blaine home inspector: Pacific Northwest Music Legend -- The Genius
- 07/10/08 01:20 AM
This is another in a series of articles on Pacific Northwest music legends. So far, response has been good, so I plan to write more. Today's artist was not born or raised in Seattle. He moved to Seattle as a teen and considered the Seattle jazz scene of the 1940's as crucial in his development and career.
Ray Charles Robinson was born in Georgia but spent his childhood in Florida. Many music historians believe that the artist later known only as Ray Charles or The Genius, had more to do with changing music than any other performer. Step aside Dylan and … (4 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Reality Bites: The Real Scoop on Attic Treasures
- 07/08/08 05:20 AM
Recently there was a post here at active rain that had to do with what an inquisitive party might find tucked away in an attic. The blog was written in an adventurous, or an overly optimistic, viewpoint. While fun to daydream in that manner, seldom does that one big find in the attic make all of your troubles go away and your dreams come true.
Reality chomps: I am going to throw water on your dreams and take you back to stark reality. This fact might only apply in the Pacific Northwest but, around here, the photo below is what you are most likely to … (12 comments)
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blaine home inspector: USA and Canada: Do We Panic on the Streets?
- 07/07/08 03:56 AM
This is probably overstating the case, but in going over my photos from last year's trip to Italy, I was reminded of what I consider to be a curious situation. People in the "old world" think that those of us in the USA and Canada are overly cautious or down right finicky. Or you could say we are subject to needless panic, when it comes to public and private safety.
I could cite many examples where the old world does not follow the same guidelines that we take for granted and are specified by codes that apply to homes and public buildings. … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Northwest Corner Photos
- 07/06/08 09:03 AM
When a person lives near the waterfront, and many of us in Washington State are lucky enough to do so, we often take the scenery for granted. Even though the area by the waterfront is enchanting almost any time of the year, it is more accessible this time of the year. It is refreshing and relaxing to go for a walk down by the harbor where the boats are moored. These photos were taken after having breakfast at one of our favorite waterfront cafes. These are views here in the northwest corner of the USA.
Steven L. Smith
Bellingham WA … (8 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Toto Ain't Just In Kansas Anymore
- 07/03/08 09:14 AM
It is with some reluctance, fear and trepidation that I post this blog. As those of you who read my blogs know, I always write in a serious vein, never joke around, and attempt to write with good taste and avoid the R rated topics. With that in mind, I was going to pass on this one. However, my alter ego, the intense and very wild inspector Charles "Charlie" Buell, suggested that a blog on this topic would be in order and, perhaps, even in demand by the AR community. Let me setup the scenario before I get into cleaning up the details. Charlie … (17 comments)
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blaine home inspector: It's All About Form
- 07/02/08 05:01 PM
Some photos do a better job of getting a point across than others. I think this one is pretty good. In Washington State, where most home inspectors are also licensed structural pest inspectors, there are a number of guidelines that we are required to follow and procedures we must adhere to. In the long run, while not always popular with sellers and their realtors, these procedures do make sense.
One conducive condition that we are mandated to cite, and some people do not understand or agree with, is shown in the photo below. This is form wood in a crawl space.
Form … (5 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Chicken In the Morning, Noon and Night
- 06/21/08 02:16 AM
On an inspection the other day, waterfront home, they had unusual yard art. There was one piece that I first saw from quite a long ways away. At first I thought it was wood pecker art, which made sense it being up in a tree and all. However, it ends up that it was, in fact, a chicken up a tree. Okay, I know, it is a rooster but that is still poultry to me.
It takes all kinds. This is a million dollar view, near the beach and there are all kinds of "cute" funky things like this rooster. Expensive lots are in transition. … (4 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Hello In There -- When Only the Camera Tells the Story
- 06/08/08 03:48 AM
Sometimes, and this sounds crazy, it is impossible for an inspector to directly view a crawl space or an attic. The reason is plain and simple: lack of access. In this blog, I will refer to lack of crawl space access as I consider that more serious than lack of attic access. An attic can conceal a myriad of serious issues as well.
Often with cottages, some older houses, they are built on post and pier foundations. Unfortunately, many times it is not possible to see underneath them. Even if you can find a piece of skirting or siding to remove, there … (8 comments)
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blaine home inspector: It's All About Flashing
- 05/19/08 09:06 AM
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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blaine home inspector: Wood Destroying Organisms That Aren't
- 05/18/08 11:49 AM
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)
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blaine home inspector: Creepy Crawlies
- 05/04/08 06:56 AM
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)
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blaine home inspector: Mold? Fungus For Sure
- 05/03/08 04:24 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)
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blaine home inspector: Just Rollin' With The Flow
- 05/02/08 01:56 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)
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blaine home inspector: Inspector Got Steamed Up On The Roof
- 04/30/08 04:11 AM
The whitish vapor you see coming out the flue that is closest to you is indicative of a safety problem. It is also something an inspector sees a lot of. I was up on a roof and had identified the two flues to the right as having come from abandoned fireplaces. In that case, they should have been capped off. However, as I was up on the roof, suddenly the steam and distinctive exhaust gases from a gas burning appliance started coming out the one flue. This is an unsafe way to vent gas appliances. Full details of why this common, but … (13 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Stressed-out Decks
- 03/27/08 07:21 AM
The deck below is the final blog related to an earlier post about tall trees near homes and how that impacts roofs and decks. The wood at this deck, at the time of the inspection, was still in satisfactory condition. At least, based on what a person could see under the debris, that was the case. Regardless, if this condition continues unabated, that will not be the case forever. A deck like this is designed to have gaps between the decking boards. Why? So the rain can drip through and the surface will dry. If the gaps are too close together, … (0 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Doing Goofy Stuff With Baseboard Heaters
- 03/25/08 03:06 AM
Sometimes I wonder how so many people live their lives with electric baseboard heaters without catching something on fire. I will admit it, personally, that it can be easy to do something dumb with a baseboard. Years ago I was working at a rental property I own and left the premises. In so doing, I just dropped the hose of the shop-vac on the floor. I had not noticed that it flopped over against the heater. When I came back the next day, it had melted a big hole in it. Thank goodness for good luck and the proponents of duct … (4 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Pacific Northwest Home Inspections (King of the House) -- Wood Eating Plants
- 03/22/08 05:02 AM
The little window box below could be hiding problems. People are so tempted to hang large and small planters on the side of the house. Heck, I have a rental house with a planter outside one window. If this is done correctly, which it seldom is, fewer problems will result. Think about it, hanging a planter against the house will result in earth, often contained in a wood planter box, being against the home. The planter rots, then the siding rots. Can you say wood destroying organism? There are two other related issues that make this bad: (1) you water the … (4 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Whatcom County Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Smoke Detectors
- 03/19/08 06:34 PM
The photo above is a common sight for the home inspector. The smoke detector is missing in the line of duty. Poof and it was gone! Why, well there are many reasons for this. One of the most common is that the battery is weak, it starts squeaking and it is very irritating. Homeowner rips it down and never puts it back up. Sometimes people take them out of bedrooms, because they go off when they smoke -- also not a good idea. This particular one was removed for a more subtle, but still pretty common, reason. The smoke detector … (3 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) -- Crawl Space Vent Problems
- 03/19/08 06:26 PM
If you look at the photo below, you should see three problems. Now, two of the problems are pretty much the same thing, just 2x the problem. The other problem is related, but different.
Here goes: First the different problem -- The screen is torn out of the vent on the left. As a result of that, animals have been getting in the crawl space. Not sure just what, maybe cats. But these vents are big enough you could even be getting raccoons, opossums, maybe water buffalo -- just kidding on that.
The other two problems are foam plug and … (1 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Pacific Northwest Home Inspections (King of the House) -- Venting Fans in Attics
- 03/13/08 07:10 AM
The photo below left is an example of the way some people vent exhaust fans from bathrooms, laundry rooms or even range hoods. They duct the fan to the attic, but instead of having a proper hood on the roof, they tie the duct in the general vicinity of a roof vent. One problem is that, often the screens on the roof vent clog with crud. The other problem is that, since the duct does not go out, then at least some of the steam and moisture is being dissipated into the attic. The photo to the right is not from … (2 comments)
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This is another in a series of articles on Pacific Northwest music legends. So far, response has been good, so I plan to write more. Today's artist was not born or raised in Seattle. He moved to Seattle as a teen and considered the Seattle jazz scene of the 1940's as crucial in his development and career.
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