Warm and Fuzzy (Properly venting dryers)
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The things people will do to “save money” continue to amaze me. The subject this time is dryer vents from electric dryers. I have recently seen two configurations of a similar theme. One was a plastic “lint trap” and the second was a vacuum cleaner bag taped around the end of the hose. Both were great ideas from the Internet.
If you stop and think about it for a moment you will realize that your electric dryer is pumping out heat that goes outside. Of course, you are paying for this heat and you home is usually dryer on the inside during the winter, right? So this makes it a good idea to filter the lint out of the air and exhaust that nice warm air into your home, right?
Not so fast! Several concerns come to mind if you think a little deeper.
A bag over the duct? This has to reduce airflow and gets worse over time. You have to run the dryer longer to dry the same clothes. As the airflow slows, the lint will begin to settle in places closer to the blower and the heater element and will leak out any small gaps in the system. If it’s heat you’re looking for, this fire hazard could really warm things up!
Most of the other plastic devices (lint traps) blow air across water to get the lint out of the air. They then discharge that warm moist air into your home. Take a few minutes and weigh the wet clothes going into your dryer and then the dry clothes when they are finished drying. The difference is water!
Homes are designed to handle some water vapor from normal living. Since modern homes have less air leaks, they can handle less moisture inside. Excessive moisture in any area of the home typically condenses on cold exterior surfaces, frequently in places you can not see it. Take a long hot shower and leave the vent fan off. Water will drip down the bathroom walls. Boil water on the stove and leave the range vent off. Water drips off the bottom of the range vent. Now, vent your dryer into the laundry room. That water load in the air went somewhere! Check the walls in the laundry room, look at the insulation over this area, or the underside of the roof decking. See how much water is running down the windows and doors nearby. Moisture does not magically disappear, it just moves around. Mold and wood destroying fungi can’t live without it!
Cold air holds less moisture and many homes get dryer during the winter. Adding a little moisture here and there is no big deal. Adding a much larger amount from a dryer that runs for hours can cause huge expensive problems!
Until someone comes up with a cheap way to capture the heat from the dryer air, mine will go outside. I’ll add moisture to my home, if needed, with a humidifier controlled by a humidistat.
Published in categories: Home Maintenance
Vinyl Siding
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Inspecting a home with vinyl siding is like looking for “Home Inspector Treasure”. If the home has multiple roof lines where soffits end in the side walls and a chimney that is also vinyl sided, there are even odds I will find a significant defect. If the home is vinyl over old hardboard siding, like “Masonite”, and it has multiple roof lines, the odds of finding a significant defect under the vinyl are nearly 100%.
Why?
The main reason is the installer did not follow the manufacturer or the industry guidelines for installing flashing. It’s really simple to understand. The siding is the surface of the exterior wall. The surface should be installed so that any water entering into or under this surface should be directed back to the surface of the siding. That’s done with flashing!
We typically see one of three scenarios.
New construction has begun to rely on a house wrap that is taped around the windows. Water that gets under the siding is supposed to flow down the house wrap and drip out the bottom. Unfortunately we frequently see there are gaps in the house wrap in the same areas there should be flashing or even knife cuts across the wrap somewhere down the wall. We also see the house wrap stops a few inches before it gets to the bottom of the wall. So that drip from above runs down the wrap and soaks into the OSB board near the base of the wall.
On homes just a couple of years old we frequently see the vinyl siding applied over the OSB board with no house wrap. The code said it was OK but I have never found manufacturers that recommend this method. The code must assume proper flashing but then no one ever checks to verify the flashing was installed. On a home with multiple roof lines ending into side walls, you will have problems. We’re finding blackened OSB board from moisture entry and we’ve had drought weather for years. What will these look like when it starts to rain again?
The third is my favorite! Vinyl over some old hardboard siding. Much of the time this siding was applied more like paint than siding. It was just used to cover up the old siding. With no new flashing for the vinyl siding, water flows under it and wets the old siding. Since the old siding was being covered over there was no need (so it was told the homeowner) to replace all of the rotted siding. The old soft hardboard siding soaks up the water and holds it longer because it is now under the vinyl.
Water in walls is always a bad thing! The wall sheathing like OSB board or the old siding starts getting wet. Before long a rotten spot shows up and the decay begins to work on the framing behind the sheathing. Gravity forces the moisture to work down the wall closer to the ground where a variety of things live that love moisture. Before too many years you have a wall full of wet wood and millipedes or worse, termites.
What should you do?
Most home inspections, including ours, are limited to what is visible from the outside. I can tell you that kick out flashing was not installed but there may be diverter flashing under the siding. A moisture meter may help, if there has been rain recently, but will not work with the foil covered paper wrap that was popular for many years. An infrared camera might be nice to have but again is very limited depending upon weather conditions. The best way I have found is just to go to the most likely bad areas and look under the siding. This can be very time consuming on some homes so we now offer this as a separate inspection. If there are just one or two areas we include that in our standard inspection.
One more often overlooked water source is the sprinkler heads in your yard. Vinyl siding will not prevent water entry when it is sprayed upward onto the siding. Frequently the lower edge of the OSB board sheathing will be rotten because the sprinklers have been spraying onto the exterior of the home.
1. Adjust your sprinklers so there is no water spraying onto your siding
2. Inspect for and correct any installation defects or damage
3. Clean your siding when it gets dirty
4. Trim shrubs and trees away from the siding
5. Do not place a heat source (like your grill) any where near your siding. The siding will warp and sometimes even melt and run down the wall.
Bill
Published in categories: Your Siding
Illegal Plumbing?
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Home owners and home buyers need to understand that not everyone has their best interest in mind. This can be especially true when times are slow and a contractor sees an opportunity to make a large profit.
I have recently been involved in two cases of “Illegal Plumbing”. In both cases a plumber saw that the plumbing did not meet the current code and used that opportunity to deem it “Illegal”.
One case involved Polybutylene plumbing. The homeowner called in a national franchised plumber to make a simple repair to a damaged pipe. I would expect to see this repaired with a section of PEX plumbing replacing the damaged area. There was no evidence of leaks any where else and this area of the state typically has very low defects in Polybutylene plumbing. The plumber shows up, proclaims the plumbing “Illegal” and proceeds to quote a long list of horror stories to the homeowner. Once everyone is sufficiently shaking and their heart rate has doubled, the perfect solution is offered. Including today’s discount, the home can be re plumbed for only $4800!
About thirty seconds later my phone starts ringing and this homeowner demands to know why I did not tell them their plumbing was “Illegal” and had to be replaced. I listened quietly and asked “Illegal? Did they tell you the Police were coming to lock you up or something?”
I then explained how they came by the Illegal term and that there was no legal requirement in the codes to replace the piping. I gave the homeowner the names of three plumbing companies and explained that these three companies have been plumbing locally for years and they did not get there by running scams. I suggested they call all three and get their opinions over the phone.
About an hour later the homeowner called me back. He explained that all three had similar comments to mine about Polybutylene. The majority of failures they see are when it was connected directly to the water heater ( his was not) or in homes with plastic fittings. They offered rough estimates of a few hundred dollars for his repairs, and if he really wanted, would re plumb from $2800 to $3200. He said one plumber felt the future risk was a little higher than the other two but admitted that his home had this very type of plumbing with no problems.
Another similar event occurred recently when a home warranty company was called on to make a plumbing repair. It looked like this home had been re plumbed many years ago with CPVC on the hot lines and PVC on the cold. The current standard says PVC can not be used for distribution piping and here we went again. In this case an out of town plumber was sent by the warranty company. He informed the homeowner and the listing agent that the PVC was “Illegal” and he could not make repairs to it. It would need to be replaced for about $3000. The crazy part was that the plumber left a document with the homeowner that said “The cold water lines are PVC and PVC is not rated for hot water.” He explained to the homeowner that a faucet that has a single handle allows hot water to flow back down the cold water lines. I’m still digging for information to prove that claim.
It was later proven to the warranty company that the written local code from the 90’s said PVC was allowed for this application. They replied the home had been red flagged by their plumber and he was the only plumber they used so they would not make the repairs. If anyone wanted to re plumb, a few calls to local plumbers found prices 30% to 50% less.
By the very nature of my job, I am a generalist. I make no claims to be an expert plumber, electrician, HVAC contractor. etc. At the same time, I have seen a lot of scams over the last thirty years. My basic test is easy!
1. Do other reputable contractors basically agree?
2. Are their prices, experience, materials, warranty, methods and reputation about the same?
NO? Be careful!!!!
Bill
Published in categories: Scams, Hype and Conflicts of Interest
Nothing is really free!
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Is anything in life really free? I believe the answer to that is very few things. A perfect example is the last two “Termite” inspections I witnessed. Both were free to the home buyer, both found no active termites but some evidence of past termites and both sold termite treatments to the homeowners before they would issue a “Termite Letter”.
Always on the look out for scams, I stopped to review what I had seen.
The home buyers ordered the free inspection. The buyer, seller and/or a Realtor are present for the inspection and all are nervous. It is obvious to me and the termite inspector that the owner is military and is packing to go somewhere, likely a long way away from here. This is very much a buyers market and sellers will frequently jump through hoops to sell a home.
One home had an obvious treatment two years earlier and the small amount of original damage remained in the crawlspace. One home had a clear “letter” from another company that was only two months old.
Evidence of past termites was found in both homes with no active insects located.
Both homeowners shelled out around $1000 for re treatment and the letter.
It really makes no difference if the inspection is free or cost the buyer thirty dollars. It plays out the same way and can be very expensive for the seller.
In one case the salesman, I mean inspector, was so good at his job (sales) that he quoted changes in the law as the reason he had to treat. We are looking for that change, more on that at another time.
From the buyers perspective this could look like “Hey! I got a fresh treatment for free and maybe I won’t have any Termites!” Be careful thinking that way because there are only buyers and sellers, and for this home, you’re the seller next.
The business plan for the free inspector has to include this gimmick to get them into a situation to make a sale and then includes a good salesman to make the sales pitch.
On the other hand, the business plan for another company may include a reasonable fee for the inspection that actually covers their expenses and provides some profit. Their inspector may also sell services but who do you think is under the most pressure to sell? If the inspector does not even need to find active termites then there is much less need to really look! If the home has a crawlspace, it’s a safe bet to go ahead and say it needs to be treated. I have seen very few with no evidence of past termites.
We believe that inspection and repair by the same company is a conflict of interest. I like to believe that a part of the reason for the re treatment is to limit the companies liability exposure in case termites show up, but that was not what I just saw happen.
Perhaps the best solution is to have an agency that does the inspecting and let the “Termite” companies compete for treatments and prevention. There are new technologies available that greatly increase our ability to locate termites but no incentive to use them if the real purpose is to treat based on past evidence.
Bill
Published in categories: Scams, Hype and Conflicts of Interest
Garage Door Safety
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Your inquisitive child is in the garage just poking around as you head home from work. They have noticed the wheels in the door track and have a couple of fingers stuck through the large square hole in the track as they spin the wheel. At the same moment, you approach your home and press your remote button to open the door. With no warning, the remote operated device jumps into action. The fingers jerk back and only the end of one finger is bruised. After caring for your child, you dig out your owners manual and find two simple pieces of clear tape tucked in it’s pages. The instructions are simple. Place this tape over the large holes in the door track to prevent finger injury.
The garage door that opens as you drive up and closes after you enter your garage is the largest, heaviest, remotely operated device in your home. It has the potential to cause bodily harm and property damage. I like to ask homeowners how often they check the condition of their garage doors. More than 70% answer “Never”.
This morning’s home buyer had no experience with garage doors. I went through my inspection of their future garage door as they looked on, pointing out the operating details, maintenance recommendations and the various safety features. I then demonstrated how I test the safety reverse system on the door. My standard comment is for homeowners to follow the manufacturer’s instructions. On newer doors, the instructions are usually printed on the door labels. When the labels were not applied, they are available on line or by calling the manufacturer. In this case the original instruction manual was still rolled up and tucked into the door frame. It had been there for about five years and the door safety labels were in the package.
It concerns me that most new construction in our area is not inspected by a home inspector before purchase. With no inspection, the future homeowner has no education and training on some of the home’s important and potentially dangerous systems. One of these often overlooked dangers is your typical automatic opening garage door.
Here is a short list of what you need to know about garage doors with openers.
Who is the manufacturer of your door opener?
What is the condition of the door?
Is the door installed properly?
Has the door been properly maintained?
What are the safety features of this door system?
What you need to do to be sure the safeties are working in the future?
All of this is not very complicated, quick to check and important to your safety.
The manufacturer and model number of your opener are located on the door opener. Depending upon the make, this information may be under a snap off cover. Follow their instructions for maintenance and inspections.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission also has information on this subject. It’s called “CPSC Document #523 Non Reversing Garage Door Openers A Hazard” and as of this post was available at http://www.cpsc.gov/CPSCPUB/PUBS/523.html
UL has similar instructions at their website http://www.ul.com/consumers/garagedoors.html
My other suggestion is the garage door manufacturers association DASMA. Their information is currently found at http://www.dasma.com/safetygdoors.asp
Read these along with your manufacturers instructions for a more complete of garage doors.
A quick search for “garage door safety” should turn up these links and more.
Please take a few minutes and learn more about your garage door. Following these simple instructions could save a lot of grief and money!
Bill
Published in categories: Home Safety
Heart Check
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Have you ever wondered what kind of shape your heart is in? Well I have a home inspectors way to find out.
I followed this procedure myself and was quite pleased to learn that my heart and my nerves were in very good condition. Before you try this be warned you could also be a headline! “Home Inspector Found Under A Home With Face Frozen In Horror” or “Deceased Home Inspector Found Under A Home”
Here’s what you’ll need,
One home with a crawlspace, preferably a nice low crawlspace
One nice warm Tyvec suit or just some thick cotton coveralls
One good hat
One pair of thick gloves
One strong flashlight
One backup flashlight
One limb or stick about three feet long
One dust mask or respirator if you’re really serious
One digital camera
Two knee pads
Oh and one or two snakes, cats, large rats, raccoons or whatever will get your attention
This is the way I did it, feel free to modify as desired!
I suited up with my white suit, hat, knee pads and gloves. My camera was on my side and my spare light in my back pocket. Both inside of my suit. I grabbed a stick, knocked down all of the spider webs I could reach and headed into the unknown. This crawlspace was a little low so I wriggled along for about ten minutes. As I came to air ducts there were nice little depressions in the dirt so I used those to wriggle under and keep going. After about fifteen minutes of wriggling along on my stomach in a sweat suit, I made it to the front of the home. This area was a few feet high and allowed for some good crawling.
It was about this point that I discovered a couple of plumbing leaks. Huffing and puffing a little, I dug out the camera and documented my finds. Sitting up to put my camera away caused another interesting find to drop down from the insulation. It was a six foot long snake skin that looked like it crawled in here rather recently.
In situations like this it seams like time slows down and different parts of your body act independently. My eyes darted around as if not sure where to focus as my hand with the light tried in vain to follow. While that went on, my adrenal gland knew exactly what to do and added a little go juice to my blood. I eased over to check out the side wall as my heart picked up the pace and my lungs attempted to supply needed oxygen.
Inspector blindness should be mentioned here. This typically happens when an inspector is so focused and convinced on what they will see that they overlook something else.
I eased my head up near the floor to take a close look for moisture damage. As I did my hyped up senses were on the alert for the previous owner of that used skin. Just as I crawled past a block pier a huge orange cat blasted out of nowhere and bounced off my back. One side of my brain took a brief moment to convince the other that there were no orange furry snakes while my arms and legs simply went into autoflail. In the meantime my adrenal gland kicked in with a few more drops of go juice. I yelled a few choice words and rolled over onto the ground expecting to have the big one at any moment.
Oh but that was not to be! I took a short quiet break, re focussed on the inspection at hand, and completed my inspection.
After I crawled back out, I explained to the homeowner that I made sure to chase their cat out of the crawlspace.
If you don’t think it’s fun, you have the wrong job!
Bill Chester
Published in categories: Home Inspection Humor
If it drips, don’t touch it or inspect the pools last!
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It was a hot summer day early in my career as a home inspector. I was inspecting a pool pump at a nice home on a golf course. The pump and filter were on a small concrete pad that was completely surrounded by a low fence and there was a small puddle of water on the concrete under the pump. The only thing I could do to get a close look was to climb over the fence, squeeze in between the pump and the fence and bend over for a closer look. My discovery was puzzling. The flex hose appeared to be fully connected but there was still a small drip. I climbed in beside the hose, lightly touched the fitting to see where the water was coming from and …….WHOOSH!
The hose popped off and started dancing around, blasting water all over the place. All I could do was jump up and dive over the fence to get away.
A strange sound a few feet away caught my attention. I looked toward the golf course and saw a small group or recently arrived golfers standing about ten feet away. I was particularly impressed with how fast they went from a look of sincere shock to practically falling on the ground laughing. I was concerned that one might actually expire from laughter when he turned all red faced. Headlines flashed through my mind “Golfer Dies While Laughing At Home Inspector!”
I came to after about another second of water spraying all over me and switched the pump off. Inspecting the hose and coupling proved there were no defects. It was just loose. I snapped it back into place, picked up my damaged pride, and headed on about my business.
At about that point my red faced admirer slapped his buddy on the back and yelled “This is the most fun I’ve had playing golf in a long time!”
That made it all worthwhile for me.
Bill Chester
Published in categories: Home Inspection Humor
Laugh
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I truly believe that laughing is one of the healthiest things people can do and like all honest inspectors I’ve had my share of really funny situations.
My intent here is simple, to share some of these stories with the world so they can also have a good laugh.
Bookmark this home inspectors blog so you can check back for more laughs!
Enjoy!
Bill
Published in categories: Home Inspection Humor
Together we provide the unique dual perspective of a husband and wife team. Our philosophy is simple. We treat people the way we would like to be teated and we treat every inspection like we are buying the home.
