Steven L. Smith

Steven L. Smith

I, generally, do not mind bats but they have creeped me out a couple times. Once I was staying at a log cabin in British Columbia, a big place, and bats were evident on the upper floor. You would see them swoop and dart by at night and see their droppings. Another time, the wife and I were in Cancun, walking down an alley from a restaurant after having great coconut prawns, and there was a really big bat -- can you say Bella Lugosi lives -- and he or she kept following us, keeping pace, and diving right above our heads. He made spacey noises too.

Now, had I been less of a macho man, more like my friend Charlie B, I probably would have started screaming like a little girl and run down the alley with my arms flapping. As it was, I just speeded up and got the heck out of there as soon as was possible. The wife was pretty mad about that by the way, I left her in my dust, that big bat firmly embedded in her neck. No just kidding about that.

I think if more people knew what bats looked like up close, they would find them even creepier. The photo below is one of the most common bats in my area. He is a good little insect catcher, much better than fly paper. But take a look at that mug. He sure ain't son in law material.

Steven L. Smith

What would cause that? The most likely answers are (1) there is inadequate ventilation in the attic so hot air is not able to escape; (2) bathroom exhaust fans are venting moist air into the attic. In the picture below, the problem was related to poor attic ventilation. Often, it will be related to both of those causes.

If you look at the photo below (where the problem is much less than one often sees) you will notice that the insulation has blocked the soffit vents. Proper attic ventilation should include both low and high venting. In this case the low venting is blocked so there is no "cross-circulation" of air coming in and then going back out at the ridge or roof vents. I have seen extreme cases of this where the attic has significant mold. Often the sheathing is falling apart.

There is another possibility too. That is that the sheathing was stained at the job site prior to it being put in place. To come to that conclusion, the inspector needs to rule out the other possibilities and, even then, it is an educated guess.

Steven L. Smith

This is really a bad situation. First, the garage cannot be used to store anything other than the cars -- thank goodness they are up on rubber tires -- and there is another problem. That is, if the sheetrock is pretty low to the concrete floor then that runoff water will get on the interior walls and that can lead to mold growing on the sheetrock. Some sloped driveways have a drain in front of the door. Sometimes they are designed to work, other times the drain is useless. At best, they need to be kept clean of leaves and debris. A driveway, sloped toward the garage or carport, is something a home inspector should take a look at.

Steven L. Smith

Steven L. Smith

Sizing: A flue needs to be sized for the appliance it serves. The furnace and water heater in your home have a BTU (British Thermal Unit) rating usually listed in terms of thousands of BTU. It is the heat generated by the appliance that promotes venting. If you have a large, cold chimney and a small BTU appliance, it may not generate enough heat for the flue gases to rise inside the chimney. Adding a properly sized flue liner reduces the area to be heated by the appliance and therefore increases the venting capacity of the chimney.

Vapor: One of the byproducts of burning fossil fuels such as natural gas or oil is water vapor. If the chimney is unlined and cold, the water vapor will condense inside the chimney and the chimney will become wet. A wet chimney can stain the walls and ceiling of the home and rust out the metal flue pipes.

Gases: Other byproducts of combustion are nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide. When the water vapor produced by combustion combines with nitrogen dioxide, the result is nitric acid. Acid vapors can eat away at the mortar in the brick chimney. When the chimney passes through a home, if there is a problem like this, it can result in poisonous gases making their way into the home.

Efflorescence: This is a whitish mineral powder that forms on the inside or outside brick of the chimney that is exposed to the air. When water vapor soaks into the brick, the moisture migrates through the brick, usually to the exterior, where it evaporates, leaving behind minerals collected by the water. The minerals form a whitish powder that can usually be brushed off. In winter, the migrating water freezes inside the brick, resulting in damaged brick or a cracked chimney. For more information, check out this blog by James Quarello, home inspector.

Steven L. Smith

Steven L. Smith

Steven L. Smith

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections