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Fully concur with Kurt. Sounds like someone didn't know what the hell they were doing. Go here, click on "Technical Notes", click on "full list", then review items #7, 7a and 7b. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Tried the 17ft. Werner today. Raining like hell and my ladders dripping water. Started wiping down the small ladder with the Shamwow and noticed the client had a nice dry and new 17ft. Werner sitting against the wall of the garage. "Can I borrow that ladder to access your attic? That'd be easier than crossing those hardwood floors with one of these dripping wet ladders, " I asked. "Sure thing," he replied and I got to check it out. It's actually about the same weight as the shorter Gorilla ladder but it opened and closed a lot smoother and I loved the fact that when it's fully extended in step ladder mode it was just a few inches below the ceiling. I didn't have to rest it against the edge of the scuttle and worry about it abrading anything and it was an easy step from the top of the ladder into the attic. I'll probably be getting one when I can score one at a good sale price. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, I agree with Rick. I do think we sort of establish muscle memory for how we work. I've established my own work process through 15 years of trial and error. When I stick to my process, I find the inspection flows better and I don't find myself forgetting things. I also don't have difficulty writing the report afterward because when I review the event in my mind afterward and compare it to my notes it flows the same way I write my report. Sometimes I'm forced to switch up my process due to really bad weather conditions; for instance, if the yard outside is super muddy and it's raining like hell and the inside of the home is pristine I don't want to come in there soaking wet and covered with spattered mud after I've done the exterior; so I'll do the stuff I do on the interior first - in the same order I'd normally do it once I go inside - and then when I'm finished I do the outside in exactly the same order I would have done it in had I started the outside first. That way, when I put it together in my mind later and compare it to my notes things flow the right way. I didn't take the article as saying that we need to do perfectly consistent inspections; only that we need to strive for as near to perfect consistency in our process as we can, in order to get the most benefit from the skills we've developed over the years. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

That's fine, but are you willing to buy a pig in a poke? I do REO sold-as-is homes on almost a daily basis now. You'd be amazed at the amount of stuff non-home inspectors miss when they go through these homes without an inspector and then make an offer. Sometimes they focus on one thing to the exclusion of everything else; your post might be an example of that. I looked at one the other day where the guy who'd walked away from the house had converted a garage into finished space. In the process he'd enclosed his gas furnace and gas water heater into a little space that had less than 1% of the volume needed for proper combustion of those two appliances. The vent connectors on top of these appliances required at least six inches of clearance to flammables; but the rocket scientist had framed right up against them, so it wasn't only a carbon monoxide poisoning event waiting to happen it was also a barbecue waiting to happen - which is exactly what I called it to the chagrin of the realtor who I thought was going to have a stroke she turned so red. Through the new basement bedroom highlighted in the advertising brochure was the only way to get to that space. That bedroom didn't have a legal egress window. Under the right conditions that "mechanical room" could have killed not just the person sleeping in that bedroom but everyone else living in the home. Do you have the expertise needed to spot those kinds of issues? Do yourself a favor; hire a good inspector. It's not just your largest financial investment you're talking about; it could be your life or the life of one of your loved ones. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

So, new constructionj windows need to be flashed; that's a given - and James Hardie wants to see head flashings above them with a quarter inch drainage gap above those head flashings as well as over all other wall penetrations larger than an inch and a half. They also want to see splines (flashings) at every butt joint. They do say that WRB is to be installed in accordance with local building codes; so, if it wasn't required under local codes I suppose the installer was off the hook with the local code bubba but won't be off the hook with you if/when that OSB begins to rot. Click here for a copy of the J.H. best practices guide for your region (Wait for it, it's 26 pages and over 16 Mb). The best practices guide is supposed to be used by the installer in conjunction with the installation instructions; but most of the installers I've met personally haven't ever seen it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, We've seen that video here before. Holmes doesn't get much in the way of props here and he never will as long as he continues to try to define this profession as how only he envisions it - namely invasive. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Like Jim, I've tried that and ended up with dark marks on the hatch that I'd had to clean off. That ultimately took more time than if I'd used it in stepladder fashion to open the hatch and then unfolded it to get in there. The white tape idea is fine but I'm using that 13footer outside to get from lower roofs to upper roofs on almost a daily basis and that'd tear up the tape. These ladders aren't difficult to carry; slip your arm through the appropriate rung, reach down and grab the rung below and you can get around quite handily despite the weight. They are a little bit of a chore to open up in a narrow hallway or walk-in closet - it seems to me that the 17footer in the closed position would make high-ceilinged hatches no more difficult than conventional 8ft. ceiling hatches to get through with less wrestling in narrow confines and without climbing something that's gonna flex like crazy when I climb it. If I ever get around to purchasing a 17footer, I'll let you all know how it works out. Robert, I saw the new lightweight LG ladders with the fancy new quad locking mechanism and far easier locking mechanism about two months ago during an in-store demonstration at Costco. That guy was going store-to-store and selling those ladders at deep discount. You should check with LG or Costco and see if that guy will be in a store in your area soon so you can take advantage of the demonstration days price. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I dunno, I've been considering adding a 17 footer. I have 13ft. and 21ft. Gorillas. They've held up really well but I find that with the 13 footer to get into some of our attics - high-ceilinged houses and garages - I have to first climb up on the 13footer in step ladder form, remove the hatch and then fold it out and extend it in order to get that last 5' from the top of the ladder into the attic. The 21footer gets me there without climbing down and re-folding the ladder but, jeez, it's heavy and quite the wrestling match. A 17 footer might get me into these more easily. Those responding. Don't bother encouraging me to get one of those Extend and Climb or Telestep thingies - they're just too flimsy for my liking when they're fully extended and I don't think they'll reach some of these openings. I've already had one bad incident with a ladder that dumped me, I'm sure as hell not gonna be climbing on one of those. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Marc, It's not a question of perm rating; they all diffuse water vapor - it's a question of trapping water. Remember that thousands of nails get driven through the product. With building paper, when water works in around those nails and the paper eventually gets saturated it provided almost no protection against moisture. When the rain quits, the paper dries in two directions - into the home and out through the cladding. With ordinary flat plane wrap that can't happen and water ends up trapped between the face of the wrap and the sheathing. With an older house with T & G sheathing and wrap applied, that's not so bad; with a new house with plywood or OSB that trapped water can cause substantial rot - especially with OSB. Spend some time over on my Building Science Forum at JLCOnline and check out the archived discussions about wraps and you'll find that a lot of guys who'd changed from building paper to wrap ended up going back to building paper. It's this issue with wrap that's motivated at least one company to create a wrap that has tiny raised ribs that allow the wall to drain. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Wrap isn't the best choice of material in a humid climate because it tends to trap water instead of allowing it to dry out. Lots of builders have returned to using building paper behind FC siding around here. Did they use anything as a WRB behind that siding? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi Randy, It's possible to get them approved in Washington State, Randy. Produce two copies of a syllabus and lesson plans and submit an application along with $75 on behalf of Hanley Wood U to the state. Oh yeah, and before you do that, convince the State Attorneys General Office to buy off on the idea that online training qualifies as 'classroom' training. I've tried, they aren't having it, despite the fact the state has its own online University that even convers master degrees. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Nah, Glue traps is the way to go. Got one of those stuck to my elbow in a crawlspace once and spent ten minutes trying to extricate myself. The damned thing was like a tar baby. By the time I got it off my sleeve and gloves were sticking to themselves and everything else around me. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Too easy a death for the foul little bastard. He needed to get inside the heat exchanger just before the furnace kicked on. That woulda been sweet. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, if you study carefully the Certainteed installation video and instructions you could probably do a good job of inspecting their system now. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, It's already being done. Thin film polyvoltaic systems that are integrated into the roof system are known as BIPV (Building Integrated Poly Voltaics) and there are already a number of systems on the market. Success so far with making them blend in well with typical shingle roofs is kind of sketchy; but there are tile systems that look pretty good when installed in tile roofs. The technology is there, now they have to concentrate more on making it more attractive. Below are a few examples of BIPV technology. In two years these samples will probably be obsolete and in ten years one will probably have a hard time seeing the difference. http://www.greenadvisor.com/business/gr ... ovoltaics/ http://www.oksolar.com/lion/item/15685 http://www.uni-solar.com/produkte/produ ... e/?lang=de http://www.premierpower.com/solar_energ ... r_tile.php http://www.dowsolar.com/overview/index.htm http://www.bipvinc.com/products/sun-energy-shingle http://www.bipvinc.com/products/sun-ene ... ingle.html http://www.trinityexteriorsinc.com/930/ ... ce-asphalt ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Anacortes, WA/November 21, 2011 by Rick Bunzel, ACI I have to admit that after watching a few episodes of Holmes' Inspection that I wasn't a big fan. I had to keep reminding myself that this was Reality TV and most home inspections are boring to the TV viewer. TV producers will cherry pick from hours of video to get the juiciest sections to create a show that captivates the audience. In prep for my interview with Mike Holmes I went over his background and I have to admit my opinion of Mike changed. Mike started his first construction company when he was 19. In 2001, he rose to media fame with Holmes on Homes which ran for 7 seasons and broadcast worldwide. In 2006, he started the Holmes Foundation to promote young people to get into the trades and assist the impoverished who have had bad renovations. In 2009, He started the show Holmes' Inspections and Mike Holmes' Inspections. Q: Can you tell us how the inspection side of your business came about? Holmes: The number one complaint from home owners during the seven seasons of Holmes on Holmes was poor home inspections. After we did four different shows that had to address issues missed by home inspectors we came up with the idea of basing a show around it and Holmes' Inspections was created. Q: Is there such a thing as a perfect home inspection? Holmes: Absolutely - most aren't done correctly - most inspections don't have the knowledge to do good inspections. The number one step is better education. Two, having the proper background is key. We need to upgrade industry. Home inspections should be more thorough and cost more. Most inspectors don't charge enough for their work. I think home buyers should recruit an inspector before they start looking. Take the Realtor out of the loop. Re-evaluate how it's done. Buyers buy on impulse. Consumer education is key. Charge the right amount of money. The fees for a home inspection should start at $1,000. Inspectors should have tools to look into walls and pipes. On most inspections I do I use my IR camera and snake camera. When inspectors see renovations they should be checking with the building departments to see if permits were pulled and approved. Q: As the owner of a multi-inspector company, what do you do to ensure the highest quality inspections? Holmes: Any inspector we consider must have a background in construction and completed at least 1,000 inspections. We then send them into our training program which includes getting Level 1 IR Certified. We then observe them for 20-30 inspections before they go out on their own. We also have relationships with plumbers, electrician, HVAC and roofers that we can call in on issues where we need to go further. We can afford to do this because our basic inspection start at $595 for a 2,500 sq. ft. home and the enhanced inspections (with IR inspection) start at $925. Q: Most home inspectors perform visual inspections, you routinely go beyond that, why? Holmes: On the show we are usually going in after the home is purchased and issues are present. Is that realistic in real estate transactions? No, not realistic. However IR and snake cameras can see issues into walls which helps. Q: Do you encourage your inspectors to join professional organizations? Which ones? Holmes: Yes - there are three in Canada. I encourage my guys to join all of them (the Canadian Association of Home Inspectors, American Society of Home Inspection, and the Ontario Building Inspectors Association.) Q: How do you feel about home inspector licensing? Holmes: Totally necessary - licensing brings a minimum level of education and certifications are also key. I would like to see a national license for Canadian home inspectors. Q: Many home inspectors feel Holmes' Inspection's is disparaging to home inspectors in general and promotes your own company, how do you respond to them? Holmes: Holmes on Holmes had the same issue. Contractors now appreciate the visibility - I was raising the bar and became a voice of the industry. The same thing is happening here. I am highlighting the fact that there are inspectors out there don't look deep enough to identify issues that affect peoples lives. Home Inspectors will come around just as contractors came around. Q: How do you like being a media star? Holmes: I appreciate being in the position to educate people on what?s right whether its how a home should be constructed or how it should be inspected. We are doing some good things here; Skills Canada, Building initiatives and our Holmes' Foundation work.

Anacortes, WA/November 21, 2011 by Rick Bunzel As I approach my tenth year in business I am still learning about homes and perfecting my trade. Our clients have an expectation that we will do the perfect inspection and catch 100% of the issues. However, few are willing to spend the time or money for an exhaustive week-long inspection of a home. Realtor's would not support this type of inspection as the multi-day inspection would displace the seller and most likely bring up issues that were present since the home was built and not caught by the building department. Like all inspectors I don't like getting the phone call from an upset client about an issue they have found in their newly purchased home that they feel I should have caught. Mike Holmes' Show, Holmes' Inspection doesn't help as his favorite line seems to be, "The inspector should have caught that." However, can we deliver a near perfect inspection in the few hours we spend in a home? Near perfection is possible. In the 1990's and 2000's many companies launchd process improvement programs such as Total Quality Management, Business Reengineering, Lean, and Six Sigma. Many got significant benefits, including higher quality, lower costs, faster time-to-market, and better customer experiences. Companies like Boeing must have processes that produce 99.9% defect-free airplanes or they can't remain in business. McDonald's is another great example; they have to create a 30-40 menu items consistently across the world. The taste, texture and temperature all has to be perfectly consistent. McDonald's also creates the same customer experience worldwide, so when you go into a McDonald's in Toronto, the dining experience is the similar to New York City. One might say that the inspection business is different and we are not producing a standardized product, but I disagree. Our inspection report is a product and we can take some of the techniques that Boeing and McDonald's use to create a better product. Both companies thrive on some core fundamentals: Standardization ? a Big Mac is a Big Mac and a Boeing 737 built in 1968 can use parts from a 2010 737 The highest levels of quality possible - planes can't fail and the food must be pure and taste the same regardless of location. Quality processes throughout their systems - from suppliers to management oversight, checks are built into each process. Production Systems are reproducible and easy to teach to new employees. Lean production ? the steps are broken down and analyzed to get the most from each employee. What can we learn from these companies that can translate into a perfect inspection? I looked at the home inspection process and broke down the components: initial contact, information flow, scheduling, arriving at the property, physical inspection, creation of the report, delivery of the report, follow-up and after inspection issues. Initial contact Like in many parts of the country Realtor's give out multiple names of inspectors, so frequently we get clients shopping around for a home inspector. My business partner/wife and I share the office duties so it's important that we are consistent in what we say and quote to the client. We have built processes into our business to ensure that from the time the client first contacts us until they get our follow-up survey that it's done the same every time. We have a paper form that gets filled out and goes into our 3D Office Management System. This step includes calling the Realtor to get access to the home and ensuring the utilities will be turned on. A confirmation is sent out with the time, date, location, cost and a copy of the inspection agreement for their review. We have learned that setting expectations is an important part of customer satisfaction. Most home buyers are bewildered by the home buying process and the more educating we can do upfront the better they will understand the information they receive down the line. Information flow and scheduling Since I spend more time in the field it's important that the information flow from the initial contact and Realtor gets to me prior to arriving on site. When the client is booking the inspection we will identify their concerns and known issues and I will usually look over the schedule and inspection details the evening before. Since we have been performing inspections for some time in this area I am pretty familiar with the neighborhoods and the respective issues. We usually block out four hours for an inspection as you never know what will be found until you show up at the property. The last thing we want to do is to be forced to rush through an inspection due to a scheduling crunch. Our information forms always get cell phone numbers for the client and Realtor so if we are running late we can always call and let them know when we will arrive. The inspections All inspectors have their own way of handling the physical inspection of the home. The key is standardization. Like McDonald's you want a system's approach that allows you to adequately view the property and capture issues. Like many inspectors, I try to get to the property before the client and do a size-up. This allows me to do some pre-planning on where I will access the roof, the order of things that will be inspected and identify features such as outbuildings that weren't disclosed. I also will start cataloging issues that will need further examination such as LP siding or hazards such as overhead wires. If the client and Realtor have not arrived yet, I will start taking pictures of the exterior. Usually I will shoot the front elevation and shoot each side of the home and the roof. Part of my standard process is photo documentation. In a small home inspection I will take close to 100 pictures and use about 25 pictures in the report. Clients will frequently forget the condition of the home, but if there is a disagreement on the condition they have a hard time arguing with the pictures. Master craftsmen will spend hours perfecting their trade. As they learn, they build muscle memory. This muscle memory makes it easier to get the tasks right time after time. Most home inspectors already have muscle memory. For example, when I first got my telescopic ladder I looked pretty awkward opening and closing it. I have now used it more than 1,000 times and can select the height, extend the ladder, get the right climbing angle and check it while I am talking to the client. I have now done it so many times I have perfected the process. Most experts will agree that to master a process you have to perform it 1,000 times. A critical step in my quality control process is loading information into my reporting system on site. I have my forms setup to mimic my physical inspection process. I will normally set my laptop in the kitchen and enter data there. If it's a large home or multi-building complex, I will inspect an area, and then enter it into the computer. If it's a small rancher, I will enter data at the end of the physical inspection. If I am missing information, such as the size of the furnace, I can go back to it and get the information. Occasionally I will miss a concealed water heater or the electrical panel hiding behind the painting. My inspection software will remind me that I am missing a piece of information. I also have several check boxes at the end that reminds me to verify the oven is off, furnace and water heater temperature are returned to original position. The report I will create most of my report on site but I don't complete it until I get back to my office. I've tried it other ways but I found that I was having to recall and update the report more often than I wanted to. Even though I would tell the customers that this could happen, I felt like I was sending out reports with potential errors. For this reason I don't send out reports until I get back to the office. This allows me to digest the information from the inspection, do research if needed, enter the pictures and fine-tune the wording. We have reduced the number of errors that go out in the reports to less than 2%. I use pictures as one of my quality controls. If I find a defect I am taking one or more pictures of it. As I go through the report I am looking at the pictures and comparing it to the comments I have entered. Frequently, I will find a small item such as a broken sliding door latch that didn't make it in the initial report creation. During this pass I will ensure that I have all the issues documented and pictures entered. My last steps are spell checking, looking at an issues summary and creating the PDF. The final QA check is looking at the finished report and making sure it printed as I want it. Setting Expectations Even the best, most thorough inspection can produce an unhappy client. If your customer is unhappy with your service, then you have failed at your job. In my experience the predominant reason is mis-set expectations. Most customers don't understand what a home inspection is and what it isn't. We all have contracts that stipulate the terms of the inspection but how many clients read the contract? For this reason, I encourage the client to attend the entire inspection. This is a business decision for each inspector and from informal polls I have taken, about 50% of the inspectors encourage the client to attend the inspection while the rest prefer the clients shows up at the end. With my process, when the client shows up I do a pre-inspection briefing. The briefing covers what I will be doing, checking to see if they reviewed the inspection agreement, safety (please don't follow me on to the roof) and finding out if they will be staying for the entire inspection. This briefing helps set the client's expectation and let's them see what I am seeing. If there is an area that is not accessible, I tell them about it and why it won't be part of the inspection. Occasionally I get clients (and their family) that are all over the board and pulling me in different directions. In this case I gently encourage them to hold questions until the end or have the buyer/client collect the questions and ask them when I am done. This does extend the time it takes to inspect a home but the majority of our clients get more out of the inspection and feel more confident about their purchase after reading the report. Follow up In most cases we do our inspection, collect a check, deliver the report and never hear from our client again. Many of us take the head in the sand approach - no news, means we are doing OK. But how do we know if we are doing great and having our past client's bragging about how happy they were with our services? How many of us ever check in with our clients? I would wager that it's less than 10% that have some type of formal feedback system. The Boeings and McDonalds of the world have established metrics that are constantly measured and customer satisfaction programs. At this point I don't have a formal system, but I know I should. What I am doing is encouraging clients to review me on Google, Yellow Bot, Bing and Judy's Book. I also poll the Realtors that refer me for feedback. I consider them a secondary client as many clients depend on the Realtor to suggest who the good home inspectors are. In our state they are required to supply three names. The quest for perfection should never end. Our markets are changing and we must change to continue to meet our customers' expectations. We should never get lax and think we that delivering a good inspection is good enough. Can we live up to the standards that Mike Holmes talks about? No, because he goes far beyond the ASHI's standards and the homes featured in the shows are set up to make good TV. However, Mike does set the bar to give us something to strive for. Rick Bunzel is the principle inspector with Pacific Crest Inspections and an ASHI Certified Inspector #249557. He hold a BA in Business Marketing and in the past, he chaired the marketing and public relations committees for a national home inspection organization. Locally, he chairs the North Puget Sound Board of Realtors Communications Committee and is a firefighter/EMT with the Mt. Erie Fire Department in Anacortes, Wa. http://www.paccrestinspections.com

They put the masonry veneer on without any head flashings or drainage screeds and when it rains hard the water builds up behind the veneer and forces it's way through the wall. If you applied a lot of goop along the bottom of the veneer you've only made it worse. Go here and study the application/installation details and compare them to what you've got and you'll soon understand why. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, Well, the winged reproductives migrate away from the nest in search of new fertile territory and it's only after they land that they shed their wings. They don't generally land on their own nest and shed lots of wings. I think that a few might hang around the nest and shed their wings and it's possible for a few to land just about anywhere within range of their strength, so it's possible they're just a few that landed to look around and will be dead shortly if they can't find a food/moisture source. Every year we see them swarm here and their dispersion can be quite broad. A few here, a few there, just nosing around looking for a good food source. (You didn't hear this from me though. Since I gave up my SPI certification, the Washington State Department of Agriculture considers me completely free of any knowledge whatsoever pertaining to wood-destroying insects and says I'm not allowed to advise folks about them. I don't think they can prevent me from offering an opinion to someone outside of their jurisdication; but you never know that guy down there does seem to like to exercise his power over inspectors.) ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Yeah, I saw that, but I took it to mean he was hoping that they weren't drywood termites (because they'll be able to do damage to dry rot-free wood) but he wasn't really sure what genus they are. I suspect they've got several varieties just like we do. That's a wimpy termite. Our PDWT's are gargantuans compared to that tiny little guy. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, It's definitely a termite. I'm not sure that I agree with your bug guy's assessment. Most swarmers I see just sort of hang around outside when they alight and drop their wings and they die for lack of water and nutrition quickly. It's true that swarmers will show up just about everywhere and shed their wings during swarming season but I'd be concerned if I saw them emerging from inside my structure. Swarmers are indicators of a manture nest. If it were me, I'd get up there in that roof plane with an awl or ice pick and begin poking around to see whether they've manage to establish a colony in one or more structural members. They'll need a way to get moisture so look around for shelter tubes leading to soil. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I have to agree with that. I grew up in Amenia, about 25 miles northeast of Poughkeepsie. We considered ourselves to be living "upstate" and considered anything south of the Sawmill River Parkway the "City" or "Downstate." It really was simply a division between Noo Yawkaas and New Yorkers. The Noo Yawkaas used to crack us up when they'd travel upstate and stop in for gas or at the local grocery. Accent, mannerisms, everything - particularly ballsy attitude - as if they were the world's boss and we small town folks were so quaint and unsophisticated - yet their grammar and mauling of the English language was atrocious. Last time I was back there nearly three years ago, I was saddened to see that our once quiet hamlet of 1100 souls is covered by gentlemen's horse farms bordered by white fences, each one holding less than a half dozen horses and owned by (gasp) noo yawkaas who're buying up all of the available land and will probably outnumber the natives in another twenty years. In that sense, Amenia is no longer "upstate" and one now needs to drive ten miles north to Millerton to get "upstate" and away from the city tide. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I grew up in New York so I understand that. If they don't do them like that they heave like crazy when the frost sets in come winter. Fortunately, we don't get that here; hell, we're lucky (or perhaps unlucky) if frost goes 10 inches. Around here in crawlspace country, the underside of these things acts pretty much the same way crawlspaces under regular homes act. We cap the soil, the soil beneath the plastic can't evaporate moisture, it becomes waterlogged, reaches equilibrium and conditions stabilize. I can remember a few times when I've been in previously flooded crawlspaces where some kind of white alkyline substance was left behind after the water trapped on top of the plastic evaporated. I think that might be what's happened here. I don't understand the humidity though. That's pretty unusual and with an intact vapor barrier it doesn't make a lot of sense. David, did you check the marriage plenum underneath to see if it's full of water? If they had a pipe burst. It could have drained into both the crawl and the heating system and you might have some ducts half full of water that are functioning like a huge humidifier. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

There are pros and cons to the cabinet plenum approach. I've seen them both. If you have these under the bathroom cabinets on a second floor in a house with a crawlspace and a pipe bursts beneath a bathroom sink, 'cuz you were foolish enough to turn off the heat and then go on a December vacation, they allow water to move quickly to the crawlspace instead of totally ruining the entire second floor and then the weight of the water will pull the duct loose and flood the crawlspace versus the house (It happened!). If a pipe bursts in a kitchen during construction and is not discovered for half a day, they allow water to flow quickly into the ducts in the crawlspace. Unfortunately, if the weight of the water isn't enough to cause the ducts to pull loose from the main trunk line, and nobody goes into the crawlspace to see what happened to all that water, the water could sit there in your heating ducts for up to six years before some anal retentive inspector notices that the ducts look unusually plump and lifts one to test it's weight and discovers they're still half full of water six years later (It happened!). ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi David, That's way beyond anything caused by condensation that I've every seen. Are you absolutely sure there was never a layer of water about an inch deep no top of that barrier? The efflorescence around those piers is uniform in height at just about an inch; as if the base of the piers had been sitting in water. Is there mineral content in the soil up there that might cause groundwater to leave mineral deposits like that when it evaporates? Any possibility that the washing machine one overflowed with soapy water and it all drained into the crawlspace? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike