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anacortes home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House) Essential Safety - 07/17/10 12:56 AM
Most home inspectors, while keeping it in the back of the mind, do not specifically call out problems as "code" issues. There are a number of reasons for this, some of which lead to numerous arguments here in the field of home inspection. While we may not cite a problem as a code violation, a decent inspector knows at least the bulk of the essential codes that involve life and safety.
A general rule is that codes are not retroactive. If they were, people would have to redesign parts of their houses every time the code cycle changed -- because the … (20 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) -- Wood to Soil Contact - 06/13/09 10:01 AM
One of the first things a home inspector does, upon arriving at a property, is to walk around the house a few times. In that initial pass by, the inspector is likely to notice gutter and downspout problems, siding issues and wood to earth contact among other things.
I have found, while working in Bellingham at my firm King of the House Home Inspection, that commonly people have soil pushed too close to the crawl space vents. Soil includes landscaping bark and gravel. But a more serious problem, usually, is when soil is up around windows for a basement. People forget that … (6 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Stories Behind the Music -- Little Anthony and the Imperials - 04/28/09 09:22 AM
There were many great vocal groups back in the 1950's, however, not that many of them were able to stay together and remain popular through the British Invasion and into the 1960's. That is a fair statement. But how about a 1950's vocal group that is still touring today?
Little Anthony, Anthony being Anthony Gourdine, and friends formed a vocal group in 1954. They competed in battles of the bands against other performers of that era, including the legendary Frankie Lyman. Anthony had talent, garnered attention, and was signed by a record label.
The group that Anthony started eventually became Little Anthony … (12 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Training and Teamwork, It's All About Training and Teamwork - 02/23/09 08:31 AM
Over the weekend, I wrote a post called Mice In Their Drawers. In this post that described a major infestation in Florida, I suggested that my paper-pushing office staff, with training, could be an excellent emergency response team to send to West Palm Beach, Florida. They could end that crisis, especially if they took some friends along, in a matter of hours.
At King of the House Home Inspection, when we get a good business idea, the corporate execs swing into action. The next day, after discussing the scenario, my certifried assistant inspector and I began a rigorous training program for the … (13 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Stories Behind the Music -- The Turtles Are Alive - 02/17/09 08:19 AM
I was looking at the newspaper, the next day listening to Bellingham radio, and I heard the announcement that the Turtles would be playing at a nearby native casino. That brought back memories. Back in the rock era of the mid-1960's, these guys were one of the early folk-rock bands. Their first big hit was thanks to the creative songwriting of the legendary Bob Dylan. The Dylan song that they recorded hit the top ten in L.A. and became a national hit.
They had another hit with PF Sloan's song called You Baby. I always liked this one back when I was a … (13 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Stories Behind the Music -- British Invasion By Woman - 10/24/08 10:05 AM
When you think back to the British Invasion of the early to mid-1960's, you have to think of the boy bands -- Beatles, Stones, Searchers, Dave Clark 5, Animals, Yardbirds, Kinks, Hollies. There were not that many solo artists who landed on our shores, male or female, but there were a few. One of those hit-makers, early on in the invasion, was a petite female from over the sea. She participated heavily in that lucrative British landing on North American soil.
Petula Clark had to be, as I remember it, the most successful of the female solo artists. Dusty Springfield did well, but … (3 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Home Inspector's Nightmare - 07/06/08 05:11 PM
When I talk to people who have graduated from college, myself included but that would be talking to myself, I find that many of us have had the same nightmare. It is something on the order of it being the last day of class and you are suppossed to graduate and, at that exact moment, you realize that you forgot to attend a class or to withdraw from a class in a timely manner. Mental anguish, and waking in a cold sweat, follows as you realize your lack of attention to detail will result in not graduating. That dream has not happened to … (10 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: 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)
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anacortes home inspection: Thin Air Up There - 01/14/08 10:31 PM
This photo probably does not do the driveway justice, as far as how steep it really is, but this is a fairly common problem in Whatcom County -- especially in a community out by the lake. That problem is driveways that are really, really, really, really steep. I have done inspections at some of these houses in the icey winter weather. I pulled into the driveway, parked and my truck slid back out again. I am sure that would be the case here. At an inspection, I sometimes have trouble figuring out how to approach this topic. People get all excited about a home in … (3 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Human Betrayed By Water Heater - 01/10/08 05:23 PM
This is a photo of an unfinished basement (lucky) that was victim to a sudden and unexpected water heater leak. The tank had a small leak one day, a plumber was contracted to get a new tank installed but, before that could be done the tank developed a major leak. The tank was trying to heat water, which was running out of it just about as fast as it went in. In this case, being in an unfinished basement, it was an inconvenience and not a homeowner disaster. On the other hand, had it been in a finished room of the … (8 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Classic Damage -- L-P Siding - 01/09/08 09:58 PM
For some reason, not sure why, I have been seeing a number of homes lately with L-P innerseal siding. This is the OSB (oriented strand board) installed prior to 1996. The photo below is a great photo of the siding in distress. It is de-laminating. Frankly, when it starts going it is much like cardboard -- it just pulls apart. There is an installation problem here that is often the case. The siding had its share of problems to start with so, when it is not correctly installed, that makes those problems even more pronounced. In this case, there is no trim … (3 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House): Evidence of Leaks - 01/01/08 07:35 PM
A home inspector needs to, consciously, look at upper wall and ceiling areas. Sometimes it seems like an inspector is so busy running around looking at things that are eye level and below, that one might forget to look up above. Ceilings are a primary place to find signs of past water damage. This is usually related to roof leaks or, sometimes, water from an upstairs bathroom or even a burst pipe. Water damage should be suspected, and looked for, especially if the roof has problems. I pay particular attention under flat and low-sloped roofs. One thing to remember is that, usually, just because … (8 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House): Lack of Flashing - 12/31/07 02:10 PM
Although at times it seems redundant, I am not sure that an inspector can overemphasize the importance of having a proper metal flashing at a deck that attaches to the exterior wall of the home. As a review, the flashing goes up under the siding, then comes down over the ledger board. The decking boards go over the top of that. Then, there should be a gap between the decking and the siding. That keeps water from collecting on the horizontal surface and then wicking up into the siding. The metal flashing is exposed at the gap, and fills the hole.
I … (0 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Proper Cover For In-Service Use on Outdoor Outlet - 12/30/07 11:36 PM
It seems like we home inspectors spend much of our time posting photos and descriptions of problems. I saw this photo and decided to post a photo of something that is right. While it does not have anything plugged into it, this is an "in-service" cover for an exterior outlet -- a GFCI. Inspectors often see outside appliances or devices, from lights to ponds, plugged into an outlet and an improper cover is in place. This ranges from no cover at all to a cover that swings open at the top and rain, and garden hose water, get down into … (4 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspections (King of the House): Private Wells - 12/26/07 04:11 PM
In an earlier post today, I wrote about septic tank inspections. Since septic tanks and wells often go together, I thought this information would be appropriate as well.
A private well is a specialized and complex system, mechanically and biologically. Generally speaking, these systems are beyond the scope of a standard home inspection. Many mechanical parts of the system are not visible and the biological aspects of the system require laboratory testing. Ifyou are buying a home that has a well, depending on the inspector you have hired, he or she will either exclude the well or attempt to … (0 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House): Septic Tanks - 12/26/07 03:36 PM
Often homebuyers want to know why a standard home inspection does not include an inspection of the septic system. The truth is that the home inspector is not equipped to do a septic inspection. And, due to the nasty nature of the job, people would not want him or her doing it anyway. At least not if the inspector was then going to go inside and inspect the rest of the home anyway. This job needs to be done by specialists with equipment designed for working on septic systems. Here are some pretty basic reasons that the home inspector does not dig … (0 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Point Roberts Home Inspections (King of the House): Facts About Old Pipes - 12/24/07 12:42 PM
"Just the facts" that is what Joe Friday used to say in Dragnet, if you are old like me and remember the show. Providing facts to the client is what a home inspector attempts to do. Sometimes interpretations are made of those facts, for example, explaining why something is a problem and not an annoyance. Other times, merely giving the facts is all that is required: "The sidewalk is concrete aggregate."
A year back I was dealing with a real estate professional who was very irritated that, on an older home, I stated that the drain pipes were old cast iron and … (8 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Mount Vernon WA Home Inspections (King of the House): Knob and Tube Wiring - 12/23/07 08:57 PM
Below is another photo of a situation that is frustrating to the home inspector. To begin with, as real estate professionals I imagine everyone here knows that knob and tube wiring is a concern in older houses. I am not saying it is automatically going to cause a fire, or is necessarily unsafe, but knob and tube systems are old-fashioned, do not have the equipment ground wire that is standard today and the circuits are old enough that almost always they have been cut, spliced and otherwise butchered and damaged by incompetent homeowners. Add to that, most major insurance companies either will … (0 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House): This Is A Shock - 12/23/07 01:47 PM
This Square D electric panel has a serious defect. In fact, it is a major life and limb safety issue. Yet, unless someone knows what to look for, the problem might be overlooked. Look to the left terminal in the photo, and you will see that there is a fairly small gauge black wire that is sharing the terminal with one of the ungrounded (hot) conductors. With a standard panel such as this, 240 volts comes in. If you were to read the voltage with a meter from the neutral (center with white tape on it) to the conductor at the … (7 comments)
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anacortes home inspection: My First Clue That Something Was Wrong - 12/22/07 05:32 PM
I have seen weird problems with water heater temperature pressure relief valves before, but this was the most "slap you in the face" startling discovery I have seen. Usually, the problems are pretty standard: There is only a plug where the TPR valve should go; there is no TPR drain line; the TPR drain line is routed up or something unusual like into a garden hose. At the tank below, there was a bucket under the TPR valve and it was full of really gross rusty water. The water at the home was turned off, so I do not know if … (3 comments)
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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
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