Whatcom County Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Smoke Detectors

The photo above is a common sight for the home inspector. The smoke detector is missing in the line of duty. Poof and it was gone! Why, well there are many reasons for this. One of the most common is that the battery is weak, it starts squeaking and it is very irritating. Homeowner rips it down and never puts it back up. Sometimes people take them out of bedrooms, because they go off when they smoke -- also not a good idea. This particular one was removed for a more subtle, but still pretty common, reason. The smoke detector is located, as it should be, in the hallway that adjoins the bedrooms. The problem is that it is also located really close to the kitchen in a small house. What happens? They start cooking, the smoke detector goes off, so the homeowner again takes it down with no plan of putting it back up. Although these reasons for removing a smoke detector are understandable, they also are unwise. A missing smoke detector is a life safety issues.  If you were to scan local newspapers and news stories, you would find that somebody somewhere in this country is saved by a howling smoke detector each and every night.

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspector