Tagged : Bellingham Wa Home inspection

There is a lesser publicized dark side to the short sales and foreclosures in the market today. That dark side is a challenge in the face of buyers and their home inspectors. That dark side consists of new homes that have not been completed properly -- major gaps or deficiencies in systems and components. In some cases, efforts have been made to conceal the problems or shoddy workmanship. The inspector is accustomed to funky workmanship at older homes. However, in one's mind at least, it woul... Read Full Post

There will be another Washington State approved home inspector training class beginning at Bellingham Technical College -- a state college -- on July 12. This class meets all Washington state requirements for the 120 hours of home inspector fundamentals education. And those students who wish to do so may, also, complete the 40 hours of field training. As of today, July 1, no individual in the state of Washington is allowed to do a home inspection without being a state licensed home inspector.... Read Full Post

One of the most common issues to find at a crawl space in a home, during a home inspection, is loose ducts from the furnace. This problem is often brought about because the ducts were not fastened properly in the first place. People view duct tape as the essential, almost the generic remedy, for anything that is loose. Fact is, duct tape only lasts for a short while and then it shrivels up and fails. Metal ducting is more secure if it is held together with appropriate sized screws (but no scr... Read Full Post

This is a subtle one that the average homeowner is not aware of. People worry about chimney fires but they do not know of another safety risk that is present at almost half of the homes that I inspect. Gas water heaters, furnaces and many gas fireplaces, are vented outside through B-vents. The B-vent often passes through the attic and then out the roof above. There should be one-inch of clearance from the B-vent to any combustibles and that includes the insulation in the attic. In this photo,... Read Full Post

Some people think a home inspector is being picky when he or she cites, as a problem, trees, bushes and vegetation growing against the exterior of a home. Fact is, picky is not the right word. If a home inspector, or a structural pest inspector, does not cite that as a problem, then the inspector is not doing a good job. In Washington state, that statement is backed-up by the laws. In the photo above, very common, the vegetation will keep the exterior of the building from drying and it also p... Read Full Post