lynden home inspector: Skylight Inspections (Concealed components, visual limitations)
- 08/23/14 09:56 AM
It is not good news, but to be truthful, it is iffy as to whether or not a home inspector will be able to reliably detect subtle seepage around skylights. Many factors and variables are involved and sometimes you can, sometimes you cannot.
Flashings and seals around the glazing at corners of skylights are vulnerable to leaks. The watertightness of any given skylight is dependent on the quality of the skylight itself (manufacturers’ responsibility) and proper installation of flashings-seals and the placement of underlayments at the top side (responsibility of in-the-field installers). … (6 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Moisture Ant Infestation (Video) Up Close and Personal
- 08/01/14 06:15 AM
In Washington state, a wood destroying insect species that is often seen is the moisture ant. The only wood that is attractive to moisture ants is lumber that is very damp in the first place. And if it is rotted, well they like that pretty well too. The most common place to find them is under plumbing fixtures that have been seeping for years. Other locations moisture ants hanker for would be in crawl space corners or behind deficient deck flashings that have been leaking.
The video below is quite revealing and it provides the non-home inspector with a view of … (7 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Bee-Ware Everyday
- 07/09/14 03:12 PM
I was out and about in Bellingham just the other day. A home inspector can run into unexpected surprises at unusual places. As a home inspector, diligent and all, I try to inform a prospective purchaser of the presence of a multiple layer roof. We see all kinds of arrangements including two or three layers of composition over wood shingles. That is not a pretty sight.
One of the easiest ways to check to see if a roof is multi-layer is to simply gently look under the edge of the roofing at the eave. Here is an example of my identifying a … (6 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Please Shut The Door
- 05/19/13 04:39 AM
This is an amusing and a revealing photo taken recently at an inspection at a large commercial building. It was dark inside the building, and bright sunlight prevailed at the outside. The picture tells the story, pretty poor energy efficiency at this door. You might be thinking that I should have shut the door before snapping the photo. Well, look again, fact of the matter is that door is shut and latched.
All that daylight is the result of a poor fit, lack of weatherstrippings and a threshold. When you put those missing ingredients together, you have a door that … (36 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: B-vent Clearances -- Fire Safety
- 04/06/13 04:26 PM
Based on my experiences, working as a Bellingham, WA home inspector, I would say that one of the most misunderstood components to be found in the home is the B-vent. The B-vent is commonly seen at gas furnaces, gas water heaters or gas fireplaces...it is that metal chimney like device you see coming out roofs. Since the vent is double-walled, it seems that everyone thinks it can be in direct contact with wood, cardboard, plastic flex duct or attic insulation.
The fact of the matter is, a B-vent requires 1", minimum, clearance from combustibles. It says that right on the B-vent … (9 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Unchain Your Gutters....Please!
- 03/08/13 09:06 AM
Working in the wet Pacific Northwest, as a Bellingham home inspector, I have often thought that substituting chains for proper downspouts was a poor idea. Honestly, I think a house with chains on the gutters would do just as well if the gutters were left open -- nothing attached. Chains are no better than nothing!
I have some pretty conclusive evidence. I was at a house with chain downspouts when the rains came. As you view this video note the extremely wet corner that is being splashed. Uncontrolled runoff water will damage building materials -- rot was apparent at siding that … (7 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Roofing Worry: Prone to Failure
- 02/19/13 03:19 AM
By design, many manufactured homes have composition roofs that are low-sloped. A general guideline is that composition shingles are suitable for a roof with a slope of 4/12 or greater. But, in fact, most inspectors do not worry much about a roof that is sloped at 3/12 or greater. The roof slope gauge, below, indicates that this roof is under 1/12 slope.
The concern has to do with basic roof functionality. A roof with composition shingles is not designed to be water-tight. The sufficiency of the roof depends on runoff water quickly exiting the roof. When a roof has a … (28 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: 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)
|
lynden home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspector: Out of Sight, Not Out of Mind
- 12/16/12 03:12 AM
In the wet Pacific Northwest, many seller's are caught by surprise at the time of a home inspection. It is not a sound assumption to figure that every system or component at a home is working as it was at the time of installation. If the refrigerator or the oven is out, sure a homeowner knows about it.
But, when it comes to issues down in the crawl space, it seems that problems are usually unknown by the seller. Sometimes the seller thinks he or she took care of a problem such as standing water by installing a sump pump. Maybe … (4 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Garage Vehicle Door Auto-Reverse: Just What You Don't Want to See!
- 06/30/12 09:05 AM
Garage vehicle doors are heavy. I have talked to people in my community who have had pets killed by motorized garage doors that did not have the proper safeguards in place to protect against catastrophic accidents. People, obviously, can be killed by these doors as well.
The short video, that I shot recently at a home inspection, is an example of what you don't want to see when you are testing auto-reverse on impact at a motorized garage vehicle door. This is the floor test. A vehicle door should reverse if it strikes an object, 1" or greater, that has been placed flat on the floor … (5 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Effective Prognosticating, Whatcom County, WA
- 06/10/12 01:54 PM
Home inspectors are often in a position where we have to not only report on the past but, also, we have to predict the future. Whether all parties involved in a real estate transaction like that role of the home inspector is not the point. In this state, the law makes it clear that an inspector must forewarn clients of certain problems that are highly likely to occur as a result of a deficiency. For example, wood to soil contact causes rot, knob and tube wiring is old, might be unsafe, and it is often hard to obtain insurance when it is present.
It … (16 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspection (King of the House) Neoprene Stack Flashings
- 04/16/12 02:54 AM
The commonly installed neoprene rubber stack flashings may be acceptable for a few years when used to flash the plumbing vents where they exit the roof. But these flashings are prone to problems, including deterioration as a result of the harsh environment up on the roof -- UV rays being primary, but also wind. This is a problem I run into frequently at inspections in Whatcom County and Bellingham.
If they are used with a roofing surface that has a fairly short design life, then they might last about as long as the roof or develop problems simultaneously with the roof. … (2 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words
- 04/03/12 08:44 AM
We have all heard the expression -- "A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words." Every once in awhile, on an inspection, there is a photo-op that turns out to be quite amusing. Often, for whatever reason, the photos, at least in my case, involve some pet that decides to help me out while I am on-site with my camera.
I think, even if this guy is innocent (or not) the photo is pretty funny with the report text.
The weatherstripping on the garage-house door is shredded, suspected pet damage. Recommend replacing the weatherstripping so the door seals when shut.
… (10 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Green Building, By Default -- King of the House, Bellingham Home Inspector
- 03/25/12 02:09 AM
Green building is a buzz word in our society today. I hear many agents and builders discussing green building and I run into clients who wish they were buying a green building.
Despite there being considerable controversy over the whole topic of green building and just how environmentally beneficial it is anyway, there is a type of green building that involves no controversy at all. We see this one frequently in the northwest and we can all agree that it is not a green condition that you want to have going on at your own house.
That is a gutter … (5 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: You're In Hot Water -- Bellingham Home Inspection
- 01/24/12 07:24 AM
My wife often tells me that I am in hot water. Actually, in most cases, that is an expression that refers to my poor behavior versus anything to do with water.
However, in the course of doing home inspections in Bellingham and Whatcom county, I often find water heaters that are set too hot -- the water temperature set so high as to lead to a high probability of a scalding burn.
In this photo, the water is almost 137 degrees F. To reduce the probability of a scalding burn, water should be set no higher than 120 degrees F. … (6 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Stepping Back In Time: Appropriate Song for Christmas Day
- 12/25/11 04:42 AM
The first Billboard Top 40 Charts of the rock era emerged in 1955 when the Bill Haley classic "Rock Around the Clock" hit #1. Anyone who is into the era, and the evolution of the music, knows that rock 'n' roll was a derivative of the soul and gospel music that was created and popular with African Americans.
It is not surprising that the first #1 hit by an African American group was on the horizon, shortly after the inception of the Top 40 Charts. This group, today, is lesser known than some of the big 1960's soul groups -- Temptations, Supremes, Four Tops. However this … (12 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: You Can't Always Do What You Want (Bellingham Home Inspections)
- 12/25/11 03:09 AM
It is my goal, at a home inspection, to try to look at all components and systems. That not only earns me repeat business from clients and agents, but it provides some insulation against potential client complaints. Logic prevails: The more you see the less important stuff you miss.
It is not possible to find everything that might be wrong at a house. Finding 100% of the problems is not achievable within the confines of a home inspection. Sometimes mother nature herself interferes. This time of year, it is not unusual for the home inspector in this region to have restricted roof access … (1 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspector (King of the House) It's Cold Outside
- 12/22/11 05:25 AM
Recently, as the weather has gotten colder, I did an inspection on a cold day -- at least it was cold based on our wimpy Pacific Northwest standards. It was 28 degrees F.
At first, I thought that someone had left the garage door to the outside ajar or open. On closer examination, the fit of the door was something less than ideal.
Since it was cold outside, and my little knees were knocking together, it made me think of an appropriate song for the season and the weather.
… (7 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Happy Thanksgiving from King of the House Home Inspection
- 11/24/11 04:04 AM
On behalf of the King of the House staff, I would like to wish all of my Active Rain friends, and my associates in Bellingham, a great Thanksgiving and a holiday season. I was reading an editorial today, in the newspaper, that claims that the period we are going through as a nation, right now, only compares in misery to, in order, the Civil War, the Great Depression and WWII as far as national gloom. It stated that the "true" unemployment rate is 17% -- taking into account those collecting unemployment, those who have been dropped from the rolls because their benefits ran out, and … (10 comments)
|
lynden home inspector: Short URL Tool for Google Maps
- 11/07/11 06:01 AM
This information might save time, and be handy, for any Active Rain real estate professionals who send, or post, URL's or links to Online maps.
In the majority of the home inspection reports that I send out in Bellingham and Whatcom County, I insert a description of the home and provide a map link to an aerial view of the house. In the past, I have used mapquest, as the source of the map, because it provides a much shorter URL than google or bing maps. However, in the last couple of weeks, I have found that mapquest is inserting pop-up … (7 comments)
|
|
|
|
;)
;)
;)
