Wasp Spray? You do carry it I hope!

I'm sure most of us deal with wasp on many of our inspections. It is only July and I have gone through about 4 cans of wasp spray already.  Either I'm inspecting a bunch of homes with wasp or the wasp are just bad this year.

Yesterday, I had an inspection and I did not see the wasp nest above the back door.  Unfortunately for me the wasp were a little more observant and I was stung on my arm.  It hit so hard that it left a little blood.  Luckily I really don't have much of a reaction to them, but you just never know.

Down here in the south we deal mostly with what I have nicked named "Nuclear Wasp"!  The Red paper wasp pack quite a wallop when they sting.  They are also very aggressive and will attack many feet from their nest.  This is a close up picture of a Red Wasp nest that I found a while back at a home.

Anyway, just be sure that you have that wasp spray in your tool bag.  You never know when you will need it.  I really like the one that shoots out like foam.  It stick to everything it hits.

Rough day? Try this very simple Daiquiri for all occasions.

Some friends have introduced us to a really simple daiquiri that is made with Raspberry vodka and frozen lemonade!

You will need a good blender, ice, Raspberry vodka and a can of Minute Maid Frozen Lemonade (large size).

Fill the blender half full with ice, add in half of the can of lemonade and then 1 cup of the Raspberry vodka.  Blend until it is smooth.  We have been adding a little extra lemon juice or lime juice for a little extra tartness as we like a tart drink.  This will make enough for two large glasses or four normal size glasses.

The key to this drink is the Raspberry vodka and the Minute Maid Frozen Lemonade.  We have tried store brand frozen lemonade and it is just not as good.  As for the vodka, we buy the cheapest we can find.  Gilbert's, Bennetts, etc.  When it is mixed you can't tell the top shelf vodka from the cheap ones.

Enjoy! 

Is the cleansing period over?

What is the cleansing period, you ask?  Well this is a phrase I coined many years back when we had another downturn in the real estate market for the way that newer inspectors and real estate agents drop by the wayside.

It happens like clockwork when the market starts to slow.  Those who were making it pay check to pay check on the ample supple of buyer are the first to go, they no longer have that endless supply.  Most of those folks have been in the profession for less than a year and have not built up any type of referral base.

Then the next to go are the part-timers who are just dabbling to supplement their income.  They have another full-time job or even some have a second part-time job.  They just can't make it with the number of hours they are working.

Those that usually survive are the ones who have an established referral base and are also diversified.  What do I mean by "Diversified"?  Simply put they do not depend on one or two sources for business.  If an inspector depends on real estate agents for the majority of their business, they are the ones that will be in trouble.  Why?  Well, when the market slows, the agents aren't selling like they use to.  So the inspections referrals slow to a crawl.  But if the inspector is able to get referrals from their website, past clients and they have additional inspection related services they are the ones that will survive.

This is what I call the "Cleansing Period"!

Is it over?

I think it might be for my area.  We have lost many inspectors and many RE agents.  You can get the phone book and find that better than 30% of those listed are no longer in business.  Yet, my phone has not stopped ringing for the past 3-4 weeks. 

Home Inspection Clients Bill of Rights

Scott Patterson as a member of ASHI is proud to agree with and endorse the following Client Bill of Rights.

Published June 2008

American Society of Home Inspectors® (ASHI®) Client Bill of Rights

As a profession, home inspectors have an ethical obligation to the public. This obligation includes integrity, competency, honesty, confidentiality, objectivity and an interest in public safety. Fulfilling this obligation will promote and preserve public confidence in the profession. In recognition of this obligation, we hereby promote and proclaim these rights for our clients.

I.  To be assured the inspector is objective in his or her reporting and will not knowingly understate or overstate the significance of reported conditions.

II. To be assured the inspector's opinion is based on genuine conviction within the scope of his or her education and experience.

III. To be assured the inspector stays current with the industry's body of knowledge through continuing education.

IV. To be assured the inspector will not disclose inspection results or client information without client approval.

V. To be assured the inspector has not accepted any form of compensation for recommending contractors, services or products.

VI. To be assured the inspector will not offer to repair or replace for compensation any component covered by the ASHI Standards of Practice for one year after the inspection.

VII. To be assured future referrals to the inspector from real estate agents are not dependent on the inspection findings or the sale of the property.

VIII. To be assured the home inspector has no financial interest in the transaction.

IX. To be assured the inspector is not receiving compensation for the inspection from any other party.

X. To be assured the inspector did not compensate the real estate agent or other party for the referral to the client.

4 Bedroom 2 Bath Litter Box with a view!

No, that is not what the brochure said but it should have!

It was a great country home that had a wonderful view down a typical middle Tennessee valley.  The only problem is that the former owners did not disclose that their heard of cats had used every single room in the home for their litter box!

When the new owner viewed the home it had just had new carpets and laminate floor installed in the past few days.  The former cat herdsman had plug-in room air fresheners in every room, along with some reed diffusers and a couple of Old Yankee jar candles burning.  The new owner said it smelled like a big basket of wild flowers!

About 7 weeks later the new owner takes ownership and is camping out in the home on an air mattress.  He was moving the family as soon as school was out.  While sleeping close to the floor he noticed that it smelled like a wet and old dipper!.  He proceeded to pull a corner of the carpet up and he found why the home had new carpet in it.  The following photos are of what the new owner found!

If you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip the photos....

The last picture shows the floor in the dining room.  It had been painted by the former owner with Killzit in an attempt to cover the cat urine.  The problem with that is that urine is Hygroscopic, the salts in the urine attract moisture (humidity) and this then reconstitutes the urine.  This is why you can get rid of the odor!  The only cure for this home is to have all of the sub-flooring replaced.  Yes, I'm sure it will not be a simple matter and it will get nasty down the road with all of that legal stuff.

Busy as a Bee!

The phone will not stop ringing!  I know, a few months ago most of us were checking to see if our phone lines were still connected! 

It is good to see my calender booking into the following week, it has been a while since this has happened.  This is a sign that the real estate market is on the rise once again.  Although I must admit, the market in the greater Nashville, TN area has not suffered like other parts of the country.

The ups and downs of any profession linked to the sale of homes is a difficult one to become accustomed to.  Even after being a home inspector for the past 13 years, I still have a difficult time when the phone slows and the call just flat out stop.  If I didn't know any better I would start to wonder who I had made mad!

Another sign of home sales increase is the reduction of posters on all of the discussion boards and on Active Rain.  You can really tell who is busy by the number of post or the lack of their posting.

A Mothers Day memory

Happy Mothers Day to everyone that is a mom and to all of the single dads who are the mom as well.

The Mothers Day I will never forget:
When I was a single dad with three children back in the early 90's I will never forget going to church(First Baptist, Jackson MS) in 1990 on Mothers Day.

We were well known in the church (the dad with 3 children), so after I dropped all of the kids in their prospective Sunday school rooms I headed to the main sanctuary. All of the Mom's were given a Orchard corsage every Mothers Day at church, it was a tradition that went back 50 or so years. I was in line to enter the sanctuary, it was taking a little longer than normal as the corsages were being pined on the "Mom's" as they entered the sanctuary. As I got to the front of the line I was handed a Rose boutonniere with three Sweetheart roses, one for each of my children. I wore it proudly all day and I still have it pressed between some pages in my old bible.

So to all Mom's (even us male Mom's) Happy Mothers Day!

Make Sure Your Deck is Safe This Summer

From ASHI, NDRA, Simpson Strong-Tie and The Home Depot.

May is Deck Safety Month® and we're encouraging homeowners to go out into their backyards and check out their decks. To help with deck inspection, Simpson Strong-Tie is teaming with The Home Depot this May for deck safety workshops at stores throughout the U.S. Check your local store for class offerings.

"The reality of deck collapses is that many are not reported unless someone is injured or some legal action occurs," said Dr. Don Bender, a deck safety researcher and director of the Wood Materials and Engineering Laboratory at Washington State University. "It's important for homeowners to remember that a valid deck inspection requires a registered design professional. If homeowners have any questions about finding a professional in their area, they should consult with their local building department."

The top ten U.S. cities with the highest percentage of homes with decks, as determined by the American Housing Survey for Metropolitan Areas, and that have reported one or more deck collapses in the last 10 years are: Atlanta, Birmingham, Kansas City, Seattle-Everett-Tacoma, Denver, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati and Miami-Ft. Lauderdale.

For example, in 2006 four people in Atlanta were seriously injured in a second-story deck collapse when inspecting a home they were considering purchasing. In 2001, five people were injured and an 18-year old student attending Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., was killed during a college party at a student-rented house when a deck collapsed.

The Home Depot and Simpson Strong-Tie also will host several events demonstrating safe deck construction techniques and the problems with a poorly constructed deck. Representatives from the North American Deck and Railing Association (NADRA) and the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) will be on hand to answer questions. Events will be held at 10:00 a.m. in the parking lots of these locations:

		Seattle Saturday, May 3rd, 10am The Home Depot 26120 104th Ave SE Kent, WA 98031	Atlanta Saturday, May 10th, 10am The Home Depot 1200 E W Connector SW Austell, GA 30106
		Long Island Saturday, May 17th, 10am The Home Depot 86 Jericho Turnpike Jericho, NY 11753	Chicago Saturday, May 31st, 10am The Home Depot 2201 Oakton St Evanston, IL 60202

For more information about deck safety, visit our Strong, Safe

SOURCE Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc. via PR Newswire.

Editors Note: On May 4th, 12 teenage members of a youth group in Buckley, WA were injured when an elevated deck they were sitting on collapsed while they were posing for photos. Three were released to their parents and nine were taken to hospital for treatment. To read more click here.


About Simpson Strong-Tie Company Inc.

For more than 50 years, Simpson Strong-Tie has focused on creating structural products that help people build safer and stronger homes and buildings. A leader in structural systems research and technology, Simpson Strong-Tie is one of the largest suppliers of structural building products in the world. The company manufactures metal connectors, such as joist hangers and other hardware, used to secure the structural frame of homes and decks. For more information, visit the Simpson Strong-Tie Web site at http://www.strongtie.com./

About North American Deck and Railing Association (NADRA)

NADRA serves as a unified source for the professional development, promotion, growth, and sustenance of the Deck and Railing industry in North America. The association offers educational resources for industry professionals and consumers, and is continually developing new programs and initiatives. As the voice of the industry, NADRA works for consistent communication between the supply chain, builders and code officials in order to help make decks as safe as possible for consumers. Learn more at http://www.nadra.org./

Deck Safety Month is a registered trademark of NADRA.

About the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI)

In its 31st year and with more than 5,500 members and 80-plus chapters, ASHI is the oldest and most widely recognized non-profit, professional organization of home inspectors in North America. Its Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics is the industry standard. For more information or to locate a home inspector, visit http://www.ashi.org/ or contact ASHI at hq@ashi.org.

Some of this information was obtained from Mike O'Handley of the Inspectors Journal

Have you replaced your knee pads recently?

This past Friday I had 43cc's of fluid drained off my knee, and a nice steroid shot in the joint! Yes, it hurt!

Never had knee problems and I will be 51 next month. This is the second time in six months that I have had this lovely procedure done. My MRI of the knee shows it to be fairly normal, except for the swelling of the tissue. Cartilage, etc is OK.

The doctor asked me to bring in my knee pads so he could see what I was using. When he looked at them, he got up and put them in a Red Bio-Hazard bag and trashed them!

He has told me to get a knee pad called a Patella-T FluidForms: Personal Kneepads He said they should cost around $80 and that they should be replaced about every two years depending on use.

Well, I did order the Patella-T knee pads and they even have one for home inspectors!  Non-wedge is what is recommended for inspectors.  They only cost $75 with no shipping charges.  Well worth the price from what I understand, and I have spoken with a couple of inspectors who have used them for several years.  All of them started to use them after they had knee problems!

A BIG WORD OF CAUTION!!
The knee pads that you can buy at Lowe's or HD for about $30 can hurt you more in the long run, this is what happened to me. Invest in the protection and your knees will thank you!

Scooters Chicken Enchiladas

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon butter or EVO
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of fresh grated nutmeg 
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast meat
• 2 cups shredded Mecican style cheese, divided
• 6 (12 inch) flour tortillas
• 1/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

Cooking the chicken with additional ingredients: 

I like to use breast meat off the bone.  Before I cook the chicken I slice it into small cubes, I season it and let it sit for about an hour or longer in the refrigerator.  Season the chicken with 4 cloves crushed garlic, ½ tsp. turmeric, 2 tsp of sea salt and about a ¼ cup of chopped fresh cilantro. Mix the seasonings in a gallon zip-loc bag and pour about a ½ of olive oil into the bag.  Mix well and then add the chicken and return to the refrigerator.  If you can let it sit over night it is fantastic, but just an hour or two will work!.       

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking dish.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter/EVO and sauté the green onion until tender (about 3 to 4 minutes). Add the garlic powder, nutmeg, then stir in the green chilies, cream of mushroom soup and sour cream. Mix well. Reserve 3/4 of this sauce and set aside. To the remaining 1/4 of the sauce in the saucepan, add the chicken and half of the shredded r cheese. Stir together.

Fill each flour tortilla (about 10) with the chicken mixture and roll up. Place seam side down in the prepared baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the reserved 3/4 of the sauce with the milk. Spoon this mixture over the rolled tortillas and top with the remaining shredded cheese. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly