Paul N Frey

I already informed the buyer of a few more items that just the wiring: 1) Agent "informed" me that the entire roof had been resheathed - if so, why is there a section of shingle sheathing visible in 1 area. 2) Another area has neither shingle or plywood sheathing - BUT, at least there is felt paper showing!! 3) You don't want to see the pictures of the crawl space! Exterior wall framing is post and pier along the West and North side - what is left of it after the subs and rot have had their fill. No front porch access - why do you need to see under there?? Don't know if the little girl will continue with the sale but if it comes up for another inspection it is on W Main just past the tracks in Hillsboro so ya all be careful (Scott, Jimbo, Brandon) if you get a call. FYI - the seller / agent has some "contractors" to do the work but he couldn't seem to grasp the fact that I would not re-inspect unless reciepts for the work were produced that had all the CCB info on them.

Had the same thing happen to me a few years back. Was going over the report with clients with 1 hand on the SS sink and rested my other on the range - granted, my hair is short but I swear it stood straight up. Seems that the "Sears repairman" had recently (as in the day before) replaced one of the controls and didn't quite get the wiring back where it should have been.

I have a R.E. agent (in your neck of the woods Katen) saying that it is "perfectly legal" to run wiring between the sections of skip sheathing since there is solid overlay. I say no. Sorry the picture is hard to see - the Romex is below the K&T wiring. Advice - looking for a nice way to tell him to pound sand. Click to Enlarge 53.56 KB

Chris - your statement concerning "the vast majority of certified home inspectors are certified" is false. Take the time to go through the ODA license site query name by name and you will find that most inspectors are NOT licensed by ODA. Hell, many of the "grey hairs" still argue that it is legal to use their CCB or OCHI numbers on a NPCA 33 form. Washington has it all over us when it comes to regulating WDO inspections. I had one "inspector" try and tell me that an old WBB damaged sill plate and rim was a sub termite in festation and the residence should be treated! When I asked him if he held his ODA tag he replied that he didn't need to as he "knew enough to identify". Just think how many sellers have spent hundreds / t their homes treated due to this incompetent ass!! The last time I checked local inspectors on the ODA site there were less than a dozen that were licensed.

Caoimhin Ya all come on out to sunny Oregon and I will show you what fishing is all about - Dechutes Redsides on a dry are something to behold!!

Brandon, in my experience with PushMatic panels - when I trip a circuit if I wait 5-10 minutes it usually resets and does not continue to trip. I just assumed that the heat had to dissapate before it would reset. Jeeze, what panels are good??? Maybe we should just make a "blanket statement" and recommend all panels over ?? (age) should be evaluated. That will really get us some points in this market!!!

Doing Inspections for 25+ years and having "paid" for E&O for all that time I can say that self insurance would be far better. Having been sucked into 2 totally frivilous lawsuits - in which the problems and repairs were very well documented in my reports - my carrier decided both times to "settle" for roughly the cost of my $5,000 deductable. Both times I called and raised hell but to no avail. While I still carry it, I have a major conflict every time I write the check! I am really beginning to feel thatif you don't carry it the -------- attorney will just go away as I have seen happen. While the majority of inspectors in Oregon do not carry it the ones that do "swear" they need it to protect their assets - this just tells me that they didn't set their business up very well. Question - if it were mandated that inspectors had to carry it, would the rates rise or fall? I would bet they went up! We could all file for some of this funny money our idiots in D.C. seem to think is created at the printing press!! On another note for Joe Ferry - where did you go to school and when? Minnesota?

Which mod Fenex do you like most? I am still in the dark ages with my rechargable Mag (still like it). E-mail me at "oregonwest@comcast.net" if you would.

Notice which "Association" president wrote a reply to this article?? None other.

I think that was the 7th Battalion of the 1st Cav Air Mobile and the movie "We Were Soldiers" was made about it. We had the same thing happen to my unit - 2nd Battalion 1st Cav and out of 53 only 11 of us walked out. Thanks to people like Ed many of the men survived to live another day - no thanks to McNamara and Westmorland using us a cannon fodder!

I took the FEMA Inspectors "class" a number of years back and it was a total dissapointment. I felt that I had a pretty good feel for inspecting homes since I had owned my own inspection company for 20+ years but the entire class was dedicated to learning how to operate their computer and familiarizing one with their "program" (which I thought was very poorly written from an inspecting standpoint). There was minimal discussion on what to report on and it appears from the other comments that one inspectors idea of habitable can be at odds with another inspectors. Personally, I would recommend that FEMA set more stringent qualifications for their inspectors (educate them on what info they need to make a REAL determination) - either construction or inspecing experience and stipulate that no inspector can repair residences that they have "inspected" (eliminate any conflicts of interest). Many of the people taking the class I was in were not capable of performing a quality assessment due to their past experiences (many were RE agents looking to do something on the side). The best part of the class - which they saved until last - was the pay scale. They were "willing" to pay us $37.50 per assessment and boldly proclaimed "when you get familiar with the program" you can do 10 a day!! Wow, thats almost $400.00 a day - and on top of that you had to find your own lodging, food and rent a car!! Explain to me how you do these three things in an area that has just been devestated by a natural disaster? You could spend all of what you made just to survive. Needless to say, when they called for a deployment to Florida I had to decline. As usual, FEMA (and the rest of the govt for that matter) have their heads in a place they cannot see out! On second thought, give me a few of the Katrina trailers so I have a place to stay after I buy some property near my favorite fishin' stream.

Sorry about that last "reply". As for the photos, who cares what or how the roof ended up as it is? Just say it is past it's useful life due to extensive damage and replacement is recommended as soon as possible. If you tell someone it is hail damage and it is not they will come after you with a vengance. I once knew an Inspector that labeled the exterior siding as "Cedar Lap" - buyer later found out 2 things: (1)-it was "Lap" and (2)-it was not Cedar. Any gusses as to what the Inspector ended up doing? How about replacing the entire exterior with Cedar Lap!!

Brandon, Wyerhauser purchased the pattern from Masonite a number of years back and manufactured it down in K Falls - either way it is still a "Masonite" fiber board type material.

Brandon, welcome comes to talking with manufacturers reps. to the land of ambiguities when it comes to talking to manufacturers reps. They will NEVER put specifics in writing but rather keep referring you the install sheets - dosen't matter if they are unclear or not. The same goes for CertainTeed. Get a rep on site and I cam guarantee his words will be something like "well, it's not installed precisely as the sheets recommend but it appears to be OK". Then ask them if the warranty would be honored if failure occured. Wait till you call center nailing Hardi seams as a mis-install and the rep comes out and gives the builder and buyer the above mentioned dog and pony show. Like everyone else on the forum is saying - "if it don't look right, it probably isn't". Tell the buyer your concerns and walk away - they will normally but the crappy installation anyway! FYI - say Katen last week and he is his same ole ornery self (pardon the grammar)!

I knew it was LP because I always look up from the bottom (starter area) and ensure the sheathing is not rotted and that there is a visible barrier). I could not see a barrier and thought "hmmmm" and started using a screwdriver to pry out siding in areas --- that is how I ensure a proper overlap is installed as well I don't like to rely on homeowner's properly maintaining their home for one. There were other installation defects as well , including missing Z flashing at belly bands that will allow more water seepage behind the new siding, missing flashing at trim protrusions, etc. So basically the siding job was a typical retro- fit job where things were not well installed. That would depend on what was behind the LP panel-- there is no way for me to know that one. Not likely if you are talking about the original flashing. And of course-- none for the new layer My recommendation in the report is pretty much that. I verbalized that the only way I was aware of to do this right would be to rip off the siding, but told them to get some expert opinions.

In my other lfe before "inspectin" 25 years ago I used to buy and sell - after a "real" retrofit of the home as opposed to the newer contractor splash and dash types out there now. I had an old gentleman that would replaster the entire residence using the old Keanes Cement instead of the new Imperial Coat. Hand mixed on the front porch in a wheelbarrow! He had been plastering over both lath and sheetrock for 60 years (was he ever good!) He told me that they used horse hair in plaster and sheetrock to give it rigidity - grey board had the least, green board a little more, and brown board the most. As far as arsnic went, he never mentioned it as an added component. My feeling is that if arsnic was present it was there as a by product. Besides, when you are a young contractor who cares about a little arsnic in the plaster, asbestos in the flooring, lead in the paint? If I were a young dumb buyer and considering an older home this article would probably keep me from entering into the contract as I would probably be dead or bankrupt shortly after moving in! As for the article - he makes it sound like all older homes should be donated to the fire department.

Looks like vertical 1x? to me (real honest to goodness wood) - note the open seams at the bottom. A shame to let is rot along the bottom edge - should have been cut off above the walk 1/2" or so (so it could dry).

Chris, there should but you will rarely find in in installations older than 1 year. Print out the Owens Corning guide (or better yet keep it on your computer) and give copies to all concerned. At this point there are 2 choices - leave it and consider the window nailing flange as a drip edge (bad idea) or open the joint so as to install caulking. I tell them to do this regularly. Oregon is famous for maverick installers that don't keep up with requirements. If the installation was after the date on the installation guidelines then tell them to fix it as per supplied paperwork.

In reply to Jim - what would you bet that there is a little nick from a nail or some other object at the edge of the glass? Maybe set too tight in the frame?

After reading the article all I can say is "let the buyer beware" as it is one of the poorest written and seriously misleading I have ever seen - they should be embarrassed. Loved Katen's contribution as we "had" one Amerispec franchise owner here that was literally run out of business for poor business practices - last word was that he was a financial advisor in another part of the State. I wonder if he took a different course from Service Master?

Leave it to Nick to complain!! C'mon NACHI, if you are as you say, the best of the best, step up to the plate and take the State mandated exam. In order to keep the playing field even, reject "Grandfathering" - there are a lot of olt time inspectors that are idiots too! We have some in Oregon but they only seem to get used by the "quick and easy" reeltors.

I had a similar inspection a few years back - also Legend. I called Wa County and Portland and was told that no VB was required but seams had to be taped (sealed). Hardi requires nails to be 1 1/4" plus the thickness of the foam (called "blue poly" bu the Super) and they be nailed to the framing wall studs. In the crawl I removed a few sections of foundation pony wall insulation and noticed a nomber of siding nails had missed the studs (more than 1 stud) so I pushed the siding off with my foot - you know, so the Super and buyer could see it from the exterior. He was upset but did a good repair. My concern was how many nails missed further up the wall since this is a high? Only time will tell. Funny thing though, buyer was either a civil or mechanical engineer and it did not bother her at all.

As luck would have it, I was up at 3AM for my "old man" house walk and noticed 2 rooms with no power. Checked the main panel and no tripped breakers were noted. I reset the offender and lights on! Power on but as an added extra there was this beautiful blue color coming from the panel interior (think Haight Ashbury colors) for 15 seconds. Shut off breaker and back to bed after some checking. Next afternoon after work I removed tha panel cover and found the breaker connecting wire missing 8" of insulator - as in gone. Wire had melted thru. Electrician is changing out panel this week! Yes, I have been adament about replacing these panels forever but "do as I say, not as I do" prevailed. It was a FP stablok. At least it gave us the impetus to collect all needed house papers and pictures - now they are near the door!! In all the excitement I forgot pictures - they would have been perfect to send to Kentucky. Merry Christmas to all from a not so politically correct Oregon Home Inspector.