Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

     Sometimes----as much as I hate to do it----it is important to stay on one’s own side of the bed and staying on track may not be everything people rail about.

     I think this work crew probably has no trouble keeping “track” of things.  Well trained in all that they do, all they have to do is avoid the train and NOT stay on track when necessary.  Sometimes it is important to know when to stay on track and when not to.   They just have to keep track of the train schedule.

Charles Buell

     People love their ducks decks.

     Whether it is decks where the surface is made of spaced boards or whether it is a type with a water-proof membrane, it seems like the majority of homes have decks.  When the deck is over living space or other spaces that you do not want water to get into, the choice of surface covering will most likely be some sort of water-proof membrane.  These can be painted-on type coatings or vinyl sheets etc.

     Some of these coverings work better than others.  If they can be kept from leaking, these membrane surfaces are great.  If they leak they can be problematic because, along with repairs to the leaking areas, most likely much of the rest of the surface will need to be redone as well.  Most of these membrane surfaces are installed over high quality types of plywood. 

     High quality plywood rots just as quickly as crappy quality plywood----if it gets wet and stays wet.  If these surfaces leak into insulated, un-ventilated or poorly ventilated areas the problem is compounded.  These areas become a perfect incubator for fungal growth including molds----as can be seen in the following pictures.

     Leaking at the two drain connections is causing obvious decay/rot----no moisture meter required.  If proper repairs are not done someone might even fall through decayed areas like these.

Charles Buell

     Why don’t homes come with owner’s manuals?  Because we would not read them anyway----actually, I think we would.

     Even my run-of-the-mill Jeep Cherokee came with a 248 page owner’s manual----I have to dig it out twice a year to figure out how to change the clock----so I know I use that one.

     Given that homes generally do NOT come with an owner’s manual, what do agents do to prepare home buyers for what it means to own a home?  Is the buyer expected to know all this stuff themselves?   Is it the inspector’s job?  If neither the agent nor the inspector does it, is it:  “Tough luck?”

     I have had buyers on an inspection that did not even know that the furnace has a filter----let alone that it needs to be maintained----and where the heck is it located?  Who tells them, if there is a screened air intake for the furnace that it has to be maintained free of debris?  The average house has MANY things like this that need vigilant maintenance in order for the house to perform properly.  I can't tell you how many times I have asked the buyer if the house has a crawl space or not----and half the time they either do not know or think I mean the attic.

     Some home inspectors provide home maintenance manuals along with the inspection report.  These home maintenance manuals are generally “OK” for what they are, but they usually have way too much information about  all kinds of houses----not just what is applicable to the house being inspected.  In my opinion no one is going to wade through these manuals trying to figure out which information applies to their home and what does not. 

     Some home inspectors attempt to turn the Home Inspection Report itself into a sort of “beginning” Home Owner’s Manual-----others are not interested.  Some think that the ONLY things that should be in the report are  the “defects.”  Some agents think like this as well and are critical of home inspectors that have reports with more than 30 pages.  If the report is also trying to provide information about how to actually take care of the house as well as whatever defects are found-----it can easily get to 60 pages or more.  The best place to provide information about how to take care of the furnace for example, is in the furnace section of the report----not some hand-out that also talks about 20 other types of furnaces----or is so mimimal as to be useless.  The inspection report----coupled with the many instruction manuals associated with the various appliances in the home----can amount to a pretty complete owner’s manual for the home. 

     Ultimately when one buys “anything” it is our responsibility to educate ourselves as much as possible as to what is involved with that purchase. 

     I do think that we as inspectors and agents bear some of the responsibility to educate our buyer.  I also think that we are being a little lax when we have an opportunity to inform and do not do it.  Pointing the buyer in the direction of the information seems easy enough to do.

     It seems to me that if a buyer were to visit ten home inspector websites and read the sample reports on those sites there would be a lot less buyers with that look of a “deer caught in head lights.”

     An adequately prepared buyer at a home inspection is the “exception” rather than the “rule.”

     I have to assume that agents in general feel very little responsibility toward getting buyers to a point where they are ready to own a house.  If this were not the case would there not be a lot more home buying seminars than we see?  Most of the home buying seminars I have been to, seem to be more about how to deal with mortgages and financial matters than the home maintenance part of the purchase----geared more toward how to buy a house, than how to own a house.  Also if this were not true I would see a lot more adequately prepared buyers following me around the home----and they would know “why” they are following me around the home.  This is a tremendous opportunity for them to find out what their house is all about----not just its defects----but about how the house works.

     I think many buyers, if they were truly educated about what it takes to own a home, probably would opt for NOT owning a home----at least at that point in their lives. 

     Perhaps, it is this concern that supports keeping the buyer a little in the dark about it all. 

     And of course later, when the buyer’s remorse sets in, and the learning curve begins, we can at least feel good that the Inspector got a job out of it and the deal closed.

Charles Buell

     How can a buyer that cannot afford an inspection afford a house?

     It is my understanding, that in some areas of the country, it is common, or becoming common, for the home inspector to not bet paid until closing.  I am doing my best to understand the reasons for this practice.  Where is the money coming from if it is not ultimately coming from the buyer?

     What I am seeing all too often is a lot of first time home buyers that are buying homes----usually foreclosures and short sales-----and they have “0” reserves to handle the many repairs associated with these homes.

     While the “Dream” of owning a home may be strong, if it just ends up in more houses allowed to further deteriorate or end up in a second wave of foreclosures and short sales, have we “really” served the buyer well?  Aren’t we just adding to the “Nightmare?”

     We used to call these buyers, “Renters”-----why are we so intent on turning them into “Home Owners?”

     I find it difficult to not think that somehow the sale has become more important than the people involved in the sale.

     I would argue that if a buyer can’t afford the inspection they sure as hell can’t afford the house.

Charles Buell

     One of the characteristics of incandescent light bulbs is that they produce large amounts of heat----along with the light they give off.  In fact, approximately 90% of what incandescent bulbs “do” is heat----as opposed to only about 10% light.  This is why the shift to other types of lighting has become so important and why ultimately we will be using LED type lights or something better than LED’s in the future.

     Now the fact that these bulbs give off heat is not particularly a bad thing in buildings we are trying to heat (although it is somewhat unpredictable).  When it comes to cooling those same buildings, this heat makes the job of keeping them cool more difficult and more expensive.

     This post though is about another aspect of the heat that these bulbs give off and how we have to be careful to not let this heat burn our houses down.  Light fixtures that use these bulbs have all sorts of installation requirements to make them safer.  These bulbs get even more problematic when homeowners start getting creative and using the bulbs in unsafe ways. 

     The following pictures were taken in a basement family room where a string of Christmas lights was being used to create low level mood lighting across a wet-bar.  It is pretty easy to see the charring of surfaces from even these 15 watt bulbs that could have ignited the wood surfaces at any point. 

     Sometimes people just get lucky.

     LED’s will greatly reduce the risk of fire by creative homeowners.

Charles Buell

     Let’s play “Myth Busters.”   

     Everyone knows that it is important to keep the connections between tubs and its shower surround well caulked.

     I often find these areas recently caulked in an attempt to “spiff things up” for the sale.

     Take a look at this first picture.  This is brand new construction----doesn’t it look “SAWEEEEET?”  Don’t you wish you could lay a bead of caulk like that?

     Before you get too envious (you knew this was coming) I am here to tell you that the caulk should not be there.

     As commonplace as it may be----as seemingly logical as it may be----it is still wrong in many cases.  Caulking this connection is fine if the wall is some sort of one piece sheet or enclosure, but with tile it should not be there.  The grout joints are designed to prevent water from penetrating the wall but any small amount that does penetrate is able to evaporate out and/or weep out along the bottom.  If the tub/tile connection is caulked the water cannot wick out through the bottom grout joint and moisture builds up and is able to feed the mold that eventually develops.  I am sure you have all seen that grey discolored staining of the caulk that you would swear is “behind” the caulk----where it cannot be cleaned off?  And you would be right---it is behind the caulk.

     The next thing that happens is that if there is enough water building up behind this area the water runs around the edge of the tub and down the walls behind the tiles “outside” the tub with the common resultant damage to walls and floors outside of the tub.  Sometimes this damage is just from water not being corralled into the tub by the shower curtain, but when the same thing happens with a shower door in place, these other factors may be at play.

     These conditions also “complicate” the inspector’s moisture meter readings.

     So if you have a tile tub enclosure----keep the grout well repaired----but don’t caulk the connection and the enclosure will behave itself much better.

Charles Buell

     People like circular windows----or what is known as “circle-head’ windows.  They represent special challenges to trim carpenters.  If they are not experienced, these trim details often end up poorly done.  In this first picture one can see the curved wood trim around this circle-head window.  One can also see the un-painted edge and the caulk that is being relied upon to keep moisture from getting behind the trim and siding and into the wall.

     I have had builders tell me, “They don’t make a flashing for a curve.”  Well, of course they do, and this should be a clue that perhaps one should have hired a different builder.  I have other issues with the way this trim has been constructed, but right now I only want to talk about the missing flashing detail.  Caulk should never be relied upon as a means of permanently flashing anything.  Caulk will fail, paint will fail and water intrusion/decay will happen----it is just a matter of when.

     At a recent inspection, I had the pleasure of seeing the work of a builder that actually cared about his work and provided a proper flashing for the circular trim over an archway.

     It can be done.

Charles Buell

     I can imagine that it was Thomas Crapper’s wife that started the war between couples about leaving the toilet seat lid up or down depending on your point of view.  While Thomas Crapper most likely did not invent the toilet, he for sure did a lot to make it popular with his many improvements. 

     As near as I can tell it takes just about as much strength to lift the lid up as it does to lower it down, and I figure that whatever position it is in “someone” has to put it the other way----but what do I know----I am a guy.

     On a recent inspection I came across what is perhaps the “ultimate” solution to this serious problem and is likely to eliminate “heated” discussions of the issue from being heard through the walls by the neighbors.

     Makes sense to me.

Charles Buell

     A while back I did a post about the new Tamper Resistant Receptacles  that are now required by the most recent electrical codes. 

     In recent inspections of new homes I have started seeing these receptacles.

     Not only is it now more difficult for children to make their hair stand on end or wet their pants by sticking pointy metal things into the receptacles, it is difficult for grownups to stick anything into them either.

     Well it really isn’t quite that bad, but there is indeed a bit of a learning curve with the devices and one must sometimes fiddle with the plug a little to get the inner gates to open and allow the plug to enter.

     I talked to an electrician about this the other day and he told me that he is getting a lot of call backs related to the difficulty in using these receptacles.  Usually there is nothing “wrong” with the receptacle----people just have to be educated about how to use them.  As an inspector I am providing information in my reports about this learning curve so the owner does not just call the electrician only to be told that there is nothing really wrong with them.

     Perhaps manufacturers will figure out a way to make the interior components a little more responsive to normal use.

Charles Buell

     One of the things I like to do in my Inspection Reports when writing about concerns involving water leaks is to give a rough “visual idea” as to what the issues are by doing a color “overlay” of the issue.  Whether it is suspected water behind the tiles of a tub/shower enclosure, water under the vinyl floor around a toilet, or an improperly installed sink trap, I think these pictures help get the point across----and worth the few seconds it takes me to do it.

     The particular defect that I am going to discuss today, of an improperly installed sink trap, is sometimes difficult to convey to the buyer just why the installation is wrong----after all----water is going down the drain.

     This first picture shows a normal trap and the overlay shows the amount of water that is in a properly installed trap.  The small amount of water in the trap is easily pushed over the dam and down the drain.

     This next picture shows an improperly installed trap with an overlay that shows the amount of water trapped in the pipes. 

     From the picture you can imagine the extra force necessary to push all that water out of the trap. The result is poor drainage with the likelihood of clogging over time.  Sure it will still work----just not as well as the first picture.

Charles Buell