Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

     Most of us are “adrenalin” junkies----and those that are not are probably either in denial or not aware  of how the body works.  One can even make an argument that the pursuit of adrenalin is not only human but is what drives us to do much of what we do.  I can’t really tell which comes first----so perhaps it is a “chicken or egg” thing.

     Regardless----whether it is eating, climbing corporate ladders, sky-diving, rock climbing, gambling, sex, fast cars, relationship arguments or reading books we are all looking for that rush----it makes us feel “alive.”

     Living one’s life “ON THE EDGE” produces lots of opportunities for adrenalin rushes.  Most of us, over the course of our lives, have created ways to maintain these rushes at appropriate levels.  In the end they usually destroy us.  As Neal Young said, “It is better to burn out---than to fade away.”

     I think the “ideal” is when we can get our highs in ways that don’t show how oblivious or ignorant we are to the consequences of what we choose. 

     I am sure that everyone knows the consequences of choosing our adrenalin rushes from something like cocaine or key parties----as opposed to choosing them from something like playing soccer or long hikes in the mountains. 

     Some of our choices sustain us----while others tear us apart. 

     Being “oblivious” is like the tree on the edge of the cliff----everyone else can clearly see what is coming----can see our future.  Why can’t we? 

     We----theoretically----can move away from the cliff when necessary-----the tree is oblivious and cannot.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     The Standards of Practice for Home Inspectors in Seattle and all of Washington State are what one would describe as “Minimum Standards.”  They provide a “guideline” for basic performance.  This is true of all Standards of Practice for our profession----whether these Standards are State mandated or derived from one of the Home Inspector Associations like ASHI, InterNACHI, NAHI or CREIA.

     Some inspectors use these SOP’s as a way to define “only” what they will do.  In other words the “minimum” becomes the “maximum.”  While this business model may meet the requirements of their License or membership in an Association, it does not provide much in the way of service to the buyer.

     But this tangent is not what I am here to talk about today.

     Washington State Standards of practice has several things that are quite different from other Standards of Practice around the country.  One of those differences is the requirement that we will report, “The existence of a connected service-grounding conductor and service-grounding electrode when same can be determined,” and we will report, “When no connection to a service grounding electrode can be confirmed.”

     In other words we are checking to see if the house electrical system is properly grounded.

     Without going into all the technical details, and the myriad ways to achieve electrical system grounding, I want to state that this can actually be quite difficult and I expect that many inspectors fall back on the “…when same can be determined,” part of the requirements.  I have always taken this part of the inspection very seriously.  It was part of what I looked for even before our Standards of Practice came into play.

     One of the basic means of achieving grounding----especially in older houses was for the electrical system grounding conductor to be attached to the incoming water pipe.  This connection was preferably attached previous to the main water shut-off.  Think of it as using that long length of buried pipe between the house and the street as the “grounding electrode.”  It was not uncommon for houses to have this wire connected to the piping somewhere in the run of pipe “after” the water shut-off or especially in homes with no interior water shut-off.  The reason why the wire should “technically” be located street-side of the water shut-off----or right where it comes though the foundation for example----is that it is less likely to become “compromised.”

     These compromises happen in many ways----and I find them often.  As an example, let’s say the system is grounded to the water pipe at the water heater which is five feet away from where the pipe comes into the basement.  Mr. Homeowner decides the wants a water filter installed and does so in that section of pipe between where it comes through the foundation and where the grounding wire connects to the pipe at the water heater.  Because the filter is plastic we now have lost proper grounding of the house electrical system.  It would not be accurate to say the system is “not grounded” however, because there is still a path to ground back at the utility company transformer----wherever that is.  What is lost is redundancy and “proper” pathways to ground.

     Another common way the system is compromised is when repairs to the piping are made----as in metal pipes being replaced with plastic pipes.  Here is another example of how the system can become “compromised.” In this first picture we can see the grounding clamp and wire connected to the cold water pipe near the water heater. 

     When the house was originally built this connection provided a continuous pathway to the pipe that ran underground out to the street.  At some point repairs had to be done to the pipe and a section of the old galvanized pipe had been replaced with copper.  That in itself should not be a problem because they are both metal.  Whoever did the repair knew enough to know that copper and galvanized pipes are different metals and electrolysis can occur if connected directly together.

     The “di-electric” unions used to connect the two different types of pipe have a little plastic bushing that separate the two pipes-----preventing electrolysis but also disrupting the continuity of the electrical system grounding.

     These “system” grounding issues are not usually difficult for the Electrical Contractor to correct----but should be done for safety.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     When the kids were little we would often do day hikes in nice weather into the mountains.  These were simple hikes.  Other than maybe being prepared for a little rain, it really didn’t matter what you wore----cotton, polyester----whatever.  When one is doing more serious hiking into higher elevations----like to the top of Mt Rainer----where one might get stranded or where one might be staying overnight-----one had better be prepared for adverse conditions.  One had better be thinking about their clothing for example.  There is a saying, “Cotton Kills.”  And it can be literally true.  If you get soaking wet (even sweating) and you are wearing cotton, you can develop hypothermia that you would not be as likely to get if you were wearing wicking/breathing fabrics like Wool, Gortex,  Poly-fleece and Capilene. 

     It would be a little whacky to suit up in your Gortex socks, Capilene undies, poly-fleece jacket, wool mittens and gortex windbreaker, only to top it all off with a cheapo cotton hat----you would top it off with something more consistent with the rest of your wardrobe.

     The same goes with roofing.

     There are cheapo roof coverings, like standard 3-tab shingles, that you can pretty much use any type of pipe-flashings with.  They will last as long as the roof does----so go for it.

     Something I see, as a Seattle Home Inspector, over and over again, is the use of cheapo rubber boot pipe-flashings, meant for cheapo-roofs, on roofs that are designed to last much longer.  These roofs should have pipe-flashings that will last as long as the roof covering ----if possible.

     While I find examples of this almost every week, the other day I found a particularly deteriorated flashing that visually demonstrates what I am saying. 

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     This roof is 19 years old, and should last at least another 10 years.  As you can see, the pipe-flashing is in very poor condition and is no longer functioning as intended.  Use of this type of flashing on 30-year roofs is common but I have seen them on 50-year roofs-----and even metal roofs.

     You wouldn't wear cotton climbing to the summit of Mr Rainier would you?

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     My uncle, that owned the farm that I grew up on, used to give names to all the cows.  Each calf, when it was born, would be given a name that began with a letter of the alphabet that was applicable for that year.  For example all calves born in the year 1957 had names that started with “N.”  I am totally making this part up because I cannot get any closer than “1957” based on how old I look in this picture of me with my calf “Nadine.”

     I always thought it was pretty cool that the cows had names instead of just numbers.  When you kicked “Lucy” in the ass to get her through the barn door or yelled at “Margaret” for her to get out of the way of the tractor, it sounded so much better than yelling a “number” at them.

     I was thinking about this the other day when I was photographing the data plate on a Whirlpool Dishwasher.  Wouldn’t it be cool if dishwashers----instead of these long boring serial numbers----had cool names like Lucy, or Margaret to correspond to the year they were manufactured?

     Then those defective dishwashers from a particular year would just jump right out at inspectors.  They would not have to remember complicated serial numbers or look them up on the internet.  All they would have to do is look at the data plate----see the name “Chester” or “Delilah” and know immediately the thing was ancient----perhaps at the end of its expected life.  If they saw the names “Cruella” or “Genghis” they would immediately know that these were problematic-----perhaps even re-called----or downright dangerous.  And then there could be those “Green” appliances with names like “Forest” and “Rainbow.”

     Of course this gets to the heart of the problem of naming appliances.  What manufacturer would deliberately name something “Genghis?”  Would that not predispose the appliance to issues?  For sure----so what is more likely to happen is that the name given to an appliance would more than likely take on “new” definitions that identify it more accurately with its defects.  What started out as perfectly normal names----turn into “Edsel” or “Pinto” with their associated connotations.  It just would not seem right to find a problematic “Rainbow.”  That would just be wrong.

     Can’t you just see your home inspector opening the dishwasher or the refrigerator and looking at the data plate and exclaiming:  “Ruh roh----you have a Betty here!”

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     I did not have to do a taste test to know this was not chocolate sprinkles.  It was bat guano.

     If you look VERY closely at bat guano, you can see the little sparkling pieces of insect wings and body parts.  The bats in this case, inhabited the house in the space between the wood framing and where the chimney went through the roof overhang.

     Now it so happened that there were indications of leaking into the roof structure from poor flashing details around the chimney above the roof.  Because of this, I was looking for signs of water and or damage to the interior ceiling areas.

     On the interior of the house there was some very light staining, with elevated moisture as indicated by moisture meter, around the corner of the chimney where it went through the ceiling----consistent with the poor flashing details I had noted around the chimney at the exterior.

     Once in the attic, and after I had crawled all the way to the far end of the attic, here is what I found.

     A nice pile of wet bat guano-----acting like a sponge to carry the leak to the ceiling surface.  Sometimes this job drives inspectors batty.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     The days of the classic 50’s diners are long gone----with only a few of the Real McCoy left standing around the country (not counting a few knock-off wannabe’s).

     These diners were gathering places of the locals to share gossip (early networking) and a place for truck drivers to have coffee thrown at them. 

     A “city” incarnation of these diners is the small restaurants located in old houses and other structures no longer suited to their original purpose.  Immediately excluded from this genre of eateries are restaurants that have relied on “architectural planning” and/or “large bankrolls” to create artificial ambiance.

     The places I am talking about are the labors of love of the visionary owners/entrepreneurs that are more interested in service and quality of food than in whether the place looks like Martha Stewart or the Olive Garden.  They are places to share gossip, have great coffee and eat----with the kids or without.

     The Wild Mountain Café, in the Crown Hill Neighborhood of Seattle, is such a place.  It is easy to find, at 1408 NW 85^th St, because it is the only Purple House on the street.  It’s funky exterior and interior, is awesome Seattle-eclectic at its best.  There is artwork on the walls, and there is live music on Friday’s. 

     Tables are set up throughout the “house” such that you can eat in the living room next to the fireplace, in the dining room (where else), in one of the bedrooms----no beds though (dang----no breakfast in bed) or even in the bar.  You can order breakfast (lunch & dinner too) as simple as the plain old “Jane Doe,” or as plentiful as the “Joe Schmoe.”  There is even a kids menu.

     So----check it out when you are in the neighborhood and you need a good cup of coffee, a good meal----or just need a place to hang with friends, meet with your real estate agent, or rendezvous with a lover----or just read the paper by yourself.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     Someone once had the epiphany that as soon as you figure out how to bribe a kid to do something----they have the audacity to change the rules and you have to start all over.

     What that person wasn’t enlightened enough to tell me was that when we become adults we have to stay aware that the rules also get changed without our permission or without announcement.  Isn’t this the sort of thing that should go out over CNN or FOX News or at least those sources of REAL news----the Grapevine or Facebook? 

     Aren’t there laws against changing the rules?  After all it can be very disconcerting when you are in flight, with landing still hours away, and you find out that the plane in which you were comfortably snoozing is now a parachute and the wind is whistling through your hair.  I guess we should just be thankful that the chute at least opened.  That is called being prepared----many are not.

     The lesson in all this is that the more tuned-in, vigilant and prepared we are for the rule changes in our lives, the easier it is to stay afloat in the bathtub of life----to re-invent ourselves.

     I wonder if people who are used to breaking the rules, or at least bending the rules, are more adept at embracing rule changes when they do happen.  Or, are they just as vulnerable as the rest of us?

     When the rules change and you find yourself with "nuthin"----living under a bridge, or in your car----I can tell you from experience that you can re-group, figure out the new rules, and find new ways to keep a roof over your head and food in your belly.  When you have found yourself in this place you also become acutely aware that learning the new rules is NOT guaranteed. 

     Testament to this fact are the people that daily jump off the bridges they sleep under. 

     Also having been in that place, I can tell you that finding the right place at the right time requires that you be there.

     Sometimes people embrace the changes in their lives by being lucky---by being in the right place at the right time.

     In difficult times it is imperative that we be in the right place at the right time----luck may not be enough----and you may have pissed off all your friends by then.  Being “comfortable” becomes a luxury as opposed to something to which we are entitled----and certainly not something to be taken for granted.

     We all have opportunities to be in the right place at the right time----having the skills or the presence of mind to recognize these opportunities when we see them is the only question.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     Everyone knows that the most important difference between rats and humans is that eventually rats will stop going down the same tunnel looking for the cheese.  Apparently man’s best friend is also only as bright at humans.  With enough scratching (and I would imagine quite a bunch of barking as well) Cujo may have gotten all the way through this wall and into the house----bypassing the door all together.

     The appearance of all of this damage to the garage wall is quite dramatic.  One can see where the dog has clawed its way through the drywall and exposed the studs in the wall next to the door trim-----a little bit further to the left and he would have been into the open cavity and headed for the drywall on the other side.

     But the picture begs a few questions.

     How many times did Cujo turn the lights on and off?

     Did he do better work in the dark or with the light on?

     How many times did he actually un-latch the door without ever knowing that all he had to do was pull it towards him?

     Lastly----a proper cover plate on the switches is recommended for dog-safety.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     In my many years as a builder----and in my more recent incarnation as a Seattle Home Inspector-----something that I have noticed about houses is that they can be very forgiving structurally.  Complete structural failure of a component is sometimes difficult to arrange.  Other times, with the requisite conditions, we will see the weekend warrior’s deck go all kittywampus in the back yard----with the beer keg rolling down the street as the ambulance pulls into the driveway.

     How does the house know which rules to break and which ones not to break?

     Take foundation bolting for example.  It is a question I get asked often----is the house bolted to the foundation?  Over the course my building career I have seen foundation bolting go from ½” bolts, 6-8 feet apart, with no washers under the nuts, to 5/8” bolts, every four feet, with 2” square-plate washers under the nuts.  In addition to this bolting are all manner of seismic strapping and hold-down bracketss with bolts as big as 1-1/8” in diameter.  And this is in residential construction----commercial is even more extensive.

     All of this is fine and dandy and will likely help your house do very well in seismic activity up to a 7 or a little higher on the Richter scale.  After that, all bets are off supposedly----but still the amount of damage would have to be somewhat less.

     Again I ask, “How does the house know which rules to break and which ones not to break?

     You see, the other day, I inspected a house that was over 30 years old.  Its age tells me that it has been through at least two fairly major earthquakes in this region-----including the 2001 Nisqually Quake.  The house had no visible damage and yet the foundation bolting---while present----looked like the following picture.

     This bolting is almost worse than no bolting at all----as the sill plates are nearly completely severed every 6 feet.

     So the insurance company wants to know if the house is bolted.  Any inspector would be “nuts” to say that this foundation is “bolted” wouldn’t they?  And yet the house is doing fine after 30 years and is “standing the test of time.”

     The house has broken the “rules” and is doing fine.  Keeping houses on their foundations is not restricted to or dependent on code requirements for bolting.  There are many older homes in Seattle that are not bolted to their foundations at all and have little or no seismic damage going back to earthquakes even stronger than any this house wiggled through.

     For example there was a method of pouring foundations in this area, that used to be very common, where the bottom plate of the wall was put right in the forms so that when the concrete was poured it actually came up higher on the plate all the way around the inside of the foundation.  This created an installation where the wood walls were naturally locked in place laterally by the concrete wall itself.

     The reason this 30 year old house has done so well is because of the many “steps” in the foundation.  Stepping the foundation aids in interlocking the foundation and wood walls, thus restricting movement laterally.  If we take the same house with a uniform foundation---with no steps-----and did the same type of bolting as in the second picture, the house would likely not fare as well.

     As you can see, answering the seemingly simple question of whether the foundation is bolted or not does not really provide much in the way real information to anyone. 

     How the house is performing in relation to its age and methods of bolting is much more useful information to provide.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     One of the most common wood destroying organisms in the NW is the Moisture Ant.  Like Dampwood Termites and Anobiid Beetles, they are “opportunistic” in the sense that moisture conditions have to be correct (conducive) for them to be present. 

     As a Licensed, Washington State, Seattle Home Inspector and a Licensed Structural Pest Inspector, if I found evidence of these critters in your home----either past or present----the following is what you would see in your Inspection Report:

Moisture Ant colonies typically start in already decayed wood and are considered a secondary infestation.  Their nests are designed to promote moisture and further decay of the wood they cover.  Removal of the damaged wood and replacement with sound wood will be required.  Moisture ants require moisture to thrive, and eliminating the moisture source must be part of control measures.

      Added to this statement would be their location and a description of the damage and the possible causes of the leaking.  It might not be possible to determine the extent of damage, because the actual damage might be located much further away from where their visual signs are found.

     For example, the other day I found this Moisture Ant structure extending from the top of the foundation up to the floor structure. 

     While there was minor decay present in the wood covered by this structure the bulk of any damage is likely above the floor structure somewhere else.  In this case, the area of real damage is somewhere in the chase around the insert fireplace.  It will likely be necessary to remove some of the siding to actually figure out how much damage there is and to determine the source of moisture that is, or was, supporting the colony.  In this case, there was no present activity----the nest was only damp.  There is not enough moisture being introduced for the structure to stay wet enough to support the colony.  This indicates that either it was a past condition that has been remedied or a condition where they become active seasonally-----when long periods of rain allow enough moisture into the area to support their presence.

      It is not unusual to see Moisture Ants come and go in the home as the moisture conditions come and go.

      Of all the insects we deal with as Structural Pest Inspectors, I think I am most fascinated with Moisture Ants.  Partly because I know that they are not the “real” problem and the extent of damage is usually not going to ruin the house----like Anobiid Beetles can.

      You can think of Moisture Ants as sort of a “flag” waving at you.  It is saying, “HEY, knucklehead, you have a leak over here!”  You fix the leak and the ants go away.  You don’t have to get out your arsenal of non-environmentally safe chemicals and, ATTACK!  They are smart and know when they are not wanted----and simply leave.

      They build these marvelous structures called “carton” out of the materials they eat.  Take a look at this picture of Moisture Ants carton behind a baseboard electric heater. 

     They have taken the wet cellulose fiber and turned it into some of the coolest carton I have found.

     This wet “nest” now is able to keep surrounding wood structures wet and extends the moisture into structures that were previously not wet.  As this wood decays it too becomes food and habitat for the Moisture Ants ----and the colony can grow.  It is this ability to expand their nests into previously dry areas and causing decay/rot that gets them to be classified as a “wood destroying” insect. 

     In reality, whoever didn’t notice the leak, and fix the leak might also be considered a wood destroying organism.  It is generally human beings that create the conditions that are conducive to many wood destroying insects in our homes.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector