hausdok

They can probably blame us for that. As I recall, someone complained to our board months ago that a local non-profit that helps folks get low-income housing only accepted reports from inspectors that were HUD certified, but there were guys on the local HUD list that weren't licensed. I was tasked to check it out and confirmed that out of about a dozen guys four or five of them weren't licensed. I then called the guy running the non-profit and spent about fifteen minutes on the phone with him, cluing him in about all of the changes where inspectors are concerned. He was totally uninformed; he hadn't heard that licensing had come in and none of the inspectors had told them anything about it. He said that he'd be re-writing their policy. He gave me the information of the HUD guru that's in charge of that stuff and I passed it along to Rhonda at DOL with a recommendation that she give the guru a call to point out that they haven't been scrubbing their lists. She reported to us at a later meeting that she'd done exactly that and that the guru had said that HUD was going to follow up with a memorandum to all inspectors currently on their lists and tell them to get current with their state rules or be removed. Guess he was true to his word. Rhonda said that a couple of the guys on this state's list are getting their ducks in a row but that at least one guy decided to throw in the towel rather than become licensed. If memory serves, and it often doesn't, it was someone here that first brought this to light. Was that you Robert J.? If so, I hope you're happy your tax dollars are working. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Jim, If the ladder slips out from under you, won't the combined weight of you and that ladder yank that clamped gutter halfway off the building or perhaps tear it clean off the building and you'll go down anyway? I have a little trick I use for my LG knockoff when I'm going from a sloped roof to an upper roof. I take the heavy nylon cargo strap that I use to strap my ladders down in the bed of my truck and I loop it around the bottom rung of my ladder with a half hitch at the junction of both stiles and bottom rung and anchor both ends to an interior window sill or close and lock the window over knotted ends in the strap so that the bottom won't/can't kick out. I can think of one time I wished I'd used something similar at ground level. Maybe a couple of driven stakes like Kurt's idea or hook the ends of the strap on the bottom of a closed overhead door. Need to ponder this a little more. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I could be wrong, but I think that Mark is referring to the fact that the homes that he's consulting on weren't done to current MVMA guidelines with drainage details incorporated into the veneer. I write these up almost daily. Builders don't seem to care. They are resistant to placing a weep screed and a two-inch gap below this stuff; and they don't like to flash it to MVMA guidelines or stop it at a termination bead, leave a gap between it and wood surrounding it and fill that gap with a backer rod and flexible sealant because of esthetics. It's fake stone that's supposed to provide the illusion that it's actually doing something other than hanging in the air and they want it to look like it's supporting something. When you stick a two-inch gap under it the illusion that it's structural disappears and then buyers ask, "What the hell?" 'cuz they don't understand why the drainage details are needed. On homes where the stuff has been detailed correctly, I've had buyers ask if I think it will be possible for the builder to "fix" the veneer by eliminating the gaps below it and removing the "tin" and the "rubbery stuff" around it. If manufacturers of this product were smart, they'd start manufacturing base and perimeter courses that would conceal the flashings and goop and would have porous/slotted pieces at the bottom that could be applied all the way to the ground but still drain. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Press Release: Toronto, Ont./Oct 3, 2011 (Marketwire via Comtex) GreenSaver, Canada's oldest non-profit organization, with more than two decades of experience in the residential energy efficiency sector, is proud to announce the acquisition of HouseMaster's Canadian franchise operations. HouseMaster, established in 1979, is North America's oldest and one of the largest home inspection organizations, with 30 locations across Canada and over 350 in the U.S. To read more, click here.

Well, maybe. Just a wee bit. [:-angel] ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi All, Just off the top of my head, here's a quick list of the type of stuff I've heard folks have complained about that's not included in SOP's. Some of these are things that other inspectors have said they'd gotten complaints about and some are those that I've been called about when I delivered the report and the client called back because he or she had "questions." Anyone got more? Docks and bulkheads Retaining walls not contiguous with the house or which don't effect the house. Detached structures Rodents Insects Appliances Burgler Alarms Fire Sprinkler Systems Cat IV Wiring systems Cable/Satellite systems Internet Service Lawn irrigation systems Swimming Pools Broken main water line between the meter and the house Broken sewer pipe below grade Leaking/abandoned oil tanks below grade where no clues as to their existence are evident Not knowing that an aquafir was near the surface in a neighborhood Mold concealed behind walls Invisible ambient mold that's not concealed but simply present in the air around us Failing to measure EM fields from nearby power lines Failure to measure for radon (we don't do that here) Failure to test for formaldahyde Failure to find asbestos containing materials concealed in walls or floors Broken/separated metal chimney flue joints Leaking water heaters in concealed/inaccessible locations Holes/cracks in heat exchangers Shorts occurring in wiring concealed in walls. Failure to report overloaded/overspanned floor/ceilings joists concealed behind drywall Well pumps Septic Systems Blocked footing drains Low-voltage wiring Carpeting Window Treatments Gymnastic Equipment Indoor Air Quality Fireplace chimney draft ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Has anyone else noticed how often the things inspectors tell us here that folks complain about are the things that are not covered by standards and are thus not required to be in the report; and how, even when we put it in the report as a courtesy anyway folks usually don't even notice that it's in the report because they've never bothered to really read the report? There is a reason we never mentioned rodents in our SOP; they're a moving target - if they aren't there today they can be there tomorrow and there's no way we can accurately predict that kind of thing. A couple of months ago, I came out of a crawlspace and reported that I'd found a whole lot of rat droppings underneath the home and about 15% of the insulation beneath the floors had been ruined and needed to be replaced. The agent, seeking to mitigate my findings and maneuver me into saying what she wanted me to say, asked something like, "Are they fresh droppings, or is it possible that there once was an infestation and those rats have been gotten rid of and the droppings are just what's been left behind? My response: "I dunno how fresh they are; I didn't taste them. Tell you what, I'll go back in and bring one out and you can taste it and tell me whether the droppings are recent or are old. How about it?" The client cracked up, the agent turned beet red and tittered while her eyes said, "You wise ass son-of-a-bitch." She declined. In my mind, I licked the end of a finger and chalked one up for me on an imaginary scoreboard. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Well, that's only because it's "toxic" dontchya know? [:-eyebrow ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

KMA! Never left; I come in here daily. I'm just tied up trying to get certain other things done, and you know what they are, prior to the time change and the rainy season moving in here in full force - which it seems to be doing already. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike P.S. Earlier today I got an emailed complaint from a client about a house I did on May 1st. She says they're having a problem with mice in the crawlspace, that there were dead mice found, that they've paid $1000 so far for a rodent guy to come out, inspect the home and seal an entry point behind a "gutter"(I think she means downspout and I'm guessing it's up under the edge of the siding, although I don't know yet 'cuz I haven't seen it.). She says the additional cost to cleanup the dead mice and replace insulation is $4500 and that the current estimate to clean up and seal up the house is $5611. She says the exterminators are currently "investigating the attic, which showed some signs of mice, and this would bring the total cost of cleaning and sealing to approximately $10,000". (!!!) She wants to know how I might have missed a hole large enough for mice to get through and how much financial compensation I'm going to offer. Whew! I responded nicely. Bottom line, I didn't see any dead rodents in the crawlspace or see any damaged insulation in the crawlspace or I would have reported it. After all, having mouse crap rain down on me when I'm pulling insulation aside to look at the floors always grosses me out, as do dead rodents, and you guys all know about the "thing" I have about rodent infestations, If they'd been there, I would have reported them. Click to Enlarge 64.5 KB Click to Enlarge 62.08 KB Click to Enlarge 39.4 KB I pointed out that I did report signs of mice in the attic, that I'd told her that was the time - the beginning of summer - to make maximum effort to exclude them, since they'll be working all summer to bring stuff in to stock up for winter, and that she should search for any holes that are the size of a dime under the perimeter of the siding, around the furnace in the garage, etc., and plug those with steel wool, and told her that if she didn't want to do that herself she should get a rodent exclusion guy to do it for her. I also pointed out that per our contract she was required to promptly call me first and provide me a reasonable opportunity to respond, determine if she had a legitimate dispute or claim and give me the opportunity to resolve the issue, before contacting anyone else. I also pointed out that rodents are specifically not mentioned in the state SOP and that the last sentence of general exclusions in my contract states, "We do not address conditions related to animals, rodents or household pests," but that I'd reported signs of rodents to her as a courtesy, because of my,...uh,.....aversion to rodents and not as a requirement. Asked her why she waited until now to get after this when the report mentioned at the beginning of May that there was debris in the crawlspace that needed to be cleaned out (Look below, photo shows debris but also shows undisturbed insulation under the floors), a vapor barrier that needed to be corrected because mushrooms and organic material was growing out of the uncovered soil (photo below) and when there was a heating duct with a broken hanger that needed correction and that photo also shows no damaged insulation. Asked why she hadn't brought in a rodent exclusion guyimmediately instead of allowing the rodents, which have fresh litters about every six to seven weeks, to continue to propogate and expand the range of their activity/damage beneath the home. Pointed out that she could have done all of that prior to closing at seller's expense or could have walked away, so why hadn't she done that? If she had, she probably wouldn't be writing now, no? Told her that from my point of view I'd fulfilled all of my obligations, including informing her of a rodent issue that needed correction, and that there was no way I was going to be reimbursing her for replacement of insulation when instances of mice actually trashing all insulation are pretty rare. Told her that I don't want unhappy customers; so, if she wants to talk about a refund I'll be happy to discuss it, but I'm not going beyond that yet. Also pointed out that under the terms of our contract that she was free to initiate arbitration proceedings if she wants to go beyond such discussions. Here's the kicker. She is the one that provided me a defense! I feel bad that this is happening; but I had only told her verbally about the mouse trails all through the attic. Because I hadn't found any droppings on the attic hatch or littering the insulation around the attic hatch to convince me that it was an ongoing infestation, I hadn't been convinced that there actually was an active infestation, and I hadn't initially reported those findings in the first draft of the report because I'm not required to. She'd written me back and insisted that I mention in writing the rodent issue in the report even though it's not required. It was no biggie, easy to do and it took me less than five minutes to accomplish. I did that as a courtesy to her. If she hadn't insisted that I mention that, there wouldn't have been any mention in the report of rodents, no instruction to close the gaps and no recommendation to get a rodent guy out right away to fix it. If she wants to go to arbitration, I hope that the arbitrator turns out to be a sensible fair person. Guess we'll have to see which way this plays out.

Yeah, that's the way some are installed; but the majority of them that I see out here are on a timer and there isn't any button to push. They're often set to come on about once an hour for a few minutes. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

If the "utility" is on the government payroll, better not let Gov. Christy hear about that program or it's gonna be toast. [:-smile_g ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I usually say something like, This roof? It's toast. That's a technical term, by the way." They get it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I dunno, It looks like he stepped on the rung above the gutter and the put weight forward against the top of the ladder, turning that gutter into a fulcrum. With more weight pushing against the projecting top of the ladder than you have below the fulcrum, the bottom of the ladder wants to arc up and out. Add to that snow packed into the little grooves on the ends instead of clearing the ice and snow away so that the grooves can grip the hardscaping and sure he's going for a ride. He's safely suspended by a wire. If he didn't have that wire on, I bet his method of moving from the ladder to the roof would be substantially different. He's placed the ladder on a sloping snow-covered surface and nobody is holding the base of the ladder to prevent it from kicking out. D'oh! Anyone see anything wrong with that? I'd like to see them repeat the test with the guy stepping onto the roof from a rung below the gutter without pushing against the top of the ladder and with someone holding the base of the ladder. Bet it won't budge. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike P.S. Was in Costco last week and there was a guy there demonstrating LG's and selling them substantially cheaper. The new ladder is a helluva lot lighter, the latching mechanism is now changed; it's a lever instead of a ring you pull out and there are four, not two, locking pins at the top on each side. No sloppiness. I damned near bought one.

I don't inspect appliances; I inspect their connections and I make sure they "work", but I'm not really concerned with how well they work. The client is told that up front. Sounds contradictory so I'll explain. The client is told up-front that appliances are accessories and that I don't inspect accessories. I tell the client they are usually guaranteed by the manufacturer for a year and that if they fail on day 366 the manufacturer won't warranty them and getting a home inspection is not the same thing as purchasing an extended warranty on things in the home. I tell them that if an appliance fails - even if it's when I'm backing out of the driveway and I'm not off site yet - I'll feel sorry for their bad fortune, but there is no way an appliance's exact time and date of demise can be predicted and I won't be paying for it. I tell them that I'll test the appliances but only insofar as turning on the stove/oven to see if it produces a flame or elements get hot - I won't be cooking a cake to see if it will hold a certain temperature for a set amount of time; I'll spin up the disposal but I won't be putting anything down the disposal other than water, so I won't know whether it can even grind jello; I'll test the microwave for a few seconds but I won't know whether it can heat up anything more than a few grams of damp paper; I'll run the dishwasher to look for leaks but I won't know whether it can remove spit from a plate or not because I won't be putting any dishes in it and if there are already a homeowner's dishes in it I'm not going to run it period. That said, I inspect the circuits appliances are plugged into. I inspect the visible portions of the gas and water piping and discharge hoses connected to them. I inspect the connections/condition of power cords when I can. I ensure that there is heat or that the flame comes on at every burner or element and that there are anti-tip brackets in place on a stoves/ovens. I check exhaust fans to make sure they're sucking, discharging all the way to the outside, have filters and are free of flammable grease. I run dishwashers through a short cycle to see if their hose connections are going to leak or if the tub or door seals will leak. I toss a piece of damp paper towel or toilet paper into a microwave and nuke it for ten seconds to see if it will heat up. I check hose and cord connections to disposals and spin them up to listen for noises indicating that the impellers are rusted up, jammed or bearings are worn out. I run water through the thing as it's spinning up to see if it's going to leak. I look at the condition of supply and discharge hoses on washing machines and the type and condition of connectors to dryer ducts but I don't normally run a washer and dryer other than to put a little water in the tub and put it on pump/spin cycle to see whether the discharge pipe will back up and overflow. When I can, I observe the connection between refrigerators and their ice maker lines but I never open refrigerators or pull them out from the wall (I once paid a builder to have a hardwood kitchen floor repaired after the hard plastic casters caused two distinct track impressions in the new hardwood floors when I did that - never again. When clients ask why I didn't pull the refrigerator out from the wall, I tell them that they are welcome to pull it out from the wall if they want to, but if it damages the floor they're the ones who will be taking responsibility for any damage it causes, not me.). When I say "I" it's usually Yung checking most of this stuff. I only do it on days when she doesn't accompany me, unless it's stuff that she can't check because she's too small. Bottom line, we check the stuff connected to the appliance and we do a very, very brief operational check but we don't have any idea how well the thing will work under actual daily use conditions and we don't really care because how well the thing functions or how long it's going to last isn't our concern because these are accessories and not actually part of a home inspection. Occasionally a wife, mother in law, parent, friend or sibling will let of a "humph" and later make a big display out of checking all of this stuff "thoroughly." If they want to do that, that is their prerogative; I just warn them that if it breaks or causes damage while they are doing so to remember that they're going to be the one paying for that, not me. Had a pushy mother-in-law flood a kitchen and ruin a hardwood floor doing that once. The disposal had just been replaced but the installer had kinked the line between the disposal and the air gap. The air gap was turned to face the backsplash instead of into the sink. She dug around under the sink, found some dishwashing soap, put some in the dishwasher, started the thing up and then walked away. Thirty minutes later when the dishwasher started dumping water all of the water couldn't get into the disposal so the water spewed out onto the countertop and then onto the floor. Since nobody was in the kitchen at the time, it was a while before anyone realized the kitchen floor was covered with water. We (they actually) spent twenty minutes using all of my shammys to sop up all that water. The floors were buckling before they were done. I reported the obstructed discharge hose. Guess who took the hit for the damage? It wasn't me. Bottom line, when we wrote our SOP here we were all acutely aware of how often appliances, which technically are accessories and have absolutely nothing to do with how well a home functions, fails; and we weren't willing to allow inspectors to take the hit for their operation or non-operation. If an inspector wants to pay to repair an appliance out of the goodness of his/her heart, that's fine; but they won't have to worry about someone pointing at the SOP and saying, "Look here, it says you must test the appliances," and trying to hold their feet to the fire when one breaks down. I'm sorry for your troubles, Brandon. If I were you, I'd just tell them that there is no way to predict how long any appliance will last - even new ones (that's why they have a warranty), so there was no way you could have known whether this one would work three months later. If they insist on pitching a bitch, figure out how old the thing is from its serial number and purchase a used dishwasher from an appliance repair shop. Make sure that it's the same age or newer than the one that broke down and has a 30 day warranty on it and make it clear that is as far as you are willing to go. Do not replace a used dishwasher with a brand new dishwasher - there's nothing equitable about that and that would be tantamount to saying, "Oh, wait, I DO warranty appliances," and they'll call you again the next time one breaks. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Call the local code authorities and ask them whether they accept OSB. According to just about everything I've read, OSB is a perfectly acceptable substitute for plywood when applied properly and within it's range of use specifications. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Say what? They built multi-million dollar homes over crawlspaces out here with nothing but 6mil poly over the dirt. Concrete over the dirt is extremely rare out here. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, See it every fifty or so older house. It's usually installed on the south or west gable here 'cuz that's where the wind comes from and they're trying to prevent water from being forced under the shingles into the roof plane and attic below. It works when the nails are daubed but if the nails aren't daubed as Jim pointed out it sends water between layers anyway. Most roofers around here don't use drip edgings at all. If they do, they put them at the rakes and not at the eaves and most don' t have a clue about how to install it properly when they do install it. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I see them all the time. Not just with ceiling radiant but with all sorts of electrical heaters. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Hi, A 1/4 inch drop per foot away from the house would certainly do it here; as long as the patio is flat or crowned and not saucer shaped. How is the back yard configured drainage wise? Why didn't you just ask them to rim it with a french drain and connect it to whatever other drainage system you have? That usually does the trick. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

While I have to say I resemble that remark; we are fortunate here in that, so far, our Director has pretty much chosen to leave all rule making for home inspectors up to our advisory board and has adopted just about everything we've recommended without comment or objection. By the way, our board is 100% inspectors. Our coalition fought Senator Spanel to a draw two years in a row. It wasn't until she finally compromised and agreed to change the board makeup in her bill to all inspectors that we finally backed off, endorsed her bill and it became law. It's been three years since the board was convened and, so far so good. We just got word that the Governor's moratorium on new rules will be lifted in December and that we can begin tweaking the rules based on the past three years' experience. My second two year term ends in July. Any of you Washington folks want to apply to serve on the board you'd best get your applications in early. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

by Laura Leslie (From WRAL.com/September 17, 2011) State lawmakers proved yet again this week that it’s good to have friends in high places. House Speaker Thom Tillis appointed Joseph Ramsey of Raleigh to fill the “public memberâ€

Yep, Pretty common around Seattle; especially in 60's and 70's homes. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

Thanks, Mark. The article at the beginning of this thread has been corrected and the charts are also corrected. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

I've never seen one. Did you find a company address on the data plate? ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike

OK, The data in the links above has been corrected. Thanks for pointing out the error, Mark. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike