Construction
Another Potential Fire
February 25, 2009 by David Helm · Leave a Comment
Why do home inspectors enter attics? There are many things for the inspector to check in the attic including ventilation, insulation, wiring, plumbing pipes, termination of bathroom vent fans, moisture levels and the picture shown below.
- No Clearance
This photo shows a B-vent pipe (in this instance, a chimney for a free standing natural gas stove). The requirement for B-vent clearance is one inch of air between the chimney wall and insulation or any other flammable material. There was adequate clearance between the chimney wall and the wood framing so the fix for this potentially hazardous condition is relatively easy. Remove insulation from around the pipe, put in a 12 inch high baffle that gives the one inch all around clearance (aluminum siding works well) and close the circle with foil tape. Insulation can then be replaced up to the outside of the baffle. A nice simple fix that costs very little, but may save a house fire from happening.
No Support!
February 6, 2009 by David Helm · Leave a Comment
I have done a few blogs on this site about various things that are found on home inspections. This one is structural. We inspectors spend a lot of time in crawl spaces, looking at many things. One common one is caused by plumbers and HVAC technicians. This isn’t to badmouth them. They have their job to do and may not know about how structures are supported.
Massive cut
The joist to the left has been deeply cut to make room for the waste pipe. Now this particular picture isn’t of a brand new house, but the effect is still there. This joist was originally a 2X10. With more than half of it notched out it is effectively a 2X4. Definitely not strong enough to support floor loads.
Joist ccompletely cut through
This joist has a section completely cut out of it to accomadate heating ducts. This was a retro fit furnace duct, the HVAC tech decided that that section of floor didn’t need support (I guess).
In both instances, with a little thought, these cutouts could have been avoided. What were they thinking?
As always, thanks for reading.
David Helm, Bellingham home inspect
Pest Inspection: What is it and what does it cover?
February 5, 2009 by David Helm · Leave a Comment
Back in the early days of home inspections all that was done was called a pest inspection. These days, a home inspection is much more comprehensive, covering grounds, structure, roof, crawl space/basement, all systems and of course, pests. The term for pests is Wood Destroying Organisms (WDO). This is a state mandated term that covers very specific things. A WDO inspection searches for evidence of all the state recognized WDO (see my earlier post on WDO) and conditions that are conducive to WDOs. What are conducive conditions? They are things like plumbing leaks, inadequate ventilation, restricted or non functioning gutters, vegetation touching siding, earth to wood contact, failed or missing caulk or grout in water splash areas and conducive debris (cellulose based or storage that restricts air flow) in the substructure. These are all important issues and generally represent at least 50% of issues found in home inspections. In order to report on these issues, according to current Washington law, an inspector must be licensed as a Structural Pest Inspector by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.
As always, thanks for reading this.
David Helm, Bellingham home inspector
http://www.helmhomeinspections.com
What Is It? and What’s the Difference
February 5, 2009 by David Helm · 2 Comments
The following pictures are of three different siding materials that look quite a bit alike. Knowing what each is and the pros and cons of each may be important when you purchase that next home.
Cement Asbestos Siding
Asphalt Shingle Siding
Striated Cedar Siding
As you can see, each of these siding materials are similar. The top, cement asbestos has been given a bad rap. Asbestos is a problem when it is friable (fibres floating in the air where they can be breathed) but as long as it is intact and kept painted, it is one of the best and longest lived sidings ever invented.
The second siding, asphalt shingles, was popular in the forties and fifties (earlier in some farm communities). This stuff is fairly rare in Whatcom County, but it does exist. The picture was taken in Bellingham. It doesn’t last much longer than an asphalt roof (generally in the twenty year range) and doesn’t like hot weather because it softens and is susceptible to damage.
The third siding, striated cedar, is pretty common here in Bellingham and is often mistaken for cement asbestos. It is a quality wood siding that, if maintained properly, will last a lifetime.
Thank you for reading this.
David Helm, Bellingham home inspector
http://www.helmhomeinspections.com
What Does Green Really Mean?
February 5, 2009 by David Helm · Leave a Comment
I’ve been thinking about this for a while. There is a lot of hoopla regarding green building and green lifestyle these days. There are certainly many levels of greenness and I applaud you for whatever level you have reached. Unfortunately, being truly green is a lot more complex than it might seem on the surface.
Let’s start with transportation. When we think of green, we need to take into consideration the carbon footprint for sure, but we also need to take into consideration the use of resources (after all, we do live in a finite world) and how long will it take that new green product to become a net gain for the environment. You buy a new Prius. This is very green because it gets very high mileage. Not green immediately. How much steel, oil (including all the plastics) and polution was used/caused in its manufacture? How much oil was used in shipping it to the USA and then to your town? Compare this with a ten year old high mileage vehicle (since emission standards have not improved in this time I will not talk about that). The manufacturing costs (polution, resource use) have nearly been amortized. In the beginning, at least, the ten year old vehicle will be greener than the new Prius. How long will it take the Prius to catch up? In this blog I’ll not talk about public transportation because the nature of most of our work requires private transportation (there is probably very little green about private transportation).
Food use and production; where does your food come from? Is it shipped halfway around the world? Is it a result of industrial monoculture farming (relying heavily on oil for fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and harvesting)? Truly green food is both local and seasonal. We eat what is produced in our local area, when it is produced. If you want it to be green, you also have to take into consideration the treatment of the land and animals that you eat. If the land is being despoiled with petroleum based chemicals, if the animals are treated as production units (feed lots, cages, etc.) it is not green. Even if it is organic, if it’s shipped from far off, it’s not green.
Local economies; A green economy is one that is sustaining of the locality. If your buying your goods and services from the big box stores/national or international chains, you are not sustaining your local economy. This is not green. Buying local circulates the money locally. Buying from chains sends the money somewhere else.
What is a truly green house? The analogy written above about the Prius fits here too. Can we find truly sustainable wood products? Not with todays knowledge. There are certainly some small, local mills and timber operations that strive to do sustainability, but on a national level it is pretty grim. Building to LEEDS standards is certainly a large step in the right direction, but is only a step. Where do the materials and products for future housing come from? What is the carbon/resource footprint of future housing?
This post is not meant as a pooh poohing of green building and practices. It is only meant as a thought provoker. I am thrilled that our industry is beginning to take these things into consideration, and I know that all of us fit somewhere in the continuum of green; either not green, partially green, predominately green (I doubt that there is anyone in this country that is 100% green; we do, after all, live in an industrial society).
Thanks for reading this screed. I hope it provokes thought and action.
REDUCE; REUSE; RECYCLE
David Helm, Bellingham home inspector
