----to show off your new digs.
Having been invited as the "honored home inspector" at such events … (27 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Who really cares whether the builder knows what he is doing or not? - 11/02/09 08:21 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 … (16 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: The average, dumb-as-a-bag-of-hammers, HOME INSPECTOR will never notice! - 11/01/09 04:20 PM
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 … (36 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: It is Halloween----and the INTERNET has fangs! - 10/31/09 08:53 AM
We all know how addictive the Internet can be----especially to activerain. There have been countless stories about the “effects” of this addiction on our lives----some good-----some bad.
I am turning the focus of this blog to a less talked about aspect of our compulsion. The lengths to … (29 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: One Stop Shopping: Charles Buell Inspections, Washington State Licensed Home Inspector and Licensed Structural Pest Inspector. - 10/30/09 07:03 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 … (15 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Check out this beauty’s measurements! - 10/29/09 08:57 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 … (43 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out! - 10/28/09 08:16 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 … (16 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Teaching old dogs new tricks. - 10/25/09 08:46 AM
Does anyone actually believe that you can not teach old dogs new tricks?
While this may be true of dogs, I like to flatter myself in thinking that this is not necessarily true of human beings. To watch the actions of some people though, one does have … (25 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: But it has been that way for……. - 10/20/09 09:05 AM
If there is anything that makes the lives of inspectors difficult, it is house defects that have somehow “stood the test of time.”
Every inspector has heard from sellers and agents on both sides of the deal say, “But it has been that way for………”
The only … (19 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Ever been asked what planet you are from? - 10/17/09 08:21 AM
Well here is your chance to BE from another planet.
The current economic climate on Planet Earth has led most of us to have all sorts of opinions as to what should be different and yet there is really very little consensus----and enough malarkey to go around … (22 comments)
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shoreline wa home inspectors: Let me see-----I used to know who I was----Before ActiveRain and Now - 10/16/09 09:42 AM
A very nice Mountain in Hawaii asked the question, “What was life like before activerain?"
While this may sound like a straightforward enough question, the problem is----that I can not remember! Come on now, get a grip---was there really life before activerain? How can that be?
Those … (22 comments)
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