Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

     There are lots of things about doing Home Inspections that are not for the faint of heart-----things that would even scare Hitchcock I think.

     Home inspectors need to have a healthy respect and/or tolerance for electricity, rats, tight spaces, filth, spiders, snakes, heights----and people.

     The other day I inspected the roof of a four story condo building.  Looking over the edge of the roof to check out the fascia and siding, I noticed the toy cars below.

     Vertigo anyone?

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     I have always been interested in all the stages a structure can go though over its life span----often vastly different or unimagined from its original use.
     Like a lighthouse turned into a bed and breakfast or a school turned into condominiums.
     Wars are acted out on giant world-wide stages with much drama and acting much like might be symbolically acted out in a play on a smaller stage of a local theater.
     The symbolism and irony of seeing an old World War II gun emplacement at Fort Casey on Whidbey Island, Washington turned into a stage was another example of such a transformation.  The surrounding fortifications were fittingly turned into theater seating.

     This stage could just as easily be used to celebrate victories in the Pacific Theater or to voice the protests of those that oppose war----or everything between, before, or after.  Perhaps a wedding or a rock concert or a poetry reading might get staged.  Since this bunker is named after someone named "Thomas Parker" it was only natural that I would do a Google search to learn who the hell Thomas Parker was.  I never did find out because I got distracted reading about a group that called themselves the "Thomas Parker Society."  Apparently in 1991 people started gathering at this place with flashlights and candles to do poetry readings and story telling which has since morphed into an even wider influence around the country.

     There really is no way to know which, if any, of its uses created the most "value" to the culture that built it----perhaps all----perhaps none----depending on the theater goer.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     Who hasn’t wandered along a beach to see what the tides have washed ashore? 

     It can be fun to wonder what the things we find on the beach are, and how the stuff got to be there.  Some are barely recognizable pieces of glass, or objects made of metal and wood, while other things are all too recognizable pieces of junk.  Some of the most common things found are cigarette lighters, pop bottles and tampon dispensers.  Since approximately 7 million tons of junk gets tossed into the oceans every year it is no wonder that lots of it washes up on our beaches----most of which one could care less how it got there except perhaps to chastise some “idiot” for throwing it thoughtlessly overboard.   

     Most of this stuff is not likely going to excite a beach comber.

     The other day as I was walking on the beach at Fort Casey, Whidbey Island, Washington, I came across an object that might have unlocked some of those secrets-----if I could have but found the key. 

     But upon turning over the object, I saw that the most important part of the lock was missing----as if perhaps there was no secret to unlock after all. 

     All the wondering about how th pad-lock got to be there would only be as rich as ones imagination.

     Of course it obviously came off the door of some storm ravaged ship’s hold filled with gold in route from the Yukon to bank coffers in Seattle.

     But that is probably a little too fanciful, as it more likely fell out of some Boy Scout’s pocket or was simply thrown into the drink with other refuse from the fort.

     What becomes important at some point is not the knowing----but the imagination. 

     That is not to say that there is not some wonderful story about how the lock got to be there, but until someone emails me and says, “Hey, you found my lock,” I will just have to entertain myself.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     While it is never a good idea to jump to conclusions as a Home Inspector, our experiences as home inspectors can lead us to sometime “predict” with great accuracy what we are going to find.

     For example if we find large areas of missing shingles on a roof it is not too much of a leap to suspect there might be considerable damage on the interior of the building----especially if there is evidence that the shingles have been missing for a long time.

     Another example is when we are walking around the exterior of a home that we know has a crawl space but there are no crawl space vents showing.  This will set off alarm bells for most home inspectors in this neck of the woods.  It is possible that it is a type of crawl space that is constructed in such a way as to not require venting---but they are rare enough that an inspector’s alarm bells should be going off.

     I saw a crawl space the other day that should be setting off everyone’s alarm bells----inspector or not.

     I do not need to go in this crawl space to know that at the very least it is going to be “interesting.”

     Better check the tide tables.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     Sometimes it just comes down to dumb luck.

     While the best laid plans of mice and men can result in disaster, sometimes those plans can result in greatness and incredible accomplishment. 

     The other day, while vacationing on beautiful Whidbey Island, as I walked along the beach at what must have been a minus tide, I found this stranded sea star.

     If you have never explored the beach at a minus-tide (tides that fall well below normal seasonally) you don't know all the amazing things that can be found----things that you would usually only get to see if you were actually under water.

     As I looked at this sea star and saw his crossed fingers, it got me wondering if he was hoping the tide would roll back in soon. 

     When we are in a position of crossing our fingers in anticipation of a particular outcome, it would be best to have a little more vision (information) than the poor sea star.  On the other hand, perhaps the sea star knows very well the tide is going to come back in, he just is hoping he won't be perceived as lunch for somebody before it does.

     If we find ourselves crossing our fingers----that just means we either don't understand or are about to become lunch.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     If one insists on planting stuff so that it can climb on one’s house, one is only asking for trouble. 

     Not only can we not see what the vegetation is physically doing to the house, but it provides an easy protected access to the roof structure for an assortment of critters----including rats.  This giant kiwi monster is so camouflaged that he is barely discernible from the background----and might have gone un-noticed but for the keen eye of the inspector.  This house had lots of rats, and while the kiwi looks better than rats, it is in this case no better than rats.

     This sort of vegetation is a favorite pathway into the structure for Carpenter Ants as well.

     So when your Seattle Home Inspector (or any inspector in any area) recommends that you to keep this stuff cut away from your home, please pay attention----or the kiwi monster may just eat your house too.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     Just West of  the little town of Index, Washington, on the Skykomish River, there is a scenic picnic spot that the kids and I found on one of our many camping adventures into the Cascade Mountains.  My oldest daughter Julia gave it the name “Green and White Water Carved Rocks.”  I think the name she gave it is a little poem in itself and it also fits nicely into a haiku.

     As you can see by the picture----no poem can do the place itself justice----but the poem can just be its own thing----just as the river is.

Green and white water

Carved rocks with red fish swimming

In ice cold shadows

     This is indeed what you think it is----even looks like one.  It could be straight out of Walt Disney, it is so classic.

     It even has a concrete stoop in front of the entrance.  An actual door would be an improvement I think.

     While I could talk about rats in relation to this “doorway,” what this post is really about is the concrete stoop at the doorway.  It is about what happens when concrete patios get installed over the top of wood siding in the Pacific Northwest.  If the siding is buried, so is the wood floor system behind it.  It could also be about what happens when you don’t have your crawl space inspected for 30 years----or about all the bottle flies----or about the lack of ventilation. 

     Just the other side of this entryway, the following picture shows what the floor system looked like.

     I don’t think you have to have ANY experience at anything to know that this does not look right.  The grey shape just to the right of the center of the picture is the edge of the concrete patio----the framing all rotted away.

     The crawl space vent was also covered over when the patio was installed and can be seen at the lower right corner of the picture.

     I would say, “Rotten luck,” but it really didn’t have anything to do with luck to get this way.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     There is an old-time folk wisdom that says, “Sometimes you just have to follow your nose.”

     But think about it.

     Is that REALLY what happens? 

     I mean, it is not as if the dang thing has a mind of its own after all (except during flu season maybe). 

     Actually, don’t we more or less push it around?  Wherever we go it is out there in front----kind of like being tied to the cow catcher on the front of a train----scared shitless over what we are getting it into next.  As we speed down the track of life it always gets pushed wherever the track takes us. 

     Most people don’t realize they are on a track----thinking the train just runs wherever it wants. 

     But that is more about denial than it is about freedom.

     Even if one chooses to walk backwards----our poor nose gets dragged along like a little red caboose---trying to figure out why it is red.

     Regardless it still ends up wherever we do.

     No wonder it ends up in someone else’s business so often.

    All aboard!!----time to get to know where you are going.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

     Anyone that has read my blog knows that on any overly hot day you will find me curled up for a nice nap in some cool crawl space somewhere. 

     Everyone likes to cuddle with something furry and fun!

     The other day when I was NOT napping in a crawl space, I came across many seismic straps and bolts that had not been used, and it got me scratching my head for answers----maybe it was actually the bottle flies in my hair----but I was thinking, I swear!

     Did some engineer 30 years ago give the “go-ahead” to NOT use these straps and bolts?

     Was something else done to compensate?

     Was the Jurisdictional Inspector taking a nap that day?

     Good questions----the answers of which I have no clue----as a Seattle Home Inspector I have no choice but to call in a structural engineer to make the determination.  I have a feeling someone is not going to be very happy----but odds are that the original contractor isn’t alive or is in another country that doesn’t have building codes.

     Part two of this story involves Mr. Fuzy Fixrotrus.  There was a long-standing leak inside the wood-framed chimney chase that had rotted out the floor under the fireplace.  Fuzy Fixrotrus was called to repair the damage.  As you can see in the picture the patching is obvious along with the new decay rot that has occurred since Fuzy did his repairs.  Instead of figuring out how the water was getting into the chimney and fixing that, he merely fixed the decay in the floor system.

     Looks like job security to me.

     At some point in the process of completing the repairs, old Fuzy Fixrotrus must have had a conversation with himself about this seismic strapping that I mentioned earlier.  One of these straps ran right up through the middle of his repairs.  I can just imagine him saying to himself: “What can possibly be the harm in just getting rid of this one?  There are so many others.”

     Well he was right about there being many others----but what he could not have guessed, was that when he cut off the strap there were others that were not connected either.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector