Inspecting floating homes, or "houseboats" as they are affectionately known, is a very different critter from your normal house. In case you have never seen one, or heard of one, as the name implies, these homes are on water---and in a very real sense "in" water. Most homes in the NW, under th
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09/29/2011
Lowly home inspector: So how is it that you came to install that receptacle the way that you did?Handy electrical installation person: Why what is the problem---it has tape on it.Lowly home inspector: But it is subject to mechanical damage and someone might get a shock in spite of the nice t
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09/26/2011
In the spirit of "do as I say---not as I do," or "total transparency," this Seattle Home Inspector must enter the confessional.I have sinned---as I have "not done for myself as I would have others do for themselves."I have blogged many times about what a poor choice the $5.00, "no caulk," rubber
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09/22/2011
For anyone that has happened upon this post that is not interested in conserving energy and/or saving money please click away right now.Whether one has good arguments about whether there is any kind of energy crisis or not, I think I can get even the most radical resisters-of-change to admit to w
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09/20/2011
We have all heard home inspectors make comments that go something like this: "I do not do code inspections."While "technically" this is most likely correct, it is in fact a little disingenuous.In an attempt to protect ourselves from perceived liability we maintain this notion that we do not do "
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09/18/2011
The year was 1971, we were all hippies living off the land and doing our best to figure out a way to save the planet from itself. Of course we were all up against a world more interested in "consuming" than in "considering." While the energy crisis was in full swing, it was still a hard sell to
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09/16/2011
Actually the contractor's notch was below all the rest. As you can see the HVAC contractor decided that the shortest distance between two points was a curved line. The joist has been completely compromised. At least the notch has provided a place for the homeowner to run an electrical wire. Y
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09/13/2011
I know that you all have been anxiously awaiting the results of the Kindergarten Ain't Just for Kids Contest---and the judges certainly had their hands full. A huge thanks to all that entered. Since there really was no fair way to pick the winners due to the large number of entries (117), mos
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09/11/2011
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