| |
Carpenters With Bad Public Relations - 05/31/08 12:35 AM
This blog talks about work done by carpenters that would fit into the category of "unwelcome work." These carepenters are not human. They are insect carpenters -- the well-known and much feared ant known as the carpenter ant. The photos below are evidence of a significant carpenter ant infestation. This cottage was located in the woods and the ants were in the process of setting up a satellite colony inside the home. The first photo was taken inside a closet, up at the ceiling.
This frass is typical of what you might see when the ants are working. Because carpenter ants do not "eat" … (8 comments)
|
Government's Crazy Solutions to Non-Problems - 05/21/08 03:37 PM
I thought you might get a kick out of the photos below. They are good examples of city government planners trying to figure out a way to solve a problem that does not exist. In my view at least, what they came up with was more amusing and silly than beneficial.
Regarding the Bellingham warehouse below, my then business partner owned it about 15 years ago, when it was first built, so I remember the details well. I had not thought about it in a long time, but drove by the other day and decided it would be good blog fodder. This was … (11 comments)
|
It's All About Flashing - 05/19/08 04:06 PM
If a homeowner or handyman plans to install a new roof or put in plumbing stacks or roof vents, it sure makes sense to do some reading about the process before getting the ladder out and going up onto the roof.
The two plumbing stack flashings below have obvious problems. The one on the left was probably a decent flashing, new out of the package, prior to the "roofer" slathering it up. He had a proper flashing that would work, but he did not get how it works. Instead of putting the flashing in correctly, so it neatly fits up under the shingles … (8 comments)
|
Wood Destroying Organisms That Aren't - 05/18/08 06:49 PM
In Washington State, there are laws regulating wood destroying organism inspections. The laws even define what qualifies as a "WDO". Clients sometimes find the definition, or what makes that list, confusing. They are surprised that a mouse or a rat is not included, nor are certain bees or wasps. In this state, and that is not the case in many others, we have no wood destroying bees or at least if they are found they are interlopers from warmer climates and they are in small quantities so they are not a problem. As far as vermin, they will chew their way into … (12 comments)
|
Mickey Mouse Can't Dance, Charlie Don't Surf - 05/16/08 10:26 PM
Active Rain members, I was mulling over a great blog written by Barbara Duncan. She was describing a scam, that is used to take advantage of consumers with poor credit.
She wrote of one person who lost a property as a result of foreclosure. It was interesting information describing how some credit repair companies use legal loopholes -- for a fleeting moment in time -- to make someone's credit look clean, or should we say "incomplete" but not so bad. Then, poof that moment is gone and only ashes are left. I always wondered what those people were selling on the radio and … (15 comments)
|
Realtor, Lender Guide to Hud Manufactured Home Inspections - 05/15/08 07:47 PM
Minimizing the number of phone calls a real estate professional needs to make is always popular with the real estate professional. I think all of us, who work in real estate and related fields, have to make and return what seems to be more than our share of important telephone calls.
Many realtors and lenders become especially frustrated -- I know because I have talked to many of them -- when they need to schedule a manufactured home inspection that is subject to the very specific HUD financing requirements.
HUD demands an extensive, and very specific, permanent foundation inspection or certification and a professional … (4 comments)
|
Mirror, Mirror On The Wall Who Is The Silliest Of Them All? - 05/13/08 11:20 PM
It is odd to be out and about and to, suddenly and unexpectedly, run smack dab into a storybook house.
When I say I ran smack dab into it, I mean it figuratively. Today I was many miles away from Bellingham, in the woods up by Mount Baker, and I could not resist taking a photo of this place. I was out on a short walk and there it was. I did not know just who to expect, Lil' Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, a witch, Snow White and the seven dwarfs, Peter Pan and Charles Buell, or is that Tinkerbell, no … (8 comments)
|
Mix and Match Wiring - 05/12/08 11:49 AM
Mix and match might work for some things. However, it does not make for a pretty or safe sight when working with electrical wiring when circuits include both copper and solid-strand aluminum wiring. The panel below has both -- mix and match. The terminal on the left clearly has a solid aluminum wire on the top breaker. The ones below that are copper. Solid-strand aluminum branch wiring, used for a relatively brief period into the early 1970's, has a history of safety problems. I have seen estimates that a home could be as much as 50 times more likely to have a … (10 comments)
|
Open-ended Gutters - 05/06/08 09:07 AM
Many new homes in the Pacific Northwet, older homes too, have gutters installed that have open ends. These are almost always on dormers so they drain the water from that smaller roof down to the end of the gutter where it keeps on a movin' down the rooof to the main gutter system. Many builders, and buyers, feel that the look of open-ended gutters far exceeds the look of a long downspout going down the roof. That may be true to some people, but open-ended gutters have their own issues. One of those issues is they dump heavy water, especially during major rain, near the … (4 comments)
|
Good Lookin' Bad Idea - 05/04/08 03:09 PM
Crowding. Crowding. Crowding the house. How else would you describe this? I am sure the homeowner likes this plant, probably likes the way it covers the siding. But the problem is that siding needs some space between it and the vegetation. How much? Well usually a foot is recommended. In actuality, you can probably get by with less space than that as long as there is a big enough gap to allow the siding to dry after a rain. Otherwise it retains moisture and is prone to rot. You need some air circulation in there. And the other concern is that those … (8 comments)
|
Creepy Crawlies - 05/04/08 01:56 PM
It seems that almost everybody has some living object that creeps them out. For me it is the snake and lizard variety. For many other people it is insects in general but especially spiders. The other big fear for some people is the vermin variety, rats and even mice -- who I think are pretty cute. One we do not think about but that certainly has an element of the "creep" factor is bats. I think a lot of that goes to horror movies and books, Count Dracula and all. Then we read about them maybe having rabies too.
I, generally, … (22 comments)
|
Mold? Fungus For Sure - 05/03/08 11:24 AM
When an inspector sees sheathing under the roof, visible in the attic, with kind of a gray, hazy stain, it can be problematic figuring out what caused it. There are several possibilities. The first thought might be a roof leak but that is usually more isolated, in a given spot or two. When there is a more uniform gray staining between rafters, and it is widespread, that is more likely to indicate moisture floating in the air, condensation.
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; … (4 comments)
|
Just Rollin' With The Flow - 05/02/08 08:56 AM
You ever see one of those driveways that slopes toward the garage vehicle door? If you have, and you have ever wondered what happens when it rains in a wet climate, the photo below gives you a pretty good idea.
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 … (3 comments)
|
No Flashing, Big Problem! - 05/01/08 09:23 PM
This photo is a good example of why it is important to properly flash an exterior wall that is located at the side of the roof. Some short-sighted builders think that, since the water is going to be running down the roof, it will not hurt to have the wall touching the roof. That is why we call these builders short-sighted. They do not have the foresight to realize that only a few years down the road that wall is going to be soggy and rotten. Doubters only need to look at the photo below. That is not an OSB (oriented … (6 comments)
|
|
|
|
Steven L. Smith, Bellingham WA Home Inspector
Bellingham,
WA
More about me…
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc
Address: Bellingham, Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine, Sumas, Nooksack, Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish, Anacortes, Mount Vernon, Whatcom County, Bellingham, WA, 98225
Office Phone: (360) 676-6908
Cell Phone: (360) 319-0038
Email Me
 Listings
Links
Archives
|
Connect. Share. Learn.Welcome to ActiveRain, the #1 social community for real estate professionals.
;)
;)
;)
