I have nothing against remodeling homes; I spent a big part of my life doing just that to people’s homes--even my own. My own house was built in 1930. I would not consider it a Northwest Craftsman Style—but perhaps closer to that than anything else. The long range remodeling plans for the ho
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10/30/2013
Carbon Monoxide detectors have been in the news a lot lately and with good reason. Given that the gas is colorless, odorless and can kill you while you sleep are all good enough reasons for me to pay attention. The building codes themselves require them, and in addition, many states have made la
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10/27/2013
Given the issues with owning decks, it is somewhat impressive that we insist on having them. I understand the fascination with them--have built plenty of them myself. We have been building them for as long as we have been building wood houses no doubt. We used to call them porches and they typ
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10/24/2013
How does this happen? Sometimes I find things on inspections that just make me ask this question, even though I know it is useless. It is almost as if I can understand someone’s reasoning, it will help make the problem better---perhaps even go away. This question is especially relevant as it rel
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10/23/2013
Both the supporters of skylight installations and those that think they are a bad idea have their arguments. Sometimes they might be the only practical way to get natural light into a space. I am more in the negatory camp. Windows are terrible at heat loss/gain and air infiltration/exfiltration
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10/17/2013
Now that everyone is getting on board with switching to CFL’s and LED’s, I thought a little conversation might be in order regarding these bulbs and dimmers. As a Seattle Home Inspector I routinely find where folks have changed the bulbs out and the original dimmers remain. When this happens, a
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10/14/2013
For those of you that live in areas that dip below freezing in the winter, we are entering that time of year when it becomes easier to clean the wasp’s nests out of your exhaust vent caps. Nobody likes to be stung (I don’t think this is a “stretch,” but I suppose there is someone somewhere that
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10/04/2013
The Gutters on your home will rarely actually leak, but the corner seams and end caps will routinely leak. These connections are sealed on the interior. They must be periodically resealed to prevent leaks. Leaks at these connections can result in damage to the wood fascia behind the gutter and
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10/01/2013
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