Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

     Once upon a time, in a land not so far away, there was a little town called Runathemill where the Naunows lived.

     In Runathemill everything was----how shall I say it?  Well----run of the mill.  Even the local sawmill was run of the mill.  Even the annual Runathemill "fun- run" was----run----of the mill.  No one could muster anything past mediocre----even the color

     Being ordinary in Runathemill did not come about for lack of"trying"to be something different. There were classes and books dedicated to

     One day, a stranger came to town, unlike any stranger that had ever wandered into town before.  He was, dare I say it-----not mediocre----or at least what he had to offer was considered exceptional in relation to what Runathemill was used to.  He rode into town on a mighty steed named Bynd th Cll f Dty----difficult to pronounce but easy to see and appreciate.  He even espoused the heresy that "money I$ time."

     Some of Runathemill's townsfolk welcomed "Rome" (that was "more" (or less) his real name) with open arms, while others treated him with suspicion, derision and open hostility.  You see, when you don't know what you are missing, how can you possibly be missing anything? 

     But Rome started to show the good people of Runathemill how they were not really mediocre at all-----and their homes were certainly not ordinary.  He told them wonderful, informative stories about their homes that they had never heard before----stories that did not read at all like "See Spot Run"----but more like "The Little Engine that Could."  He could even tell them why some of their homes blew away in the North winds----heresy to some----enlightenment to others.  Even more threatening was his providing information on what to "DO."  He even made the "fun-run" more fun by making it the "run to the mill."

     Rome could sure tell stories, but the skeptics would only say, "well how come no one has ever told us these stories before if they are true---if they are important?"   

     Rome simply told them that they merely needed to remove their "ordinary" glasses and replace them with the "magic" glasses he offered to them at no cost.  But many of the Naunows refused to stay and listen---being too busy or impatient to try out the magic glasses----preferring instead what they were familiar with----with what "fit."  Some wouldn't even take his cell phone number.

     And so it came to pass that the Town of Runathemill passed an ordinance that said that only "ordinary" glasses would be allowed.  This kept everything running smoothly like always----and occasionally the North winds would blow and another house would disappear----but that was all as it should be----there would always be bailouts.

     Fast forward "100 Days"----to another little town----not so far away, called Yeswecansas. 

     Rome----our ever optimistic Don Quixote----finds greener pastures for his trusty horse Bynd th Cll f Dty.  It is a land of beautiful houses----houses with many entertaining, informative and sometimes important stories to tell.  A land where the North Winds blow the houses away even less often----and the yards are watered with ActiveRain.

Charles Buell

     One thing that is universal about laundry rooms is that the walls behind washers and dryers are often trashed either from mechanical damage or hidden leaks----both past and present.  I can imagine what many buyers must think when they start to move in and find these conditions when they go to install their own washer and dryer.  The walls weren't visible when they looked at the property initially because the sellers appliances where installed and the inspector didn't notice (or couldn't see) the damage either.

    It is not too hard to understand the need for fire-rated walls between attached dwellings like condos and townhouses.  While the requirements have changed over the years and there are variations in the requirements from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, it is a good idea to look for problems related to the walls between these types of structures.  So, it is only logical that a possible place for the firewall to be compromised would be behind the washer dryer.

     These areas are very difficult to visually inspect unless you are fortunate enough to be 7 feet tall and can adequately lean over the units to have a look see.  Even that doesn't help if shelving is installed in the way above them.  I can usually get my camera in a position to shoot some "hail-Mary" photos of the area---often revealing all kinds of funs stuff from missing underwear to ruptured supply hoses and bad electrical connections.  Also, any damage to walls might be visible.

    This was the case in a Condo I inspected the other day.  Apparently in order for the appliances to be installed, and still allow for the bi-fold doors to close, there wasn't quite enough room behind the dryer to run the vent pipe.  The installer just cut away some of the drywall of the fire-wall between the two units.  Probably not the best solution, and it is another example of the breakdown that happens with overspecialization and/or lack of knowledge about the requirements of other trades.  (Translates to "job security" for me)

     A large percentage of house fires are involved with dryer venting.  For more information on this particular type of dryer foil vent pipe please visit my post: Slay the "Fire-Breathing Dryer!" 

Charles Buell

     Perhaps more than anyone else here in the Rain, my buddy Steve Smith can relate to this post.  Especially in relation to the hoards of girls that used to hang on his every word as a radio disc jockey.  I don't think he had to deal with anything like the wacko stalker that Clint Eastwood had to deal with in, "Play Misty for Me."  If he did, he hasn't told me that story yet.

      It got me thinking about Disc Jockeys, and how Bloggers, in a way, are kind of like Disc Jockeys.  We blog away not having much of an idea of who is listening----or if in fact anyone is listening.  I think that is what makes the comments back so rewarding---when we get them.  A while back, I got a comment from Sandy Aichner on a post I did about how Plumbing P-traps work.  This is what she said: 

     "OMG!!! I can't believe it! I have been having clogging problems with my kitchen disposal and it leaks down into the cabinet and I haven't been able to figure out what the problem is and so I kept pouring drano down the sink. I went and looked and wouldn't you know, IT'S ON BACKWARDS LIKE YOUR PHOTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

     Does it get any better than that?

     I have had hundreds of such comments----just never an "OMG!!!" and never quite so many exclamation marks!!!

     My reasons for blogging are both complicated and simple.  Obviously there is the "points" and the SEO----but if it were not fun and I didn't feel like I was contributing to my readers lives, I doubt that I would be all that interested in blogging.  December 23^rd marked the one year anniversary of my first blog post.  My only question is "How can that be?"  Time sure flies when you are having fun.

     As we build a "stable" of subscribers-----these are our "listeners"----we can actually feel like we are being a contribution.  With any luck, they will stalk us on a daily basis and tell their friends about us.  While we hopefully won't have anyone that wants us to play "Misty" over and over----it is nice to see all their smiling faces as they roll through the blog-log----and occasionally give us that pat on the back by leaving a comment on our posts.

     Thanks to all my "listeners."

Charles Buell

     The other day when I left Seattle I got to see Santa at the airport.  He was there as part of the first flight of the "Snowball Express."

     Regardless of your feelings about the war in Iraq, and the general war on terrorism I have to say this gesture by American Airlines to bring some joy---during the Holidays----to the kids that lost a parent in the war efforts since 911, brought a tear to my eye.

     All over the country, American Airlines was donating flights to take these kids and the remaining parent on a three day trip to Disneyland.  While nothing will ever come close to adequate compensation-----what a treat for the kids.  To me this group of primarily single moms seemed barely more than kids themselves, and seamed to be enjoying the gesture as much as the kids. 

    Santa can bring all kinds of gifts----including the gift of helping people to move on in their lives.

Charles Buell

     While all the defects associated with this installation will be over the heads of many of my Rainmates, I am sure all of the inspectors will appreciate the full extent of the problems with the installation----if it is fair to call it an "installation."

     This is someone's idea of a 30 amp Remote Distribution Panel (sub-panel) for a detached garage.  We have 240 volts protected in the house main panel with a 30 amp breaker.  The wire buried in the ground is #10-3WG NMB (code for "indoor") romex.  All of those nice shiny copper colored wires you see sticking out of the box are all live----just waiting for completion of the installation.  The 15 amp rated receptacle was "functional."

     I will start a list of issues with this installation----I am sure someone will come up with others.

     1.  No proper panel box

     2.  No proper cover

     3.  Feeders not terminated with disconnect means (breakers/fuses)

     4.  Wrong wire

     5.  Wires not properly restrained

     6.  Exposed hot conductors

     7.  Improper access

     8.  Over-fused wires run from this junction

     All it really needs is a good electrician to redo the entire installation (and then the electrician could work on the rest of the wiring in the structure).

Charles Buell

     If you have sent your kids to public school you know what I am talking about.  Sooner or later parents become nit pickers.  So----sooner or later----as an inspector, I am going to be a "nit picker" as well----well not the same kind----hopefully.

     I don't go out of my way to be a nit picker----sometimes it just happens.  I think the kind of nit picker that most agents have a problem with is when those seemingly unimportant items end up in the "Summary of Significant Findings" section of the report.  This is "bad form"----as Captain Hook would say.  While this stuff should be mentioned in the context of general "information" about the home, placing it in the Summary gives it "weight" that it doesn't deserve.

     Take for example this P-trap connection on a Garbage disposal.

     At first glance it looks sort of normal.  But actually it is installed backwards. 

     The next couple of pictures will help explain what is wrong with this installation.  Traps are engineered to be self scouring (cleaning) by virtue of their shape.  Note how in the top picture the flow of water enters from the sink (disposal in this case) at Point C and the blue arrow.  The force of the flow of water accelerates when it hits the bottom helping it flow up and over the hill and down the drain at the left blue arrow.  In the bottom picture we can see that when the trap is installed "backwards" the distance labeled "B" is much greater than distance "A"-----a much higher hill for the water to get over.  It also doesn't have the help of acceleration provided by its being installed the other way.  The flow of water is actually reduced because the flow of water runs into a more vertical wall in the lower installation.

     So what will happen if this is not fixed?  Well eventually the trap will clog up with debris and water will just not drain properly.  It isn't a difficult fix---something any plumber can do when they are at the home for other reasons or something that even a knowledgeable homeowner or other qualified repair person can fix.

     I think I won't be putting this on the summary.

Charles Buell

     Stairs to basements in older homes are often steep and built to less than satisfactory standards.  It is almost as if they were constructed as an after thought, and were fitted in any way they could.  They often have sharp winding turns, insufficient or missing handrails, low clearances to bang your head on, and insufficient or missing side barriers.

     While these stairs might have been somewhat satisfactory when the only thing down there was the furnace and the water heater, as these basements took on more everyday uses such as laundry rooms, family rooms, and additional bedrooms, these stairs represent an increased safety risk.

     Improving these stairs so that they are not so steep and are safe by current standards can be very costly and might even require relocation of the stairs and/or changes in the floor structure to improve them.  This is usually not done. 

     One requirement that becomes necessary as the basement is developed into "living space" is for there to be a light switch at the top and the bottom of the stairs.   This is especially important as a safety "upgrade" if the stairs are themselves to remain dangerous----and least you will be able to see where you are falling and others will be able to locate you to pick up the pieces.

     In older homes, a switch only at the top was quite common.  A home I inspected the other day used to have a switch located at the top of the stairs but it was abandoned in favor of one located half way down the stairs----sort of "ideally" wrong for whether you were going up or down the stairs.

Charles Buell

     I can still remember that "pained" look on my grandfather's face as he would ask where the heck my "commons sense" went to----whenever I did something "stupid."

     I have wrestled with this notion ever since----perhaps not consciously, until recently----especially since the mantle of "grandfather" has been passed to me.  Nonetheless, the idea of living life in a "common sense" way was implanted in me when I was very young, even though today it has----for all intents and purposes----NO MEANING----at least not in the way my grandfather meant it.  What he was saying was, "why the heck would you not think of doing that the way I would have done it?"

     There are entire books dedicated to the notion of "common sense."  Our founding fathers even justified separation from the British by appealing to "common sense."  (Common Sense-by Thomas Paine) 

     I think in the good old days, common sense actually made     more      sense.  Back when everyone's background and life experiences were more similar than they are today, the idea of common sense probably did make more sense. 

     When the world was HUGE people didn't run into people with different ideas about how to do things as often----and common sense flourished.  When different people came into your world you either killed them or worshiped them----or at least had them for dinner (hopefully not literally).  As the world became smaller and smaller----especially with the advent of the internet----common sense became nearly impossible.  I think this loss of "common sense" is what drives some people to pull back into themselves and their immediate environment in an attempt to find that "old-school" common sense again----or perhaps merely to justify their inability and/or unwillingness to embrace change----to learn new things.

     I think what is really happening is a "TRANSFORMATION" of common sense. 

     No longer do we have the comfortable "luxury" of exclusivity----of a pared down existence that will allow us to exclude other ideas from being added to our repertoire.

     Not only does the Internet, and the general improvement of education, allow us to "know" more----we MUST know more.  We seem to act as if there is some sort of limit to the amount of information that can be crammed into our brains.  People who study the brain say that there are some limits to the "storage" of readily available information (like what you do to the brain when you try to cram for a final exam) as opposed to what you can absorb over an extended period of time.  I am sure we have all experienced that feeling of being overwhelmed when entering a new framework of information (Take ActiveRain for example) and the next thing you know we are giving advice to the next batch of overwhelmed newbies.  It almost becomes irresponsible to not strive to know more.  What constitutes "common sense" has expanded astronomically----to an "enlightened" version of common sense if you will.  For survival of the planet it is now desirable for the older version of common sense to become less common----"endarkened" if you will.  Reversions can still be seen in the greed and selfishness that has resulted in the bailout, the predictable US auto maker fiasco, and in the fanaticism of terrorists & religions zealots all around the world.  So while old-school common sense becomes less common it can still create a lot of havoc----a sort of tyranny of "common sense."  This is the true cost of exclusivity.

     I think what is important is to set your own pace of learning----some are sprinters, some are marathoners, and some are turtles----embrace change at your own pace---but do embrace it. 

     Unlike the old-school common sense, the new common sense takes a lifetime----perhaps even longer.  It is not a place to arrive at, but a place always on the horizon----a place to strive for----it can actually keep us alive, as opposed to limiting our possibilities and killing us.  Not having "common sense" can be seen as an opportunity----as opposed to being seen as something missing.

     What version of common sense makes sense to you?

Charles Buell