king of the house home inspection: Pre-purchase Condo Inspections
- 04/09/15 09:58 AM
Is it worthwhile for a buyer to hire an inspector to perform a pre-purchase inspection at a condo. The answer is "yes." Condos tend to have just as many problems as other residences and, in some instances, we find unique problems that are specific to multi-unit housing.
Below is a video I produced that describes the benefits of obtaining a pre-purchase condo inspection. I would like to thank some of my home inspector friends who agreed to let me use their photos to better illustrate certain common problems found at condos and other dwellings.
… (4 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Oops...Another Good Reason to Traverse the Roof
- 11/30/13 02:58 AM
This was an interesting discovery, run into a couple years back when I was performing a home inspection. I was out by Lake Whatcom at Sudden Valley. The home was relatively new and it was situated in a heavily wooded area with tree needles and heavy limbs all around and over the roof.
As I got up onto the roof, I was surprised to see an extra skylight. In a quick preliminary perusal inside, I had seen two but not three. Then as I got over by one skylight, instead of a view down into the house, all I saw was … (4 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Takin' Care of Business Home Inspector Style
- 10/06/13 01:21 PM
Over the past two years, I have performed many commercial building inspections. It seems like once you get known for doing these larger jobs, the more calls you receive. When it comes to inspecting large 5000 to 12,000 square foot buildings, I choose to not do the work all by myself. On the majority of these big buildings or larger high-end homes, I enlist the services of my good friend, and an excellent inspector, Curtis Brown of CurtisC Home Inspection services who is also located in Bellingham. Between the two of us, we get the jobs done in a reasonable amount … (3 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: So Have You Ever Misplaced Your Keys?
- 02/09/13 11:15 PM
Do you ever misplace, or worse yet, lose your keys? If so, let me tell you about a nifty device.
Over the years, my wife and I have each lost a set of keys. At the best, that is inconvenient. At worst, especially with the transponder car keys that cost money to replace, losing keys is a big inconvenience and a bummer.
I am more likely to misplace keys that to actually lose them. On inspections, I try to put the keys in a special place while I am working. But, a few times, for one reason or another, the keys were … (11 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: "Nuke-testing" for Fun and Profit, Bellingham, WA
- 02/25/12 12:55 PM
A few months ago, a friend of mine who happens to be a home inspector, showed me this little gadget. The sole purpose of the gadget was to test the function of microwave ovens. Now, fact is, as a home inspector, the obligation for inspecting appliances in this state is pretty minimal -- we don't have to do so if we don't want to, per the state standards of practice.
From a marketplace standpoint, most of us do take a look at appliances as a service. It is basic: We check that range burners come on, that dishwashers don't seem to be … (14 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Washington Home Inspector Training (Bellingham Technical College) A Room Of Our Own
- 10/22/11 08:42 AM
The home inspection training course at Bellingham Technical College now has its own "assigned" room. In years gone by, we were given a classroom that was available by virtue of it not being in use at the time the course was offered. As of this year, we have been assigned classroom B-12. The room is fully equipped with computers and media equipment. Here is a photo of a few of the recent students working on report writing in the new facility.
Bellingham Technical College, for more than a decade, has been offering professional home inspection training. Students come from all over, … (0 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Kodak / ActiveRain June Mobile Marketing Challenge
- 06/08/11 07:32 AM
I must admit that I have not, so far, made too much use of QR codes. I would have put them on my last printing of business cards but, the whole QR code frenzy broke about two weeks after I bought 2000 cards. There you go, opportunity missed. I do very little as far as print advertising, other than the business cards.
I am responsible for promoting not only my inspection firm, King of the House Inc, but also the Bellingham Technical College home inspection training program, where I am adjunct faculty and program coordinator or lead instructor.
I find that for my … (9 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: January Never Looked Better
- 05/07/11 08:07 AM
We are having another wonderful May in Whatcom County. It seems like it rains every day. When I went out this morning for breakfast, on a long awaited day off, it was raining cats and dogs. I do not know if my wife will ever find a window of opportunity in which to put in her garden.
Frankly, January was a better month for me. Well, probably it was not better here, but it sure was down in Oaxaca, Mexico when we spent our traditional two weeks there. There was great uptempo music, sunshine, warm, bustling markets and the flowers. Oaxaca has … (5 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Satisfied Client -- Hommage to the Master
- 05/06/11 10:56 AM
As many of you know, my certifried home inspector assistant, Nutsy S. Wallenda, periodically does home inspections on his own. More often than not, that is the case when I loan him out to bail out Charles Buell down in Seattle when Charlie is up to his ears in work and needs a hand. Although he is my assistant, Nutsy is frequently -- and incorrectly -- thought of as Charlie's better half. This misinformation is somewhat enhanced by the fact that Nutsy has Buell Inspection business cards.
Lest anyone thinks that, by being a squirrel, Nutsy is not effective, well … (14 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Lake Whatcom Water Supply -- Bellingham, WA
- 03/20/11 04:03 AM
In Bellingham, and many of the outlying communities such as Sudden Valley, the water source for the city is our old friend Lake Whatcom. Lake Whatcom is a large lake that is not only the water source but it is also a favorite recreation spot. You got it, the community loves it, but over the years it has been a home to not only ducks and geese but also swimmers, water skiers and boaters with those gasoline powered engines.
Although the recreation part sounds like fun, and it is a valuable part of the community, the thought of the gasoline spills … (6 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Happy St Paddy's Day
- 03/17/11 04:47 PM
I would be remiss if I did not wish all of you a good St Patrick's Day. I have been working all day and did not even think about the day, until I came on here and everyone was talking about it. This is a day that, I must say, is not a big one on my events list. The most interesting St Paddy's Day that I ever had was 1983. My wife and I, that year, were in the heart of New York City and Broadway. There was a huge parade or march. Whatever you would call it, there was … (9 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) Water Pressure
- 03/09/11 03:29 PM
When doing a home inspection, I always check the water pressure when it is possible to do so. Sometimes I use the outside faucet. Other times I have used a laundry faucet and I even have a little gizmo that allows me to attach my pressure gauge to a bath or kitchen sink.
It is amazing how often one finds that the water pressure is too high -- over 80 psi and how often it is too low -- below 40 psi.
Around here, most plumbers set the pressure at about 50 psi, a bit higher in a multi-story house. … (10 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: 38 Degrees and Rising
- 02/27/11 05:35 AM
I am happy to say that, when I drove downtown this morning, the mercury was on the rise. Some of the ice and snow is now retreating. I was going to drive down to Skagit County last night with a friend for dinner, but it was so slick and frigid out there that we stayed in Bellingham and helped the local economy.
It was reported yesterday that our maritime climate set new ALL TIME record lows for this month on Thursday and Friday of this week. Freezing temperatures set new record lows for the Bellingham area Thursday, Feb. 24, and Friday, … (2 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Have a Good Christmas Eve
- 12/24/10 11:00 AM
Hello my ActiveRain friends. As you will see from the photo below, I am tonight getting heavily into the Christmas "spirits".
Many of my devoted followers here at ActiveRain -- Mr Quarello, Mr Charles Buell and Mrs Kate Ford and my Godmother, Mrs Barbara Duncan -- have been very nice to me this year and I appreciates that. I appreciate Dale Baker too, who sees things mostly like me much of the time.
In the next year, I look forward to being as much help to all of those people as they have been to me this year. Merry Christmas … (15 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Pie-Eating Kid's Kodak Moment
- 12/06/10 01:44 PM
When you are as old as I am, or should we say "experienced in life", you have any number of photographs in your collection. I have photographs going back to when I was a youth with a pirate radio station in my neighborhood. I have photographs of my real radio career including photos from concerts and shots with well-known performers.
So, when ActiveRain announced a Kodak challenge, I had to scratch my head to figure out what photo I wanted to share. I thought about some photos from trips to Mexico or Italy. But, when push came to shove, I decided … (11 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Cravings
- 12/03/10 02:40 AM
One thing that I enjoy when going to foreign countries is to feel the atmosphere to breathe the aromas (usually and depending on where I am). The various countries have so many different foods, fabrics and other interesting products that are usually distinct to a region. That is true in Italy, Mexico or Korea, countries that I have visited over the last few years.
If you are looking for great and tantalizing food, then Italy is just about as good as it gets. Here is a photo from a storefront at a gourmet store in Italy.
… (2 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Honesty in Advertising
- 05/17/10 05:17 AM
We all get them, the scam phone calls and Emails from those telling us that we need to pay big bucks to enhance our online presence. I work very hard, largely through Active Rain, to make sure that my business has the highest possible online presence for any number of key search terms in my region.
I check my google, bing and yahoo placement (and a few others mainly as a curiosity) on a weekly basis. Therefore I know where I stand. I cannot tell you how many times I have gotten some call from a guy telling me that I … (5 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Butterflies Are Free
- 04/18/10 06:17 AM
On Friday, when we went on a family field trip to the Seattle Center, we visited an attraction that I have not experienced before. Within the science center they have a butterfly house. I have always thought that being in a room with gorgeous butterflies would be interesting. And I was right. A few photos are below.
I have another photo from that day too. I think I will save it for a wordless photo as it is quite amusing.
Thanks for stopping by,
Steven L. Smith
… (7 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: A Moment to Savor, by Nutsy
- 04/04/10 06:43 AM
It was one year ago this Easter that I captured the Easter egg bandit. We should all commemorate that great and rare accomplishment on my part. If you do not remember that thrilling case where, using my quick mind, sharp wit and excellent investigative skills, you can refresh your memory right here. This was rated one of the top local news events of last year by the local newspaper. I believe that this triumph on my part was one of the most excellent and exciting victories for law enforcement in all of the year 2009.
Anyone who has forgotten about the dreaded … (8 comments)
|
king of the house home inspection: Wood Decay Fungi -- Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House Home Inspection)
- 01/19/10 09:23 AM
A home inspector spends a significant amount of time inspecting the exterior of a home. That inspection will include decks, gutters, soffits, siding, etc. Along with finding siding problems, and all the other issues that can turn up, an inspector is likely to find issues with either wood trim or composition wood trim.
The photo above is an example of that. You will see that the wood has decayed and it is soft enough that even the tip of a ball point pen will penetrate the surface. When decay is found, the afflicted wood should be removed and new material put in place. … (4 comments)
|
|
|
|
Is it worthwhile for a buyer to hire an inspector to perform a pre-purchase inspection at a condo. The answer is "yes." Condos tend to have just as many problems as other residences and, in some instances, we find unique problems that are specific to multi-unit housing.
;)
;)
;)
