A few bloggers have noticed that, this past week, I passed the 200K mark in points here at Active Rain. I thought I would take the opportunity to post links to a few of the blogs I have done, while getting there, that I think are among my better or more interesting ones. If you get a chance, plea
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08/31/2008
I spoke a week back at a John L. Scott Real Estate class for new home-buyers. One well-intentioned student asked the realtor instructor if there was, financially, any justification to spend money for an inspection at a new property. The realtor said a resounding "yes" and, when my time came, I fu
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08/29/2008
A few of the Washington State home inspectors have asked that I post, here at rain, the upcoming board and sub-committee meetings that are associated with the newly appointed home inspector licensing board. I am, along with David Pioli and Deb Wenneman, on the licensing sub-committee. The first s
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08/29/2008
For some reason certain events out of the past stick in the mind. Not sure why this one did, but it did. I remember being in Parkview Elementary, Bellingham, in fifth grade. This was pre-Beatles and the girls -- much more music fans than we boys who were into boxing and wrestling -- were debatin
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08/29/2008
Integral gutters go by different names. Yankee gutters is probably the best known of the terms, although in my area I also hear them called Dutch gutters. The photo below gives a good example of what they look like. Unfortunately, this photo also shows a common problem with them -- all clogged.
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08/28/2008
This photo, and the topic, will get you thinking. I guarantee it. To get things going, setting the stage so to speak, please take a look at the high deck, balcony if you prefer -- top right side of the photo. It is way up there, where the air is thin. If you were standing on that deck, I bet you
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08/27/2008
This is not a political statement, it refers to plumbing. When it comes to plumbing, I repeat, equality is not always good. Case in point -- I see this minor plumbing concern at bathtub/showers and at kitchen sinks. The problem is subtle and few people, other than inspectors or plumbers, seem to
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08/27/2008
In this state, accessible is defined as having 12" clearance under beams and 18" under joists. This crawl space did not cut it. Post and block construction, no foundation around the perimeter of the home, is still quite common in my area. Now, I would not call it real common but maybe it is the c
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08/26/2008
While I guess I should give the builders credit for trying, one thing that always makes me cringe at a home inspection is when I find a homemade wood stove or fireplace insert. To begin with, in this day of air pollution worries, such a stove which has no engineering or research done on it at all
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08/25/2008
Being an old radio guy, I am acutely aware of an interesting anomaly with music that most people are probably not aware of. Since it has been about a month since I have written anything specifically for the Beatles Group, I will explain. The top markets in the English speaking world, as far as po
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08/25/2008