Day of the Iguana - 01/25/12 05:16 PM
Years ago there was a famous movie called Night of the Iguana. It was first a Tennessee Williams play that became a movie and it took place in Mexico in the 1940's. Richard Burton was a priest in the movie that went on to win an oscar for costumes.
My wife and I have been in tropical southern Mexico for going on two weeks now. And we were sitting on our terrace  when we heard a noise -- looked over by a pot and there was a big lizard.
This is the third time, in as many years, that we have … (5 comments)

You're In Hot Water -- Bellingham Home Inspection - 01/24/12 03:24 PM
My wife often tells me that I am in hot water. Actually, in most cases, that is an expression that refers to my poor behavior versus anything to do with water.
However, in the course of doing home inspections in Bellingham and Whatcom county, I often find water heaters that are set too hot -- the water temperature set so high as to lead to a high probability of a scalding burn.

In this photo, the water is almost 137 degrees F. To reduce the probability of a scalding burn, water should be set no higher than 120 degrees F. … (6 comments)

Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) Perimeter Slope - 01/21/12 12:07 PM
 One issue, often found to be present during the course of a home inspection, is perimeter pavement or soil that slopes toward the home. Here in the northwest, more often than not, houses have crawl spaces and not basements. I have even seen soil or pavement slope directly toward a crawl space vent. Below is a shot from an inspection, this is my indicator to myself, often displayed in reports, to get the point across about the slope of the soil. 

This is, in most cases, not difficult to correct by grading soil. But, if the problem is not corrected, … (3 comments)

Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House) Water pressure - 01/17/12 11:00 AM
Assessing the adequacy of water pressure, among residents of a home, is often a case of perspective. I have seen people, used to a well system out in rural Bellingham or Whatcom county, move into a city home that had marginal pressure, per city standards, and they were thrilled. Other times, I have seen people look upon what I considered to be adequate pressure as poor pressure. It is all relative to what you are accustomed to. 

Despite my saying it is relative, there are tests, and parameters, for pressure -- done with a simple water pressure gauge. The gauge above is showing water … (6 comments)

Whatcom County WA -- Rare Snowy Owl Migration - 01/12/12 04:01 PM
 My friend Curtis Brown, of Curtis C Home Inspections, is not only a competent and an excellent home inspector, whom I often recommend to others, but he is, also, a wonderful photographer. Curtis loves to shoot (with his camera of course) birds. I have, with his permission, used his excellent bald eagle photos in past blogs and online videos.        That shot above, taken locally by Curtis, is one of my favorite eagle photos.   Well, here is something new and interesting. About a week ago, Curtis had a long awaited and an exciting opportunity. He received a call from a past client, who said … (10 comments)

Happy New Year from King of the House - 01/01/12 11:31 AM
I was online reading a news story about how many people found 2011 to be one of the worst years of their lives -- unemployment, no money, the usual things reported these days. One person interviewed referred to last year as shared misery.
It made me grateful to have my niche here in Whatcom County. I found last year to be a year of modest growth, although I did pretty much the same as the year before. I have gotten to a point where I can only do so many inspections so I have been sending overflow to some other friends … (11 comments)

 
Steve%20truck Rainmaker_large

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

Steven L. Smith, King of the House Home Inspection, provides information for real estate buyers, sellers and real estate industry professionals. Blog posts emphasize issues commonly found in Bellingham, WA and Whatcom County. Smith is Washington State Licensed Home inspector #207, a state licensed structural pest inspector and one of the most experienced inspectors in the northwest corner of the Pacific Northwest. Steven L. Smith is lead instructor of home inspection at Bellingham Technical College and teaches classes for Washington State University and the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Steve was a two-term member of the state licensing board.


Listings

Links

Archives

RSS 2.0 Feed for this blog