What is causing all these holes? Is it termites? Carpenter Bees? Some species of wood boring beetle?

Well there is no need to call the Pest Control Operators, or a repair contractor.  These holes from Teredo Shipworm did not occur in the structure. However their evidence can be found in some older homes. The example in the photo below is from a 1950's structure.

 The Teredo Shipworm can infest wood submerged in salt water. That is how this damage appeared in our subject structure. Trees are cut down and stored in the water before they are processed at a mill.

The Teredo had a chance to bore into the lumber, yet the damage was insufficient to consider the materials structurally inadequate.

Here is what the Teredo looks like (from Wikipedia);

For more information see the Wikipedia site; Shipworm

I bet the plumber is wondering what keeps happening to all his test plugs. Well I found one of them.

For those that don't know..... test plugs are installed on each plumbing vent so that the drain, waste, vent (DWV) system can be pressurized with air. Any leaks will prevent the system from holding air. If it holds air, then it should not leak when water is introduced to the system. After this test is performed, the test plugs are removed, so that the vents can function.

OK so the vent plug is no problem to remove, but what were they thinking when they installed the flashing? It is upside down and not properly "integrated" with the roof covering. Do you think that it might leak....lets' look at the attic.

Sure enough, it has been leaking. Fortunately not so bad as to rot the roof sheathing. So the fix should be simple.

This home is five years old.

Some more examples of why it is important to have your new home inspected.

Defective safety equipment on your hot water tank can result in serious consequences. I was reminded of this tonight as I watched an episode of Mythbusters with Jamie and Adam.

They were testing out the "myth" that hot water tanks can rocket out of a home when safety devices fail. Well I already knew the answer to this, so I had to look up the news story where it did happen just a few years ago.

Puget Sound Energy workers examine a water heater tank in a parking lot in Burien, a block away from Cuautla Video, where it was before it exploded yesterday morning. (July 28, 2001)                       Credit: Paul Kitagaki Jr./Seattle Post-Intelligencer

The tank in the above photo rocketed through the roof of a video store and landed on the other side of a 6 lane road in this parking lot.

During home inspections I regularly test the TPR (Temperature Pressure Relief) valve to verify proper operation.

This is one of the devices that Jamie and Adam removed to perform their test. The hole was capped. The second device they removed was the thermostat. This allowed the hot water tank heating elements to run constantly. The results were explosive.

Discovery has some of the video here  The force is incredible...You have to watch this!

 This structural support wall appears OK from a distance.

But fortunately the rodents had torn away the vapor retarder in places to reveal that it is sandwiched between a double bottom plate. The plate is not treated lumber... I can only wonder what this builder was thinking when they placed the barrier over conventional lumber. Did the builder not realize that the bottom plate would be pickled in a bath of moisture?

You can see that the bottom plate suffers from fungal wood rot decay. It was set up to fail.

The seller and the listing agent did not believe my report on these conditions (surprise) ..until we forwarded the photos. Digital pictures are great.

No one can deny, because the photos don't lie .............All the denial turns into stammering and studdering. :)

Blocking crawl space vents....

Being a northwest native, I am not sure what part of the country this practice is acceptable, but one thing I can tell you is that it is not OK here in Western Washington. Yet I see it done, and have no idea why people think it is OK.

I have heard all sorts of excuses from; it keeps the humidity out, to it keeps the pipes from freezing, it keeps my floors warmers, and that is what my dad did, so I thought I should.

Lets' dispell a few myths;

(A) It keeps the humidity out; In Western Washington we get a fair amount of precipitation. The water absorbs into the ground and as a result the soil in many crawl space becomes wet or at least damp. Naturally this moisture becomes a vapor in your crawl space, and if you plug the vents the vapor becomes trapped and forms condensation. This leads to conducive conditions for wood destroying organisms, mold and mildew.                                                                                              NO- Installing vent blocks does not keep the humidity out, it holds it in.

One example I can think of is getting into your car with a few of your best friends, on a rainy day. Notice the windows fogging up on the inside of the vehicle. But if you crack the windows, and get some "ventilation" going the fogging disappears.  That may not be the best example, but water vapor is hard to describe sometimes.

(B) It keeps the pipes from freezing; OK so this assumes that the pipes are uninsulated.

....Remember that modern construction either have a poly foam insulation, or the pipes are installed in the "thermal envelope". This should always be inspected to confirmed.

So I guess that in older construction, with no sub floor insulation, where heat moves freely through the floor to the crawl space this might have some possibilities. But after the PUD packages of the 70's and so on, it seems that I rarely encounter a crawl space with no sub floor insulation. It does happen, but it is not as common.

If the sub floor is insulated, then there is no way the vent blocks are going to make a dent in the ambient crawl space temperature. If you want to protect pipes from freezing, then installed insulation around the pipes. This is the best defense. NO-It is not a good way to keep the pipes from freezing. The best way is to insulate the water supply lines.

(C) It keep my floors warmer;This really is the same issue as the pipes freezing. If the floors are cold, adding blocks probably will do very little to improve the temperature of the floors. Maybe it is psychological because I have heard this excuse over and over, even on homes with sub floor insulation. Science does not support it.                                                           NO-In most homes it would not keep the floors any warmer. Sub floor insulation will keep your floor warmer than crawl space blocks.

 (D)That is what my dad did, so I thought I should;Bingo, this is so common. Dad had uninsulated pipes, floors, walls, and maybe even uninsulated ceilings.  Many also had a wood stove for the primary heat. Older homes may have had wood skirting. It did not matter that dad installed blocks, because everything leaked air like a sieve. ... To top it off.....Dad lived in Nebraska (where it might be OK to block the vents-but I don't know)

With modern homes, and improved insulation in older homes, better methods to seal air leakage, it is easier than ever to trap moisture where it does not belong. I have performed too many inspections, that revealed tens of thousands of dollars in damage from blocked crawl space vents.

NO-Someones' dad owned the house below....see what happened.

My advice is to keep all the vents clear of obstructions, make sure that the screens are in good condition to keep the rodents out, and if you have metal louvered vents, change them out for the 1/4" hardware mesh cloth, which ventilates much better.

I was out enroute to an inspection for a nice young Navy family near Ault Field at NAS Whidbey yesterday and thought I would snap a photo of these A6's.

My wife and I live on the north end of Camano Island and only about 8 miles .....as the crow (EA6B Prowler) flies away from Ault Field. :) 

I have heard that the Prowlers cruise somewhere around 480 mph ,and max out just over 600 mph. At those speeds these guys can cover alot of distance in no time at all.

This close proximity to the NAS Whidbey allows us to experience the "Sound of Freedom" as they fly above during routine training every once in a while.  Pre Sept 11th, 2001 I wasn't all that excited about the "sound", but for some reason that event, coupled with our service members heading to Afghanistan, and then Iraq, just put it all into perspective.

That sound tells me our pilots are up there honing their skills so they can be most effective when they are sent back to carry out their critical missions overseas. We appreciate their courage, hard work and dedication!

When my wife and I aren't working, and the weather is warm, we like to enjoy the best that our region has to offer. We have spent coutless days and nights in the waters around the San Juan Islands in Washington State. There are so many places to see and experience.

The people we meet are just as interesting as the locations we visit. It amazes me how many folks travel to our area to enjoy boating in the Northwest.

One gentleman I met this last summer, regularly flies in from the LA area to Sea Tac and then drives up to Anacortes where he keeps his boat. He used to keep his boat in Newport, CA, but the drive took him all day to get there. He tells me that it was faster to hop on a plane at LAX and travel to Anacortes. He also stated that he prefers the boating in this area.

Lime Kiln Point off the west side of San Juan Island, Wa. This can be a great place to view the Orcas from. They can be seen by boat, but there are restrictions on how close you can get. We have yet to get a good photo of an Orca. They are too fast, the boat is rocking, and current pushes you around. Makes me appreciate the professional photographers ability to catch some incredible shots.

This is our second home, ...and sometimes my remote office. Named "Barracuda" she is a 2001 Bayliner Ciera 2855 Sunbridge, with a 7.4L Mercuiser, and the Bravo III drive. In this pic we are tied up to the dock at Reid Harbor on one of our favorite islands in the San Juans named Stuart Island.

Reid Harbor is one of many Marine State Parks throughout the State of Washington. A short walk across the island and you discover Prevost Harbor, with more docks and mooring buoys. 

Above is one of the "gateways" to the San Juan Islands through Deception Pass. This is such an incredibly scenic area. I  also love the thrill of running the tidal rapids through this pass.

This photo I just took the other day as I was on my way to a home inspection on Whidbey Island. This shows Deception Pass from the bridge above. The photo is of the smaller of the two passes. The currents were moving pretty good.

In this photo you can see to the west into Rosario Strait. This body of water can be smooth as glass on some days, and pretty rough on others. It all depends on winds and currents. The other factor is fog. We have arrived at Deception Pass to encounter a wall of fog in Rosario Strait. That makes navigating a boat, like driving a car with a blindfold, unless you have radar, chartplotter, and a good compass.

Hey maybe we'll see you on the water next boating season!

A couple years ago wife and I were facing a dillema. Our garage was getting too small with all my power tools, equipment, etc. etc. and it was so bad that I couldn't park in the garage any more. Compounding our issue was a 28' boat that we could either keep at an indoor heated storage facility for about $400 a month, or park on the trailer in our driveway and allow the harsh elements to degrade the boat.

The answer to our problems was a 26' X 40' Post frame building (Pole Barn). The structures are both versatile and cost effective. To us it just made sense to add value to our property, instead of throwing money away on keeping the boat at the marina.

Our first step was to get the site prepped for the building. It had to be level. Unfortunately the lot sloped so much that we had to use ecology blocks to form a retention wall along the north and west sides of the building site. The wall is almost 4 feet in height in the rear corner. The fill materials had to be installed in "lifts". Each layer was compacted to build a stable base for the concrete floor slab of the buillding.

Here is the frame of our building all ready for siding, roofing, and doors. They are very simple structures that provide many years of serviceable life. When I encounter these buildings during inspections, there rarely are any serious problems found.

Getting the building posts set was time consuming.  The holes have to be deep. The contractor digging the holes for each post was having great difficulty. They use a Bobcat with an auger attachment to drill the holes, but we have a ton of rocks, ...some are better described as boulders. Needles to say he was not a happy camper. But once the posts were set, things went up fast.

And here is the finished product, well at least on the outside. On the inside I have completed the electrical, and plumbing, Currently I am in the process of insulating, and soon will be completing the drywall. Eventually I will construct a loft.

The large door is 14' foot high by 12' wide, and the smaller door is 8' high by 10' wide.

And now my wife is happy to be rid of all my "junk" out of "her" garage. :)

With steely eyes, an attack posture, and fangs that look like they could inflict some serious pain....My heart was racing as I looked around for my possible routes of escape. I was at a disadvantage standing on a steep townhome roof three stories above the ground........

Well with this picture I am sure you just won't believe how viscious he was.

This little furry guy was not real happy about my presence on the roof. Seems this was his territory....and he is just not use to seeing a human up on the roof.

 Turns out that the builder failed to install the blocking between the rafter tails, which makes a nice home for the squirells.

OK...so he wasn't that vicious....but I would call it a creature.

Public Service Announcement; ....Get you soffits checked by a professional home inspector, or you too could have squirrels living the high life in your attic

Recently the Sunrise Review process convened and published a 93 page report called "Report on Home Inspector Licensure"

In this report ( on page 45 ) the Wa State Dept. of Licensing makes the following recommendation;

"In light of the testimony by stakeholders from many disciplines, the evidence of consumer harm, the lack of methods of recourse, the lack of any form of standardization in education and experience, the potential for collusion between the real estate and home inspection profession, and the evidence of inconsistency, the Department of Licensing recommends that the Legislature pursue licensure of the industry."

This coming legislative session should be very interesting as Senator Spanel, (sponsor of last years SB5778, and a previous years bill to license home inspectors) now has a recommendation from the DOL to strenghten her position in pushing through inspector  legislation.

I know many people claim that it will help, and I know there are people that are harmed by inspections gone wrong. But we already have a law on the books that says we have to be licensed with the WSDA as a structural pest inspector.  Did you know that of all the media attention on inspections gone wrong, I have not found one that does not involve the aspect of structural pest inspections.

In the widely publicized Moltz case the item that the inspector missed was $30K worth of "Dry Rot" according to the KIRO 7 Story found here; LINK   (By the way I cringe when I see the words DRY ROT put together because there is nothing dry about this rot.....the proper term used by SPI's is "Fungal Wood Rot Decay") 

So couldn't this horrible story have been averted if the Moltz's hired an inspector that was in compliance with State law and had his/her SPI license? I would think so. $30K is alot of missed damaged.

How about this story; "Choosing the wrong home inspector could cost you big!"  These folks also were harmed by sub standard inspections. And clearly the answer to avoiding this pitfall, under the heading "What to Do" states;

"You want home inspector who is also a "licensed structural pest inspector." That means they will check for wood destroying organisms, such as ants, termites, wood beetles and wood rot. "

So here are two good examples of homes that suffered damage that required a home inspector to be a licensed structural pest inspector to be able to render a qualified opinion on the conditions observed. And even with a licensing law in effect, the consumers were still harmed.

My question is will another law governing home inspectors really have any more  positive impact in protecting consumers from a bad inspection?

I am not certain that similar stories won't continue to be told long after we get a home inspectors licensing requirement. In fact the licensing proposed sets the bar lower than what professional inspectors, who are members of a professional association, must adhere to. Just making sure the inspector is licensed will not be enough on its' own. Consumers have to do their due diligence when finding an inspector.

Again this next legislative session will be interesting......stay tuned!