sumas home inspector: Happy Thanksgiving from King of the House Home Inspection
- 11/24/11 04:04 AM
On behalf of the King of the House staff, I would like to wish all of my Active Rain friends, and my associates in Bellingham, a great Thanksgiving and a holiday season. I was reading an editorial today, in the newspaper, that claims that the period we are going through as a nation, right now, only compares in misery to, in order, the Civil War, the Great Depression and WWII as far as national gloom. It stated that the "true" unemployment rate is 17% -- taking into account those collecting unemployment, those who have been dropped from the rolls because their benefits ran out, and … (10 comments)
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sumas home inspector: The Blues Revisited, Top 10 Song In America, 1966
- 08/19/11 08:13 AM
Many of us, who were kids back in the late 1950's and 1960's, did not realize that the music we were hearing, called rock and roll, had it's roots in the black American music known as the blues.
One of the most recorded songs ever, with pure blues roots, goes back to at least 1925. American blues singer, Ma Rainey (above picture) made it popular back then and, historically, the tune is considered to be one of the most famous of all of the blues songs. It was recorded, at one time or another, by Elvis, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Janis Joplin and others.
In the rock era, … (7 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Garden Timbers -- Conducive Condition
- 07/16/11 03:53 AM
When it comes to the exterior inspection at a home, at least in the northwest, probably one of the most commonly cited problems is labeled as the "conducive condition." A conducive condition is a circumstance that makes it more probable that structural lumber will rot or become infested by wood destroying insects.
Some conducive conditions are pretty apparent -- wood to soil contact, brush and trees growing against the house, green fungus on siding and trim. Three conducive conditions that even the careful homeowner might miss include: Planters hung against the side of the house, the fence that touches the ground … (3 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Finally, I Am a Real Home Inspector
- 07/09/11 06:44 PM
I have found, over the years, that the average seller seems to believe that the home inspector is a guy who trots around on premises with a clipboard and takes notes. What does the inspector take notes on or write about? Well, in the view of many of the sellers, they think that we are writing down things like pictures that hang crooked on the wall, smoke detectors that are out of level, cupboard doors and drawers that are out of level or need to be dusted. You get it, mainly cosmetic stuff and things that are not on the level.
They … (15 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Home Inspection Basics -- What We Inspect
- 06/22/11 03:08 AM
I am often surprised to find that buyers, and even their agents, do not know what to expect from a professional home inspection. Inevitably, there are things that they "think" we inspectors will be looking at when, in fact, that system or component is excluded -- burglar alarms, cable and telephone, yard irrigation systems. Then, on the opposite side of the spectrum, there are those things that we inspect in detail that end up surprising many people -- the fact that we remove the cover from the electric panel, remove the cover on the furnace.
Home inspections vary from state to state, and from association … (9 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Niche Market: Homeland Security Buyers
- 03/25/11 04:28 AM
Over the past year or two, in this northwest corner of Washington state, I have noticed that I am doing a large number of home inspections for employees of Homeland Security.
Here in Whatcom County, WA, we are home to the famous symbol of U.S. and Canada relations -- the Peace Arch. And this is the second largest border crossing between the US and Canada (Vancouver BC and Blaine). The largest or busiest northern crossing is between Windsor and Detroit.
Those agents that I talk to, many of them from Border Patrol, say that the Homeland Security population boom … (5 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Beautiful Frass
- 03/04/11 01:36 PM
Frass: "By-product of insect tunneling and feeding activities."
In this state I not just a home inspector, also I am a licensed structural pest inspector. Without that license, an inspector is not allowed to identify or make specific recommendations regarding wood destroying insect species or damage.
Sometimes we inspectors appreciate it when we get some real big clues as to problems early on. Recently, I was entering a crawl space at an older house. Based on the moisture present and the condition of the crawl space I expected to find the wood boring beetle known as the anobiid beetle.
It leaves … (3 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Homage to the Home Inspector
- 11/16/10 01:32 AM
I had an occasion to be in the Shoreline area of Washington over the weekend. As many of you know, when Charles Buell goes on vacation, my certifried home inspector assistant Nutsy Wallenda moves into Charlie's house and runs the firm down in Shoreline.
I believe that while Charlie is away, Nutsy does an incredible job for the reputation of his firm. In fact, while in Shoreline area I drove by a home that Nutsy had inspected a few months back when Charlie was away. And, boy did I get a surprise. The owners, Nutsy's clients, had put a statue … (15 comments)
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sumas home inspector: It Isn't All Glamor -- Read This Before Becoming A Home Inspector
- 10/07/10 07:06 AM
Here in Bellingham, I speak to many people who wish to become home inspectors. And I speak to counselors for government agencies who are retraining individuals who have disabilities or their clients were working in dying fields -- professions that no longer hire anyone.
It is amazing to me how many of these people, the counselors and those looking for jobs, are under the assumption that we home inspectors have cushy jobs. They visualize us as wearing nicely ironed khaki shirts and khaki trousers, maybe sporting white hard hats too. Then they imagine us walking around the house, mainly inside, with … (13 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Tough Road To Hoe -- Service Clubs
- 10/03/10 12:55 PM
I first joined a service club, Kiwanis Noon Club in Bellingham, in the early 1980's. I served as President of that club from 1989 to 1990. I took a hiatus for a few years but got actively involved in Kiwanis again about three years ago. I joined the morning club -- Kulshan Kiwanis Club of Bellingham. I wrote about one of the fundraisers for that club here.
Anyone who knows Kiwanis knows that the club, internationally, commits time and effort to many worthwhile projects. Knowing that, I regret to say that, as of last week, the Kulshan Kiwanis club faded … (7 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Whatcom County Home Inspection (King of the House) -- Wood Destroying Organisms
- 09/02/10 02:53 AM
I see this often while working as a Bellingham home inspector who serves all of Whatcom County and the outlying areas. Many builders, often dating back from eons ago, choose to leave old scrap lumber and debris in the crawl space. You know the story: It does not hurt anyone if they cannot see it.
That may not be true in the case of leaving cellulose scraps in the crawl space. Wood destroying organisms, often first rot and then wood destroying insects, tend to be attracted to such materials.
Below are examples of problems:
The bottom photo … (4 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Open Inside, Threatening Outside
- 08/14/10 03:29 PM
Over the years, when doing home inspections, I have noticed any number of times when there was a gap at the soffit -- either a screen that is torn or out of place or, sometimes, simply a poor installation of the bird block soffit vents. For example, there might be a big gap below them or above them. In a dark attic this can be pretty apparent.
I will, in the report, describe that screens should be repaired or gaps filled, because insects such as bees or yellow jackets might end up in the attic. I have seen that many … (11 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspections: Roof to Wood Contact
- 08/01/10 02:09 AM
Builders seem to know that, where the exterior wall meets the roof, there needs to be a metal flashing and the siding should not touch the roofing materials. They usually get that right at newer houses around here.
The detail that they often miss involves the wood trim. Even more so than with much of the siding used today (cement-based) it is important to keep the wood trim above the shingles by a couple inches.
When wood is in contact with the roofing materials, moisture can and will wick up into the trim and, over time, that will lead to decay. … (9 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Bellingham Home Inspections (King of the House): Lot Grading
- 07/24/10 11:21 AM
In the wet Pacific Northwest, it is important to keep water out of the crawl space and/or the basement. There are many ways to keep runoff out of the substructure areas. For example, gutters and downspouts routed to adequate drains will help.
A much more basic means of shielding the home is purely common sense. Perimeter concrete -- patios, sidewalks and driveways -- should slope AWAY from the home. Taking this to the most basic level, the grade of the soil should also be sloped away from the house.
This can often be done in the course of gardening. The lot … (5 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Washington State Home Inspectors -- Structural Pest Inspector or Not?
- 07/23/10 04:14 AM
When schedules can be worked out, Dan Suomi, of the Washington State Department of Agriculture, is a presenter at the Fundamentals of Home Inspection Training program at Bellingham Technical College.
In the old days, a year back, anyone who was a home inspector in the State of Washington was required to be licensed by the WSDA as a structural pest inspector if any conducive conditions (moisture or problems that could cause rot or attract insects) or instances of rot or wood destroying insects were cited in a report.
With the creation of the sole "home inspector", a result of licensing, a home inspector … (8 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Crawl Space Vent Clearances
- 07/18/10 08:11 AM
I have written about this dozens of times. But I shall write about it until the problem is resolved. Fat chance!. In our damp climate in the PNW, and with our unconditioned crawl spaces, we have foundation vents that are designed to be left open and unimpeded. People may keep vents open but they pay no attention to the soil around the vent at the outside. Example below:
Not only does that soil block the vent, but if you go inside the crawl space you will find that the dirt is cascading down inside the crawl space. There are a … (10 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Big Guys Around the House
- 07/02/10 02:38 AM
I was at an inspection the other day and there were two "big guys" around the house. These big guys were not to be trifled with. They knew what they wanted and, by using their size, they knew how to get it.
What did they want? Pretty simple actually. They just wanted to relax and hangout on the balcony. They were trying to deal with another boring day around the house.
Thanks for stopping by,
Steven L. Smith
… (8 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Salt Spring Island Harbor
- 04/19/10 02:23 PM
I have been so busy working lately, no rest for the wicked, that I barely have time to keep up with Active Rain. I was looking through some photos, trying to find one that I wanted to post this evening. I have yet to find that one but, while looking, I saw this photo.
This is a photo from the visit that my wife and I made to Salt Spring Island, in BC, this past winter. I think this is a really nice photo of the little harbor in Ganges.
Thanks for stopping by,
Steven L. Smith
… (5 comments)
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sumas home inspector: What is a Bollard? (Bellingham Home Inspector) King of the House
- 04/17/10 04:15 PM
"Bollard" that is a word that we inspectors use. I have a friend who is an HVAC professional. He refers to the lowly bollard as a "crash pole." That definition probably gives a person a better idea of what the inspector is referring to than some of the other available descriptions.
Especially in the case of gas appliances located in garages, the bollard is the device -- the crash pole -- that keeps a car from crashing into said appliances. A bollard looks like this.
It is that metal pole, just to the right of the water heater. In case … (7 comments)
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sumas home inspector: Fun, Fun, Fun
- 04/17/10 08:41 AM
Yesterday the crusty old King of the House took the day off and my wife and I took my adult daughter and our grandson to Seattle Center for the day. Grandson Mason loves dinosaurs, more than almost anything. And at the Seattle Center right now they have a big dinosaur exhibit. You know you are in dinosaur country when you get to the Pacific Science Center.
That is outside, but once you get on the inside, then you see the robotic or animated dinosaurs. These are about half of lifesize, so they are large.
After the dinosaurs, we went … (6 comments)
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On behalf of the King of the House staff, I would like to wish all of my Active Rain friends, and my associates in Bellingham, a great Thanksgiving and a holiday season. I was reading an editorial today, in the newspaper, that claims that the period we are going through as a nation, right now, only compares in misery to, in order, the Civil War, the Great Depression and WWII as far as national gloom. It stated that the "true" unemployment rate is 17% -- taking into account those collecting unemployment, those who have been dropped from the rolls because their benefits ran out, and … (10 comments)
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