conducive conditions
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
