Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

     One of the great things about being a home inspector is that there is an endless supplyof things to get ones Underoos all in a bunch about! (Those of you that had kids growing up in the 70's will remember Underoos---maybe they are still around?).  This pet peeve is another roofing issue.  On almost every roof pipes have to go through the roof, whether it is the electrical mast or the plumbing venting.

     Sometime I will blog about some "crazy and/or funky" ways people have flashed these pipe penetrations, but today my peeve involves the use of "approved" types of flashings----but with no consideration for the type of roof they are being used on.  There are, for example, rubber boot type flashings that typically have a life of about 15-20 years (if you are lucky and hold your breath just right).  Why would anyone consider using these types of flashings on a roof designed to last 20-40 years?  I see this ALLthe time .  Here are a couple of pictures of the cheapo rubber boot flashings:

      The one on the left is installed on a 20-30 year roof, the one on the right is most likely consistent with the expected life of wood shingles---but is installed just plain funky (remember when wood shakes used to be considered a 50 year roof?----well neither do I, but I have been told that they could last that long---in the good ole days).    

     The flashings I like to see are lead---and they are a "beautiful thing!"  Not only do they provide a very long lived solution to the problem but even have nice counter flashings to finish off the top.  Sometimes roofers will merely fold the flashing inside the pipe, but the counter-flashings look really cool and are necessary if the pipe sticks past the flashing.  The two pictures on the left show nice versions of this.  The picture on the right shows one where the counter-flashing is missing.

 Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

    I am sure most of you have heard of the term "Alligatoring"  as applied to roofing----particularly related to flat roofs.  This is a condition of the roof that indicates that the roof is near the end of its life (maybe way past it), and gets its name from the way an alligator's back looks (if you use your imagination).  As the roof expands and contracts over time, and as the volatiles of the tar boil off in the heat from the sun, cracks start to develop in the surface.  This condition is due to the lack of UV protection, and is why roofs of this type should be covered with aggregate or reflective coatings.  Some of the paint-on reflective type coatings, if routinely maintained, can double the life of a roof of this type.  Obviously if these cracks get big enough leaks will develop.  While minor Alligatoring may be able to be successfully coated-over, a roof as bad as this next picture would likely require replacement.

Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

     How often have you been in basements with your buyers discussing all the possible ways it could be divided into rooms, only to be thwarted by the unfortunate location of some of the support posts?  The beam you see in this picture is interesting to me as a former builder because it shows something that I have done myself, and was quite common when solid lumber was used for beams.  The beam had a "hump" in it---which is usual.  One always wants to install beams and joists with the crown (hump) on the top side so that as weight is applied, the floor stays closer to level.  If the hump was very pronounced we would sometimes cut part way through the beam to allow it to straighten under the weight of the floor system installed over it.  Of course this cut would always be located over a support post.  The cut in the beam pictured is obvious but where is the support post?  Back to the remodeling plans:  the post was in the way of what they wanted to do with the space so they just removed it.  With the beam cut part way through, the beam and floor system are subject to failure----better be careful where that waterbed and grand piano get placed:).  All structural types of changes should be properly engineered.

Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

      I think this is the worst example of excessive smoking/deferred maintenance I have ever seen.  This discoloration may represent hundreds, if not thousands, of packs of cigarettes and one has to wonder how much nicotine might actually be present.  Should this be considered a hazardous waste site?  Who is going to clean up this mess. Can it be painted over?  Should it be painted over?  According to "How Stuff Works," Sixty milligrams of nicotine (about the amount in three or four cigarettes if all of the nicotine were absorbed) will kill an adult, but consuming only one cigarette's worth of nicotine is enough to make a toddler severely ill! 

     This is one of those instances where I am not willing to recommend that the buyer just get out the paint roller and "have at it."  I think cleaning/removal by trained professionals is called for.  Do you think my recommendation is:

     A, Not strong enough (the house should be demolished);  

     B, Over the top (what are you smoking?);

     C, Way over the top (I'd let my kids clean and/or paint);

     D, No problem, I'll clean it up for the buyer myself; or,

     E, Accurate?

Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

     To continue with yesterday's theme of inventive repairs, the QUINTESSENTIAL do-it-your-selfer, is another plumbing repair.  It seems that many people are willing to take on plumbing repairs.  (One would think that given the inherent dangers of Electricity that there would be fewer instances of "inventive wiring", but it seems to me that they are about equal.  The problem "creative" wiring mistakes is that they can be the end of your own "personal" creationJ.  I will save some of these "special" wiring examples for another blog.) 

     This first example shows where someone didn't have a proper cap for the main sewer clean out, so they carved a wooden stake about 4" in diameter and drove it into the pipe----it had been there for a very long time, and was not about to be taken out.

     This next example (and one of my favorite plumbing repairs of all time) is of a abandoned toilet location where a pair of old dungarees has been jammed into the pipe and capped off with a piece of concrete.  This repair had also been in place for a long time.  Sometimes "functional" repairs are still: "just plain wrong!"  In fairness to the installer, these may have been "temporary" repairs that got forgotten or no one ever got back to for proper completion----out of sight out of mind.

 Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

     One of the perplexing things about defects found while inspecting is that often times it had to have taken way more time to create these issues, than it would to have done it right in the first place.  Take this dishwasher drain connection found on a recent inspection.  The "handy-person" had to drill into the steel pipe. One has to find the electric drill, find a big enough bit----maybe drill a pilot hole and then drill out the pilot hole with a bigger bit.  This in itself takes a fair amount of time (factor the cost of maybe one or two broken bits).  Then, you have to make the saddle contraption where the short piece of pipe is stuck through a hole in the galvanized steel plate (again it had to be a big enough hole to get that 5/8" OD piece of pipe through at an angle---factor some filing of the hole)----then they had to "braze" the pipe to the galvanized plate (which had to be bent and formed to fit the pipe) and then strap the thing over appropriately sized gasket materials to the drain pipe.  The brazing is also indicative of skills well beyond the "average" do-it-your-selfer (so subtract the broken bits).

    This whole scenario gets compounded by "first-attempts" not being successful.

     Of course they have to drill a hole through the sub-floor and snake that flexible copper pipe down to "Super-Fitting" and make up the connections with the hose clamps.  This whole process had to have taken at least as long as it did to write this Blog----plus the twenty preceding ones:)

     In the end we possibly have something protruding into the drain that will clog with stuff from the kitchen sink as well as create a "cross-connection" where sewage water can be sucked back into the dishwasher under the right (wrong) scenario.

     I love job security:)

Charles Buell

http://www.buellinspections.com/

     On first glance this is a "normal" enough looking house.  Even the door where the garage door used to be is not all that unusual-----lots of garages get finished off into living space.  I think the first thing that seemed unusual about the house was that the finished garage space was at the same level as the house floor and my reaction was, "Damn another finished garage with no access under the floor framed in over the old slab."  Those things are problematic because there is limited ability to tell what might be going on in there.

     It wasn't until I got into the crawl space, that the full "story" of the house came out.  There was a crawl space under the wood floor in the former garage.  "This is unusual," I say to myself.  I have found many houses that have been re-located.  Lots of times whole tracks of houses were moved from one location to another to make room for highways, schools, reservoirs etc.  If you look carefully at the picture below you can see where one of the steel carrying beams used to support the house during transport was located where the access panel is on the left side of the end of the house (partially blocked by the fence posts) and at the patch/vent location at the right side of the end of the house.

     Just one of those "forensic" types of things we find as inspectors.

Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

     I don't mean to hijack Steve's blog on Pyrolysis, but it is an issue that I wanted to address anyway.  I know Steve is desperate to stay ahead of me in points so he can have these:)  The following pictures are of perhaps the best example of Pyrolysis that I have seen.  These pictures were from a four unit Apartment building built in the 30's.  All of the units had these ancient electric wall heaters and the woodwork behind the metal frames of the heaters was all charcoal.  One of the unit's residents was so aware of the potential safety hazard that all of their curtains where held away from the heaters with rocks on top of the curtain ends on the window sills above the heaters.  I think the hardest thing to understand is why didn't the building go up in flames?  This is one of those things that are not going to be an immediate hazard, but over time a "perfect storm" is brewing.

The digital thermometer is reading the wood temperature above the heater.

 Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

     While it is still cold over much of the country, I though it would be a good reminder to folks to take care of their sidewalks.  In many areas the homeowners adjacent to the public sidewalks are responsible for safety hazards related to the sidewalks.  Hazards like tripping on uneven surfaces or slipping and falling on ice.  I got reminded of this the other day when we had Thai delivered to the door and the delivery person (that we see dozens of times a year---due to our Thai-food addiction) fell on the steps coming up our front steps.  Now granted we don't get a lot of ice in Seattle, but when it does get cold it is all the more of a hazard---especially on runs of stairs down and toward the North (where they don't dry out and get covered with our usual NW slime). 

Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com

     One of the things that frustrate home inspectors is comments like:  "That is the way everyone is doing it," or "It has been like that for years----what is the problem?"  Unfortunately, as home inspectors, we don't usually get to say:  "I know its wrong, but since your builder says it is OK----it must be OK."  Many things about the construction of a home are not going to deteriorate immediately.  So, when an inspector calls out something that is only going to become a problem over time, we sometimes ruffle the fur of builders and sellers---and sometimes agents.  I think the most common items like this are:  Decks installed over siding (especially over cement board siding), sidewalks and concrete stairs installed over wood trim and siding, and missing counter-flashings over window/door trim.  This problem gets compounded when "codes" don't support us, and we are relying on "manufacturer's installation instructions."  Most people don't realize that manufacturer's instructions often supersede code and/or substitute for code when none is applicable.

      "Counter-flashings:"  These flashings are required at locations where changes of materials occur, like from trim to siding, or deck ledgers to siding, or from decorative "belly-banding" to siding etc.  When these flashings are missing water can get behind the finish materials and cause rot/decay and conditions conducive to wood destroying insects etc.  This picture of a window trim and a horizontal "banding" board above shows very nice counter-flashing details across the top that will prevent water from getting behind the trim boards.

     Some builders feel that the self-flashing vinyl windows eliminate the need for this flashing and the trim boards get installed over the top of the siding with no counter-flashing.  How, as an inspector, can I say this is OK?  Is the trim "disposable?"  How long will it take to be an issue?  What if there are very large overhangs?

I will language my report according to a lot of variables but the bottom line is that the flashings "should" be there and it would be irresponsible to say nothing about it.  Unflashed they might be fine for 2-3 years or 20-30 years----who can tell?  It is just my job to report what I see and for everyone else to figure out what is to be done or not done. This next picture, on the "weather" side of the home, clearly shows the trim board with no flashing and why it has a high likelihood of being a problem at some point.  Sometimes the builder will "caulk" this gap---which creates a continual maintenance issue and can actually assist in trapping moisture behind the trim.  There are a lot of "funky" building practices out there.

 Charles Buell

www.buellinspections.com