Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

     Home inspector newborns.

     Is your home inspector a baby?

     Yes they are.  We all are.  As a profession we are in our infancy, which explains the huge range in quality of home inspections and the associated reports of those inspections.

     There is much bickering among home inspectors and various associations as to which one is the best, and inspectors will argue themselves blue in the face as to why they are better than inspector “X.”  The point I would like to make is that----unlike doctors and lawyers----or even hair dressers----or even massage therapists----we have virtually NO TRAINING that supports any argument as to what association or inspector is any better than any other.

     Until there is some sort of peer review and training that takes longer than a week or even a month, it is pretty much a stretch to call ourselves a profession.

     I do think that we are becoming a profession and can still provide an invaluable service to our buyers, but 25 years from now we will be as similar as a witch doctor is to a brain surgeon----perhaps even more distinctive.  Some of the inspectors that have been involved in this profession from the beginning are being dragged kicking and screaming to the next level.  No one wants to admit that this is NOT as good as it gets.  What we do now as inspectors will be unrecognizable from what the profession will look like in 10, 20, 30 years from now.

     Real Estate Agents are also part of this equation because they need to keep up with the growth of our profession as well.  Consumer expectations of home inspectors increases every day which results in better inspections with inspectors spending more time at the inspection.  The days of the one hour inspection are justifiably disappearing and the 5 hour inspection is becoming more common.

     Home inspectors are all a bunch of “Alpha Wolves” and it is easy for them to get all caught up in their own self-importance.  This makes it especially difficult for consumers to know which inspector is actually going to give them the best information possible in the short time that inspector is at the property they are looking at.

     My recommendation to consumers is to do as much research as possible about the inspector they are considering.  Google their names, their businesses and Professional Associations for more information about them.  Check their websites, read their blogs, find out whom your friends used for their inspection-----there is no easy way----but if you do your homework you will find one that is as competent as today’s industry standards allow. 

     There are no brain surgeons yet----but the diapers are getting uncomfortable.

    I have posted in the past about attic ventilation and how there are many ways to achieve good attic ventilation.  Ventilation can consist of passive means that utilize soffit vents, roof vents, gable vents and ridge vents.  Sometimes mechanical means are utilized with the installation of wind driven turbine type vents, and sometimes electrically or solar powered vents are installed.  See these three links to past posts to learn more about roof ventilation:

     When the trades don't talk to each other, @#$% happens!

    What is Giovanni Venturi doing in my attic?  

    Not all "short-circuits" are electrical!

    For my money, any time passive approaches can be utilized to do the job this should be encouraged as the use of electricity is costly.

     By far the best passive approach is the use of soffit vents in conjunction with ridge vents.  I have done several posts in the past regarding the Venturi effect that is created with the use of ridge vents and how this effect helps this approach be superior to roof vents and gable vents.  I have also posted as to why combinations of systems are a problem.

     At a recent inspection of a 5 year old townhouse, inadequate ventilation of the attic was evidenced by the beginning presence of mold or mold-like/fungal growth on the roof sheathing.  Movement of air through the attic needs to be sufficient to prevent moisture laden air to stagnate where it can condense on the cold roof surface.  Moisture was likely finding its way into this attic through poorly sealed ceiling fans and an attic access hatch that was not weather-stripped.  The ventilation system was not adequate to keep this moisture flushed out of the attic space.  Moisture laden air can also move into the attic from the exterior as well.

     In this first picture one can see the darkening of the roof surface between the trusses where the mold or mold-like fungal growth is beginning to form.

     The interesting thing about this structure was that provision for a ridge vent was made for installation of a ridge vent but it was never installed.  Note the gap at the ridge in the next picture.  The black area is the roof felt paper covering over the hole that was left for the ridge vent.  At the center bottom of the picture can be seen the lone gable vent that is cut in half by the end wall framing----further compromising the effectiveness of what was already inadequate.

     While most aspects of home construction are not in themselves “rocket science,” the building science aspect of the home comes pretty close.   All of the trades----all of those putting the pieces together, should have proper interdisciplinary training in Building Science in order to better understand how the building works as a whole.

     In this case all openings into the attic space will need to be properly sealed and/or weather-stripped, the continuous type ridge vent will need to be installed, and the gable vent will need to be removed.

     Galvanized drains installed prior to the mid 50’s are likely to be at the end of their life.  These are fairly general guidelines that the inspector will use when he or she finds them in your dream house, to let you know that you should be prepared for replacement of the pipes----even if they seem to be draining OK at the time of inspection.

     These pipes usually do not spontaneously start leaking.  In fact, failure happens pretty much continuously over the life of the pipe, gradually deteriorating on the inside, until small pin-holes start to develop.  These tiny leaks will seal themselves with rust until they corrode through again and then start to leak again.  Eventually the leaks can’t seal themselves any longer and the pipe leaks all the time.

     It is common to see these holes patched in a variety of ways from duct tape and tar to banding clamps.  I have sometimes seen repairs that would cost more than replacement of the pipe----well except that the plumber would have to be paid for his time.  So the homeowner looks at the leak, and will spend 40 bucks or 10 bucks and figure out a way to beat a little more life out of the pipes.

     These pipes drained just fine at the time of inspection-----and were not even leaking----and they are certainly WAY past the end of their expected life.  The inspector would be remiss to not recommend replacement NOW.

     For arguments sake, let’s just say you are a “Pipe-Beater,” and you really need to get a little more life out of the drain before you call in the plumber----and then have to fork over the big bucks.  The stainless steel no-hub couplings that one can see in the lower picture cost about $4.00 each, of which there are four----for a total of $16.00.  To replace that same section of damaged pipe with new plastic pipe would have required about $1.00 worth of pipe and two connectors for a total of $9.00----assuming you didn’t have to buy a hack-saw.

     Those of you that read my blog religiously will recognize the Asbestos wrapped pipes below the leak----the subject of yesterdays post.

     Will the plumber be willing to work around the stuff?  Good question.

Charles Buell

     As a designer/builder it was always important for me to pay attention to the notion of "form follows function."  Too much modern architecture allows function to follow form.  In other words if you have a "great-idea," the functional aspect might become secondary.  I suggest that in some cases the installation might not be such a "great-idea" if problems develop later on.

     Take the skylight on the following roof.  While it might be considered cool to have a skylight in the vaulted ceiling above the entryway----it is not such a good idea that it is located right in the path of the valley and gutter drainage above.  Skylights already fight a sometimes deserved reputation for leaking, and to add this level of challenge to it seems a little risky.

      Way back when this home was just scratches of ideas on a piece of paper, someone had to make the decision that this would not be a problem----or that somehow magic would happen.  It would have been better to have figured out a way to deal with it at the design stage than years latter when the only solution might be to eliminate the skylight (not a bad choice in my opinion either).  I would rather see light for these kinds of designs be provided by clerestory windows than skylights.

     Another way these types of installations come to be is that during construction someone says,"Hey, wouldn't it be cool to have a skylight here in the entryway?"  So, it gets added without fully evaluating all the ramifications. 

Charles Buell

     There are few items in the home that are as time-consuming to inspect as garage overhead doors---with the exception of crawl spaces and difficult attics. 

     There are numerous things that can go wrong with these large moving devices.  Today I am only going to focus on the button that one pushes to open and close them.  For more information about them, plus information on how to test them, please see:  You broke it----you fix it!

     Modern standards require the operator button to be located a minimum of 60" above the floor; and that there be a warning label posted next to it----as shown in the following picture.

     This warning label warns of the dangers these doors represent to small children.  It is placed at 60" so that children can't easily reach it.  I once was asked how small children are supposed to read the warning if they can't read----they were joking I think.

     This next picture is of the same push button which, when measured from the house level (two steps up from the garage floor), is easily within reach of small children.  While it may not be clear as to which floor surface the regulations require the button to be located 60" above, common sense (whatever the heck that is) would dictate that it would be safer to use the upper level.

     Hopefully all of your buttons are in the right place today.

Charles Buell

     Actually that isn't really as important as everyone having fun and learning something----myself included.

     I expect that the inspectors out there will have the most fun with this one as it is on the overly "technical" side.  I think everyone else should give it a go too-----and at least you can get a sense of what inspectors do.

     This time there are "five" pictures that have a "best" match in the set of "nine" pictures that follows.  The interesting thing about this quiz that is BETTER than the previous one is that the correct answers form an interesting anagram that is consistent with life----and perhaps the quiz.

     So here goes:

     So here are the nine choices:

  And the anagram is________________?

Charles Buell