blaine home inspector: Tiny Roof, Big Hole
- 09/30/10 02:57 PM
A few days back I was inspecting a home that was, about 85%, a flat torch down roof. There was a small room built over the flat roof. The room was not much more than a sitting room. Honestly, it was small and I almost forgot to go up there. But I went down to the truck and got my ladder and put it up on the eave. Glad I looked. A hole in the roof is not something you want to miss in the wet Pacific Northwest and the Bellingham area.
First thing I saw was a shingle in … (6 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Yellow Pages -- Dying And Don't Know It (Or Won't Admit It)
- 09/29/10 08:12 AM
Over the past couple years I have liked my yellow pages representative. Honestly, that slim bond was the only thing that even kept me in the book. I will not name names, but we are talking the "main" Bellingham phone book here, not one of the copycat books of which there are many.
My wife, who took over paying bills a few months back, has told me that I ought to dump the yellow pages and the $50.00 per month that they charge. I spent 30 years in media and marketing so I know how to track my business. I … (19 comments)
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blaine home inspector: A Sign of the Times?
- 09/28/10 03:42 AM
We have, over the years, come to assume that much of the advertising we are exposed to will be quite sophisticated. It will consist of all types of "hooks" to get us in the mood to purchase or consume a product.
Yesterday I had to quickly run into Albertson's which is a big supermarket chain on my side of the country. I could not help but laugh, and shoot a photo, at their promotional sign for their fried chicken.
This is just about as direct, and unsubtle, as you can get when it comes to promoting chicken. It is honest, that … (14 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Knob and Tube Wiring: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House)
- 09/26/10 09:53 AM
One of the things that buyers often wonder about, assuming they have heard the term, is whether or not an older home they are buying might have knob and tube wiring. Any old house, up through the late 1950's approximately, might have some knob and tube wiring. And if they are really old they are pretty much bound to have had it at one point or another. The house I grew up in as a kid had knob and tube and that was an upgrade -- it had been gas lights.
Knob and tube is outdated, and insulation might be brittle, … (5 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Just What The Inspector Wants To See
- 09/24/10 02:52 AM
Those individuals who have worked in home inspection know that it is not just an inspector being cranky when he or she does not want to turn on main water and gas and circuit breakers that are off. On those rare occasions when I have been talked into doing so I, more often than not, wish later that I had not. Invariably there is something awkward that happens that the inspector does not wish to be responsible for.
Realizing that, you can imagine how thrilled I was recently when I drove to a house early to meet the utilities firm so … (13 comments)
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blaine home inspector: The Rains Came to Western Washington
- 09/20/10 04:17 PM
Many people on here are writing about fall. No question about it, fall is here in the Pacific Northwest. I have to lead students on a field inspection tomorrow and I really hope it is not pouring. Below are a few photos that I took yesterday after getting back from Lummi Island.
It was pretty nice this afternoon but I fear that again tonight the rains will come and continue through tomorrow. When it gets wet around here, it gets wet. Oh well, at least we do not have deadly vipers and tornadoes in Bellingham.
Thanks for stopping by,
Steven … (6 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Nutsy S. Wallenda -- Trend Setter Extraordinaire
- 09/18/10 11:08 AM
I suppose that it had to happen. Some individual, bigger than life, would arrive on the scene and every kid out there would want to mimic that heroic figure.
It happened in the 1950's when I was a kid. I had a Davy Crockett hat, you better believe that I did. Thank Disney and Fess Parker.
Well, about a month back, my certifried home inspector assistant, Nutsy S. Wallenda went to Alaska for a short adventure. In Alaska he was hired to participate in a bear roundup on the tundra. He did so, of course, with great agility and grace. You … (12 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Whatcom County/Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) -- Anobiid Beetle Video
- 09/11/10 06:57 AM
A few days back I posted a short video that I produced to inform clients, and to link to in reports, when carpenter ants are found to be a problem on premises at an inspection that I have performed. I see many wood destroying insects when working as a home inspector in Bellingham and Whatcom County, WA.
This was a followup video, shorter, to one I had done that described the various wood destroying organisms that are found in Whatcom County, WA. That video included carpenter ants, moisture ants, two termite species, two wood-boring beetle species and rot. I realized, after doing that longer video, that it often … (8 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Wood to Soil with Rot
- 09/10/10 03:23 PM
Working as a Bellingham Home Inspector, at my firm King of the House, I often see wood to soil contact on premises when doing the job. Some wood is pressure-treated and is designed for some contact with soil. However, more often than not, the specific wood that is in contact with soil is not pressure treated. When that is the case, at least half of the time, the wood will be decayed as a result of the earth contact.
At the photo above, just below the bolts at the post, the wood is decayed. Again, this was a common case of … (4 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Rodent Alert
- 09/09/10 02:31 PM
I often run into buyers and homeowners who have overlooked the obvious source of a problem. For example, homeowners do not like to admit that there are varmints in their midst. According to the Washington State Department of Agriculture we are having a rat infestation -- roof rats and Norway rats. Well, if they are coming our way, then we need to do what we can to keep them away. Below is a photo from an inspection. This hole in a crawl space vent led into the crawl space and rodents had been pulling down the insulation. This screen not only … (14 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Stories Behind the Music -- Elvis Was #1 Fifty Years Ago Today
- 09/05/10 03:18 PM
How time flies. Isn't that true? I was sitting here today, my mind wandering, and I decided that I would like to see what was the #1 song in the nation exactly 50 years ago today.
The answer: "It's Now or Never" by nobody other than the King himself, Elvis Presley. It ended up being the biggest selling of all of Presley's hits. "It's Now or Never" topped the American charts for five weeks and the UK charts for eight weeks. Sales topped 20 million units.
This video, despite being a composite or out-of-sync, does have shots of Elvis, years later … (7 comments)
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blaine home inspector: It Takes Too Much Effort To Get Away
- 09/05/10 05:43 AM
My wife and I are getting ready to take a short vacation break in Portland, Oregon. Vacation always sounds so good, but the work involved in getting away is daunting. It did not used to be like that when I was younger -- pack a suitcase, get in the car and be gone.
But now between familial obligations, running King of the House Home Inspection, having cats and staying up with blogging -- what a chore it is to get away. When I go away, I post a number of inspection photos to my AR blog in draft mode. Then, when … (3 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Whatcom County Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Wood Destroying Organisms
- 09/02/10 02:53 AM
I see this often while working as a Bellingham home inspector who serves all of Whatcom County and the outlying areas. Many builders, often dating back from eons ago, choose to leave old scrap lumber and debris in the crawl space. You know the story: It does not hurt anyone if they cannot see it.
That may not be true in the case of leaving cellulose scraps in the crawl space. Wood destroying organisms, often first rot and then wood destroying insects, tend to be attracted to such materials.
Below are examples of problems:
The bottom photo … (4 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspection: Vented Sub-structure Areas
- 08/29/10 08:30 AM
When a home has an unconditioned (unheated) crawl space, most building codes require that there be some form of crawl space ventilation. This comes in various forms but, at least in Bellingham and Whatcom County, more often than not the builders put in foundation vents -- typically a few feet from each corner and spaced quite evenly from one another, every few feet.
The preferred vents are those with wire mesh, typically 1/4" galvanized screens. Often, instead, I will see vent screens like the one below.
This is a louvered vent screen and the average person may not know it, … (5 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Use Caution When Cutting A Pet Door
- 08/29/10 04:53 AM
People love their pets. They want to make the pets comfortable and make them part of the family. Instead of giving the pet a key to the house, they often choose to make a pet door or two so the pet has unfettered access from the backyard into the house, maybe clear through the house into the garage.
When there is a large pet door, such as the one shown here, it is a potential security breach into the home. A human could easily go through that door. And often they allow rain and moisture into the home as well. … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Welcome to the United States: The View From Up North
- 08/26/10 04:37 PM
I have lived on the Canadian border for my whole life. I take it for granted that everyone knows all about crossing the border at Canada and the Peace Arch, etc. Fact is, I even run into people from Seattle, or Bellingham for that matter, who have never, or rarely, travel north.
I do many home inspections in Point Roberts, a US enclave that requires going through Canada. When you come back into the US, Canada side, there is quite a cool wooden sign. I realized that probably most people have never seen it. I see it about every week.
Thanks … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Crawl Space Swat Gear
- 08/26/10 12:49 PM
I was moments away from entering a crawl space which the seller told me had, in the past, been a hangout for rats. This was an inside the house crawl space hatch. I had just opened the hatch, put on my respirator and it was time to go down under.
It just so happened that, next to me, was a mirror. I took this photo of one home inspector who is dressed in his SWAT outfit to deal with the unknown creatures below.
Thanks for stopping by,
Steven L. Smith
… (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Bellingham Technical College Map -- Fundamentals of Home Inspection
- 08/25/10 04:39 PM
We are only a few days away, class starts on Monday, August 30, 2010, from the next fundamentals of home inspection training class at Bellingham Technical College. That will include a week of field training at the end of the course.
Inevitably we have students from different parts of the state and, often, they do not know their way around campus. The course, this session, will be in Morse Center, #221.
Morse Center is the building at the upper right corner on the map, listed as MC. See all you students bright and early next Monday morning, 8am.
… (3 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Blocked Fans
- 08/24/10 01:22 PM
I probably see this more often on older homes than newer ones, but I see it a whole lot at both types of houses. Somewhere along the way, the house is painted. And, in so doing, either with tape or paint, they end up sealing shut the louvered vent hoods or the backdraft dampers. I always try to run fans and see if air comes out. It is often amusing to hear the range hood, the bath exhaust fans or even the dryer cranking like crazy, but there is no airflow.
This is an easy one for a seller or a … (10 comments)
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blaine home inspector: Whatcom County is Farms
- 08/22/10 03:25 PM
Anyone who has lived in Whatcom County as long as I have, and we will not get into that here, knows that this is a prime agricultural region of the country. We have one of the largest dairy farming communities in the USA and we have a high proportion of berry growers. We produce some of the finest of a precious crop -- raspberries.
To salute agriculture, a few weeks from now, the community will host the Whatcom County Farm Tour. That will be on, are you ready for the date -- September 11th from 10AM to 6PM. That is a … (6 comments)
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A few days back I was inspecting a home that was, about 85%, a flat torch down roof. There was a small room built over the flat roof. The room was not much more than a sitting room. Honestly, it was small and I almost forgot to go up there. But I went down to the truck and got my ladder and put it up on the eave. Glad I looked. A hole in the roof is not something you want to miss in the wet Pacific Northwest and the Bellingham area.
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