Seattle Home Inspector's Blog

Ruh Roh----vertigo----where I go!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:18:13 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

PS, for those of you that are new to my blog (or for some other "unexplained" reason have never noticed)all pictures and smiley-face inserts (emoticons) (when I use them) have messages that show up when you point at them with your cursor.

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

It is all good theatre----or not. What say you Thomas Parker?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 09:31:49 -0400

     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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

The ocean is a locket full of secrets!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 08:48:09 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Breaking news! Giant Kiwi eats Washington State house!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 19:32:54 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Oh, by the way, we will have to schedule the inspection at low tide!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 09:33:01 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Have you ever been lunch?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 12:11:38 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

It is just a place to chase the old lady around in!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:33:42 -0400

I think that one of the things that went horribly wrong a while back (hard to pinpoint an exact starting point) was when people started thinking of their houses as “investments.”

Now I am no economic genius----they are all in the other Washington----and I certainly am no expert in the sales side of real estate either---even though I was a decent builder in my day. I read a statistic somewhere that claims that over the long haul, a home’s value stays relatively flat-----after adjustments for inflation and all that. So how did people get persuaded to jump on the “investment bandwagon?”

Once on board though, it makes sense that they would now be so upset with the huge supposed loses that have resulted in the most recent downturn.

Nobody likes to be a sucker.

So if a house is not a good “investment” what is it and why would anyone buy one?

Mainly because it is a “HOME.” (And that is not to say that a rental could not also be a home.)

Here is a short list of what makes a house a home as opposed to an investment (I am sure you can think of other things to add and are encouraged to do so in your comments).

1. You can paint it whatever color you choose (in most cases).

2. You can remodel it any way you choose (with proper permits of course).

3. You don’t HAVE to mow the lawn or you can mow in either a diagonal or horizontal pattern (in most cases).

4. You can punch holes in the walls and you don’t HAVE to fix them (there is no damage deposit).

5. You can let the toilet leak until it falls through the floor.

6. Being able to fart at will.

7. You can change your own damn furnace filter.

8. You can turn your whole yard into a vegetable garden if you want (in most cases).

9. You can plant a cherry tree.

10. You can cut down that 40 foot tall tree that you are afraid the airplanes might hit.

Now here are a few things that also make a house a home----although ownership is not required. And this list is also an “investment” albeit a more valuable asset than what “investment” has come to mean.

1. A place to chase the old lady or old man around in, which results in:

2. Having babies in them.

3. Raising babies in them (translate to: a place to change diapers and feel the babies smiles----not all smiles mean they have gas).

4. Fixing the windows the babies kick soccer balls through.

5. Sending the babies off to college or war.

6. Grieving the loss of a parent.

7. Grieving the loss of a child.

8. Grieving the loss of a spouse.

9. Divorcing the old lady or old man you chased around the house.

10. Discussing politics, religion and food.

11. A place to be a believer.

12. A place to be one that does not believe.

13. Thanksgiving Dinner.

14. Getting wasted (you pick your poison).

15. Watching television (could be included in #11)

16. A place to be sick.

17. A place to be taken care of when you are sick.

18. A place to care for sick people.

19. Eventually a place to change your own diaper; and finally:

20. Something to pass on to your kids (by then they will KNOW it is not a “monetary investment” but is actually their own personal money-pit---but they will take it for the memories).

When all is said and done----a home becomes a collection of memories that gets embedded in the structure of the house that forms its character over time----a social investment that can be read in the worn floors, the nicked door jambs and the stains on the ceilings.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

It Costs Five Times More To Get A New Client Than Keep An Old One.

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:34:56 -0400

Gabrielle has hit the nail on the head with this one. Almost every difficult client I have ever had, whether as a builder or as an inspector, are also the ones most likely to give me the most referrals. I have had other clients that knew I worked with "xxx" and told me that if I could work "successfully" with them, I could work with anyone and therefore must be good. :)

Via Gabrielle (Kamahele) Rhind, Associate Broker (Tierra Antigua Realty, Tucson AZ Real Estate):

Someone once said that and it was something I remembered yesterday as I spoke to an agent about their Seller's home. As we talked she said, "The Seller is crazy and difficult - and I don't like his wife - the sooner they are gone as clients - the better."

That left me with a really yucky feeling. (Kinda like when my old car doesn't start and I feel like trading it in for a new one - then I feel bad since it's been with me forever!) I've had difficult Sellers, or Sellers that maybe I didn't like much or Sellers that I knew were going to give me a run for my experience every day! But still ...

Anyway, I think it's safe to say - we all know how important it is to be respectful and loyal to our clients - it's the only way they will be loyal to us. And it's a lot easier to keep clients happy than it is to find new ones.

So when this agent, who will probably get upset when her clients find a different agent, comes crying about it - I will likely say:

Don't expect loyalty if you aren't going to give it.

My most difficult clients turn out to be my best referral source - often saying, "You put up with me - you deserve it!"

Difficult people tend to feel that they just aren't really being listened to - so really listen to your client and give a darn about what's going on with them.

Clients do sometimes test their real estate agent - if you aren't there with them during the easy and hard times - they will know - so change with them as their needs and situations change.

Respect and pay attention to everyone involved - not just the person perceived as the decision-maker. The Seller's wife's may not be a "signing party" to the transaction - but I guarantee you she's a decision maker - and so is a father in law, a best friend, etc.

Don't talk bad about your clients behind their back. Enough said.

Enjoy your Tuesday and be kind to your clients! (Photo from free Microsoft Clip Art)

Buying or selling Tucson real estate, Mt Lemmon, Tucson bank-owned homes, Tucson rental homes, or Tucson lease option homes? Visit www.BuyMyTucsonHome.com.



This blog is written with my opinions and my opinions are presented with accuracy but not guarantees. Please talk to a professional before making any real estate, financial or agency decisions.    Gabrielle (Kamahele) Rhind - 2009. If you want to reprint parts of this - just email me for my permission: TucsonsRealEstate@gmail.com.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Julia’s Skykomish River Poem

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:22:37 -0400

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

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Rots! Better luck next time! (Bet you thought I meant “rats” didn’t you?)

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:10:50 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

What do you know----your nose knows it doesn’t know! No?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 10:17:30 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Everyone likes to cuddle with something furry and fun!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 09:32:04 -0400

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

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

When was the last time you looked at yours?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:51:14 -0400

Lots of shite can happen when you haven’t checked your crawl space in 30 years.

For example, take a look at this plumbing leak in the drain from the kitchen/laundry. The leak has been spraying on the concrete pier support for 30 years. One can see how it has etched the concrete----exposing the aggregate in the concrete. Now this is not a “big” leak, and not much in the way of “solids” have escaped the drain----but it still represents a very unsanitary condition in the crawl space. Bottle flies like these kinds of leaks and many were noted buzzing around the crawl space----better than rats I guess.

This is just another example of why we should all inspect our crawl spaces annually.

When was the last time you looked at yours?

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

Do you read the signs?

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:48:09 -0400

WOODn’t it be nice if we could get exterior wood surfaces to grow and repair themselves?

We could create truly “living homes” as well as “lived-in” homes.

Unfortunately wood doesn’t work like that. Within hours of being cut it starts its return to the earth and quickly becomes food and shelter for other plants----and for insects as well. We call these insects “wood destroying insects” but in fact they are merely doing their job. They carry little signs that say, “If you don’t want me to eat your house----don’t make it look like food and/or insect habitat.”

Of course we only pay limited attention to these “signs.” We unknowingly encourage the circle of life. We cannot stop this cycle----but we can slow it down significantly with the proper precautions and good building practices. The person that installed the siding detail around this deck barrier obviously was not reading the signs.

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.

OK GANG-----we need a little more over on the Northwest corner!

Charles Buell, Seattle, WA, Home Inspector (Charles Buell Inspections.com) — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 09:55:49 -0400

The cool thing about ivy is that it can be trained.

Well, in truth, it can be “let go” so that it covers everything in sight. Ivy League schools are only beginning to see the damage that the “ivy look” can do to their brick structures and are removing it from buildings kicking and screaming because people like the look so much. Some schools would be almost unrecognizable without their ivy.

Regardless of how cool it looks----Ivy should never be allowed to climb buildings. I have seen it crawl under clapboard siding and fill up attic spaces where it turns an eerie albino color due to lack of light. I have seen it go through brick chimneys and come out the fireplace opening. Although it is not the “poison” kind, usually, it is poison to most structures.

In some cases, as with this chimney, it has gotten to the point where it not only is likely destroying the chimney but it is also likely holding it together----which only complicates the repair.

When it gets this bad (and this one is actually more picturesque in getting my point across than it is bad) it may be more than a matter of just removing the ivy and fixing the chimney, it may mean that the two have to be removed together to prevent the chimney from falling apart.

Those of you that have been following me for a while will remember Oscar the Grouch who was in fact holding the chimney together to the point that the whole chimney had to be re-built.

Is your house ivy-league---or in a league of its own?

Charles Buell, Seattle Home Inspector

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Click on the Rose to check out: AHA!---A Forum of Landmark Proportions---your Group

DeCroe, is my "ethereal" home inspector assistant and occasionally flies into my blog and other people's blogs to offer assistance. To find out more about her beginnings just click on Raven.