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Hi James, I'm not exactly sure what you're saying. Care to elaborate? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Consistency is good but what do you like; it's your house, after all. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

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Dr. Fallah, After reading this article, it looks like it's not really telling us anything that IAQ folks haven't been telling us for years about certain categories of folks being susceptible to mold issues. Does this article bring anything new to the table that home inspectors need to think about or is it just more hype meant to keep us all sufficiently spooked about the mold thing that we'll continue to push folks to get mold inspections and testing? My curmudgeon mind wants to know. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Newswise — Visible mold exposure early in life may be a strong risk factor for early asthma development, but exposure to mold components with no visible mold present may have an opposite effect according to a study published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI). Investigators from the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS) found children at age 3 years with high visible mold in the home during infancy, evaluated through home inspection, were 7 times more likely to have a positive Asthma Predictive Index (API) criteria. In contrast, those with exposure to fungal components – or (1-3)-â-D-Glucan, a measure of biologically active exposure – were at a decreased risk. The study included a birth cohort of children born to atopic parents. To read the entire article, click here.

Hi Ellen, It's good to hear from you and to know that your forum notification is working properly. Maybe I should post more business questions to your forum; heck, the way business is right now for home inspectors, these guys can use all of the advice they can get. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Population of 200K in the area? I doubt there's a paucity of insulation contractors in a place with that kind of population density - there might be only one that does blown-in foam though; and, if that's the case, it'll look like he's been up-selling his product over others with similar R-value and air stopping capabilities. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

It depends on what they want. If they want a report, they're going to get charged for it so they might as well pay the full price for the inspection 'cuz at my hourly rate it'll cost them far more. If they only want a one page memo, I figure out what total time at the house and typing up a memo will be and I charge them accordingly. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

OK, So, sometimes one or two slips by; it's no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. OT - OF!!! M.

Yeah, I know the situation well; I come from Amenia, NY - pop. 1100. My father was one of about 3-4 good builders in town. I don't know if there are any inspectors there but the nearest large town is at least 15 miles away. Folks used to ask my father to check out homes they were planning to buy and tell them if there was anything there that would give him pause; later, after they'd purchased, they'd call him to replace the roof or do the remodeling. Under the rules here and there, he wouldn't be able to do that. The premise for the rule is to prevent an inspector from drumming up work for himself by identifying unnecessary issues that need work and then becoming the person to do the work. I really think there needs to be a way to allow inspectors who make their living in rural areas to do both. After all, you screw one person in a small town by making crap up to get more work from them and you're liable to find everyone shunning you and calling the other 3-4 guys in town that are contractors. It's pretty hard though to convince folks who've lived in a pretty built-up area their entire lives that this is something that has the potential to hurt folks in very rural areas. Still, I think that this home inspector probably dug his own hole if that's not a rural area where he's operating. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, If they stop me partway through the first inspection in order to walk, I charge them my hourly rate instead of full price. If they allow me to complete the entire inspection, they pay the price that's agreed upon. I might cut them a little slack on a second inspection but not much; because, if they're buying a house in this economy they are probably doing better than I am - after all, I'd just saved them many thousands of dollars by giving them the straight skinny on the house that they just walked away from. There's no better time to point out that you're worth every bit of your fee and that you'd been a nice guy by cutting them slack on the first one but this isn't exactly like selling donuts; buy one get a second at half price, that kind of thing, doesn't really work here. Oh, by the way, you shoudn't listen to any money advice from me; Mike B. says I'm the world's worst salesperson. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, The vendor that bid has specified about 10 - 12 locations around the state - maybe more, I didn't actually count them when I previewed their "handbook" the other day. The law states that DOL may begin issuing licenses as of July 1st, so, if everything goes on schedule; EXPERIENCED inspectors - those who can prove that they'd completed at least 100 inspections and had been in business two years as of June 12, 2008, can take the test as soon as it's available and can apply after July 1st for their license. This category, which should be the largest group getting their licenses, will have until September 1st to complete the licensing process. Those who do not fall into the experienced category is anyone that didn't have the 2/100 criteria as of June 12, 2008; these folks are the ones that will need to complete the 120 hours of classroom instruction plus the 40 hours of supervised inspections plus take the NHIE with the Washington component before they can apply and they'll have until July 1, 2010 to get their license. After that, they'll be operating illegally if they don't hang up their tool belt until they've completed the requirements. The board did discuss those in gray areas; those who've already paid for courses and will want their course to count even though it's not a course that's been approved. The board recommended to DOL that DOL individually evaluate those folks on a case-by-case basis, and, if it was a credible course in a bricks-and-mortar classroom, give those folks partial credit and allow them to get their hours by completing an abbreviated course of not less than 60 hours that will fill in any gaps between what that course taught and what is required in the approved curriculum. An example might be where someone has taken the 80 hour ITA/Kaplan course. Kaplan has closed all of it's bricks-and-mortar schools and consolidated it's inspection training staff and resources in Minnesota and is only offering online training now. That's kind of screwed the students that they enrolled and taught here since this law was passed last year, instead of waiting to get their courses approved. In order for one of these folks to get licensed now, Kaplan, as the education provider, would need to design a makeup curriculum and get it approved, and then convene a 60 hour bricks and mortar classroom somewhere and let these folks finish their training. Guess we'll have to see what the Director decides to do. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Yes, although I don't know the rules for every jurisdiction, most new construction I see has them solidly anchored to the piers. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, Here's the rest of the story. The UFFI issue aside, which I think is way overblown, it appears to be a clear conflict of interest with the inspector, who also owns a foam insulation company, later installing insulation in the same homes that he's inspected. We put prohibitions in place here against that sort of thing. Once the new law kicks in, an inspector won't be able to do any work on a house that he's inspected for at least a year - that includes any companies that the inspector has an interest in; so, a home inspector that also owns a pest management company, or is part owner of a pest management company, won't be able to treat the home or have his partners company treat the home, thus eliminating any potential conflict. I think this inspector/contractor has dug himself a pretty deep hole by doing this. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, when you think about the fact that, in addition to foundation bolts, there are seismic anchors around the perimeter, straps that extend up the side walls and the posts are secured to the footings and to the beams above, where the heck are these posts going to go? I've looked at an awful lot of old housing stock here where there is nothing more than a post resting on a pier held in place by pressure due to gravity and the overwhelming majority of them are doing, and have done, just fine. I'm not saying that the lateral bracing isn't a good idea; only that maybe it's a little bit of overkill. Then again, I'm sure that the folks that owned those few houses where I did see evidence of significant movement would strongly disagree. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, The test is supposed to be ready by May 1st and it is an additional fee beyond the licensing fee. The program has to be cost-neutral. The $600+ fee covers staff and board costs and is supposed to be reduced after the first go-round - like I think they did in Illinois. Licenses will renew every two years so the license fee works out to about .89 cents a day for the first two years, give or take; when you add in the cost of the test, I guess it's about $1.19 a day for the first two years. That's a WAG assuming $650 license fee and $225 test fee - I don't actually know what the real figures for those are. I know some folks are ticked about the cost of this; me, I just chock it up to being part of the cost of doing business in a state that doesn't have any income taxes and needs to nail everyone with high fees for every program that's initiated. Now, if the board is eliminated after June 1, 2010, as government now plans to do, costs should drop. However, then inspectors aren't going to have the board as a buffer between inspectors and the non-inspectors at DOL that actually run the program. That should make for some interesting stuff to talk about in the home inspector future here in Washington State. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

40 years? Um, not to be a knit-picker, and I know I'm lousy at numbers, but I make it just about 31 years since lead paint manufacture was banned and 29 years since the last cans of lead paint had to be off the shelves of stores. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Mike, I thought Seattle was on the 2006 (still no diagram though). See... http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/Seattle2 ... ameset.htm Hi Rich, That's what I'd thought too...until I'd clicked on my favorites link. Hmm, maybe they've got separate links to the 2003 and the 2006. Jeez, what a pain in the keester. Guess I've gotta replace that link. Thanks. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Nope, Seattle is still using the 2003 IRC here: http://www2.iccsafe.org/states/Seattle/ ... ameset.htm Check chapter 5 - No such diagram. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, Old paint flakes off and gets ground into dust; then kids get the yard dirt on their hands and, as kids do, they're always sticking their hands in their mouths and that's how they ingest it. OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, Yes, the vendor contract has been awarded and the vendor is going to use the NHIE. There will be a Washington State component added to the test. There've been many people who've already taken the NHIE asking whether they will be given credit for the version they've taken and will only have to take the Washington State component. Members of the board - particularly the education sub-committee - have been accused of having power swollen heads because the committee felt all along that for the process to be fair everyone would have to take the same test. Well, the criticism would be fair if the board actually had any power and was trying to throw it around but they don't; this is strictly an advisory board. Everything that the board has put together is strictly a recommendation to the Department of Licensing - it's the Director's decision whether to accept it or reject it and create his own rules instead. As for the NHIE, the decision has come down from the state's Attorney General's Office and, no, those who've taken the NHIE already will not get credit for having already taken the test. According to the Attorney General, everyone who is licensed by the state must take the same test given by the same vendor in order for the process to be defensible. I know that doesn't sit well with some folks but that's the way it is as decided by the guy who's job it is to decide such things. Even if the board had wanted to allow those folks who felt their previous NHIE score should suffice, we would have been told that we weren't allowed to do it. There will be a CR-102 (Proposed Rule Making) public hearing on the new SOP in Olympia on the 24th at the Department of Licensing Offices in the second floor conference room. The meeting will begin at 10:30 am. This hearing is strictly to hear public comment on the SOP part of the puzzle. You can see the announcement here. Those who are interested in providing input about the new SOP should attend this meeting because DOL wants to hear input. However, folks should know that going there to vent about the fact that you don't like licensing will be a wasted trip. DOL doesn't have the power to chuck licensing or to change rules set in statute such as the rules that mandate the 120 hours of in classroom training or the 40 hours of supervised inspections, etc. This hearing will be about the new standards of practice and these can be reviewed at the DOL Home Inspectors' website at: http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/homeinspectors/ ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Property Fax, Make sure that, if any inspectors from Washington State sign up to be one of your affiliates, that they understand that very soon they will need to divulge to their clients that they are getting a commission from you when/if they refer a customer to your site. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Three possibilities - one you've mentioned, 1) Before they put that metal cover on the crown of that stack the mortar cap cracked and allowed water to saturate those bricks directly under the crack and when the weather dropped to below freezing in winter the wet bricks spalled all over the place. The owner, seeing that, brought out a mason who said, "Lookie here, cracked cap, spalling brick, I need to put a cover on top of this thing to stop the bricks becoming saturated like this again. 2.) They intentionally knocked the edges off those bricks and built the stack that way as some kind of artsy fartsy detail. 3. That sucker got hit with lightning. Is it possible that back in the 90's they had a metal TV antenna pole secured to the chimney at that very spot and it became a lightning rod? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

You tooooo funny! OT - OF!!! M.

Hi All, Find me a credible insurance guy that I think I can trust to come on here and provide credible free advice and I'll be happy to rename it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike