bellingham home inspection: Move it A Little To The Right
- 09/26/08 02:01 AM
I think the photo below might be the classic example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing. Or it is a case of doing jobs in the wrong order -- guessing instead of knowing how things will turn out. As you probably know, when furnaces and water heaters are located in the path of a forward moving vehicle, they should have some means of protecting the appliances from the car. In my area, the norm is a metal pole, a bollard.
At this home, the builder knew about the concept but put the bollard in the … (8 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Caution -- Danger in the (Active) Rain!
- 09/19/08 12:44 PM
Just about the time I start taking Active Rain for granted, oops did I really say that, I have some mind-boggling reminder of what a giant this web site really is. I was trained in journalism so, by reflex, I try to write carefully, stating facts and giving attribution or wiggle room for myself if I get into more risky territory. That said, I forget just how far these cyber tentacles extend here at this octopus called Active Rain.
In the past, I have seen distressed comments or blogs from people in our Online community who posted in the Rain. Seems that they forgot … (59 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Stories Behind The Music -- The Tennessee Waltz and Patti Page
- 09/18/08 02:14 PM
There are many versions of the famous Tennessee Waltz. There is the original song and there is even a popular version called the New Tennessee Waltz. Actually, the story of the first version pre-dates rock music but it was a very innovative recording that had a lot to do with what later became rock music.
The song was written by a cowboy bandleader, Pee Wee King and Red Stewart, a singer in the band. King had a number of hits over the years in the country western market. He recorded the Tennessee Waltz in 1948. It was reworked in 1950 and then it … (11 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Ethnicity and My New Employee
- 09/16/08 11:57 AM
It's true what they say (by the way, who is they? -- I always figure it is Reader's Digest) that the world is becoming a smaller place the result of technology and individuals moving around. This has created some interesting situations, such as sushi and Japanese food at Safco Field, the result of Ichiro Suzuki playing for the Seattle Mariners. The Asian snacks and entrees showed up when Seattle got their first superstar from Japan.
I began to understand today, how this same phenomenon has filtered down to smaller businesses, such as my own. As many of you know, a few weeks back I hired a new … (27 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Stories Behind the Music -- The Sounds of Silence
- 09/11/08 10:49 AM
Probably most of you will remember the Simon and Garfunkel smash hit, their first hit -- The Sounds of Silence. Songs do not get much more classic than that and the vocal harmonies of Simon and Garfunkel are legendary today -- among the best harmonies ever recorded.
Fact is, it was 1966 and Simon and Garfunkel came real close to being a big bust. The duo had recorded an album that had gone nowhere. The tracks from that album were somewhere in the Columbia recording studio --lucky for Simon and Garfunkel! One night Bob Dylan was running late for his appointed time, … (5 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Fee Fi Fo Fum
- 09/11/08 10:41 AM
I smell the blood of vermin playing in my insulation. When insulation is down in a crawl space, it usually means any one, or more, of several possible causes.
The problem might be related to metal rods, that often hold the insulation between joists, coming loose and falling down -- not too likely but sometimes. The problem could be related to repairs that were made by a workman, then the insulation was left hanging.
The more likely causes, in my experience, would be different than those above. For example, I find that often the insulation is down because there was a plumbing … (33 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Count On This One
- 09/08/08 02:16 AM
There is one defect that involves conducive conditions for rot and other wood destroying organisms that I can almost always count on finding. Even when a builder has, generally, done a good job of building a home, it seems that this detail is wrong. When a home has a garage, I would say I find this 80% or more of the time.
The vertical wood trim is touching, pressed down on, the flat concrete.. This is almost always found around the vehicle door. In fact, the wood should be trimmed to end about an inch or a bit more over the concrete. That … (3 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: So Simple, But Necessary
- 09/07/08 06:42 AM
This is so simple that I am almost embarrassed to write about it. But I am not that embarrassed, so I will put fingers to keyboard. Even quality builders often leave gaps, exposed areas, around wires and plumbing pipes that enter the home.
This creates a couple problems: First, moisture can run into the holes and lead to problems inside the walls. Secondly, pests, such as carpenter ants, appreciate the easy entrance to the wood framing of the structure underneath the siding.
The solution-- Simply caulk the area neatly and paint it. Sometimes there are holes of such a size that caulking … (5 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: School Daze: How Time Flies
- 09/02/08 01:35 AM
Boy, how time flies.
Last night the wife and I had to stop at a large department store, Fred Meyer, to buy paint for one of our rental houses. We were getting there late and we could not believe all the cars in the parking lot. The place was packed. When we got inside, we asked the checker what was going on.
She said that it was last minute shoppers, from Bellingham and the county, getting ready for school today. That startled me. You might say I was in a school daze. No longer having a kid in school, I had lost track of … (6 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: 200K and Still Kicking
- 08/31/08 04:18 AM
A few bloggers have noticed that, this past week, I passed the 200K mark in points here at Active Rain. I thought I would take the opportunity to post links to a few of the blogs I have done, while getting there, that I think are among my better or more interesting ones. If you get a chance, please check them out.
This first one, on home inspection, was among the first of my featured blogs.
http://activerain.com/blogsview/383282/Home-Inspection-It-s
Many of you know that I often write about pop culture and music. This is one of my best music blogs and helps explain Washington State … (10 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Home Inspector Licensing Committee Meeting, Sept 4
- 08/29/08 09:36 AM
A few of the Washington State home inspectors have asked that I post, here at rain, the upcoming board and sub-committee meetings that are associated with the newly appointed home inspector licensing board. I am, along with David Pioli and Deb Wenneman, on the licensing sub-committee.
The first sub-committee for licensing is this coming week, September 4, in Olympia. The licensing committee will establish proof of acceptable classroom instruction; acceptable proof of field training; determine reciprocal standards to apply to those from other states; and the committee will outline general licensing procddures.
As with all board meetings, and sub-committee meetings, the public (which seems to … (4 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: 1963 -- Before There Were Beatles
- 08/29/08 03:15 AM
For some reason certain events out of the past stick in the mind. Not sure why this one did, but it did. I remember being in Parkview Elementary, Bellingham, in fifth grade. This was pre-Beatles and the girls -- much more music fans than we boys who were into boxing and wrestling -- were debating the merits of their favorite musical groups. Even though I was not into music at the time, I was into boxing and wrestling too, I remember who the girls were wrapped up in musically speaking. That was then, but a year later musical tastes sure changed after the … (15 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: How Safe Is That High Deck?
- 08/27/08 08:28 AM
This photo, and the topic, will get you thinking. I guarantee it. To get things going, setting the stage so to speak, please take a look at the high deck, balcony if you prefer -- top right side of the photo. It is way up there, where the air is thin.
If you were standing on that deck, I bet you would want to think that it was safe. Is that a reasonable assumption on my part, that you would want to think that a parachute is not in order? Usually, unless people have an obvious clue to the contrary, they assume … (14 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Equality: Not Alway Good
- 08/27/08 07:10 AM
This is not a political statement, it refers to plumbing.
When it comes to plumbing, I repeat, equality is not always good. Case in point -- I see this minor plumbing concern at bathtub/showers and at kitchen sinks. The problem is subtle and few people, other than inspectors or plumbers, seem to notice it. Here is the deal, inside a faucet assembly there is a diverter valve.
This valve moves up and down and has a simple and specific purpose. When the water is coming out the spout or the tap, then no water should be coming from the shower head … (12 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: 20'x15'x4"
- 08/20/08 06:30 AM
A common problem in the Pacific Northwest, and Bellingham, is water in a crawl space or a basement. In our climate, even a missing vapor barrier over crawl space soil can be responsible for several gallons of water evaporating into the crawl space and, up into the home -- walls, finally into the attic and out. As an inspector I can tell you that, long term, crawl space water can lead to some very icky concerns inside the home and in the crawl space and attic. We are talking wood decay or even mold.
Sometimes people do not think much about … (4 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Alligators Aren't All Good
- 08/16/08 09:32 AM
Alligator hide might be popular on gators, on boots and purses. It is not a good thing to find on a torch-down roof. It is no wonder that the pros refer to the pattern shown in the photo below as "alligatoring." It really does have that look. If you see a torch-down, any kind of tar roof, and the surface has this look, there is a problem. This is a sign that the roof is entering, or at, the end of its life. Age and long term exposure to the UV rays of the sun eventually do this to the surface. … (5 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Property Upgrade Creates Problem
- 08/16/08 02:52 AM
It is always too bad when work that is done with good intentions causes other unexpected problems.
The photos below are the result of an error made by a contractor. I was inside a crawl space the other day. Rest of the home looked fine. I never would have suspected this, but the slab in this crawl space had significant water present. That is not only bad for structural wood but, also, that moisture ends up inside the home. I called for a drainage specialist. This is not sump pump issue, they need to find out what is causing this.
The … (3 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Code Makes Sense This Time
- 08/13/08 04:14 AM
I have been writing lately about some situations where common sense and code did not necessarily go hand in hand. For example, we were speaking of decks and stairs that were high enough to be dangerous, yet not high enough to require a permit or to require a code check.
The photo below is different. This is the temperature pressure relief valve from a hot water heater. It is on an on-demand gas water heater. These animals are different than a regular tank, however they still require a TPR valve and that valve and a drain line need to meet the … (2 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Firewall Breach
- 08/11/08 10:04 AM
There was a very good blog today by Charlie Buell that involved minimum standards of inspection. You can read it here. My blog today is related to that. In his article, Charlie was specifically explaining how minimum standards sometimes ignore the requirements for a firewall, probably the most critical one is usually between the home and the garage. Below, I have posted photos of the two most common firewall problems that I see. They are in the garage and involve holes cut in the sheet rock for various reasons -- sometimes for something as simple as access to attach a bonding … (6 comments)
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bellingham home inspection: Legally Built -- Unsafe!
- 08/10/08 03:03 AM
This photo is from Whatcom County, Bellingham area, but it could be anywhere USA. There was discussion the other day regarding a deck I inspected that was 24" off the ground and it had no steps and no guardrail. The photo below is a finished deck, that meets code by being under the radar. It was built by a licensed contractor.
It has steps this time but no guardrail. Again, we are in catch 22 land. We all agree that, from a safety standpoint, this deck should have a rail. However, the builder did not want to go to the … (7 comments)
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I think the photo below might be the classic example of the left hand not knowing what the right hand was doing. Or it is a case of doing jobs in the wrong order -- guessing instead of knowing how things will turn out. As you probably know, when furnaces and water heaters are located in the path of a forward moving vehicle, they should have some means of protecting the appliances from the car. In my area, the norm is a metal pole, a bollard.
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