Russel's blog

The ActiveRain Nature Station: I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus....

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 05:07:59 -0600

Part of our Christmas tradition when I was young was me climbing up into our huge hackberry tree (I hated that tree; I don't hate anymore, but I still dislike hackberries) to get us some Christmas mistletoe.

Not until years later did I understand why, nor did I even put two and two together to understand why mommy was kissing Santa Claus underneath the mistletoe last night....

CAUTION:
Further reading is only for the brave!
Don't say I didn't warn you.

The name mistletoe was originally applied to the European mistletoe (Viscum album), a poisonous plant that causes acute gastrointestinal problems including stomach pain and diarrhea (I warned you. Stop now while you're ahead!), as well as a low pulse.

The name is now applied to a group of hemiparasitic plants, hemiparasitic meaning that it gets part of its nutrients from its parasitic attachment to the roots or stems of other plants with the other source being photosynthesis.

The origin of the word mistletoe is not known, although the most common belief is that it comes from the German mist, for dung, and tang for branch. (Dung is polite society lingo for poop. Remember my warning?)

Mistletoe seeds are most commonly spread by birds, such as the Mistle Thrush in Europe. The birds eat the mistletoe berries and then poop out the seeds while sitting in trees (you didn't heed my warning, did you?). Some of the poop, of course, lands on your car (I keep warning you). During the early stages of growth, mistletoe gets a majority of its nutrients from the bird poop. (I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus, underneath that poop plant late last night....)

A severe infestation in any one tree can kill the tree, so mistletoe has always been considered a pest. Recent research, however, indicates that mistletoe is a keystone species, meaning that it has a disproportionately pervasive influence over the community where it thrives. The health of a keystone species can indicate the health of a wide and diverse ecological system since many species depend on it.

Other interesting tidbits about mistletoe:

In Greek mythology, mistletoe is believed to be the golden bough of Aeneas, ancestor of the Romans.
In Celtic mythology (Go Boston!), mistletoe was considered a remedy for barrenness in animals.
The white berry makes its appearance at Christmas time. Mistletoe berries are poisonous, and the sap can cause skin irritation and other allergy symptoms -- I speak from experience.
An old Christian tradition has mistletoe as a tree that furnished the wood for crucifixion crosses. After Christ's crucifixion, the tree shriveled and became a nasty parasite.
According to custom, mistletoe must not touch the ground between cutting and its removal as the last of the Christmas greens at Candlemas. It may remain hanging throughout the year to protect the house from lightning or fire until being replaced the following Christmas Eve.
Mistletoe is the state floral emblem for Oklahoma. When the Postal Service issued its state bird and flowers stamp in 1982, Oklahoma had no state flower, so the mistletoe, as the "floral emblem," was used. In 2004, Oklahoma designated as its state flower the Oklahoma Rose, a hybrid tea rose developed at Oklahoma State University in 1964.
Mistletoe leaves and young twigs are used by herbalists in Europe for treating circulatory and respiratory problems.
Mistletoe extract is sold under the trade names Iscador and Helixor. Mistletoe extract for treating cancer originated with Rudolph Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy (a spiritual philosophy). Public interest in the United States grew with actress Suzanne Somers' decision to use Iscador in lieu of chemotherapy for her treatment for breast cancer in 2001. Unfortunately, there is no scientific evidence that mistletoe extract cures any forms of cancer.
And finally, about that kissing under the mistletoe. In Norse mythology, Baldr was a god of vegetation. His mother, Frigga (Frigga?) had a prophetic dream and made every plant, animal, and inanimate object promise not to harm Baldr. Frigga overlooked the mistletoe, and the mischievous god Loki took advantage of Frigga's oversight by tricking the blind god Hod into killing Baldr with a spear fashioned from mistletoe. Baldr's death brought winter into the world. When the gods restored Baldr to life, Frigga declared the mistletoe sacred, ordering that it should bring love rather than death into the world. Happily complying with Frigga's wishes, any two people passing under the plant from now on would celebrate Baldr's resurrection by kissing under the mistletoe. If you celebrate that love too long, though, well, move it to the bedroom!

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn
What do cats really do when their owners are gone?
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 3: Other laundry problems
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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer
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Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
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When their it gets in the way of your it

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:42:27 -0600

Many of our older homes here don't have a garage, so parking can sometimes be a challenge when looking for a parking space on the street.

The following picture is of a home on Coronado Island that had been renovated. A one-car garage was added to the rear of the house and the gas meter re-located from the rear of the house to the left side of the new garage.

Unfortunately, someone forgot -- literally! -- to tell the utility company to move their utility pole. This garage would not accommodate anything other than a golf cart until the pole was moved, which the utility company declined to do.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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Pictures from my strangest inspection ever
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Nice is nice, but functionality and accessible is a necessity
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Ingenuity is not always best
Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn
What do cats really do when their owners are gone?
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 3: Other laundry problems
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 2: Dryer exhaust flue
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Be sure to hire a home inspector with x-ray vision, and it's not me!
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Global warming is taking my habitat!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Earthquake foundation upgrades made easy
My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!
Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas

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The ActiveRain Nature Station: The Star of Bethlehem

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:55:02 -0600

Yesterday I saw one of the tallest Star of Bethlehem plants that I had ever seen, so I thought that I might take a moment to pay tribute to the Star of Bethlehem (Euphorbia pulcherrima) since it has been part of the Christmas spirit since the sixteenth century in Mexico.

For those of you who don't know what the Star of Bethlehem is:

Here's the tall one I saw yesterday:

When I moved to Kingsville, Texas, in 1965 to live with my wise old grandmother, I arrived on December 20, and one side of her driveway was lined with tall, blooming poinsettias just like that. I used to have to help her prune them after the northers would freeze them each year, and then again in the middle of the summer so that they would bloom on time, and profusely. That's when I found out that I was allergic to poinsettia sap.

The poinsettia, and almost all of the 2,160 Euphorbia species, have a milk-white, sticky sap that can cause skin irritation, temporary blindness, diarrhea, and vomiting. Euphorbias are succulents, or water-retaining plants; the best known succulents are cactus, and while all cactus are succulents, not all succulents are cactus, as the poinsettia demontrates.

The Christmas poinsettia industry in the United States was developed by the Ecke family of Encinitas, California, just 30 miles north of me. Albert Ecke began selling poinsettias in the Los Angeles area in the early 1900s. His son, Paul Ecke, developed a grafting technique that created bushier plants. If you look back at the picture of the tall one I saw yesterday, that's what a poinsettia will look like if left to grow on its own, somewhat weedy and scraggly.

Paul Ecke, Jr., was the main person responsible for promoting the association between poinsettias and the winter holidays when he changed the market from mature plants shipped by rail to cuttings sent by air. In an example of Guerrilla Marketing at its finest, he sent free plants to television stations for them to display on air from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Paul Ecke III now controls the poinsettia enterprise which about 70% of the domestic market and 50% of the worldwide market. In a great example of not believing everything you read on the Internet, Wikipedia states that the Ecke family "no longer grows any [poinsettias] on farms in the U.S." I think the Ecke family would beg to differ since their own web site states:

"Today, approximately 70% of all the flowering poinsettias in the USA and more than 50% worldwide get their start at the Paul Ecke Ranch in Encinitas, California. The current production facilities span over 23 acres of greenhouses. The Ranch ships several million vegetative cuttings to growers in over 50 countries, and finishes thousands of potted flowering plants for Christmas, sold to wholesale and retail florist outlets in California, Arizona and Nevada."

Maybe it's just a question of semantics with Wikipedia using the word "farm" and the Ecke family calling their enterprise the Paul Ecke Ranch.

A few other tidbits about the poinsettia:

December 12 is National Poinsettia Day. Hmmm. Even I didn't know that one.
The poinsettia is named after Joel Roberts Poinsett (1779-1851). History buffs might recognize Poinsett as the first United States Minister to Mexico as well as the founder of what is now known as the Smithsonian Institution. Ministers were the forerunners of Ambassadors.
Other places and things named after Joel Poinsett: the historic Poinsett Bridge in Greenville County, South Carolina; and Poinsett State Park in Sumter County, South Carolina. Just had to throw those in there for my South Carolina friends, Jim, Maria, and Josh Hart.
The best "Legend of the Poinsettia" is found right at the Ecke Ranch's web site. No surprise there.
The colorful parts of the plant are not the flower. Those are merely flower bracts. The flowers are the teeny, tiny yellow dots (see picture at right) in the middle of all the beautiful bracts.
There are now over 100 varieties of poinsettias available, but 74% of Americans polled (by whom? where? when?) like red, with white coming in second (8%) and pink taking third (6%).
As with almost all Euphorbias, the sap of the poinsettia can cause allergic reactions in cats and dogs, too, so if you have a cat or dog, make sure that little one knows that the poinsettia is not to smell, eat, scratch, or sit on.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
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Pictures from my strangest inspection ever

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:54:32 -0600

When I set out for my late morning inspection today, I was expecting an occupied residence (MLS said "short sale") with maybe some deferred maintenance. Little did I know what I was in for, and I don't think you're going to believe it either.

I got to the property a little early and saw "Do not disturb occupants" on the sign outside, so I walked around the neighborhood and took some pictures, such as this 15-foot tall poinsettia:

When the Realtor arrived, I found out that there have been no occupants for at least a couple of months. Keep that in mind and check out these pictures of the interior:

I know. You're saying, "So?" Keep going....

Are you remembering that no one has lived here for at least a couple of months? Now go back and mentally add up the cost of those things you see in the pictures:

Compaq Presario notebook computer
Arcade game and pinball machine
Outdoor kitchenette
10 bottles of wine
Harley Davidson motorcycle

And this was just the really expensive stuff. The place looked like people had been taken by The Rapture since the only things missing were the people and the beds. Food was sitting out ready to be eaten -- no, you don't want to see the picture -- refrigerator and pantry well stocked, bathrooms as if someone had just left for work, clothes in closets, drawers full of household items. I counted another 20 bottles of expensive wine.

There were no eviction notices laying around, utilities were on, everything normal but a little messy.

Never seen anything like this before. I was speechless, wordless, and shocked.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Ingenuity is not always best
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What do cats really do when their owners are gone?
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 3: Other laundry problems
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 2: Dryer exhaust flue
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Be sure to hire a home inspector with x-ray vision, and it's not me!
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Global warming is taking my habitat!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Earthquake foundation upgrades made easy
My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!
Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part three
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Nice is nice, but functional and accessible is a necessity

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 07:06:25 -0600

San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Nice is nice, but functional and accessible is a necessity.

I always appreciate a quality renovation, but sometimes one can go above and beyond and do more damage without realizing it. In some cases, there is something to be said for just doing the minimum.

A couple of years ago I was at a property that had been gorgeously renovated. Even the garage could have been a nice home for the mother-in-law. Figure 1 shows the entrance from the garage into the living area:

Figure 1

Looks more like a front entrance with the coat closet right there.

My Client was a small lady of 83 whose children were forcing her to downsize, so she would be living there by herself although two of the sons were within five miles of her.

All three sons showed up at the inspection.

At the beginning of the inspection, I always ask if anyone has anything specific on their minds. This time, all three sons spoke up simultaneously: "We couldn't find the water heater."

I like to address those types of questions before I ever get started, so we all went on a search. We first checked the garage. Nope. Nothing.

Then we checked the kitchen (some of our older homes here put it in a kitchen utility closet), the hallway closet (empty), exterior (nothing), and lastly, the attic (just the horizontal furnace).

Something was fishy, so I took them outside to look at the roof. What I was looking for was a gas appliance flue termination cap since most of our water heaters here are gas. I saw two of them, one for the new furnace and the other right above the corner of the garage. As I looked down at that corner, I saw this:

Figure 2

See those louvered vents? When I first saw them, I thought they were simply the vents for the garage, but now I knew that they were vents for the water heater utility closet, especially since that little white thing at the left of the lower vent appeared to be a water heater TPR drain pipe termination.

So we went back into the kitchen (that's the kitchen window there). Nothing. On to the garage. Hmmmm. Look at that nice coat closet there in Figure 1. Could that be the water heater utility closet?

I tried to see if the cover would come off, but I could not get it off. Still, I was certain the water heater was behind there, as were the three sons now. I don't cause damage during the course of my inspection, but the sons were quite adamant that we get to the water heater. They all got screwdrivers and went to work trying to get into that spot. After a while, they did get the cover off. It took all three of them, and me, to lower it to the floor. We estimated that it weighed about 100 lbs, one pound more than their mother.

Figure 3 shows what we saw when the cover was removed:

Figure 3

It took another few minutes to remove all that insulation, at which point here's what we found:

Figure 4

An insulated water heater in an insulated utility closet in an insulated garage!

Now remember that this is a gas water heater. So in an emergency one would need to remove the 100-pound door (which wasn't going to be easy for this 99-pound, 5'4", 83-year-old lady), remove the fiberglass insulation, and turn off both gas and water. What was this little ol' lady to do if she had an emergency? Sons were not too pleased.

The other problem here is that if the water heater needed to be replaced, it wasn't coming out through that small opening. So the beautiful utility closet would have to be virtually destroyed if the water heater needed to be replaced.

Moral: Nice is nice, but functional, and, in an emergency, accessible is a necessity.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer
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The ActiveRain Nature Station: Global warming is taking my habitat!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Earthquake foundation upgrades made easy
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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part three
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Ingenuity is not always best

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 15:17:21 -0600

San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Ingenuity is not always best.

I've learned over the years that certain sentences uttered by certain people mean that I need to make sure I have:

back-up camera
lots of fresh batteries
lots of paper
fresh pens
time.

Here are a few of them:

The home has been completely renovated and everything is up to code. — Happy listing agent
With a little TLC, it's move-in ready. — Happy listing agent
I've lived here for forty years and did everything myself. — Proud Seller
My brother did all the electrical work. — Proud Seller
There's nothing under the house, so you won't need to go there and get all dirty. — Helpful Seller

Sometimes I'm just absolutely amazed at what some people think of to do, and the extent to which they will go to do it.

The following picture shows a "completely renovated" older property. Since the older electric panel was already full of circuit breakers, and replacing it with a larger panel would have cost more money, they came up with this ingenious way to wire the place for a dishwasher, larger space for a bigger refrigerator, and some more kitchen outlets.

What you see was in the foundation crawl space, and the circuit breaker at the exterior electric panel was merely labeled "kitchen," so I had to presume that the new kitchen circuit breaker was running the dishwasher, refrigerator, and kitchen outlets via all the under house wiring.

The more humid environment under the house will also play havoc with those exposed wire splices, but at least they did label the splices, and with indelible pen, too!

It really would have required less time to do this right to begin with.

Ingenuity is not always best.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer
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The ActiveRain Nature Station: Global warming is taking my habitat!
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My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!
Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
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The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part three
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
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Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:42:02 -0600

Occasionally a movie comes along that is worth seeing again and again and again. Such is the case, I believe, with Gone With The Wind.

Since 2009 is the 70th anniversary of the release of Gone With The Wind, I thought it might be appropriate to rent the movie and watch it again since I hadn't watched it in over twenty years. It did not disappoint.

Not only has it been 70 years since Gone With The Wind was released, but it had its debut on this date in 1939 in Atlanta, Georgia.

I'm pretty sure that everyone is familiar with the movie, so I won't go into plot details, especially since you can find them at Wikipedia.

However, following are some interesting tidbits that you might not know about both the book, the author, the movie, and the movie stars.

Margaret Mitchell, author of the book, won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Gone With The Wind.
Director Victor Fleming also directed The Wizard of Oz. What a great year 1939 was for him!
The movie was nominated for 13 Academy Awards and won 10, a record that stood for 20 years.
In 1998, the American Film Institute ranked the movie #4 on its list of the 100 greatest films of all time. In 2007, when the list was updated, Gone With The Wind fell to #6 behind Raging Bull and Singin' In The Rain. Nope. Bad move.
The movie has sold more tickets than any other film in history. How, you might ask? Gone With The Wind was re-released in 1947, 1954, 1961, 1967, 1971, 1989, 1998, and 2009.
When adjusted for inflation, the movie is the highest grossing film of all time in North America and England.
A young and unknown George Reeves played Stuart Tarleton, although the credits are in error as they indicate he played Brent Tarleton. You might remember George Reeves as the original Superman from the 1950s television series. Reeves' death in 1959 of a gunshot wound is still a source of controversy, with some believing it was suicide and others beliving it was murder. In 1999, his death was featured in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries and Mysteries and Scandals.
Many actresses were considered for the role of Scarlet: Lucille Ball, Tallulah Bankhead, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland (who wound up playing Melanie Hamilton), Joan Fontaine, Kathryn Hepburn, Carole Lombard, Barbara Stanwyck, Lana Turner, and Loretta Young.
Gary Cooper was the first choice to play Rhett Butler.
Tara, the iconic Southern plantation house, existed only as a plywood and papier-maché façade.
Movie censors (in America?) didn't like the use of the word damn. Fortunately, the Motion Picture Association's board passed an amendment to the Production Code just six weeks before the movie's release allowing it "in context." See what you can do when you have powerful friends?
The word damn was actually used twice in the movie, the first time referring to Yankees as damn Yankees.
Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy, as well as other black actors and actresses were prevented from attending the premiere in Atlanta due to Georgia's Jim Crow laws, which prevented black people from sitting with white people. Clark Gable was going to boycott the premiere because of the Jim Crow laws, but Hattie convinced him to attend.
In 2005, the American Film Institute voted "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn" the most memorable movie line ever. Two more lines from the movie also made the Top 100:
"After all, tomorrow is another day" - #31
"As God is my witness, I'll never be hungry again" - #59
Hattie McDaniel became the first black person to win an Academy Award. Unfortunately, because she was black, she was not presented with the standard Oscar statuette. Instead she, Hal Kern and James Newcom (editing), and William Menzies (color) were given miniature statuettes on plaques. The plaques were replaced in 1962 with standard Oscar statuettes.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

What do cats really do when their owners are gone?

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 20:01:11 -0600

Courtesy of Jill Villarreal, an animal behavior scientist, and Purina Friskies, we now know.

Apparently I'm not the only one who wanted to know what little kitties do when we're gone. When Zoey the Cool Cat greets me at the door when I come home, I always go to her favorite sleeping spots to see if they are warm, to try to find out where she sleeps when I'm gone.

That, of course, is making the presumption that Zoey the Cool Cat sleeps when I'm gone. Friskies surveyed cat owners and found that:

71% thought their cats were sleeping.
52% thought they were eating.
47% thought they were watching birds.
47% thought they were looking out the window.

Friskies attached "cat cams" to 50 cats nationwide. The cat cams took pictures every 15 minutes whenever their owners were gone. The results:

21.6% - looking out windows
12.7% - in the living room
11.8% - with other animals
9.9% - in the kitchen or dining room
8.1% - in the bedroom
7% - climbing on chairs or kitty condos
6.3% - hiding under the table
6.1% - sleeping
6.1% - looking at computer, television, books, DVDs
5.2% - in the home office
5% - playing with toys
4% - eating or looking at food
3.1% - in the bathroom
1.7% - in the sink or bathtub

There you have it!

Download a copy of the ScratchingtonPost and read more.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 3: Other laundry problems
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 2: Dryer exhaust flue
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Be sure to hire a home inspector with x-ray vision, and it's not me!
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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
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Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 3: Other laundry problems

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 09:44:18 -0600

This is part three of my three-part series about our washers and dryers, and the laundry area.

Noisy water supply pipes

If you notice a banging noise when using the washer (or at any other place where there are water shutoff valves, like sinks), the likely cause is a condition called "water hammer." Water hammer occurs when water shuts off almost instantaneously, causing water at full flow to try to come to an instantaneous stop. If the metal water supply pipes are not secured well within the walls, the pipes will bang against them.

Water hammer can usually be stopped by installing water hammer arrestors to prevent banging (see Figure 1).

Figure 1

Interior washer locations

If your washer is located in an area where a leak can cause water damage, have an overflow drain pan installed (see Figure 2), particularly if the laundry room is located on the second floor. In some newer homes with larger laundry rooms, a drain line exists in the floor, but an overflow drain pan is still a good idea.

Figure 2

Dryer flue vent termination hoods

The dryer vent hood should terminate at an exterior location so that moist, lint-laden air does not cause damage to structural framing or mechanical systems and components. Dryer flues should never terminate in a foundation crawl space, in the attic, or in the garage.

The vent hood itself often becomes clogged with lint, potentially leading to a dryer, lint, or flue fire. Missing or damaged vent hoods or vent screens at exterior locations (see Figure 3) can allow unwanted wildlife to set up home in the vent flue.

Figure 3

Many wildlife would be quite content if they found a nice, warm hole full of nice, soft lint. Wildlife blockage in the flue can also cause lint to accumulate in the flue, again leading to the potential for a dryer, lint, or flue fire.

All vent hood terminations should include a damper. However, if lint accumulates in the flue due to any of the reasons stated above, the damper can become stuck open, again allowing unwanted wildlife to use the flue.

Various home improvement stores sell protective devices (see
Figure 4) that can be installed over the dryer vent hood to provide better protection against damage and wildlife intrusion.

Figure 4

An accumulation of lint, either in the flue itself, in the foundation crawl space, in the attic, or on the roof (see Figure 5) often indicates that the dryer is being used without the manufacturer's lint screen in place.

Figure 5

Yes, it is inconvenient to clean that darn lint screen each time you dry your clothes, but there's a reason why it is part of your dryer, and it should not be permanently removed. Keeping that lint screen in place and keeping it clean will lead to faster drying times for your clothes (thus, lower utility expenses) and a longer life expectancy for your dryer; will help prevent lint fires, flue fires, and dryer fires due to overheating; and will prevent lint accumulating in unseen areas like the foundation crawl space and attic, thereby causing other problems.

Little things that take only a minute or so to do can help prevent major expenses or major disasters, so use that lint screen. It's designed for a purpose, which is to help protect you and your property.

Non-standard dryer venting

Non-standard dryer venting causes just as many problems as poor maintenance. Two of the most common types of non-standard drying venting include nylon stockings (see Figure 6) and what are known as "wet vents" (see Figure 7).

Figure 6

Figure 7

While some types of non-standard dryer venting are sold at various home improvement stores, they are meant to be used only on a temporary, emergency basis until a more permanent venting system can be installed.

These types of non-standard vents are a common cause of fires in laundry areas and should never be used for more than a couple of days. I recommend that they never be used at all because once in place, they tend to be forgotten about.

Recommendations

I highly recommend that you check your washer and dryer connections once a month in order to find small problems before they become big problems. If you know that your dryer flue goes through the foundation or through the attic, and any service personnel have been in those two areas to do any kind of work, make sure you check the dryer flue before those service personnel leave. Too often I find damage like that shown in Figure 8. Note that the flue in Figure 8 is a corrugated metal flue, another reason not to use them on long runs as permanent flues (see part two).

Figure 8

It's always easier and less heartbreaking to do minor maintenance regularly than to wait for a disaster to happen.

Okay, armed with knowledge from this three-part series, if you don't know where your dryer flue is, or where it runs, or where it terminates, go try to find it now and make sure it conform tos the best ways to do things as discussed in this three-part series.

Also check your water supply lines and the drainage line for the washer (see part one).

Recommend replacing rubber water supply lines with metal braid lines to help prevent burst hoses, leaks, and water damage.
Recommend replacing corrugated plastic drainage lines with rubber or braided drainage lines to help prevent leaks and water damage.
Recommend checking vent hood and removing any blockage that might be found.
Recommend ensuring that there is a damper in the vent hood and protecting the vent hood and damper from damage.
Recommend following manufacturer's installation instructions for all washers and dryers. Pay close attention to the dryer manufacturer's limitations on the length of the dryer flue, as well as the material composition of the flue.
Recommend consulting with a qualified plumber to determine specific options for your washer.
Recommend regular homeowner monitoring and maintenance.

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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
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Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 2: Dryer exhaust flue

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 16:31:50 -0600

Dryer exhaust flue

Dryer lint, when dry, is a highly flammable material, and the dryer flue can become very hot, possibly resulting in lint fires and flue fires.

Dryer lint, when wet, is very absorbent. So a distribution of lint in some areas, like the foundation crawl space (see Figure 1) or the attic (see Figure 2) can cause extensive moisture damage.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Wildlife loves lint, so a lint problem like that shown in Figure 1 and Figure 2 encourages wildlife to find a way to move on in. Since some of our foundation crawl space areas, like around the bathtub, are open to the wall framing, any unwanted wildlife in the foundation crawl space could get into the structural framing, thereby creating a health and safety hazard.

While there should not be any openings from the attic to the living area, wildlife does have a motive (warmth) for finding a way in. You might remember being young and hearing your parents talk about rats in the walls and attic. Well, now you know how they got there.

Although corrugated plastic (see Figure 3) or corrugated metal foil (see Figure 4) connectors are typically installed from the dryer to the flue, the length of those connectors should be kept as short as possible, and corrugated materials should not be used as the main dryer flue because those corrugations are notorious for trapping lint and clogging the connector.

Figure 3

Figure 4

Corrugated plastic and metal foil are easily damaged (see Figure 5) and can result in lint accumulating in the flue (see Figure 6), possibly resulting in longer drying times; heat damage to the plastic; dryer overheating and a shorter life expectancy; and possibly a dryer, lint, or flue fire.

If the connector is over three feet long, have a shorter, smooth metal section installed instead of using longer, corrugated connectors.

Figure 5

Figure 6

Flues that are too long (see Figure 7, Figure 8, and Figure 9) can result in lint accumulating in the flue because the dryer blower motor is not powerful enough to force heavy moisture- and lint-laden air through the long flue.

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Flues with excessive bends or an excessive number of bends (see Figure 8) also result in lint accumulating in the flue.

Vertical flues (see Figure 9), especially if they are corrugated materials and run a long distance (see Figure 7) create the same type of problems since moist, lint-laden air is heavier than normal dry air.

If you don't know where your dryer flue is, where it runs, or where it terminates, go try to find out right now, and if you have to take corrective actions, now is a great time to do it!

In part 3, we'll look at some other washer and dryer problems that occur frequently.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Be sure to hire a home inspector with x-ray vision, and it's not me!
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Global warming is taking my habitat!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Earthquake foundation upgrades made easy
My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!
Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part three
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?

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Flood and fire, but at least I have clean, dry clothes - Part 1: Water supply and drainage for the washer

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 10:41:55 -0600

Water supply and drainage for the washer

A recent fire here started in the laundry area, although "the cause is still under investigation."

People tend to take the laundry area for granted since the only thing we see each time we do the laundry is a washer and a dryer, and we know exactly what those two appliances do.

Let's look at the laundry area in a little more detail in this four-part series.

Although rubber hoses are typically installed as water supply lines for the washer (see Figure 1, yellow arrows), they should not be used on a permanent basis.

Figure 1

Rubber hoses should be used like garden hoses: turn the shutoff valves on to fill the washer and then turn the valves off afterwards. This is rarely done because the valves are hard to turn on and off, and they are behind the washer where they are difficult to reach.

When left pressurized, rubber hoses will blister (see Figure 2) and burst.

Figure 2

The best thing to do is to replace the rubber water supply hoses with metal braid (see Figure 3, yellow arrows).

Figure 3

Another concern at the washer is the drain line. A plastic corrugated drain line typically comes with the washer from the manufacturer (see Figure 1, green arrow). It also should not be used on a permanent basis.

Corrugated plastic is easy to damage after installation when the washer is pushed up against the wall, possibly causing a leak that is not noticed until water damage occurs.

The vibration of the washer during the spin cycle can also cause the washer to "walk," again possibly causing a leak that goes unnoticed until water damage occurs.

One more thing: plastic drain lines are subject to greater deterioration from the hot water full of washing chemicals that regularly drain through them. Have the corrugated plastic drain line replaced with a solid rubber hose (see Figure 3, green arrow) or a metal braid hose.

Considering the damage that can occur from water, and the knowledge about water that manufacturers obviously possess, one would think that washer manufacturers would want to supply the best connections with their appliances, but common sense does not seem to prevail here.

If you're buying a new washer and dryer, and your installer shows up with the manufacturer's cheap stuff as discussed here, ask them to upgrade all your connections. In fact, ask them for quality connections during your purchase so that they are sure to bring the connections with them at the time of installation.

In part 2, we'll look at the dryer exhaust flue.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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The ActiveRain Nature Station: Global warming is taking my habitat!
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My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!
Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
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San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
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Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
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The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away

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Be sure to hire a home inspector with x-ray vision, and it's not me!

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 19:42:54 -0600

Sometimes my Clients expect me to have X-ray vision to see behind things, and I always have to tell them that I don't. It's the only time they are disappointed in me.

I warn them that there could be some damage behind pictures, under carpets, behind locked doors, etc.

This first picture was in the very large home gym in a property owned by a professional football player:

I jokingly warned my Clients that visitors to the gym who did not meet their weightlifting goals for the day got to take out their frustration on the wall, and when the damage got so bad, they simply started stacking beer cans against the wall.

I got a call from my Clients at the final walk-through telling me that my joke was not so funny because that's exactly what they found, a wall full of holes. Escrow got delayed for a week while the Seller and Buyer argued over who had caused the damage and who was going to repair it.

The following picture shows a collection of Hot Wheels, still in their original packaging and proudly displayed on the wall. In this property, there was a huge moisture stain on the wall resulting from a leak in the plumbing upstairs.

And lastly, in the following picture, I got dizzy, but there were a lot of cracks in the lathe-and-plaster wall which needed to be looked at in more detail to determine the cause, whether the cause was serious, and whether or not the cause was still active.

As much as home inspectors would like to be able to see everything, it's just not possible. So listen to him when he warns you about areas that are not visible or not accessible and make sure that you look at those areas during your final walk-through. Remember to take a copy of your home inspection report with you as a friendly reminder. You want to make sure that you're 100% happy with the property and that all the potential headaches are either taken care of or are headaches that you can accept.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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The ActiveRain Nature Station: Global warming is taking my habitat!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Earthquake foundation upgrades made easy
My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!
Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part three
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, part two
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Global warming is taking my habitat!

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:02:27 -0600

I know there are people who don't believe that global warming is taking place, but I'm not one of them.

If one watches enough Animal Planet documentaries and sees how the Arctic and Antarctica ice is melting unlike anything known in history, it's pretty obvious.

We know that the Earth goes through cycles of warming and cooling -- and who knows what's going to happen on December 21, 2012? ☺☺☻☻☻☻☺☺

In my mind, the question is not, Is global warming occurring? but How much does mankind have to do with the current cycle of global warming?

My answer would be to look at it this way: The last time the warming/cooling cycle changed, there were about a million people on Earth. Now we have almost seven billion people on Earth. Just the effect of 6.999 billion more bodies, and their industries, has to have some effect on this planet.

The problem is that if the warming or cooling cycle happens too rapidly, as it seems to be doing, Mother and Father Nature's creatures don't have time to evolve to survive.

A recent documentary on the plight of the polar bears leads me to discuss them this morning on the ActiveRain Nature Station.

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is native to the Arctic Circle in five countries: Denmark, Norway, Russia, United States, and Canada.

It is the world's largest carnivore species found on land, as well as the largest bear, weighing up to 1,500 pounds. It occupies a very narrow ecological niche, its body having adapted for cold temperatures and for moving across snow, ice, and open water. Its furred feet have great traction on ice.

Its diet consists mostly of seals, using sea ice as its hunting platform. As the sea ice melts and breaks up, the polar bear can't hunt proficiently and dies from lack of food. Imagine how much food just one 1,500 pound bear would need to survive, not to mention mating and raising a young one.

An additional problem comes from the polar bear being key to the material, spiritual, and cultural life of many Arctic peoples. With hunting polar bears still being important to those peoples, hunting and habitat melting does not bode well for its survival.

Other interesting facts about the polar bear:

The Inuit refer to the polar bear as nanook.
Bears are believed to have split off from other carnivores about 38 million years ago.
Fossil records and DNA evidence indicate that the polar bear diverged from the brown bear about 200,000 years ago. Genetic studies indicate that some brown bear subspecies are more closely related to polar bears than to other brown bears.
Polar bears and brown bears can interbreed and produce fertile hybrid bears, indicating that they have only recently diverged and are genetically similar.
Due to the harsh environment, polar bears have not been adequately studied. Estimates indicate about 20,000 polar bears worldwide. Modern methods of tracking polar bears are expensive to perform consistently over a large area, usually requiring flying helicopters into the Arctic climate.
Its preferred habitat is the annual sea ice covering the waters over the continental shelf and the Arctic inter-island archipelagos, known as the "Arctic ring of life."
However, the feet are very large to distribute load when walking on snow or thin ice and to provide propulsion when swimming. The polar bear's claws are short, stocky, and deeply scooped on the underside to assist in digging in the ice and snow.
Polar bears have about four inches of blubber, hide, and fur to insulate them from the cold.
Polar bears are nearly invisible under infrared photography.
When kept in captivity in warm, humid conditions, the fur may turn a pale shade of green due to algae growing inside the hollow guard hairs.
The polar bear has an extremely well-developed sense of smell, being able to detect seals nearly 1 mi away and buried under 3 ft (0.91 m) of snow.
Polar bears can swim 6 miles an hour but only walk at about 3 miles an hour.
Polar bears hunt primarily at the interface between ice, water, and air, only rarely catching seals on land or in open water.
Mature bears tend to eat only the calorie-rich skin and blubber of the seal, whereas younger bears consume the protein-rich red meat.
Polar bears are not territorial and would rather escape than fight.
A male may follow the tracks of a breeding female for up to 60 miles.
A pregnant female can often gain up to 450 pounds.
Cubs are born blind and helpless, weigh about 2 pounds, and nurse for about 2½ years.
The polar bear is the apex predator within its range, meaning that it has no natural predators. The health of apex predators often indicates the health of an ecosystem.
Global warming has seen brown bear encroachments into polar bear territories. The brown bear is stronger than the polar bear and often wins fights over carcasses, leaving the polar bear to starve.
In the first half of the 20th century, polar bears were chased and killed using snowmobiles, icebreakers, airplanes, and helicopters. A 1965 New York Times editorial described the practices as "about as sporting as machine gunning a cow."
The five countries where the polar bear lives signed the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears (also called the "Oslo Agreement") in 1973, a rare case of international cooperation during the Cold War. The agreement allows hunting "by local people using traditional methods," except in Norway, which bans all harvest of polar bears.
On May 15, 2008, the United States listed the polar bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, banning all importing of polar bear trophies.
Rising temperatures cause the sea ice to melt earlier in the year, driving the bears to shore before they have built sufficient fat reserves to survive the period of scarce food in the late summer and early fall.
Reduction in sea-ice cover also forces bears to swim longer distances, which further depletes their energy stores and occasionally leads to drowning.
Insufficient nourishment leads to lower reproductive rates and lower survival rates in cubs and juvenile bears.
Changes in sea ice affect the ability of pregnant females to build suitable maternity dens. As the distance increases between the pack ice and the coast, females must swim longer distances to reach favored denning areas on land.
Due to warming air temperatures, ice-floe breakup in western Hudson Bay is occurring three weeks earlier than it did 30 years ago, reducing the duration of the polar bear feeding season. The body weight of polar bears has declined during this period.
Mothers and cubs have high nutritional requirements, which are not met if the seal-hunting season is too short.
The polar bear is only the third species to be protected under the Endangered Species Act due to global warming, although then-Alaska Governor Sarah Palin said that the listing was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available, a view rejected by polar bear experts.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
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Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
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Earthquake foundation upgrades made easy

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 12:13:55 -0600

There are several time period delineations that affect building construction standards. One of the more significant ones for us here in California is pre-World War II and post-World War II.

Prior to ca. 1940, most homes here in California were built by simply laying the sill plate on the foundation wall, nailing everything together, and moving on to the next house. The following illustration shows the sill plate and the foundation wall.

The illustration also shows the anchor, which is a big bolt embedded in the concrete and to which the sill plate is then attached.

Prior to World War II, anchor bolts were rarely used. However, we now know that a good earthquake can literally shake a home off its foundation if anchor bolts were not used. That leaves a problem if one is buying a home built prior to World War II because some insurance companies either won't insure the home or charge much higher premiums.

Alas, modern technology comes to the rescue:

What you see is a foundation plate. It is bolted to the concrete foundation and holds the sill plate in place during earthquakes. Now it's not necessary to jack the whole house up, install anchor bolts, drill holes in the sill plates, lower the house onto the bolts, and anchor it down, thereby saving weeks of work and many thousands of dollars.

A good foundation professional can install foundation plates for your home in just one day!

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!
Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
Do your due diligence, part three
Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Home Improvement Tips - Drywall Repair

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 10:34:41 -0600

I often find towel racks loose or hanging by just a screw, so here's a great post by Sharon Alters over in Florida about fixing and upgrading your towel racks all at the same time.

I always disable comments on posts that I reblog, so click here to open Sharon's post in a new window so you can comment there.

Via Frank & Sharon Alters, CDPE-Short Sales Jacksonville-Orange Park-Fleming Island (Watson Realty -):

Home Improvement Tips - Drywall Repair

If you want to upgrade the ceramic towel racks in your bathroom, here's an easy way to repair the drywall to make way for the new brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze racks that will give your bath an updated look.

After removing the ceramic towel racks, there will be two holes in the wall.

Cut a wood block that is larger than the hole. Slip it in behind the drywall and secure it with screws, using your screw gun. Frank screws in a screw to hold the block while he places it and anchors it behind the drywall.

Cut a piece of drywall about the size of the hole, fit it in and screw it in place.

Take drywall mud and spread it around the hole, smoothing it. Let it dry. Caveat: DO NOT ever use spackle to repair drywall. Spackle will not blend in like drywall will, and you will always be able to see the repair.

Take a sander and smooth the mud. Let it dry, then sand again. Sometimes I see Frank wipe with an almost dry sponge after sanding.

When it's nice and smooth, take a small paint brush and lightly feather in the paint color around the drywall repair. You might want to thin the paint a little to help it blend better. If this makes the drywall shrink, just repeat the above steps and when it's dry, paint again. Sometimes the drywall will shrink but not usually. Next, take a roller and paint over the area to add some texture back into the wall, hiding the repair.

That's it! Now you're ready for a new towel rack or hanging cabinet to give your bathroom a fresh look.

To reach us, call or text us at 904-673-2308 or e-mail - sharon@teamalters.com

Original Photography, All Rights Reserved. * *

You can also find us here!

My all-time coolest ActiveRain points total!

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 10:21:53 -0600

When I was young, I used to keep an eye on the odometer whenever we would travel anywhere.

I knew the exact mileage from our house in Kingsville, Texas, to anywhere we had been.

When I graduated from high school, two friends and I took a trip throughout the states west of the Mississippi River, and I, of course, was in charge of keeping mileage. I still have my mileage book and look at it occasionally.

I still love numbers, and watching the numbers accumulate here at ActiveRain is almost as addicting as ActiveRain itself.

I got my coolest ActiveRain points number this morning and just had to share it.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain
The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
Do your due diligence, part three
Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Please stop by and welcome my 102nd Invitee to ActiveRain

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:43:38 -0600

Please help me welcome my 102nd Invitee to our ActiveRain Community: Ron Chorey.

Ron owns Las Cruces Home Inspections out of New Mexico.

Mapquest tells me that Ron is just 672.21 miles east of me. It also says that driving time is 9 hours and 39 minutes, but I think one can make the trip faster with something like a Saleen S7.

What it really means, though, is that I'll have to be careful what I say about Ron because he just might zip over here if I don't behave myself.

Ron is a fellow member of the world's largest -- and best -- association for home inspectors -- THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CERTIFIED HOME INSPECTORS -- with over 9,000 members.

I am sure Ron does a great job providing his Clients with a thorough home inspection and that he'll make a great addition to our ActiveRain community.

Ron has some blog posts, so go check him out, tell him hello, and tell him Russel Ray sent you his way.

Ron is not a RAINMAKER, so the information he has already entered in his blog is lost to his prospective Clients. Encourage him to become one of us and take advantage of the love affair between Google ActiveRain.

Our ActiveRain community will be better for all if we can make newbies feel welcome and get them significantly involved in our community.

When ActiveRain wins, we all win.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

The ActiveRain History Station: Men are alright for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers
What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
Do your due diligence, part three
Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party
Real estate never takes a holiday

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Men are all right for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:51:02 -0600

Today is December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor Day, "a day that will live in infamy."

Since I know there will be hundreds of ActiveRain blogs about Pearl Harbor Day, not to mention coverage in the newspapers and on television shows, I thought I would go with something a little different.

How unfortunate it is, though, that this day of infamy also happens to be the 136th birthday of the great American novelist Willa Cather (1873-1947).

Although she was born on a small farm near Winchester, Virginia, her family moved to Catherton, Nebraska, when she was nine. A year later they moved to Red Cloud, Nebraska, the county seat, and a town made famous in her writings.

Her experiences growing up on the Great Plains were the basis for many of her books and short stories portraying the life of the early settlers, immigrants, and frontier life in an expanding nation.

She graduated from the University of Nebraska in 1895 and obtained a position with a family magazine in Pittsburgh, where she later worked as a copy editor, music editor, and drama editor for the Pittsburgh Leader.

In 1901 she turned to teaching, and published her first book of verses, April Twilights, in 1903, and followed that up in 1905 with her first collection of short stories: The Troll Garden.

She joined McClure's Magazine in 1905 and was promoted to managing editor in 1908, a position she held until 1912, when she left to dedicate her life to her writing.

Her library of works almost demands a library of its own, but arguably her best known works are:

Alexander's Bridge (1912)
O Pioneers! (1913)
Song of the Lark (1915)
My Ántonia (1918)
Youth and the Bright Medusa (1920)
One of Ours (1922) — 1923 Pulitzer Prize winner
A Lost Lady (1923)
The Professor's House (1925)
Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927)
Obscure Destinies (1932)
Lucy Gayheart (1935)
Not Under Forty (1936)

Other interesting tidbits about Willa Cather:

She co-wrote The Life of Mary Baker G. Eddy and the History of Christian Science, a critical biography which enraged Christian Scientists who then endeavored to buy every copy.
Her critical success came from writing "in plainspoken language about ordinary people."
Along with a 1973 post stamp commemorating the 100th anniversary of her birth, the United States mint in 1981 issued a half-ounce gold medallion in her honor.
Elected to the Nebraska Hall of Fame in 1962.
Elected to the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in 1986.
A residence hall at the University of Nebraska is named after her.
While at the University of Nebraska, she sometimes used the name "William" and dressed in a more masculine style, ostensibly to give her work a greater reading audience.
Many scholars now identify her as a lesbian. Her most significant relationships were with women, most notably Louise Pound, University of Nebraska professor; Isabelle McClung, a Pittsburgh socialite; opera singer Olive Fremstad; and her editor, Edith Lewis. She and Edith became friends in 1900 and lived together from 1912 until Cather's death in 1947.
She is buried in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. Why, I have no idea. Seems like she should be buried in Red Cloud, Nebraska, where the Willa Cather Foundation maintains her childhood home.
She was the first person to receive an honorary degree from Princeton University.
She regularly destroyed working drafts, personal papers, and letters, and her will restricts the ability of scholars to quote from those personal papers that remain.

A selection of quotes from her writing:

Two people, when they love each other, grow alike in their tastes and habits and pride, but their moral natures (whatever we may mean by that canting expression) are never welded. The base one goes on being base, and the noble one noble, to the end. -- Alexander's Bridge
It does not matter much whom we live with in this world, but it matters a great deal whom we dream of. -- Youth and the Bright Medusa
The dead might as well try to speak to the living as the old to the young. -- One of Ours
Only solitary men know the full joys of friendship. Others have their family - but to a solitary and an exile his friends are everything. -- Shadows on the Rock
The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman. - O Pioneers!
I like trees because they seem more resigned to the way they have to live than other things do. -- O Pioneers!
Nothing is far and nothing is near, if one desires. The world is little, people are little, human life is little. There is only one big thing - desire. -- The Song of the Lark
Men are all right for friends, but as soon as you marry them they turn into cranky old fathers. -- My Ántonia
Where there is great love there are always miracles. -- Death Comes for the Archbishop
The world is always full of brilliant youth which fades into grey and embittered middle age: the first flowering takes everything. The great men are those who have developed slowly, or who have been able to survive the glamour of their early florescence and to go on learning from life. -- Joseph and His Brothers
Give the people a new word and they think they have a new fact. -- Willa Cather on Writing
One cannot divine nor forecast the conditions that will make happiness; one only stumbles upon them by chance. -- Willa Cather in Europe

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

What to do when someone doesn't want you around
The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
Do your due diligence, part three
Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party
Real estate never takes a holiday
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Hope you have a sunny day

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

What to do when someone doesn't want you around....

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 22:39:01 -0600

One of my Clients asked me to go back to check to make sure that the Seller had all the repairs done, and that they had been done properly.

I didn't know that the electrician would be there still working, so I was standing quietly away from him yet watching with interest. After all, an electrician is one profession that I've never been in, probably because I had a dad, granddad, and uncles who were electricians, so I'm sure I was rebelling.

Although I had not said a word and was well out of his safe working space, he said that he didn't appreciate me looking over his shoulder. No problem. So I got my Canon Rebel XSi and took a little walk around the neighborhood. Here's what I found:

As I was leaving the neighborhood, I saw a fire engine pulling out:

I wondered where it was going. Hmmm. I just remembered that I never went back to inspect the electrician's work.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
Do your due diligence, part three
Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party
Real estate never takes a holiday
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Hope you have a sunny day
Happy Birthday, Sis!

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Gonna fly now.... Or not

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:11:43 -0600

Over in the new Elephant Odyssey at the San Diego Zoo is a huge one-species aviary.

That one species is the California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), and there are three of them in the huge aviary: a mom, a dad, and a little one about one year old.

Part of the aviary is a large plexiglass wall for bettern picture-taking. At least that's what I always thought it was for.

Usually the three of them are just sitting in their tree doing nothing. A recent trip, however, found mom and dad on the ground at the plexiglass window interacting with gawkers (me!) while the young one was sitting prettily in the tree, wings spread, apparently saying, "Look at me! Look at me! I'm here, too!"

Gonna fly now

In 1987, there were only 22 California condors known in th ewild. Hunting, poaching, and other problems were causing the population to die out. All 22 birds were captured and taken to the Los Angeles and San Diego Zoos where a captive breeding program was developed. The program was so successful that in 1991 California Condors were being re-introduced into the wild. Currently, because of the work of the Los Angeles and San Diego Zoos, there are 322 known California Condors, 172 of which are in the wild.

The California condor is the largest land bird in North America, as well as having the largest wing span, one of the heaviest, and one of the longest living birds with a life span of up to fifty years. California condors are so large that they often are mistaken for airplanes in the distance. (Hmmmm. Methinks bad eyesight ☺☺☻☻☻☻☺☺.)

It is the only surviving member of its genus and currently lives around the Grand Canyon (who wouldn't?), in Zion National Park, the western coastal California mountains, and in Baja California, Mexico. There are two sanctuaries specifically for the California condor, the Sisquoc Condor Sanctuary in the San Rafael Wilderness in Santa Barbara County, California, and the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in the Los Padres National Forest in Ventura County, California.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!
Do your due diligence, part three
Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party
Real estate never takes a holiday
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Hope you have a sunny day
Happy Birthday, Sis!

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

The ActiveRain Nature Station: A little sun, a tree, some honey, and I'm happy!

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:33:31 -0600

I've been accused of being too serious with my recent three-part series titled "Do your due diligence."

With those three posts, though, due diligence referred to knowing the water, light, and space requirements for the plants on your property.

Thus, since I try to keep everyone happy, let us take a quick trip to see the Bornean sun bears (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus) at the San Diego Zoo:

As you can see from the shadows, they were, indeed, in the sun ☺☺☻☻☻☻☺☺.

The sun bear is the smallest of the eight bear species, being only about four feet long and weighing up to 135 pounds. Compare that to the mighty grizzly bear which can weigh up to 1,000 pounds and up to eight feet long.

Although sun bears have poor eyesight, they have an extremely good sense of smell, which helps it track down fruits, berries, bird eggs, termites, and, of course, honey.

Sun bears live in tropical forest in southeast Asia and do not hibernate. Hmmm. If I lived in a tropical forest, I wouldn't hibernate either! The Bornean sun bear pictured above lives only on the island of Borneo. Sun bears are nocturnal and tend to spend their days resting in trees (see the first picture above).

Sun bears are endangered due to poaching and the loss of habitat to human development.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

Do you due diligence, part three
Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party
Real estate never takes a holiday
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Hope you have a sunny day
Happy Birthday, Sis!
The ActiveRain Nature Station: If it doesn't happen at your place....

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Do your due diligence, part three

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:32:03 -0600

This is part three of a three-part series on doing your due diligence when it comes to planting vegetation around your house and on your property.

You can click here to read part one and click here to read part two; both will open in new windows.

Look at the following picture of mature landscaping and guess where it was taken:

Nope, it's not Miami or the Mediterranean. It's right here in San Diego, a desert that gets an average of 11 inches of rain a year, not to mention about 15 days of 100+ temperatures in some areas and the all-too-often hot, dry Santa Ana winds that dessicate everything they blow across.

To have a tropical paradise like that in an environment like San Diego requires lots of water. My Clients loved the tropical paradise, and I told them that a tropical paradise in a desert requires lots of water. A couple of months after they moved in, they called me wanting to know if I had broken some plumbing during the inspection because they had a $250 monthly water bill.

After I pulled up pictures of their home, I was reminded of their tropical paradise and asked them if they remembered our conversation at the inspection and if they had read the section in their inspection report about vegetation and water. Nope, they hadn't. (Clients not reading all of the home inspection report is a common occurrence in the home inspection industry.)

They weren't too happy with their water bill, and apparently they hadn't asked the sellers about the utility bills, but when I went by their house for their first anniversary of close of escrow, they still had a tropical paradise, so I guess the sticker shock of the first couple of water bills wore off once they really got around to enjoying their paradise.

Unfortunately, being in a desert environment with almost 3 million people in a state with 37 million people, and a state that is commonly subject to the extremes of weather, these Clients with an inappropriate tropical paradise in a desert quite often deprive others of needed water during times of drought.

Moral of the story? Just because you fall in love with mature landscaping doesn't mean it's the right landscaping.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

Do your due diligence, part two
Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party
Real estate never takes a holiday
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Hope you have a sunny day
Happy Birthday, Sis!
The ActiveRain Nature Station: If it doesn't happen at your place....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: I can't inspect what I can't see

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Do your due diligence, part two

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:50:30 -0600

This is part two of a three-part series on doing your due diligence when it comes to planting vegetation around your house and on your property.

You can click here to read part one, which will open in a new window.

The following picture was at a home that had some sagging floors which my Clients wanted to make sure I knew about.

Since I normally walk around the outside of the home before going inside, I deduced that there would be sagging floors before ever going inside to look for them, and I was pretty sure exactly where I would find them.

The two lime-green plants in the picture are umbrella papyrus (Cyperus alternifolius), categorized under "aquatic, wetland, and invasive" plants. Since those two plants were looking quite nice, and we live in a desert, I knew that they were being watered well, very well as a matter of fact.

My suspicion about the sagging floors being in that area was confirmed when I got to the interior. The extreme amount of watering being provided to these two plants had probably caused the concrete piers to sink in mud. Unfortunately, the plants were planted in the two access openings to the foundation crawl space, so I couldn't tell my Clients much more.

Moral of the story? Just because a nursery sells a neat plant doesn't mean that it is right for your home. Do your due diligence to determine its needs for water, light, and room to grow.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas
The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: "It's raining. Can we postpone the inspection?"
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Do you have an elephant in your back yard?
The ActiveRain Nature Station: I can smell you a mile away
Things you might not know about Thanksgiving
Who really controls the home inspection industry? Not home inspectors!
I'm on a roll with another cool number!
Zoey the Cool Cat invites you to Day 4 of the ActiveRain Thanksgiving Blog Party
Real estate never takes a holiday
The ActiveRain Nature Station: Hope you have a sunny day
Happy Birthday, Sis!
The ActiveRain Nature Station: If it doesn't happen at your place....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: I can't inspect what I can't see
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: When your insurance company says no

My Favorite ActiveRain TV Stations

Do your due diligence, especially at Christmas!

Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:55:00 -0600

My love of plants and real estate has developed into an intense interest to help people understand how the wrong tree, bush, or ground cover planted on their property can have devastating effects on their home, effects that might not become visible until many years later.

Here in San Diego, virtually anything will grow because of our climate, and with the proper amount of watering, those things will grow tall and wide, and some that you've never seen bloom before, will bloom.

Unfortunately, because everything will grow here, people plant plants in the strangest places, and notwithstanding our desert environment with an average of only 11 inches of rain a year, they will water them and water them to make sure they grow big and strong. Here's an example of a ficus tree which not only grew big and strong, but its root system grew wide and destructive:

That tree was not at the home that I was inspecting; it was next door! Yet it had not only destroyed the foundation of the home in the picture, it had also destroyed the foundation of the home to the left, the home that I was inspecting.

If you fall in love with a plant, do your due diligence to find out more about the plant. How big will it grow? How fast does it grow? How much water does it need? How much light does it need? Is it a shade plant or a sun plant? Can it survive droughts? Can it survive floods? What insect pests is it susceptible to? There are many resources on the Internet. Use them, or at the very least, ask the salesperson where you are going to buy the plant.

Moral of the story? Don't fall prey to the grocery stores that sell the cute, little ficus trees at all times of the year, but especially Christmas. Those cute, little ficus trees grow to be big, monster, destructive trees, as do many other small plants commonly sold in grocery stores, discount stores, home improvement stores, and, of course, at plant nurseries.

If you need help, ask me!

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

Twenty most recent posts

The ActiveRain Nature Station: You still think I'm cute, though, right?
Please welcome my 101st Invitee and help him Play in the Rain
The ActiveRain Nature Station: My ears are bigger than your ears....
San Diego home inspections with Russel Ray: Remodeling or renovating? Start with the foundation!
Speechless Sunday: My cool palindrome
Looking for a great, inexpensive Christmas present? Go for the GOLD!
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Russel Ray, San Diego home inspector (Russel Ray, Property Consultant) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:44:56 -0600

A recent post about ears brought out a couple of comments about one of the pictures, inquiring as to what type of cutie it was.

The little fellow in question is a resident of the San Diego Zoo, but if you want to find him, you have to make sure you look in all the smaller exhibits that line the walkways, and you might have to go several times just to see him once.

Here he is:

That little fellow, cute though he might be, has some ears that are waaaay out of proportion to his little face. He is a South African bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis megalotis) and is an endangered species.

The little bat-eared fox is just 21 inches long with ears that are a whopping 5 inches long. It is native to Africa and is the only species in the genus Otocyon. Fossil records indicate that it appeared at least 781,000 years ago.

It eats mostly insects, tending to love termites, locusts, and the swarms of insects that feed on zebra and antelope poop (you just knew I'd work poop into this post, didn't you?). When times are rough, it will eat rodents, birds, eggs, and fruits.

Bat-eared foxes are very social and monogamous, although "it is not known if they mate for life." Hmmm. That doesn't make sense to me. Doesn't monogamous mean that they mate for life? Both mom and dad share parental chores in raising two to five pups.

♫♫☼☼♪♪☼☼♫♫

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