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Everybody knows what a pest is. In the field of home inspection, the pests include the wood destroying organisms (wood boring beetles, some ants, termites) and also members of those species commonly referred to as "vermin."

The catch is, even if those species are present, at what point is it an "infestation." Is a single mouse or carpenter ant evidence of an infestation?

How about five ants, marching single file, one after the other, up into the attic? Is that an infestation? As far as rodents go, is a single mouse an infestation? Are two mice an infestation?

 

In Washington State, the WSDA defines an infestation as "to be overrun in large numbers so as to be harmful or unpleasant." Obviously, people have different sensitivities to pests so what…

Sometimes municipal planners, while having good intentions I think, are likely to miss the boat. At least that is my opinion. The weird facade on the warehouse below was certainly not what the builder wanted to do. This was a good-sized furniture warehouse in my community. It is in a neighborhood that is largely retail, with a few residences mixed in. The city decided it was fine to build the warehouse, but the side that faced two rental houses had to be camouflaged to "protect" the neighborhood.

Well, if you are outside at at night, and cannot see too well to begin with this phony facade might fool you. Probably it will not however. There are no residents and there are never any lights. You see, it is dark 24/7.  Everything you see is a grand illusion…

Many realtors and lenders become especially frustrated  when they need to schedule, or recommend, an inspector for a manufactured home inspection that is subject to the very specific HUD financing requirements. 

HUD demands an extensive, and very detailed, permanent foundation inspection and a professional engineer must sign off on it. (The foundation below would not pass that HUD foundation inspection  for a multitude of reasons.)

Normally, HUD requirements also call for an inspection for wood destroying insects. This must be done by a licensed home inspector or, in Washington State, a licensed structural pest inspector. (The photo below is carpenter ant frass thrown down onto a bath cabinet by carpenter ants working up in the attic of a…

When a homeowner installs a new roof, or puts in plumbing stacks or roof vents, that person should do some reading about the process before going up on the roof. The two plumbing stack flashings below have problems. The one on the left was a decent flashing prior to the "roofer" slathering it up with tar. He had a proper flashing that would work, but he did not get how it works. Instead of putting the flashing in so it neatly fits up under the shingles -- water is shed over the top -- he smeared tar under it and then pressed it down onto the roof.

On the photo to the right, he put a hole in the roof and smeared tar all around it -- that tar was the only flashing. While this method of flashing might work short-term, it is not the right way to do it for…

I do not understand how so many people get through their lives without major fires and that applies doubly to those who carelessly use electric heaters -- especially the baseboard heaters. I know, from experience,  that it can be easy to do something dumb with a baseboard heater. Years ago, I dropped the hose of the shop-vac on the floor in front of an electric heater. I had not noticed that it flopped over and ended up touching the heater. When I came back the next day, the plastic hose was burned, melted and had a big hole in it. Thank goodness for good luck.

That incident was in the "accident" or careless category. The instances that really floor me are the people who, day after day, setup a fire hazard and then they get by with it. The photo below is…

Things are changing in Washington State now that a home inspector licensing law has been passed and signed by the Governor. The way it will all work out, ultimately, is going to be determined to a large degree by the home inspector licensing board. At Bellingham Technical College, where I am coordinator of home inspection training, we worked closely with legislators on this bill. At this point, while generally established, the specifics on the education and testing are not yet formalized, although new inspectors will have to have 120 hours of training with 40 hours of field work to receive a license and that comes after passing a test. Despite some unknown right now, one thing is certain -- the the more training and experience one has, he or she is in a…

"Pyrolysis" The word shares a root word with the term "pyromaniac".  That is not a coincidence as both involve fire. Pyrolysis is sometimes present when hot things, like metal chimneys, are too close to wood -- such as the rafters in the attic. Or it might be present if a wood stove, a fireplace insert or even a B-vent is too close to a combustible. Pyrolysis is a known scientific phenomenon, that has been witnessed and defined by the scientific community. The facts:

Pyrolysis

When the temperature of  wood reaches 248 degrees Fahrenheit pyrolysis reactions can start. First the hemicellulose breaks down in the wood and, as the temperature rises, this is followed by the cellulose and lignin. As the temperature goes up even more, the wood dries faster and…

I did an inspection the other day and found something rather dramatic in the crawl space. If you look at the top photo, this fine sawdust or shavings (at the sill plate) is a condition that a competent structural pest inspector will be on the lookout for. That is the classic look of carpenter ant frass. These ants live in the wood and they do not eat it. They spit out the shavings, hence we see frass like this. Now, honestly, sometimes an inspector wonders how big a problem it really is, because he or she might not see any insects or any other damage. The problem is, the ants might be working at the other side of the house, and they are dumping the frass in yet another location. The next step, for the inspector, is to take a handful of the frass and…