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Foreclosure Inspections

Many Realtors and Mortgage brokers have written articles on short sales and foreclosures.  One point the haven’t touched on is what is necessary to prepare a foreclosed home for inspection.  When banks own  the home they often (usually) have them winterized and often allow propane tanks to empty.  Other utilities are usually left on.  It is understandable that they would want to protect their investment as much as possible.  Unfortunately, this protection makes it impossible to do a thorough home inspection.

When buying (or selling for you Realtors out there) a foreclosed home, it is very important to insist that the bank has the home de-winterized and has propane put in the tank.  Without these items being taken care of, the water heater, heating system and plumbing systems can not be fully evaluated.  I just returned, today, from a re-inspect of one of these homes for just the reason I’ve stated.  Not only did this slow down the process, it also cost the buyer an additional fee for me to go back out to the site ( a rural one and some distance to drive).  So please, on foreclosure sales, get those utilities back in operation!

David Helm, Bellingham home inspector

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Another Potential Fire

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.

 

 

 

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Fire Waiting to Happen

This post is about solid fuel burning appliances and potential chimney fires.  Solid fuel appliances are usually wood burning fireplaces or stoves, including inserts.  The chimney serving these appliances should be cleaned every year.  The picture below shows a chimney with major creosote buildup.  The very next fire in the stove could be the one to set off a chimney fire; and chimney fires often burn houses down!

 

 

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Composition Siding: LP and others

There has been a lot of controversy regarding composition wood fiber siding. Many brands of this type of siding by different manufacturers are known to deteriorate and/or fail prematurely due to moisture penetration. Failure is typically visible in the form of swelling, cracking and delamination, especially at the bottom edges. Class action lawsuits have been filed or are being filed against most manufacturers of this material. 

 

The following photos show siding in the early stages of this deterioration.  These can all be treated with the “Permanizer Plus” product.  The important thing to note if you happen to won a house with this type siding is that regular maintenance is absolutely necessary.  If you are buying a house with this siding, be sure that your inspector looks long and hard at the condition.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following photo shows LP siding inentification.  You have to look closely.  The knot in the pattern shows an L and  P in the creases.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pittsburgh Paints, PRIMERS -THE FOUNDATION FOR A TOP QUALITY JOB
Failing LP Siding Help Page

Thanks for reading.

David Helm, Bellingham home inspector

http://www.helmhomeinspections.com  

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No Support!

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.

 

 

 

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Crawl Space Ventilation

The purpose of crawl space ventilation is to keep the moisture/humidity level in the space at as low a level as possible.  This is important because wood destroying organisms thrive in moist environments.  Anobiid beetles (most common and most destructive wood eating insect in Western Washington) for instance, thrive in a wood moisture level as low as 13%.  An unventilated, or inadequately ventilated crawl space is apt to have high moisture levels.  Most newer homes are provided with adequate ventilation through building codes.  Homeowners often defeat this ventilation by installing foam block inserts, thinking they are protecting water pipes.  The proper way to protect water pipes is with pipe insulation.  Closing off foundation vents does not allow moisture to leave.  Older homes often have inadequate ventilation. Standard building practices require one square foot of vent area for every 150 square feet of crawl space.  Vents should be evenly distributed and within a few feet of corners to promote air circulation. One example of inadequate ventilation is the louvered vent cover shown below.

This type of vent actually has only half the vent surface area that it appears to have.  This restricts air flow.  A better solution would be to replace the louvered vent screen with 1/4 inch mesh galvanized hardware cloth.  This would give full ventilation surface area.  I always advise my clients to do this.  To sum up; keep vents open.  The only time, in this county, to block vents is when we are having a serious northeaster with the temperature and wind chill down around O degrees fahrenheit, and only for the duration of the northeaster. 

As always, thanks for reading.

David Helm, Bellingham home inspector

http://www.helmhomeinspections.com

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Pest Inspection: What is it and what does it cover?

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

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What’s That Beautiful Green Stuff on my Roof?

In the wet Northwest, we sometimes get things that other parts of the country seldom see.  In this case, the beautiful green stuff is moss; and it is not beautiful on a roof.  Moss growth on a roof causes several problems and is considered a “conducive condition” for wood destroying organisms.  Moss growth can cause roofing nails to lift, hold moisture against the roof and ultimately destroy the shingles.  In the early stages, it is easy to deal with.  A little zinc powder strewn above the growth during the growing season (moss grows in the winter when it is wet) can kill the moss. If it gets a little farther along it can be mechanically removed.  This does not  mean pressure washing.  Pressure washing dramatically shortens the life of a roof.  The photos below show moss at a stage that is almost beyond control.  The whole point of this is to control it in the earliest stages.

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What Is It? and What’s the Difference

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

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Noxious Weeds

Most exotic garden plants are not particularly problematic.  The majority of garden plants do come from elsewhere in the world.  Some of them, because of their invasive nature, become a serious problem for the well being of native plants when the spread to wild areas.  One of the main ways they escape gardens is as seeds in the belly of birds.  Some of these invasive, noxious plants in the state of Washington are as follows.  Gardeners may be surprised by the inclusion of some of these plants.

Common Fennel, a non-bulbing type that has tall feathery licorice smelling foliage.  Escapees inhabit and colonize grasslands and crowd out native flora.

Purple Verbena, has attractive lavender tubular flowers, is vigorously self seeding and is rapidly spreading into fields and open areas.

Knotweeds, large, bamboo like shrubs with feathery white flower heads.  Bees love them.  The invade riparian areas, block sunlight and degrade habitat for wildlife and fish, including Salmon.  They have very deep roots and a difficult to get rid of.

Old Man’s Beard (clematis vitalba), is a climbing vine that when escaped get established in forests and along stream banks where the smother shrubs and trees forming dense mats in the understory.

English Ivy, spreads into forests and forms dense mats that block sunlight, smother trees and encourage rot.  In Western Washington there is a movement to remove English Ivy where ever it exists.

Purple and Garden Loosestrife, are a major threat to wetlands because they tolerate saturated soils and spread rapidly, it crowds out native plants and reduces wetland habitat.

Butterfly Bush, is problematic along rivers and streams where it traps sediment.

These are just a few of the noxious plants that appear in Washington.  Many of them are noxious and invasive in other parts of the country too.  It is a good idea, when planting a garden, to learn about the bad boys of the plant world in your area.  These plants are legal to buy, but they cause serious problems.

Thanks for looking.

David Helm, Bellingham home inspector

www.helmhomeinspections.com

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