blaine home inspector: Moss-Back from Mossy-Back
- 04/08/11 02:29 AM
Those of us who live in the northwest are often referred to as "moss-backs." It is not because we are naturally dirty. It is because it rains so darn much. And, honestly, the last couple of years have to be some of the heaviest rain years I remember in my 50 plus years living in this region.
The heavy rain, no doubt about it, is hard on our buildings. A main truth that we teach in home inspection is this -- "water is the enemy in the case of buildings". The role of water is to, eventually, turn your building into … (9 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Blaine Home Inspector (King of the House) Gutters
- 04/07/11 05:51 PM
When gutters are allowed to fill up with organic debris, they are prone to leakage. That might be a leak over the top of the gutter, or it might be more subtle.
The high quality aluminum seamless gutters have ends and some have corners. These ends and corners are attached to the gutter and then mastic is applied to seal them.
In the photo above, we have a leak at the end of a gutter at a relatively new home. This is cement-based siding, not prone to rot like wood but, just the same, this is a conducive condition. This … (6 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Clouded by Fog
- 04/07/11 03:50 PM
Most of us home inspectors, when we see it, will notify clients when there is fog inside of double-pane windows. Windows, even to begin with, have a pretty low R-valve. But when they are foggy that is further reduced. Often the biggest issue with fogged windows is simply that they are unpleasant to look through. I remember, once, inspecting this place with a great ocean view. That view was through the totally fogged sliding glass door -- those things are often fogged.
Even though inspectors will report fog inside windows, the fact is that subtle fog might be hard to … (8 comments)
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blaine home inspector: It Looked To Be So Innocent -- At First
- 04/01/11 12:58 PM
I do not understand why some people have decided that venting the dryer under the house is a commendable idea. In some cases this issues is an unexpected problem, at least on the part of the homeowner, because the hookup was done with the wrong type of ducting. That would be the case below. It might look like an innocent enough problem. No big deal, right?
But let's take a look at the amount of lint produced, and discharged into the crawl space, in real terms.
That might look disgusting, and it is when you realize that it is about … (6 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Sometimes Easy is Nice
- 03/30/11 05:24 PM
Sometimes, as a home inspector, the job can be quite involved and a problem might even be hard to figure out -- where is the leak coming from, why is this room humid, what in heck kind of furnace installation it that? But, the good news is that sometimes the home inspector gets to cite something that is pretty easy to figure out.
The hose bibb or faucet, east end of the house, has a missing handle and, therefore, was not operated. I recommend that a qualified party, such as a plumber, install a handle and/or make any repairs that might … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Niche Market: Homeland Security Buyers
- 03/25/11 04:28 AM
Over the past year or two, in this northwest corner of Washington state, I have noticed that I am doing a large number of home inspections for employees of Homeland Security.
Here in Whatcom County, WA, we are home to the famous symbol of U.S. and Canada relations -- the Peace Arch. And this is the second largest border crossing between the US and Canada (Vancouver BC and Blaine). The largest or busiest northern crossing is between Windsor and Detroit.
Those agents that I talk to, many of them from Border Patrol, say that the Homeland Security population boom … (5 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Frost-Free No More
- 03/25/11 03:24 AM
As is the case with so many building components, the component or system is only as good as the way in which it has been installed. Frost-free hose bibbs are a great idea. The valve actually shuts-off back in the wall. So when the faucet is turned off, the water near the outside drains out the front spout of the hose bibb, assuming it has been installed/sloped correctly. Therefore, any water left in the hose bibb is retained back in the warmer crawl space or basement area.
People have ways of messing up hose bibbs so, despite the clever design, they do not … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) Short Stack
- 03/24/11 01:38 PM
When the inspector is up on the roof, and many people do not know this, he or she is often checking for much more than roofing components. Often chimneys, vents from furnaces and water heaters, electric masts and plumbing stacks are best viewed from up above.
The photo below is a plumbing stack that is too short. A plumbing stack is required to terminate a minimum of six inches above the roof. The good news is that this problem is not so hard to repair with an ABS coupling and a bit more pipe.
… (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Bellingham WA Home Inspection: Fawns in the Woods
- 03/23/11 01:53 PM
I was doing a student inspection today with a class from Bellingham Technical College. It was not part of the home inspection but somebody said: "Hey look over there." There were two fawns just hanging out in the brush beside the house. They must have been there at least the first hour that we were on-site. Then they got bored with us weirdos and left. There is an abundance of wildlife around this area anymore.
… (3 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Ferndale WA Home Inspector: This Isn't Horseshoes
- 03/20/11 04:54 PM
I am sure that you know the old saying -- "Close only counts in horseshoes." Very often, at a home inspection, that saying pops into my mind. "Popped" is probably not the right word -- it is forced into my mind by a visual enigma.
For example, I find it amazing when people seem to have the right idea. They know that the runoff water from the gutters should be diverted away from the house. So they go out and buy a number of splash blocks at a home store.
But then it gets into the weirdness. If you know … (9 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Spring Renewal = Spring Cleanup -- Really!
- 03/20/11 10:11 AM
I have noticed Sally's Spring Renewal Contest and had planned to enter. But I have been really busy between inspections and coordinating the home inspection training course at Bellingham Technical College. Plus, I was having trouble trying to think of a theme.
When you are really busy, morning till bedtime, it is hard to find the time or energy to be creative. Then I realized, this morning, that I do not need to be creative. I can simply rely on being truthful.
Fact is, my spring renewal, and it will make me feel so much better, is going to be removing … (12 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Trip, Stumble and Fall
- 03/19/11 03:50 AM
When it comes to walkways, patios and steps, people really love their "landscaping style" flat surfaces. Even at high end houses, I often find stone or rock walkways and steps -- put in by a landscaper I assume but, sometimes, by the homeowner.
These features are often rustic and attractive as intended. But, what people do not think about, is that the surfaces are uneven and a pedestrian is much more likely to trip and fall than on a regular sidewalk that really is flat.
Or a person is certainly more likely to trip on steps that are uneven and … (6 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Frozen Water
- 03/16/11 05:06 PM
Now, maybe in Hawaii and some parts of the country, you could get by with this one. But you sure could not get by with it in Western Washington. When things are cold, there is not much less fun than having frozen pipes.
This faucet, and the piping, is going to be either frozen or burst, or both, over much of our winter season. Now, even though that valve below is intended for the purpose of turning off the faucet, this is one really silly arrangement. Whoever figured this one out did not have a degree in engineering, either that … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Old House: GFCI Protected Receptacles
- 03/13/11 01:50 PM
For the most part, except for some areas if a remodel is taking place, an old home does not have to be "brought-up" to the latest codes. Trying to do that, with the ongoing code cycles, would cost lots of money and create a nightmare. We home inspectors ARE NOT code inspectors but, at least most of us, have code considerations in mind when we cite certain problems. After all, you have to have some benchmark as a starting place for what is right or wrong. Keeping code in mind, since it is relatively standardized as a minimum standard, at least … (15 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Ferndale WA Home Inspector (King of the House) Dryer Flexduct
- 03/10/11 04:01 PM
People, incorrectly so, use that accordion flexduct for so many different purposes. It is often run in attics from bath fans to the outside, or maybe it simply looks like a dead snake in the attic.
But what is really nuts is when someone runs a really long length of it through a wall or a floor. Flexducting is not suitable to run through walls. In fact, the only thing it is suitable for, other than to play with perhaps, is a very, very short length of it right behind a dryer. From there, it should connect up to the proper … (8 comments)
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blaine home inspector: The Hills Are Alive
- 03/09/11 12:30 PM
A while back I was doing an inspection and I needed my electric tester to determine if an exposed wire, beside a building, was energized or not. I had recently replaced my "tick" tester as we inspectors call them. I was not happy when I took it out, turned it on, and it immediately started beeping and lights were flashing when I was standing in the parking lot of the building I was inspecting.
I figured I had wasted my money on that one. Then I took out another one just like it. Imagine my surprise when it, too, started … (14 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Ferndale WA Home Inspection (King of the House) Electric Panels
- 03/06/11 03:22 PM
If a homeowner has a few boxes in front of an electric panel, or maybe an easy to shove out of the way portable shelf or case, I do not think much about moving that item. But, very often, people will mount shelves right over, or in front of, the electric panel. In this case, photo below, to get the cover off, you have to remove the bottom four screws, pull it out at the bottom, and then ease it over the breakers.
That is problematic, potentially unsafe, and is always a pain for the inspector who does not want to … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Would You Check Your Wood
- 03/06/11 11:26 AM
A home inspector in this state, probably anywhere, is supposed to cite wood to earth contact as a problem. When wood is in contact with soil, the moisture that wicks up into the wood will cause rot of the material over time.
Sometimes newer inspectors, in an effort to be careful, will end up with egg on the face. For example, below is a photo that might appear to be wood to soil contact -- lattice to the earth.
The catch here is that this lattice is NOT wood. This is a plastic lattice and, although UV might eventually make … (4 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Lummi Island Ferry
- 03/06/11 04:12 AM
Just last week I updated the status of the Lummi Island Ferry. Lummi Island is a small and picturesque island that is located near Bellingham.
For nearly two years now, and frantically so at this point, the county has been working in an effort to save the current, and convenient, run that goes from Gooseberry Point which is Lummi land. The crossing takes less than ten minutes.
As it stands, the Lummi Nation has decided that they want the ferry gone. And the county, to get people and cars back and forth from the island, says there is only … (6 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Wood Destroying Organisms, Washington State
- 03/01/11 01:34 PM
One of my favorite days, during the Bellingham Technical College classes, is the day that Dr. Dan Suomi from the Washington State Department of Agriculture takes a trip to Bellingham and speaks to the students.
In this photo he is holding a plastic rat, while discussing a proliferation of the furry creatures in the state. Rats are not wood destroying organisms, but they sure can be pests. Dan has great dignity and I must confide that the plastic rat is mine but he, Dan and not the plastic rat, has a sense of humor.
Dan's speaking to the class is a real bonus, … (9 comments)
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Those of us who live in the northwest are often referred to as "moss-backs." It is not because we are naturally dirty. It is because it rains so darn much. And, honestly, the last couple of years have to be some of the heaviest rain years I remember in my 50 plus years living in this region.
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