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ferndale inspection: Pacific Northwest Home Inspection (King of the House): Moisture Ant Infestation - 03/01/08 01:09 PM
We would rather live without moisture ants, but they are an important part of nature -- turning old wood back into soil. As a home inspector and a licensed structural pest inspector, I often see carpenter ants. But, recently, I ran into another ant infestation that is not nearly so common to find as the carpenters -- moisture ants. It is amazing how much damage these little insects can do. They come in different colors, a brown to a yellowish-green color, and they are tiny. Take a look at the photo below, but they are way smaller than that.
While … (33 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House): Carpenter Ant Infestation - 02/29/08 04:25 PM
I was up in Point Roberts, WA. Interesting place, trees all around and many vacation homes. Because of the wooded landscape, it is common to find carpenter ants. Carpenter ants often have nests in nearby trees or old stumps or even old wood below grade so if a person lives near a forest, it is best to be vigilant and watch out for this pest. If you see an occasional ant, that is one thing, but when you start seeing several of them walking one after the other, like a parade, across the deck and under the siding or if they are … (10 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Whatcom County Home Inspection (King of the House): Pest Inspector Methodology - 02/22/08 03:13 PM
When performing a structural pest inspection, an inspector is likely to "sound the wood." The basic idea is two fold. One possibility is that the wood will, hence the name, "sound" different if it is damaged, hollow, soft. This is a technique that works quite well on exterior logs on log homes where you want to get an idea of their condition, without dinging them up. The other possibility is that when a piece of wood is hit, it will come apart in pieces or insect frass or live insects will be exposed. Obviously, this latter type of test, which might … (5 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Botched Up At the End - 02/22/08 12:29 PM
Inspectors see any number of decks. Some are well built. In this wet climate, we like to see the structure built out of pressure treated lumber and concrete piers that isolate wood from soil. As the composite deckings get better looking, to look much like wood, they are becoming more common. Even though these materials are good, weather-resistant decking, many people who install the material do not follow the manufactureer's installation guidelines -- which are quite specific. The manufacturer's define where you can, or cannot, use the material and also the distance to centers (joist spacing) is important and depends on … (2 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House): Coffee And A Light - 02/22/08 12:19 AM
I saw a recent blog about can-lights written by Charles Buell. He was explaining the finer points of can-lights, inspecting can-lights, and can-light safety. In the comments, he and another AR member were talking about safety features found in some can-lights -- that cause them to shutdown if the bulb is overrated for the fixture and they get too hot.
This discussion tickled my memory gland and I remembered a photo I took at an inspection. Whoever put in this can-light, he took the term very literally. It really was a can-light, by Folgers as I recall. You can just see the … (2 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) -- Two Problems, One Attic - 02/21/08 04:48 PM
This is an interesting photo in that there are two problems, or at least possible problems. The knob and tube wiring, which had been modified in various places, is the most obvious problem. Some insurance companies will still cover knob and tube wiring (with a higher premium) but many of the most affordable insurance companies will not even consider insuring a house with knob and tube wiring. A primary risk is fire, and also the system has no equipment ground. The other possible issue in the photo is vermiculite attic insulation. It could be okay, but based on the age of the … (2 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Blaine WA Home Inspector (King of the House): Oh Rats! - 02/19/08 10:55 PM
It is odd. People do not want rodents in their homes. Yet they often fail to do something as simple as putting one plus one together. That something simple is realizing that rodents are going to enter a crawl space when they have a window of opportunity, such as through numerous holes left by workers or homeowners.
Below are photos taken at a crawl space on a newer home. You can see that a mouse or a rat could easily get into the crawl space at the entry door -- simply by darting in either side of the board at the top of … (4 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Home Inspection: It's All About Straightening The Pictures On The Wall - 02/17/08 05:22 PM
The title of this blog is deceptive, down right silly -- if you know anything about the scope of a home inspection. Silly as that title above might be, it is apparent to any working inspector that some naive sellers are under the false impression that the home inspector comes to a house to do something as menial as performing a quick visual scan looking for any crooked pictures on the wall. I describe this to others as "people having a mistaken belief that we inspectors are there to pull out a torpedo level and put it on the picture frames to see which ones are cockeyed".
Seriously, I am … (40 comments)
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ferndale inspection: This One Curled My Hair And Gave Me A Charge! - 02/14/08 01:43 PM
I found something at an inspection the other day that was not only dangerous, but pretty illogical too. This was another house where a "builder" had been doing his own projects. He might have been a builder, but an electrician he was not. The photo to the left is an AC plug, two prongs and ground, hanging out of a Bryant electric panel. It gets a person's attention right away, however, fact is it was live. That plug had 120 volts across it. To know why, one just had to look over to the right. That female receptacle, to accommodate the … (8 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Manufacturer's Recommendation: Repair With Duct Tape! - 02/14/08 11:56 AM
I know an individual who, sarcastically and with a smirk, makes fun of duct tape repairs. Can you imagine that -- making sport of the greatest repair miracle cure of the past 100 years. It is a product well known around the world, and in Canada too. This same person is a stickler for doing things by the book, as in following manufacturer's guidelines. Well, in doing some research the other day I found a product, a high quality product, where the official manufacturer's repair specifies the use of none other than duct tape. So, how do you like them apples Mr. Anti-Duct … (10 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Black Widow Spiders In Western Washington! - 02/12/08 10:12 AM
I have to admit, as a Washingtonian all my life, I have always thought that the only place a person would find black widows spiders would be east of the mountains, as in eastern Washington. Those of us born and raised here know that the "serious" spiders and snakes are found on the hot side of the state. Now, that does not mean that some dingbat does not catch, and bring over, a rattler or two. I remember in my senior year at Bellingham High School, back before Lincoln was elected President, a kid brought two rattlers to biology. They were in … (9 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Big, Mean, Nasty Termites: At Least They Are Not In Your House - 02/11/08 10:34 PM
As a home inspector, who also teaches a class in wood destroying organisms through the state college system in Washington State, I always take a camera along with me on hikes or vacations. I have some cool, and very illustrative, photos that I have taken of all kinds of wood problems, like classic cubical brown rot on wood in the famous city of Pompeii or wood that is in good shape and nearly 1000 years old from Bologna. However, I think that the one time I was really happy to have my camera was in the Yucatan of Mexico a few … (5 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House): New Home Inspection Issues - 02/11/08 11:17 AM
This is probably a surprise to most people, it was to me the first few times I saw it. I am referring to the number of times in new houses, where the heat ducts have not been hooked together or, if they have, they have come loose. Sometimes I think it is the result of subcontractors forgetting to complete the job, other times the ducts were not properly secured or someone working under the home managed to contact them in such a way that they came apart. I have also found ducts that were crushed, so no heat would pass through … (5 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Homeowners Doing Crazy Things With Trees - 02/10/08 04:10 PM
Earlier today I posted a photo of a nice tree house. In thinking about that, I started reflecting on any other unorthodox uses for trees, that are nuts, insane or crazy that I have seen on real, honest to goodness home inspections. Unfortunately, back when I did this inspection, I was not keeping all my photos, so I cannot provide a good view of the size and expanse of this deck. However, this was a back deck at a home, and it was large and heavy. In fact, the guardrail alone was made from thick safety glass, so not light. Anyway, the whole … (4 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Lynden Home Inspector (King of the House): Right Idea, Bad Implementation - 02/09/08 10:56 AM
The photo below is amusing in a way. This crawl space vent well was put in, somewhere down the line, by a person who knew that crawl space vents need to be protected from runoff water and being blocked by soil. To achieve that goal, the person put in a vent well. A metal or plastic vent well is better, but, if they go with wood it should be pressure treated lumber -- not the case here. Also, obviously, there is not much value in the well when it is completely plugged with soil, grass and debris. This is another example of … (5 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Bellingham WA home Inspector (King of the House): Attic Debris - 02/07/08 12:02 PM
So the owner of the home is really proud of the new roof that replaced the old wood shake or shingle roof. The owner says it was a major improvement and, in fact, it probably was. Then the home inspector goes into the attic. This is another of those things an inspector sees over and over again. The roofer might have gone to lots of trouble -- even removing old skip-sheathing or decayed sheathing, and putting on new sheathing, flashings and shingles. The problem is, more than half the time, much of the old debris was dumped into the attic. The photo … (2 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Monty Python Trees - 02/05/08 02:28 PM
I remember in one of the old Monty Python movies, there were trees that would reach out and grab people. I kind of felt like that when I saw this tree. This is one of the best examples I have seen of a tree, at a main public street, that has turned itself into being a trip hazard. Trees that are planted too close to foundations can cause damage but, personally, this is more typical of what I see. At many inspections I find tree roots that have damaged driveways, stepping stones, pavers, sidewalks and especially asphalt surfaces. I wonder how … (5 comments)
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ferndale inspection: Romans Knew Thy Wood - 02/05/08 09:44 AM
I was pondering Charlie Buell's blog called "What Would Impress The Romans" and thought I would pull out a couple photos of Roman work that impressed me. This is the bottom of an ancient Roman-built building in Bologna Italy. Bologna, like much of Italy, was run, or overrun, by Romans (or Greeks) at one time or another. The thing I think interesting about this is the age of the wood and the fact it is still supporting a monster-sized building. This wood is somewhere between 750 and 1000 years old and it is holding up in this location because it is sheltered and dry. … (2 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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