hausdok

I'm referring to the horizontal stuff that's down on the tops of the piers. It was probably placed there to keep things from moving around while they got the platform on top; now it really has no function. OT - OF!!! M.

Afterthought is right. Check out the water line on the wall in the right of the 4th picture, on the far wall in the 6th picture and where it runs even with the top of the grade beam in the 7th picture. They had major flooding under that building in the past. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I've seen a few that were pretty old and doing pretty well. Then again, I remember one house where the water got into the bottom of the post 'cuz it wasn't coated and the post rotted. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yep, Type - Who would've known I'd miss that one. I'll call Rhonda and get her to fix it. resqman, shoot an email to Rhonda Myers( RMyers@DOL.WA.GOV ) at Department of Licensing. She's the Program Manager. Rhonda Myers, Program Manager Business & Professions Home Inspectors Department of Licensing Direct Line (360) 664-6487 Fax (360) 586-0998 ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Rich, That sure looks like the crawl of a twofer I did down Burien way a few years ago. It's probably creosote or Cuprinol. I agree with Jeremy - temp bracing that should have come out. What do they want you to do; bless it sight-unseen based on photos? OT - OF!!! M.

Hi, It looks like a manufactured home where the hot water polybutylene lines were replaced. If memory serves, it was the hot water side where all the problems were with the PB fittings, No? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Heh, Heh, That's comical; especially since Carson-Dunlop is right there in Ontario. I bet within the next day or two Alan Carson gets this posted to the same paper. According to Carson, it stops off-gassing within three weeks. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I have the Protimeter SM too. I've had it since 1999 and it's still going strong despite my dropping and breaking it a number of times. Tip: Anyone that owns a Protimeter PM - if you drop it on concrete or tile enough times it's going to go kaputt. When that happens, it's probably because repeated shock (which cracked my case when dropped from about 15 ft. onto concrete) has broken the little transformer loose from the circuit board and the wire connecting it, which is thin as a human hair, has snapped. If you call the factory, they'll tell you that it's probably the transformer and tell you to send it back and that they'll repair it for $125. I heard that, took mine down to the local TV repair shop and for $10 the guy fixed it in ten minutes by using some Wacky Taffy (or whatever that rolled-together epoxy you see Billy Mays do on TV is) to anchor the tranformer and soldered in a tiny section of wire where the break was. I've been back there about 2-3 more times for re-repairs. Total cost of repairs over 10 years about $50. If I'd sent it to Protimeter 3-4 times I'd be in the $600 range by now. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Agree with the need for head flashing but I looked at that stucco parapet and wondered whether the WRB under the stucco wraps up and over that thing or they just went right over the framing with some lath and no WRB. If the WRB didn't go up and over the parapet, that stucco could allow some water into that wall plane beneath the parapet. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, This began making its way around via email yesterday. Apparently it's true and you can find a more in-depth explanation at Snopes ------------------------------------------------------ This week I had the first case in history of raisin toxicity ever seen at MedVet. My patient was a 56-pound, 5 yr old male neutered lab mix that ate half a canister of raisins sometime between 7:30 AM and 4:30 PM on Tuesday. He started with vomiting, diarrhea and shaking about 1AM on Wednesday but the owner didn't call my emergency service until 7AM. I had heard somewhere about raisins AND grapes causing acute Renal failure but hadn't seen any formal paper on the subject. We had her bring the dog in immediately. In the meantime, I called the ER service at MedVet, and the doctor there was like me — had heard something about it. Anyway, we contacted the ASPCA National Animal Poison Control Center and they said to give IV fluids at 1 & 1/2 times maintenance and watch the kidney values for the next 48-72 hours. The dog's BUN (blood urea nitrogen level) was already at 32 (normal less than 27) and creatinine over 5 (1.9 is the high end of normal). Both are monitors of kidney function in the bloodstream. We placed an IV catheter and started the fluids. Rechecked the renal values at 5 PM and the BUN was over 40 and creatinine over 7 with no urine production after a liter of fluids. At the point I felt the dog was in acute renal failure and sent him on to MedVet for a urinary catheter to monitor urine output overnight as well as overnight care. He started vomiting again overnight at MedVet and his renal values have continued to increase daily. He produced urine when given lasix as a diuretic. He was on 3 different anti-vomiting medications and they still couldn't control his vomiting. Today his urine output decreased again, his BUN was over 120, his creatinine was at 10, his phosphorus was very elevated and his blood pressure, which had been staying around 150, skyrocketed to 220 ... He continued to vomit and the owners elected to Euthanize. This is a very sad case - great dog, great owners who had no idea raisins could be a toxin. Please alert everyone you know who has a dog of this very serious risk. Poison control said as few as 7 raisins or grapes could be toxic. Many people I know give their dogs grapes or raisins as treats including our ex-handler's. Any exposure should give rise to immediate concern. Onions, chocolate , cocoa and macadamia nuts can be fatal, too. Even if you don't have a dog, you might have friends who do. This is worth passing on to them. Laurinda Morris, DVM Danville Veterinary Clinic Danville , OH Confirmation from Snopes about the above: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/raisins.asp

Here's more on this issue.

Hi, The Consumer Product Safety Commission published an alert way back around 1997-98 wherein they basically condemned the use of any flexible connectors and ducting for dryers. They used to have a really nice graphic on their site that illustrated the problem but I can't find it any longer. Basically, their position is that the moisture-laden air from the dryer gets slowed down by corrugated connectors and ducts, condenses in the duct and wets the inside surfaces and this traps lint that gradually builds up until it closes off the duct. If it's a gas dryer and the safety sensor fails, this will force CO back into the home and, regardless of type, if the safeguards fail the lint can ignite. CPSC did a study of fires in American homes from 1994 through 1997 and discovered that more than 17,000 fires had been caused by corrugated ducts and/or connectors. CPSC's position was that only a smooth-walled metal connector and duct should be used; that the joints should not be screwed together and should be sealed with self-adhering aluminum foil tape and should be swabbed out annually from the dryer to terminus. I sure wish I could find that friggin graphic from 1997! ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

So, Mike. What are you going to do in the case of a condo where nobody is home in surrounding units and all is quiet at the time of the inspection - just add another disclaimer? You see, it is like mold in that it's there at the time of the inspection, even if you don't realize it, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it. Like mold, cigarette smoke, noisy kids next door, a dog barking next door, noisy television in the units above and below, guy who likes to crank up the bass and play rap music so loud it vibrates the floor, there are all things that might not present during the inspection but can present themselves after your client moves in that you couldn't possibly have predicted and have no way to measure. Do what you want, it's your inspection; just be mindful of the fact that you could very well be raising unreasonable expectations in the mind of the client. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Wow, The middle western states look kind of bare. I wonder if that's a reflection of the number of inspectors in that region as well? Probably, we don't hear a whole lot from lots of folks in North or South Dakota or Nebraska or Utah or a few others. Maybe home inspections just haven't caught on so strongly in those areas or maybe they have and there's just a small ratio of inspectors to sales in those areas and they don't want to attract other inspectors to that region. Hmmm. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I dunno, There might be something to it. I'd always thought it was goofy that when I increase the heat in my car the fan would automatically slow down on certain settings. I thought it might just be that brand car or that I might have a bad switch but when my wife got her beamer I discovered that when the heat is thermostatically controlled the fan actually runs slower for higher heat. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I find the sound deadening insulation loose in plenums all the time. It usually on the intake side where the owner will loosen it by not being careful when installing the filters. Sometimes it's the insulation on the sides of the air handler. In a case like that, it sometimes gets pulled loose and sucked into the sides of the blower. I suppose if there were a big flap of sound deadening insulation loose on the outlet side of the air handler that was hinging up ward and closing off part of the outlet side - at least enough to push air backward, it might force some air out the returns. It's certainly a possibility worth exploring. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Tell them to go to the Building Science site and study the concept of "Vapor Diffusion" and that, once they understand it, fire the insulation sub they're using and bring in another to get all of the insulation under all of those homes pushed up against the underside of the floors where it's supposed to be. Look at your first picture - that tells the tale. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, Fix the barrier, make sure you don't have any windows or doors leaking into the walls and make sure the insulation is against the underside of the floors and not flush with the bottom of the joists with a two inch space above it for warm moist air to migrate into from above and head straight for the cold rims. OT - OF!!! M.

That's exactly where you'd find condensation in most finished basement houses in a heating climate if you were to cut into the ceiling and explore the rim joist area. An alternative possibility is rain that's leaking in at the sills. Did the siding extend below the sill or did they stop it right at the sill where moisture draining off the drip edge of the siding will wick directly into the sills? Found exactly the same thing two weeks ago on the rim of a crawl behind a concrete porch without any vents. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

LOL!!! Leave it to Katen to cause me to blow hot coffee through my nose! OT - OF!!! M.

Phillip, If you know that, and the client knows it, and the client is worried about it - the client need only hire an indoor air quality firm to come in and go through the house, take samples and do the testing, but it needs to be at the client's insistance, not yours. Otherwise, if the house turns up clean your credibility suffers. If I saw that stain I wouldn't give it a second thought. If the client asked about it, I'd tell the client I don't have a clue as to what caused it, that from my point of view it's cosmetic and that I won't be reporting it. If, despite that, the client expressed some concern about it I'd tell the client to hire an indoor air quality firm to test it and I'd point out that the client should expect to pay anywhere from $300 to $700 for that service. OT - OF!!! M.

Listen folks, I understand that you all want to do what's best by your client but the job isn't about telling the client about things that the clients are able to perceive on their own; it's about cluing them into stuff that they have no clue about so that they don't go into the deal with their eyes half-closed. A noise standard for new construction is just fine but it's the job of the engineer that designs a house to figure that out and the code guy's job to ensure it's done. Once the wall, ceiling and floor planes are closed, there's no way for us to know whether it complies or not. If someone is purchasing a unit in a multi-story housing with someone above, below and on both sides of them they are going to need to expect that they're going to hear things from units around them and their going be able to perceive all of that stuff on their own - they don't need you to tell them about it. Doing that is the same things as writing up cosmetic stuff - which is also stuff that the client can perceive without assistance. If all inspectors get into the habit of commenting on and writing up unnecessary stuff, they end up creating unreasonable expectations in the minds of buyers. Imagine what would happen for instance if all inspectors in Seattle were to start writing up noises they hear from neighboring properties - even though it's never been a requirement of the profession over the past half of a century; people would soon begin to expect all inspectors to write up noises they hear. Okay, so what if the units on both sides, top and bottom are vacant during the inspection and no sound is heard. The inspector doesn't report any bumps in the night and now two months later the client closes on the house, moves in and on the very first night gets woken up by a yelling match between some guy and his wife in the unit above. The client calls the agent all ticked off and, because you have placed the unreasonable expectation that the standard of care is to write up noises you hear from other units, the agent tells the client that you screwed up. Now you're the victim of a self-inflicted wound. What if the client has unusually keen hearing that's much better than yours and you don't note anything that you think is unusual during the inspection. If the client moves in and then can't sleep because the guy upstairs stays up each night to watch the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson should you the inspector be blamed for not having X-ray vision? What if Mike's hearing is better than the average person, he reports unusual noise transmission and theorizes that the home hasn't been built to proper acoustical standards and then they bring out someone who cuts holes in the walls and ceilings and discovers that it's all been built to standard. Mike will have inflicted a grossly unnecessary wound upon himself. Where do you stop when you start down that road? Are you going to report weird ethnic cooking odors from the neighbor's house - what if that neighbor isn't home and cooking at the time? Are you going to report a neighbor's house that's been painted what you consider a garish color - how would other inspectors who are color blind handle that if you make it part of the local standard of care? How about the window dispute a few years ago where some guy configured his windows to look like a hand giving someone the finger - are you supposed to report that? How about if a neighbor is a religious nut and has his or her property festooned with crucifixes and cherubs or crescents or pentagrams - should we report that when the client can clearly see it and has made an offer on the property anyway? How about if the neighbor has a car that's a piece of crap - should be report that? Should we go upstairs knock on the neighbor's door and say, "Hey, I want to come in and conduct a noise test to see whether you walking around up here is going to disturb my client in the future?" All of that kind of crap is the stuff that the agent is charged with discussing with the client. If someone is moving from an apartment building to a condo or townhome they probably aren't going to give this a second thought - of someone is moving from a home to a condo situation after having lived in a home for 20 years the agent is probably going to point those things out to that person and that person certainly will have already considered them - we don't need to be doing it for them. In fact, if you've lived in your own home for years, that's probably why you noticed it but the client didn't comment on it. Jeez, people, get real! I'm sorry if I'm lecturing but this is just too goofy for words - it's even more goofy than the idea that inspectors should be finding and reporting on all mold in a home. People, home inspecting needs to be kept about the standard of care that's been practiced for the past half of a century and we should stop making up new imagined house inspection bogeymen. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

What's next? IR screenings for poltergeists? OT - OF!!! M.

I wouldn't care about it. If the client wants to know the client can ask the seller what it's about and doesn't need you to do it. We get paid to find the stuff that the client is unable to find - not report the obvious to them. A stained carpet is a cosmetic issue. Unless it looked to me like it was caused by a leak in the roof or a failure of some electro-mechanical system I wouldn't even give it a thought. I've inspected homes that were so dirty that I showered twice after I got home and couldn't imagine purchasing them. Nonetheless, the clients that hired me for those places, had their own eyes, ears and noses and were intent on buying them anyway. It's not our business to worry about that kind of stuff. Once you comment on one thing like that during an inspection, you raise the expectation in the mind of the client that you should be commenting on all of them. What happens if you then don't? Don't go there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I'd say don't go there. You are there to help the client discover the things that the client is unable to discover about the house and it's systems. Was the client with you during the inspection? If so, unless the client was deaf, the client heard those noises and doesn't need you to point out obvious things that have nothing to do with the structure or it's systems. Heck, come to think about it, if the client was deaf, he or she probably wouldn't care about those noises anyway. I'd been on an inspection in a wonderful neighborhood that was very quiet and serene until some kid backed his hemi out of the garage down the street and then went down the street burning rubber. Should I have reported that? Didn't have to, the client spun around with a, "What the f**k!" and went out on the porch to see what was going on. I finished up the inspection but I could tell that he'd made up his mind that he wasn't going to be living on that block with a 2-year old toddler and a moron streaking down the street in a 4,000 pound weapon. Anyone who's ever lived in multi-family housing for more than a day knows that you can't do anything about the sound of footfalls above and must learn to live with it. Unless your client has lived a very sheltered life, the client knows that too. Don't go there. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike