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lp siding: Mushrooms on the Siding or Anyone know a Mycologist? - 04/05/08 02:48 PM
L-P innerseal siding was the oriented strand board (OSB) siding that probably received the most negative media coverage and, among other manufacturers, was involved in a huge class-action lawsuit and a payout to consumers. This Louisiana Pacific product went off the market, officially, in the late 1990's. Fact is, as most inspectors will tell you, the jury is still out or lukewarm regarding even the newer generations of OSB sidings. My experience is that, yet again, they are not all that durable in a damp climate like here in Washington.
Below are some recent photos of L-P innerseal siding that is over ten … (5 comments)
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lp siding: Stressed-out Decks - 03/27/08 02:21 PM
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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lp siding: Pacific Northwest Home Inspections (King of the House) -- Wood Eating Plants - 03/22/08 12:02 PM
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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lp siding: Whatcom County Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Smoke Detectors - 03/20/08 01:34 AM
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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lp siding: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) -- Crawl Space Vent Problems - 03/20/08 01:26 AM
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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lp siding: Pacific Northwest Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Blowin' Hot Air - 03/10/08 05:58 PM
If you have ever been in a new home and saw that 24 hour timer on the wall of the bathroom or the laundry room, then you are probably looking at the 24 hour ventilation system. These systems are designed to be set to operate automatically. This is done with one or more fans. In the simple systems that is usually just the one fan in a bathroom or in the laundry area. Sometimes there will be a fan on the furnace too. Essentially, regardless of the number of timers, they are set to run automatically and reliably run the fans to expel … (10 comments)
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lp siding: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House): What's Knot -- LP Siding - 03/07/08 06:07 PM
I have written about this topic before, but then I have an experience that makes me think I had better write about it again. It seems like old hat to me, but that is not the case. Yesterday I was doing an inspection and a friendly appraiser was on-site. He was doing an appraisal for some federal loan program so they were asking him to make comments about things like wood to earth contact and the building materials. He asked me a few questions. I mentioned that the siding was in pretty good shape but that the home had L-P inner-seal … (2 comments)
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lp siding: Classic Damage -- L-P Siding - 01/09/08 09:58 PM
For some reason, not sure why, I have been seeing a number of homes lately with L-P innerseal siding. This is the OSB (oriented strand board) installed prior to 1996. The photo below is a great photo of the siding in distress. It is de-laminating. Frankly, when it starts going it is much like cardboard -- it just pulls apart. There is an installation problem here that is often the case. The siding had its share of problems to start with so, when it is not correctly installed, that makes those problems even more pronounced. In this case, there is no trim … (3 comments)
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lp siding: Reference For Realtors: ID of L-P Siding - 01/01/08 06:15 PM
I have posted about this before, probably almost a year ago, but the issue comes up enough that I think it is worth spending some time on it again. If you are a real estate professional, you might want to save this for easy reference. Realtors, often the seller's realtor, have to deal wit the home inspection and a home inspector called out that the home had Louisiana Pacific (L-P) innerseal siding. If the siding is composition wood and the home was built from the early 1980's until 1995 or even later into the 1990's in some cases, then that is certainly possible … (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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